Disclaimer: Maybe if I win the lotto I can go into a partnership with Marvel, but as of right now this second…NOT mine.
AN1: So here is another chapter. I have had some free time lately, so I am taking full advantage of that. I'm so excited that my mind is just pouring out on my laptop's Word Documents. I love it. I hope you guys are still following and enjoying this story because I am still having a great time writing it. Sorry for any and all mistakes. THOSE I can claim as my own. Enjoy!
AN2: Have you guys seen the teaser for Thor? Looks good, I think. Poor Thor. I feel he might be devastated before the end of the film. Also, for those of you who went to the L.A. Premiere…WHY was I NOT there, and how was it? Other than awesome of course. If you guys want to talk and share your experience, message me!
Happy drummed the beat to Baba O'Reiley on the steering wheel of the Rolls Royce. He felt a sense of liberation as he drove up Pacific Coast Highway with all the windows down. It was a perfect California day to drive along the coastline.
Oh how he wished he could drive up the highway for a while longer. But duty called.
The black vehicle pulled up to the gate just in time to notice another car waiting at the entrance. Happy looked to his left and at the driver of the car beside him. His jaw dropped when he saw the woman in the driver's seat.
Maya turned in time to catch a glimpse of the man that drove the black luxury vehicle beside her. A small awkward smile escaped her as she spotted his wide smile.
As smooth as he could, Happy unfastened his seat belt, straightened his tie, and exited the Royce. With a determined step he walked over to the driver. He cleared his throat. "Hello Ms. …" he paused and hoped for a name.
"Hansen. Maya Hansen." Maya smiled timidly.
"Such a beautiful name, Maya." Happy straightened his tie again. "You know my mother's is Maya."
That had to be one of the worst pick-up lines she had ever heard, and she made it obvious to the man that she was not impressed. "Was it?" She rolled her eyes.
Happy stood resolute as he nodded. "You don't believe me? We can call her if you'd like." He quickly reached for his Stark Phone.
"Listen Mr. …" She waited for Happy to give her his name.
"Hogan. Harold Hogan."
"Mr. Hogan, I'm here to see Tony Stark. His butler was just about to let me in, do you think you can let me in, please."
The bodyguard's face dropped a little. "Tony?" He looked at her puzzled. "Why are you here to see Tony? You've got the best half of the duo standing right here." He tried his best to flash her one of Tony's grins. An awkward display of teeth came out instead.
Maya chuckled a bit at the exchange. "I'm sorry. That was a good try." She shook her head. "Mr. Hogan, I'm an old college friend of Tony's. Director Fury sent me."
Happy sighed in resignation. "Fury. Should have known. Well, you can follow me in, Ms. Hansen." He made to walk away, but turned around smoothly "By the way, you can call me Happy."
"Happy?" She knitted her eyebrows.
"I used to be a boxer. That was my boxing name."
Maya shook her head and smiled as he walked away to drive past the gate. A little surprised at what had just occurred, and hoping for the best once she did set foot inside Tony's home.
"Honey I'm home." Happy announced loudly as he walked through the door.
"Yo Hap, we're in the kitchen." Tony yelled across the home. Pepper stuck a finger in her ear to tease him.
"Follow me." Happy waved his hand towards Maya.
Her eyes went wide at the grandiosity of the place. The high ceilings, the open space, the beautiful three hundred sixty degree view of the pacific blue, it amazed her. She walked slowly behind Happy as she looked from side to side. She smiled when she spotted the obvious touches that were all Tony. But a small sense of loss overcame her as she caught a glimpse of a table that housed a few picture frames of Tony and who she could only assume was Pepper.
Maya shook herself mentally.
"Hey Hap, I have a bone to pick with you." Tony stood as he saw his friend walk in, fully ready to give him grief over leaving his Pepper alone, while he was away. When he saw the person behind him, he stopped in his tracks.
"I found her loitering." Happy grinned. "She said she knows you." He shrugged.
Tony cleared his throat and walked towards her. "We'll talk later." He glared at his friend before he hugged Maya. "Maya. It's good to see you again."
"You, too Tony." She smiled widely up at him when they broke the embrace.
Pepper stood and walked to stand beside Tony. Rhodey followed close beside. "Oh um, Maya, this is Pepper…uh…Virginia Potts." He wasn't too sure why he was nervous, but he was. "My girlfriend." He smiled broadly at Pepper.
"You can call me Pepper. Maya is it?" Pepper extended her hand towards the woman.
