Chapter 9
The gala was in full swing at midnight. Tony looked around himself, a vaguely panicked feeling tightening his chest. Pepper was out of the room with a handful of clients. He was left all alone and paranoid with all the vultures wanting a piece of him. A man with a smile plastered horribly on his face approached him. Tony flinched away quickly. "S-sorry, I think I have a call." He said lamely and rushed out. He reached the upstairs lobby. It was empty and spacious but it did not make him feel any better. What was wrong with him? He's never felt this way before. Maybe he was sick. "Mr. Stark." Tony whipped around to find the same man now up here with him. The room was quickly filling in with other guests, probably thinking this room was also opened to them. Tony did his best to keep the despair from showing on his face. For the life of him he couldn't hold his glass steadily. He drowned it, almost choking on the scotch, but it helped little so he went to the balcony.
Moments later the room was silent. Tony turned around to find the lobby empty again. He leaned on the railing weakly, sliding down to the floor of the balcony. A shadow fell upon him, making him look up. Emerald eyes met is own blues. There was no kindness in them, no pretense, no pity. Just an honest empty void. His mind could not formulate any words, just stare. The man sighed before leaning down. He was not aware of the tears running down his cheeks until cold fingers brushed them away. The eyes were softer now, understanding. "Shh. Calm down Tony. They're gone, no one will bother you here anymore. Relax for me."
Tony felt himself calming down, his erratic breathing slowing down, and heartbeat going to a steady drum. The man looked pleased. "Good. Very good." "I probably look like a mess." Tony commented. Those calm eyes continued to regard him. "No. You look much worse." He straightened back up, heading for the bar. He took his time making a drink, giving Tony a chance to pull himself together. Tony stood, looking at the tall…teen. Yes, he looked no older than eighteen. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" he blurted. The teen did not look offended. "My bedtime is of no concern to me." Tony peered at him. "Who are you?"
His companion came over, handing him a drink. "Hadrian Potter." Tony took a sip. His eyes widened. "You make a mean martini!" Hadrian nodded, enjoying his own beverage. "So, why are you here? No offense, but you are too young to be here." "Actually I'm not. I hold five percent of your company's shares." Hadrian said. Tony regarded him in a new light but before he could say anything Hadrian's watch beeped. The teen nodded at him. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Stark, but I have something else to attend to." As Hadrian reached the door, Tony stopped him. "Thank you; for helping me out." "Never mention it." Hadrian said and disappeared down the stairs.
Later after that Tony got Jarvis to run Hadrian's information. It seemed normal enough but what puzzled him was what Jarvis supplied. "You mean these records didn't exist until three years ago? He did not exist before that?" "Yes sir. Mr. Potter has faked his information." "Huh." was all Tony could come up with.
Harry along with Liam and Sasuke entered the night club. With a few gestures the raven sent them to scout out the place. He himself went to sit at the bar with a glass of scotch. The two came back five minutes later. "Nothing on my end." Sasuke reported. Liam gave a similar response, though his eyes were drawn to the dancing crowd. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Harry nodded and stood to leave, going to the VIP lounge. He had business with some questionable men.
Sasuke and Liam were left on their own. Liam whistled. "Do you see these asses or what?" The Uchiha routinely ignored him, focusing on his drink. Moments later the brunette nudged Sasuke. "There's a hot chick coming this way. Smarten up Uchiha." Said hot chick turned out to be a true beauty. Average height with a creamy complexion, red hair and an hourglass figure enunciated by the white dress that left little to the imagination. Just looking at her brushed Sasuke the wrong way. Something was wrong. He turned back to his drink.
"Hello gentlemen. Mind keeping a lady company?" the woman said. Liam grinned, coming closer. "Would I? Tell me; what is a hotshot like you doing alone in a club?" The redhead smiled cheekily. "What is a man like you doing alone in a club?" "Touché. What's your name?" The woman sat on the booth chair and crossed her legs, revealing long voluptuous legs. Poor Liam was already drooling. "Natalia. Yours?" Liam struggled to reign himself in. "I go by Liam ma'am. Let me buy you a drink." Sasuke huffed silently in exasperation. The woman, Natalia, turned to him. "And you? What is your name?" Sasuke gave her a cursory glance. "It's rude to eat with both hands." She grinned at him. "What if I can't help myself?" "Pick one. I'm sure you'll be satisfied." Liam turned to them. He gently grabbed Natalia's arm, steering her towards him. "Don't listen to him. He's got some stick up his ass. So Natalia, where do you live?" Like that Sasuke was ignored. Natalia asked all sorts of personal questions and Liam was all too willing to give in to her. Of course, some things that would compromise Phoenix he kept to himself or fabricated. The man was not stupid after all.
