(DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Marvel.)

Let's get on with it!

~:~

The next morning, Fury called me to meet up with him.

As we drove in the parking lot, I saw Tony sitting in the giant donut on the store.

"A donut-shop?"

"Just go with it."

Fury called out to him. "Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the doughnut."

Tony peered over his sunglasses and looked at me. "Angie?"

I shook my head. "Just get down here!"

~:~

We got inside and sat in a booth as we ate doughnuts

Tony rubbed his eyes, "I told you I don't want to join your super-secret boy band."

"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

"It's… I'm sorry. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly, I'm a bit hungover. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having…" he drawled.

Fury leans forward."I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet."

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" Tony rubbed his neck.

Fury pulled at Tony's collar, noticing the black rash on Tony's neck. "That's not looking good."

"I've been worse."

I saw a woman walk in. Natalie! I knew it.

She turned to Fury. "We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."

Tony peered over his glasses. "You're fired."

"I don't think that's up to you, Anthony," I said, giving her the seat next to Fury.

Fury moved over to let the woman sit down. "Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff."

Tony waived.

She replied, I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."

"I suggest you apologize."

I glared at him, "Tony, shut up."

"You've been very busy. You made you girl CEO, you're giving aw all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with you suit. Now if I didn't know better...," Fury said.

Tony straightened in his seat. "You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury turned to Agent Romanoff. "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage."

I raised my hand. "Um, Rhodey was authorized."

Fury looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"I may or may not have let him use the War Machine suit to control Tony while he was drunk."

Tony yelled, "What do you mean you let him take my suit?"

"I let him use it to keep you from hurting yourself, NOT take it to the U.S. Army."

"Same thing, Angie!" He turned back to Fury, "What do you want from me?"

Fury shook his head. " What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Romanoff got up and headed out the door. I move next to Fury so I can look at Tony. "You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with. "I hear the door jingle and see Romanoff return. Fury nods to her, "Hit him."

Romanoff injects something into his neck.

Tony yelps. "Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" The rash on his neck slowly goes down. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?" he said rubbing his neck.

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."

Romanoff kneels next to him, "It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms."

Fury stares at Tony's neck, "Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

Fury glances at me and Tony, " Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

~:~

STARK MANSION

"Whoa, slow down, Rhodey . What happened?"

"They were analyzing the suit and the general told me that Hammer is being hired to weaponize it."

"Hammer's going to blow someone up. You saw all the videos of his prototypes."

"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't know this was going to happen."

"It's okay. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Angie. I'll see what I can do."

"Okay, stay safe."

"Bye, Ange." Click.

I headed towards the living room where Fury and Tony were.

"What do you remember about your dad?"

"He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that. You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

"That's not true."

"Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did."

Two agents walk in with a box.

"As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of SHIELD."

"What?" Two agents brought in a box as Fury got up to leave. " Wait, wait, wait, wait. What's this?"

"You're good, right? You got this?"

Tony replies," No, I'm not good. And got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get.

Fury put a hand on Romanoff's shoulder, "Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?"

"Yeah."

Fury turned to Tony, "And Tony, remember, I got my eye on you. " He glared as he left.

The redhead turns to Tony. "We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck."

Tony turned to Coulson. "Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice."

Coulson smiles at him. "I'm not here for that. I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?"

I laugh, "I think he got it."

" Enjoy your evening's entertainment.," He says. "Ms. Jarvis, follow me I need to speak with you."

I follow him to a separate room. "So, what's up?"

"First, there's a box in your room with some more of your mother's things. Secondly, Barton will continue to shadow you. Don't let Tony find out about him."

"Tony's met him already, he just doesn't know the SHIELD part."

"Let's keep it that way."

"Yes, sir." I get up to leave. "Oh, and by the way, nice going back there."

He smiled, "I try."

I laugh as I leave the room.

~:~

That night I headed down to the shop with some pizza. I hear Howard's voice playing.

"So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I'd like to personally show you my ass. I'd like to… I can't… This is… I can't… We have this, don't we? This is a ridiculous way… Everything."

I continue to walk down the stairs. I hear him say, "Tony." I stop in my tracks. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you." I put the pizza next to Tony and lay a hand on his shoulder.

