Zooming down the road is one of Tony's many sports cars, this one silver and obviously having obtained some personal upgrades, not to mention the license plate that read 'STARK4.'
"As if you weren't noticeable enough." Sighed Bruce, Tony smirked at him.
"How else could I keep track of all the cars?"
He's clearly breaking multiple traffic laws, but in the end, he simply pulls up to the curb of the concert hall, the hood speckled with droplets of water.
"You are a terrible driver." noted Scott.
"I prefer being described as an incredibly talented irresponsible driver." Tony insisted, Nearly everyone rolled their eyes.
Out steps Tony, handing off his keys to the red-vested valet-already waiting beside the car. He's dressed in a nice dress suit, and as he walks onto the red carpet the squealing voices and camera flashing is already being directed at him.
"Did Pepper help you?" asked Steve exasperated.
"If Ms Potts had helped him then she surely would of joined him." Loki pointed out.
"Having the ability to dress well is part of being rich." Stephen added.
Obadiah is shown, clearly speaking to a reporter about the shutdown of Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing. "Weapons manufacturing is only a small part of what Stark Industries is all about," he's saying over the screaming, "And our partnership with the fire and rescue community…"
"So now he's defending the decision." Rhodey practically snarled.
"He definitely didn't want to." muttered Tony.
He trails off and turns to look at what all the commotion is about. Sure enough, Tony Stark is seen walking up the red carpet, adjusting a button on his suit coat while photographers snap as many pictures as they can.
"How you deal with that I'll never know." Bruce shuddered.
"I kind of grew up having to put on a show. You guys are famous, but adding the fame of Iron Man on top of the fame of being a Stark is just tiring." Tony answered bitterly.
"Then why did you tell everyone you are Iron Man?" Wong asked with genuine curiosity.
"Removed the stress of keeping it a secret." shrugged Tony. Wanda was perplexed. Stark loved the fame, didn't he? Isn't he like 90% ego?
A skimpy looking blonde sidles up to him, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, "Hey, Tony, remember me?"
"Nope."
"Sure don't," he deadpans, barely sparing her a glance. As he continues through the crowd, he pats an elderly man on the back, who is surrounded by women, "You look great, Hef." The man turns briefly, taking his pipe out of his mouth as he does, but Tony is already gone.
"He looks so confused." Peter said sympathetically.
"What's the world coming to when a guy's got to crash his own party?" He asks as he makes his way over to Obadiah, who laughs half-heartedly and sizes Tony up, a bit disbelievingly.
"Look at you," he drawls, "Hey, what a surprise!"
"I can really hear the joy in his voice." Quill said sarcastically.
"I'll see you inside," Tony says, patting Obie on the arm and already starting to walk away.
"Uh, hey," Obie says, somewhat quieter, causing the brunette to stop and turn around, "Listen, take it slow, all right? I think I got the board right where we want them."
"Which is?" asked Brunnhilde bored.
Tony gives a terse nod, "You got it," he says, beginning to walk away again, "Just cabin fever. I'll just be a minute."
Inside the concert hall are tons of well dressed people; some dancing, some mingling, and others simply standing around the bar. The staff is clad in white suit coats and black bow ties, and can easily be spotted weaving through the crowd serving drinks and/or snacks, while others work the bar.
"That looks fun." mused Scott.
"Those things are mostly just standing around and talking to people." Stephen grimaced at the memories of parties he'd attended.
"You can't even drink without a million conspiracy theories popping up." Tony sighed remorsefully.
Onscreen, Tony (naturally) saunters up to the bar. He pulls some money out and addresses the bartender, "Give me a scotch. I'm starving."
"That makes no sense whatsoever." Steve muttered.
"Makes sense to me." Brunnhilde placed another empty bottle with the collection by a disgusted Loki's legs.
"Didn't you just say that it brings up a thousand conspiracy theories?" Natasha questioned.
"Only when he gets drunk." Rhodey corrected. "Which takes a lot of alcohol."
The bartender nods and Tony places the money in the glass on the counter when the man next to him speaks up.
