Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Harvey (Harv) Matheson had been an official Stark Industries photographer since July of 1972, only two months after he graduated from UCLA with a BA is Photography. He had seen SI grow over the years and he had personally documented many of the changes that had occurred within Stark Industries since then. Although his specialty was technical documentation with the Research and Development Department, he was often called upon to take photos for the SI Public Relations department when they needed a vetted photographer to help photograph events in a favorable light for Stark Industries. Through the years he had seen both triumphs for SI, which included the birth of Anthony Edward Stark and tragedies, which unfortunately included the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark.
Harv had been close to both Howard and Maria Stark and he had been called on by the Stark family to photograph many private events for them. He had photographed Tony Stark since birth for Howard and Maria, and as a result, Harv had grown quite close to Tony over the years. After his parent's death, Harv watched sadly as Tony closed himself off from everyone as he dove off an emotional cliff, immersing himself in alcohol, drugs, and sex. SI and in particular Obadiah Stane did their best to hide Tony from the public eye during this time. Harv had called in a lot of favors during this period in Tony's life from fellow photographers who had collected an assortment of damaging photos of Tony in an effort to stop these photos from being published. Harv had been successful many times. But as Tony's antics grew more numerous and videos of Tony became more widely circulated through out the media, Harv had to finally give up trying to stop the increasing flow of negative photos and videos of Tony.
When Tony was appointed CEO, Harv had been there to photograph the event. Harv knew that the only reason Tony was appointed CEO was that SI and Stane had to abide by the conditions of Howard Stark's will; Tony being appointed CEO at the age of 21 being one of those conditions. Everyone, including Harv of course, knew that Stane was the real CEO of the company. Tony was totally wasted before and during this ceremony and so Stane had ordered the event closed to the press in an effort to do damage control which left Harv to photograph the event in a manner which minimized Tony's negative exposure as much as possible which given the circumstances was quite a feat. After becoming CEO, Tony's visits to R&D became fewer and farther between, so Harv was seeing less and less of Tony as time went on. Before long it seemed that the only photos that Harv shot anymore which included Tony were the executive staff photos. It had been a tradition with SI that the executive staff be photographed with their respective bosses. So Harv was always there to document the 'PA of the Week' as the senior PR people called the latest Personal Assistant to Tony. It was quite apparent to SI's PR and Legal team that Tony's PAs were nothing more than sex toys for Tony. But unfortunately Tony's ex-PAs also became press headaches and sexual harassment lawsuits for Stark Industries too. Harv had started to actually dread getting the call from Tony's secretary for a photo session with each 'new' PA. Harv came to expect that either Tony or the PA or sometimes both of them were either drunk or high. And he was usually not wrong. Harv also knew that he was going to practically beg them to keep their hands off of each other and to at least act like professionals until he could get one appropriate photo taken of the two of them. Most of Tony's PAs lasted until their first paycheck or their first meeting with the SI attorney when they filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, whichever came first. There were only a few that lasted until their second paycheck.
So by the time the 63rd personal assistant for Tony was to be photographed just one week before Tony's 25th birthday, Harv had grown quite weary of this particular job assignment. As Harv entered Tony's office ready to find a partially clothed Tony, PA or both, he was actually surprised when he found Tony sitting together with a beautiful, strawberry blond actually working on a quarterly budget presentation, and not each other. He immediately recognized the young woman as Virginia Potts from Accounting. Harv remembered her from a year ago as being one of the new hires brought in as part of a junior executive program that SI ran hiring exceptional college grads into key positions within the company in order to groom them for promotion into upper management positions. Harv was always called in to photograph these new hires as a group as part of the program's permanent documentation. So quite naturally Harv assumed that Ms. Potts was with Tony in his office as part of her duties from accounting. He was very surprised indeed when he learned that Ms. Potts had recently accepted the position of PA to Tony. Harv was even more surprised when he began his shoot with them, noting how professional and businesslike both of them acted towards each other. Tony insisted that they be posed standing together in front of the large window in his office which looked down upon the SI complex. Their relative positions to each other evoked a feeling of equality to the camera's eye. Tony had never posed with any of his PAs in that manner before. And Harv was fairly certain that Tony had never treated a woman like he was treating Ms. Potts at the moment either. Harv took several photos of them before he was satisfied with his 'official' shot. In speaking with Ms. Potts for a few minutes afterwards, Harv found her to be a warm, friendly person, and he could sense a great intelligence and conviction behind her easy manner. Harv immediately liked her.
His curiosity now peaked; Harv did some digging on Ms. Potts when he returned to his office. Virginia 'Pepper' Potts held a BS and MBA in Finance from UCLA by the age of 21. She was recruited heavily by SI and in particular by Bernie Sharp head of accounting and she was soon hired into the SI junior executive training program. Harv also found out that Ms. Potts had been accepted into the PHD program at UCLA at the age of 22, using the SI tuition program to help to pay the weighty costs for this advanced degree and that she was on track to earn her PHD by the time she was 26.
Asking around the PR department, Harv found out that Pepper had been hired by Tony to be his PA after Pepper called him out on a math error during a quarterly R & D budget meeting. Eyewitnesses in the meeting said that Tony had adjourned the meeting immediately at that point requesting that Ms. Potts remain alone with him in the conference room. A few of the braver eyewitnesses who had remained within earshot of the conference room remarked that they actually heard the raised voices of both Tony and Ms. Potts through the closed doors of the conference room. But after about ten minutes of relative quiet that followed all of the shouting, both Tony and Ms. Potts emerged from the conference room, neither of them visibly bloodied, but leaving the conference room quickly in opposite directions. Bernie had pitched quite the fit when Tony had called him later that day to tell him that Ms. Potts was going to be his new PA, and he had even persuaded Mr. Stane to speak with Tony on Bernie's behalf. But Tony never backed off of his decision.
As Harv developed the photographs of his shoot with Tony and Pepper, one photo in particular caught his eye. It was the one of the preliminary shots that he had taken in which Tony and Pepper had locked eyes briefly with one another over some outrageous comment that Tony had made. Harv knew at that moment that his photo had somehow captured a spark between the two of them. Harv smiled to himself as he saved that particular photo into a private file that Howard Stark had insisted Harv keep, documenting Tony's personal growth into the SI business. It had been many years since Harv had filed any photo of Tony in that particular file, but Harv had a hunch that Pepper was to play a significant role both in Tony's SI business and personal life from then on.