He gives it a kiss and squeezes it. "Why didn't you tell me they knew?"

"Well, I kind of find out the night of your party, " I lied.

"How?"

"Um..." I stammered. "An agent brought me to Fury when things got crazy." Nice going, Angie.

"Romanoff?"

I shook my head. "No. Somebody else."

"I'm still a little mad about the suit thing, but thank you for knocking some sense into me."

"About time."

"Whatever. Now, get out of here and let me work," he pushes me towards the stairs. "Go hang out with your boyfriend or something."

I yell, "Clint is NOT my boyfriend." I head up the stairs, hearing Tony's laughter fade away

~:~

So, I followed my uncle's advice and hung out with Clint. The classic pizza, coke, and video games.

"Oh, no you didn't" I yelled.

"Bring it on sister."

My kart darted past Clint's and sped right in to first place. "Oh, yeah."

Clint just slumped in defeat. "But...how did you?"

"The student has become the master," I said bowing to him.

He crossed his arms and pouted, "Cheater."

"How do you cheat on Mario Kart?"

"I don't know! You...you!" He sputtered.

I shook my head, "Uh, uh. No whining. Play again?"

"No, I'm done." He took a swig of his coke as he got up. "I'll be outside. Holler if your dying or something."

"Come on, Clint. I'll let you win this time."

"It's not the same. Bye!" He went out the door and slung himself on the roof.

~:~

Later on, I left to go shopping. When I got back, I went down to the workshop. There was a model of the Expo leaning on the wall, and Tony had a digital rendering of it.

Jarvis said, "Am I to include the Belgium waffle stands?"

"Waffles? Hey, Tony. Whatcha doing'?"

"Watch and learn, kiddo." He turned back to the hologram. "

"JARV, that was rhetorical. Just show me." He clicked his fingers and the model spins and lifts upright. "What does that look like to you, Angie? Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be here. JARVIS, highlight the unisphere. Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."

"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?"

"I'm discovering… Correction. I'm rediscovering a new element, I believe. Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees." He begins flicking the things away. "Parking lots, exits, entrances. Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework. " The model reassembles into a nucleus and Tony zooms in on it.

"Whoa..." I gaped.

"You're darn right, whoa." Tony smiles, "Dad. Dead for almost 20 years, and still taking me to school." The model shrinks in his hand.

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."

Tony turns to me, "Thank Dad."

"Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."

"Get ready for a major remodel, fellas. We're back in hardware mode." Dummy and the other bots whirl in excitement.

~:~

THE NEXT DAY

Coulson walked into my library. "I guess this is goodbye, Miss."

I pop my head up from my desk. "Wait, what?"

"I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."

"Secret stuff?"

"Something like that." We shake hands and he heads towards the door.

"Hey, Coulson?"

"Yes?"

"Does Clint have to go too?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But, we have another agent being assigned to you by tomorrow morning."

"Tony found the new element. Why can't he stay until it's finished?"

"Director's orders."

"Right," I frown. "See you around, Coulson."

"Goodbye, miss."

~:~

"Hey, Angie! I brought pizza. Angie?," Clint yelled.

"Be right there!"

"Hurry up! It's getting cold."

I come running down the hallway. "Geez, Clint. Give me a sec."

We sit on the couch and put on a movie. While we watched the movie, I noticed Clint fidgeting and glancing at me.

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

I go back to our movie and catch him doing it again. "When were you going to tell me that you were leaving?"

"I was trying to avoid it for as long as I could."

"How long have you known?"

"A few days."

I nodded, clenching my jaw.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want this to end."

"What do you mean?"

"As an agent, you're not supposed to form attachments. I failed. You became the sister I never had. I didn't want to lose this."

"Clint," I turned his face to look at me. "You're an idiot. This will never end. You're my brother, my family. If they try to keep us apart, I will personally kick their butts to get you back."

He laughed. "I would love to see that."

"No, you wouldn't." I hugged him. "Just promise me you'll stay safe and come back."

He hugged me back."I'll do my best. I can't promise anything."

"I know, just try."I said, pulling him tighter.

~:~

We all know where Clint and Coulson are going. (SPOILER: To see our favorite god of thunder.)

We're getting close to the end of Iron Man 2. I'll see y'all next time.