Title: A Touch of Smith and Jones: Found... But Still Searching: Reset
Fandoms: Iron Man (2008)/Doctor Who (Torchwood)/Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD
Ficverse: A Touch of Smith and Jones
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None for Parts I & II, slash in Part III. Some spoilers for seaon 3 of (new) Doctor Who.
Summary: Tony is still struggling to figure out what to do with his life after returning from Afghanistan; and Fury deals with a few new snags in the SI case.
Author's Notes: Sequel to Found...But Still Searching. Set during the movie. Classic Fury (he was already established in the ficverse before Iron Man came out) and set within the Doctor Who universe. Big thanks to Kindar for the betacheck-- any mistakes remaining are my own fault.
Disclaimer: Iron Man and some dialog is the property of MVL LLC. Doctor Who and Torchwood are the property of the BBC. No profit is being made from this fanfic.
Chapter One
The sunrise was only hinted at in the sky to Pepper's left as she pulled past the security gate at the end of Westward Beach Road and headed up the tree lined driveway that led to Tony Stark's mansion. Reminiscence of a John Lautner design with it's sweeping flat white roofs and curving walls of glass, the mansion was surprisingly secluded perched on Point Dume where it overlooked the Pacific Ocean and after taking the long way in to avoid driving through the subdivision crowded against the north side of the property, Pepper was relieved to finally be pulling into her parking space.
"Good morning, Miss Potts."
Pepper glanced up at the ceiling as she stepped into the hall leading to the living section of the mansion. "Good morning Jarvis," she said automatically as she paused to key her i-dent code into the security system. She squinted at the wall panel and was pleased when it went from blue to green. 5 am and no caffeine yet; it was a good thing she could enter those numbers in her sleep.
"You are in surprisingly early this morning."
She nodded as she headed for the kitchen. "Yes. I thought it would be wise to be available during the Board of Directors meeting in case there were any questions that needed answering."
"Ah. I'm sure there will be. I took the liberty of starting the coffee machine for you. We received a shipment of Fazenda Santa Ines; I'm hoping that will be satisfactory?"
"Yes, thank you Jarvis, that would be wonderful," she said then had to smile at the absurdity of this conversation. When had she started thinking of Jarvis as a person instead of the artificial intelligence running the house? A puzzled frown followed the smile. And why was there coffee in the machine? She remembered kicking herself for not setting it up when she had gotten home last night. So why...
She shook her head. There's coffee, that's all that matters. I've got more important things to worry about today.
When she reached the foyer, Pepper turned right, heading for her office to drop her purse on her desk. As she walked, she let her gaze wander over the familiar surroundings. She had been surprised at how hollow and empty the mansion had felt without Tony's personality to fill it during the three months he had been missing. That had not the first time she'd been left alone in the mansion— there were months where she'd be there more than Tony— however, she'd always had a good idea where he was and that eventually he'd be back; usually unannounced in the middle of the night with a guest she'd have to escort out in the morning. But while he'd been missing...
The smell of the coffee distracted her from thoughts she'd hoped had been put to rest when Tony had returned. She pulled down a mug and filled it then leaned against the counter to enjoy her first sip of the day. She knew where Tony was this time; and while he was in New York, she'd have a few hours of relative peace to clear out the emails in Tony's account that would have shown up during the night; she was sure every board member and shareholder had tried to contact him about today's Board of Directors meeting over the last five day. By lunchtime she knew the messages would have a completely different tone and would be going straight into her email and voicemail. Tony would be on his way back by then— she couldn't remember Tony ever lasting through a full Board meeting— and she'd be in full spin control.
The smile returned. She had to admit, she missed the challenges that Tony brought into her life though there were times she felt like the cat wrangling cowboys from the Super Bowl ad that ran a few years back. Pushing away from the counter, Pepper headed back to her desk.
As she came around the corner she ran into someone coming up the stairs that lead down to Tony's workroom. She staggered back and felt them grab her arm then her coffee cup before she could drop it. When she looked up, she found Tony right in front of her, giving her a small smile and a raised eyebrow. He waited for her to regain her balance then let go and walked over to the red burl coffee table to pick something up.
It took a little longer for Pepper to regain her mental balance. She stared at Tony, her heart beating rapidly— from surprise or something else she couldn't tell— as she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
He gave her a puzzled look as he straightened. "I live here, remember?"
