Innocent Bystander | T. Stark ✔️

ten ▼ a terrible place

It was too dark. The air was thick and suffocating, the halls seemed to close in on her. Maya Hansen numbly followed her feet down the familiar path, lost deep in her thoughts.

She stepped into an office, eyes adjusting to the warm light, and sat down in the chair facing the desk at the center of the room. Her fingers restlessly fiddled where they lay on her lap. When the door quietly opened behind her, the scientist felt her back straighten and her muscles tense.

Tem Borjigin stepped around the desk, sliding back into his chair behind the desk. His movements had always been too smooth, almost as if he glided just above the ground when he walked. His eyes were as dark as the gaps between stars. They were full of intelligence and a frightening awareness.

"I am relocating you." His voice was low and steady in a way that commanded her attention.

Maya felt a jolt of fear run up her spine. Had she done something wrong? Since he had brought her in on his operation she hadn't once stepped out of line. Despite the near constant questioning of whether or not what she was doing was truly right, she had done her part. Besides, everything was on schedule. The project was moving forward just as it was supposed to be.

As the head scientist of the operation, Maya had made sure of that. She hadn't slept well since they had begun; her mind was always racing, trying to come to terms with her work but still, she had done her part.

When she had developed extremis all those years ago, she had seen it as a light. It was to be a hope for the future of mankind and she would be at the head of the new and golden age. When the initial operation had been shut down, she had understood. The idea was equal parts revolutionary and lethal. Now she was left only with the knowledge of what her work would bring on the world.

"Stark is too close. I will not having him ruining everything when the time is so near. You and the team will go somewhere farther from his reach."

Of course Tony was close. When she had been with him, she had always been fascinated by how intelligent he was beneath the layers of sarcastic remarks and forced smiles. A sick feeling rolled through her like a wave as she realized that even he couldn't stop what Borjigin would do.

"He won't stop because we're not in the city anymore. You see, he has this thing with winning-" Maya felt her voice die in her throat when her gaze met his again and her smile fell.

"Maybe not, but he can be slowed."

Borjigin stood from his chair, leaving the office without another word, leaving Maya alone with her dread.