As Pepper continued to outlast her predecessors, Harv continued to have interactions with her. He found her to be a genuine pleasure to work with, always the consummate professional, with a firm grasp on the realities of Stark Industries and an even firmer grasp on Tony Stark. And of course, Harv was very happy to be relieved of his 'PA of the Week' photo shoots. As the months working for Tony became years, Pepper Potts had even become somewhat of a folk legend to the entire PR department at SI as she continuously saved them countless hours of work righting Tony's political and personal wrongs. The PR Department had gone as far as mounting her photo on the wall of one of PR's small, private conference rooms with the caption 'Our Hero' in gold lettering underneath it. Pepper had seen the photo once, and had good-naturedly remarked that the caption should read 'Our Heroine' instead.
Harv still managed to get photos of the two of them when PR called him in for press conferences and various internal and external presentations. As the years passed, Harv noticed how close Tony Stark and Pepper Potts had become both as co-workers and friends. Harv would invariably take a few extra shots of the two of them as she would adjust his tie or fix his hair prior to the start of a press conference and before the 'official' photos were taken. Harv had once remarked to some of the senior PR staff members that his photos of Tony and Pepper together had started to resemble more of a old married couple than co-workers. Their group had all agreed that getting married to Pepper Potts would be one of the best things that could ever happen to Tony Stark. Harv knew that Tony still had problems with alcohol, but it seemed that at least the drugs had become a problem of the past. Harv figured that Pepper's 'zero' tolerance personality had played a large part in that exodus. Given his fame and wealth, women still hung from Tony with both frequency and abandon. But even his playboy lifestyle was becoming less flamboyant, and less visible to the press. Tony became more and more productive as the years went by, and Harv's workload in technical documentation became heavier and heavier. But Harv was happiest doing that part of his job, so he never complained.
Harv and Pepper had developed a good friendship over the years. She was a good photographer herself, landscapes being her primary interest and Harv was always quick to give her advice anytime she needed it. In 2005 he had asked her about her continuing education while both of them waited for a press conference on a new DOD contract to begin and she had told him that she had received her doctorate a few weeks earlier. Harv had then teased her about being 'Doctor Pepper' and she had laughed with him about her new title telling him that wasn't the first time someone had called her that. Harv had prodded her a few times after that press conference about moving up in the company and putting her education to better use. But she would always smile at him and tell him 'I like my job.' and the discussion about her leaving Tony would end.
One morning, Harv was called into the office at 4:30AM to attend an emergency internal PR meeting. He found out that Tony had gone missing while in Afghanistan demonstrating the Jericho missile just a few hours before. Stane was at the meeting as was Pepper. Harv noticed that Pepper spent most the meeting on her Blackberry talking with the US military about the military's search efforts. One of SI's attorneys spoke to the assembled group during the meeting, and the attorney made very clear that Ms. Potts was legally now acting as Tony's proxy in Tony's behalf until Tony returned as per Mr. Stark's own written legal orders. Stane became visibly upset with the attorney's statement and he waved the attorney off, saying that they would discuss the details of Mr. Stark's orders at a later time. Pepper was surprisingly not emotional at all and proceeded to direct the meeting at that point, as Stane still fumed. They came up with several press releases and set up a press conference for 9:00AM. They all agreed that both Pepper and Stane would handle the questions from the press during all press conferences.
That first press conference went fairly smoothly with Pepper taking over for Stane quickly and handling the press well. This didn't surprise Harv at all. Pepper had been handling the press behind the scenes for over 10 years. Even though he knew that Pepper did not relish being in the spotlight, she was a very capable leader. Harv knew that Pepper had known many of the members of the press for years and had always treated them fairly and with respect. As a result, she was well respected by most members of the media. At the podium, Pepper was calm and collected: the epitome of grace under pressure. At first the press was a little unruly, but Pepper soon had them calmed down and under her control. Harv was impressed to see her work the room, but then she had a good teacher: Tony was a master at this sort of thing. Harv got some great pictures of Pepper even though dark circles under her eyes betrayed both her worry as well as a lack of sleep.
The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into one month, then two with no sign of Tony. To go this long without ransom demands did not look favorable for Tony's wellbeing. As more weeks passed, the press, as well as most SI employees had given up on Tony ever being found alive again. There was even talk that the military was about to abandon their search for him. Tony's kidnapping was no longer front page news. It seemed that everyone had been quick to give up hope for the missing 'billionaire playboy' as the press had labeled him. SI still held weekly press conferences at the main building but coverage in the press seating area had been getting sparser with each passing week.
Pepper had been holding up well until after Tony's second month of absence. Harv still showed up to represent SI at the weekly press conferences and still took pictures of Pepper. But he noticed now that by Day 67 Pepper had started to lose weight, and her eyes had started to lose their luster too. On film, it seemed her spark of life was dimming and this saddened him. Harv had heard through the SI grapevine that Stane had been trying to strong arm her recently into giving up her legal right to act on Tony's behalf, and several reliable witnesses had reported several heated meetings taking place between the two of them. But Pepper never gave in or gave up. She even started giving the R&D group directions for several projects that Tony had in the works when he had disappeared. She still went to board meetings as Tony's representative. Harv had also heard through his reliable SI grapevine that most of the SI Board of Directors were actually happy with Pepper's performance during Tony's absence. And that only a few of the Board members who just so happened to be in tight with Stane did not approve of Pepper's performance as Tony's proxy.
By the 91st day of Tony's absence, Pepper's iron will had started to crumble. At the weekly conference, she looked as if she hadn't slept in days. Harv refused to take pictures during the press conference and he found himself talking to fellow photographers asking them to put their cameras down. Some of them did, others shot pictures only of Stane who seemed remarkably fresh and energized. The big news of the day was that the search for Tony was to be officially called off tomorrow. Stane was also pushing to have Tony legally declared dead. Suddenly the reason for Pepper's lack of sleep became apparent to Harv.
