A/N: Sorry for the wait!
"Stark. What on earth are you doing here?" Natasha's voice was more annoyed than anything else.
"Well, Nat, I was wondering the same thing about her." He said, pointing at Sam. Say what? "You've got a 16-year-old on board. Care to explain? Oh, hey Bruce. Didn't see you there." Banner nodded, giving a little wave.
"Who we have on board the Helicarrier is SHIELD's business, Stark. I suggest you leave before-"
"Before what? Before you go all ninja-assassin on me? After all we've been through together?" Stark placed a hand against his chest dramatically. "Anyways, why is our friend Sam here on the Floating Fortress of Doom?"
"Hold the non-existent phone. How on Earth do you know my name? And-" Sam, having finally found her voice, was interrupted.
"Of all the things you could have asked, you go for 'How on Earth do you know my name?' Why not 'What are you doing here?' or 'How are you so amazingly awesome?'" He paused. "Anyways, to answer your question, I got bored. Decided to hack SHIELD and find out every dirty secret that Nick Fury has to offer. Found out that someone had destroyed the detention center, saw your name, and got interested."
"You got bored and decided to hack the world's greatest covert security network? For fun?" Natasha sounded almost amused, with a touch (ok, maybe more than a touch) of annoyed on the side. "Ok, I'm not exactly surprised, but still."
"Wait a minute. So all of you people know each other? And I'm suddenly feeling left out..." Sam said, still reeling a little.
"You got that right, Sammie girl. Bruce, Nat, Legolas, a couple of other people and I helped save the world. Haven't you heard?" He seemed honestly surprised.
"Not you, too. She's trying to sell me this 'aliens invaded' crap, and I'm not buying it. You say you fought them?"
"Yeah. It happened, and we won. And New York is currently standing only because of me."
Sam blinked. "Ok, that's a little self-centered, even for you. And until you can show me a wrecked and smoking NYC, I still don't believe you. And since I sincerely doubt that Super-Spy Eyepatch Guy will let me off this thing without an escort of a small army, we aren't going anywhere."
"Super-Spy Eyepatch Guy? I normally go with Dread Pirate Roberts, but that works, too. Also, you said we aren't going anywhere?" He grinned. "Challenge accepted."
"Woah. No, no, nonono! I know that look. Tony..." Banner stepped forward. "You're planning something."
"Really now? You think I would? Honestl-yeah, you're right. We're going to see a wrecked and smoking New York. C'mon, Sam!" He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her toward the door... Only to be blocked by an angry red headed assassin.
"If you think you're going anywhere with her, you are far more naive than I thought you were. And how were you planning to get out of here in the first place?"
"The very same way I got in, Nat. Did you wonder about that? And besides, I can always make another hole in the wall. Or, well, in this case, the window. Bill me." He let go of Sam's wrist, tapping a decidedly not-watch on his wrist, then returning his hand to her wrist. A faint rumbling sounded from outside the window.
"What's that?" Sam asked, albeit a little apprehensively. She wrenched her wrist from his grasp.
"Oh, nothing. Just our ride." A blur of red and gold crashed through the window. "Sam, meet the Mark 7." And with that, the Iron Man suit attached
itself to Stark, he grabbed her waist, and then jumped out of the hole in the window.
"Director Fury?" Natasha's hand jumped back to her earpiece. "Director Fury, do you copy? Stark has left with our interrogatee."
The Director's voice sounded over the earpiece with a burst of static. "He what?"
"He crashed through the window with the Mark 7, grabbed her, and jumped out the window with her. He's heading toward New York. Is there anything else you need clarification on?" She paused. "With permission, sir, I would like to follow them."
"Take Barton with you. And Banner. If she's going to be taken back to base, she might as well meet as many of you as possible."
"Yes, sir. Should I pick up Rogers on the way?" Natasha was already walking out the door, beckoning for Banner to follow her.
"Go ahead and do that, Agent."
"OHMYGODAREYOUINSANE?" Sam had to scream over the wind.
"Jury's out!" The mechanized version of Stark's voice sounded out cheerfully from behind the helmet. "And besides, you had asked to see New York! This was the quickest way to get there!"
"So you just grab a 16-year-old and jump out of a window? A 16-year-old who does not have a flying suit to keep her from plummeting to her death? What happens if you drop me?"
"Oh, you mean like this?" The metal arm around her loosened, and Sam found herself hurtling through open air.
Ohshitohshitohshitohshit... Sam felt her stomach being quickly pushed up into her throat, and her heart was hammering out a pattern against her ribcage. Her thoughts were scrambled, not being able to concentrate in the slightest. She looked around wildly, searching for a sign of red and gold in the clear blue sky. There! The Iron Man suit was rocketing toward her... Then it bolted past her. Then Sam realized something... She wasn't falling.
She was standing (hovering?) comfortably about 100 feet from where the suit was. Her focus wobbled, and just like someone who ran off a cliff in an old cartoon, plummeted as soon as she realized where she was. Thankfully, she only dropped about 30 feet before she came in contact with cold and (very) hard metal arms.
"Jarvis, analyze Sam's molecular makeup in the past 30 seconds, will you?" Stark's voice was slightly shocked. "Hey, Sammie? So you don't have a flying suit, but you can fly anyway? And you didn't tell me?"
"If I knew I could fly, I wouldn't be in your arms right now, would I?" Sam replied dryly. "And besides, I didn't know I could do that. Only smaller stuff."
They stopped in midair. "Say what? You knew you could do that?"
"No. I know I could do other stuff, like make fire and move random pens. Did you not read my file? You said you did..."
