I have no claim whatsoever to any part of Marvel Studio's and/or the Avengers Franchise...
Seventeen hours after the incident at Stark Industries
"Been a while since I was up here in front of you. Maybe I'll do us all a favor and just stick to the cards" said Tony as he looked at the assembled mob of reporters "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..."
"Sorry, Mr Stark, do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you sorely despise bodyguards?"
"Yes."
"And this mysterious bodyguard was somehow equipped with an undisclosed Stark high-tech powered battle..."
"I know that it's confusing... It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero. I mean, let's face it, I'm not the heroic type..."
"Um, I never called you a hero"
"A laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public" continued Tony as if the reporter hadn't spoken that last line. He took a breath before he said the words that would have lasting effects, forever "The truth is I am Iron Man."
Five months and two weeks after that press conference
"Hello Mrs. Potts" said the voice of a young man as he walked and sat beside his father's personal assistant "I must say that you good today."
"Why thank you Mr. Stark" she responded before looking at the dancers on stage and the big screen that just started projecting an image of a plane. "Did you have any part in this?"
"Of course not Pepper, this was all him" he replied as he watched his father in his suit of armor free fall for a few moments before he used his repulsors to launch himself down to the stage. "You know he loves an entrance"
"And apparently so do they" she replied as they both listened to the crowd chant 'Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!'
"It's good to be back." Tony said as he looked around at the assembled crowd "You missed me?"
Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!
"I missed you too"
"Blow something up!" yelled someone in the crowd causing Rafael to snort 'Blow something up? Really? Tony had problems not blowing stuff up by accident. He didn't want his dad to start doing it on purpose.
Apparently Tony seemed to agree with his son's thoughts as he plainly said "Blow something up? I did that already"
A took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and spoke in the loud booming, slightly cocky voice that he was well known for "I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me… I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history… I'm not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven't come across anyone who's man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day!"
"I love you, Tony!" yelled a woman in the crowd and Rafael noticed a slight clench in Peppers hands. He wondered for the first time, what it was like for her, seeing a man that she cared for sleep with one woman after another and wondered just what did his father do to deserve this kind of devotion.
"Please, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's not even about us. It's about legacy. It's about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. And that's why for the next year and for the first time since 1974, the best and brightest men and women of nations and corporations the world over will pool their resources, share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future. It's not about us. Therefore, what I'm saying, if I'm saying anything, is welcome back to the Stark Expo. And now, making a special guest appearance from the great beyond to tell you what it's all about, please welcome my father, Howard."
And with those Tony exited the stage and let a recording that his father made a long time ago, play.
"Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace. So, from all of us here at Stark lndustries, I would like to personally introduce you to the City of the Future. Technology holds infinite possibilities for mankind, and will one day rid society of all its ills. Soon, technology will affect the way you live your life every day. No more tedious work, leaving more time for leisure activities and enjoying the sweet life."
"Natasha" Rafael murmured as he noticed the redhead assassin who had been standing slightly behind him for, quite possibly, some time "How are you?"
"Good, you?"
"Great… I assume you are here for a reason."
"Indeed… I've been assigned to keep an eye on Tony Stark…" she said "I plan to get him to hire me as his personal assistant when he ultimately gives Pepper her promotion."
"SHIELD knows about that?" Rafael knew that already of course, his father had already approached him about taking over the company which he had refused on the grounds that he had too little experience and had suggested Pepper saying that he would take he place when she eventually stepped down.
"He wasn't exactly subtle when he was checking the legalities required" she said. Any outsider at that point would have considered that line as some kind of a jab against the current head of Stark Industries. After all, according to most of the world 'Stark' and 'Subtle' are two words that should never go together. But Rafael, Natasha and many of the high ranking SHIELD agents involved with Tony's case (though to be frank there weren't that many) knew different. The man could work completely in the shadows if he required it. He may not like it, but that certainly didn't mean that he wasn't extremely capable at it. Hacking multiple top secret agencies multiple times, and leaving no one the wiser was no simple feat after all.