Harv noticed that Pepper spent most of the press conference on her cell phone. Just when Harv thought that the press conference was ending, Pepper suddenly stood up and approached the podium. She announced that she was able to extend the search for Tony for one more week by way of a presidential order to the military. Harv knew that Pepper had some pretty high up connections at the Fed, and this Presidential order proved just how high up Pepper had gone in order to help Tony. Harv saw barely restrained fury in Stane's face. Suddenly Harv feared for Pepper's safety. Stane had the reputation as a cold- blooded businessman who always got his way and who wasn't afraid to put the fear of god in anyone for the right price. Pepper calmly concluded the press conference and quickly left the auditorium, followed closely by Tony's bodyguard, Hap Hogan.
Harv had driven over to Tony's mansion at Pepper's request early the following day to photograph some larger pieces of equipment that Tony had designed before he had disappeared. Pepper had intended to use his photos in her presentation to R&D the following week. Harv was more than happy to help. As Pepper led him into Tony's workshop, Pepper politely allowed him to place his equipment bag on a cleared table near the equipment he was to photograph. Suddenly Pepper's Blackberry began ringing. Harv noted the worried expression on Pepper's face as she answered the call. She suddenly raised a trembling hand to her face and began to cry uncontrollably. Harv immediately pulled over a straight backed chair and gently pushed her down to sit in it fearing that she would collapse at any second, as her body continued to be racked by sobs. Harv dreaded the worst when he heard a male voice through her cell phone imploring her to calm down. Suddenly Pepper stopped crying, her red-rimmed eyes opened wide in amazement as a new voice could be heard coming out of her cell phone. Harv realized within seconds that this new voice was the voice of Tony Stark who called out her name several times trying to calm her down, told her that he was OK, how much he had missed her and promised her that he would see her the next day. Knowing then that her tears were of happiness and not sorrow, Harv had pulled out his camera to capture this happy moment as she spoke quietly to Tony, her eyes still full of tears, told him how much she had missed him, and that her and Happy would meet him at the Air Force base the next day. Harv was struck by what he would describe as love and longing on her face as she spoke to Tony. After she disconnected the call, she turned and smiled a watery smile at Harv and made him promise her not to say anything to anyone about what he had just heard, citing Tony's safety. Harv was going to save those photographs of Pepper for a later time. Harv of course had agreed and both he and Pepper returned to the task of photographing the equipment for her R&D presentation. But Harv had noticed that her eyes once again held that sparkle of life within them and that a smile seemed to be ever present on her face as they worked. Harv had even talked her into eating lunch with him and he was relieved when her appetite appeared to have returned with a vengeance. She had lost a lot of weight since Tony had been kidnapped, weight that she did not have to spare and he had been quite concerned about her gaunt appearance in the past few weeks.
Harv was there in the SI auditorium the next day, and even with the large crowd he was able to get a few photos of Tony and Pepper as they walked in the front door of the SI main building towards the auditorium. Harv noted that Tony looked battered and bruised as he shook a few hands, and his face was somber but determined. Pepper was all smiles and the look in her eyes was one of happiness mixed with something Harv labeled in own his mind at the time as pride. As he took some additional photos of Tony after he had sat down in front of the podium, Tony suddenly announced that SI would no longer make weapons. The room suddenly erupted into chaos as Stane tried to play down what Tony had just announced. Pepper moved swiftly to the front of the room taking Tony by his uninjured arm and lead him into the side hallway and away from the press as SI Security ran block for them not allowing the press to follow them. The mood of the SI employees suddenly went from elation to depression within the span of seconds. They were suddenly a weapons company that didn't make weapons anymore. Rumors of mass layoffs started circulating immediately. As expected SI stock tanked that day.
SI was just starting to recover from Tony's weapons discontinuance announcement a few weeks after Tony's miraculous return. Pepper had been presenting green initiative projects to R&D on Tony's behalf, trying to get the SI engineers motivated to move away from weapons design. Harv admired her determination and her engineering expertise as he sat in on a few of those meetings with Tony's top R & D engineers. It was slow going, but Pepper finally managed to rally R&D into re-grouping under the Green Banner. Pepper had even done a presentation for the Board on Green Energy trying her best to promote a new direction for the company.
A few weeks later, Harv was present at Disney Hall for the annual SI Fireman's Benefit Gala as he had been for the past 28 years. Harv was always happy to bring his wife of 30 years, Danielle to these types of events because she thoroughly enjoyed mingling with his co-workers, especially Pepper. Harv had already taken many pictures of SI employees and various City of LA Fire Department personnel as well as Stane who had shown up in Tony's place that night. Pepper had managed to gain some of her weight back and she looked great in her new blue dress. Danielle and Pepper had even spent some 'girl time' together at the bar earlier in the evening. Harv had just come back from the men's room when he heard shouting near the entrance of the hall and he looked around surprised to see Tony walk into the hall and up to the bar. He noticed that Tony spoke to a gentleman at the bar for a few minutes before approaching Pepper who looked genuinely surprised to see him. As Tony pulled Pepper onto the dance floor, Harv started taking pictures of them as they danced. As Harv focused his camera lens on the dancing couple, he saw a very obvious expression of love and longing on Tony face as Pepper shyly looked down away from him as they slowly danced. Harv had known Tony long enough to know that he was now looking at a changed man. Living through Afghanistan may have actually gotten Tony to re-prioritize his life; Pepper now being at the top of his list and rightly so. Harv nudged his wife and pointed at the two of them as they continued dancing. His wife nodded approvingly at Harv and whispered "About damn time." to him as he smiled at her in return, both of them happy that Tony and Pepper appeared to finally be moving forward with their relationship. Danielle had predicted ten years ago that Tony and Pepper would marry insisting that the two of them were soul mates and thus destined to be together. Harv didn't know if he believed all of that soul mate mumbo jumbo. But he did know that if any two people deserved to be happy together, it was Pepper and Tony.
