"Everything is achievable through technology," Howard said on the projector as I pinched the bridge of my nose under my reading glasses after focusing so long on the blueprints Tony had tossed aside. "Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace."
Tony was skimming the man's scientific journal as the video played and a child-version of Tony stole a part of the model behind Howard.
"Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that? Put that back. Put it back where you got it from," he demanded as the boy placed the building back. "Where's your mother? Maria!"
A coworker picked Tony up and moved him out of sight as a small, sad frown made its way onto my face. Tony himself had stopped reading to eye the screen, turning his gaze back to the notes with a hint of pain on his face that made me worry. I didn't want to pry. He'd given me space in regards to my own father, so I wanted to do the same for him. However, I didn't want him dwelling on how neglectful his father was. Before I could say anything though, something surprising happened as Tony finished the notes and sipped at his Scotch.
"Tony? You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you," Howard said, speaking to Tony directly and drawing both our attentions to the screen. "I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work."
The video scanned over the model of Howard's plan for the expo.
"This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day, you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation… is you."
I slowly got up, approaching Tony with a hint of caution as he finished his drink in one final gulp. I didn't say anything—not really knowing what I could say after that—and instead tried to draw his attention towards something slightly less painful.
"Fury said this stuff could help us," I spoke softly, looking for a sign that he was listening or that I was interrupting whatever he was dealing with internally. "The blueprint is incomplete. I'm assuming your skimming was the same, but… I'm sure you noticed in the film… He brought up an image of the arc reactor while showing off his model. Could they be connected somehow?"
Tony leaned back in his seat, looking up at me with an expression that was hard to read. "Shall we go find out?"
I blinked, surprised as he bolted up suddenly and pulled a set of keys from his desk, unlocking a nearby car. "W-What? But Tony, we're not supposed to leave and—"
"What are they going to do, ground us? Besides, you never seemed like someone who wants to follow rules." He smirked at me, nodding to the car. "Come on. Quick trip to the offices. They wanted us to figure this out, so best get to it."
I sighed, giving in. "Fine, but Pepper isn't going to be happy."
He shrugged, hopping over the door of the convertible and landing in the driver's seat. "We'll figure something out."
I hope so. Getting tased doesn't exactly sound enjoyable. Tony stopped by a man selling strawberries and I raised a brow.
"You do know Pepper's allergic to strawberries, right?"
"Is she?" He questioned, giving the stunned man his expensive watch as I was passed the box of strawberries. "Huh. Well, that's fine. You can have them."
I sighed as he drove on and we rushed up to Pepper's office where a receptionist tried to get us to leave, but Tony adamantly barged his way in with me behind him apologizing to the woman. Immediately, Pepper shot me a look and I winced, mouthing "Sorry" back at her for Tony's interruption. Pepper rolled her eyes, holding up a finger to silence Tony while she finished her phone call.
"Listen, it's our position that Stark has and continues to maintain proprietary ownership of the Mark II platform."
A TV nearby played a television host criticizing both Tony and Pepper, making me scowl. Tony thankfully muted it before roaming the office while Pepper argued on the phone.
"Burt, Burt. Burt, listen to me. Don't tell me that we have the best patent lawyers in the country and then not let me pursue this."
"I'll get this stuff out of here," Tony cut in, getting ignored as he looked through his old office things.
I shot him a pointed look, telling him to shut up while she was in the middle of her conversation. He simply held up the strawberry box he'd brought in innocently.
"Well then, tell the president to sign an order," Pepper continued. "We'll talk about it at the Expo. Hammer's giving some presentation tomorrow evening. Will Tony Stark be there?"
"Will I?" Tony questioned, perking up.
Pepper gave him a look. "No, he will not. Bye."
"I would like to be," Tony interjected, but she hung up as he took a seat. "Got a minute?"
"No."
"Come on. You just got off the phone. You're fine. Thirty seconds."
Pepper looked to me and I sighed.
"Just… let him try, at least."
She sighed, looking at her watch. "Twenty-nine, twenty-eight…"
Tony was quick to speak. "Okay, I, um… I was just driving over here, and I thought I was coming to basically apologize, but I'm not."