"There wasn't any need to be" muttered Rafael as they stared at the subject of their talk as he walked over to his brand new car, flirting with the US Marshal that was leaning on it as she handed him, or rather Happy as Tony didn't like to be handed things, a summons from the Senate Armed Services Committee. He flicked out his phone and started typing out a text as he said "I could recommend you to my father, or most likely Pepper as her potential replacement."
"I've got it handled."
"I see… Did you even think about what I asked you?"
"You do realize that I am fifteen years older than you right."
"You've been with people who had a wider age gap than fifteen years Natasha" Technically there was only an age gap of three years between them, but its not like he could explain that without her ending up sending him to the mad house… Well not until Thor arrived at the very least.
"For missions, and none that I've had an emotional attachment to."
"So…" said Rafael as he sent the text he had been typing "Are you finally admitting that you have feelings for me.
"Hardly" came the emotionless response.
"You do realize that people like us have a short life expectancy right?" he said as he turned and looked her straight in the eye before deciding o throw her own words back at her… well she technically hadn't said those words yet, bit it was the thought that counted right "What's the point of life if you don't do whatever you want to do with whoever you wanted to do it with."
"So… you want to do it" she said in a very suggestive voice
"That's not what I meant and you know it" he stated
"I do…" she said, her voice returning back to normal "But you're forgetting, your life expectancy is no longer the same as mine."
"Your right" he said as he looked in the direction that his father's car went "Between being a billionaire, the heir to a Fortune 500 Company, and a, well self professed Hero, my life expectancy is much shorter."
She didn't reply. He didn't expect her two… and then with some unseen signal, the two of them went their separate ways. The assassin disappeared into the shadows, the Stark heir went and joined his bodyguard who was waiting beside HIS brand new car.
Meanwhile, somewhere at least a dozen miles away, a billionaire smiled at the message his son sent him saying that he could race him to D.C. He quickly showed the message to his driver and suddenly they were going much faster than they were before.
"Mr Stark, could we pick up now where we left off?" said Senator Sterns as Tony was speaking to Pepper who was seated in the audience behind him "Mr Stark. Please."
"Yes, dear?"
"Can I have your attention?"
"Absolutely." He replied to the general laughter of everyone except for the senators he was facing, and his own flesh and blood who was sitting beside him.
"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"
"I do not." He replied "I do not."
"You do not?" the Senator replied sarcastically
"Well, it depends on how you define the word 'weapon'." Tony replied
"The Iron Man weapon." The Senator said, frustration seeping into his voice
"My device does not fit that description." He replied, as if describing weather and not a peace of technology that could revolutionize Warfare
"Well..." said Stern his frustration clear, though still willing to play this game if it got him what he wanted "How would you describe it?"
"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator."
"As?"
"It's a high-tech prosthesis." He replied once a gain to general laughter
The senator looked flabbergast and couldn't help but stutter "That is... That is..."
"That's actually the most apt description he can make of it." Rafael, who was sitting next to his father added.
"It's a weapon." Said the senator sternly, in an attempt to assert the seriousness of this trial rather than the joke that Tony was turning it into "It's a weapon, Mr Stark…. er Mr Starks"
"Please" Rafael said seriously, knowing exactly who that man really worked for "If your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen..."
"My priority" said Senator Stern in a loud voice, once again attempting to assert control "Is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people-of the United States of America."
"Well, you can forget it" said Rafael
"We are the Iron Men, our suits and ourselves our one and the same." Tony said "To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over ourselves, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in."
"Look, its quite simple" added Rafael "You Can't Have It!"
"Look" the senator tried to say "I'm no expert..."
"In prostitution? Of course not" exclaimed Tony "You're a senator. Come On."
"I'm no expert in weapons" Stern said "But we do have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."
"Really?" muttered Rafael as his father shot him a grin before speaking into the microphone saying "Let the record reflect that I observed Mr Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance."