The brunette nodded. "Pepper, I heard a lot of good things about you." Maya smiled awkwardly at her.
"You did?" Pepper asked curiously, wondering when and where she had heard about her. And from whom. A million thoughts circled in her head. Too many to organize them coherently, but one that stood out was how and where she knew Tony from.
A small tense moment transpired between the group.
"Maya, wow…" Rhodey broke in and crossed between Pepper, Tony, and Maya to hug his old friend. "You look great. How long has it been?"
Pepper and Tony both looked at each other. She searched his face for answers while he dodged her silent questions. The time would come, but he wasn't sure he wanted to do it all right then and there. He had never known Pepper to be the jealous type, but he didn't want to risk it. He feared she would lunge at Maya if she knew whatever history she had with him, however brief. But deep down, Tony knew that Pepper was a different breed of woman. One that always thought rationally and carefully chose her actions based on such thoughts. That allowed him to breathe a little easier as he took her hand in his.
"Jim." She smiled warmly at him. "It's been a long while. You look good, too. In shape, for once."
"Ouch." Rhodey grabbed at his heart.
"Let's sit?" Pepper asked the group and looked up at Tony.
Tony nodded. "Yeah, yeah, this could take a while. Especially knowing Platypus here. He always was the most nostalgic of the three."
Rhodey rolled his eyes at Tony. "Funny."
Pepper and Tony led them into the living room. They each sat on a chair, except for Tony and Pepper who sat on the long leather couch.
Happy shook his head and smiled. "Alright boss, I'll be in the office if you need me."
"Thanks, Hap."
"Thank you, Happy."
Tony and Pepper spoke in unison, which caused the group to laugh.
"I was referring to Pepper, Tony." Happy turned around to walk away.
"You're fired." He teased.
"You can't fire me." Happy shouted as he left the room. "You're not my boss."
They all shared another laugh while Maya looked at Happy with a curious expression on her face. "He's an odd character." She voiced out loud.
Pepper chuckled. "That he is. I take it he introduced himself?"
"Oh yeah." Maya nodded. "Made sure I knew who he was. Strangely enough I thought he was funny."
"Oh he's a hoot." Tony shook his head while Rhodey nodded.
Pepper crossed her legs while she looked at the men and Maya. She felt the uneasy air that surrounded them, and she chose to break the ice. "So Maya, I get the feeling that you've known these two for a while."
Inside Tony was nervous about the situation, but outside he was cool and collected, finally.
Maya smiled widely at Pepper and nodded. "I went to MIT with them. Spent the longest years of my life there."
Things started to click in Pepper's head. The old friend from MIT that had lunch with Tony had to have been her. "It must have been hell. They're bad now; I can only imagine the younger versions of them." Tony nudged her with his shoulder at her jab.
The woman smiled when she saw the exchange. "No, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure I gave them as much of a hard time as they did to me." She laced her fingers together and set them on her lap. "I can hold my own against these two."
Pepper smiled. "I'm glad." She paused. "It's a real gift putting up with them."
Maya turned to look at Rhodey. "Rhodey wasn't too bad. Unless Tony conned him into doing something. Then he was just as bad riding along with his partner in crime. Tony was the mastermind of all things trouble."
The redhead nodded her head in understanding. "Oh yeah. That hasn't changed much."
"Will you stop talking about me like I'm not here." Tony pouted.
Maya laughed. "Yeah. I give you credit for putting up with his ass." Her comment made them laugh, but Pepper was surprised at how open she was.
"Thank you." Pepper smiled. "He's not too bad, most of the time." She turned to look at Tony and caught him winking at her.
"It must be a task, though. I put up with him for a few years and I was ready to pound him into the ground most days. How long have you guys been together?" She asked the pair.
Tony smiled. "That's a tough one to answer." Pepper nodded in concurrence. "Twelve years? Two years?" Pepper nodded again.
"Uh…" Maya chuckled. "You might have to explain that one to me."
Pepper adjusted her position on the couch before she recounted her and Tony's life to the woman across from her. "I worked for him for ten years before we became a couple."
"When you say it like that it makes me look like a failure." Tony scratched his head. "I tried every step of the way to make you say yes."
"What?" Pepper asked incredulously. "You did not." She laughed as she looked at him. Maya smiled at them. They truly amused her.
"Yes I did. I attempted to woo you. But you rejected my flirting. You rejected my comments. You even rejected me when I told you I needed you."
