"In other news, last night around midnight, the home of Anthony Stark, CEO and President of Stark Industries, was destroyed in an attack that was carried out by three seemingly random men. Harold 'Happy' Hogan, a member of the board of executives at Stark Industries was present during the event, and had helped to take down the three men before the authorities arrived. Of the three men, one was killed and the other two are now in the hospital, suffering varying injuries. The deceased was a German plumber who had moved to Seattle a year ago to pursue a career in digital design, a man named Herman Schultz. The other two, a Florida-native Chon Li and the Los Angeles-native Clint Barton, are being interrogated by the authorities."
"I don't know what kind of rubbish all of this is," Mr. Stark growled at the television. "How did three people living so far away get together to blow up my house?"
"We're not sure right now, Mr. Stark," Detective Jameson replied, "but don't worry, we're trying to figure it out as best we can."
"Were they working alone?" Mr. Stark barked.
"According to Mr. Li, they were acting of their own accord," Detective Jameson responded. "The other, Mr. Barton, is refusing to speak."
Mr. Stark rubbed his forehead. It had been a long night in the hospital. "Alright. Thank you. Can you send in the doctor on your way out, please?"
"Of course, Mr. Stark," the policeman said. "If you have any more questions, this is my card." With that, Detective Jameson left the room, leaving Mr. Stark alone.
The hospital smelled like lavender and death, Mr. Stark thought. He had not been able to see Hogan yet, which he despised. Hopefully that would change.
Fairly soon, a tall, handsome man walked into the room. "Mr. Stark, it's good to see you awake," the man said, his hands inside his lab coat. "I'm Dr. Strange, I've been working on you and your friend, Mr. Hogan."
"How is he, doctor?"
Dr. Strange sighed. "Well, that's part of the problem. You're quick-thinking by placing that Reactor in his heart, that's the only thing keeping him alive. We've taken the bullet out, but we're afraid that removing the Reactor will stop his heart entirely."
"So, make sure that he gets put on the list to receive a heart transplant," Mr. Stark murmured calmly.
"We've done that already," Dr. Strange admitted. "He's on the list. But it's a year-long waiting list. I could pull some strings, but that might only put him a half dozen names up on the list. He'll have a long time to wait."
Mr. Stark cursed under his breath. "So, what do we do until then?"
"Well, there's good news about that actually," Dr. Strange assured him. "You're handiwork seriously saved his life. He wouldn't have made it out of your house if you hadn't done that. So, he'll live, probably very comfortably, until we get him a new heart. But if the Arc Reactor malfunctions or runs out of energy or is removed, Mr. Hogan will die."
Nodding his understanding, Mr. Stark asked, "Doctor, do you mind if I go and see him?"
"Not at all," Dr. Strange replied. "Let's go get you a wheelchair for that leg, eh?"
A short while later, Dr. Strange returned with a fancy-looking wheelchair and Mr. Stark struggled into it. "Tell me," Mr. Stark said, "how long have you worked here, Dr. Strange?"
"Just a few years," he replied. "After six months living in Greenwich as a surgeon, I was asked to come here. I've been told I'm one of the best."
"Are you?"
Dr. Strange smiled slightly. "Not that I mean to brag, but yes. I am. Steadiest hands in the business."
"When will I be able to leave the hospital?" Mr. Stark questioned.
"If you take this chair with you, I'll let the right people know that you can go in the morning," Dr. Strange replied.
"Good," Mr. Stark muttered. "I have some things I need to go through."
Finally, they arrived at Hogan's room. Dr. Strange opened the door and Mr. Stark rolled in.
"Tony," Hogan wheezed. "Word on the street is you saved my life."
He may have saved Hogan's life, Mr. Stark thought, but it did not look like it. One of Hogan's eyes was swollen shut, his front teeth both chipped, and his arm was in a sling. Bruises covered the poor man all over. The massive six-foot-four frame of Hogan looked broken and beaten, as it very well was.
"Harry," Mr. Stark began, "how ya feeling?"
"I've been better, but I sure as hell have been worse," Hogan replied. "Remember college? I used to box all the time, and there was that fight with that big guy. What was his name? Murdock? Anyway, he whooped my ass. This ain't nothing compared to that fight, but I've never had a bullet inside me before."
Mr. Stark smiled. "Murdock did indeed beat you pretty badly, eh?"
They both laughed a bit. "I just want to know who attacked you and why," Hogan sighed. "That's the only thing I can think. Three random thugs got into your basement, and blew up your house. What is that?"
"I'm not sure," Mr. Stark admitted. "But I have an idea."
Hogan raised his eyebrow as best he could. "What's that, Tony?"
"I want to find out who almost killed the two of us," Mr. Stark started, "but I can't do it in my condition. So I think you and I are going to need to pull our resources together to start something of an espionage branch for Stark Industries."
"What do you have in mind?"
"The Stark-Hogan International Espionage Legal Division," Mr. Stark replied, his eyes lighting up. "It'll be an organization that is hired to find out certain things about various people."
"You mean a commercial private investigation company?"
"That's exactly what I mean!" Mr. Stark sang. "And they're first mission is going to be to figure out why on Earth we were attacked, how they got into my house, and who sent them."
Hogan nodded. "That's a good idea. But you'd have to get the idea approved by the rest of the board."
Mr. Stark thought that over. "That's not the best idea. Something about letting our board of executives know seems like a bad idea."
"Because you suspect one of them did it?" asked Hogan.
A nod was the response.
"I had that feeling too," Hogan admitted, looking down. "I don't trust many of the board members, to be honest with you. They all seem suspicious."
"I agree," Mr. Stark stated. "So it will be best if our actions go unnoticed. But I'm going to let you rest while I get some ideas going on of who we can get to work with us."
"Do you have any ideas on who you might want to work with us on this?" asked Hogan seriously.
"I have at least one potential candidate," Mr. Stark replied. "But I'm going to need to pull some strings to get him."
