Disclaimer: I now own a little part of Stark Industries...not really. Techinically. I guess. But not officially. Or legally. Anyway, not mine.
Notes: You all blow my mind with the support. I greatly and sincerely appreciate every reader. I apologize if I have not replied to your reviews. I will get to them. I promise. Also, I hope to be updating more often because let's face it, when Iron Man 3 comes out, I will be totally biased and no longer original with my words. They will probably be heavily riddled with movie references. And though I love to do that, I want to keep this story as much of me as I can. So wish me luck with the updates! Sorry for any mistakes!
The office was dark. All lights were off, except for the single small desk lamp that currently illuminated his paperwork. His colleagues had all opted to go home after they realized the clock had struck three in the morning, and they still had yet to find the missing piece to their puzzle. He could not deny that the morale was low, and he often felt like walking away from it all, but that was not like him. It was not in his nature to give up on anything. Michael was damned if he was going to start now.
So he stayed. Despite the fatigue and blurred vision he was fighting against.
An exasperated sigh broke the eerie silence as he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to refocus on the values displayed about his data sheets. "Come on, Mike." He encouraged himself.
"I need results." The voice caused Mike to jump in his seat and turn to where it came from. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness he was met with.
"I-I didn't hear you come in, Kahn." He squinted as he struggled to make out the man's figure. No shadow. No sign of another person in the room. Almost as if the voice had come from thin air.
Kahn stood in the corner of the room with his hands firmly at his sides. His face emotionless and his eyes trained on his disciple. "Exactly."
"I-I don't understand." The scientist shook his head with worry.
"Your focus is elsewhere." He slowly stepped forward. Enough to allow the faint glow from the desk lamp to reflect off his dress shoes. "I need attentive workers. Who will be productive and efficient."
Michael swallowed the lump in his throat as he straightened in his chair. "I apologize. It will not happen again."
"I know it will not." Kahn clasped his hands before him. "Effective immediately I'm making you second chair."
"Second chair?" Michael's heart dropped as he heard the man's words. All of his devotion had been in vain. "I promise I will get you the results you seek. Just don't take me off of this trial. I can be efficient. You know I can. As second chair I'll have no real value to you. I'll just be an…assistant."
The man wanted to continue his defense, but Kahn unclasped his hands to put one up in the air and silence him. "Do not beg. Never beg. A real man pleads with no one. Kneels before no one."
Michael's eyes fell towards the floor. "But, Kahn…"
Kahn clasped his hands again, this time behind his back as he turned to walk out. "I need more test subjects. Do everything you can to get me more test subjects. I trust you will remain professional and committed to the cause." He sensed Michael's anger as he opened the door to the dark hallway. He turned his head to look one last time at him. "Do not fail me, Michael. You do not want to end up on the wrong side of this."
"I expected this to be easier." Nick Fury walked frustrated around the work table where his scientist and Rhodey currently worked over engineering designs on a computer.
Rhodey looked up to meet his eyes with a grin. "This is easier. Would you like to have Tony work on this instead? I assure you he will make it…less easy…and less pleasant for you." He warned.
The look on Fury's face was priceless. An almost pout was evident as he shook his head, knowing full well that the Airman was right. Having Tony around the headquarters, on a daily basis, was something both Fury and Tony eagerly avoided.
Fury stared at the screen along with the two men, but quickly became disinterested and confused. He cleared his throat before he left their side to walk out of the room. "Let me know when you guys have something."
"Is he always so…uptight?" Rhodey laughed as he looked to the SHIELD scientist.
The man laughed and nodded his head. "You'll get used to it." He smiled before he continued to type in values and altered the design before them.
A sigh escaped Rhodey as he looked at his watch. "What do you say we work on this for another hour? I need some food." The man nodded.
Minutes passed as they continued to brainstorm on a possible weapon that could render The Mandarin weak. Rhodey input some data, and waited for the change to take effect on the screen. He smiled victoriously.
"Wow. Great call." The man clapped him on the back. "We have what it will look like, but what will it do exactly?"
Rhodey leaned back in his seat. "We'll have to keep working on that, but I might have some ideas.