I let out a heavy sigh this time, tipping my head back and closing my eyes in exasperation.
"Oh, you didn't come here to apologize?" Pepper questioned accusingly.
"Look, that goes without saying, and I'm working on that. But I haven't been entirely upfront with you, and I just want to try and make good. Can I move this?" He asked then, bothered by the rotating paperweight in front of him. "This is, this is crazy. It's like a Ferris Wheel. I'm trying to get some—"
"No," Pepper denied, so he rolled his chair to the right, bumping into mine and lightly scooting me over out of the way, much to my annoyance.
"Do you know how short life is?" He asked then. "And if I never got to express… By the way, this is somewhat revelatory to me. And I don't care—I mean, I care. It would be nice. I'm not expecting you to, to…" He started again at Pepper's annoyed look. "Look, here's what I'm trying to say. I'm just gonna say it."
"Let me stop you right here, okay?" Pepper cut him off. "Because if you say 'I' one more time, I'm gonna actually hurl something at your head, I think."
"I mean, I—"
"I am trying to run a company," she said louder, trying to get the point across. "Do you have any idea what that entails?"
"Yes."
"People are relying on you to be Iron Man and you've disappeared. And all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat for it. And without Jess's help, I probably would have left this whole company ages ago."
The paperweight Tony was playing with to occupy his hands flicked across the table and she grabbed it before it could roll to the floor.
"I am trying to do the job that you were meant to do with as little help from Jess as possible because she's attempting to leave, in order to cater to you." She spotted the box on the desk then. "Did you bring me strawberries? Did you know that there's only one thing on Earth that I'm allergic to?"
"Allergic to strawberries," he reminded himself, pushing the box towards me. "Which is why I got them for Jess."
Pepper raised a brow as I stealthily mouthed "No, he didn't" to her. She dropped the paperweight onto the desk, cutting through the silence as Tony scrambled to fix things.
"This is progress, Pepper. I knew there was a correlation between you and this."
"I need you—"
"I need you too. That's why I'm trying to-" he cut her off before she finished.
"—to leave now."
He paused, looking unsure if he heard that right, turning to me for confirmation as I shot him a raised brow. The door clicked open then and Natasha walked through. Still can't believe she's a spy. Must be a damn good one too, to fit in so well.
"Miss Potts?"
"Hi, come in," Pepper invited.
"Wheels up in twenty-five minutes."
"Thank you."
"Anything else, boss?" Happy—who'd followed her in—questioned.
"I'm good, Hap," Tony said, the same time Pepper replied.
"No, I'll be just… another minute."
"I lost both the kids in the divorce," Tony quipped.
Seeing a possible rising conflict, I cleared my throat as Pepper signed a paper.
"I'll uh, see if I can work something out with the stolen Mark II."
"You really don't have to," Pepper countered, being civil with me since her only issue was with Tony.
"No, I should, since I'm kind of the one who just told Rhodes to take it," I muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I'm sure I can figure out a loophole or something in the fine print of Stark Industries labeling it as our property unless the CEO relinquishes rights. It'll just, uh… take some time, probably."
She managed a small smile. "Thanks, Jess. That would really help."
"Are you blending in well here, Natalie?" Tony questioned then, making me roll my eyes, wondering what Fury thought when he revealed her as a spy to the two of us. "Here at Stark Enterprises? Your name is Natalie, isn't it? I thought you two didn't get along?"
The two women shot him a look.
"No, that's not so," Pepper replied.
"It's just me you don't care for," he understood then. "And well, Jess who doesn't care for Natalie."
I lightly smacked his arm, trying to keep him from lighting fires as Pepper got up.
"Actually, while you're here, maybe you two and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings."
"Absolutely," Natasha quickly agreed, moving to straighten the desk as Pepper stepped out.
And the second she did, Natasha complained.
"I'm surprised you can keep your mouth shut."
"Boy, you're good," Tony complimented as I sighed. "You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it? You just tear things—You're a triple imposter. I've never seen anything like you. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?"
"Fallaces sunt rerum species," she said, making for the door.
"Which means? Wait, what? What did you just say?"
"It means you can either drive yourself home or I can have you collected," she snapped as she stormed out.
