Alright! CHAPTER TWO, KIDS! This one's a little longer... And I'm still trying to get a lot of things set up... But hopefully it's still interesting!
Reviews though, wouldn't hurt... .;
Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Jarvis, all of them belong to Marvel.
Chapter Two: Old Worries, New Solutions.
"You're late." Pepper Potts was standing on the tarmac at Stark Industries' main building, using her best 'what am I going to do with you?' glare. Her Blackberry was in hand, Bluetooth in ear, and a hand placed poignantly on her hips. A wry little smile seemed willing to creep across her face the moment she let her guard down. Tony had flinched the moment he spotted her standing there.
Tony flashed her one of his well-practiced grins and skipped down the steps, looking a lot better than he felt. With each time his left foot fell, a swollen ankle screamed its protests at the repeatedly added weight to it. His shoulders were sore, and there was only so much he could do to ease the pain of dozens of little cuts on his hands. Not to mention he hadn't slept since… He couldn't remember. Hmm.
"Miss Potts, I'd like to think that I'm on time, and things here simply get up and running a lot earlier than they should." His smile faltered. "Okay, what is it?" He could tell by the look in her eyes it wasn't just his being late that was bothering her. The man was notorious for his tardiness, and Pepper had dealt with that since the moment she became his personal assistant. There was something else on her mind.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Stark," Pepper said a little too forcefully. She wouldn't meet his gaze, and instead spun on one of her three-inch stilettos and headed towards the building's entrance. "You had a meeting with some of the new employees set to start an hour ago. They're still waiting."
She hated how observant the man could be. It was always at the worst times. Never did he notice when he was supposed to be at a press conference, or even when it was the accepted time for normal people to sleep. No, he always took time to pay attention when she didn't want him to. Especially when it came to her state of being. Sure, she knew she looked fine from a distance, though upon closer inspection, that impression faded. Her hair just wouldn't go up properly that morning, and no matter how much makeup she put on, she wasn't quite able to hide those dark circles under her eyes. Her outfit, a modest charcoal two-piece skirt and jacket were slightly wrinkled, and she'd forgotten to put a necklace on that morning. Pepper was sure Tony noticed.
Even though she didn't see it, she could feel Tony's calculating gaze on her back, those dark eyes of his almost burning through her. Uncomfortable with that notion, though she wasn't sure why, she slowed her step so that she was walking beside her boss. That way he'd have to turn to look at her: there wasn't a constant view of the woman for him to judge. After all, when you were walking, you had to look where you were going, and navigating the busy building was hard enough when you were paying attention.
Tony wasn't going to drop it. "Pepper…" As they stepped through the doorway and into an already-bustling office building, he put a firm hold around her upper arm and stopped her from taking another step. His ankle thanked him for the break by quieting its screams. There were numerous expressions of 'good afternoons' and 'It's nice to see you today, Mr. Stark! Let me know if you need anything' greetings as he walked in, but Tony ignored them. "Please tell me you slept last night." He wished she'd look at him. "You look like you haven't had any sleep."
"I'm fine Mr. Stark," Pepper said curtly. "Now let's worry about your employees, okay?" And maybe I can stop worrying about you for a little while. She glanced down at his hand and couldn't stop her eyebrows from tilting towards each other, wrinkling her forehead. The corners of her mouth mimicked the downturn of her eyes.
The moment he realized she was probably counting the cuts and scrapes, Tony removed his hand and cleared his throat. Both Tony and Pepper knew the injuries weren't from the workshop. He tugged on the ends of his suit to readjust it and started towards the elevator again. "Alright, alright Miss Potts. Meetings first."
As if in agreement, the elevator arrived with a 'ding' and Tony stepped inside. A calm voice came over the speakers, "Good afternoon. Which floor would you like?"
"To my office, Clarisse," Tony said flatly to the automated elevator.
"Of course," Clarisse said in a tone that made Tony want to rip out her systems.
It wasn't until the door had all but closed did he realize Pepper wasn't going to join him. The urge to reach out and stop the door came, but the CEO knew he'd lost the battle; when Pepper put her mind to something, she'd be damned if it didn't get done. If that meant Tony wouldn't get a word out of her, then she'd see to it.
Well, he planned on getting around that one way or another. And when one strategy didn't work, then it was time for another.
