Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Thirty-Nine
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG13 Language
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
AN: I enjoy writing Colonel Fury.
Chapter: Thirty-Nine
Colonel Nick Fury was kind of easy to spot in Val’s diner. There weren’t too many huge black guys with leather eyepatches around. Apparently Val had warmed up to him enough to break out a midday Miller Lite for him-something she usually kept on hand solely for Tony and Jim. Colonel Fury was also enjoying a hamburger the size of his head.
Tony slid into the stool next to him. “I’ll have what he’s having,” he quipped.
“Iron Man, nice to see you in daylight,” Fury snapped right back and motioned for Natasha to join him. “Ms. Romanoff, how is your new assignment going so far?” he asked.
“No one’s dead, sir.”
“Oh, improved I see.”
Tony fiddled with the napkin holder and waited for Val to return with his order. “This is comforting,” he mumbled. “Please tell me your last op was killing terrorists or something and not something that involved one person in particular...”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.
“Shit.”
“Calm down, Stark. Tasha here is assigned to the West Coast to help keep you informed on how SHIELD works and who needs to know what so we can actually do some of that ‘super secret hero shit’ you mentioned when we first met. For being such a smartass, you’re actually pretty good at recruiting,” Fury allowed a bit of a grin to warm up his eye. “I mention your name to Reed Richards and he’s all for it. And General Ross recently contacted me with his verbal thumbs up.”
Val came back from the kitchen with Tony’s usual order and grabbed two beers from behind the counter. She paused in front of Natasha when she handed off the bottle. “Want anything to eat, honey?”
“Steak, thick and bloody as hell.”
“Atta girl.”
“So Reed’s in, Betty’s dad is in... What now? And what’s this stuff about Ten Rings?” Tony asked around a mouthful of cheeseburger.
“Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes has agreed to become part of our military liaison-”
“Wait, so Rhodey is liaising to you guys and to my company? Can he do that?”
“If he can fly around in a suit you designed with a machine gun mounted on his shoulder and he’s still a member of the military, he’s one of us. By the way, I like the arm-mounted gatling guns on that thing.”
“Yeah? I put in a few extra things he’ll like when he figures out what they do...”
The two grown men had a moment of child-like glee as Natasha got her steak and rolled her eyes at them. “Intel, Colonel. I believe you wanted to brief Mr. Stark on the full details of Ten Rings,” she reminded.
Fury regained his serious face and leaned forward a bit on his stool. “Right. The discovery of the base in the wasteland outside the Wakhan Corridor is the biggest step in taking these guys out. In his insane personal coup on you and Stark Industries, Stane took out one of the cells a man called ‘The Mandarin’ has been cultivating since before Tasha here was throwing snowballs at her neighbors.”
“‘The Mandarin?’ Seriously?” Tony repeated. “What’s his deal? And if you tell me ‘take over the world’ I may end up doing a spit take,” he said and moved to take a drink as if he dared Nick Fury to say those seven words that just screamed Pinky and the Brain or something.
“He wants to take over the world,” said Fury.
The deadpan look Tony leveled him with was tempered only by a Miller Lite bottle trapped against his lips. There was a slow, awkward moment as he spit the beer back into the bottle and rubbed a knuckle against the end of his nose. Natasha had her back turned to both of them and was shaking. Her hair was up in a ponytail and revealed the red tinge to the tops of her ears.
A snort escaped.
“To be fair, the guy is also a telepath and exhibited signs of telekinesis the last time we managed to catch him on video,” Fury clarified.
Tony chewed thoughtfully on a fry and snuck his arm around the counter for a battered tin of Old Bay seasoning. He spoke as he liberally sprinkled his fries. “Okay, I’ll buy that. Though I would like to do my own research on him if you’ve got any medical files. And as for Stane helping Ten Rings become ‘Nine’ Rings?”
“He did more harm by selling all cells your weapons. And yes, we have files you can study.”
“I’ve got something for you, too. I rigged military codes on all the shipments previously handled the proper channels so each fully functional tank, missile or gun in the hands of the good old US of A has a digital authorization signature that activates when scanned by proper shipping and again when the ‘safety’ is taken off. Seeing as this was something my personal assistant used to set up and not Obi-Stane-those unauthorized weapons have faulty signatures. Easy to see when you’re looking for them.”
Fury looked a little impressed.
Tony tried not to gloat and polished off his burger. “Nat, hand me your phone,” he waggled his fingers at her and gave her a happy nod when she fished her iPhone out of her purse. He opened the Stark Industries application and tapped in the 120 character authorization code to pull up a list of shipments that were scanned twice and approved. “There,” he showed Fury.
“Very cool, Stark...”