Pepper shook her head, not quite believing the words that were coming out of Tony's mouth. "Seriously?" She chuckled before she proceeded to make her case. "You called that wooing? I saw you make your way through a line-up of Maxim cover models. I wouldn't exactly call that wooing. Or flirting…perhaps you mean flirting with them. And in my defense, when you told me you needed me, I didn't know you were dying and were expressing your actual need for me to support you. I was tired of hearing you ramble so I blew it off as another one of your egotistical rants." She rolled her eyes playfully.
"Whoa. You were dying?" Maya asked with wide eyes.
Tony broke his smiling gaze from Pepper to look at Maya. "Uh yeah. Long story. Different topic for another day." He swatted her question with his hand. "Thanks, Pepper." He teased her.
"I just thought I should correct you." She shrugged. "Too many hits to the head have left you delusional." She turned to look at Maya. "Anyway, we've known each other for twelve years. We've been together for about two out of those twelve."
Rhodey laughed. "Man. You really are brave. Has it been twelve years already? I don't know how you do it."
"Can it, Platypus." Tony sneered at him.
A collective sigh broke out from the group as they recovered from the moment. "So Maya, did you guys ever date?" Pepper felt the need to know. Not really to give them a hard time, but to know a side of Tony she had yet to really explore. His past was something he rarely talked about. Even to her.
Tony quickly looked at Pepper. He smiled nervously. "Uh…" He laughed. "Kind of?" He looked to Maya for clarification.
Maya shook her head. "Never dated." She eyed Tony. "Not because I didn't want to, mind you." She shook her head. "Tony was as bad then as he was before you managed to set him on the right path." She said only what she had to. Intentionally leaving out the fact that Tony had unknowingly broken her heart so many years ago.
Pepper smiled with her brows high and her eyes wide. "I see." She looked at Tony and shook her head at him.
"What?" He shrugged. "I was young." His friends' eyes rested on him as he began to feel uneasy again. "I apologize for my manliness and natural magnetism." They all shook their heads at him. "Ok…moving on."
"We'll have to get together some time, Maya." Pepper stated with finality. She would let it be for the moment, but she felt there was more to the story than was given, and she wanted to find out.
"So are you currently seeing anyone?" Rhodey changed the subject as he turned to Maya.
Maya smiled sadly. "No. I was in a long-term relationship back in Georgia, but it didn't work out. We split right before I came out here."
Rhodey reached out and took her hand in his. "Sorry, Maya. We don't have to discuss that."
It surprised her how tender Rhodey was with her. Unconsciously she squeezed his hand. "No. It's alright." She nodded. "I'll be ok. I've survived it before." She smiled softly at the group as they all nodded sympathetically. "Anyway, let's get down to business." She clasped her hands on her knees.
The room suddenly went still as they gathered their thoughts. It wasn't until Pepper got up that each of them looked up from their feet. "Would you guys like a drink?"
Tony nodded. "Yup. Good idea."
After he took everyone's requests and made them their drinks, which mostly consisted of coffee and protein shakes, they sat to discuss the topic at hand.
"Well," Maya began. "I think it's safe to tell you guys that I am working temporarily for SHIELD. They've recruited me out of my offices in Georgia to work with Gene Kahn himself."
Rhodey and Tony nodded, having guessed as much. Pepper however, sat still and took a drink of her green protein shake. She calmly looked up at them. "Is that safe?" She was genuinely concerned for the woman. How could she not be after she saw how Rhodey and Tony reacted when they thought she was in danger.
A surprised Maya appreciated the concern that came from Pepper. "Probably not, but I believe it has to be done so we can find out what his plans are and how close he is to accomplishing what he wants. Maybe this way we can keep him from that."
"It'll be fine." Tony spoke over his own green protein shake. "We'll be watching out for you. Rhodey and I." Pepper and Maya nodded at him.
"So tell me what you know so far and what this guy's been up to." Maya leaned back on the couch.
For a long while Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper proceeded to inform Maya of the happenings related with The Mandarin. She laughed at his given name, and suggested it didn't sound too intimidating. She sat and listened intently to what they all had to say. The information came at her in a jumbled mess which she was carefully able to piece together as she absorbed it. Occasional nods were shared amongst them.
Tony recounted the events that led him to meeting Kahn at his lab and the play at him with the nuclear lab. At first, the air hung heavy with seriousness. But the inevitable charm Tony possessed was unleashed halfway through the stories when he got comfortable with the situation. He stopped periodically to say something absurd or flash them one of his many facial expressions. They all laughed with him, thankful for his ability to lighten the mood despite the circumstances.
