Aug 17, 2022 - Vegas Mishap, Ch 3 (FR-13)
Aug 17, 2022 - Vegas Mishap, Ch 3 (FR-13)
Author: mmooch
Summary: Somebody has to go and ruin Buffy and Willow’s plans to find Tony…at least visibly.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge
Crossover: MCU
Rating: FR-13
Word count: 1230
Timeline: Iron Man for MCU; post-series for BtVS
A/N: Musie reared her stubborn head and forced the story into a different direction than I originally planned to go.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. MCU characters belongs to Marvel et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Slayer HQ
While Willow worked on the location spell - which they decided to do and worry about if/how they’d rescue him later - Buffy got a phone call that threatened to derail their plans before they could even make them.
“Miss Summers?” a male voice inquired politely.
The fact he had her private number, and she didn’t recognize the voice narrowed down who it could be, unless one of her cards got lost or stolen from the person she gave it to. Even the parents of the new slayers when through the switchboard first.
“Who may I ask is calling?” she said, pretending to be a receptionist or personal assistant.
“This is Mr. Brindle, Dr. Stark’s personal attorney,” the man replied. “May I speak to Miss Summers, please? It’s a rather urgent matter, I’m afraid.”
“I’m Buffy, and since you’re calling me, I’m betting there’s a little glitch in the plans due to Tony’s kidnapping?” she replied, not saying what plans just in case the man wasn’t telling the truth.
“There is, but it would be better to discuss this in person. Would you be able to get to Los Angeles in the next day or two?” Brindle requested.
Buffy thought for a moment, not wanting to let an outsider know where the headquarters were, but if this guy was for real, she did need to meet with him as soon as possible. Maybe she could even get a more personal item for the spell to speed it up. Apparently simply purchasing it and putting it on her hand didn’t leave a lot of ‘reside’ on it. “I’ll catch the next flight out, but it’ll be about half a day; where should I meet you?”
“This needs to be private, so we’ll meet at his personal assistant’s apartment. Her name is Pepper Potts. I can have a car meet you at the airport when you have your arrival time worked out. It will be Dr. Stark’s bodyguard/ chauffeur, Harold Hogan.”
She quickly did a google search on the names to verify who they were and what they looked like, then answered, “That will work for me. I’ll be bringing my counsel with me.” Granted, her counsel wouldn’t be a lawyer, but this guy didn’t need to know that.
“Very well, please let me know when you have your arrival time, Miss Summers. Good day,” Brindle said, waiting for her response before disconnecting the call.
“Oh, Giles!” she called out cheerfully. “Wanna go to LA with me?”
Los Angeles
The next day…
“Would you like to go to your hotel to freshen up before we head to Ms. Potts’ apartment,” Hogan offered.
“Yes, please,” Giles answered for them, handing the address through the dividing window.
As they drove towards Santa Monica, Buffy pointed out the sights to Giles; places she knew from growing up and certain unhappy memories from the summer she went missing. If Happy was listening in, he would have been confused why she felt the need to mention homeless shelter, but he was more concerned about his missing boss and what this woman had to do with protecting his company.
A few hours later, they pulled into Pepper’s building’s parking lot and Happy told them to call when they were ready to go back to the hotel.
Buffy had an immediate girl crush on the redhead that answered the door. When she grew up, she wanted to be that woman…in those clothes and shoes. She smiled warmly and greeted her hostess, “Miss Potts, a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances. This is Dr. Giles, my counsel.”
Her formal tone shocked Giles, who didn’t think she had a non-valley girl bone in her body.
Pepper just nodded, a tight smile on her face, “Miss Summers, Dr. Giles. Please, come in.”
After the normal pleasantries were followed, Buffy’s identity was confirmed, and the coffee/tea was distributed, Mr. Brindle began explaining the purpose of their gathering. “When Tony went missing in Afghanistan, his partner, Obadiah Stane, decided to invoke the ‘last Stark’ clause of the bylaws of Stark Industries, which states if there is reason to believe the last living Stark is dead or otherwise presumed to be lost, the current CFO gains the position of CEO and control of the board of directors. Since he is also Tony’s godfather, Howard was fine with putting the clause in there.”
“But you aren’t fine with him invoking it,” Giles remarked shrewdly. “Why? And what does this have to do with Buffy?”
“He had the paperwork ready go very soon after we had word of the ambush, and while it might have been sitting in a safe somewhere, the swiftness of his actions is…unseemly at the very least,” Gerald (Brindle) replied with a grimace. “As Tony’s legal wife, Buffy can call a halt to the proceedings.”
