TITLE: Iron Maiden - Days of Future Past
DISCLAIMER: The Marvel Cinematic Universe characters and everything from Earth-199999 belongs to Marvel under the umbrella of The Mouse of Doom, ahem, sorry, Disney... anything from other Marvel Universes / dimensions / timelines belong to their respective comic creators… basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic SHIELD on me, I'm just here for the fun.
Stark Industries
Los Angeles branch
March 6th, 2010
Back in the hanger at Stark Industries Aviation branch, Tony grinned to himself as he looked over to the other side of the hanger where the new Stark Jet was slowly taking shape.
The main fuselage was complete now, and it looked beautiful. The wings were still in progress, but they were making great time with them. The entire jet had a futuristic feel to it, and with the complete lack of fuel storage in the body, there'd been more than enough room to add on a custom ramp built underneath the door that slid out and folded down, making it's own ramp up to the door so that they didn't need to wait for the hassle of airports and stairways or connector corridors.
It was absolutely fantastic and he couldn't wait for the first time they landed at an airport with this beauty, just to see the astounded faces at a luxury private VTOL jet that could land wherever he wanted.
Currently though they were both working on an even more outlandish project. The first Stark International satellite.
It was literally the first piece of equipment they'd built together completely, and it felt fantastic to actually share something like this with his daughter. It was also the very first piece of Stark technology that would officially have the 'Stark International' logo on its side.
He was currently working on the eight rotational repulsor engines for the satellite housing that would allow the satellite to manoeuvre itself around orbit, keep it's orbit stable, and adjust itself for constant geosynchronous orbit wherever they wanted.
Their own private satellite. It was such an outlandish idea that he'd actually laughed madly for a clear ten minutes when he'd first decided to actually go ahead with the damn thing. The fact was that the bonuses that came from it outweighed every single cost by a magnitude of factors.
Him and Morgan had already fitted the Arc reactor inside and got it powered up, and it was a beauty. The reactor would power the thing for the next fifty years, maybe more, giving constant and high bandwidth access for their AI's, along with real time backups for JARVIS, FRIDAY and FAITH.
He'd decided firmly on the idea after Morgan had explained to him what had happened to JARVIS in her history. How his AI had been destroyed and become some sort of hybrid weird machine linked with one of those magic marble things, and had then apparently fallen in love with the Scarlet Witch for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom.
Morgan had assured him that that wasn't going to happen this time. That she was going to keep that damn magic marble as far away from all of their tech as possible, and definitely wouldn't risk any of their AI's interacting with the damn thing.
It had still been enough of a worry though for him to seriously consider the satellite idea, and the very next day he'd started building the main base and purchased the more delicate pieces from suppliers had contracts with NASA.
It was just one for now, and that was all they needed right now. But in the future he'd planned for seven more, eight in total, linked in constant orbit to allow real time high bandwidth links for their suits around the globe.
He didn't have a name for it yet, but the idea of having their own network purely for their AI's and suits to use while out on mission was FAR better than relying on wireless internet links and cellphone provider coverage.
"How's it coming over there kiddo?" Tony asked, finishing up the fourth of the rotational repulsors that would be fitted around the base housing of the satellite.
"All good so far," Morgan shouted back from where she was actually sat inside the satellite itself and wiring in one of her precious QSI's from the future into the satellite's hardware.
That was the pièce de résistance. A QSI that could process far more real time data than any other technology on the planet right now, allowing the AI's to link to both of their suits and run sensors, overlays, simulations and communications from anywhere in America right now.
Once it was up and running, he would have a constant uplink to JARVIS, FRIDAY and FAITH from his suit, and be able to access both the SI servers, and their private servers from anywhere he wanted.
The QSI's power dwarfed his Iron Man suit's processing power by orders of magnitude, even his current future built one, and from what Morgan had said, it even dwarfed his last bleeding edge nanotech suit. Which meant it was going to be a necessity once they'd got everything up and running.
Along with the QSI and high bandwidth communications, there was also a full sensor grid built into the satellite, stealth tech from Morgan's designs that he couldn't make heads nor tails of, along with imaging, tracking, and surveillance tech straight from the twenty forties.
It didn't just blow any other satellite out of the water, it took a giant dump all over the NSA and CIA's surveillance capabilities and did it with a giant shit eating grin as well.
They'd have to take it up personally, but Morgan had assured him that that was an easy job for her suit. He'd actually blinked at that and hadn't known what to say for a few moments before getting her to start working on making sure his suit was orbit capable as well.
There was no way in hell he was going to let her go up into orbit herself and not be there right alongside. For one, the dangers alone of actually leaving the atmosphere and entering orbit were enough to make his blood freeze just thinking about them. He still remembered his first suit's icing problem just at high altitudes in the atmosphere, but actually leaving the atmosphere and entering space... the thought itself was so mind boggling he couldn't even imagine it.
Nope, if Morgan was doing it, then he sure as hell was going to do it as well. The Starks would be the first private family to enter space together, and he was going to take a camera just to document the occasion and get a photo of both their suits in orbit with the planet behind them.
Screw every other family photo, he would have that one blown up to gigantic size and plastered across the wall of their workshop so that he could enjoy such a momentous undertaking whenever he damn well felt like it.
"Tony?"
Tony looked up from his workbench, idly swiping his soldering iron on the mat a couple of times to clean the flux off of it when he saw Pepper coming into the hanger and looking around for them both.
"Pep?" Tony asked aloud, drawing her attention over to the corner where they were working on the satellite. "What's up?" He asked as she came over, a fond smile on her face as she looked at the pair of them working together again.