"You're supposed to be in New York!" She could tell he was trying to figure out why he'd need to be in New York and she waved a hand in exasperation. "The Board of Director's meeting," she said, "you're supposed to be there right now." She glared at him, which only caused the smile on his face to become more pronounced.
Okay, amusement was not the response I was looking for, Tony. "I left post it notes on the bathroom mirror to remind you when I left yesterday! Didn't you see them?"
"Nope, haven't been upstairs," he said.
You've been down in the workroom all night? She wasn't sure why she was caught off-guard by that, or why it left an uneasy feeling in her chest; it wasn't as if she hadn't had to remind him that the human body actually needed sleep and food from time to time to continue functioning. It sometimes made her wonder if artists starved not because they were poor, but because they forgot to eat when they were caught in the throws of the creative process.
But are you really caught up in whatever it is that you're doing down there or are you avoiding the outside world right now, Tony? She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to that.
As he walked back to the stairs, she blocked his path and tried once more to get him moving in the direction the CEO of Stark Industries should have been going. It was the job he hired her to do. "If you leave now," she pointed out, "you can still make it."
Tony paused. He glanced at the ceiling, then at her. The smile was gone. "Obie'll take care of things," he said firmly, then he sidestepped her and headed down the stairs.
"Tony!"Pepper sucked in a deep breath, held it for a count of five, then trailed after him.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Pepper was able to said in a calmer voice, "You should be at that meeting, Tony. It's the future of your company they'll be discussing."
He glanced over his shoulder as he picked what looked like a sash off one of the worktables. The sash had several electronic component attached to it and the ends of the sash were anchored into a circular piece that reminded her of the rim of the Arc Reactor sitting in his chest.
"You really think it's a good idea for me to be there?" he asked as he walked over to the lounge area in one corner of the workroom.
She forced herself to think objectively about how things would go with Tony at the meeting then sighed at her conclusions. "Probably not," she admitted. "You'd just spend the whole meeting pushing their buttons." Tony chuckled as he dropped into one of the leather chairs facing a flat screen TV.
"Exactly," he said with a lopsided grin. "If I was there, they'd start demanding answers, I'd start messing with their heads..." He shrugged. As he looked down at the sash in his hand, his expression suddenly turning sharp and hard, he muttered more to himself than to her, "And I'm not starting up production until I know which direction I want to go."
Pepper bit her lip to keep from pointing out the reason for the Board of Director's meeting was to do just that, figure out what direction Stark Industries should take. But she had learned over the years when to pick her fights and she could tell this was one she wouldn't win.
There was also something about his expression that troubled her. There was a sense of potential violence there, like a house cat that suddenly spots a mouse and becomes the hunter it truly was.
That was not the Tony Stark she knew; that Tony was the gentlest man she'd ever met.
And yet that Tony designed some of the most effective killing machines of the modern world, remember?
Pepper stared down at the mug of coffee still in her hand. Which he designed to protect people. A chill ran through her.
And now? Who are you protecting now, Tony? Her grip on the cup handle tightened as the chill became an unexpected burst of anger.
Someone better make those terrorists pay for what they've done to you, she thought; then she shook her head and the anger dissipated, leaving her tired and bemused.
As she wrapped both hands around her mug, she asked quietly without looking up, "Is there anything you need, Mr. Stark?"
"Nope, I'm all set," he responded absently, his focus on the device in his hand. "I'll call if I need anything. Thanks."
Nodding, she turned and headed back upstairs to deal with the chaos Tony would have generated by doing nothing at all.
Colonel Nicholas Fury cursed whoever the hell it was that was calling him as he kicked his mind awake and reached blindly for the ringing satellite phone. Rolling off the couch he had claimed an hour earlier, he checked the caller ID and wandered over to the window to look out at the NATO ISAF base in Kabul as he punched the call in.
"Fury," he snapped.
"This is agent Coulson, sir. We've had something come up in the Stark Industries case that I thought you should be aware of."
Fury frowned as he stared at the glowing digital clock that showed the local time. He then did a quick calculation of the time where Coulson was. 0235 Saturday here so that makes it just after 1500 yesterday in LA, he thought. What the hell could have come up before dinner on a Friday afternoon that I need to know about ? "Go ahead."