"Mr. Stark," Phil Coulson greets, turning to the man himself.
"Phil!" cheered the original Avengers.
"Yuh-huh?"
"Agent Coulson."
Tony, now holding his scotch, nods in acknowledgement, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The guy from the…"
"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Coulson finishes for him as Tony turns to face the crowd, leaning against the counter.
"How long did it take him to tell people to just call it SHIELD?" Vision questioned sounding slightly amused.
"Too long." Tony rolled his eyes.
Tony breathes out a sigh and shakes his head as he raises his scotch to his lips, "God, you need a new name for that," he says as he sips his drink.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot," the agent responds, "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you."
Tony glances his way and gives a nod before turning back to the crowd and taking another sip of his scotch.
"There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things. Let's just put something in the books," Phil goes on, though Tony doesn't seem to be interested at all. In fact, his eyes seem to have picked up something among the guests.
Pepper Potts is revealed to be what caught the billionaire's eye; clad in a beautiful blue backless dress, her hair down and falling in ringlets over her shoulders.
"You are far too easily distracted." groaned Rhodey.
"Hey! It's for good reason."
"How about the 24th, at 7:00 PM at Stark Industries?" Phil asks the clearly uninterested man.
"Tell you what," Tony holds his hand out to Phil without even turning to face him. "You got it. You're absolutely right." Phil gives his hand a gentle shake as Tony continues not looking at him, "Well uh, I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll make a date," he says, gesturing to Pepper across the floor.
"I don't think you guys were talking about the same kind of date." Bruce took off and polished his glasses wearily.
"You look fantastic! I didn't recognize you," Tony complements as he approaches Pepper, who spins around upon hearing his voice.
"What are you doing here?" She asks in return.
"Just avoiding government agents."
Several people couldn't help snickering at that.
"Isn't that all you do?" Natasha asked. Tony smirked in answer.
"Are you by yourself?"
"Yes," He quickly answers her question and nods to her outfit, "Where'd you get that dress?"
She looks down at herself briefly, "Oh, it was a birthday present."
"That's great."
"From you, actually."
"Well, I got great taste."
She nods, offering an amused smile, "Yes."
"Smooth." Rocket grinned.
"You want to dance?" Tony asks, gesturing to the dance floor.
She quickly shakes her head, "Oh, no, thank you…"
"Alright, come on," he replies, ignoring her immediate "No" and grabbing her hand, leading her to where other people are dancing.
"Even smoother." Quill added also grinning.
She glances around with a nervous smile before Tony pulls her to him. She breathes out a sigh, peering over his shoulder while they dance.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asks after a moment, giving her a measuring look as if it could tell him what she was thinking.
"Obviously."
She swallows hard and nervously shakes her head, "Oh, oh, no… no. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back," she rambles.
"Does look pretty shifty." Clint noted unimpressed.
Tony shakes his head in disagreement, "You look great, and you smell great."
"That went from a nice comment to something… else." Steve stared at the screen unamused.
She looks down with an incredulous, "Oh, god…"
Obviously noticing how uncomfortable Pepper truly is, Tony adds, "But I could fire you, if that would take the edge off."
"How comforting." Sam smirked slightly.
She allows for an amused smile, "I don't… I actually don't think that you could tie your shoes without me."
"I could." Tony muttered offended.
"I'd make it a week," he assures her.
"Less." corrected Clint.
"Really?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure."
She eyes him suspiciously, "What's your social security number?"
He stares off to the side, obviously skimming for the information until he finally gives her his answer.
"Five," he states with finality.
Clint scoffed in disbelief.
"Five," she drawls with a smile, "Right."
"Right."
"You're missing just… a couple of digits there," Pepper says with a nervous giggle.
"The other eight?" he asks. "So I got you for the other eight."
"How do you not know your own social security number?" sighed T'challa.
"I remember it now." Tony mumbled, thinking of his and Pepper's 'break.'
