The next morning, in Capitol Hill.
Laura was sitting to the right of Tony in the packed chambers, slouching back in her chair, looking bored.
Tony was turned around, talking to Pepper as she tried to get him to focus while Senator Stern slammed his gabble.
"Mr. Stark, could we pick up now where we left off? Mr. Stark. Please?" he asked annoyed.
"Yes, dear." Tony joked as he turned around.
"Can I have your attention?" he repeated himself.
"Absolutely." Tony replied.
"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?" Stern asked again.
"I do not." he answered.
"You do not?" Stern asked him.
"I do not. Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon." he added quickly.
"The Iron Man weapon." Stern clarified.
"My device does not fit that description." he argued.
"Well… How would you describe it?" the Senator asked.
"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator." he countered.
"As?" Stern asked.
"It's a high-tech prosthesis." Tony joked, causing the crowd to laugh and Laura smirked amused.
"That is… That is… That's actually the most apt description I can make of it." he added as Stern looked over at Laura.
"Ms. Watson in your expert opinion how would you describe the Iron Man weapon?" he asked as her name and job title came on the CSPAN graphic and she sat up towards the mic.
"First off it's not a "weapon" no matter how many times you use the word weapon" and a suit Mr. Senator. Suit is literally the third word in the title." she joked sarcastically while air quoting the word weapon, causing the crowd to laugh.
"I must say I am disappointed Ms. Watson. I was hoping for more cooperation from you. We brought you in because we expected this from Mr. Stark but all you have done is give sarcastic responses and not answer any of my questions." Stern accused.
"That's because I know the first rule of these things and that is to not answer the question." she leaned back in her chair, looking smug.
"But it's a weapon, Ms. Watson, Mr. Stark. It's a weapon." Stern argued.
"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen…" Tony began but Stern interrupted him.
"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." he admitted.
"Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending or what state you're in. You can't have it." he joked.
"Look, I'm no expert…" Stern began but Laura interrupted him.
"In what? Being a Senator or in weapons because so far you haven't shown the capability of being one in neither." she insulted.
Ooh's were heard from the crowd and Tony smiled proudly as Stern slammed on his gabble, losing his patience.
"I'm no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor." he introduced him as Hammer walked over at sat down at the table next to Laura and Tony.
"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr. Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance." Tony insulted.
"Now, now Tony let's be fair. Hammer is an expert in weapons in the same way Stern is a good senator." Laura joked.
The crowd laughed again as Hammer laughed awkwardly.
"Absolutely. I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony. Even to your protégé over there. Senator, if I may…" he began as he started walking around the room.
"I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad. Howard Stark. Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion…" Laura rolled her eyes and Tony gave him a look.
"…We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this isn't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America." he concluded as a few people clapped for him.
"If I could interrupt this political grandstanding for a minute..." Laura spoke up.
"Hammer here can false argue on whether or not Tony's suit is a weapon or not but I think we can all agree is that a Hammer is a tool and well he's not the only tool in the room not is he?" she narrowed her eyes at Stern.
The crowd chuckled as Stern slammed his gabble.
"That is enough Ms. Watson. I'm warning you." he warned her.
"Or what? You and I both know what this sham of a hearing is. You already gave away your bias. It's an attack on Tony Stark. An attempt to steal trademark property from an American citizen who did nothing wrong. And what? You thought I'd just sit back and comply with that? No. What this is, is two geniuses versus clowns we call senators so c'mon give us your best shot. We can take it." she taunted.
"The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber." Stern said smugly.
"Shit." Laura cursed under her breath.
"Rhodey?" Tony got up to shake his hand in the aisle.
"Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here." he greeted him.
"Look, it's me, I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on." he dismissed what he wanted to say.
"I just…" he began but Rhodey interrupted him.
"Drop it." he told him.
"All right, I'll drop it." Tony said as he sat down and Rhodey sat down next to Hammer.
"Welcome to the show Rhodey. I'd share my popcorn but I ran out." Laura joked while reaching over Tony and he stared at her unimpressed.
"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, complied by Colonel Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?" Stern asked while reading from it.
"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?" Rhodey asked confused.
"Yes, sir." he answered.
