Authors' Note: And again! As promised, here is Part 2!
Chapter Three Part Two
The woman's warm regard caused Steve's cheeks to warm and Rhodey's and Tony's eyes go wide. Rogers gave the woman a snappy salute. "Just doing my job, ma'am."
Tony felt a sudden urge to roll his eyes at this exchange but something told him that would just get him in deeper trouble with Cap.
Zhen Linhua lowered her eyes demurely. "As gratitude for your mercy, noble sir, I wish to offer what I hope will be useful information. There is a government organization whose purpose is to hunt down rogue meta-human or even ordinary citizens with unusual mutations, such as the one known as The Hulk. They claim they wish to find these people for their own safety and the safety of others but in truth they wish to replicate their abilities and recreate soldiers into weapons. " Her gaze sliced into Tony. "It will not be long at all before they begin to hunt heroes like yourself under the aegis of national security."
Captain America's face went white and he trembled all over as if cold. This was not his America. America did not treat her people that way and indeed, the Constitution existed to keep such atrocities from happening. Yet he had heard rumors about Japanese-Americans held in internment camps during the war "for their own good." The very thought that his government could do such things even during a conflict all but terrified him. He could not detect anything but utter sincerity in the woman's words and chose to believe her.
Rhodey spoke up as if sensing Cap's inner turmoil and Iron Man's reluctance to speak lest he draw the older man's ire again. "Can you tell us anything else, Miss Zhen? Like, who's running this?"
"It is lead by a man known only as Red Skull. He is employed by an agency within the Department of Defense to capture those deemed useful quickly and quietly."
No sooner had the words left the woman's mouth than Steve gripped her by the shoulders and held her gaze, hoping to find a scrap of dishonesty. She gasped as if in pain and he loosened his hold but did not let her go.
"Please, tell me all you know about Red Skull."
The woman seemed startled at the vehemence in his tone but continued. "Not much is known about him. It is said he is a German national and that he wears a strange mask resembling a red skull. He claims the mask is psychological warfare against his prey."
"Of course it is," Steve dropped his hands to his side and sighed. "Thank you for the information, ma'am. Now, I suggest you go, before my zealous companion here can stop you."
Needing no further urging, the woman and her younger sibling withdrew, bowing as one and backing out of the room before fleeing as if sought by Cerebus. Rhodey gave his armored friend a "What the heck, hero?" look and shook his head as if exasperated. Tony took off his helmet and took a deep breath.
"I think you've said more than enough today, young man," The blond man cut off the armored teen before the latter could speak. Rogers was in full Captain America mode right now, his compassionate civilian persona sublimated in the face of his righteous anger.
"I...think what Tony was trying to ask was..." Rhodey began and nearly regretted speaking up when Steve's icy gaze swung in his direction. "When Miss Zhen said the name, 'Red Skull' you recognized it. Did you-do you know this guy?"
"We've met," Cap replied drily and looked at the two teenagers. They were old enough to handle what he was about to say and despite his anger and disappointment at his host's behavior, it would feel good to get some things off his chest.
"How? In case you've forgotten you've been a Popsicle for the past sixty years. If you know this skull guy, would that make him eligible for Medicare by now?"
Rhodey closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the onset of a migraine coming on. "I think it's time to call a Team Iron Man meeting. Let's get Pepper in on this too if she has the time. " He looked from one pair of angry, glaring eyes to another. "If I have to referee for you two, I want backup."
"This actually explains a lot. There's been a huge shortage of super powered heroes around New York lately and this explains why."
Pepper's voice was calm and controlled to the point Tony kept wishing she'd launch into one of her old breathless diatribes. Only her earth brown eyes betrayed her excitement about taking part in a mission and her pleasure at being included. That little speck of joy made him feel guilty for all the times he'd taken her resourcefulness and hacker skills for granted. She'd obviously been researching the subject on her own.
The teen genius was suitably impressed. "What do you mean?"
The redhead swiveled in her captain's chair to face him. "Think about it. All those times Manhattan has been attacked by villains or ancient robots only the police or the military has shown up. What about all the superheroes? You're not the only one but you're the only one who's shown up to investigate."
"Yeah, well, I figured superhero licenses must be going at a premium these days, to say nothing of malpractice insurance..."
Rhodey ever so lovingly smacked him in the head. "More like 'Good Samaritan' insurance. You know, so when you save someone and they get hurt, they can't sue you. Geez, man, you live with a lawyer and you don't know this stuff?"
Steve looked to Pepper for guidance in this conversation. When she didn't react to what the two best friends said he treated it as a non sequitur and the discussion continued.
"Word must be getting around in the Supes community that 'freaks with powers' aren't welcome to interfere with police or government business here," Pepper surmised.
