Chapter 48! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write it, but I've been working on other stories as well and I had to think about a few things concerning this story first. I hope you like it and let me know what you think. Now we'll get to know Pepper's ex. More with him will follow soon. And of course more of Bucky. What do you think, does he remember Steve?
I don't own the characters or places!
"And you're sure?" Steve asked and raised his eyebrows slowly.
"Yes, JARVIS can't find a trace of Bucky anymore." Tony replied. "But he's on it, if any camera recognizes him, we'll be informed immediately."
"Come on, Steve. It worked before. I'm sure we can find him again before he tries to blow up that peace conference." Sam tried to encourage him and smiled. However, Steve only sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I hope you're right." He hesitated for a few seconds. "Maybe he'll really remember everything."
"We can't know that." Tony threw in.
"I know." Steve groaned. "You said that before. Like ten times. And that only today."
"I think we're all frustrated because of our failure yesterday." Sam said, again trying to calm Steve down. Tony admired how devoted Sam was to Steve if you could say it like that.
"Frustrated doesn't fit." Steve muttered darkly.
"Alright, stop this." Tony said loudly and crossed his arms. "Yes, Bucky vanished again, and we couldn't defeat all the Hydra troops." He summarized the situation. "But we know Bucky's next goal. And there's a very small chance that he might remember you again, Steve. I think all in all it's not too bad."
"Hydra knows where he'll go too." Steve threw in quietly.
"Which is why JARVIS is also keeping an eye on them and their communication." Tony explained.
"And we still have to find a way to get into that conference." Sam added.
Tony grinned. "No, we don't."
Suddenly, they were both looking at him attentively. "You got us in?" Steve asked, now sounding curious. And excited.
He nodded. "I already told you that it'd be easy."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "What did you do? Did you bribe someone?"
At that question, Tony laughed. "Oh come on, I'm Tony Stark. I don't have to use money to get in. I just called someone."
Now Sam was looking sceptical, while Steve just grinned. "And who's that?"
"His name's Everett Ross." Tony explained. "CIA." He added when he saw that the others didn't know him.
"How can he help us?" Steve asked, a frown on his face.
"Superheroes are his area of expertise." Tony told them. "He just got into that subject recently, he's working with Thaddeus Ross. They're not related, by the way."
"Alright." Sam said slowly and frowned. "I still don't get it." He looked at Steve questioningly. "Do you understand how that guy can help us?"
Steve smiled slightly. "I bet Tony will explain everything soon."
"For some time, the CIA's been interested in Wakanda." Tony said slowly. "They're watching someone who's dealing with Vibranium."
When he mentioned Vibranium, Steve sat up straighter in his chair. "Vibranium and Wakanda." He said immediately and Tony nodded.
"They think that he got it from Wakanda. I didn't read all the files, so I only know the basics." He shrugged. "The files were pretty long, they've been on it for a few years now."
"What's his name? The dealer?" Steve asked curiously.
"Ulysses Klaue." Tony told them. "JARVIS' doing research on him. Doesn't seem to be a nice man."
"How can he know about Vibranium?"
Tony shrugged again. "We'll get to know that later. For now, it's only important that Ross found a way to invite the Avengers to that conference. Because we're an essential part of world peace."
"I thought extraterrestrial activities doesn't count on a conference like that?" Steve raised his eyebrows.
"Ross will find a way." Tony said simply. "And we're not just doing that." He reminded them. "We're also dealing with conflicts between people."
Steve nodded slowly and grinned. "Brilliant. I assume you told him that the king of Wakanda might be in danger?"
"I hinted something like that but didn't conform it. However, it was enough for him to get us in. I promised not to do any damage unless it's inevitable, by the way." He smiled slightly.
Steve chuckled. "I think we can handle that."
Tony grinned at Sam. He's talked about it with Steve and the others earlier, now he just had to ask Sam. "What do you think about it? Being an official part of the Avengers. Would you give it a try?"
Sam's eyes widened. "You can't be serious. I thought it was only for one mission." He looked at Steve, but he only smiled at him.
"We've agreed that you'd be a good addition to our team, Sam." Steve explained.
"You're actually serious." Sam muttered, disbelief in his voice.
Tony grinned. "So will you give it a try?"
Sam was still looking from Tony to Steve and back with wide eyes. "Of course!" He said finally and grinned. "I'd be crazy to say no to an offer like this."
"Yes, that's true." Tony grinned and ignored Steve's accusing gaze. "What? Being part of the Avengers is cool!"
"And we all know that it's not about that." Steve said sternly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, Cap." He muttered and turned to Sam. "You'll have to get used to that, he's always like this."