"You're good!" Tony called out at her retreating back as I got up with another deep sigh and moved to his office boxes.
He proceeded to adamantly shove things in the way of the rotating contraption on Pepper's desk unsuccessfully as I responded.
"She said something about appearances being deceiving if you must know."
He whipped around, surprised. "You know Latin?"
"I'm a lawyer. A good chunk of what's put in laws is in Latin, though I haven't actively studied it for years. I can pick up a few words, enough to get a general understanding."
"Hm," he hummed, plopping a strawberry in his mouth. "You want any of these?"
"Sure. We can take them home and eat them since we're technically under quarantine., but doesn't this look a bit off to you?"
"What?" He asked, getting up with the box of fruit and moving to where I was looking at the large table-sized model. "This? It's just a model of the Expo."
"Yeah, but I've never really gotten a birds-eye view of it before. The way it's set up is… systematic, almost." I pulled the rest of the sheet off it, tracing a finger around the globe in the center of it. "Puts the globe as the centerpiece instead of the stage where everything's happening. I may not know your father, but if he's anything like you, then why not put the stage at the center of attention? And—" I paused, seeing Tony's surprised look as he glanced over the model. "Tony?"
"Help me take it apart."
If Tony was glad about one thing, it was that Jess was always quick to just do as he asked before asking questions. Though confused as to why he suddenly needed the model of the Expo, she adamantly helped him break it down and stuff it in his convertible before rebuilding it back in his garage. She had been right though. There was something off about the construction of the Expo and he could almost see it. He just needed a bit of help.
"Jarvis, could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wireframe?" He asked. "I need a manipulatable projection."
Jarvis did as he asked as Jess came up beside him, her short hair dripping after having taken a quick shower from being covered in dust while dealing with the old model.
"So? You've got an idea, right?"
"Sure do, thanks to you," he hummed, pleased as he dropped a towel over her head. "You're dripping on the model."
She rolled her eyes, not entirely annoyed by the action as she began to dry off and Jarvis chimed in.
"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir."
A hologram of the model appeared and the two of them eyed it critically once Tony moved it to a more open space.
"How many buildings are there?" Tony questioned.
"Am I to include the Belgium waffle stands?" Jarvis quipped.
"That was rhetorical. Just show me." With a snap of his fingers, the model spun and shifted vertically. "Uh, huh. Um, what does that look like to you, Jess? Not unlike an atom. In which case, the nucleus would be here, as you said. Jarvis, highlight the Unisphere... Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."
"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?"
"I'm discovering. Uh, correction. Rediscovering a new element, I believe."
"Get rid of the plants," Jess offered as well. "Same with parking lots, entrances and exits. We want just the buildings."
"Structure the protons and neutrons use the pavilions as a framework," he added waving them off and zooming in on what was left of the model before exploding the resulting atom outward. "Dead for almost twenty years, and still taking me to school."
Jess smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But that's what parents do, isn't it? I know my mom still schools me."
He chuckled, clapping his hands and making the hologram miniaturize into a small orb between his fingers as Jarvis piped in.
"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."
"Thanks, dad," Tony muttered, showing Jess the small orb as Jarvis went on.
"Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."
"Uh-huh." Tony smiled, getting up from his seat and kissing Jess's cheek, making her wrinkle her nose. "Get ready for a major remodel, fellas. We're back in hardware mode. Jess, wanna help?"
"Give me a hammer." Jess beamed, and they went to work.
Tony and I pounded away at walls and flooring, moving heavy machinery and working away tirelessly to get what we needed to synthesize the new element ready. It wasn't entirely my area of expertise, but Tony was showing me the ropes and enough of it began to make sense when accompanied to what I already knew about planes and engineering. Though he was probably just trying to keep me from doing the heavy lifting thanks to my still-sore back. Being quick to pick up his trade made Tony happy, however, as he was soon smiling away while we worked to set things up. It's the happiest I've seen him in a while. Though, I suppose he did just find out he won't be dying anytime soon. It was then, that we were interrupted.
"I heard you broke the perimeter," Coulson said, stepping into the basement with us.
"Uh, yeah. That was like, three years ago. Where you been?" Tony scoffed.
"I was doing some stuff."