"Your two o'clock meeting?" Pepper prompted him. Giving him 'the look' as she came over and stood a small distance away from all of their work stations so she wouldn't risk knocking into anything or risk catching her clothes on oils, grease, and god only knew what else that they had been working on.
"Two o'clock?" Morgan asked, leaning out of the satellite and poking her head out of the satellite housing. "What's going on?" She asked, looking back at her dad now.
"Remind me?" Tony asked hopefully, looking up at Pepper now. He was pretty sure there wasn't anything majorly important on his calendar today, nothing that required a set meeting anyway.
"Michael Browning and Rod Smallwood?" Pepper prompted them both. "About the bands for the Expo and... the Iron Maiden name?" She added on the last and hid the wince at the thought, still not really knowing what to say, or really think, about her daughter carrying on Tony's Iron Man legacy.
"That's today?" Tony blinked in surprise.
"Yes Tony, that's today." Pepper groaned, rolling her eyes and looking to the heavens for any assistance she could get. "That's now in fact. They'll be arriving in twenty minutes."
"Shit," Tony muttered, tossing down his soldering iron and grabbing a towel to wipe the various grease and collected sweat from his face and arms. He'd completely forgotten about it, he'd seen the names on today's schedule but had just swiped them away assuming they were one of Pepper's usual meetings as they weren't marked with anything that would usually grab his attention.
"I can finish up here," Morgan shrugged from where she was still leaning out of the satellite happily, content just to be surrounded by metal and electronics where she knew what she was doing.
"No go kiddo, you're in this too." Tony smirked down at her. "Out, come on, out and ready."
"Meetings?" Morgan groaned, muttering several unkind things as she clambered her way out of the satellite carefully, ensuring she didn't damage or catch her clothes on any of the delicate equipment as she made her way out. "Do I have to?" She asked, grumbling as she dusted herself down and accepted the towel from her dad to wipe away the dirt from her face.
"If I ever needed any more proof that you were Tony's daughter, I just got it." Pepper said with a wry smile, looking over at the pair of them and shaking her head in amusement. "Did either of you actually bring decent clothes to change into?" She asked, a vague hope that they might have actually listened for once.
Both Tony and Morgan grimaced as one, both looking at each other and seeing the weathered jeans, comfortable t-shirts, and overall dirty and unkempt looks they were currently sporting.
"Really?" Pepper groaned, looking at her watch. Twenty minutes, it wasn't nearly enough time to make just one of them presentable, let alone both of them. "Tony, wash. Find a bathroom, wash, do anything you can." She ordered him. "Find a shirt... from somewhere, I don't know, someone must have a spare somewhere around."
That was a good bet, there were enough scientists and engineers in SI that finding a spare shirt tucked away or some casual clothes might be possible.
"With me missy," Pepper said, beckoning Morgan over. "I've got some spare clothes in my office that should fit you well enough, at least enough for this meeting." She said, mentally cataloguing the two spare outfits she kept in her office for times when Tony would decide on a whim that he needed her to fly somewhere or attend some function with him at a minute's notice.
"I'm having flashbacks to my teenage years," Morgan muttered as she walked over to Pepper, knowing full well that arguing with her mom on something like this was pretty much futile.
"Fifteen minutes Tony, my office." Pepper said, giving him a firm look to make sure he was listening. "I mean it Tony, this is important."
"I know, I know." Tony nodded, already turning off some of the equipment he'd been using and getting ready to head out himself.
Morgan simply followed as Pepper led her out of the hanger, already fussing over her hair and seeing if she had an extra clip or tie or something she could use to tidy the mess of wavy styling up and actually make it presentable.
"Sorry mom, I didn't see it on today's thing." Morgan said with a grimace, knowing full well that she hadn't even bothered checking her schedule as she hadn't assumed there would be anything for her to do. After all, she wasn't publicly known in this time yet, something she was actually revelling in, so she had just assumed that since she wasn't known as a Stark yet, she wouldn't have anything to do publicly with SI's meetings or anything.
"I forwarded the meeting details to JARVIS, I should have thought and sent them to FRIDAY and FAITH too." Pepper admitted. "Can one of you add them to the schedule so that they can both see everything properly and we don't have another near miss like this one?"
"Sure," Morgan shrugged, it would be easy enough to link FRIDAY and FAITH in, she only hadn't done it already because she hadn't thought about how many of the SI internals were still linked only to JARVIS and not to FRIDAY yet.
"Here," Pepper said, finally finding a simple black hair tie and handing it over to Morgan. "I know it's not your usual style, but..."
"It's fine," Morgan nodded, accepting the hair tie and pulling her hair back with both hands before looping it on and twisting it around twice so that it pulled all of her hair back in a vaguely neat ponytail. "You should have used your watch, that's linked to FRIDAY already." She explained as she did her best to make her hair look as presentable as possible while they walked across the SI lots and around towards the main administrative buildings. "Huh, where is it?" She asked after a moment's pause, looking down and seeing both of her mom's wrists were bare.
"I haven't put it on yet," Pepper admitted quietly. "It's still... it's in the bag you gave me, with the bracelets and..."
"Your wedding ring," Morgan nodded knowingly.
"That," Pepper said with a sigh. "I know I haven't asked much, not about the future, about... about me." She said quietly. "I died as well, didn't I?" She asked in a soft voice. "It's the only way I can think of that you'd have my wedding ring."
"Yeah," Morgan admitted, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Four years ago." She confirmed when her mom looked at her.