"Absolutely" said Mr Hammer and at that point Rafael had to wonder if he even understood the implied insult "I'm no expert, I defer to you, Anthony. You're the wonder boy. Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was THE expert? Your dad! Howard Stark. Really a father to us all and to the military-industrial age, now let's just be was no flower child. He was a lion… We all know why we're here. Six months ago, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it... I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr Stark will not always be able to foresee… Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America.
"That is well said, Mr Hammer" said Stern, happy that at last, something seemed to be going his way "The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber."
"Rhodey? What?" said Tony, caught completely flat-footed as the last person he expected to see Stern call upon walk, though those doors. He got up and walked straight to the Colonel, and said in a pseudo-friendly tone "Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Look" Rhodey replied "it's me, I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on."
"I just..."
"Drop it!"
"All right" said Tony, raising his hands in defense "I'll drop it."
The two men walked to the front of the court and took their respective seats, Antony where he was seated earlier, Rhodey, neat to Justin Hammer, though not before he noticed the death-glare his best friends recently found son shot him.
"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel Rhodes" said the Senator "And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?"
"You're requesting that I read specific selections -from my report, Senator?" asked Rhodes in a slightly disapproving voice
"Yes, sir.
It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner."
"l understand that" the senator said, trying to placate the man and get the hearing back on track "A lot of things have changed today. -So if you could just read..."
"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect -the summary of my final..."
"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you."
"Very well" said the good Colonel, disapproval clear in his voice "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, 'Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation, and to her interests.' I did, however, go on to summaries that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh the liabilities, and that it would be in our interest..."
"That's enough, Colonel" said the Senator, trying to prevent another part of this trial from going Starks way
"...to fold Mr Stark..."
"That's enough!"
"...into the existing chain of command" finished Rhodey in a slightly louder and much more firm voice than he used before "Senator."
The contempt in that last word was clear
"I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defense, IF you ask nice." Stated Tony, once more drawing laughter from the crowd "We can amend the hours a little bit."
"I'd like to go on and show," said the Stern "if I may, the imagery that's connected to your report."
"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images -to the general public at this time." said Rhodey, wondering what exactly this man was trying to pull, before almost immediately realizing the obvious answer "With all due respect,"
"Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. Let's have the images."
"Very well" said the Colonel "Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground, indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational."
"Hold on one second, buddy" Tony said as he used JARVIS to simultaneously hack the screens in the courtroom as well as locate the places where these images were taken and hack their footage "Let me see something here. Boy, I'm good. I commandeered your screens. I need them. Time for a little transparency… Now, let's see what's really going on."
"What is he doing?" Rafael heard someone mutter in the crowd, much to his bemusement as what his father was doing was quite plain to everyone.
"If you will direct your attention to said screens..." the man in question said "l believe that's North Korea."
"They watch a giant armored robot with multiple machine guns fall on its back and begin to shoot everyone in sight.
"Can you turn that off?" said Senator Stern, trying to shut down the monitors to both stop the public from viewing any more disturbing images as he was trying to stop Stark from completely shredding the very reason he was legally trying to use to confiscate the armor "Turn that off Now."
"Iran"
They watched some weird bot thing fly a bunch of chaotic circles before crashing into the ground
"No grave immediate threat here" the senior Stark said, almost enjoying the entertainment that he was broadcasting to the court "Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game? Justin, you're on TV. Focus up!"
"Okay, give me a left twist. Left's good. Turn to the right."
The robot's torso did a complete one eighty and got stuck in that position
"Oh, God, OH GOD!" yelled video Justin as he started to panic"
"Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, 10 years away. Hammer Industries, 20!" stated Tony firmly.
"I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived" said Justin.
"That test pilot shouldn't have even been inside that death trap" said Rafael angrily "There are rules and regulations when designing armor Justin! Rules which you blatantly ignored when you designed that thing in your desire to make a quick buck and your obsession to stick it to my dad. And now a man is going to live his life being paralyzed below the waste. If I could sue you for violation of those rules I would but I can't as those are general rules for design and have no legal bearings inside a court."