Sam grinned. "Oh I already knew that. After all, I've already worked with him."
Steve cleared his throat. "I'm still here, remember?"
Now Tony and Sam laughed.
They kept talking about the conference for a few more hours. Tony got them a list of everyone who'd be invited and they looked at the schedule. When they saw that king T'Chaka of Wakanda would be talking in front of everyone, they knew that Bucky would choose that moment to act.
"It would be perfect." Tony said. "No one would expect an attack in a moment like this. And T'Chaka will be distracted. Otherwise, it would be difficult to get him. Most people from that country seem to be warriors." When he saw Steve's questioning look, he laughed. "You can't really believe that a country with big occurrences of Vibranium is a state of farmers. They want everyone to believe that. But I found a few files that tell us otherwise. Some even speak about a legend, the Black Panther, the protector of Wakanda."
"Why doesn't this surprise me anymore?" Sam asked quietly.
"I would like to hear more about this." Steve told Tony and smiled. "Sounds like an interesting country."
"It is." Tony agreed. "But you'll have to wait for more, it's not easy to get into their system without being noticed. They seem to be experts in technology as well."
Sam groaned. "A country that's able to fool the entire world? Why do I think that I don't want to meet those people?"
"And why didn't someone else notice their doings before?" Steve added.
Tony shrugged. "I doubt that no one knows about the real Wakanda." He ran a hand through his hair. "Probably, they just deal with everyone who finds out more."
"Doesn't sound good. You're sure that they can't trace you?" Sam asked.
Tony nodded. "Don't worry, I'm careful."
"Sir, Mrs. Potts just finished work and will meet with Mr. Fink soon." JARVIS interrupted them.
Tony hoped that the others didn't notice that he tensed at JARVIS' words. However, the look on Steve's face told him otherwise.
He smiled at them. "Seems like I've got to go." He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe we'll know more about Wakanda and the Vibranium tomorrow."
Without waiting for an answer, he stood up and left the lab. Steve and Sam followed him. They were talking about going to the gym, but Tony didn't really listen to their conversation. He was already thinking of Pepper and her old friend from school.
He found Pepper and Gerald Fink in their personal living quarters. She was sitting on the couch, while he occupied Tony's favourite armchair. When he saw them there together, Tony was glad that he'd changed his clothes before coming upstairs.
Gerald was wearing a dark grey suit with a green shirt and a fitting tie. And Pepper wore her favourite dark red dress. Tony noticed that his red shirt was fitting her dress with satisfaction. To that, he was wearing a dark jeans. He thought a suit would be too much for an occasion like this. Seemed like not everyone saw it like that.
When he left the elevator, they both looked up at him. Pepper smiled widely, while Tony couldn't quite interpret the look on Finks face. He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. And there was something else, maybe calculation?
"There you are!" Pepper said and stood up. "Did everything go alright today?" Somehow, it made Tony very glad that she asked about his day even if she had a guest.
Tony wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Everything's fine." He said and grinned. "We've got an invitation to a very important meeting."
Pepper raised her eyebrows and he could see the curiosity in her eyes. So she didn't expect him to get the Avengers into that conference that fast. "You have to tell me more about that later." She said and he winked at her.
"Of course." When Pepper turned to Gerald, Tony followed her gaze. He was looking at them silently. "Tony, this is Gerald. An old friend of mine." Pepper said now and Gerald stood up slowly. Tony noticed that he was taller than himself. Probably even taller than Steve and Thor. And very skinny. When he smiled at Tony widely, he couldn't stop himself from comparing this to a snake. Or a shark when he looked at his teeth more closely.
"It's an honour to meet you, Mr. Stark." Gerald said and held out his hand for Tony to shake it. "I've heard so many things of you."
Tony chuckled. "Hopefully only the good things. And it's Tony." He said when they shook hands.
"Is there something bad to say about Tony Stark?" Gerald asked and he fought back the urge to roll his eyes. Most people loved to say bad things about him.
"So Pepper told me you're an engineer?" Tony asked when they sat down.
When Gerald smiled this time, it reached his eyes. "Yes, I'm working for a big international company. At the moment, we're working in Paris."
"He's working together with architects." Pepper added.
"That's true." Gerald nodded. "We're working on a building, a tower, to be more exact. It will contain apartments and bureaus. I bet you would like it."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Just because I own a tower as well?" He asked and couldn't hide his scepsis.
"It will be run with clean energy." Gerald explained. "And since your company's the first address for this, I thought it might interest you."