Much to Stark's disdain, however, he'd have to wait. And that waiting consisted of meeting some of the new engineers he'd hired for a blooming branch of his company. Stark Industries was only part of the numerous impressive companies that bore the Stark name. In the wake of Obadiah's death and the arc reactor's rather untimely demise, it had been decided (and surprisingly, approved by the board) that they should look into new things. One of Tony's ideas had been a branch to help develop new tech for hospitals instead of tech for the military. Save lives, not destroy them.
The matter of arc reactor tech being released for public use, however, was something that Tony had been adamantly against. He'd seen first-hand what that kind of technology could do, and he refused to let that knowledge fall into anyone's hands, save his own. The only argument that had really forced the board to concede for the time being was that it simply wasn't cost-effective to produce them on a massive scale. He was sure that they'd get around that soon enough, but Tony was prepared to deal with that when the time came.
These and other such things ran through his head as he waited for the elevator to make it to the top floor, where his office was located. It was better to think about business than the aches and pains he was feeling from the self-issued mission he'd taken into Afghanistan only a few hours previous.
Another soft 'ding' sounded as the elevator slowed, and Clarisse said clearly over an intercom, "Top floor: office of CEO Anthony Stark. Thank you, the doors will be opening momentarily. Have a good day."
Tony took a quick look at himself in the reflective surface of the elevator doors, nodded his approval, and stepped out as soon as they opened. Immediately there was a rush of three or four secretaries in his direction, and Tony gave them his best simile. "Ladies, please, if you have something to discuss with me, you'll have to find Pepper and find out when I'm available. I'm late for a meeting."
For employees who saw Stark nearly every day, they all looked rather disappointed.
Tony, having been able to deflect such an assault, stepped through rich oak doors and into his office. It was an expansive room with lush carpet and decorated as if he'd hired the best of the best to choose paint and cabinets. Of course, that's exactly what Tony had done. A gorgeous desk sat in front of a series of windows that gave him a panoramic view of Los Angeles. Gathered there were about a dozen men and women, all sitting in expensive chairs and looking outright bored.
That is, of course, until Tony appeared.
The CEO smiled brightly, his hands resting lightly in his pockets. Immediately the new hires snapped to and the air in the room felt like it had physically changed. "Well, looks like we're all finally here." A couple of people had to keep themselves from rolling their eyes. Tony stepped in front of his desk and took a seat on top of it; hands curled around the edge of it as he leaned forward to get a good look at the people sitting in front of him. It was a move in part to get the people in front of him to relax a bit, and to get him off his throbbing ankle. "So, Miss Potts tells me that you're the best of the best in your field. Top of your classes, and men and women with sharp, creative minds."
A few people nodded, one in particular being a younger looking man with a shock of blonde hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and an eager, childish smile on his lips. If he nodded any harder, his glasses would have lost their grip on his face. "You couldn't have found anyone better, Mr. Stark," he said.
Tony pointed at him, "Exactly, uh," Where was Pepper when he needed to know people's names?
"Mark, sir. Mark Jackets."
"Right. Mark here's hit it right on the head. I've hired all of you to make immense breakthroughs in both medical engineering and bio-tech. If someone can't find a donor for a heart? Well, you'll be able to provide them with an artificial one that works twice as well. We want to develop prosthetics that don't just get strapped on – I want them to be able to move at a thought, just as a real arm or leg would."
He slid off the desk and back onto his feet, hardly feeling the pain in his ankle in lieu of the speech he was pulling directly out of his ass. Wincing in pain while trying to inspire never really made things work. "I have men and women working right now on technologies that can be utilized on a microscopic level. What if we could inject millions of cell-sized robots into someone's bloodstream and effectively eradicate any traces of the Malaria parasite they've had their entire lives while leaving no trace of what we'd just done?
"All of you are here to do what you can for the betterment of humanity. And I trust that through hard work and ingenuity, you'll go further than anyone before you could even have dreamed of."
Tony sat back down on the desk and dropped his hands into his lap. "So, any questions?"
The number of grinning faces sitting in front of him remained quiet for a good spread of time. Finally the man who'd spoken up before raised his hand. "This isn't high school, you can just ask," Tony said, eyebrows raised.
Mark sheepishly put his hand down. "Sorry. It's just… Okay, all of us are wondering if we're going to get to work with you on any of this stuff. I mean, you're probably the best engineer in the world. You have now many PhD's now?" The young man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "My point is, I want to see the master at work."
"I'll be around to see what you're doing. If inspiration hits, who knows?" Tony gave a nod. "Anyone else?"
