Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and/or placed this story on alert. I really do love it when I receive reviews. I'm still unsure of when I want to start posting the next story or how I'm going to deliver the rest of this story (The meeting of Cap). I have a short description of the next story on my profile page.
There is a bit of language towards the end, but it's not just thrown in there to be thrown in.
enjoy!
Aria was waiting backstage with a headset placed on her head. The sound of AC/DC emitted from her phone on the table I front of her. She pushed the headset down to her neck and answered the device.
"Finally calling me back Tony?" She asked, irritation seeping through her words.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I was a little busy. Where are you?" Tony replied, the sound of air rushing round him making him a little hard to hear.
"Where do you think? This expo is my baby and I'm not going to let Hammer prance about without supervision," she answered.
"Aria, I need you to trust me. Get out of there," Tony stated.
"I can't just leave. I have people depending on me here. I can't just go running off when you want me to," Aria fought.
"Hammer is working with Ivan Vanko, the guy who tried to kill me in Monaco. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but I need you to leave the expo," he explained.
"Tony, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," Aria fumed, ending the call.
After placing the phone back on the table in front of her, she slipped the headset back onto her head. Her attention, at the moment, was on a screen while the drone technician finished explaining everything that was going to happen.
"Here to wish me luck?" Hammer smirked, walking up to Aria.
"Here to make sure whatever you have planned doesn't hurt my expo," Aria retorted.
"Whatever you say," he winked, heading towards the side of the stage.
Within minutes music started to play through the speakers, Hammer dancing out to the middle of the stage.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Thanks for coming. Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long this country had to place it's brave women in harm's way. Then the Iron Man arrived and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair, that's not right, and it's just too bad. Regardless it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. But today my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink. Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States Military; The Hammer Drone! Army. Navy. Air Force. Marines," Justin Hammer presented. "That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, Let me tell ya. As revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Air Response Battle Suit and it's pilot Air Force Lieutenant Cornel James Rhodes!"
Aria rushed to the side of the the stage, needing to visually confirm that Rhodey was part of Hammer's presentation she held her breath as one of her brother's suits, but with a few modifications. Rhodey raised his right arm to salute, the drones behind him mimicking the movement.
"The fuck?" Aria muttered staring at her friend.
"For America and it's allies, Hammer Industries," Hammer started, but stopped as soon as Iron Man entered his eye sight.
Iron Man flew towards the stage, creating a spectacular entrance. As he landed in the very front of the stage, the crowd went wild.
"We've got trouble," Tony informed his friend, turning to join him at his side.
"Tony, there are civilians present," Rhodey warned his friend. "I'm on orders. Let's not of this right now."
"Let's give them a wave," he replied.
"Hey, alright," Hammer said, moving to retake the focus of the presentation. "Yeah, Iron Man! How about that?"
"All these people are in danger. You gotta get 'me out of her. You gotta trust me for the five minutes," Tony explained.
"Yeah, I tried that. I got tossed around your house remember?" Rhodey commented, not buying what his friend was saying.
"I think Hammer is working with Vanko," he said, trying to convince his friend for help.
"Vanko's alive?" He inquired.
Tony walked forward, knowing his friend was back on his side, "Was is he?"
"What?" Hammer replied.
"Where's Vanko?" He demanded.
"Who?" Hammer said, playing dumb.
"Tell me," Tony demanded, allowing the excited roar of the crowd to cover their conversation.
Hammer stared at the suit, "what are you doing here, man?"
"Woah woah woah!" Rhodey exclaimed from behind Tony, his suit prepping for an attack.
"That you?" Tony asked.
"No I'm not doing that. That's not me!" Rhodey answered. "I can't move. I'm locked up. I'm locked up! Get out of here! Go! This whole system's been compromised!"
Aria watched from the side as her brother took off into the air as her friend and the Hammer Drones started firing at him. Within seconds Rhodey followed after her brother, as did a handful of the drones. Aria ran backstage, grabbing her phone and quickly calling the police. After her quick call, she ran to the back table where Hammer had his technician set up.
"He's locked us out of the mainframe," she heard the technician say as she approached.
"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper demanded, arriving with her assistant just as she did.
"Please, please go away I've got this handled," Hammer informed her.
"Have you now?" Pepper furiously yelled at him.
Aria bent over to look at the computer, trying to see if she was able to give him any assistance.
"Yes I do! In fact, I f your guy hadn't of should up, this wouldn't be happening. So please now, go away!" He fought back, trying to take control of the situation. "Thank you."
Agent Romanoff walked past Pepper and slammed Hammer onto the desk, twisting his arm behind his back and breaking his glasses in the process. Pepper let out a short scream from the unexpected action of her assistant while Aria's head shot up to watch the attack.
"Now you're going to tell me who's behind this?" Natasha asked. "Who's behind this?"
"Ivan, Ivan. Ivan Vanko
"Where is he?" The Shield Agent demanded.
"He's at my facility," Hammer answered.
The agent stalked off, Pepper taking this time to pull her phone out and call the police "I need NYPD please."
"No, no sweetheart, don't call the authorities!" He begged. "Aria, can you do something?"
"Ha, yeah right," Aria sarcastically replied, letting Pepper take control.
"Tell me everything you know," she said to the tech.
Hammer needed up pacing while Aria ran off to locate her stage manager.
"Get every unnecessary personnel out of here," she instructed, clenching her phone I her hand.
"Yes mam," he replied, running off.
