"You have the location?" Tony speaks for the first time in hours, he notes that his voice comes across as hoarse.
"The giant ass tower with a large A on the side of it. Everyone in Manhattan could have that location pretty easily if you asked them too."
"Good idea." Tony watches as Jarvis begins pulling up the tips section of all the local media's web pages. "They should be there by the time your jet lands in New York." Tony had offered James a suit to fly back in, but the man had adamantly refused. Tony had then arranged for him to take his private jet. As a result, James was still somewhere over the middle of the ocean. They had decided that Tony should return to the tower until James touched down to make sure that the fake Howard remained in an easily accessible place, as well as oblivious to their partnership.
Tony lands on the outer deck of the tower. An alarm goes off, he has Jarvis power it down. As he walks into the building, he's greeted by the eager faces of his former team. His arrival seems to have taken them by surprise.
"Tony." Pepper pulls him into an unexpected hug. He allows it but doesn't return the act of affection. Wanting to keep up the appearance of normalcy, he continues past her to his bar where he pours himself a small drink. He pretends to sip off it, but doesn't really. He needs to be sober.
"Where's Howard?" His father is the only person missing from the welcoming gathering.
"He's down in one of the labs." Clint is the one to answer. "He left a few hours ago."
"Call him up." Tony instructs Jarvis while migrating to the sitting area. "I have a few things I need to talk to him about."
"Anything exciting happen in Dubai?" Natasha asks innocently. Tony notes that for some reason Legolas reacts negatively to her question.
"Just the usual." Tony muses taking a small sip of his scotch. "Girls, booz and relaxation."
"Sounds nice." Nat, Tony notes, at least sounds genuine.
Before she can dive into whatever it is she wants to talk about Tony's phone rings.
"I'm in New York." The gruff voice barks into the phone. "Do you have eyes?" At that moment the elevator doors open to reveal Howard.
"Yes." Tony mutters. As Howard comes forward, Tony hugs him. He almost immediately cusses himself out silently, as Howard's suspicions are immediately raised. "How long until you get here?" Tony asks, moving to a mostly concealed desk, he picks up some papers he's been meaning to deal with.
"Five minutes."
"Perfect. See you then." When Tony hangs up the phone six sets of curious eyes meet his.
"Who was that?" Steve asks trying to keep any real interest hidden. Tony notes that he fails miserably.
"My lawyer." Tony walks over to Pepper who is seated on the couch and hands her the papers.
"Why's he coming here?" Howard asks taking half the stack of documents from Pepper to look at.
"I've been talking to him a lot the past couple of weeks. I've got a lot of legal documents I need to attend too, and today seems like the perfect day to do it.
"You're removing me from your will?" Pepper looks at Tony a loss for words. He's almost moved by the fact that tears have gathered in her eyes.
"Only sections of it. You'll still be entitled to half my estate, should you wish to have it when I die."
"What are you removing me from then?"
"The section pertaining to you becoming the primary owner of my shares in Stark Industries. My shares will be split up amongst everyone in this room sans my father should I die."
"Why would you do that?" Clint's perplexmxent is easily understood due to how Tony had recently been acting towards them all.
"Why wouldn't I?" Tony asks innocently, casually glancing down at his watch, he silently begins summoning his suit.
"You hate us." Steve has also began reading the documents. "What makes you think I'd want to run your company?"
"That's a misprint." Tony lies, perfectly timed the elevator dings. "That's meant to say James Buchanan Barnes." With his words, James steps off the elevator, guns drawn and pointed at Howard. The Avengers immediately jump into a fighting position. Tony's suit arrives and he steps into it. He joins Bucky. They enter a face off.