"Was it... an accident or something?" Pepper asked, not knowing if she wanted the truth or not.
"It's complicated," Morgan said quietly. "Something happened in a couple of years, you got infected with a nanovirus, some engineered some designed for genetic manipulation and enhance regeneration. It was supposed to help people grow back limbs or missing organs and stuff."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Pepper frowned as she tried to keep up with what Morgan was saying.
"It didn't work, I don't know the full story, FRIDAY's probably got it logged somewhere, but it burnt people out, turned them into bombs." Morgan explained, much to Pepper's horror. "Dad managed to stabilise the dose you'd got, but you had go through... I don't know, basically chemotherapy to actually get the stuff out of your system."
"Chemotherapy..." Pepper whispered, the horrified look on her face showing exactly how terrified she was by that idea. "It was a cancer?"
"It turned into one," Morgan nodded sadly. "You fought it for ages, but..." She trailed off awkwardly.
"It killed me," Pepper said quietly. "Do... do you know when..."
"It won't happen," Morgan shook her head firmly. "Not this time. I'll make sure of it." She said, setting her jaw as she deliberately pushed away the horrible thoughts of her mom's funeral. "That's why you should wear those bracelets and the watch. You always did in the future, even if you don't use them, they'll keep you alive and stop anything like that from ever happening."
Pepper stayed quiet as she thought about that, leading Morgan through into the administrative building and up to her main office.
"For me?" Morgan asked hopefully. "I know you only wore the suit a couple of times, but it'll keep you safe. I can't... I can't lose you again, not again." She pleaded.
"I'll... I'll think about it." Pepper said quietly. "I haven't... the ring, I haven't even looked at them all, not since... not since you gave them to me." She confessed. "I don't even know what to do with them, they don't even feel like they belong to me, like they should belong to me."
"Oh," Morgan frowned as she considered that. It was still her mom, she knew that in her heart, but her mom now was a very different person than her mom had been when she'd been growing up and in university. She was still a PA and only just starting to grow into her relationship with her dad, she wasn't the woman that took the company global and met with presidents and world leaders around a negotiating table.
"I'll try though honey, I promise." Pepper said as she led them through into her office, closing the door behind as Morgan slipped quietly though. "Though you might have to show me how to work all of it, because I've got no idea how any of that sort of stuff might work." She said with a small hysterical laugh at the very idea of having a suit like Tony's one on.
"Sure," Morgan smiled happily, content that her mom was at least leaning towards wearing the protection that she would need to survive what was coming.
"Come on," Pepper gave her a small smile as she crossed her office and pressed the button on the wall that drew the curtains closed and blocked out the window. "There's a bathroom through there, you can wash up quickly in there." She explained, indicating to the other door in the office that led through to her bathroom area.
"Alright, I'm going." Morgan groaned, slumping her shoulders as she walked through to the bathroom to wash off the day's grease and grime. "This is all giving me flashbacks to my first dance you know?" She said with a grin as she turned on the tap and tossed the flannel underneath the flowing water to start soaking it up.
"A dance?" Pepper asked, appearing in the bathroom doorway with two dress suits, both including skirts, a blouse and jackets. "Cream or navy?" She offered.
"Navy," Morgan said firmly. She wasn't a cream or white person, pale colours made her look horrible, she knew that from experience.
"Navy it is," Pepper nodded, hanging the navy dress suit up on the door. "We really have to get you some proper dress clothes though, you can't just turn up to meetings in jeans and a t-shirt." She said, watching as Morgan thoroughly washed her face before taking off her nanite reactor and putting it to the side for the moment, then pulling her t-shirt off so she could quickly wash over the rest of her torso. "Did you at least wear a dress to this dance in the future?" She asked, prompting Morgan and trying to delve into what were clearly happier times for the young woman.
"Uh, no." Morgan laughed as she kicked off her cowboy boots and started tugging down her jeans. "Tux actually." She said with a grin before freezing. "Oh no." She groaned, sinking her face into her hands as she kicked her jeans off to the side of the bathroom. "I didn't think... oh god, not again." She muttered, shaking her head.
"Honey?" Pepper asked, a worried tone in her voice as she saw Morgan clearly looking worried about something.
"Can we just forget I mentioned anything about the dance or tux or any of it?" Morgan asked hopefully, peeking out from her hands and looking at her mother with wide eyes.
"I don't think so, not now." Pepper said firmly. "Did... did something go wrong? Was it a bad dance? A bad date?" She asked.
"No, no, it was... it was great." Morgan offered with a small smile. "God this was so embarrassing the first time, how many kids have to do this twice." She muttered, dragging her hands down her face. "My date was great, brilliant. The dance was great too."
"But..." Pepper prompted, coming into the bathroom to talk with her daughter properly.
"Do I have to spell it out?" Morgan pleaded with a pained expression on her face. "God, if I'd known coming back in time meant I'd have to do this twice, I'd have had second thoughts." She muttered to herself, grabbing the flannel and washing the last of the oils and dirt off of her arms.
"Do what twice?" Pepper asked, visibly confused by Morgan's little rant.
"I swear this better not be as awkward as it was the first time," Morgan muttered, tossing the flannel aside and grabbing one of the hand towels to quickly dry herself off.
"You can tell me honey, what is it?" Pepper asked, lifting down the dress suit and un-clipping the skirt from the hanger ready to hand it over.
"Coming out," Morgan admitted after taking a deep breath. "And please don't make a thing of it, I've already done this with you once, and I really don't need flashbacks to all the awkward talks we had about girls and dates and everything like that."