He was just about finished with his story about how he flew as fast as he could back to Malibu to make sure Pepper was safe when suddenly he paused, "By the way, why did you take so long to get to her Sour Patch? I had told you…" Tony pointed a chastising finger at his friend.
"Wait…" Rhodey interrupted whatever lecture Tony had for him. "I told you I was busy. I was sidetracked. I left SHIELD headquarters, I was on my way to the mansion when Jarvis mentioned we had trouble." He rolled his eyes. "It's not like I intentionally stopped at a frat party, man."
Pepper smiled at him. "So what was it?"
"It was all very weird. At first I thought it was just a fight in an alley. It was a few guys just wrestling each other. But when I landed I saw a very organized mob of men in hoodies, with a large van, trying to nab two men."
The group all wrinkled their foreheads.
"A few men against two men?" Pepper tried to make sense of the story.
"Yeah. And the part that bothered me the most was that the two men were homeless. They could barely stand on their own two feet, let alone fight off a mob of healthy men."
Tony scrunched his face. Thoughts formulated in his head. "Wait…" he snapped his fingers.
"What is it?" Pepper turned to look at him.
"The men were homeless?" Rhodey nodded. "And the mob of men were not just fighting with them…they wanted to…kidnap them?" Rhodey nodded again. Pepper and Maya both looked hard at Tony as they sensed pieces were slowly falling together for him. "Son of a bitch." Tony shook his head.
"What are you thinking?" Maya urged him to share.
Tony didn't talk to them. Instead he nodded and pounded his fist in his palm while he thought. "Jarvis, pull up that NTHT0503 file from my private server. Display it on the flat screen please." Everyone sat and stared at him, anxious to learn what he had discovered.
A file folder displayed on the panel, which he walked over to and touched to open. Various documents and files spilled onto it.
"Whoa." Rhodey whistled.
"This…" Tony touched a video file. "Is a little gruesome, but pay attention to it."
The video he had watched several times before played before them. Test subject after test subject on metal tables, day after day, disastrous results. It all showed on the screen. Pepper gasped as she witnessed the horrific frames come together.
"Man." Rhodey cringed at the sight.
"Look at the test subjects." Tony pointed, "They all look disheveled and malnourished, similar to someone who's…"
"Homeless." Pepper finished his sentence. Tony turned to them and nodded to her.
"Damn it." Rhodey shook his head in anger. "Someone is kidnapping homeless people to use them as lab rats!" He sighed heavily. Voices could be heard on the video as Tony forgot about it and it continued to play. Quickly, Rhodey looked up. His eyes squinted to try and see a face, but he had no luck. The voices he heard were behind the camera.
"What's up?" Tony looked at Rhodey. "What's wrong?"
Rhodey put a finger in the air to silence him. He stood up and walked towards the screen. "Jarvis, can you amplify the voices in the background? Fade the white noise out, please."
"Yes, Colonel."
Maya turned to look at Pepper from where she sat. A shrug came from Pepper as she let her know she was as lost as she was.
As Jarvis carried out the command, the voices became more recognizable and understandable. "Tony…" Rhodey and Tony faced each other simultaneously.
"Yeah?"
Rhodey smiled victoriously at him. "I recognize those voices."
"From?" Maya jumped in.
"The alley. It's the men from the alley."
Michael and his colleagues sat around the room with their heads hanging low. Each one had a file of papers neatly in front of them. Their noses buried deep in the numbers and data from past experiments.
Leonard sat at a computer as he played with formulas and variables on a spreadsheet.
No words were spoken. The air was thick with tension and disappointment. A hint of fear radiated off every man in the room. Michael especially.
His body deflated and hunched as he read and re-read information and notes. He shook his head to himself as he thought about the recent events. Failure was something that loomed above him often in the recent weeks, and it angered him to the core.
"Michael!" Kahn slammed open the door to the lab and the men jumped in their seats. The panic in their faces became suddenly very evident.
Michael sighed and stood to show his respect for his leader. "Kahn. I apologize for…"
With a slam of his fists on the nearest table he could find, he quieted the room. "I do not care for your apologies!" His eyes brimmed with rage as he leaned forward. "You failed. You have failed me!" Gene straightened himself quickly to recollect his cool. The anger was no longer noticeable in his voice, a creepy quiet eeriness was there instead. "You promised me, Michael. You promised you wouldn't fail me again." His eyes roamed the room.
The rest of the men looked down at anything but his intense stare.