"I… I… I…" stuttered Justin
"l think we're done, is the point that he's making" stated Tony, all playfulness gone from his voice. It was one thing to make a mockery of these idiots in front of him, it was quite another to leave a man paralyzed for life… He made a mental note to see if there was anything he could do for the test pilot... as well as for the other people who were wounded as they attempted to make mad copies of his suit, and for the families of those who had died trying.
"I don't think there's any reason..." Sterns started to say, trying once again to regain order in his court.
"The point is, well to you anyway" said Rafael "Is that you're welcome."
"For what?" asked the Senator
"Because we're your nuclear deterrents. America is safe. You want my property?You can't have I did you a big favor, I've successfully privatized world peace" said Tony as he stood up and spoke out loud to the crowd "What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns."
"**** you, Mr Stark" said Stern, loosing all composure as he began cursing the man in front of him "**** you, buddy… We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today."
"Good." Said Rafael as he too stood up
"You've been a delight" said Tony to the camera which was broadcasting this case to the entire country "My bond is with the people, and I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself."
"And Guys" Rafael added, getting the camera to focus on him "The Iron Man, that's my dad. Call me the Knight people!"
"Wake up. Daddy's home" said Tony as he and his son entered the lab
"Welcome home, sir." came JARVIS's automated voice "Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir."
Rafael couldn't help but burst into snickers at that.
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up" said Tony "Wait till it's your turn and then we'll talk."
Rafael opened his mouth to respond, but before he could utter a single he was interrupted by the loud sound of a mixer. A quick glance told him that 'Dummy' the robotic hand was at it again
"You!" said Tony "I swear to God I'll dismantle you. I'll soak your motherboard. I'll turn you into a wine rack."
"Hey" Rafael said "Leave the poor robotic hand… thing? Alone! He's only making you what you need to counteract the symptoms."
"True enough" said Tony as he took the glass of green goop that Dummy handed him, took one sip and blanched "How many ounces a day of this gobbledegookam I supposed to drink?"
"We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms, sir." Came the sound of Jarvis's automated voice
"Check palladium levels." Rafael said
"Blood toxicity, 24%." Jarvis replied as Tony took of the shirt he was wearing and started to disconnect the core "It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition. Another core has been depleted."
"God, they're running out quick." Rafael murmured as Tony replaced the core of his reactor once again.
"I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core. You are running out of both time and options. Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you. Miss Potts is approaching. -I recommend that you inform her..."
"Mute."
"Is this a joke?" said Pepper, sounding both stern and angry "What are you thinking?"
"What?" asked Tony, sounding surprised… though both of the other people in the room knew that he was not, and this only served to infuriate Pepper more.
"What are you thinking?" she said
"Hey, I'm thinking I'm busy. And you're angry about something" Tony replied and "Do you have the sniffles? I don't wanna get sick."
"Did you just donate our entire modern art collection to the..."
"Boy Scouts of America." said Tony in a bland tone
"...Boy Scouts of America?" Pepper repeated in much more harsher and angrier voice
"Yes. It is a worthwhile organization. I didn't physically check the crates but, basically, yes. And it's not "our" collection, it's my collection. No offense."
"No, you know what? I think I'm actually entitled to say "our" collection considering the time that I put in, over 10 years, curating that."
Rafael would have usually voiced his opinion here, which would be in favor of what his father said, but he didn't because honestly, Tony needed to be fired.
"It was a tax write-off. I needed that."
"You know, there's only about 801 things that I really need to talk to you about." Pepper said "For starters, the Expo is a gigantic waste of time."
"There's nothing more important to me than the Expo. It's my primary point of concern." Tony replied "I don't know why you're..."
"The Expo is your ego gone crazy." said Pepper and Rafael couldn't help but snort causing both of them to look at him, Pepper in surprise because she honestly didn't know that he was there, and Tony with a betrayed look.
"Hey, don't give me that look" Rafael said in protest to his dad's look "she's right you know"
Pepper shook he head, trying to get back on track "This is vital Tony. Stark is in complete disarray, do you understand that?"
"No. Our stocks have never been higher."
"Yes, from a managerial standpoint." She replied "You are..."
"Dad quit stalling" Rafael said interrupting her "and just do it"
"Do what?" asked Pepper wondering what her boss's son meant.