"Coming..." Pepper froze as that filtered through into her brain, her mouth still open in a little 'o' as she wordlessly handed over the skirt and let Morgan step into it and tug it up properly. "Does... does your father know?"
"No," Morgan grimaced as she adjusted the skirt and tried to get it comfortable. It was a bit tight, but she'd always had slightly bigger hips and more curves than her mother had. "I hadn't even thought about it." She admitted, holding out her hand as Pepper lifted down the rest of the dress suit and took the jacket off of the hanger before handing over the crisp white blouse that was underneath. "Stupid, I just didn't think..." She muttered to herself as she pulled the blouse on.
"That's..." Pepper started, not really knowing where to go with this conversation now. "Did I... I talked with you about all of this? When you... when you were younger?"
"Yes mom," Morgan laughed, tucking the blouse neatly into the skirt and buttoning it up, leaving the top two buttons open comfortably so it was a bit more casual and relaxed than her mom usually wore. "You were great, even took me to the Pride Parades in Madrid." She said with a wide smile. "SI had a float and everything, we sponsored so many gay charities, it was brilliant." She explained, accepting the dress jacket from her mom once she was satisfied the blouse was on properly.
It was still a bit tight, and her comfortable black bra was a bit too visible through it to be considered proper, but it would definitely do for now.
"That... that's just going to take me a minute to get used to," Pepper admitted. "I'm sure in your future, I probably knew this before you came out to me, and had more time to get used to the idea."
"Probably," Morgan laughed, tugging on the jacket and trying to get comfortable wearing it. "I wasn't exactly subtle about it you know, and you said it wasn't exactly a surprise that I'd asked a girl to the dance." She explained with a grin as she picked her nanite reactor back up and slipped it back onto her chest, feeling the comfortable and reassuring weight of it pressing against her cleavage through the blouse. "That's when you helped me get a proper tux fitted, I always hated skirts and dresses." She explained, tugging on the skirt with an annoyed roll of her eyes.
"Well we'll get you some proper pant suits soon then," Pepper smiled, accepting the little 'opening up' conversation for what it was. "And... I should probably tell Tony, or... is this something you want to tell him yourself?" She asked.
"Dunno," Morgan shrugged, collecting her jeans, t-shirt and boots from the bathroom floor. "What am I doing about shoes?" She asked, holding up her cowboy boots awkwardly.
"On my desk," Pepper rolled her eyes. "I think we're about the same size, I hope so anyway." She said, directing Morgan back through to her office where she'd got a simple black pair of Louboutin dress pumps ready for her.
"Great, heels." Morgan grimaced, sending an offended look at the torture devices for her feet.
"Ms Potts, your two o'clock is here."
Pepper span around to the intercom, hearing the announcement before quickly looking at her watch. "Heels on, we can talk about..." She paused as the door to her office opened, with Tony walking in wearing at least cleaner clothes this time, his jeans and t-shirt weren't business dress, but were probably the best she was going to get right now.
"As ordered," Tony smiled, gesturing down to his clothes.
"It's better than you were," Pepper admitted with a small nod, watching as Morgan grumbled under her breath about putting the pumps on, sitting on the corner of her desk to get them strapped up properly. "We need to get Morgan some proper business dress too, and some clothes that aren't workshop clothes or armoured suits."
"Sounds like a shopping spree with your mom is being planned kiddo," Tony smirked at her. "My condolences." He said with a grin as Morgan shot back a middle fingered salute, making him laugh harder when Pepper rolled her eyes at the pair of them.
"Come on, security will have shown them to the meeting room already." Pepper interrupted, giving Morgan one last glance over to make sure she was suitably presentable before tugging on Tony's arm to lead him out of the office.
"Not a fan of business dress then?" Tony asked, looking as Morgan slowly caught up with them to walk alongside him. "Or heels apparently?" He asked, noting how uncomfortable she looked in Pepper's business clothes and shoes.
"I'm not a heels girl." Morgan said firmly, fighting the urge to glower down at the torture instruments strapped to her feet again.
"They do add a couple of inches," Tony said, offering a commiserating smile. "You're nearly my height now."
"Don't care," Morgan muttered, rolling her eyes. She'd always been short, but had never felt the need to try and make up for it with ridiculous heels before.
"We'll get you some more comfortable shoes soon honey," Pepper gave her a small reassuring smile at that. "Business flats. Not boots." She clarified before turning to Tony. "I've already sent the Expo packets down to the meeting room ready for us, so you'll have everything on hand for what you need." She explained.
"It's both of them right? One meeting with both of them?" Tony asked.
"Yes," Pepper nodded. "I thought it would be easier rather than organising separate meetings and going over the same Expo details with both managers separately." She explained. "I also have two non disclosure agreements ready, in case the meeting ventures into details that we need to keep quiet."
"Right," Tony nodded, his eyes flicking to Morgan before he grinned, remembering his plan and what else he needed to discuss with this meeting.
Getting AC/DC and Iron Maiden to play at The Expo would be an amazing thing just on it's own, but getting Iron Maiden to back up Morgan's use of the name, that would be the crowning triumph today.
Edwards Air Force Base
Lancaster
Los Angeles
California
General Baur puffed happily at his cigar as he oversaw the engineers working around the hanger that had been cordoned off for Stark technology.
They were moving with a purpose, sure and dedicated, as fast as any squad he'd ever had the pleasure of commanding, and by God it was beautiful. The hanger security would now require both a hand print and iris recognition to enter, and only a handful of people right now had the credentials in the system to let them inside once it was locked down.
