A.N. Okay, so this update is pretty fast and most will probably not be like this. But since I got such a good reaction from the first chapter, I decided that it was worthy of a little present to all of my lovely readers.
Also, I've gotten some PMs about the transcripts, but the link hasn't been making it through. If that continues to happen, I'd suggest copying and pasting, typing out the whole address, or giving me instructions on how to get there. Thank you to all who's helping me!
Disclaimed.
The Avengers sat gathered around the TV screen still wondering about what was just shown to them, what was to come, and why they were being shown this. Tony sat facing away from the screen, being unusually quiet and meek while the rest of the Avengers were in varying states of worry and disbelief all directed at their quiet teammate.
"Tony Stark," a deep announcer's voice said and the screen fills with an image of a party.
"What is this?" Steve asked, eyes glancing around the screen in confusion.
There was a round of applause as two large pictures of Tony appear on either side of the stage. The words 'Las Vegas, 36 Hours Earlier' appear on the bottom of the screen.
He makes a small 'Oh' expression with is face, and everybody else continues to keep quiet.
"Visionary. Genius. American Patriot," the voice continued, a slide show starting on the screens.
The Avengers, sans Tony, now all leaned in to watch the slide show that inevitably would be about Tony.
A black and white picture of Tony as a little boy appeared on screen. His hair was long, messy and windblown as he gave a crooked smile over his shoulder towards the camera.
"The Man of Iron was a small child," Thor nodded while looking over the screen.
Natasha nodded before responding, "According to his file, he was born premature and because of that was very small for most of his life,"
"Even from an early age, the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark," an image of Tony's father appeared on the screen, hand placed on the wall behind him covered in blueprints and sketches.
Steve looked at the picture of his old friend in some from of melancholy remembrance, memorizing how he grew and what he looked like while Tony had given the screen a quick look of disgust that had gone unnoticed by all his teammates except for Natasha.
"Quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine. And at seventeen, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT."
"That early?" Even Bruce, the genius advanced scientist looked impressed at that while Thor looked confused about what 'summa cum laude' meant and its significance to Tony and where this land called 'MIT' was located. He chose not to say anything.
There was various pictures that passed as the man spoke. Each was of Tony, posing with one of his accomplishments.
"Then, the passing of a titan," A newspaper clip was shown on the screen with a picture of Howard and an article titled, 'Nation Mourns Passing of Husband and Wife',
Now, Steve's breath hitched in his throat, "Howard died in a car crash?"
"Yep," Tony responded, actually surprising the team.
Steve's eyebrows knit together, Howard had been a fantastic driver, had to have been, he'd been try to create a flying car, the fact that he died in a crash didn't make any sense.
"Howard Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane, steps in to help fill the gap,"
"Who's this?" Steve continued, having never heard of him.
"Business partner," Natasha leaned back in the couch, "You guys should seriously read his file,"
A younger looking man stood next to Howard with an arm placed around his shoulder. He gave a large smile as he looked into the camera. It was followed immediately by another picture that was more recent, showing a bald man with a neatly trimmed, greying beard and in a suit looking down at a globe at his feet. His hands were on his hips and he had a serious look on he face. A bold 'What's Next' typed out next to him.
Steve and Thor, who didn't even hear about this man until now, stared at the screen with distaste. He was staring at the world, which was at his feet, whether of not they asked him to pose for this picture didn't matter, it did not give off a vibe they liked.
"left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21, the prodigal son returns and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries."
A new picture of Tony appears, he's young and on the cover of an issue of Forbes title 'The New Kid'. Stane was directly behind him, body facing away from Tony, but he was glancing over his shoulder at him.
The feeling returned to Steve and Thor. The other members were experiencing similar feelings.
The screen cuts to the applauding crowd of people, getting a close-up on Stane as he clapped at that.
"With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy,"
A more recent picture of Tony came next on screen. He had styled facial hair and a serious face as he looked straight at the camera.