"I read like the first two sentences. You were 16 and destroyed stuff. Then I went out and decided to meet you. And, well, you know the rest! So you can do... What, exactly? To make the fire and the pen move?" He sounded genuinely interested. "Don't tell me it's magic, I've had enough with Thor and his physics-defying hammer, that thing drives me crazy." They started flying forward again.
"Who?"
"Nevermind. So what can you do?"
"Well, I can essentially manipulate molecules and atoms around me. I vibrated the air molecules to create flame, and moved the substance of the pen from the table across the room to my hand. I used to be able to change them, like from air molecules so leather and steel. But I can't anymore, I guess that was a bonus of having a creepy voice in your head, along with the weird blue eyes."
"Wait. You were being possesed?"
"That was what happened when I destroyed the Detention Center. And also the interrogation room. And also also when I fought Natasha. Are you sure you read my file at all?"
"Yes, I-Oh, wait." Tony hushed Sam for a bit. "Give me a sec. Ok, Jarv. What've we got?" He paused for a bit. "Thanks a lot, Jarv. Betrayed by my own creation."
"Can I interject here?" Sam resurfaced from her temporary silence. "You are talking to yourself? Or your suit? Or a bluetooth? Or something? I'm extremely confused..."
"He's Jarvis. He-"
"OH MY GOD LOOK AT NEW YORK! WHAT THE HELL!?" They had finally reached the city. It was halfway destroyed, especially around Stark Tower. "What happened to your tower? All it has is the A of STARK left! And... GAH! WHAT THE FREAK HAPPENED!?"
"I reserve all rights to say 'I told you so'. I told you so. There."
"Alien invasion, huh? Who woulda guessed?" Sam, extremely shocked, retreated into ultra-sarcastic-mode. "So you shot the Lizards on Flying Jet Skis and they went back into the portal, and no one else did anything? After all," she said, mimicking him, "'You were the one to save New York', so what did everyone else on the team do? Stand around drinking slushies?"
"Well, they fought the army. I flew the nuke into the portal, thereby keeping the city standing. Capiche?" He flew down to the city. "Anyways, I can't take you much of anywhere or I'll have a angry redhead with my name on her hit list."
"Don't you think that by grabbing me, then jumping out of a window, that you are already pretty high on that list?"
She could practically hear his smirk. "You would be surprised. Anyways, I've got a couple people I'd like you to meet."
Before she knew it, they were setting down on the roof of Stark Tower. STARK. TOWER. Sam was practically shaking with excitement. "So who are we meeting?"
"I think you already know most of them..." The suit retracted from his body, leaving him in jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt with the Arc Reactor glowing underneath it. "Jarvis, could you see how far our friends are from arriving? Please don't tell me that they stopped for drive-thru again..."
"Well, sir, the Quinjet is currently in Brooklyn, picking up Captain Rogers." Sam jumped. A posh British voice emanated from the wall. "The remainder of your team, save Mr. Odinson, is also on board. They should be here in five to ten minutes. Will that be all?"
"Thanks, Jarv. Tell me when they get to the roof, will ya?"
"Of course, sir."
"The house is talking. Why is the house talking? Houses do not talk." Sam was admittedly stuttering, shocked. "Mr. Stark. Why is the house talking? And why does he sound like a butler?"
"Well, first off, call me Tony. Mr. Stark was my father. And that voice is Jarvis, my AI butler. He runs this tower, the house in Malibu, and each of the Iron Man suits."
"...And that explains why you were talking to your suit right before we saw New York. Ok, then. Jarvis stand for anything in particular?"
"Yup. It's 'Just A Rather Very Intelligent System'. Genius, I know." He took a mock bow. "Thank you, thank you."
Sam snorted. "That does sounds like an acronym you would make." She looked around, wincing slightly at the crater in the floor by the bar. "Do I even want to know what happened here?" She asked, pointing.
"That, my dear Watson, is a memory of the Battle of Manhattan. Hulk didn't like the leader's attitude, and decided that he would make an excellent replacement for a rag doll. I'm thinking of having it preserved and getting a plaque laid in the floor. Think it would be a nice touch, don't you?"
Jarvis's voice sounded from the walls again. "Sir, the Quinjet is on the roof. I would suggest meeting our guests there, with Ms. Johnson."
Tony cocked an eyebrow. "Shall we?" They walked back outside, and Sam saw the Quinjet. It was essentially a plane, but think high-tech army stealth plane. Very super-secret spy-ish.
Her eyes widened when she saw who exited the plane. Natasha, Banner, Barton, Director Fury, and... Some random (very buff!) clean-shaven blonde guy. "So... Am I in trouble? 'Cause technically, you grabbed me..." She muttered.
"Nah, you'll be fine." He muttered back. Then, in a louder voice: "Hiya, Nick! How's life?"
"The charade's over, Mr. Stark. Get over here."
Tony patted Sam on the back cheerfully, then walked over. "I got her here, she knows what happened, and she knows who we are. So are you going to tell her or not?"
"Tell me what?" Sam asked warily. "And I don't know all of you. Who's blondie?"
"Captain Steve Rogers, Samantha Johnson. Ms. Johnson, Captain Rogers. Also known as Captain America."
The man in question gave a little wave. "Ma'am."
"You're Captain America? As in 1940s WWII Captain America with the shield?"
"That would be me, yes."
Sam snickered. She couldn't help it. "You're Captain Ultimate Frisbee Guy!" He looked taken aback, then wary, as if not sure if he had been insulted or not.
Tony jumped in. "I knew I liked you for a reason!"
Nick Fury interrupted. "Ms. Johnson. I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."
A/N: I return! This chapter is probably one of my favorites, if only because Tony is so fun to write. Anyways, please review, if only saying 'it was good' that will still make my day! Please!?