Chapter 10 [SHIELD Lab]

Meantime Tony tinkered with his armor trying to bolster the weapons therein. Granted he trusted in his own repulsors but if they were facing an actual god and a human turned whatever, he wanted an insurance policy. Besides he wanted to show his new playmates what Iron Man could really do. "Tell me off will they?" He frowned.

"Tony, Happy and I are heading for the airport and…." Pepper stared at him. "What happened? Your pants are soaked!"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. It's the ice. Kind of comes in handy, you know?" he cracked. "Especially when someone assaults you."

"Assaults? Tony, what happened?" she demanded.

"Natalie…I mean Natasha kneed me in the jewels. Damn. I knew that girl had moves but that…yeah." He put a couple of more sparks into the apparatus.

Pepper knew that Natasha was temperamental but not to the point of doing something unprovoked. "What did you do?"

"What did I…?" He set his sautering iron down and wheeled around. "All I did was tell her about Fury's meeting this morning. And well…."

She folded her arms across her chest knowing there was something else. "And well what? Tony, what did you say?"

"I found Happy in there. Apparently she made him…you know…happy. I called him on the cell and congratulated him for his accomplishment and all. Hey, the guy hadn't had any before that. And she…" he started.

"You said where she could hear it? Tony, you deserve that! No woman's a prize or a piece of baggage. Happy doesn't own her!"

"The guys can't even talk guy talk?" He snorted. "Pepper, you women talk about us when we aren't around, I'm sure."

"There are things I don't discuss. I'm sorry but you really need to learn some sensitivity," she assessed.

He rolled his eyes. "I need to learn? I… Pepper, when it comes to us, I'm trying! Look at this place! Fury's coming down on me about my issues. Freaking Captain Boy Scout's quoting Dad to my face! And I try to do a favor and get kneed for my issues! What about Dad? What about these people? I'm trying to bolster the armor so we can survive what's coming! I don't have to do this! But I am! I want to help!"

"And they know that. That's why they haven't tried to take Iron Man again." She softened her tone. "Maybe we should talk with Steve and Peggy about how they bring up your Dad around you. I'm sure he wasn't being disrespectful. He wants you to know that your Dad wasn't all bad. Same as Colonel Fury does."

"They don't know him the way I do, okay?" He shook his head.

"And they don't know youthe way I do," she added while kissing him on the cheek. "We'll talk when I get back. Got to get to the airport."

"Make sure you let LaFemmeNatashaknow where her BF is," he noted dryly.

"Some things Happy is cleared to do. Don't shock yourself. All right? Remember some of us love you," she concluded before heading out.

"Yeah some of you. Blast." He ground his teeth and felt the old pain burning at his heart and mind. All of his Dad's buddies thought Howard was so grand. But they built pressure on Tony too.

And the boy was near snapping over it.

"Sir. Terribly sorry to interrupt your thinking," JARVIS interceded.

"It's okay. Nobody cares anyhow. What's eating you?" he groused.

"I found something in the relays. If we replace the metal with gold wiring, the conductive element gets smoother. Boost of power would be twenty five percent over what we have now," the AI informed him.

"Show me," he directed. Seeing the digital diagnostic image, he nodded. "You're definitely onto something, JARVIS. Problem is I don't have time to rewire the whole damn suit."

"You wouldn't need to, Sir. If you go between the relays from your back generator to your wrists, it would be sufficient. I wouldn't recommend doing other things until we test it further. Given what you may be going against, I'd recommend more firepower."

"At least someone's on the ball." He walked over to the closet and pulled out a big spool of gold plated wiring. He had been keeping it around for some test or other. This seemed as good a chance as any.

Given what he was cooking up with his hand and chest units, this would really add some gas to the equation and show certain teammates what he could do…..