They studied the computer screen for minutes before Rhodey's phone rang. "Oh boy."
Pepper gazed out at the water as she leaned on the balcony rail. The ripples broke the deep blue into diamonds of bright orange as the sunset neared. The ocean breeze gently blew her hair, and she made a point to inhale as much of it as she could. She closed her eyes to revel in the moment.
"May I join you?" Tony leaned on the doorway to their private balcony with his arms crossed.
Pepper jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, but quickly recovered as she nodded without looking at him.
He walked towards the rail and stood next to her with his shoulder touching hers. Out of sheer contentment he sighed and angled his head to look up at the sky above them. "It's a nice day isn't?" Pepper spoke after some silence.
"Yes it is." Tony nodded, still looking up the sky. He smiled and moved to look at his girl. She was still. Her eyes glued to the ocean. Strands of her hair waved off to the side before her eyes. "Pepper…" His heart rate increased when he realized something could be wrong. That perhaps she hadn't walked out to enjoy the landscape, but to breathe a sigh of relief. Relief from something. From everything.
"Hmm?" Her blue eyes never parted from the salty waves.
"What's the matter?" He turned his body towards her.
"Nothing. Why?" She sounded convincing enough, but he did not hesitate to pry.
"You seem…distant. What's on your mind?"
"I'm alright." She smiled, but not directly at him.
Tony's head dropped. He was never really a man who paid attention to women's emotions. If it did not pertain to how a woman felt physically, he could avoid it altogether. That's just how he was. Detached, and only preoccupied with satisfaction of the most basic and primal kind.
But it was different now. He was different. He was curious to know Pepper. Inside and out. Including what her mind and heart told her. "Potts." Tony finally whispered as he lifted his gaze and found she had broken her connection with the water to meet his. "I'd like to know what you're thinking."
A small smiled appeared on her face as she heard his comment. He always surprised her with how tender and straight forward he could be when he was serious. She fell deeper for the man that stood before her just then. "There's no one like you in this universe." She shook her head and smiled broadly at him.
Tony's first reaction to her comment was to raise his eyebrows with wide eyes. Her bold statement caught him a bit off guard. His second reaction was a smile that was not arrogant, but affectionate instead. "You know, I can and will say the same is true about you." He took her small hands in his.
They stared at each other before Pepper moved in to kiss him tenderly. Tony tried his best to keep his mind on what he had asked her, but she made it a difficult task when she pulled his face closer to hers. Almost on natural instinct he moved his hands to wrap around her lower back. Sighs and moans escaped them as they continued to pull each other closer.
Pepper was first to pull back out of breath. She leaned her forehead on his with closed eyes. Tony took the time to breathe in not only the salty air, but her scent as well. Which spun all around him in the breeze, and still he could not get enough.
He calmed his raging heart and lightly squeezed her hips. "Nice diversionary tactic, Pepper." He chuckled softly. "I've taught you well." He opened his eyes to look at her closed ones. She grinned.
"I know a thing or two. Don't claim too much credit."
Tony nodded against her forehead. "You're remarkable." He proudly smiled at her confidence and at knowing that she was purely Pepper. Not a hint of anyone else but her. She was the woman she was because she chose to be.
They quietly stood there. Eyes closed.
In the middle of the breeze, with no one and nothing but the sun and the sound of waves to be witnesses to their moment, Pepper hugged him tightly. "I have this nagging feeling that something will go wrong." She whispered.
He sighed deeply before he pulled her closer still. And as he held securely onto her body, with a hand loosely tangled in her hair, he shook his head remorsefully. Deep down he cursed himself for putting her through the ordeal that was his life. Yet they both new they would not have it any other way. He could not…would not…live without her. And she was tied to his soul so deeply that she could not envision ever leaving his side. "We're going to be alright, Pep. I promise." He moved to kiss her temple. "I will do everything I can."
She believed him. And she could not help but feel relieved and afraid all at the same time, but she nodded anyway. "You don't have to do it alone. I'm right here with you." Pepper turned her head enough to kiss his cheek before she buried her face in his neck. Allowing herself to feel safe, cocooned in his embrace.