Tony handed Natasha her phone. “Thank you. So what else is up, Colonel?”
“SHIELD needs a few more brains in the Avengers Initiative. We’re currently scouting for some more ‘members’ if you will,” he waggled his fingers in air quotes and raised his eyebrow, “and we ran across some interesting things about your old friends Hank and Janet Pym. Have you had any recent contact with them?”
Finishing the last of his huge burger, Tony shook his head and made hand motions that vaguely suggested “too busy” and somehow Nick understood it all.
“Well, they’re working on something very interesting and I, personally, would like them on the team.”
Tony paused him with a waving hand and finished swallowing his bite. “Interesting as in ‘honey, I finally shrunk myself?’ Because Hank’s been chomping at that bit since college. So’s Jan.”
Fury just smiled.
“Fine. One last question?”
“Shoot.”
“Are we building this team just to find Steve Rogers or to thin out some of the Mandarin’s ‘firepower’ while we look for him?”
“Both. Steve Rogers was the symbol of American power and integrity and while I’m certain the combined Avengers could fight the Mandarin, I’m more certain that you could fight and win if Captain America was with you.”
Tony, having seen Captain America in one old photo with his father, understood the politics of such a plan. Having a group of American superheroes-led by the man who represented the better ideals of the country-was an excellent way to boost the economy. He also happened to kick a lot of Nazi ass. He’d been close to helping America win the war against Hitler when he was lost during a mission that even the top brass in the Pentagon had only bare details about. As in: “I might do something this Thursday. I might not. It’s important.”
He’d done a fair amount of research on Cap. And had a bit of hero worship when it came to him.
“I should do an aerial search,” he mumbled before downing the rest of his beer.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Colonel Fury checked his watch and stood. “Right now I have a meeting with Dr. Richards and his three friends.”
“Tell him I said hi,” Tony called over his shoulder as the larger man left the diner.
“You realize he stuck you with the bill, don’t you?” Natasha asked, still two stools away and still eating her steak and fries at a leisurely pace.
Tony glanced at the empty plate and beer bottle between them and sighed. “Yeah.”
“You’ve got a budget meeting in an hour.”
Tony gave in to the sensation he’d been fighting almost all morning and dropped his forehead hard on the countertop. The noise he made in the back of his throat was downright childish, but all Natasha did was chew her steak and smile.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG13 Language
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
AN: I enjoy writing Colonel Fury.
Chapter: Thirty-Nine
Colonel Nick Fury was kind of easy to spot in Val’s diner. There weren’t too many huge black guys with leather eyepatches around. Apparently Val had warmed up to him enough to break out a midday Miller Lite for him-something she usually kept on hand solely for Tony and Jim. Colonel Fury was also enjoying a hamburger the size of his head.
Tony slid into the stool next to him. “I’ll have what he’s having,” he quipped.
“Iron Man, nice to see you in daylight,” Fury snapped right back and motioned for Natasha to join him. “Ms. Romanoff, how is your new assignment going so far?” he asked.
“No one’s dead, sir.”
“Oh, improved I see.”
Tony fiddled with the napkin holder and waited for Val to return with his order. “This is comforting,” he mumbled. “Please tell me your last op was killing terrorists or something and not something that involved one person in particular...”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.
“Shit.”
“Calm down, Stark. Tasha here is assigned to the West Coast to help keep you informed on how SHIELD works and who needs to know what so we can actually do some of that ‘super secret hero shit’ you mentioned when we first met. For being such a smartass, you’re actually pretty good at recruiting,” Fury allowed a bit of a grin to warm up his eye. “I mention your name to Reed Richards and he’s all for it. And General Ross recently contacted me with his verbal thumbs up.”
Val came back from the kitchen with Tony’s usual order and grabbed two beers from behind the counter. She paused in front of Natasha when she handed off the bottle. “Want anything to eat, honey?”
“Steak, thick and bloody as hell.”
“Atta girl.”
“So Reed’s in, Betty’s dad is in... What now? And what’s this stuff about Ten Rings?” Tony asked around a mouthful of cheeseburger.
“Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes has agreed to become part of our military liaison-”
“Wait, so Rhodey is liaising to you guys and to my company? Can he do that?”
“If he can fly around in a suit you designed with a machine gun mounted on his shoulder and he’s still a member of the military, he’s one of us. By the way, I like the arm-mounted gatling guns on that thing.”
“Yeah? I put in a few extra things he’ll like when he figures out what they do...”
The two grown men had a moment of child-like glee as Natasha got her steak and rolled her eyes at them. “Intel, Colonel. I believe you wanted to brief Mr. Stark on the full details of Ten Rings,” she reminded.