"Excellent idea" said Tony "Pepper, why do you run the company."
"Yeah, I'm trying to run the company."
"Pepper, I need you to run the company."
"Well, stop trying to do it and do it."
"You will not -give me the information..."
"I'm not asking you to try... -...in order to..."
"I'm asking you to physically do it. I need you to do it."
"I am trying to do it."
"Gods this is a soap opera" muttered Rafael as went to get a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses.
"Pepper, you're not listening to me!" said Tony firmly "I'm trying to make you CEO. Why won't you let me?"
Pepper stopped speaking, completely and utterly stunned, and then she s said the only thing that came to her mind "Have you been drinking?"
"Chlorophyll" muttered Tony offhandedly before getting back to the task at hand "I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries, effective immediately… And before you say anything you should know that I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or a bit of headhunting, so to speak,trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realized it's you. It's always been you. I thought there'd be a legal issue, but actually I'm capable of appointing my successor and my successor is you. So Congratulations.
"But…" stuttered Pepper "But Rafael…"
"Is more suited towards espionage than running a company, especially a Fortune 500 company" said the man himself as he walked to them with three glasses of champagne "Dad and I spoke about this for a while and we both agree that you would be the best person to take the reigns. Maybe after a couple dozen years when you're ready to retire I'll become CEO, but until then the office is yours. Congratulations Pepper."
"I don't know what to think" blabbed Pepper as she took the glass that he offered her
"Don't think" said Tony with a smirk as he raised his own glass "Drink."
"The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" said Pepper as she entered Tony's exercise room, which was more like a posh living room combined with a gym
"I'm on Happy time." The man replied as he and his bodyguard traded blows
"I promise you this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company" she replied as the notary entered the room and walked straight over too her. Rafael's eyes widened as he looked at the ravishing redhead who he would recognize anywhere and muttered to himself "So that's how she's gonna get his attention."
"I need you to initial each box" Natasha Romanoff said as she handed Pepper a clipboard.
It was quite plainly apparent that Rafael's eyes weren't the only one's who was following the SHIELD agent, as Tony had given up all pretext of sparring with Happy and had taking to gazing at the 'notary'.
Happy though wasn't too happy about the change in focus as he approached his boss saying "Lesson one. Never take your eye off..."
Before he could even get close enough to land a blow Tony launched a vicious back kick, sending Happy in the corner before quickly closing the distance between them and giving him a dozen powerful blows to the torso.
"That's it. I'm done." Tony said as he picked up a water bottle "What's your name, lady?"
"Rushman" said Natasha, causing Rafael to raise his eyebrow as that was one of her better known aliases "Natalie Rushman."
"Front and center. Come into the church." Tony said, indicating the ring
"No" said Pepper exasperated "You're seriously not gonna ask..."
"If it pleases the court, which it does."
"It's no problem" said Natasha, and Rafael couldn't help but grin. She was playing her role perfectly while at the same time giving that little bit of sexy. Rafael never thought he would see the day when his father was manipulated considering all of his quirks and his complete unpredictability, but Natasha seemed to be doing just that…
"I'm sorry" said Pepper, apologizing for her boss… er former boss? "He's very eccentric."
Rafael watched Tony grin at Natasha as she entered the ring under the second rope. It was a grin he knew all to well, and suddenly he wasn't sure if Natasha was playing him anymore. He knew that she wanted the job, likely from the moment she agreed to his request.
At that moment he understood what he was seeing. Natasha and Antony were both masters at getting what they wanted, and they could clearly see what the other wanted as they tried to play each other to get what they wanted. It was that moment when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, except it was infinitely more subtle. Every single subtle seductive move that Natasha made and every single eccentric move that Tony made were attempts to gauge one another to see how far they needed to go to get what they wanted. Except the ball was totally in Tony's court and they both knew it.
"Pepper" said Tony as he backed away from the redhead, and sat down next to his former personal assistant and soon to be boss "Who is she?"
"She is from legal." Came her reply "And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that."