“It wouldn’t mean I’d have to become the CEO, would it? Because that is not a good idea!” Buffy protested vehemently.
Gerald chuckled despite the tense mood at that. “No, this isn’t a movie. The business structure would remain as it is until we have found Tony…” he shot a sympathetic look at Pepper before adding, “either alive or dead.”
“But in doing so, the annulment would be stopped, wouldn’t it? And Buffy would have to go public as Mrs. Summers-Stark,” Giles realized why they were acting so cautious about the whole thing with her.
Nodding his head, Gerald confirmed, “We wouldn’t be able to hide her identity once the board finds out, and we certainly can’t be telling anyone the marriage is temporary.”
“Have you done a background check on me, yet?” Buffy asked warily. “Because I have some juvenile record stuff that could back to hurt Tony. And there’s no way some PI or reporter isn’t going to dig that up, despite the fact they should be sealed.”
“We’ve found the records you are referring to, and although I’m not a criminal attorney, I can say that those incidents should not have gotten as far as they did. If you’d like, I will work with another attorney to have those expunged - even if you choose not to help us with this matter.”
Buffy nodded, “It would be nice to know that it wouldn’t affect me later in life. How long do I have to decide about going public?”
“The board is meeting next Monday to vote on it. They have to be there in person for something of this magnitude, and Monday is the soonest they could arrange,” Pepper told her.
“Okay, I’d like to talk this over with Rupert,” she had to fight from wrinkling her nose at using his first name, “And my family, since this would affect them as well.”
“Quite understandable. If you have any questions, feel free to call me or Virginia,” Gerald offered, shaking their hands as they all stood up.
Pepper handed her a card and said, “On behalf of Tony’s friends, I ask you to help us. I’m afraid that if Obadiah takes control, the need to find Tony won’t be as great.”
“I promise to think hard about it,” Buffy said, not willing to commit to anything without considering how it would change things for everyone. Her impulsive actions in the past had some pretty major consequences that she didn’t want to repeat, even if her heart wanted to help the woman in front of her.
A/N: Man, I almost teared up there at the end. Leave it to Pepper to make the heartfelt plea, even if she’s probably PO’d at Tony for getting drunk-married.
Author: mmooch
Summary: Somebody has to go and ruin Buffy and Willow’s plans to find Tony…at least visibly.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge
Crossover: MCU
Rating: FR-13
Word count: 1230
Timeline: Iron Man for MCU; post-series for BtVS
A/N: Musie reared her stubborn head and forced the story into a different direction than I originally planned to go.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. MCU characters belongs to Marvel et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Slayer HQ
While Willow worked on the location spell - which they decided to do and worry about if/how they’d rescue him later - Buffy got a phone call that threatened to derail their plans before they could even make them.
“Miss Summers?” a male voice inquired politely.
The fact he had her private number, and she didn’t recognize the voice narrowed down who it could be, unless one of her cards got lost or stolen from the person she gave it to. Even the parents of the new slayers when through the switchboard first.
“Who may I ask is calling?” she said, pretending to be a receptionist or personal assistant.
“This is Mr. Brindle, Dr. Stark’s personal attorney,” the man replied. “May I speak to Miss Summers, please? It’s a rather urgent matter, I’m afraid.”
“I’m Buffy, and since you’re calling me, I’m betting there’s a little glitch in the plans due to Tony’s kidnapping?” she replied, not saying what plans just in case the man wasn’t telling the truth.
“There is, but it would be better to discuss this in person. Would you be able to get to Los Angeles in the next day or two?” Brindle requested.
Buffy thought for a moment, not wanting to let an outsider know where the headquarters were, but if this guy was for real, she did need to meet with him as soon as possible. Maybe she could even get a more personal item for the spell to speed it up. Apparently simply purchasing it and putting it on her hand didn’t leave a lot of ‘reside’ on it. “I’ll catch the next flight out, but it’ll be about half a day; where should I meet you?”
“This needs to be private, so we’ll meet at his personal assistant’s apartment. Her name is Pepper Potts. I can have a car meet you at the airport when you have your arrival time worked out. It will be Dr. Stark’s bodyguard/ chauffeur, Harold Hogan.”
She quickly did a google search on the names to verify who they were and what they looked like, then answered, “That will work for me. I’ll be bringing my counsel with me.” Granted, her counsel wouldn’t be a lawyer, but this guy didn’t need to know that.
