Accompanying Tony was not unusual in the least. Help was necessary for fetching and carrying, for managing the luggage and maintaining the odd bevy of little quirks that Tony occasionally seemed to make up (or change) as the whim suited him. Jarvis rarely attended any meetings or demonstrations, though sometimes he even found himself doing that, ushered somewhere to the back to stand silent witness, ready at the snap of someone's fingers to find something more useful to do.
Or to leave. Leaving was always a relief.
More of a relief, however selfish it might be, was that he hadn't been present in the thick of things today. He'd been left behind in the nearby justice building, shunted off to the side to watch the remainder of equipment that hadn't been trotted out for use in this particular dog and pony show. Jarvis hadn't even been aware that something had gone amiss until the screaming began, having assumed the preceding sound- a low hum, no more than a shiver along his awareness- had been his imagination.
When he'd clocked the screaming, he'd very nearly opened his mouth in turn. Surprise and fear could be funny that way, a combination that could lead to all the wrong impulses. Jarvis couldn't ask what might be taking place. He couldn't even voice his own unease, having to instead wait for people to begin hustling back through muttering about signals and signs, unruly mobs and peacekeepers.
Tony had appeared soon after, and they'd packed up and cleared out with all due haste. Had Jarvis a tongue, he would've bitten it raw in effort not to ask the questions plaguing him- the how and why, the what went wrong, the inevitable but utterly stupid are you all right. Tony wasn't. He was too quiet, and Jarvis had never been able to fill a silence. Not even after Tony returned his voice.
Now that they could speak, now that they were in the flimsy safety of the penthouse, all of his questions seemed trivial. "I heard it," he admitted, teeth catching on his lower lip, worrying at the skin. "It was..." A pause, because words failed to convey everything he'd heard. "It got out of hand."