"Yeah, well, us too and it worked. Hey, I'm playing for the home team, Coulson," Tony emphasized at the man's disbelieving look. "You and all your fabulous furry freak brothers. Now, are you gonna let us work or break my balls?"
"What's this doing here?" Coulson asked, picking up the very same shield I'd used to stop Tony and Rhodey fighting the other evening; though it was a little more taken apart than it had been initially.
"He said it's a commission," I hummed, lounging back in a chair with a cold cloth over my eyes.
I'd helped Tony with some of the pipes and my back was killing me, so he made me rest.
"That's it," Tony said pleasantly, making me lift the cloth with a curious look. "Bring that to me."
"You know what this is?" Coulson questioned.
"It's exactly what I need to make this work. Lift the coil."
Coulson did as he asked.
"Go, go. Put your knees into it. There you go. And…" Tony slid the shield under the coil. "Drop it. Drop it."
Coulson put the coil down and Tony placed the level on it, smiling as I snorted in amusement at his antics.
"Perfectly level," he hummed, giving Coulson a look. "I'm busy. What do you want?"
"Nothing. Goodbye. I've been reassigned."
"Thank God," I huffed, getting a glare for my response.
"Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."
"Fantastic. Land of Enchantment," Tony mused, not really caring.
"So I'm told."
"Secret stuff."
"Something like that."
"Hm."
"Good luck."
"Bye. Thanks."
The two shook hands.
"We need you."
"Yeah, more than you know," Tony teased.
"Not that much."
"Pleasant guy," I snickered once he left, removing the cloth and standing with a stretch.
"Catch."
I caught the wrench he tossed me with a smile. "Back to work?"
"Yup. Don't overextend yourself."
"I know my limits."
It was well into the night that we finally seemed to have finished setting up everything and Tony turned the key to get things started.
"Initializing prismatic accelerator," Jarvis announced as Tony removed his outer shirt and began to try and turn the prism and angle the power towards what he needed. "Approaching maximum power."
He was struggling though, nodding for me to come over and help. Between the two of us and a wrench, we were able to slowly get it turning—burning a nice line through the wall in the process. Tony then shut it down, moving over to check our progress and giving me a brief look.
"That was easy."
"You don't say," I huffed, draping myself over the top of one of the coils as he went to remove the triangular piece.
"Congratulations, sir, miss," Jarvis chimed. "You have created a new element."
I ducked under the coil and headed over as well, watching as he placed the core into his new reactor and it started up.
"Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics. Might I suggest resting? Perhaps having a night out? Scans indicate that Miss Jess might be experiencing low blood sugar and iron levels."
Tony turned, raising a brow as I rolled my eyes.
"Selling me out, eh, Jarvis?" I glanced at Tony. "I might be a bit hungry and tired."
"Well, we've got time," he smiled, reaching out a hand to me that I accepted as he stood. "Do you want to go out to eat or have a night in?"
"Night in. Not in the mood to deal with people, despite us having been inside the last few days anyway."
"Night in it is. I'll order us some take-out. You pick the movie?"
"So long as you pour the drinks."
"I can do that." He gave me a quick kiss. "And more, if you'd like."
"I'll think about it," I hummed, figuring that it was probably about time that we moved forward a little in our relationship.
"Don't leave me hanging," he purred, running a hand along my jawline before I prodded him in the gut, making him wince.
"Food first."
"Right. Food first."
"Dum-E, you, can we clean up this mess? You're killing me," Tony complained, earning an eye roll from Jess.
"Ease up on him, will you?" She huffed, passing him a mug of coffee and kissing his jaw as she strolled past to take a seat.
He couldn't help his gaze wandering to her strong calves as she folded her legs over one another in her robe. He was, of course, interrupted by Jarvis chiming in.
"Incoming call with a blocked number, sir."
"Our phone privileges are reinstated. Lovely," he mused, having rather liked not being bothered by it while Coulson had them on house arrest. Probably him anyway. "Coulson. How's the land of enchantment?"
"Hey, Tony. How you doin'?" Came the gruff Russian voice that made Jess bolt upright in her seat.
She whipped around to a laptop nearby too, abandoning her coffee to type rapidly as Tony spoke with Ivan.