Not too long after the Fireman's Benefit, Harv was called in the middle of the night by PR when the Arc Reactor blew up. Harv had to wait with the rest of R&D for the emergency personnel to finish up before they could get access to the area. Late the next morning Harv was still busy taking photographs of what was left of the arc reactor for R&D's analysis, when PR called him back to the main building suddenly to photograph the news conference at SI's auditorium which was to explain the events of the previous night. Harv had seen the morning newspapers and his curiosity was peaked with the amateur photo of what was being called 'The Iron Man'. Harv waved at Pepper as she stood against the back wall of the room as he maneuvered for a photo of Tony at the podium. But before Harv could move more than a few steps, Tony unfortunately let the cat out of the bag and announced to the world that he was 'The Iron Man'. The room was suddenly uprooted as the press sprang to their feet, their shouting drowning out all semblance of order. SI security converged on Tony and surrounded him as they whisked him quickly out of the room, right past Harv. Harv recovered only quickly enough to get one photo of Tony as he grabbed Pepper by the hand and pulled her into him protectively, almost possessively, as SI security quickly led them both out of the room. Harv smiled to himself as he made his way through the press and back to his office: It seemed that Tony Stark was growing up in more ways than one now. Harv's private photo file for Tony grew that day by one.
Within a week of Tony admitting that he was Iron Man, it was revealed that Mr. Stane had died in a small plane crash. Some of Harv's R&D buddies had insisted that Stane was in the War Monger suit the night that the Arc Reactor exploded, but they were all puzzled that no trace or evidence of either Stane or the Iron Monger suit or for that matter any of the computer files associated with the Iron Monger. Although Stane had never been a popular executive, the SI family still pulled together at the private memorial service that was held. Harv was at the service and took photos of SI employees as they delivered eulogies. He took a few photos of Tony and Pepper as they entered the auditorium surprisingly hand in hand and as he gallantly guided her to her seat on the front row taking the seat right next to her, his arm protectively draped over the back of her chair. Harv noticed that Tony's eyes continuously sought out Pepper as he delivered his eulogy. Harv had been around the two of them long enough to know that there was something different about them that day. At first he thought it was the grief and shock of losing Stane. He couldn't put a finger on it exactly, but studying his photos later that day confirmed to himself that his suspicions were correct: it seemed that Pepper Potts and Tony Stark had (halleluiah!) become a couple. OK, so maybe not a 'couple' in the traditional sense of the word, but a couple nonetheless.
Less than two months after the memorial service for Stane, Tony had decided to re-launch the Stark Expo. But Tony's Iron Man duties left it upon Pepper to actually make the Expo a reality. Pepper's organizational skills proved unstoppable as she revamped the Expo, calling in favors from many of the long term SI employees who had been a part of the original SI Expo in the '80's, including Harv of course. She contacted universities and companies around the globe and got commitments from them on short notice for exhibits, lectures, material, and media that supported the original purpose of Howard Stark's first Expo. Within six weeks the Expo officially opened with Tony of course providing the opening fireworks as Iron Man. Even Harv was impressed.
Then came the summons to the Senate Hearings. Even though the SI PR department was frantic about Tony being subpoenaed to Capital Hill, Harv was actually happy to see Tony stand up for himself and Iron Man at the congressional hearing.
Harv arrived at work several days after the Capital Hill hearings to find a request on his desk from PR for some photos of Iron Man. Stark Industries it seemed was now linked with Iron Man, however tenuous that relationship might be, and PR was not above riding the coattails, or would that be thrusters in this case, of Iron Man's new found popularity. Harv had always considered himself somewhat of a closet geek, so he was very interested to see the Iron Man suit up close. He made a call to Pepper who was not overjoyed at the idea, but remarked that Tony's ego would not let him say 'no' to PR's photo shoot request.
So the following Saturday morning, Pepper met Harv at the front door of the Stark Malibu mansion and led him down to the workshop where he watched with acute interest as Tony Stark completed his transformation into Iron Man. After looking around the workshop for a few minutes, Harv decided to pose Tony in front of some generic electrical panels in the main power room of the mansion, not wanting to take a chance of exposing something proprietary. Tony had agreed and Harv went about setting up lights for the shoot. Pepper of course disappeared upstairs when he pulled out his camera. Harv could sense that something was wrong between the two of them just in the way she had looked at Tony.
After Harv was done and packed up, Tony motioned him over to the platform and let him watch as the robots disassembled the suit from around his body. This was the closest Harv had physically been to Tony for over a month. Harv was struck immediately by Tony's appearance: He looked like he had lost weight since Stane's memorial, his skin tone was bordering on pale, and he had dark circles under both eyes. Since Harv had known him since birth and he was never the one to mince words around Tony. Harv asked Tony point blank if he was sick and he shook his head sadly as he denied it, saying he was just tired from playing Iron Man too much. It struck Harv suddenly that Tony's new duties as Iron Man were not only running Tony down physically, but could also be the source of the apparent problems between Tony and Pepper.
Harv played a hunch and asked Tony when he and Pepper were getting married. He smiled sadly at Harv and said that she had turned him down cold when he had asked her to be his girlfriend, so he highly doubted that they would be getting married any time soon. Harv was somewhat relieved to hear that at least he hadn't given up on the idea of getting married to her. Harv knew that even though Tony was a certified genius, Tony didn't know jack about having a romantic relationship with a woman like Pepper. And Harv knew Pepper well enough to know why she had refused to be his girlfriend. Even though the two of them were alike in many ways, they had some pretty major differences when it came to responsibilities and commitments. Acting as a surrogate big brother to Tony over the years, Harv gently reminded Tony about Pepper and her regime of professional boundaries. Harv told Tony that he needs to break the walls down around both of them if really wanted a romantic relationship with her. As Harv shook his hand to leave, he reminded Tony to take better care of his health and to at least consider what he had said to him about changing Tony's relationship with Pepper because she was worth it. Tony had agreed with a tired smile that he would consider Harv's words.
As Harv moved his equipment out of the elevator, Pepper rose up from her spot on the large couch. Harv could see paperwork scattered for literally ten feet in all directions from where she had been seated. It became very clear to him just how much of Tony's job she was doing now that Tony had the 'part time' Iron Man gig. They spoke for a few minutes before she walked him to the front door. It was quite obvious to Harv that Pepper was every bit as frazzled on the inside as Tony appeared to be on the outside. As he drove away from the Stark Mansion, Harv couldn't help but hope that things would work out for Pepper and Tony. He was quite fond of both of them and considered both of them as family. Harv knew that they would be good together, after all Danielle had told him as much. And in the 30 plus years he had known his wife, she had never once been wrong about a relationship. Danielle had come by her nickname of 'Cupid' quite honestly.