She smiles and looks up at him, leaving them dancing in a circle and making awkward eye contact all the while. Starting to feel uncomfortable again, Pepper looks down and away.
Tony takes notice again and suggests, "How about a little air?"
"About time." muttered Wanda under her breath.
Pepper is quick to nod in agreement. "Yes, I need some air," she says, and they start to walk off the dance floor, Coulson watching them with measuring eyes as they go.
Outside, a clearly distraught Pepper Potts is standing to the right of a surprisingly awkward looking Tony Stark.
"You look so uncomfortable." snorted Quill.
Drax laughed loudly, "That is very true."
"That was totally weird," she's saying, to which Tony disagrees with a "Totally harmless."
The audience gave several loud sighs, Tony pouted.
She shakes her head, twiddling uneasily with a lock of her red hair, "It was totally not harmless, by the way."
"Definitely not." agreed Natasha.
"We're dancing. No one's even watching," Tony points out in a failed attempt to calm her nerves.
"Yes, no one was watching Tony Stark." Stephen said sarcastically. Tony rolled his eyes.
"Everybody who I work with… No, you know why?" She asks, her voice rising just the slightest bit as she swipes her hair from her face.
"She is so pissed." murmured Scott.
"I think you lost objectivity. I think they just … people… we just danced," he says, raising an eyebrow at her, clearly not understanding the issue.
"I don't think others will see it that way Anthony." Thor said concerned.
"No, it was not just a dance," Pepper counters, "You don't understand because you're you." She struggles for the words for a moment before continuing, "And everybody knows exactly who you are, and how you are with girls and all of that, which is completely fine. But, you know, then me; you're my boss, and I'm dancing with you."
"They will see it like that." Thor nodded.
Tony shakes his head, "I don't think it was taken that way."
"Definitely was." Natasha smiled slightly.
Pepper just keeps talking over him, trying desperately to make him get it, "Because it makes me look like the one who's trying to…"
Tony grimaced. He had hoped that the people there were not jumping to those kinds of conclusions.
"I just think you're overstating it," he shrugs.
"You know, and we're here…" she continues. "And then I'm…" she swallows hard, looking close to tears by this point, "…wearing this ridiculous dress, and then we were dancing like that and…
Peter looked around awkwardly, it didn't feel right, people thinking about Ms Pott's like that.
She shakes her head again, but at some point Tony had just gone quiet and had taken to looking her in the eyes, as if trying to figure her out but not caring that he probably never will. The view shows them from the side, revealing Pepper nervously wringing her fingers as they inch closer and closer together.
She grabs his arm, both of them closing their eyes, and just when it looks like they're about to kiss, Pepper seems to realize just what she's doing and opens her eyes.
Most everyone groaned.
"Could the tension between you be any more unbearable?" asked Rocket incredulous.
"I know. Women right." Quill nudged him. "Can't take a hint." Quill then resorted to cowering under the look Gamora gave him.
"I would like a drink, please…"
"Ahh. Alcohol, the answer to everything." Tony cheered, trying to hide the memories of the hurt he felt in the moment being shown.
"Got it, okay," Tony nods and starts walking away.
She sighs in what's somewhat akin to relief, turning to face him again, "I would like a vodka martini, please."
"Okay."
"Very dry with olives, a lot of olives," she says, swiping her hair from her face, "Like, at least three olives."
Sam whistled. "That is a hell of a lot of olives."
Back inside, Tony is back at the bar, telling the bartender Pepper's order and putting money into the glass, "Two vodka martinis, extra dry, extra olives, extra fast. Make one of them dirty, will you?"
The bartender nods and heads off, leaving Tony standing at the bar not knowing what to do with himself. That's, of course, when a certain reporter decides to make an appearance.
"Christine always showed up at the most irritating times." Tony mumbled.
"Wow, Tony Stark," the blonde says as she walks up to the bar, taking her place to the right of the billionaire. She's clad in a black dress, her hair pulled back, and wearing disbelieving look on her face.
"Oh, hey…" Tony says, obviously recognizing her but not quite placing the name.