This time a woman spoke up, her hand fiddling nervously with her collar. She wouldn't quite meet Tony's gaze, and the man wondered for a good moment where he'd seen her before. More likely than not, he'd seen her when it'd been too dark to worry about remembering facial features. "I'm Caroline, Mr. Stark." She gave a quick smile, "I was actually kind of interested in the Iron Man suit…" She winced.
"It's red, gold, and piloted by the best looking billionaire on the planet," Tony said lightly, but in a way that was very clear he would not divulge anything further about it. Caroline nodded her understanding and fell quiet.
"Alright. If there're no more questions, you guys are free to go." Tony slid off his desk and offered handshakes to each of his new employees as they left.
Mark was the last one to leave and ended up bumping into Pepper as she tried to enter the room. "Oh, I'm sorry…" Pepper studied the man's face. "Mark?"
"Yeah. That's my name!" Mark said with a bit too much enthusiasm. He was thoroughly surprised the woman knew his name at all.
Pepper smiled at him as he left the office and lightly shut the door behind him. As much as she was dreading spending any time alone with Tony that day, there were a lot of things she had to make sure the man got done. She took a deep breath and crossed the room, the carpet keeping her heels from their usual tune. "Mr. Stark," She said, but Tony cut her off.
"I'm not doing anything else until you tell me what that's all about," Tony frowned. He slid his arms out of his suit jacket and tossed it onto his desk. He then walked up to his PA and stiffly crossed his arms. "I'm not letting it go."
The woman could feel the tips of her ears and nose starting to turn red, though she wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment, anger, or something else. She ignored how her heartbeat was suddenly pounding in her ears and did her best to keep her composure. "I already told you that I'm fine." But even Pepper didn't sound convinced this time. "You've got another meeting with the board at four, and Jarvis said that Rhodey called-"
"It was because I left and didn't tell you until I was halfway around the world, isn't it?" Tony's dark eyes searched her evasive features. Come on, Pep. Just tell me.
She wasn't going to break. She wasn't going to tell him anything. Stay strong, Pepper. He doesn't need to know that you were up half the night worrying and then spent the rest of the morning watching CNN for news on the untimely death of Iron Man. Don't say anything. "Jarvis said that whatever Jim wanted was important. You really should call him."
Tony didn't budge. "No, Miss Potts."
This time it was definitely anger she felt welling up inside her chest. It didn't help that Tony was giving her an imploring smile. "You should have told me you were leaving," She finally said, words barely audible. "But you're back, you're safe." She finally had the will to look him in the face. "Now call Rhodey."
Much to Pepper's relief Tony relented. He slid off his desk and went around to sit in an actual chair. He very pointedly picked up the phone and dialed the Colonel's number, raising his eyebrows almost mockingly.
There were times when Tony Stark acted just like a child. Pepper had no doubts this was one of those times. She gave a deep sigh and said, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"
"That's all, Miss Potts," Tony said curtly.
Rhodey picked up as Pepper disappeared from the room. "Tone?"
"Yeah."
"I can't talk long." Static obscured the connection for a brief moment. "You know that assignment I've been on, right?"
Tony leaned back in his chair and swiveled towards the window. "You've been watching shipments of weapons caches all over the world. Sounds exciting. I've been doing a little of that myself."
"We think we might have found Stark Tech."
Tony was instantly on his feet. "What?!" His knuckles were turning white from the grip he had on the phone, the cuts and scrapes on his hand standing out a stark red against his skin. "That's not possible."
"It looks like it's been cannibalized to hell, but it looks like your stuff. I need to you take a look at it and tell me it is. Where have you been?"
"Busy." Tony said, not hearing much of what his friend was saying by this point. He'd gotten back onto his feet and was at the mini-bar he'd put in his office, hands working to put ice and a large serving of Scotch into a crystal tumbler. He downed half of it in a single gulp.
"…and I don't think that anyone else here agrees. I can try and get some of it to you, but it'd be easier if you came out here to look at it yourself," Jim was saying. "But hurry up."
"I'll be down there tomorrow, Rhodey."
Tony slammed the phone back down on its dock and sat back down, hard. He hit his ankle, but didn't care. They'd been so damn careful. And everything that Obadiah had sold, at least according to his files, had been taken care of. The trip he'd taken out to the Middle East had been to remove the last of it. Every missile, gun, and mine had been accounted for.
"Where the hell'd it come from?"
End chapter two! I'll start writing the next one here shortly. 3