The following Monday morning, Harv sat with the top PR managers in one of PR's smaller, more private conference rooms. Harv had his laptop out and they were all viewing his Iron Man photos on the wall screen at the front of the room. They had been discussing their selection of Iron Man photos that Harv had taken on Saturday and how they could be used in their planned PR campaign.
Martin Janus, the head of the PR Department suddenly let out what Harv was convinced was a 'howl' as he looked at his Blackberry. Martin quickly forwarded the email to Harv so he could put it up on the screen for everyone to read. It was an email from Tony Stark addressed to the Board of Directors and SI's senior management. Harv couldn't keep the smile off his face as he read the email.
'Effective immediately, I have resigned my post as CEO of Stark Industries, and I have appointed Ms. Virginia Anne Potts as my successor. I have made these decisions based on what would be best for Stark Industries. Ms. Potts possesses the intelligence, diligence, degreed education, work experience, corporate organizational skills, ethics, and loyalty to be, without question, one of the best CEOs that Stark Industries could ever hope to have. I know that all of you have known and worked with Ms. Potts throughout the years and that you all will agree with me that she is simply the best choice for the position of CEO.
I would be agreeable to accepting the open position of CTO of Stark Industries should it be offered to me. This position would allow me to continue to work with the SI R&D department, which has always been a priority for me throughout my career with Stark Industries, while allowing me enough personal time to devote to my other interests.
You all will soon be receiving meeting notices from Ms. Potts requesting your attendance in order to discuss the details of her transition to CEO. I sincerely hope that each of you will give Ms. Potts your full support and cooperation during both this transition period as well as her tenure as CEO, as she competently leads Stark Industries into the future.
I am forever grateful and indebted to the Stark Industries Family for your unconditional support and friendship during my years as CEO, especially during the times in my life when I didn't deserve either. It has been both an honor and privilege to work with all of you.
Sincerely,
Anthony Edward Stark'
Sonya Watkins, a 42 year veteran of SI's PR Department, looked over at Harv slyly. Harv knew he was about to be teased unmercifully for somehow having an inside track on this news, but not sharing. He had worked with the people in the room for decades, knew them quite well, and he trusted them. But no matter how much they cajoled him, Harv refused to disclose to them what Tony and he had discussed on Saturday. After all Tony was practically family to him. Harv just continued to smile like the cat who had just eaten the canary and said nothing. Pepper was a great choice for CEO and everyone in the room that morning was ecstatic about the news. Martin immediately tabled the Iron Man photo shoot project and he launched a new PR project whose goal was to promote Pepper as the new SI CEO to the media.
The PR department proceeded to shift into high gear that morning as they drafted the news release announcing Pepper's promotion. Harv had even managed get Pepper on the phone so he could up congratulate her. He had good naturedly teased her about being the 'big kahuna' now, and also reminded her that he needed some time with both her and Tony in order to get 'official' photos taken of them both for PR. Pepper had assured him that they would do that, but that she was currently quite busy defending Iron Man from the US government, babysitting the Expo, as well as Tony, and that she was not happy about letting Tony talk her in to going to the Monaco Grand Prix to cheer on the SI Formula 1 race car. Harv could hear the tension in her voice even though she tried to sound cheery for Harv. Harv had hoped that 12 years of training had been enough for Pepper to withstand the pressures of becoming CEO. Given the current situations involving both Tony and SI, Harv hoped that Pepper's past experience at juggling balls would serve her well in juggling the current load of hand grenades being tossed her way by both the US government and the press.
Within hours, SI Public Relations was already getting a lot of push back after their press release from that morning, especially from Fox News, clamoring for documentation of Pepper's qualifications. Harv was actually surprised that they didn't demand a copy of her birth certificate as well, being the anal journalists that they were. Not surprising Harv at all, Martin Janus stood his ground with the media and pushed right back defending Pepper's qualifications to be CEO as well as defending her previous relationship with Tony Stark which of course had now been morphed by the media into a sordid, sexual one. Martin had never been a big fan of Fox News and Harv smiled as he listened to Martin dress down one of Fox's senior reporters over the phone over accusations by the reporter that Pepper had somehow slept her way to the top of SI.
The next morning Harv joined the PR staff in watching the Monaco Grand Prix on the big screen in PR's large conference room. Within minutes of the start of the race, they all watched in disbelief as Tony replaced the SI driver and left the starting line in the SI Formula race car. Then less than a lap into the race they watched in horror as a man with what appeared to be electric whips and what looked to be a miniature arc reactor walked out onto the track mid field, causing the two cars in front of the SI car to collide littering the course with debris, then proceeded to cut Tony's car in half sending the SI car airborne in pieces only to land upside down. Sonya and a few of the other PR folks started crying at that point fearing that Tony was dead. Harv held onto to Sonya's hand as they continued to watch the TV. They saw a bloodied, but still alive Tony battling the electric whip man. Then in a blur a Rolls Royce came into view incredibly driving the wrong way on the race track, pinning the whip wielding man into the protective fencing. As the cameras zoomed in on the car, Harv was terrified to see that it was Happy and Pepper in the Rolls which was now quickly being cut into pieces by the electric whips. Then Pepper tossed out what looked to be a briefcase which quickly became an Iron Man suit engulfing Tony as he stood there. Harv heard everyone around him gasp as Iron Man kicked the Rolls out of harms way and proceeded to defeat the man of whips, but not before the whip guy got a few shots in on Tony. As the man was dragged off by police, everyone in the room was relieved that Tony, as well as Pepper and Happy were safe. Then Martin Janus raised his voice over the TV commentator's voice and called for an emergency meeting with everyone in PR to discuss use of the supposedly proprietary arc reactor by the whip man and the impending storm that Senator Stern would unleash against Tony and SI. Harv and everyone else in the room knew that Justin Hammer's prediction on the availability of the arc reactor to terrorist groups was now a reality. They immediately started tossing out damage control ideas, but Martin became hesitant to weigh into the political battlefield just yet. With the Expo currently in full swing, the PR group collectively decided instead to focus on the good press from the Expo and let Pepper and SI Legal tackle the political backlash.