"The agents assigned to watch Obidiah Stane just reported in that Stane is currently in a meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Defense following the conclusion of the SI Board of Director's Meeting in Manhattan."
The frown turned into a scowl. "He's in a meeting with Harold Saxon? What the hell for?"
"It appears to be an informal visit, sir," Coulson said cautiously in a flat neutral tone.
Fury rolled his good eye even as his scowl eased. He'd snatched Phillip L. Coulson out of Harvard's economics graduate program back when he was rebuilding SHIELD before the CIA could snag the man. He had placed him in SHIELD's Financial Intelligence (FININT) department and in five years Coulson was running the department and had been the perfect person to assign the Stark case to. However, Fury had quickly discovered that, though Coulson had the patience worthy of a saint when wading through all the paperwork a company generated looking for that one clue needed to push a case forward, the man hated to make a guess without reams of facts to back him up. Fury was always entertained when he had to force the man to work outside his comfort zone.
"Not what I asked, Coulson."
There was an irritated sigh on the other end of the call. "My guess is that Saxon is inquiring as to the current state of Stark Industries. Saxon Enterprise was scheduled to put UNIT's Valiant aerial platform into operation on the 15th, of this month, but they've pushed the date to the 26th. Several of the high end electronics are sourced through Stark Industries. It's possible the launch is being delayed by the SI shutdown and Saxon wants a definite date as to when their systems will be delivered."
"Wait, back up. What do you mean, the Valiant was originally scheduled to go into operations on the 15th? How the hell is that possible?"
"Uh, sorry sir, I can't answer that; it's not exactly my department. Why wouldn't it be possible?"
As he paced through the dark office, Fury voiced his thoughts "The Valiant is almost twice the size of the Helicarrier— how is it Saxon Enterprises managed to build the thing in fourteen months? It took Lockheed Martin six years to build the Helicarrier and they had over twenty years to play with the plans."
"Advances in manufacturing technologies? The Helicarrier was built over ten years ago."
Fury shook his head. "They haven't advanced that much. It still takes almost five years to build a conventional aircraft carrier and an aerial platform ain't exactly something you wanna fast track." Stopping by the window again, he rubbed his temple.
"And okay, getting back to your department, wouldn't this meeting be considered a conflict of interest on Saxon's end? He dumped the remains of his stake in Saxon Enterprise to avoid that issue when he was tapped for the SecState position. Why take the chance to have that accusation come up now, especially since he's in the running for the Prime Minister seat?"
"This appears to be nothing more than a chance meeting, sir."
"Like hell it is." Narrowing his eye, Fury asked, "And what exactly did you pull on Saxon, Coulson? You wouldn't have thrown that analysis out unless you'd done some checking."
Coulson sounded perplexed as he answered. "To be honest, there was nothing to pull."
"What do you mean, nothing? He's the UK SecState of Defense; our file on him should be at least an inch thick."
"Not my department?"
"Ha, very funny," Fury muttered.
"It is the truth though. What we have on him reads more like a press release than a background file. Saxon only appeared on the political scene a little over four months ago, maybe we haven't a chance to build up the file? Still, there's got to be something the analysts missed, no one is this perfect." Coulson's voice had taken on a keen edge even as it trailed off; it was the closest the man got to sounding passionate. And you can't wait for me to turn you loose on that file, can you, Coulson.
But wait, four months ago? That's right; he took the SecState position just before Christmas; and then, less than a month later, Stark got himself kidnapped. Fury stared at the ISAF base, still active even at this time of night, as he considered which way to throw Coulson. Was there a connection to the Stark case, or could Coulson be right and this meeting was nothing more than a quick status check by Saxon on behalf of a constituent? Saxon Enterprises was one of the big economic players over there.
"What happened at the SI meeting?" Fury asked, deciding he needed more information before he let Coulson loose on the Saxon file. Not that the man couldn't do more than one thing at a time, but the last thing Fury needed was more Stark tech getting into the hands of the bad guys. He needed to plug the that leak before he started losing agents. That, and he still owed Howard Stark for helping him get SHIELD up and running the first time around. He still carried a nugget of guilt for failing to track down whoever had been responsible for the so called accident that had killed both Howard and his wife Maria Stark back in '91. Fury still wondered if the collapse of the original SHIELD had been connected to Howard's death in some way.