Rhodey nodded in agreement. "You have a point. Spider-Man tends to stick near Empire University these days when we used to see him all over. Then there's the Fantastic Four." At Steve's confused expression he elaborated. "They received their powers through an accident. Something about cosmic rays while on a space mission. There's entire volumes written about them if you want to read up on the subject later but they're a government sanctioned super team, mostly because they were national heroes before and after their transformations and the feds are hoping Doctor Reed Richards can recreate the accident that created them."
"The Fantastic Four have most of their mission either out of the country or out in space," Pepper added to Steve's astonishment. " She help up her hand before Cap could interrupt. "Book. Later. There's also a government blackout that censors most of their heroics so only the bare bones of what they do gets filtered down to the public. The last thing certain government agencies want is for a wellspring of public support for meta-humans to build up. That would go against certain federal programs and black ops agendas. Plus mercenary outfits like Blackwater don't want superpowers putting them out of work so they're motivated to help keep a damper on things."
"Now that you have the basics," Rhodey told Cap gently, "would you mind telling us what you know about this Red Skull person?"
Steve shuddered. "You'll have to forgive me, Rhodey. That is a name I had hoped never to hear again." He steadied himself and continued.
"You see, my induction into the Super Soldier program became more that just creating a new breed of soldier after the scientist who formulated the serum died. The higher-ups at the Pentagon saw the success of propaganda in Germany and decided if a defeated nation can pull itself up into a world threat in a mere decade or two, then that was a tactic America would use as well. So I became a symbol of all that was good about the USA, someone to rally around and raise troop morale. That's where Red Skull comes in. He was around before me so you could say I'm just an improvement over the original. He was created to be the symbol of Nazi intimidation by old Adolf himself. Kinda the resident Bad Guy so Hitler looked good. He specialized not only in terrorism but spying and sabotage too." I bet Mister Too-Big-For-His-Britches never faced anyone like that. Cap shook his head. Skull and me...we fought for what I thought was the last time years ago. The building we were fighting in collapsed around us. I got out. He didn't, or so I thought. Now..." Steve seemed to run out of steam.
"So this guy could be a fake," Tony interjected, desperate to regain Captain America's esteem. "The fact that he seems to be German could be a way to throw us off the scent or misdirect blame to someone totally innocent. There's several nations that would benefit from real or artificially created superheroes. Making the United States look stupid would be icing. Not to mention modern terrorists like HYDRA."
Cap didn't respond or even meet the boy's gaze and Tony was about to retreat back into silence when his POD chirped at him. He pulled it out of his pocket. "News alert. Hmmm..." He froze, looking startled. He bolted from his chair. "TV. Now."
The rest of the group rushed to keep up with him as the re-convened in the living room. Tony was first with the remote. The flat screen television flared to life where a female reporter was broadcasting from downtown Manhattan.
"You'll notice you never see attacks from the middle of The Bronx," Pepper remarked to no one in particular.
"That's because people there wouldn't tolerate robots or monsters. They'd run 'em out," Tony answered.
Rhodey shushed them both, eyes locked on the screen.
"We're coming to you live near Times Square where The Hulk is once again on a rampage!"
The woman's voice was shrill with genuine fear as she and her cameraman carefully dodged the debris field left in The Hulk's wake.
The armored hero's eyes narrowed at the image on television. Something was seriously wrong. Hulk didn't seem like he was on his usual rampage; his anger didn't seem aimed at anyone in particular nor did he seem bent on destroying the city. Rather he clawed at himself as if being attacked by a thousand stinging insects.
"So it's starting," Cap breathed.
Faces grim, the assembled watched at the green behemoth seemed to fight off what ever was attacking him, shaking his head as though fending off a mental assault. Coming back to himself and noticing the terrified news crew for the first time, he launched himself into the air and was gone.
The woman onscreen heaved a well-deserved sigh of relief before adding; "We now take you to Senator Robert Kelly."
"This green menace, this abomination to nature and human decency must be stopped!" the man expounded righteously, banging the podium he spoke from for effect. These creatures, yes creatures, for I can't see any humanity in them are a public menace! Even those who claim to be heroes! If they are so benevolent, why the masks? I'll tell you why! To continue as vigilantes! If they want to serve their country then take off the masks and put on a uniform!"
The camera cut away from the senator and back to a overly coiffured man at an anchor desk. "We now take you to Doctor Bolivar Trask with a special report on what makes meta-humans tick."
A respectable-looking man in a lab coat began to speak to the audience, his voice pompous and condescending. "Why, thank you, Tom. As you can see," he turned his attention to a Power Point presentation. "Meta-human DNA, or in layman's terms, mutant DNA is different from normal, true human DNA. The so-called 'X Gene' can impart barbaric abilities to these sad mistakes of nature, which then affect the brain and cause insanity, as we saw earlier in The Hulk. The peptide chains in the chromosomes are deformed and therefore-"
He was cut off as Steve snatched the remote from Tony's hand and began pressing buttons until he found the right one. He collapsed on the couch, legs no longer able to hold him and stared across the room, unseeing.
