Marvel Avengers Fan Fiction ❯ Clarity ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Catmint! Wake up!

She woke up with a start. Her entire body shuddered as she sat up, and rubbed her face with the palm of her hands. Catmint breathed in deeply, trying to still her trembling. It only took her a few minutes to realize she wasn't in her own bed. One look at the bedroom confirmed her belief. This new bedroom, despite it being a bit dark at the moment, looked too sleek, and the bed was way too modern and comfortable to be her own bed. She could only guess she was at Tony Stark's mansion.

That was the only place she could think of since the last thing she remembered was…

Her heart jumped hard in her chest as the memories of what happened last night came rushing back to her. Being ditched by Sarah and Lacey, meeting Tony Stark, being accosted by a guy with a gun, and then rescued by Tony from said creep.

"Oh, geez Louise, this is too much, too much." Catmint muttered to herself, willing herself to stay calm and not panic. Instinctively Cat patted herself down, only to breathe a sigh of relief at discovering she was still fully clothed, save for her sweater which was laying in a nearby chair. "Well, he didn't do anything,"

"Good morning, Miss Jones." Said a familiar voice, the said voice startling her. As the voice addressed her, the room brightened (albeit slowly as to let Catmint's vision gradually adjust to the brightness). The woman saw the large windows nearby seemingly to flip, allowing the early morning sunlight to stream into the bedroom.

"Oh wow," Cat just blinked as she rose off the bed and walked over to the window. She could see the ocean outside as well as some jutting cliffs that Tony's house seemed to be built into and as a shoreline in the distance. She was brought back to attention as the voice pointed out the clear weather and whatever else was deemed relevant. And as the robotic voice spoke, Cat tried to place it, trying to remember where she had heard it when she saw her phone laying on a small table by the bed.

"Is everything alright, Miss Jones?" The voice asked in what she could guess was simulated concern.

"Jarvis," Cat said in surprise at remembering the name. "You're Jarvis, correct? The voice that spoke to me last night?"

"Yes, I am, I am just a rather very intelligent system." the AI replied, its response making Cat giggle at the acronym.

"That's clever, very clever." She said to no one in particular. She then turned away from the oceanfront scenery outside, looking around for her host. "So, where is... Mr. Stark?"

"Mr. Stark is in his laboratory, working." The AI replied, "He said meeting and saving you last night inspired him."

A soft smile graced Catmint's lips as she spoke in a surprise tone. "I inspired him?" Confusion could also be heard, but before she could ask Jarvis for more answers, her stomach rumbled, a growl of hunger being heard. "Um, I suppose Tony doesn't have any breakfast prepared?"

"Mr. Stark ordered pizza last night, if that is alright.”

The woman stopped and thought for a second before letting shrugging. “Pizza isn’t exactly a breakfast food, but I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday afternoon so sure, that’s good.” Cat replied.

Cat stretched out her arms, reaching upwards before leaving the bedroom and heading for the kitchen where the pizza was said to be.

--
The other parts of Tony’s Malibu House both impressed and intimidated Catmint as she walked through the house, having gotten done eating two slices of the pizza that had been offered to her. To Cat, the house felt a little too quiet. It was large, but although it was well furnished (with a lot of modern, but expensive furniture no less), the house felt eerily quiet to her. And she guessed Tony was most likely watching her on a screen or at least he had Jarvis keeping an eye on her.

She tried to sit down and read one of the books Tony had on a shelf in the living area, but the silence was too unnerving. To make matters worse, she couldn’t remember where her phone was due to the small feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She knew her roommate would be blowing up her phone with a series of worried text messages. So in order to calm herself, Cat decided to take a little tour of the house.

Catmint eventually found herself at the top of some stairs that she could only guess led into Tony's garage and lab area. While she was tempted to go down and possibly thank her host, she didn't know how he would react to someone entering his area, let alone knowing if he was working on some new laser shooting part for his Iron Man suit.

"Well, this the most awkward thing ever," Cat muttered to herself, one hand resting on the nearby railing of the stairs going down. Glancing over her shoulder, the woman finally mustered the courage to start walking down the stairs.

She was almost sure that Jarvis would speak up and tell her she wasn't allowed to go down to the lab, but the AI remained silent as she descended the stairs.