Computer blue prints of a missile came to life on the screen, changing positions to show different features.
Some of the members stared at the screen, having not fully believed what Tony had done until now.
"And those are weapons of mass destruction you say?" Thor asked, staring at the weapon in slight shock.
"Creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe.
"Yes," Steve said sarcastically, "Freedom being ensure by weaponry is the biggest oxymoron," he quickly became quiet when Tony wrapped a blanket around himself and fell to the side in a fetal position.
A Rolling Stones cover that had Tony on it was the focal point as a small picture collage came together before it all was added into the American flag and then tiled out to show Tony, staring away from the camera with jets behind him.
There was a round of applause as the screen faded back to black and the Stark Industries logo appeared.
"As liaison to Stark Industries," a man in a military uniform said from behind the podium, "I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark."
"Is this a friend of his?" Thor asked, staring at the man in a strange suit.
"Yeah," Clint replied, "I've never met him, but we have good things on him in SHIELD,"
Clapping and upbeat music began to play, but Tony Stark failed to appear on the stage. The man shifted awkwardly and gave a tiny laugh-like noise.
"Tony?" he called out yet again, holding the award in his hands. His smile became more fixed and stressed with every passing moment.
"He's not there, is he?" Steve said, unsurprised and slightly irritated.
Stane was shown shaking his head to the man, before he got up from his chair. The man on stage pressed his lips together
"Does this man not like this Stane fellow?" Thor looked, confused.
a bit but as Stane came on stage, the smile returned to his face. He handed the man the award with the shake of a hand.
"Thank you, Colonel," Stane said.
"Thanks for the save," the Colonel replied.
Stane turned towards the crowd, holding the award to look over, "Ah," he said to the crowd, "This is beautiful, thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful..." After a moment, he looked back out at the crowd and spread his arms out a little bit. "Well, I'm not Tony Stark," he said, igniting a laugh from the crowd, "But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very...prestigious award." His eyes returned to the award. "Tony, you know..." he started, "The best thing about Tony, is also the worst thing. He's always working."
"What a lie," they all snorted.
"Tony," Bruce sighed in fond-annoyance, "Even in your lab you ask me to do some things that you honestly are fully capable of doing."
They received no response.
"Hup!" the screen changed, showing Tony leaning over a poker table, surrounded by ladies with one in his arms.
"Work it! Come on!" he yelled. The ladies were cheering beside him.
"You are unbelievable," a voice interrupted Tony's game.
"It was expected," Natasha said.
He looked backwards at the man who is the Colonel.
"Oh no," Tony groaned, "Did they rope you into this?"
"Tony," Steve put on the exhaustive parent tone on again, "That's rude."
The Colonel responded, "Nobody roped me into anything!"
"I'm so sorry,"
"They told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored," the Colonel continued, slightly frustrated, "Of course, I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great."
"So when do we do it?" Tony said, having no clue it had already been done.
"Oh Tony," Bruce sighed.
"Is it just that you don't want to go, or need a watch?" Clint asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I was drinking," Tony said, "And having fun,"
The Avengers smiled at the at least semi-normal answer.
"It's right here, here you go."
"There it is. That was easy," Tony continued, not a care in the world.
"You don't even care?" Steve said, looking over at his teammate with a shocked attitude.
"I'm so sorry,"
"Yeah, it's okay"
"Wow! Would you look at that?" Tony continued, "That's something else. I don't have any of those floating around. We're gonna let it ride! Give me a hand, will you? Give me a little something-something." he turned to Rhodey, "Okay, you, too."
"I don't blow on a man's dice," Rhodey refused.
"Come on, honey bear," Tony turned back to the table, "There it is, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And...two craps. Line away."
"You're rolling for your friend?" Natasha asked.
"I do not understand," Thor looked at the playing board, "What is the purpose of this game?"
"It's a risk game," she explained, "One where you could make or lose money, it's gambling,"
Thor nodded.