Harv and Danielle were in attendance at Tony's birthday bash at the Malibu mansion. Harv was actually embarrassed for both Tony and Pepper at Tony's outrageous behavior at the party. It seemed that Tony had suddenly been placed in a time machine and was 21 again as he drank his way into a mindless, and unfortunately heavily armed drunk. Harv pulled Danielle into private section of the mansion looking for Pepper. He found Pepper and apologized to her for Tony's behavior, at a loss to explain his current outlandish behavior. He could tell that Pepper was absolutely devastated with regards to Tony as she also apologized back to Harv citing that Tony had been not been his self for the past month. Harv and Danielle left the party soon after they spoke with Pepper. On their way home they heard on the local radio station about the explosion at Tony's mansion as fire trucks and ambulances raced past them down the highway heading no doubt for Tony's mansion. Harv and Danielle were both worried about Tony and Pepper as they were unable to reach either of them on their cell phones. They knew that the police would never let them onto the mansion property while they were battling the flames from the explosion, so they drove back to their own home. Harv continued to call them during the night, but was still only able to reach their voice mailboxes. They watched the live news coverage of the explosion and fire at the Stark mansion on TV until midnight with still no word from either Tony or Pepper.
The following day, Harv went to work early, knowing Pepper's work habits and found her busy at her desk just after 7:00AM. They discussed Tony at length. Harv could sense great worry in Pepper's voice under all of the disappointment and anger. Harv spoke on Tony's behalf, saying that whatever had triggered his behavior change must be serious, and that he would try to corner Tony to find out what was really going on with him later that day. Pepper tiredly thanked Harv and Harv quickly pulled her into a quick hug assuring her that her and Tony would be OK. Harv had tried calling Tony several times during the day and had even driven over to his damaged mansion in the hopes of talking to him. Harv was met by six men who were definitely not SI employees at the outer security gate of the mansion, and was told politely but sternly that Harv should turn around and drive away. Harv thought briefly about arguing, but instinctively knew that he would be better off trying to contact Tony a different way. He left several voice mails for Tony, but Tony did not return his call, which really concerned Harv. Tony usually always returned his phone calls.
Around 6:00 PM the following day which was the second to the last day of the Expo, found Harv and half of the PR department in the large SI conference room watching Justin Hammer's presentation. Hammer was definitely not a favorite with anyone in the room, especially when he literally danced his way to the speaker's podium. Harv smiled as he heard a few 'boos' near the back of the room in response to Hammer's footloose antics. When Iron Man appeared a few minutes later, Harv heard cheers around the room and he smiled again. But the disaster that unfurled before their eyes in the following minutes left everyone in the room eerily silent. Some of the people around Harv started to pray out loud as the chaos continued on screen. Given the sheer numbers of robotic soldiers that were after Tony, Harv also breathed a prayer for his friend under his breath as well as one for everyone else in the Expo hall, especially Pepper. Suddenly the private SI feed into the conference cut to a static screen as the closed circuit signal was lost. Silence filled the room as one of the techs quickly switched video sources over to a live feed from a local news station of the event. Everyone in the room was glued to their seats as the on-the-scene reports continued on the screen. Harv got up to get a cup of coffee and placed a quick hand of comfort on the shoulder of Martin Janus who was huddled together with two SI attorneys at the back of the room near the coffee pot. Janus looked on the brink of panic. Harv had known Martin for over 15 years and had never seen him look like that before.
Finally after what seemed to be an eternity (but in reality only 12 and 1/2 minutes because Harv had a habit of looking at his watch when he was nervous) Mark Timmons, Martin's second in command in attendance at the Expo called in to Janus. Martin put him on speaker so everyone in the room could hear. Martin quickly asked Mark if he and his employees were OK. Mark said that they were all shaken, bruised, and scratched up but otherwise unharmed. Mark also commented that he had just seen Justin Hammer being taken away in handcuffs by NYPD. Harv smiled at that. Harv had known Hammer for years and didn't like the man at all. Martin asked if he had seen Pepper to which Mark replied quickly that Pepper had been the one to call the cops on Hammer. Harv's smile grew wider and he couldn't wait to hear the details on Pepper sending Hammer to the slammer.
The new CEO of Stark Industries appeared to be taking control of situation now. Two major disasters within 7 days was tough, but Harv knew that Pepper would be able to handle herself and the situation well. After all she had plenty of past experiences in dealing with disasters, just not on as big of a scale. Mark reported that NYPD and SI security now had the Expo locked down at Pepper's request and even though the damage to the Expo Hall and surrounding grounds was extensive, there appeared to be no fatalities at least none that he knew of. Just lots of bruised and upset people who were being cared for by medical personal from a local hospital who had already set up a triage unit just outside of the Expo at Pepper's request. The worst of the injuries were being transported to several local hospitals. Pepper had requested that additional NY buses be brought in to help get everyone back to their cars or to their hotels as quickly as possible. Mark said that the Expo was quickly being evacuated and that the chaotic rush had now become an orderly retreat. Pepper had ordered SI security to secure and isolate the downed Hammerbots. Everyone had seen the Hammerbot's arc reactors and Harv knew that Pepper was trying to do more than just damage control now. Mark said that he and his employees were about to leave too at Pepper's insistence and that he would call Martin when he got back to his hotel. Harv knew that meant Pepper would be staying put at the Expo and that worried him. Harv's attention was once again drawn back to the large TV screen in the conference room as news reporters were reporting damage at several other locations and in particular at the Oracle BioDome where some sort of a battle appeared to be in progress. Some reports had placed Iron Man inside the BioDome.
They all were watching in silence as the news crews kept reporting on the damage and injuries. Still no fatalities were reported, which was a minor miracle in and of itself. Exactly 14 minutes after Mark had called in; loud explosions suddenly could be heard by the news crews whose cameras quickly turned back towards the Expo grounds as fireballs filled the air. Harv had been around enough weapons tech in the past 40 years to know that the Hammerbots must have been designed to self-destruct on command in order to save their tech from recovery and that someone with Hammer Industries had just tripped their trigger. Harv only hoped that no one was anywhere close to those things when they blew apart. He started to really worry about Pepper now because knowing her the way he did, she was still somewhere on the grounds of the Expo and possibly near one of the explosions.