"Kahn, I know. And I wouldn't have failed you this time if we had not run into some trouble." Michael ran the palm of his hand over his face to calm his nerves.
"What trouble are you speaking of?"
"Another suit." Michael cleared his throat. "There's another suit. Just like Iron Man's."
Kahn studied his employee's face. "You told me you had a plan to distract Iron Man." He walked slowly towards him.
The man took a step back, but never broke his gaze. "Y-Yes. I did. We did. He was in Japan. It was not Iron Man. This was someone else."
"Someone else?" Kahn's question dripped with mockery.
Michael nodded. "Another person. Wearing a different suit. A very…patriotic one. An American flag and everything."
"There's more than one suit?" Kahn turned to pace. His back to the men. "Iron Man has a friend." He whispered to himself. "He's been holding out on me." He turned swiftly to look at Michael. "And where did you see this new Iron Man?"
Michael shrugged as he tried to remember their location. "It was in an alley." Kahn flashed him a warning look. "But I can find out for you."
"See that you do." He paused with a nod. "Oh and Michael, get me everything you can on Tony Stark. I want to know where he lives, where he eats, where he likes to swim, who he drinks with…even where he likes to buy his clothes. Give me everything you know about him. After you do that, I want you to get me that second Iron Man suit." Michael's eyes widened. "If that's too difficult of a task for you, I can and will replace you." Gene made a point to clasp his hands behind his back as he turned to walk out of the room. The men held their breaths when he stopped in his tracks. "Oh, I thought I should inform you all that we have a new scientist coming in. I expect you to be professional and respectful. She's taking first chair on this case."
He saw no reaction as he walked out and left the men to themselves.
Their eyes ran wild as they stared at each other. Michael huffed before he took a firm grasp of the clipboard beside him and launched it across the room. "Damn it!"
"What the hell just happened?" Leonard gritted through his teeth. "A woman? First chair?"
John, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke under his breath. "You're a smart man, Leonard. But speaking like that makes you sound like an idiot. If Kahn believes she's worthy of being first chair, then she's worthy of leading us." He shook his head at his partner and friend.
Michael slammed his palms on the table. "Shut up, John! I am leading you. I will do everything in my power to make sure Kahn sees that I am the only one worthy of leading this experiment. Everything."
Tony grinned at Rhodey as he clapped the man on the shoulder. "Alright, Platypus! We have something to go off of. I want to find out who these men are. Where they work, if not at Truezdail, then where? I want names and faces. I need addresses, just in case we need to pay them a personal visit. And I need to know what Kahn wants to get out of this. It has to be more than just a serum."
Rhodey nodded. "I think we have our key to getting all of that in this room."
They all looked at Maya, who shrugged and smiled. "When do I start?"
Pepper sat and observed the trio. A small twinge of jealousy ran through her as she saw the exchange between the three of them. There was no way that Tony would let her help him, especially not by being so close to the man that was trying to bring him down.
Tony walked over to sit next to Pepper on the arm of the couch. "When were you requested to start? We need to keep this as close to the original plan as possible."
Maya stood. "Kahn expects me in sometime this week. I can start as soon as I want."
"We should get some solid surveillance. Some wires taps. Before you start." Rhodey crossed his arms.
"No." Tony shook his head as he looked at the floor. "No. Report in as planned. Go in clean. Get me everything you can on what they already have. Location of indoor cameras. Angles. Security screenings. Clearance codes. The works. After we have that, I'll get a program going with Jarvis to access the feeds remotely. Once we're sure you won't be searched, we'll wire you. My way." He grinned at her.
"What's your way?" She looked at him worriedly.
"The right way." He stated arrogantly.
Maya chuckled while Rhodey looked at them and nodded. "This will work."
"It has to." Tony nodded before he looked down at Pepper. From here on out, he would stop at nothing to protect his reason for living.
To be continued…
Ok, so first off, let me know what you expect out of the whole Maya and Pepper thing. Hehehe. I'm curious. I already have my opinion. I just want to see what you guys feel should and would happen in this world between them. Second of all, you lucky ones that have already seen the film, I want to envy you so bad right now. I'm dying. Six days, fourteen hours , and some minutes for me still. UGH. I'm ready though. I have my posse, my t-shirt, and my Robert Downey Jr-ish high tops. Special thanks to StarksViolet and NCISVILLE for keeping me sane with our chats and fangirl moments. Hehe. THANKS! Expect more from me in the next few days, guys. Sorry for the ramble. Shipperony-OUT.