Pepper approached him cautiously. "Steve? You okay?" Her voice was gentle as if addressing one in shock.
Cap's whole body shook as if chilled and his face was a mask of horror. "I've seen this kind of tactic used before," he whispered to himself. The blond man didn't seem aware of his surroundings. "A small, undesirable minority was wiped out using a pseudoscience known as Eugenics. It denounced those people as genetically inferior and used such trivial things as hair, eye, and skin pigment to prove it. Genetic inferiority was then used to justify those people being labeled, segregated, and ultimately all but destroyed. Now with modern science and technology those considered undesirable can be wiped out with more credible means such as DNA mapping but it's just as disgusting, perhaps more so because people are reduced to data. Potentially dangerous isn't the same as being a murderer or even a serial killer." Tony now regretted telling Steve about Dexter. He willed the other man to stop talking about it but Cap continued as if compelled to speak. "This shouldn't happen here. It can't happen here! This is AMERICA!" He shouted the last word.
Rhodey interjected quietly. "You mean the Jews. How Nazi Germany turned an innocent ethnic and religious minority into a scapegoat for all their problems and participated in legalized murder."
"Yes."
"So what does the Red Skull have to do with this?" Pepper wondered aloud. "If he was a Nazi agent, then...?"
Captain America forced himself to speak. "He doesn't care about this government agenda because for now it dovetails into his own. The Nazis were defeated, which means Red Skull, or whoever he really is, was out of a job. If this is my old enemy, he's trying to recreated the Third Reich and using one of the countries that humiliated Deutschland to do it would be sweet revenge indeed."
"A relatively small country like Germany was able to pool its resources and become a world threat less than twenty years after being defeated during the First World War," Rhodey pointed out.
"Skull would love creating a Meta-human Master Race to take over the world," Cap muttered darkly.
Tony tried rejoining the conversation. "But it takes money and resources to do stuff like that so who is..oh no," Tony's eyes widened. "If Red Skull got to SHIELD or formed an alliance with Stane...he could use Stark International to be unstoppable."
"Aside from AIM, you have the best tech," Pepper added. "And AIM wouldn't work with him, they have their own agenda. Plus since this guy is just going to betray anyone he works with anyway, they can probably figure out he'd back stab them too. Like recognizes like after all."
"So, what will Red Skull do next?" Rhodey asked. The assembled looked at each other, unable to answer him.
Tony retrieved the remote. "Let's find out."
The conservative commentator onscreen was outrageously blaming the rise of incident involving meta-humans on the "Far Left" while his liberal counterpart claimed it was due to lax pollution laws favored by corrupt politicians who favored Big Business. Steve puzzled over this while Pepper rolled her eyes and make "blah blah" talking motions with her hand. The dueling journalists were interrupted once again by the female reporter.
"Breaking news! No more than ten minutes after being threatened by The Hulk, Manhattan is now under siege by a group of strange deformed people! Could these be but the first wave of a hostile meta-human invasion? Or is it simply another terrorist plot to divert the attention away from the real threat?"
No one seemed to be listening to her as they sat transfixed at the sight of ten meta-humans lining up as if in formation. All of them had tubes and wires embedded in their flesh and some sort of control device around their foreheads.
"Oh, no..." Rhodey's eyes were dark with sympathy.
"None...none of them match the descriptions of the missing meta-humans I found online," Pepper's voice shook. "I think...I think these guys were artificially created."
Steve's could not make sense of it all and he sat as if in a trance.
Tony's expression transformed into what Pepper might call his "Hero Face". "That's beside the point. We gotta stop these guys. Rhodey, let's suit up. Pepper, I need you to monitor the command center. Steve? Steve? You with us?" Captain America's stupor did not waver.
The genius gave up in anger. "Fine," he ground out harshly, "we did just great without you. I see no reason for that to change."
He stormed out towards the hidden lab, Rhodey close behind him. Pepper laid a sympathetic hand on her new friend's shoulder, who smiled and squeezed it gently. She gave him a half hug and left, leaving the former hero to stare at the television.
Some role model. Sitting useless on the couch when the city is under attack? I don't need him, his sermonizing, or his attitude.
Iron Man and War Machine sped towards downtown. Pepper squawked on the intercom.
"Hey guys, be careful. The Army is sending in troops. We aren't the media darlings we were a few weeks ago."
"Y'know, Rhodey? Maybe I should start calling Pepper 'Mom' now."
"I won't mind."
"You're very funny. Now stop it."
Iron Man laughed and did a few barrel rolls. He swooped in and did a few loops around the confused meta-human troops. One or two seemed to power up their abilities while the rest stared, unsure whether to attack or flee.