There was a pause on Coulson's end that deepened the scowl on Fury's face. "What happened, Coulson," he asked again.
"The Board is filing an injunction against Tony Stark stating he is suffering from post traumatic stress and that his actions are not in the best interest of the company."
Shit. "Who proposed that?"
"It appears to have be a general consensus."
Fury heard the reluctant but in that sentence. "And your opinion?"
Coulson took a deep breath before admitting, "Obidiah Stane."
Well great, that's just what I need right now; a power play and a leak in the world's largest weapons manufacturing company.
Fury gritted his teeth for a moment, then sharply exhaled as he made his decision. "Right. I want you to find out if Saxon and Stane have ever met before this meeting. Also, I want a FININT team to flesh out the Saxon file. I want it done in the black— paper trails searches only, no shadowing. If I get wind of anyone following Saxon physically to get info I'll take them down myself— clear?" He continued on without giving Coulson a chance to respond.
"I want an update regarding the current state of the SI investigation plus a summary of the Saxon file on my desk in thirty hours. Gonna have to pull a long weekend, Coulson."
"Was already expecting to, sir. Coulson out." A smile quirked Fury's lips at the hint of excitement in Coulson's voice as he turned the phone off. You're odd, Coulson, you know that? No one else I know would look forward to spending their weekend digging through paperwork. But then that's why I recruited you wasn't it? You fit right in with the rest of the oddballs I got working for me.
Fury turned and tossed the phone on the end table as he dropped back onto the couch. He was going to have his own busy weekend to deal with. One of his agents had caught a rumor of a delivery of Stark's mountain-buster missiles to the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings; the same group that had kidnapped Stark. It was the last thing Fury wanted to hear; the world's top terrorist organization with missiles that could level a mountain. Still, there was nothing he could do about that until morning when he met with the agent.
Fury closed his eyes and was back to sleep within minutes. More than sixty years as a solider had taught him the importance of catching sleep whenever he could; though heaven help anyone else who tried to call him, no matter how urgent it was.
Unless it was a call saying the world was about to end. He'd take that call.
Pepper watched from the porch as Obidiah's limo came to a stop. She briefly rubbed her arms against the slight chill in the air as Happy stepped off the curb and opened the back door, then took the maroon insulated pizza bag that Obidiah held out to him. It was an even bet that it contained the 18' special from Ray's Pizza on Prince Street; that was usually what Tony picked up when he was slumming it food-wise in New York. The CFO of Stark Industries stepped out of the limo and gave her a sympathetic smile.
There had been no doubt in her mind that Obidiah would be stopping by after the meeting and had prepared for the worst. It appeared though, at least going by the pizza and the smile, that Obidiah either had time to calm down after finding out Tony had skipped out on the meeting, or he had not been all that surprised by Tony's absence. Most likely it had been the later.
It had taken her several hours to accept the fact that she should not have been surprised by Tony's move. I guess everything really is getting back to normal, she thought with a sigh. That shouldn't be a bad thing, should it?
"I'm assuming he's still hiding out here?" Obidiah asked as he joined her on the porch. Nodding, she led the way into the mansion.
"He's been in the workroom all day; unless he slipped out through the basement garage." Realizing that was a possibility, at least it was something the old Tony would have done, she glanced back at Happy just to be sure.
Happy shrugged. "Nope, he's still down there."
Obidiah looked at Happy as well as they stepped into the living room. "Working on what?"
"I have no idea, sir."
As Happy pulled the white cardboard pizza box out of the maroon one and set it on the coffee table, Pepper said, "He's been down there every day since he got back." She tapped the intercom button on the small black wall unit opposite the stairs to the workroom. "Tony, Obidiah's here." She turned back to Obidiah. "And I don't know what he's doing down there either."
A thoughtful look crossed Obidiah's face as he glanced at the stairs. Pepper felt an odd moment of panic when she spotted the brown wrapped package containing the old Arc Reactor sitting on top of a few files, on a side table near the stairs. She was sure the last thing Tony wanted was R&D getting their hands on it— which was one of the reasons she hadn't just thrown it out like he had asked; no telling who would have gotten their hands on it if she'd just chucked the thing, and who could she trust to dismantle it but someone at Stark Industries?— but thankfully the package failed to draw Obidiah's attention to it.