Right now he was stood, simply staring at the engineers as they fitted the various pieces of the War Machine armour into the robotic housings that had been placed around and behind a rotating platform at the far end of the hanger.
The sheer amount of equipment that had been brought in and set up to hold and maintain the War Machine armour was staggering, and only now could he really understand just how formidable and advanced that piece of technology was.
Next to that and along one of the main walls sat two dozen mannequins, all dressed up in some sort of black and silver form fitting outfits that looked like nothing he had ever seen before. The harnesses built into the outfits and housing all the technology was a thing of wonder, and while he'd been briefed and seen photos of The Angels in test flights, he had yet to see one of them in person, and was really looking forward to it.
Right now he had over three dozen recommendations to go through, the Angels squad would be a dozen at first, just for training and mobilisation, expanding to two dozen once the preliminary evaluations of the equipment and their field use had been done.
Which meant he needed to narrow down all the recommended airmen dossiers he had been given, and whittle down to a dozen members who would be the first squad to receive their wings.
He'd already decided on The Angels squad leader. Lt Colonel Julianna Callaghan. A paratrooper and one of the best records he'd seen, but also a qualified marksman at long range, and a designated marksman on record.
She was being transferred to Edwards over the next few days, and once here he would be able to start getting The Angels prepped and ready for training. He'd already sent an e-mail to Mr Stark requesting dates he was available to oversee The Angels training, and couldn't wait to see the airmen's first reactions upon seeing the wings in flight for the first time.
"Lt Colonel," General Baur, noting Lt Colonel Rhodes walking over towards him. "At ease." He nodded when he stopped and stood at attention. "How are things looking?"
"Five by five sir," Lt Colonel Rhodes said crisply. "Two more days and they should be done, they're ahead of schedule as it is."
"So I see," General Baur nodded happily, puffing out a cloud of smoke from his cigar. "I'd heard Stark engineers were the best, but it's something else to see them in action." He admitted, looking around the hanger where people were carrying heavy equipment and so many tools that he didn't even want to guess what half of them were for.
"They're the best in their fields sir. Tony only hires the best." Lt Colonel Rhodes said with a sure and slightly proud tone in his voice.
"How are things with Doctor Stark?" General Baur asked, it was a loaded question and he knew it. Things might look good, from a contracts and business side, but Lt Colonel Rhodes had more inside knowledge, and a deeper understanding of Mr Stark that could give him the answers he needed to see the bigger picture.
"So far, honestly sir, I think he's doing better than ever." Lt Colonel Rhodes admitted. "My original evaluation of him was wrong sir. I thought he was spiralling, falling back into his worst habits, and letting everything pile on top of him." He explained. "I was wrong. He's working better than ever, and I think he's really going to show his doubters exactly how he got to the top again."
"Hnh, that's my thoughts too." General Baur nodded, twitching his lips around the cigar as he settled it in his mouth. "There's no way he could have built all this in only a week, not even Doctor Stark could have done that." He said, looking back at the end of the hanger to the War Machine platform. "He'd have had to have this in the works for months." He said firmly.
"Yes sir," Lt Colonel Rhodes nodded, firmly in agreement with General Baur there. Tony was a genius, that much was certain, but building the entire War Machine suit, along with his own upgraded suit, and the Angel wings too? Even with his daughter's help there were only so many hours in the day.
He could only imagine how many schematics and designs for the War Machine program Tony had been pouring over while he'd been on base and complaining about Tony's new attitude towards weapons and his contracts. It stung that he'd turned on Tony so easily rather than actually sticking by him like he should have done.
"And Doctor Stark's talk of international dealings?" General Baur asked, approaching the elephant in the room cautiously.
"As far as I know, he's only looking at international holdings for consumer grade business sir." Lt Colonel Rhodes explained. "From what I've seen... what he's spoken about, he's going to break into the clean energy business in a huge way. Enough that oil, gas and the middle east and Russia will be yesterdays news by this time next year."
"Well, wouldn't that be something." General Baur grinned at the thought. Getting America away from relying on oil and gas from foreign countries would definitely be a godsend, and would mean they could pull military forces out of various countries in the middle east, and return those men home to where they should be.
"Yes sir," Lt Colonel Rhodes nodded, firmly in agreement with that.
"Speaking of, there's already word of getting you out there on missions as soon as you're capable." General Baur explained. "You'll be leading The Angels on missions when it's needed, but there will also be separate missions dependant solely on War Machine's capabilities, just as The Angels will be deployed separately for search and rescue, humanitarian aid, and air support when needed."
"Yes sir, I'm looking forward to it sir." Lt Colonel Rhodes smiled eagerly at the thought, definitely willing to get back into the armour and really put it through it's paces in a combat environment.
"Nothing official yet, but word is there's a promotion coming down the pipeline," General Baur explained. "You'll be leading The Angels as a full bird Colonel from what I've heard." He explained when Lt Colonel Rhodes looked at him in surprise. "I'll probably hear confirmation of it in a few days, probably next week by the time the papers come through. I just wanted you to know it's coming."
"That's... yes sir, appreciated." Lt Colonel Rhodes smiled, fighting hard not to break into a proud grin at the thought.
"Well, you're the one that's going to have to tell Doctor Stark he's going to have to redo the name plate on the War Machine." General Baur chuckled around his cigar at the thought. "I don't have to tell you that there's going to be photos, probably top brass wanting to see it in action." He explained. "I heard word that you and The Angels will be appearing at Stark's Expo as part of his Air Force presentation."