"That's what happens." Rhodes said.
"Worst things have happened. I think we've gonna be fine. Color me up, William,"
"This is where I exit," Rhodey said.
"All right," Tony said, still not caring.
"Tomorrow, don't be late," Rhodes warned.
"You'll be late, won't you?" Steve sighed, as if he knew it would already happen.
"Yeah, you can count on it,"
"I'm serious!"
"I know, I know. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. There you go."
The scene has shifted from the poker table to Tony getting into a darkly color vehicle, back to the camera.
"Mr. Stark!" a reporter said, "Excuse me, Mr. Stark! Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Oh, I hate her," Natasha grumbled.
Steve turned to her with a confused eyebrow, "Why?"
"She's the one who starts all the scandals or rumors about all of us," she revealed.
"Especially Tony," Clint added.
"She's cute," Tony's driver tells him.
"You only talk to reporters if they're cute?" Steve almost shouted, shocked by less-than-chivalrous attitude.
"Well, Cap," Tony changed positions so he was looking him in the eye, the look on Tony's face silenced them all, "We can't all be morally correct knights in shining armor about to save the damsel in distress, occasionally, I needed a little push to talk to people who'd likely go on and ask me personal and embarrassing questions,"
Tony responds, "She's all right?" before making the commitment and turning around, "Hi."
"Hi." the reporter waits, looking for permission.
"Yeah," Tony gives in, "Okay, go."
"It's okay?" Christine shifts her stance slightly, "You've been called the da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"
"Absolutely ridiculous," Tony said without another thought, "I don't paint."
His teammates all looked at him, he refused to meet their eyes again.
"And what do you say to your other nickname? "The Merchant of Death"?
"I do not understand," Thor interrupted the impenetrable silence, "What trading has been done with Death?"
Bruce turned to him and whispered two words, "Weapons manufacturer,"
"That's not bad." Tony said straightly, "Let me guess. Berkeley?"
"Brown, actually," Christine corrected.
"Well, Ms. Brown," Tony continued, "It's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."
"Rehearse that much?" the reporter said, unconvinced.
"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."
"Do you seriously?" Clint asked.
"Clint," Natasha closed her eyes in annoyance.
"It was a serious question!"
"I can see that," the reporter said.
"I'd like to show you first-hand," Tony flirted.
"All I want is a serious answer," Christine continued.
Steve tried to ignore is growing anger about Tony's behavior.
"Okay," Tony said, looking her in the eye, "here's serious. My old man had a philosophy, "Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy."
Now, he stopped, "Howard said that?"
"Yeah," Tony said, slowing down every syllable as if he was a kindergartener learning how to properly pronounce words.
"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks," the reporter replied sassily.
"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project.
"What was the Manhattan Project?" Steve said, writing it down on his list of things to look up.
Turning, Natasha said, "It was a very controversial weapon that the U.S. military used to win the war in Japan. It was a bomb that decimated two cities in Japan. It's controversial because some people believe that the military didn't have the right to decide which cities get bombed or not, which people got to live versus die. The other side is that chances are, our military would've experienced more losses, it would've taken longer for the war to end, and by invading Japan it would be statistically more likely that more people would die."
Steve frowned at the issue, wondering which side was better, but more importantly, why Howard would work on a thing like that.
A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."
The reporter had guts, "And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering."
"Damn," Clint winced.
Tony continued, "Tell me, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey."
"You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?" the reporter said.
"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."
the scene cuts to Christine and Tony making rough love on the bed before promptly falling off of said bed. Tony snorts in laughter.
"Oh my god," Steve covered his face with his hands in record time.
"You fell off the bed," Clint snorted with an amused look on his face.
A.N. I just realized that I never finished this chapter, and I wanted to post it up here for you lovelies that reminded me of it. Hope you like it and don't mind the fact that I completely forgot I didn't finish it. Here it is, and I hope you review!