Rafael nearly snorted when he heard that last line, not really surprised that Pepper really couldn't see the dance that had just played out before her, few could... Even if Natasha wasn't a SHIELD agent there wouldn't be a lawsuit, as there was no way anyone would file a court case after a dance like that, unless there were really desperate that it. That, and his father was not ogling her… well not just ogling her as Natasha was a serious piece of eye candy, something that she herself knew and constantly used to her advantage.
"I need a new assistant, boss." Said Tony
"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates" Pepper replied patiently "They're lined up and ready to meet you."
"I don't have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it's her."
"No, it's not."
Rafael turned his attention back to the match, while still keeping an ear on Pepper and Tony, knowing Happy, he was going to say something and then she would destroy him.
"You ever boxed before?" he asked her
"I have, yes" she replied evenly
"What, like, the Tae Bo? Booty Boot Camp?Crunch? Something like that?" Happy joked and Rafael noticed Natasha's lips narrow a little, a clear sign of danger if there ever was one for the infamous Black Widow
"More like Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, Keysi and a dozen similar styles Happy" Rafael said loudly "Take this seriously or your pride might not be the only thing she ends up breaking."
There was silence after that statement as everyone other than the speaker and the subject of that statement stared at Natasha in shock. Finally Tony decided to break the ice and ask "You two know each other?"
"Yup" replied Rafael. He officially knew several of her aliases and the Rushman aliases was the one that had the most official meetings with him.
"Ook..." said Tony, wondering how exactly his son and his soon-to-be assistant knew each other, but decided he could find out for himself later and so he instead asked "How do I spell your name, Natalie?"
"R-U-S-H-M-A-N" she stated and Tony immediately started tapping away on his tablet.
"What" said Pepper "Are you gonna Google her now?
"I thought I was ogling her" Tony replied, throwing her own words back at her "Wow. Very, very impressive individual."
"You're so predictable, you know that?" said Pepper exasperated
"She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin" continued Tony as if Pepper hadn't spoken "Who speaks Latin?"
"No one speaks Latin Tony" Pepper replied as if she was speaking to a child "It's a dead language. You can read Latin or you can write Latin, but you can't speak Latin..."
"I can, and so can she" Rafael said loudly, drawing their attention back to him "And you won't believe how useful it is"
"You'll have to teach me then" Tony replied as he looked up several images of her in Google and said to Pepper "Did you model in Tokyo? Cause she modeled in Tokyo."
"Well..."
"I need her. She's got everything that I need."
"Rule number one," said Happy as he threw a right hook at Natasha, tired of being ignored "Never take your eye off…."
He didn't finish his sentence as Natasha easily grabbed his hand and flipped him down on his back, with his hand in a vicious hold.
"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Pepper, completely shocked by the sudden violence "Happy…!"
"I did warn you" Rafael said with an amused smirk on his face as Natasha released her hold and got down from the ring
"I just slipped." He protested weakly
"You did?" asked Tony sarcastically "Because it looks like a TKO to me."
"Mr. Stark" she said as she approached him with the clipboard "I need your fingerprint."
"Right" said the man as he placed the impression of his fingerprint of the contract, which now meant that Pepper was now the new CEO of stark industries.
"So" said the woman herself as she and Rafael approached Tony and Natasha "How are we doing?"
"Great, just wrapping up" Tony responded as he kissed her on the cheek "Hey Peps, you're now officially the boss."
Natasha smirked at the couple as she asked "Will that be all, Mr Stark?"
"Yes" said Pepper "That will be all, Ms. Rushman."
"Hey Nat, If you're looking for a job my dad needs a new assistant" said Rafael causing Pepper to throw him a look "I know your overqualified, but it's a better than working as a notary, what do you say?"
She smirked at him and said "You just want some part of your old life around this place don't you?"
"Can you blame me?"
"Nope" she replied with a cheerful voice, all traces of professionalism gone "Besides I need a new sparring partner, my current ones are well…"
"Too predictable?"