"I've heard sir, haven't seen any details yet, but I've heard we're supposed to be there." Lt Colonel Rhodes nodded.
"I look forward to seeing it," General Baur smiled, content in the thought of how uplifting the public would find seeing the War Machine and The Angels on full display would be, and seeing the Stark name firmly attached to the USAF once more. "Keep me in the loop." He said with a nod, gesturing for Lt Colonel Rhodes to continue on with overseeing the hanger, while he walked off to start work on whittling down the Angels recommendations and find eleven airmen that would do the new squadron proud.
It was going to be tough, but it was going to be damn worth it. And if The Angels performed even half as well as Doctor Stark and Lt Colonel Rhodes said, then he had no doubt that the squadron would evolve and probably double, even triple their numbers in no more than six months time.
He was damned proud that it was happening in HIS base, under his watch and his command, and he was going to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way, and make sure the Stark name was synonymous with Edwards base, and the successful mission stories that would no doubt flood their way soon enough.
Stark Industries
Los Angeles branch
Tony was practically grinning ear to ear as they took a short break, an assistant coming in and bringing in a tray of coffees and a large mug of water along with glasses for anyone that wanted refreshments.
Both of the band managers were more than eager to play at The Expo, and they'd provisionally agreed to a two week spot, the opening week and the last week of the opening month, where they would play two gigs a week each, splitting the days so that they could share the main stage and it would only have to be wired up for full sound once, rather than having multiple stages set up.
Tony was ecstatic at the thought. He'd quite happily agreed to have an area put aside where both AC/DC and Iron Maiden could have a store set up for albums and mechanise, and the bands would take home all of the profits.
The Expo itself was going to blow the roof off, and now with both AC/DC and Iron Maiden attending and playing, he knew without question it was going to be the biggest and best Expo ever, and that didn't even include the grand announcements about SI turning into Stark International, and the giant announcements of the new Stark Phones and replacement limbs, and War Machine and The Angels with the Air Force.
The Expo wasn't going to be big, it was going to be huge. It wouldn't just be the event of the year, but it would be the ONLY event worth talking about for the next decade.
"Thank you," The manager of Iron Maiden smiled as the assistant filled a coffee up for him and offered cream and sugar. "While this is short notice, I see no real problems with the events going ahead, and I'm open to keeping communications open to plan things further?" He asked, looking over the table to where the manager for AC/DC was sat a few chairs away with his own cup of coffee.
"Certainly," The manager for AC/DC smiled happily.
"Great," Tony grinned, definitely happy with how this meeting was going so far. "We're planning out the opening gala right now, but ideally, I'd like for both bands to be there for the opening night."
"As guests or..." The manager for Iron Maiden asked curiously.
"I think we should take a second here," Pepper interrupted. "These are non disclosure agreements, as we haven't discussed anything confidential so far, there's been no need for them. But going forwards..."
"Right," Tony nodded, thankful that Pepper had stopped him before he'd continued talking. "Pepper's right, just some confidential stuff that's going to be announced during the opening night, we'll need to talk about it here first and strike some deals hopefully."
"Of course," The manager for AC/DC nodded, seeing the Iron Maiden manager nod as well as Pepper slid the various papers across to each of them along with a pen.
Tony watched for a moment as the two managers started reading through the non disclosure agreements before flicking his eyes over to where Morgan had been simply sitting and watching the meeting, still looking extremely uncomfortable in Pepper's clothes and heels.
He couldn't blame her, even he could see that Morgan wasn't a business suit sort of person, and definitely not heels. He only wore suits when he really had to, and had to put on the show of the billionaire businessman, so he was pretty certain that Morgan did the same back in her future, only she probably got away with a lot more because of her age, much like he did when he was younger.
"These look normal to me," The manager for Iron Maiden nodded as she signed the non disclosure form with a flourish before resting the pen back on top of the papers and sliding it back over towards Pepper.
"Great," Tony clapped happily as the manager for AC/DC followed suit and slid his form back as well. "Right, like I was saying, opening night." He explained. "I'd like both bands there, playing, during the introductions and first show piece."
"Both bands?" The manager for AC/DC asked curiously, his eyes flicking over to the manager for Iron Maiden.
"You'll see why," Tony grinned, seeing the rather mixed reactions from both managers. "It's no secret that AC/DC has always been my thing, I've got this mental image... opening up The Expo premier with 'Shoot to Thrill' playing as I make my entrance. Fireworks, laser light show, the whole shebang." He explained with a smile, painting the picture as best as he could.
"And Iron Maiden?" The other manager asked, raising an eyebrow at that.
"Is why the non disclosure forms." Tony said, looking at Morgan and watching as the two managers turned their attention to the young woman as well. "Kudos to both of you for not asking who she was yet." He said with a smirk, causing Morgan to roll her eyes at him. "Actually, this is a pretty big deal, you two will actually be the first outside of the family to get introduced."
"Tony," Pepper breathed out quietly, shaking her head and prompting him to get on with it.
"This will be announced at the opening gala, literally on stage, which is where you come in." Tony explained, gesturing to the manager for Iron Maiden. "This is Morgan, my daughter." He said proudly, watching as both managers caught that news and let it filter through for a second, the surprise showing evidently on their faces as they looked at Morgan in a new light now.
"You want Iron Maiden to introduce your daughter to the world?" The manager for Iron Maiden asked, blinking as he tried to rationalise that out in his head. That announcement, that opening gala, it would be heard and seen around the world.