"Focus, Tony!"
Iron Man was angry at his disillusionment and was feeling overly confident in his own abilities. Rhodey fired off a few stun rays and gently took a few opponents out but seemed frustrated, having to fight and keep an eye on his best friend.
"Tony! Knock it off!"
"What? I'm having fun! Hey, fellas! Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...my foot!" Iron Man kicked the largest soldier in the head, knocking him against the curb and rendering him unconscious.
Pepper sighed, not even looking up when Steve joined her downstairs. "Tony's too busy showboating Rhodey, so it's up to you."
"I'm on it." War Machine sounded grim.
"What is he doing?" Cap asked in wonder.
Pepper had always been more observant than people gave her credit for but since having her intelligence enhanced even more so. Neither Tony nor Steve had mentioned what caused the tension between them but she had a good idea.
"Isn't it obvious? He's being stubborn and stupid! Seems to be going around lately." Captain America seemed surprised at the vehemence of her sarcasm and felt compelled to explain himself.
"Save it." Pepper stopped him, her eyes never leaving the screen. "We don't need in-fighting distracting us right now. I don't care who did or said what. Saving the city takes precedence. Clear?"
"Crystal, ma'am." Cap nearly saluted but stopped himself in time.
Rhodey managed to subdue all but two of the attacking meta-humans. Naturally these two were the most dangerous of the group and without his companion's backup, they posed a threat to the small group of bystanders who had refused to evacuate. The artificial adaptations seemed too much for the remaining pair and they began attacking the crowd. War Machine was able to physically subdue one of them but the other remained actively endangering innocent civilians.
"Tony! Behind you!" Pepper screamed into the headset she wore but Iron Man seemed too busy allowing himself to be interviewed.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just like everyone else out of the suit. I like long walks on the beach..." Tony was telling the woman.
"Yo! Iron Bot!" a familiar voice called out.
"Happy! Run!"
Happy Hogan turned his attention to War Machine. "Second Iron Dude! How's it going? You know what's wrong with Iron Bot? He got a screw loose or somethin'? He's kinda...be right back!" A small child broke away from her father, screaming hysterically. Happy darted out and grabbed the girl before scaffolding could crush her. Unfortunately, the basketball star wasn't fast enough.
"HAPPY!"
Pepper screamed into the microphone and she beat her fists firmly against the screen. She glared as Steve approached in an attempt to comfort her. He backed away at the vehemence in her gaze. His stomach knotted as he sat in futile anger at his and Iron Man's inaction.
None of Happy Hogan's injuries were life threatening but his collarbone was broken and it was doubtful it would heal in time for the rest of the season. He waved weakly with his good hand at the cameras on his way into the ambulance.
Pepper barely waited until Tony was out of the armor to punch him in the face.
Rhodey and Steve stared at her in shock but neither of them intervened on his behalf.
The brunette could not voluntarily meet her eyes so she grabbed his head and forced him to look at her.
"What the heck was that? The city's in danger so you figure it's the perfect time for an exclusive interview? Happy could have died! Died, you jerk! Or don't you care?"
"I'm sorry, Pepper..."
He grunted as the infuriated redhead punched him again. "Sorry? Sorry!" her voice was increasingly shrill. "Oh, you're sorry, so that makes everything okay! Oh, I forgot." Pepper's eyes blazed and Tony realized yet again how dangerous she would be as an enemy. "You're Iron Man so that makes everything okay! Look, it's Iron Man! Never mind that his friends are in danger, watch him make witty quips! Let's all point and marvel, everyone!"
Pepper pushed him into a wall and he held his hands up in surrender, knowing that trying to defend himself would only make things worse.
"Being smart and talented doesn't make you superior! You're supposed to hold yourself to a higher standard! Not be a spoiled brat when you don't get your way. I don't expect you to be perfect but I expect you to be responsible!"
"And you!" She turned her attention towards Steve, who seemed ill-prepared for her fury. "You're supposed to be an adult, a role model. Where were you when we needed you? Pouting over a philosophical difference? I know you're a man of integrity. I respect that and would never ask you to compromise your principles. But we could have used your help today." With that, she stomped her way up the stairs, pausing only to accept a brief hug from Rhodey.
Left alone, the two remaining heroes were left in awkward silence.
Never did eat those sandwiches. I hate good food going to waste. Mother would have my hide.
Steve stumbled downstairs. His stomach was growling loudly. Not so loudly he didn't hear the banging and cursing of someone trying to pry open the wooden cabinet in Roberta Rhodes' den.
"Tony! What in the hell are you doing?"
Tony Stark smiled cynically up at an astonished Steve Rogers. His eyes were smudged with dark circles and bloodshot but he still seemed pleased with himself for making Captain America use profanity.
"Perfect timing. Would you happen to know what a jigger is?"