"A double cycle."
"What?"
"You told me double cycle's more power. Good advice."
Jess shot him a look, having told him before how bad of an idea it was to give advice to people if he didn't like them. He rolled his eyes though his gut churned knowing that this guy was alive. Jess was right to be concerned.
"You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy."
"You too," Ivan laughed, and Tony turned off his mic.
"Are you tracing him?"
"Working on it," Jess replied, typing away with Jarvis' help. "And also contacting Fury and letting him know he's an idiot for thinking the guy was dead in the first place."
"Good. Any other good ideas, do them."
"Of course. I don't need your permission," she huffed, teasing him with a small smirk.
"Now, the true history of Stark name will be written."
"Eastern seaboard," Jess called out, trying to narrow down the search.
"What your father did to my family over forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes."
Tony turned back on his mic briefly. "Sounds good. Let's get together and hash it out."
"Manhattan tristate area," Jess added as Tony watched the map on screen zooming in further.
"I hope you're ready."
The call ended and Jess cursed, slamming her hands on the desk in frustration.
"Damn!"
"Call trace incomplete," Jarvis announced, but Jess wasn't done just yet.
"He's got to be up to something. Something big. He wants to humiliate you, right?"
"Yeah, not helping, Jess."
She scowled. "Shut up and let me think out loud for a minute. You do it all the time anyway."
He nodded, knowing that he did and how surprisingly nice it was that she tolerated it thus far.
"Thing is, he wants the world to know. So, what's the biggest stage he could get?"
Tony perked up. "The Expo."
She snapped her fingers, pointing to him. "Right, but he needs tech to do it. Obviously, someone who hates you. Which means…" She sighed, the dots connecting in her head just as he did.
"Hammer," they both muttered in annoyance.
"So, what do we—Tony!"
Tony had headed over to grab the new chest piece, switching it out as Jess groaned and Jarvis made to argue.
"Sir."
"Tony, the tests—"
"You want to run some tests, run them," Tony said. "And assemble the suit while you're at it. Put it together now."
Jess sighed heavily, running a hand through her already tousled hair. "I'll get some clothes."
"We are unclear as to the effects—" Jarvis tried, but Tony didn't care.
"I don't want to hear it, Jarvis. Why can't you be like Jess and just roll with it?" He coughed then, grimacing as the chest piece connected with him and began to clear out the radiation the old one cause. "Ugh, that tastes like coconut and metal. Oh, wow, yeah!"
Once the chest piece adjusted, he stumbled back breathing hard as he got used to the change.
"W-Wow."
Cloth covered his head and he pulled aside the pants to Jess as she eyed him with a raised brow.
"You good?"
He grinned, heading over as he pulled the pants off his head. "Oh, I'm better than good." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply and pulling away with a smirk. "You ready? And I love those jeans by the way."
Jess rolled her eyes, lightly smacking his hand away from where it had slipped down to her ass. "Hammer?"
He wrinkled his nose. "Right. Hammer." He begrudgingly let her go as Jarvis chimed in announcing that the suit was ready.
"Do I get a suit this time?"
"Ah, well…" He hesitated, realizing that while he'd promised her a suit, he hadn't quite gotten around to doing it just yet.
Jess groaned. "Really? And how do you expect me to get there and support you? Hm?"
Tony, avoiding eye contact as he changed and went over to get into the Iron Man suit, struggled to come up with an answer. "Um, well… You can always drive?"
"From LA to New York?"
He winced. "I'll carry you! It'll be great!"
Jess scowled, folding her arm over her chest. "Absolutely not. Jarvis?"
"Yes, ma'am. I have already altered the Iron Man Mark 4 suit for your using purposes, as per request."
Tony gaped. "You went behind my back!"
Jess rolled her eyes, moving forward and kissing his cheek before his helmet came on. "Just a bit."
He couldn't help but smirk though, knowing that she was always one step ahead. "Well, I suppose I could share this one time. I will make you a suit though. A proper one. All yours."
"Maybe after you save the world?" She joked, taking his place as he stepped off fully suited up.
"I'll meet you there?"
"Kick his ass."