"Sir." Jarvis' voice erupted through the outdoor communications system.
Tony and Pepper both sighed sadly, knowing that their hold on each other would have to be broken. "What is it, J?" Tony looked at Pepper apologetically.
"I'm detecting a spike in radiation levels at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, sir."
The couple looked at each other with knitted brows. "Damage to the plant?" He asked.
"No sir. I can't get an accurate cause at the moment, but the readings on their instruments have shot through the roof."
Pepper looked up at Tony who appeared to be processing the information. "Go suit up, Shellhead."
Tony laughed. "Good one." He kissed her one last time before he walked towards their bedroom. "Shellhead." He repeated it and grinned. "I like it. You coming?" He spun around to look at her. "I could use some help with the neoprene suit." He winked.
Pepper shook her head. "You're unbelievable." She spoke under her breath as she followed him in.
Rhodey rose from his chair and walked away to answer his phone. He knew who it was, which led to the rubbing of his temple in worry. "What's up Tony?"
"Hey! Rhodey, um, I'm on my way to Japan. Do you think you can keep an eye on Pepper?" Tony flew across the Pacific towards his destination.
"She doesn't need a babysitter, Tony. She's a big girl." Rhodey shook his head.
"I'm not saying you have to tuck her in while I'm out. Just call her and let her know if she needs anything she can call you." Tony rolled his eyes wishing Rhodey could see him.
"Alright." Rhodey laughed, picturing his friend rolling his eyes at him. "What's in Japan?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"The Fukushima nuclear power plant." Tony stated mater-of-factly.
Rhodey's eyes went wide. "What? Why are you headed to the power plant?" He tried to hide the concern in his voice.
"Jarvis alerted me of some high levels of radiation. I need to go check them out. Make sure everything's alright."
"Be careful, Tony."
"Aren't I always?" Tony joked as he increased his speed towards his destination. Rhodey shook his head and disconnected the call.
The men in lab coats walked briskly towards the unmarked van that waited for them at the gate. It's driver anxiously tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Let's go. We don't know how long it'll take him to realize it's a false alarm. We have to do this now!" Michael shouted to the others.
"Why are you so worried? We've gotten test subjects before without him noticing." Richard voiced with curiosity as he boarded the vehicle.
"He wasn't yet aware we existed. He hadn't made the move to come out to the lab himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he's got eyes on the streets right now. He's into that high tech stuff. We need two test subjects. We get them. We leave." He removed his coat and opted for a plain black sweater and a Yankees baseball cap.
His team followed along as they too removed their obvious white coats and dressed in plain sweaters.
It was an hour later when Rhodey decided he wanted to make sure Pepper was alright. He decided between driving to the mansion and suiting up in the War Machine. After some pondering, he chose to fly there to avoid traffic.
His flight was smooth and uninterrupted until he coasted above a stretch of alleyway. "Colonel, there seems to be trouble directly below you." Rhodey looked down while he asked to reduce speed. His heads up display located several individuals in the obscure and dark alley in what looked to be a scuffle.
"How many?" He asked Jarvis.
"Including the driver of the van, six, sir."
"Alright, let's check it out, Jarvis." Rhodey readied himself to land as he quickly made his way towards the situation.
The metallic thud that Rhodey's armor created when he landed echoed in the darkness. Michael, Richard, and Leonard all stopped wrestling with the men as they heard the dreaded sound.
"Shit!" Michael looked up towards Rhodey. "What the hell?" He stated in confusion. Where he thought he would see the gold and red armor of Iron Man, a very patriotic colored armor stood tall.
To be continued…
My fellow readers, we are getting ever so close to the premiere of Iron Man 3. 55 days and counting. Are you all ready? Who's doing midnight? I know I am. I have even purchased a Stark Industries t-shirt for the occasion. Been doing it for every film so far (IM, IM2, The Avengers, and now IM3). Thanks for sticking around despite my odd updating schedule. Love you all!
P.S. if you hear a story about someone who broke YouTube from watching the Iron Man 3 Trailer 2 so much...it was not me. ;-))=