"Oh you have no idea…!" she said before looking at his father and Pepper "Mr. Stark, if I get a reasonable contract that you can be sure that I will be taking it… You can be sure that your son's spars with me will only happen during my time off. I can assure you that I will be professional while on the clock. Good day, Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts… Rafael"
And with those words she turned around and walked away. Pepper waited until she was gone before rounding on her former boss's son. But before she could even berate him, he quickly tried to placate her saying "Pepper, that woman is one of my oldest friends, well oldest living friends at any rate. She is also easily overqualified for this job. She is highly intelligent, resourceful, professional when required and she can easily take care of herself, in fact she could probably defend Happy and my Dad from an attack better than me in my suit and the only reason she is not working very successfully the security sector is out of personal preference. I have seen your candidates and she is certainly more qualified then them and as for trustworthy, I would trust her with my life. I have in fact done so on more than one occasion."
At their looks he added "It comes with living the life I have had to live… Besides it's not you're your preference, personal and professional, that counts when hiring my dad's assistant, it's his and only his…."
"I see…" said Pepper, looking slightly mollified, she didn't want to hire Natalie because they knew literally nothing about her besides the brief search they did on Google, but if Rafael was willing to vouch for her that much… well she didn't have any more problems besides that slight tug of jealously in her chest which she ruthlessly squashed. She was professional if nothing else. "I now have a company to run so I'll see you two later ok"
And with that sentence she walked out the room.
"Mr Stark?" said Natalie Rushman, the new personal assistant of the Billionaire Tony Stark "How was your flight?"
"Hey Natalie, it was excellent" he replied "And must say that it's nice to see you."
"We have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind." She said as she smoothly stepped out of the way allowing the photographer to take a couple of shots "Right this way please."
She walked beside Tony, directing him to a table as he said "You look fantastic."
"Why, thank you very much."
"But that's unprofessional. What's on the docket?"
"You have a 9:30 dinner."
"Perfect. I'll be there at 11 :00." As he stopped by a table facing the window as Natalie nodded her head in agreement as she made a small change in his schedule on her Smartphone, he looked at her and asked "Is this us?"
"It can be."
"Great" Tony replied " Make it us."
"Okay."
Pepper wasn't idle during that time as she had been speaking to the people present, who had been congratulating her on her promotion, before finally coming to her stop next to her former boss and greeting a very familiar patron "Mr Musk. How are you?"
"Hi, Pepper" he said "Congratulations on the promotion."
"Thank you very much."
"Elon" said Tony, noticing and recognizing the man from his days as CEO "How's it going? Those Merlin engines are fantastic."
"Thank you" he said with a smile "And listen Tony, I've got an idea for an electric jet."
"You do?"asked Tony rhetorically "Then we'll make it work."
"Do you think that they will?" asked Steve from where he was seated with his boss. Not even remotely proper, but with a little make up here and there – and a wig – they were practically unrecognizable.
"If it was anyone else no, but Mr. Musk is one of ten people to have been granted V.I.P status in Stark industries, not to mention that my dad likes him. So yes, I think that they will make it work." Rafael replied as he got up from his seat "Walk with me Steve."
The man out of time followed his boss outside the dining hall and once Rafael was sure that they were in relative security he said "Two things, firstly take of that wig Steve, you look ridiculous. Secondly did my Grandfather ever mention the name Anton Vanko to you?
"No, he did not" replied Captain Rogers as he took of his wig, though in his opinion he didn't look silly at all, rather he thought it was a very effective disguise "I am assuming that he is a threat?"
"Not directly" Rafael said "Anton Vanko is one of three people who could build the same kind of arc reactor that my dad built. Fortunately for us, he is dead. Unfortunately, he has a son who was born in a very violent environment, is so brilliant an engineer that he too can build an ark reactor with nothing but his fathers rusty knowledge to guide him, and possesses a measure of hate for anyone named Stark that borders on fanatic."
"I see" said Steve "And I'm assuming that you're expecting trouble from him, most likely today?"