"Of course you don't remember her." Wanda said, attempting to keep an edge to her voice.
"Fancy seeing you here," she responds.
The billionaire struggles for her name, "….Carrie."
"-Christine," she corrects him.
"That's right," he nods.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight," she states with an incredulous stare, "Can I at least get a reaction from you?"
"For what?" asked Thor confused.
He bites his lip, raising an eyebrow in her direction before finally breathing out, "Panic. I would say panic is my reaction…"
"To not knowing what the hell you're talking about." Rhodey finished for On-screen Tony.
"Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity."
"Yeah, they just put my name on the invitation. I don't know what to tell you."
"I don't think she was referring to the party." Shuri breathed darkly.
"I actually almost bought it; Hook, line, and sinker."
"I was out of town, for a couple months, in case you didn't hear…"
"Really?" Bruce began to polish his glasses again.
Getting angry and frustrated now, Christine raises her voice, "Is this what you call accountability?" She hands him a small stack of pictures, "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"
Tony winced the memories coming up again without permission. He began to tap nervously on his Arc Reactor.
"No." was heard throughout the room from the people who remembered the name of the town.
Upon hearing the name, Tony looks up from the pictures he just received, something dangerous glistening in his eyes. He turns back to the photos, sifting through them. In the first one- dead cattle, tanks, parts of the town destroyed and men roaming about with his weapons. In the second- clearly one of the men who held him captive, barking orders while his henchmen move crates of Stark Industries weapons. The third shows an up-close view of the SI crates. The fourth, however, shows the Jericho missile, in all of its' destructive glory.
"Crap."
"Hang on how did they get the Jericho if you didn't build it?"
"Other-" Tony winced, "means."
Tony lingers on the Jericho, asking quietly, "When were these taken?"
"Yesterday."
"Ultra crap"
The genius shakes his head, "I didn't approve any shipment."
"Well, your company did."
"Complete and utter crap." Natasha whacked the speaker's head.
"Can you shut it Clint!" She hissed.
The anger flashes in his eyes again as he shoots her a dangerous look, "Well, I'm not my company."
Wanda grimaced, guilt resuming its journey into her unbidden.
Outside, Tony is standing stiffly beside Obadiah as he shoos away reporters and paparazzi.
"Please, do you mind?"
"Have you seen these pictures?" Tony asks, leaning a bit closer to the older man so no one else can hear.
Obadiah puts his hand on the brunette's shoulder as he walks up the steps, "Tony…"
"He knew." Loki murmured immediately.
"What's going on in Gulmira?" He demands.
"Tony, you can't afford to be this naïve."
"Just because you didn't tell him shit doesn't make him naive." snapped Stephen.
"You know what? I was naïve before, when they said, 'Here's the line. We don't cross it. This is how we do business.' If we're double dealing under the table… are we?" By this point, his tone is furious and rendering Obadiah silent.
"That is the worst poker face." Vision whispered to himself.
A photographer from the crowd shouts, "Tony, your picture please?"
Obadiah, who had turned to meet Tony's violent glare, pats him on the shoulder and puts his arm over him, "Come on, let's take a picture. Picture time!"
Reluctantly, the genius puts his arm over Obadiah's back as the cameras start flashing.
"Tony," Obie states, his tone condescending, "Who do you think locked you out?"
"Asshole!"
"That Git!"
"I knew something was shifty about him!"
Meanwhile, Tony continued to nervously tap his Arc Reactor.
Tony continues staring straight ahead, though his body language does nothing to hide how tense and enraged he feels. In the background, Christine stands not-so-subtly eavesdropping.
"I was the one who filed the injunction against you," Obadiah continues, "It was the only way I could protect you."
"Sure."
And then he walks off, leaving Tony alone to stew in his anger and betrayal on the red carpet, clutching the offending pictures at his side.
Most everyone was silently fuming at the betrayal.
Behind him, Christine turns and walks back inside, but Tony just stays put, glaring daggers at Obadiah's back as he maneuvers through the crowd of reporters and to his car.
-o-
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