Aria peeked out to get a glimpse of the situation at hand. Hammer's drone had started blowing parts of the expo up in an attempt to destroy Iron Man. Screams could be heard through out the park as people were fleeing in terror. Aria could feel her heart clench knowing that her attempt at something great had turned into rubble. She returned back to Pepper, Hammer being dragged away in handcuffs.
"And tell Aria I'll be seeing her soon!" He shouted, before submitting to the police.
"Pepper, I'll take care of my employees. Can you go make sure everyone else is evacuated?" Aria asked
"Be safe," she replied.
Moments later, it was just Aria backstage running about as she came upon a straggler here and there. When she was alone she started her trek to the front of the building. In the distance she heard the sound of an explosion, dodging into a closet for safety.
Rhodey took off in the suit, finally leaving Pepper and Tony alone on the roof.
"Tony, where's Aria?" Pepper asked calmly, turning to look at him.
"Didn't she get out earlier?" He asked, fear slowly creeping through his body.
"I went out front, she returned to the backstage to make sure the stage crew had all left," she answered.
Tony placed his helmet back on and flew off towards the wreckage of the Stark Expo; towards the remnants of the Mainstage.
"JARVIS, I need you to call Aria and ping her phone," Tony instructed.
Aria sat curled up on the ground, still in the closet she hid in to protect herself from the wave of explosions. Part of the wall had fallen, a chunk of cement crushing the lower part of her left leg. The sound of drones still exploding were muffled by the dark, enclosed cement.
"This is Aria Stark. Can anyone hear me?" She asked into the headset that she was still wearing.
The only sound the device emitted was static. She slid it off her head and left it at her neck, leaning back against one of the walls closest to her. The small, glass device resting in her right leg lit up, illuminating the enclosed space.
Her thumb grazed the screen, "Hey Tony. How'd it all go?"
"I'm coming to get you. Stay where you are," he instructed, causing Aria to laugh.
"That's a good one. I couldn't move if I wanted to," she replied, wincing in pain. "How come I get injured every time by some enemy of yours at some Stark building? I call bullshit."
"Well you seem to have kept your spirits up about this," Tony joked.
"Give me a heads up next time someone wants to kill you," Aria quipped, hearing the sounds of him landing outside of the room she sought shelter in.
"Marco," he said, opening the door with his face mask up.
"Polo," she replied. "How's my expo looking?"
"Almost non-existent," Tony answered, lifting the chunk of cement off of her and tossing it to the side.
All emotion drained from Aria's face. As Tony lifted her up, she wrapped her arms around his neck, carefully grasping her phone. He carried her over towards a waiting ambulance and placed her on an empty stretcher. The only emotion she showed was due to the pain in her leg; only speaking when asked a question. Tony watched the paramedics strap her to the stretcher and wheeled her into the ambulance. First he heard a siren, the call of a fire truck, before he witnessed a small fleet of them arrive as the ambulance carrying his little sister departed. His face mask slid down into place before he flew off to rejoin Pepper on the roof.
Aria sat in her hospital bed, flipping through the channels on the TV. She was still in her dress, but her shoes were on the ground while a black cast was on her left leg. Her doctor had given her pain killers, making her head feel light. When she finally landed on a show to watch, Pepper quickly walked through the door.
"Oh my god! Are you alright! Tony said you were hurt," Pepper said in one breath.
"A chunk of my expo broke my leg," Aria replied nonchalantly. "All thanks to Tony, all of my planning and hard work and the planning and hard work of countless other has gone to waste."
"He didn't mean to Aria," Pepper told her.
"I need to go on a vacation. Where should I go Pep? Beach or Mountains?" She asked, quickly veering the conversation away from her brother. "I heard Tahiti is a magical place."
"That might be the best for you right now," Pepper agreed, sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"I think I might stay in New York for a while with a friend before I disappear. You and Tony can stay in my penthouse while he builds his tower. I know he's been talking about that for a few months," Aria informed the ginger.
"Just because he wants it doesn't mean he's going to get it," she commented.
"This is Tony. He basically gets what he wants. If he doesn't he throws a tantrum. I also gave him the land as a birthday present," Aria replied, raising her arm and letting it drop a few times.
Pepper watched the young woman, obviously loopy from the pain killers, laughing at her discovery of how her body was reacting to the pain killers.
"I'm resigning from being CEO of Stark Industries," Pepper quietly mentioned, turning her attention to the TV.
"No. Please don't. Your the best for this position. I don't want it. I'm 23, I need to party and live it up before Tony's next enemy kills me or some shit," Aria begged, weakly pawing at her companion. "Tony is Iron Man. He can't run a company anymore. Please Pep! We need you."
Pepper smiled at her, holding in a small laugh, "I'll think about it."
"If Tony tries to come see me tell him to fuck off," she yawned. "I don't want to see him yet."
"I'll do my best, but this is Tony," Pepper acknowledged as the young woman fell asleep.
Tony walked in from the doorway, holding a teddy bear with a red ribbon.
"Did you hear all of that?" Pepper asked, looking up.
"I did," I replied grimly, setting the bear in his sisters arms. "She hates me, doesn't she?"
"She's just upset. You destroyed her expo. Aria needs some normality in her life," Pepper explained.
"Boring. That's boring. She'll find it boring," he quipped. "What's this about you reconsidering CEO?"
"I haven't made up my mind," Pepper informed him.
"Good. I'll take care of the Stark Expo clean up while you think about it," Tony replied.
"Where's your suit?" She asked, curious of its location.
"I parked it out front. It's safe," Tony answered.
He kissed Aria on the forehead and turned to leave.
"Maybe what she needs is family right now. Something stable," Pepper suggested.
Tony continued walking out of the room, pretending he didn't hear what she had said.