An hour passed before Harry showed up again. He sat next to Sasuke. The older raven leaned towards him. "A spy." Harry nodded. "Natasha, I believe." For the first time Sasuke recognized the spy for who she really is. The makeup truly hid her well. Harry went to Liam's side. With a pleasant smile he said "I see you have found yourself a friend Liam." Liam was lost for words for a fraction of a second but it didn't go unnoticed by anyone. "Yes. Her name is Natalia." Harry offered a hand, Natalia took it. He kissed her knuckles. "Pleasure meeting you Natalia. I'm Hadrian." Natalia withdrew her hand. "Likewise. Are you three related?" "You could say that. Please go soft on Liam though; he sees little of the opposite gender." Natalia laughed as Liam sputtered wordlessly. "No problem. I think he's cute." The brunette blushed. Harry agreed, to the shock of his employees. "That he is." With that he took his leave along with Sasuke. Liam looked regretful as he put on his coat. "Sorry, I must leave. He's my boss, so I have to follow him around everywhere. But here's my number." He wrote down his cell number and left hurriedly. Natalia took the slip of paper and put it in her purse after memorizing it.
Liam caught up with the other two. "Anything?" Harry asked. Liam grimaced. "Very little. She was quite tight-lipped about herself. Kept diverting from the topic of herself and flashing her asserts." He shook his head as if to clear his mind. "All I got was her name; Natalia Romanova. That is probably also an alias." Harry nodded. It was the same thing Sasuke told him. It was useless to have Imperium run her info, he already did.
Phoenix lived at a penthouse on Imperius tower. It was where Harry had his business, Imperius Industries, situated. It was a motor garage and sale business, but more than that it was a research facility. To the general public they researched ways to improve automobiles . they already had their first car; Vixen Imperius, out to the public. It was selling off the shelves quickly in the high-class market. It had an automated system so the car could drive itself. Moreover, it had a sensory system that predicted collisions and avoided obstacles. It impressed people immensely. The face of the company was Alex and the rest of Phoenix held high positions in the company. Elves disguised as humans worked the more sensitive tasks.
Back at SHIELD base Natasha was reporting back to Director Fury. "His name is Hadrian Salazar Potter. He came with two people he seems to have employed; Liam Houston and Sasuke Uchiha. I made most contact with Houston; he was more open than his partner. He gave away that they actually live at Imperius Tower. I think is actually the owner of the company, or very close to the owner we have been exposed to; Alex Winstone. The two submit to him. I met Potter himself. I suspect both Potter and Uchiha know I'm a spy." Fury scowled. "That is not much to go by. We already know most of that information. Those eight just appeared as New York citizens two years ago and nothing I do reveals their real identities. They may as well be a threat to society. Agent Romanov get Agent Coulson for me." Natasha nodded but before she left she gave Fury the slip of paper. "Houston gave me a number. It could be useful." Coulson entered after Natasha left. "I want less people following the Imperius suspects. Have the best to do it." Coulson nodded. "Of course." Fury turned his back to Coulson's retreating form, deep in thought.
A week later Liam got a call. After retrieving it he was excited. Naruto was unfortunately on the receiving end of his cheer. "She called! She called and now I'm on a date with her!" Naruto groaned. "What are you talking about?" "Natalia!" "The spy." Naruto deadpanned. "Yep!" He sighed. "You know you can't possibly have a relationship with this woman." Liam did not stop grinning. "It's the thought that counts." "She thinks you are an information source." "I'll still get to kiss her." Liam retorted and bounded away. Naruto shook his head. Liam can be so irresponsible sometimes.
A few months later in Imperius Tower Naruto, Sasuke, Suigetsu, Alex, Itachi and Harry were playing poker. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Imperium's hologram came on. "My Lord, Samuel has been compromised." Harry put down his cards. "What do you mean compromised?" Zack poked his head in from the kitchen. His face was pale with fear. Imperium replied. "On his mission to study the tesseract while posing as one of the guards there something went wrong. The tesseract acted up. It opened a portal from which came an unidentified man who called revealed himself as Loki. With a touch of the scepter he carried with him he took over Samuel's mind and fled with him and a few others."
Harry stood up, going to the counter. "Visual feed." Imperium was replaced by a video. The portal opened to let in a man in black and green fitted outfit, a cape and a horned helmet. He carried a claw-like spear with a blue orb in its claw. Director Fury along with other scientists and agents were there. Fury refused to give the tesseract to Loki. Loki attacked with shots from the spear that vaporized everything it shot. Fury dove to the side, dropping the briefcase holding the tesseract. Some agents and scientists were killed. Loki touched the scepter on Samuel who was disguised in a long-term polyjuice potion, along with Dr. Selvig and Agent Clint Barton. After that he left with the three in tow and the tesseract.
Harry clenched his fists till they turned white. "Track them." "They seem to be headed to Stuttgart, Germany. They will be there in a few hours. Harry nodded. "Sasuke I want you to retrieve Samuel and Barton." The spiky-haired raven nodded in affirmative. Zack came to Harry. "Is dad going to be alright?" Harry smiled at the boy. "I'll make sure of it."