Silence filled the room as the explosions died down. Martin had called Mark to tell him about the explosions and the room went suddenly quiet as the TV went to mute. Martin spoke quietly to Mark asking him if Pepper had evacuated with his group. Everyone in the room heard his reply. 'No. She told us to go back to the hotel and that she was staying to help with security.'. Martin turned to look at the TV at the smoke and fires that now appeared to be widespread across the Expo property and shook his head sadly as he disconnected the call with Mark. No one in the conference room said out loud what they were all thinking at this point: SI may have just lost their CEO and their CTO.
It was almost 8:30 PM and no one had left the conference room as they all waited for word about Pepper and Tony. One of Martin's assistants had called out for pizza, but only a few people felt hungry enough to even eat. Harv had called Danielle to let her know what was going on and that he planned on staying at SI late that night. Danielle had been watching coverage of the Expo also. As Harv focused back on the TV in the conference room, he listened intently as various news reporters speculated that Iron Man had perished in the battle at the Oracle Biosphere because no one had sighted him since then.
Martin Janus had been sitting in front of his laptop with one of the SI attorneys working on a draft of a press release when Martin's cell phone loudly started playing "Hail to the Chief". Martin quickly grabbed the phone, standing up abruptly from the conference table. Harv knew that particular ring tone was Pepper's and all eyes in the room were suddenly on Martin. In the quiet of the room Pepper's voice could be heard calling out Martin's name. Suddenly Martin's face lit up in a huge smile.
"Pepper, are you all right?" Martin spoke loudly into his cell phone.
"I'm fine Martin, how are you doing?" she said as Martin put her on speaker. "I'm sure the media has had a field day with SI today."
"You know the media: doom and disaster makes for a happy newscast." Martin teased a huge smile breaking out on his face as he looked around the room as he spoke. "And here we thought that we were going to have to find a new CEO, which would have been a shame since we were starting to get you broken in just the way we wanted." Martin finished affectionately.
"Do you really think after living through the past 12 years that you could get rid of me that easily?" Pepper replied with a chuckle.
The room immediately broke out in laughter and cheering. Martin waved one arm to quiet everyone back down "Have you heard from Mr. Stark?" Martin continued suddenly becoming serious "The news media is saying that he is MIA at the moment."
They heard her put them on speaker. "Say hello, Tony." Pepper's voice called out.
"Hello, Tony." Tony's voice was heard to say.
Harv laughed out loud. Tony was always the smartass.
Pepper took them off speaker again. "I'm in the process of writing a press release, Martin." She said "I'll email it to you within the hour. Please take a look at it and call me back so we can talk about it. I'm getting Legal in on the call too."
"Will do, chief." Martin replied in a serious tone "You do know that you two scared the crap out of all of us again today. So can you wait at least a month before you do it again so we can have at least a little time to recover?"
"I will do my best." Pepper said "And I will pass your message on to Iron Man. No promises though."
Two weeks had passed since the Expo and the PR department had finally started to settle down. The press and New York authorities had finally eased off of the pressure on SI over the damages at the Expo. The Feds had also reduced some of the pressure on Iron Man after the tech recovery at Hammer Industries, when it was placed under lock-down by the government. Tony and Pepper had stayed put in New York in order to help with the clean up and deal with the Feds. Harv had spoken with both Pepper and Tony daily during this time as he continued to check up on them. Harv could definitely hear emotion in their voices as they mentioned each other in their conversations. Harv took this as a sign that their relationship was on the mend and he was looking forward to seeing them in person when they returned to California.
Harv was sitting at his desk drinking his first cup of coffee of the day when Pepper called him. After pleasantries were exchanged, Pepper asked about his availability for a photo shoot with her and Tony the next day. It seemed the PR had been on her case again about the lack of photographic evidence to support her and Tony's new positions within the company. Harv had been getting the same pressure from PR, but knew better than to bother Pepper until she and Tony were ready. Harv agreed to meet them at Tony's mansion around noon.
As Harv parked near the front door of the Stark Malibu mansion, he noticed the construction crews busy at work repairing the structure. Harv slung his camera around his neck and pulled the carrying strap for his tripod over his shoulder. Tony met him at the front door and warmly shook his hand in greeting, then pulled him unexpectedly into a quick hug. As Harv stepped back from Tony it was very evident to him just how much healthier Tony looked than the last time he had seen him. He had gained weight back and his face had lost its pallor. Tony was dressed neatly in a dark grey pinstriped Armani suit with an unexpected floral patterned tie, his hair tousled as if someone had just run their fingers through it.
As they made their way outside to a large terrace which overlooked one of swimming pools that had not been damaged during Tony's disastrous birthday party, Harv saw Pepper as she waited for them, her Blackberry to her ear. She was dressed to the nine's in a long floral pattern dress which stopped mid-calf. Harv smiled to himself understanding now Tony's choice of tie and most probably the reason for the condition of Tony's hair. When she looked up at them she immediately put her phone down on one of the tables and smiled broadly at Harv as she walked over to him. Pepper quickly wrapped her arms around Harv in a welcoming hug as they both laughed together at what Harv felt was relief after all they had been through in the past six months together.
"Hey" Tony interrupted "don't get too friendly with my girl, Harv."
Harv gently pulled away from Pepper and looked at Tony in amusement. "What do you mean, 'your girl'?"
Pepper chuckled at both of them as she let go of Harv. "Just ignore him, Harv." She explained "We've been on a total of five dates now, and he's already claiming me as his."
Harv grinned at her and had to restrain himself from jumping up and down happily at the fact that she and Tony were now dating even though it was obviously being done in secret. He couldn't wait to call Danielle.
Tony quickly walked over to her and placed an arm around her waist pulling her gently into his side. "You are mine." Pepper poked him gently in the ribs as he winced "And I'm yours too, you know." He added hugging her tenderly as Pepper's right arm reached around his waist hugging him back.
"God, it took you two long enough." Harv commented still smiling "Danielle told me ten years ago that you two were going to be a couple, but I was beginning to wonder if maybe her keen Cupid senses were wrong."
"Well, I'm not so sure about us being a couple." Pepper teased "Tony hasn't really declared his intentions to me about us yet."
Harv noted the hurt look that appeared on Tony's face as he let go of her, moving to stand in front of her, his eyes staring intently into hers.
"It's my intention, Ms. Potts, to be the best boyfriend you have ever had." Tony said as he continued looking deeply into her eyes. "At least for starters." He added with a soft smile.
Pepper smiled back at him. "For starters?" she replied glancing over at Harv.