Pepper and Natasha exchanged shocked looks at the drones Hammer was presenting at the Expo, noticing immediately the similarities to the Iron Man suit and feeling dread well up in them.
"As revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war," Hammer addressed his audience, surprising them once more by what he announced next. "Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"
"What?" Pepper gaped as one of Tony's old Iron Man suits was brought up onto the stage, decked out with more weapons and armor than a tank.
Rhodes, Hammer and the drone saluted as the leader of the show went on.
"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for—" Hammer stopped though, as a low rumbling noise drew everyone's attention to the lit-up figure heading their way.
Tony had arrived and landed before Rhodes, must to the crowd's enjoyment.
"We got trouble."
Rhodes resisted a sigh. "Tony, there are civilians present. I'm here on orders. Let's not do this right now."
Tony lifted a hand to the crowd. "Give them a wave."
"Hey, all right! Yeah!" Hammer clapped along with them, not pleased Tony was stealing the show, but not willing to risk anything just yet.
Tony draped an arm over Rhodes' shoulder. "All these people are in danger. We gotta get them out of here. You gotta trust me for the next five minutes."
"Yeah, I tried that. I got tossed around your house, remember?"
"Listen, I think he's working with Vanko."
"Vanko's alive?" Rhodes wondered, starting to get worried.
"Yeah, and if you're still not ready to trust me, Jess is on her way now."
"In a suit?"
"You bet."
Rhodes could hardly believe it, but already his scanners picked up the second suit off in the distance. "Well, I'll be damned."
Tony, however, moved over to Hammer as the man tried to keep egging up the crowd. "Where is he?"
"What?"
"Where's Vanko?"
"Who?" Hammer tried to play dumb, but Tony wasn't falling for it.
"Tell me."
"What are you doing here, man?"
Then, Rhodes' screen went red. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."
His gun snapped up and Tony turned.
"Is that you?"
"No, I'm not doing that. That's not me!" Rhodes said frantically. "I can't move. I'm locked up. I'm locked up!"
All the other drones lifted their weapons as well, just as Jess landed beside Tony.
"What's going on?"
"Vanko's hacked into his suit."
"Get out of here! Go! This whole system's been compromised!" Rhodes demanded as the crowd started to scream and flee.
"Go, Tony!" Jess called out. "They're after you! Keep the fire away from the crowd while I try to get them out!"
"Will do! Let's take it outside!" Tony said, flying up and out of the roof with bullets being shot after him.
Glass rained down on the crowd and Jess took off, her scanners picking up two very familiar people in the crowd. Quickly, she landed beside them, lifting her helmet much to Pepper and Natasha's surprise.
"J-Jess?"
"Yeah, hi. No time to explain. Vanko's alive and has hacked into the suits. We need to lock him out. I know you're both good at hacking. Do you know where there's a computer system you could work with?"
Pepper perks up, nodding. "Backstage! Hammer has his tech crew back there!"
Jess turned and grimaced at the sight of the drones and Rhodes being flown upward. "Can you two get back there? I'm already getting Jarvis on it but having you two working as well would be great."
Pepper and Natasha nodded, determined.
"Yeah. We can do that."
"What are you going to do?"
"Try and keep the crowd safe. I don't trust those drones. They might be going after Tony now, but Vanko's not exactly considerate to those in his way. I'm leaving that and Hammer to you two. And if you can somehow manage the crowd control from there too, that'd be great. They need to be as far from the center of this as possible. Vanko's trying to make a scene. He won't stray far from center stage."
"On it," Natasha said, rushing off already, but Pepper hesitated.
"Be careful, Jess."
Jess smirked. "I'll do my best. Be careful yourself."
Pepper smiled as Jess's helmet slipped back on and she took off, quickly moving to stop the drone who had started walking into the crowds.
"Tony!" She called through their connected systems. "Try to keep the ones after you away from the crowds! I've sent Natasha and Pepper to try and nab Hammer and get Vanto out of your system. I'll deal with the drones down here as best I can."
"Be careful, Jess." He returned. "We don't yet know what they're capable of. I'll send you specs as we go."
"Same here! Though, it looks like they've been given separate abilities depending on which part of the Armed Forces they're for. You've got Air Force on your tail and I've got the Army down here!"