Fury regained his serious face and leaned forward a bit on his stool. “Right. The discovery of the base in the wasteland outside the Wakhan Corridor is the biggest step in taking these guys out. In his insane personal coup on you and Stark Industries, Stane took out one of the cells a man called ‘The Mandarin’ has been cultivating since before Tasha here was throwing snowballs at her neighbors.”
“‘The Mandarin?’ Seriously?” Tony repeated. “What’s his deal? And if you tell me ‘take over the world’ I may end up doing a spit take,” he said and moved to take a drink as if he dared Nick Fury to say those seven words that just screamed Pinky and the Brain or something.
“He wants to take over the world,” said Fury.
The deadpan look Tony leveled him with was tempered only by a Miller Lite bottle trapped against his lips. There was a slow, awkward moment as he spit the beer back into the bottle and rubbed a knuckle against the end of his nose. Natasha had her back turned to both of them and was shaking. Her hair was up in a ponytail and revealed the red tinge to the tops of her ears.
A snort escaped.
“To be fair, the guy is also a telepath and exhibited signs of telekinesis the last time we managed to catch him on video,” Fury clarified.
Tony chewed thoughtfully on a fry and snuck his arm around the counter for a battered tin of Old Bay seasoning. He spoke as he liberally sprinkled his fries. “Okay, I’ll buy that. Though I would like to do my own research on him if you’ve got any medical files. And as for Stane helping Ten Rings become ‘Nine’ Rings?”
“He did more harm by selling all cells your weapons. And yes, we have files you can study.”
“I’ve got something for you, too. I rigged military codes on all the shipments previously handled the proper channels so each fully functional tank, missile or gun in the hands of the good old US of A has a digital authorization signature that activates when scanned by proper shipping and again when the ‘safety’ is taken off. Seeing as this was something my personal assistant used to set up and not Obi-Stane-those unauthorized weapons have faulty signatures. Easy to see when you’re looking for them.”
Fury looked a little impressed.
Tony tried not to gloat and polished off his burger. “Nat, hand me your phone,” he waggled his fingers at her and gave her a happy nod when she fished her iPhone out of her purse. He opened the Stark Industries application and tapped in the 120 character authorization code to pull up a list of shipments that were scanned twice and approved. “There,” he showed Fury.
“Very cool, Stark...”
Tony handed Natasha her phone. “Thank you. So what else is up, Colonel?”
“SHIELD needs a few more brains in the Avengers Initiative. We’re currently scouting for some more ‘members’ if you will,” he waggled his fingers in air quotes and raised his eyebrow, “and we ran across some interesting things about your old friends Hank and Janet Pym. Have you had any recent contact with them?”
Finishing the last of his huge burger, Tony shook his head and made hand motions that vaguely suggested “too busy” and somehow Nick understood it all.
“Well, they’re working on something very interesting and I, personally, would like them on the team.”
Tony paused him with a waving hand and finished swallowing his bite. “Interesting as in ‘honey, I finally shrunk myself?’ Because Hank’s been chomping at that bit since college. So’s Jan.”
Fury just smiled.
“Fine. One last question?”
“Shoot.”
“Are we building this team just to find Steve Rogers or to thin out some of the Mandarin’s ‘firepower’ while we look for him?”
“Both. Steve Rogers was the symbol of American power and integrity and while I’m certain the combined Avengers could fight the Mandarin, I’m more certain that you could fight and win if Captain America was with you.”
Tony, having seen Captain America in one old photo with his father, understood the politics of such a plan. Having a group of American superheroes-led by the man who represented the better ideals of the country-was an excellent way to boost the economy. He also happened to kick a lot of Nazi ass. He’d been close to helping America win the war against Hitler when he was lost during a mission that even the top brass in the Pentagon had only bare details about. As in: “I might do something this Thursday. I might not. It’s important.”
He’d done a fair amount of research on Cap. And had a bit of hero worship when it came to him.
“I should do an aerial search,” he mumbled before downing the rest of his beer.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Colonel Fury checked his watch and stood. “Right now I have a meeting with Dr. Richards and his three friends.”
“Tell him I said hi,” Tony called over his shoulder as the larger man left the diner.
“You realize he stuck you with the bill, don’t you?” Natasha asked, still two stools away and still eating her steak and fries at a leisurely pace.
Tony glanced at the empty plate and beer bottle between them and sighed. “Yeah.”
“You’ve got a budget meeting in an hour.”
Tony gave in to the sensation he’d been fighting almost all morning and dropped his forehead hard on the countertop. The noise he made in the back of his throat was downright childish, but all Natasha did was chew her steak and smile.
TBC
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