The next thirty minutes, Tony and Pepper listened to Gerald's stories about his work. The concept was neither new not very interesting. Tony got bored quickly, but he listened to the story either way. Next to him, Pepper was listening closely and even asked questions. He wasn't sure if she was interested in Gerald in general or if this was for the company. After all, it was always good to know how others managed things like running a complete building with clean energy.
When Gerald finished his story, Tony doubted that it would really work, but he kept his mouth shut. Somehow, this guy wasn't sympathetic. After all, he was mostly looking at Pepper and ignored Tony. It was obvious that Gerald wasn't happy about this presence.
When they finally changed the subject, it didn't get better. This time, they were talking about their days at school and Tony couldn't take part in the conversation anymore. Pepper never told him much about her past, so the names of several classmates were unknown to him.
At some point, they came to a trip they'd done after school. From what Tony knew, this must have been a few weeks before they broke up. They'd been in LA together. Just the two of them, alone. "Do you remember that night on the beach?" Gerald asked with a slight smile and for half a second, Tony thought that he was looking at him provocatively.
Next to him, Pepper blushed. "It was just a picnic." She said quickly and took a sip of her wine, probably to hide her embarrassment.
"If you say so…" Gerald said and Tony hated him even more in this moment.
First, he came to his tower to talk to his fiancé. Then he decided to ignore Tony for most of the conversation and now this! He breathed in deeply and tried not to say something wrong.
"When will you return to Europe?" He asked now and tried to sound curious. "When you're working on such an important project, I doubt that you can leave for a long time. After all, they need you in Paris, right?"
Surprised by his sudden question, Gerald cleared this throat. "Yes, well, I have to leave in three days." He said slowly. "I just heard that Pepper was in New York and since we didn't see each other in such a long time, I thought that I'd come by to say hello. Talk about good old times, you know that stuff."
"And it is very nice of you to think of me." Pepper said now and smiled at him.
"Maybe we could meet again, since I'll be here for two more days." Gerald suggested.
Pepper hesitated only for a second, before she replied. "I have to work, but in the evenings, I'd be free." She offered and looked at Tony. "Maybe we could show Gerald the city?" She turned to him again. "Or do you know New York already?"
Gerald didn't look thrilled by a city trip with Pepper and Tony. Well, most probably with Tony. He knew that he'd accept gladly if Pepper would offer to come alone. "I've been here before. But maybe dinner would be nice?"
Pepper nodded, this time more slowly. "I'm sure we can find something we can do."
"It must be exciting, living here with the Avengers." Gerald said suddenly. He looked at Tony. "And being one of them, of course."
Pepper chuckled. "You get used to that. And it can be exhausting sometimes."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "You mean exciting, my dear." He corrected her firmly.
"No, the attention can get exhausting." Pepper repeated.
"I can imagine." Gerald said and glanced at Tony again. "Being CEO of Stark Industries alone seems to be a time-filling job to me."
Pepper nodded. "There's always something to do." She agreed.
"And you're leaving the company completely to Pepper?" He asked Tony now.
He nodded. "Pepper's doing a very good job." Tony smiled at her. "I couldn't do it any better."
Gerald looked thoughtful. "I bet you're busy enough with being Iron Man?"
He smiled slightly. "That and I'm inventing new things for SI."
"He built a new reactor that can get the energy out of the earth." Pepper told Gerald and Tony could hear in her voice how proud she was. He smiled at her and took her hand.
Gerald raised his eyebrows. "Well, that sounds exciting. I'd love to hear more about this."
"I'm sorry, but we didn't publish it yet." Tony shot back immediately. "So it's secret, I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Just like the Arc technique?" Gerald asked now. "Patented by Stark Industries and no one gets to know how it works. And I doubt that it will change any time soon." He looked at Tony's chest where the arc reactor had been for a long time.
"Everything can be dangerous if it's used in the wrong way." Tony replied simply.
"And who says that you're using it right?" Gerald shot back immediately. "Everyone has a different definition of right and wrong."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Are you assuming that I'm misusing my technology?"
He held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Of course not, I just wanted to show you that there are always two sides of the coin."
Tony exchanged a look with Pepper. She was looking thoughtful now and then she frowned at Gerald. "Maybe we should talk again tomorrow? I can give you my number, then we can see if we meet again."
"The city trip is still an option." Tony added, even if he really didn't want to see this man again. However, a tour through the city seemed miles better than Pepper having dinner with him.
"I'll think about it." Gerald replied and smiled again. He took Pepper's hand and kissed it. "It was good to see you again, Pepper." Then he smiled slightly at Tony. "And you too."
When he left, Tony raised his eyebrows at Pepper. "What the hell was that?"