"Tony" Harv began trying hard now not to laugh "you and I are going to have a long discussion about expectations and duties of the monogamous human male right after we finish the executive photo shoot that PR has been on my back to get for the past three weeks."
Pepper laughed as she leaned over to kiss Tony gently on the cheek. Tony smiled brilliantly at her as she coyly batted her eyes at Tony in teasing. "That's right Harv. Business before pleasure."
Harv chuckled to himself noticing the surprised look now gracing Tony's face as he set up his tripod. Yes indeed, Harv was definitely going to have his work cut out for him trying to 'educate' Tony Stark, but he had the feeling that Tony was going to do whatever it took to make his and Pepper's relationship work. And of course Harv was going to have a little fun too at Tony's expense during this 'educational opportunity'. Somewhat of a payback for all the worrying that Tony had put Harv through in the past 6 months.
During the next 10 months Harv made numerous trips to NYC to document the progress on Stark Tower. He had even managed to take Danielle there for a few days during her spring break away from teaching. Harv continued to check in with Pepper and Tony intermittently during this time. Pepper was spending a lot of time in the New York SI office while she babysat Stark Tower. Tony continued to make startling progress on alternative energy source designs. Harv was somewhat impressed that Pepper and Tony's relationship was still being kept under wraps. Other than showing up at work together, they both remained totally out of the public eye away from SI. Harv could tell when he would periodically check in with Tony if Pepper was out of town by the undisguised sadness in Tony's voice. Tony had let it slip to Harv that he and Pepper had agreed not to travel together because of the potential for rumors being started by the press about their relationship. Privately Harv was hoping that Tony would finally have enough of Pepper being away and ask her to marry him so they could be together and let the media be damned.
Two weeks before they officially moved the New York SI offices into Stark Towers, Tony had called Harv to let him know that he and Pepper wanted him at the opening ceremonies to take pictures. Tony had hinted to Harv that he and Pepper had agreed to cohabitate in the new penthouse at Stark Tower and Harv was as usual skeptical about Tony's version of cohabitation without speaking with Pepper first. He called Pepper the next day only to find out that she had suddenly traveled to DC for an emergency meeting at the Pentagon. Harv felt uneasy as Pepper tried to assure him that everything was fine, and that she would call him back later in the day when she had more time to talk.
Harv's bad feeling only grew worse during the day as he sat in a meeting with PR to discuss the opening ceremony for Stark Tower. Suddenly one of Martin's assistants burst into the conference room and switched on the TV in the corner of the room. Harv's stomach churned as he watched the alien invasion of New York City unfold before his eyes. He felt a cold chill come over him as he watched Tony fight alongside the Avengers against increasing odds. A deathly silence engulfed the conference room as the news cameras tracked the military's missile across the New York skyline headed right for Stark Tower. A collective gasp went up from the group as Iron Man took control of the missile and both he and the missile vanished into the space portal. Harv put his head in his hands in complete disbelief and suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Sonya with tears in her eyes holding onto his shoulder.
Suddenly a shout of "Look!" turned both Harv's and Sonya's heads back to the TV screen. There on the screen they saw all of the aliens collapse as if struck down by lightning. In the next moment they watched as the Hulk grabbed Iron Man as he plummeted back to Earth from the space portal. Both of them vanished behind a building as the news reporters speculated about Iron Man's fate.
Sonya sadly smiled at Harv, patting him on the arm. "Tony's a fighter." She whispered to Harv. "He'll be OK."
Harv smiled back at her as he felt hope rise up within him. The afternoon dragged on into the evening as Harv and the rest of PR sat in the conference room and continued to watch newscasts waiting for any word of Iron Man. Harv had tried calling Pepper earlier and had gotten her voice mail. He left words of encouragement for her. Harv knew that Pepper would find a way back to New York and to Stark Tower, and that she wouldn't rest until she had found Tony. He continued to silently pray for her and Tony's safety. It was after 10:00 PM PST when Harv finally decided to go home, leaving just Martin and his staff in the conference room. No one expected any news out of NYC until tomorrow morning and Harv was just too worried to stay at work any longer.
Danielle and he shared a late dinner in silence that evening. About 11:50 PM, Harv's cell phone started ringing. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Harv realized that the number calling was a NYC number. Harv was suddenly wide awake when he heard Tony's voice on the phone happily babbling about 'kicking some alien ass' and talking so fast Harv couldn't get a word in edgewise. Suddenly Tony had to take a breath which allowed Harv to break into Tony's monolog long enough to find out if he was OK, and whether or not Pepper had found him and if she was OK. Tony replied that they were both OK and safe inside Stark Tower for the night. After a few rare seconds of silence from Tony, he told Harv he needed to go but not before asking Harv to bring both his camera equipment and Danielle to NYC in the morning and that Hap Hogan would be picking them up and accompanying them to NYC on an SI jet. With the parting words to Harv of "And wear something nice." Tony hung up on Harv. Harv looked at Danielle who of course had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and she smiled reassuringly at him before getting up to pack suitcases for them both.
At 2:00 PM EST the next day Harv and Danielle found themselves being escorted by Hap Hogan to the New York City's Federal Court Building and into the private office of Judge Milo Green to come face to face with not only Judge Green but Pepper and Tony as well as another man whom Tony had introduced as Bruce who was going to be the 'official' witness of the proceedings. Harv noticed that both Pepper and Tony were dressed in conservative business suits and realized immediately that this ceremony seemed to have all if the makings of a very impromptu one. Harv smiled at Pepper who smiled knowingly back at him. That fall out of the space portal had finally knocked some sense into that hard head of Tony Stark's and it was about damn time. Danielle walked over and quickly hugged both Pepper and Tony while Harv pulled out his camera and set up the tripod.
Danielle stood next to Pepper and Hap stood next to Tony as Judge Green began the official ceremony. Harv found himself heaving a huge sigh of relief as he uncapped the lens on his camera and proceeded to focus the camera on Tony and Pepper as they listened intently to Judge Green. Through the camera's eye, Pepper and Tony had always made a handsome couple. Harv still found it hard to believe that it taken twelve years to get those two to tie the knot. Looks like Danielle was right…. again. Harv quickly glanced down at the four rolls of film in his bag and just hoped that would be enough.