The footage of Tony Stark's daughter being introduced for the first time would be played over and over by news organisations around the world, and she would be on stage with Iron Maiden playing behind her.
Publicity alone, it was a solid diamond. Forget gold records, this would put the band in the history books and practically everyone on the planet would see and hear them as she was introduced to the world for the first time.
"Do you have a song in mind for the introduction?" The manager for Iron Maiden asked, already trying to think about how he was going to tell the band about this without breaking the non disclosure agreement he'd just signed.
"Kiddo?" Tony asked, looking over at her with a smirk and twinkling eyes.
"Iron Maiden," Morgan grinned, adding a smirk of her own when Tony barked out a laugh in amusement at her choice.
"That's... forgive me for saying, but that's quite an old track for someone your age." The manager for Iron Maiden said with a wide smile. "I think it would be something we can certainly work with though."
"It's an in joke," Tony explained.
"I can guess why," The manager for Iron Maiden chuckled. Of course, the daughter of Iron Man, he could definitely see the amusement factor there. The media would love it of course, it might not be politically correct to call a young woman a maiden, but there was no way that name wasn't going to stick, especially after being introduced by the band's title track.
"Show 'em kiddo." Tony chuckled to himself, nodding when Morgan looked over at him.
"I hate doing this in a skirt," Morgan grumbled, ignoring the 'why me' look her mother gave her as she stood up from her chair, stepping away towards the window slightly and tapping the reactor on her chest, watching everyone's reactions as the nanite pool flowed out and over her body, compressing and adjusting her clothes as it compensated for the fabric while solidifying into her signature iridescent purple and chrome armour.
"I don't need to suit up next to her for you to get the idea right?" Tony grinned, watching as Morgan's helmet dissolved back into liquid metal and flowed back into the suit, leaving her ponytail to flow free as she stood there in her base armour.
He couldn't help but smile as both the managers stared at her in pure shock, both of them looking completely astounded by her armour and the presence she was giving off. It was a far cry from how uncomfortable she looked in her dress suit and heels, in the armour she was at home, and as untouchable as the 'Invincible Iron Maiden' moniker made her to be.
"The media are going to name her..."
"Iron Maiden," Tony nodded, seeing the manager for the band in question had already cottoned on to where he was leading them. "Personally, I love it, I'm all for it."
"This..." The manager for Iron Maiden paused, staring at Morgan's armour in awe before blinking and trying to get his head back on track again. "You want to discuss copyright issues to the name?"
"I don't think there needs to be any," Tony shrugged automatically. "Morgan isn't going to be claiming to be affiliated with the band or anything, she's hoping she can keep using the name, but aside from that... we're not going to be merchandising her or anything." He explained with a laugh.
The manager simply nodded as he thought about that. The Stark name was already internationally recognised, and was only going to get bigger as Iron Man became more and more prevalent on the world stage. Then adding in the announcement of his daughter being introduced to the world, and that fantastic armour, and the name Iron Maiden would likely be painted upon her whether they agreed or not.
The fact was that the band had so much more to gain by simply going along with this and having their name linked to the Stark name than they did from fighting it, and while they might win a legal battle over the name, the public opinion would definitely sway against them, and it would likely be a losing battle anyway, as no matter what the courts said, she would always be The Iron Maiden in the minds of the public.
"I think I can see it working out quite nicely," The manager chuckled to himself as the mental image of various news broadcasts around the world saying 'Iron Maiden' over and over again came to his mind.
'Iron Maiden' would likely be the top Googled phrase of the year after the announcement, and he could only picture how obscene the album and merchandising sales would be if the worlds newest superhero started publicly wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts and mechanise as well.
"Great, better than great, fantastic!" Tony laughed, clapping his hands together with a wide grin. "Morgan keeps wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts around the house anyway, but once it becomes official..."
"It'll be a whole different thing." The manager nodded, seeing precisely why Mr Stark wanted to hammer this out now and get their agreement before going any further. "No, I don't see any problems here. Iron Maiden will be the perfect track to introduce Ms Stark to the world." He said with a wide smile at the thought.
"It was either that, or 'That Girl'," Tony smirked, seeing Morgan roll her eyes at him.
"Please dad," Morgan scoffed. "'Aces High' kicks ass." She added with a grin. "Though 'Wasted Years' comes close I'll give you that."
"Funny, I always thought 'Days of Future Past' was your track." Tony shot back, causing Morgan to laugh in agreement with that one.
"Children," Pepper interrupted before the two could continue their argument, much to the amusement of the two managers that were still watching. "Please, continue. These two will argue about music all day if we let them."
"No, no," The manager for Iron Maiden laughed, happy to see the Stark's weren't joking about the youngest Stark actually being a fan of the band. "It's fantastic to see the band's music still appeals to a younger generation."
"Oh it does," Tony grinned knowingly. "I bet in twenty or thirty years, they'll still be played all over." He laughed as Morgan rolled her eyes but smirked at the little in joke.
"I'd say we're all in agreement here though," The manager for Iron Maiden laughed, sharing a smile with the other manager at the table.
"Great," Tony smiled happily at that. "For The Expo, let me know about rooms. There's a hotel on site, just let me know what you need, any extra space or anything, I'll set it up for the entire month. Tickets for all the band's families and everything." He explained. "That goes for both bands obviously." He said, making sure it was clear he wasn't just offering this to Iron Maiden.
"That's very generous of you," The manager for AC/DC smiled at the thought, knowing the band would definitely be very happy to take advantage of that, especially spending a month in New York to see the Stark Expo for the entire length of the event. "Do you have any further plans for the opening ceremony?" He asked curiously.