"Yes, either during the race or in the coming days of the Stark Expo" Rafael replied "I need you to keep your eyes peeled Steve. Knowing what I know he wouldn't have sold his reactor designs to anyone… no he would first make a stand against my father and I before waiting for potential buyers to get him out of whatever prison he is chucked in."
"Your orders" he asked
"I need you to remove him as soon as possible, preferably the moment he show's his face" said Rafael "Whether you incapacitate or kill is up to you and the situation at the time, I really do not care either way. Just remember two things. The first is that he will be definitely armed with some kind of deathly reactor based weapons, most likely electric whips… also remember that every moment he spends conscious after revealing himself is a moment too long."
"Understood" Steve replied, before his eyes caught a seen that was playing out on a big screen T.V. "Sir… did you know about this?"
Rafael looked at the screen where he could clearly see his father heading for the race car… even from the angle he was he could clearly read Tony's lips, well somewhat – 'Well what's use… having… owning a race car… if you don't drive it?'
"I suspected he would do something, I didn't think it'd be this brazen though" muttered Rafael as he stared at the screen "Rogers get me my case."
"Yes Sir"
Rafael easily spotted Ivan Vanko who he was sure would be hear (the man was walking in the middle of the race track, it was difficult to NOT spot him) and with a quick burst of energy from his repulsors, he shot forward and tackled the man. All those watching saw the 'Knight' remove some lunatic from the racetrack, what everyone didn't see was the little red beam that came out of Rafael's metallic gauntlet. He had managed to recover that thing that Stane had used to paralyze his father and had made use of it in his own armor. With a slight, almost unseen motion of the hand he was using to hold Vanko's chest, he disconnected Vanko's reactor and crushed it, reminiscent of how his father would have done if he hadn't existed in this world.
He quickly dropped Vanko of to the nearest security force before landing next to Steve, Happy, Natasha and a furious looking Pepper Potts, got out of his armor, and decided to watch the show before informing his father about Vanko and his reactor. After all, watching Pepper take strips out of Tony is really truly amusing.
Hey guys, I hope that all of you enjoyed the fourth chapter of White Knight...
Technically speaking its a good portion of the second Iron Man movie with a few personal touches thrown in. I couldn't really change much...
well not unless I wanted to totally change the events that are happening. Remember things turned out more or less fine in the marvel movies and my character who knows that very well doesn't want to change things too much and risk creating some sort of unforeseen disaster...
Now on to reviews...
NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin - I actually have a different major power in mind for him, though depending o how the story flows i may deside against actually giving it against him... well I guess what I am really saying is that we'll see... Thanks for the advice though...
DarkDust27 - You are most welcome, I hope you like this chapter and continue reading future chapters...
HPMarvel - That is actually what I am trying to make it, though with the current Natasha/Bruce parng that the movies have going on, we'll have to see how things flow, I'll have to watch the infinity wars before I decide the pairings to see how they may affect the story...
SkittlezxBabex146 - I thought so too... unlike an unknown SI, the S.H.I.E.L.D SI or even an Asguardian SI, the possibilities of what a Stark SI could do are endless... and considering just how much the Stark Family and the industries are intertwined with the Avengers, it's actually a whole lot easier to keep things centered on the Avengers themselves, instead of going off on a whole other tangent.
Aiphira - there will be more, I promise you that
Rangle - Three things really, first I thank you for your complement and I have to admit that the HP: Reloaded story-line isn't very well thought out... actually it isn't thought out at all. I just sit down and type the a chapter all in one go and then publish it, not caring about the effect it may have, so I hope you really don't mind... Secondly the story is going to feature mainly Harry and not the SI, it just seems that i'm featuring myself now because truth be told my character is about as useful as a first grader in a war, and Harry wants to train him to the point that he can go out and not get himself offed in a moment of carelessness... or worse spill secrets about younger Potter and his plans...
Wow its so much easier to reply here than it is to reply on my Harry Potter Story... Partially because there are so few reviews and mostly because at least half of the reviews are not veiled or outright insults to what I have written... Constructive Criticism i one thing... that is another...
Once Again I hope you guys and girls have enjoyed this chapter,
Rafaelout out