"Ones that fly and ones that don't," he realized, grinning. "Great! Keep track of any more differences!"
"Will do... Oh, this is going to be troublesome," Jess muttered as a drone stepped up to her position. "Hello, big fella. Want to play?"
It aimed its weapon at her and she sighed.
"Yeah, thought so."
Hammer hurried backstage to where his control crew had been set up, bristling with anger.
"What's going on? What's happening?"
"The software's been overridden," his tech replied.
"What? What do you mean, it's been overridden? What does that mean?"
"I think he slaved the drones."
"That's impossible. Call the guards," Hammer demanded.
"All the phones are down, sir."
"Well then, call their… call their cells."
"Their cell phones are not working either, sir."
"He's locked us out of the mainframe."
"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper asked, already knowing the answer as she headed over, but wanting to hear them say it.
"Please, please. Go away. Go away," Hammer stopped her and Natasha. "I've got this handled."
"Have you now?" Pepper snapped.
"Yes, I do. In fact, if your guy hadn't shown up, this wouldn't be happening. So please now, go away. Thank you." He leaned over to complain to the tech guy. "Listen, we've got to get these bitches out of here."
Natasha though wasn't one to tolerate attitude like that and stepped around the desk, jerking him by his arm and slamming his face to the top of it.
"Where is Ivan Vanko?"
"I don't—" Hammer grunted as she jerked him again, soon giving in easily. "He's at my facility."
She let him go and took off, leaving Pepper to dial her phone as she glared at him.
"I need NYPD, please. Command central."
"No, no, no, no. No, no, honey. Don't call the authorities."
Pepper ignored Hammer. "Okay. Right away. Right away." She covered the speaker and snapped at him. "Step aside, step aside."
He held up his hands, begrudgingly doing so and she moved to his tech. "Tell me everything you know. Go."
Tony, meanwhile, was doing his best to keep the Air Force drones off him while also away from the people scrambling for cover down below.
"How are we doing, Jarvis!" He asked, desperately hoping the AI or Pepper had managed to do something.
"Remote reboot unsuccessful."
He grimaced, looking down and spotting Jess launching herself at a Navy drone and pulling off its head before hastily moving to the next one. There were too many though. She was barely making a dent in the numbers and soon the Navy drones were launching missiles, leaving her scrambling to grab people out of the way instead of fighting the drones head-on. The Army drones were on the move now as well, anchoring themselves to the ground and arming their weapons.
"Heads up, Tony!" Jess shouted. "The Army drones are aiming for you with armor-piercing bullets from the ground! I can't get to them in time!"
"On it!" He called back, dodging the bullets and managing to get the drones to hit one of the ones chasing him. "See if you can somehow get them firing on each other!"
"I'll do my best!" She grunted, flinging one of the large pieces of a collapsing building away from the people it had nearly crushed. "Go! Go!"
She took off after the Navy drones then, moving to the nearest one and getting in its face. "Hey! Come and get me, big fella! Try and hit me with those missiles if you think you're so tough!"
The drone shifted before the rest of the Navy drones paused in their attack of the crowd and aimed at her instead.
She groaned. "Oh, I definitely asked for this, didn't I."
She was quick to take off, dodging the missiles as best she could before spotting the anchored Army drones and grimacing as a missile very nearly hit her. This better work. The missiles hit the Army drones and took out a number of them, making her cheer before she saw a drone pausing in front of a kid with an Iron Man mask.
"Tony!"
Tony was quick to spot him, landing and taking care of the drone with a nod to the boy. "Nice work, kid."
Relief flooded Jess as Tony shifted to move the drones further away from the Expo, though a pack of Air Force drones started to double back not long after.
"Jess, there are some Air Force drones headed your way."
"Great. Just what I need. Tony, I'm already struggling with numbers here!"
"I'll head back as soon as I can, Jess, just buy us some time!"
Not long after some of the Air Force drones made it back, more drones took off.
"Tony, we've got more incoming! He's sending out all of them!"
"We have to take down the system! How's Pepper doing?"
"I don't know! Bit busy!"
"Well, find out!"
Jess groaned but began to work her way back to the stage while taking out drones as best she could. I'm so going to strangle him later.