“Very well, please let me know when you have your arrival time, Miss Summers. Good day,” Brindle said, waiting for her response before disconnecting the call.
“Oh, Giles!” she called out cheerfully. “Wanna go to LA with me?”
Los Angeles
The next day…
“Would you like to go to your hotel to freshen up before we head to Ms. Potts’ apartment,” Hogan offered.
“Yes, please,” Giles answered for them, handing the address through the dividing window.
As they drove towards Santa Monica, Buffy pointed out the sights to Giles; places she knew from growing up and certain unhappy memories from the summer she went missing. If Happy was listening in, he would have been confused why she felt the need to mention homeless shelter, but he was more concerned about his missing boss and what this woman had to do with protecting his company.
A few hours later, they pulled into Pepper’s building’s parking lot and Happy told them to call when they were ready to go back to the hotel.
Buffy had an immediate girl crush on the redhead that answered the door. When she grew up, she wanted to be that woman…in those clothes and shoes. She smiled warmly and greeted her hostess, “Miss Potts, a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances. This is Dr. Giles, my counsel.”
Her formal tone shocked Giles, who didn’t think she had a non-valley girl bone in her body.
Pepper just nodded, a tight smile on her face, “Miss Summers, Dr. Giles. Please, come in.”
After the normal pleasantries were followed, Buffy’s identity was confirmed, and the coffee/tea was distributed, Mr. Brindle began explaining the purpose of their gathering. “When Tony went missing in Afghanistan, his partner, Obadiah Stane, decided to invoke the ‘last Stark’ clause of the bylaws of Stark Industries, which states if there is reason to believe the last living Stark is dead or otherwise presumed to be lost, the current CFO gains the position of CEO and control of the board of directors. Since he is also Tony’s godfather, Howard was fine with putting the clause in there.”
“But you aren’t fine with him invoking it,” Giles remarked shrewdly. “Why? And what does this have to do with Buffy?”
“He had the paperwork ready go very soon after we had word of the ambush, and while it might have been sitting in a safe somewhere, the swiftness of his actions is…unseemly at the very least,” Gerald (Brindle) replied with a grimace. “As Tony’s legal wife, Buffy can call a halt to the proceedings.”
“It wouldn’t mean I’d have to become the CEO, would it? Because that is not a good idea!” Buffy protested vehemently.
Gerald chuckled despite the tense mood at that. “No, this isn’t a movie. The business structure would remain as it is until we have found Tony…” he shot a sympathetic look at Pepper before adding, “either alive or dead.”
“But in doing so, the annulment would be stopped, wouldn’t it? And Buffy would have to go public as Mrs. Summers-Stark,” Giles realized why they were acting so cautious about the whole thing with her.
Nodding his head, Gerald confirmed, “We wouldn’t be able to hide her identity once the board finds out, and we certainly can’t be telling anyone the marriage is temporary.”
“Have you done a background check on me, yet?” Buffy asked warily. “Because I have some juvenile record stuff that could back to hurt Tony. And there’s no way some PI or reporter isn’t going to dig that up, despite the fact they should be sealed.”
“We’ve found the records you are referring to, and although I’m not a criminal attorney, I can say that those incidents should not have gotten as far as they did. If you’d like, I will work with another attorney to have those expunged - even if you choose not to help us with this matter.”
Buffy nodded, “It would be nice to know that it wouldn’t affect me later in life. How long do I have to decide about going public?”
“The board is meeting next Monday to vote on it. They have to be there in person for something of this magnitude, and Monday is the soonest they could arrange,” Pepper told her.
“Okay, I’d like to talk this over with Rupert,” she had to fight from wrinkling her nose at using his first name, “And my family, since this would affect them as well.”
“Quite understandable. If you have any questions, feel free to call me or Virginia,” Gerald offered, shaking their hands as they all stood up.
Pepper handed her a card and said, “On behalf of Tony’s friends, I ask you to help us. I’m afraid that if Obadiah takes control, the need to find Tony won’t be as great.”
“I promise to think hard about it,” Buffy said, not willing to commit to anything without considering how it would change things for everyone. Her impulsive actions in the past had some pretty major consequences that she didn’t want to repeat, even if her heart wanted to help the woman in front of her.
A/N: Man, I almost teared up there at the end. Leave it to Pepper to make the heartfelt plea, even if she’s probably PO’d at Tony for getting drunk-married.