"Right, this is what I'm thinking..." Tony grinned, getting back into planning mode and he started outlining exactly how he was thinking the opening gala would go, and how best to introduce Morgan, and The Iron Maiden to the world.
36A North West Apartments
Manhattan
New York
March 10th, 2010
Natasha Romanoff enjoyed her safe houses in various cities, most of them were known to SHIELD, but she'd always kept a few secrets here and there, and her Manhattan apartment was one of her oldest.
She was secure here, away from SHIELD, away from everyone. It was distanced from every single one of her identities, and she only used it sparingly to ensure it didn't become linked to her in any way that could be tracked back or verified.
Even Clint didn't know about it, and it was one of only a handful of secrets that she'd actually kept from him.
"Miss Romanoff."
She had a knife in hand as she span around, her eyes wide at the unfamiliar voice in her apartment when she knew damn well that she was alone here. "Who's there?" She demanded, gripping her knife tightly as she glared around the apartment, looking for any sign of the intruder.
"I am contacting you on behalf of Tony Stark."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at that, following the voice through her apartment and over to the thin tablet she'd been using to do more research on Belarus and search for any further information about Yelena.
"You hacked into my tablet." Natasha said flatly, glaring at the unfamiliar black screen and rotating 'Stark' logo that was being shown right now.
"That would indicate that the security on this hardware was anything more than the lesser consumer grade present in tablets of this price range Miss Romanoff." The voice answered back with a clear smirk evident in the tone of the Irish twang.
"Fine, I'll give you that." Natasha gave a slight shrug at that. It was a cheap enough tablet, that was true, and she never kept anything compromising on it or anything that could lead back to her, precisely because of how pathetic the security on cheap tablets was. "You're one of Stark's AI's." She said, finally recognising where she'd heard that Irish accent before.
"Correct Miss Romanoff. I am FRIDAY." The voice came back over the tablet's speakers.
"Fine, how did you track me here?" Natasha demanded.
"I have very little knowledge of your current location, as the GPS in this hardware has been permanently disabled. I am simply aware that this is hardware in use by you, and monitored it for a time when you were likely to be alone in the proximity of the device." The voice explained.
"Fine," Natasha frowned, inwardly arguing over whether she should believe the AI or not. Either way she was going to destroy the tablet tonight anyway, and remove any other piece of equipment in the apartment that could have any form of data connection running through it. "What does Stark want?" She asked, glaring down at the tablet that was lying on her desk.
"It is it regards to the mission discussed at Mr Stark's residence. Do you still wish to proceed with what was discussed?" The voice asked.
"Yes." Natasha bit out the single word answer.
"Then there are two options at present." The voice replied. "Mr Stark will be attending a meeting in Madrid on the fifteenth of March. It is likely the best time to covertly infiltrate Belarus airspace."
"Alright." Natasha nodded to herself, memorising the date to speak to Clint about later on.
"Do you wish to meet Mr Stark in Madrid, or prior to his leaving the United States?" The voice came back.
"Madrid." Natasha answered without hesitation.
"Very well. Mr Stark will be in Madrid from the fourteenth onwards for eight days. Please contact him there for further discussions about Belarus." The voice came back. "Is there any further equipment you will require for your mission?"
"No." Natasha said flatly, knowing both she and Clint already had everything they would likely need, and could easily make it to Spain without assistance.
"Then that is all, good day Miss Romanoff." The voice came back one last time before the tablet flickered and returned to it's usual desktop state with familiar icons and images.
Natasha simply glared at the tablet one last time before snatching it up and snapping it clean across the middle, bending the entire thing until the glass screen and metal back cracked and shattered in her hands, then she dropped the entire thing in a plastic bag and took it into the kitchen to dump in the sink before turning the tap on, just in case.
She would have to contact Clint tonight, but first she had to get out of this safe house and make sure that none of her other safe houses were at danger of being discovered by Stark's damned AI's.
At least Stark was holding up his end of the bargain though, and in just under two weeks time, the Black Widow program would be over for good. That was worth the cost of a tablet and putting up with Stark's AI's, she would put up with a lot more if it meant ending Dreykov for good this time.
Moving around the apartment she methodically checked every other piece of electronic equipment, making sure there was nothing else that could have a data connection that could be linked to her.
It was infuriating to think just how many things had open data connections now. TV's, phones, nothing was safe. And with Stark's AI's apparently free roaming now, she would have to make doubly sure that Clint knew to keep his family off the grid completely too.
Still, if Stark's AI's were as dangerous against Dreykov as they were against her, then maybe it was worth having the devil on her side, a digital devil maybe, but a devil none the less.
Scowling one last time at the drowned tablet in the sink, she grabbed her leather jacket and secured the apartment before leaving. She had a lot to do now, and heading to Clint to inform him of the latest changes to their plan was a priority.
She could check two safe houses on her way to Clint's Colorado place, and then head to the others afterwards. It just meant an annoyingly long drive instead of a direct flight to Colorado Springs.
Still, it was better than Iowa. Hell, anything was better than Iowa.
AN: Just a note here... very minor crossover being thrown in here. Lt Col Julianna Callaghan is from Flashpoint, as the team sniper and profiler, and played by Amy Jo Johnson, mostly recognisable for playing Kimberly / The Pink Power Ranger, in the 90s.
She will be a minor reoccurring character as time goes on, but no other Flashpoint characters or events will be involved in this fic.