"Have you had a chance to look over the meeting notes?" Obidiah asked as he turned away and headed for the alcove that held the bar and a glossy black concert grand.
"They haven't arrived yet." She hit the button again. "Tony."
"It should have. I told my secretary to forward a copy to your email." Obidiah held a glass up in her direction and raised an eyebrow. She shook her head.
"I'm still processing this morning's emails," she explained then pressed the intercom again. "Tony?"
Chuckling softly, Obidiah poured himself a drink. "Yeah, I'm sure you are. I'll have a hard copy sent over tomorrow morning."
"Thank you." She shook her head and turned away from the intercom. "I better go get him. I'll be right back."
"Take your time; I'm in no hurry." As she picked up the items on the side table, Obidiah settled at the piano and started to play.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she shifted the items to one hand and tapped in the security code to open the door to the workroom. She spotted Tony working on something at a table in the corner. When the door slid open, there was a cacophony of electronic clicks and whirs from the machines around Tony but the rest of the workroom was silent. She was beginning to miss the deafening music Tony used to play to fill that silence.
"I've been buzzing you." She set the items down. "Didn't you hear the intercom?"
"Yeah, everything's..." He blinked and looked up as if surprised to see her actually in the workroom. "What?"
You were answering my pages, you simply forgot to turn the intercom on, didn't you?Pepper was too tired to be exasperated by that though and simply said, "Obidiah's upstairs."
"Great."
Stopping, Pepper gave Tony a curious look. The sash she had seen earlier was now strapped diagonally across his chest and the circular section was hooked around the Arc Reactor and was glowing brightly. Several wires led down from the sash to a device that encased Tony's right arm and at one end, covering his palm, was a circle that was also glowing just as brightly as the Arc Reactor.
She waited for some other response than great but when he remained focused on the device, using a small screwdriver to fiddle with the elbow joint, she tried something that required an actual response to catch his attention.
"What would you like me to tell him?"
"Great. I'll be right up. Okay." He lifted his arm free of the stand and shifted his stance to balance the extra weight. As he straightened his arm out, holding it parallel to the table top, the image of a young Tony Stark pointing his finger and going bang suddenly popped into Pepper's head.
She frowned. "I thought you said you were done making weapons?"
"It isn't. This is a flight stabilizer." When he seemed satisfied with his stance, he added firmly, "It's completely harmless," and slapped a button on the worktable.
Having no idea what the thing was supposed to do, Pepper was startled by the flash that erupted from Tony's palm that blew several objects off the table and sent Tony flying in the opposite direction. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and ducked, covering her ears against the sudden burst of noise, then quickly looked up to see if Tony was still in one piece.
"I didn't expect that," Tony said from where he had ended up on the floor with his back against the metal shelving unit that had stopped his flight. He brushed off a few electronic components from the shelves that had landed in his lap, then scowled at the mess scattered around him.
Energized by the adrenaline now coursing through her, Pepper shouted, "Completely harmless?"
Tony shrugged. "I'm still working out the thrust ratios." He looked at his glowing palm and muttered, "And, okay, Newton's Third Law here. Need to adjust the thrust output to number of units in use against current weight and gear."
"Would you like me to remind you of that next time, sir?" Jarvis suddenly asked.
"No, I think getting thrown into the wall twice is a good enough reminder. Thanks."
Twice? Pepper waited for some kind of explanation of that comment, but when Tony remained sitting on the floor staring at his hand, she gave up and asked cautiously, "Should I get Happy?"
Tony nodded as he used the heel of his shoe to drag a scrap of paper that had been blown to the floor towards him. Pulling a pen out, he started scribbling equations on it wrong handed. "Yeah, that might be a good idea." He paused, crossed out a line and started over. "Ask him to bring the aspirin too."
"Right." Pepper took a deep breath. "Are you sure you're all right?"
He gave her a reassuring smile and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm fine, Pepper. Tell Happy to come in the back way and let Obie know I'll be up in a few minutes." He set his arm back on the stand and started unhooking the device. "I've almost got this thing figured out."
Pepper felt her earlier irritation return as she headed back upstairs and wondered what exactly 'a few minutes' meant to this version of Tony Stark.