Iron Maiden || Age of Ultron

Four || Stark Tower

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Macy paced her shredded lab, her hand covering her mouth. Alone as Pepper stayed upstairs to call Tony, she didn't know what to do with herself.

First she lost her family, now she'd lost her research.

Her emotions ran too high as she went down on her knees. She pressed on the tile, momentarily forgetting where the moving panel was.

"Tony's on his way," Pepper said as she came through the doorway. Her eyebrows furrowed, "Macy?"

"They couldn't have gotten all of it," she said in a quiet voice as she slammed her fist into a barely etched space. "How could they?" Hysterical, she peeled the cover away and punched in the code.

"Everything's going to be okay," Pepper tried. She wanted to calm the teen but nothing was going to work.

"No, no it's all gone." Macy was nearly in tears as she undid the cap to the vault. "But-"

Stone cold and quite empty, only a small breast pocket pin lingered at the bottom right corner.

Macy reached inside slowly, her hand trembling as she retrieved the only thing left.

"Tony, we're down here!" Pepper called as she hard the door open upstairs.

Macy sat back on her ankles, running her thumb over the cool surface.

Tony ran down the stairs, "What's-" his voice fell away as he came into the wreckage that was once Macy's lab.

"Someone, they broke in." Macy knew the explosion occurred in her outer lab in the back garden. She always used it when working with combustibles.

This was another offense entirely.

"What did you have in the safe?" Tony asked, walking past Pepper closer to Macy.

"A hard drive." Macy stared at the pin, tracing the rivets. "It had everything on it. Whoever this belonged to took it all from me." She held it up, letting him pluck it from her fingers. "I had things on there that were never meant to escape my hands."

Tony felt cold as he saw the oddly shaped sea animal. He glanced to Pepper and then to Macy, who hadn't risen. "We should leave," he advised, pocketing it and holding out a hand.

Macy placed her hand in his, standing with his help. "What do we do?"

"We get the things from the house that you want and we will get out of here and go to New York." Pepper went up first, being followed by Tony and Macy.

"What about your press conference?" Macy questioned, distracted and mildly distraught.

"I made a brief statement and left when Pepper called," Tony explained. "I've got to make a few calls but Pepper can help you pack."

Macy hesitated to go up the stairs, soon pulling a suitcase from the cupboard near her parents' room. She grabbed the handle of her door, not doing anything for a moment. Taking in a breath, she disturbed the dust that had settled in her bedroom.

Pepper stayed in the hall, practically able to hear Macy's heartbeat.

Macy put the empty suitcase on her made bed, the duvet covered in lilac flowers. She took a look around, feeling like an alien. There was a vanity and an awards shelf, a window seat and posters of famous 70s, 80s, and 90s bands.

Pepper peered in, surprised it actually looked like a teenager's room.

Then again, there was a Nobel Prize on the shelf opposite of Macy's bed.