"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner." he stated.
"I understand. A lot of things have changed today." Stern said while looking at Laura who smiled back.
"So, if you could just read…" he began but Rhodey interrupted him.
"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summery of my final…" he tried explaining but Stern interrupted him.
"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you." he ended his argument.
"Very well. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests." I did however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh three liabilities and that it would be in our interest…" he began but Stern interrupted him.
"That's enough Colonel." he tried silencing him.
"…to fold Mr. Stark…" he continued, and Laura smiled, knowing what Rhodey was doing.
"That's enough." he ordered.
"…into the existing chain of command, Senator." Rhodey concluded.
"I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defense, if you ask nice." Tony joked and the crowd laughed.
"We can amend the hours a bit." he added.
"I'll take a crack at being a senator if we're giving away jobs. You schmucks make it look easy." Laura shrugged her shoulders.
"I'd like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that's connected to your report." Stern asked.
"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time." Rhodey argued.
"With all due respect, Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. Let's have the images." he asked as they came on a TV.
"Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr. Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground…" Tony brought out his Stark Phone.
"...indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational." Rhodey warned.
"Hold on a second buddy. Let me see something here." he held up his phone to the TV and broke into the network.
"Boy, I'm good. I commandeered your screens. I need them. Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on." he said.
"What is he doing?" Stern asked annoyed.
"Showing the full truth, Senator." Laura narrowed her eyes at him.
"If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea." a poorly made suit fell over and began shooting bullets everywhere, hitting the camera itself.
"Can you turn that off? Take it off!" Stern demanded and Hammer got up and began fumbling with the cords.
"Iran." a suit took off, but crash landed quickly, causing a large fiery explosion.
"No grave threat here. Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game? Justin, you're on TV. Focus up." a man in a suit was seen with Hammer and a bunch of engineers.
"Ok give me a left twist. Left's good. Turn to the right. Oh, shit. Oh, shit!" the suit twisted in an unnatural position.
The crowd gasped as Laura just shook her head in disappointment.
Tony gave Rhodey a smug look and Hammer managed to pull the cords out of the TV.
"Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, ten years away. Hammer Industries…" he began but Laura interrupted him.
"20 Tony 20." she gestured her hands towards him while smiling.
"I'd like to point out that the test pilot survived." he reassured them.
"I think we're done is the point that he's making. I don't think there's any reason…" Stern waved his hand dismissably at Tony.
"The point is, you're welcome, I guess." he interrupted smugly.
"For what?" Stern asked with annoyance.
"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it. But I did you a big favor." he got up and turned around.
"I've successfully privatized world peace!" he made peace signs with both hands, causing everyone to get up and applaud.
"What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass clowns" he insulted.
"I didn't even bother!" Laura admitted the obvious while getting up.
"Thank you for coming to today's performance. We'll be here all week!" she gave a dramatic bow to Stern, the cameras and the crowd.
"Fuck you, Ms. Watson! Fuck you, Mr. Stark We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today. You've been a delight." he slammed his gabble as Tony put on his sunglasses.
"Well, that was fun I should be subpoenaed more often." Laura joked as she and Tony began walking out.
"You're still full of surprises Laura." he said impressed.
"Please... I'm not going to be intimidated these assholes. Give me an actual threat to face." she scoffed as she and Tony were shaking hands while walking out.
"My bond is with the people. And I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself." T'Challa and T'Chaka were watching the press conference and T'Chaka was smirking slightly.
"Baba?" T'Challa saw the look on his face.
"She has her mother's wit that's for sure." T'Challa closed the hologram and placed a bead back on his bracelet.
"What have you found out about her?" T'Chaka asked.
"Graduated with honors from M.I.T. when she was 17. Has worked for Mr. Stark since she was 18. Is currently the number 2 at Stark Industries..." he scrolled through photos of her with Tony of the years.
"...And this…" he projected a file that showed the suit Laura was working on.
"She built that?" T'Chaka asked impressed.
"It was behind several fire walls of almost impenetrable encryption so I'm assuming she has kept it a secret. Do you still want to proceed? We don't know of her intentions." T'Challa hinted.
"Yes. I'm doing this for her baba."