ARC II
- 01 -
Discovery
Truth is like the sun.
You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.
-Elvis Presley
He hated press conferences. Loathed them, despised them, he thought them a waste of his valuable and precious time. Luckily before Pepper even got in to check up on his status; he had JARVIS run a few scans. Not only on his gold-titanium suit regarding the damage it had sustained but also to assist him draft up a few other mock ups for other suits. The AI was also searching out information regarding Dursley and any links that name had to Stane.
As he stood in front of Pepper for last minute preening; he stared into her cornflower blue eyes and asked her if she ever thought about that night. The night he realized he had less than professional feelings of his right hand woman. The night he truly realized he fell in love with her.
"Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself?" her kind smile, sweet words and that poisoned dart of guilt. "Is that the night you're talking about?"
He grunted in agreement. Damn, the woman was perfect. Perfect at making him realize he had no social graces. And that she remembered every slight.
"Thought so," She casually stated as she swiped down the front lapel of his suit jacket; fixing the handkerchief detail on the front pocket. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"
"Yes, that will be all, Miss Potts." He replied. The guilt was too much and he had to quickly get out of her presence in order to regain some sort of dignity.
His mind on many things outside of telling people that what happened was part of a test. Really his alibi was a yacht in Avalon with fifty other people? It didn't sit well with him and seeing the blonde reporter he had the unfortunate affair of sleeping with. His hate for press conferences grew. It was not that he didn't mind the attention; he loved it. However, he just wanted a break from the mass scrutiny. It was strange feeling this way. Ton never truly felt this way before. Then again, he also wanted the world to know.
"I am Iron Man."
The ball was dropped and he didn't really mind. He had other things to do. Pepper blew her gasket, as did Rhodey and well Agent was nowhere to be found. The day ended with a bout of cursing, napping because he was still injured as all hell before he changed back into more comfortable jeans and decent long sleeve shirt.
"I'll see you later Pepper," he grinned. "I trust you have my back."
He didn't see the strawberry blond sigh in slight indignation that was also mixed in with clear affection. He knew the woman loved him. Well, he didn't know because she hadn't confirmed but the signs were there. Not that he took much stock in signs and again, she had that ability to make him feel guilty. Ah well, that was for a future date of thinking. He would take her out or maybe they'd stay in over wine and witty banter before other shenanigans. He loved those curves.
Right where was he?
"JARVIS." He called out as it was eerily dark in his mansion as he came inside.
"Welcome home sir." The AI greeted.
In the darkness, he could see a silhouette of a man overlooking the bay area of the now renovated area. He had gotten a crew to fix the damages he had inflicted on his property. They were good; they had started yesterday and were already finished. He could still smell the paint.
"I am Iron Man." The figure stated; the sneer in his voice clear. "Think you are the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD. I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative." The dark, bald headed man with a pirate patch gave him pause.
The subsequent evening discussing the idea of bringing together a group of remarkable people to fight the battles the rest of the world could not was interesting. Not productive and sure as hell something to research about. Not that he wasn't above hacking or finding out more about SHIELD than SHIELD itself. He was Tony Stark after all.
When Fury left; mysteriously through the front door he immediately got to work by going to his lab.
"JARVIS, open RUN AMOK."
"Sir," The AI affirmed. "And your orders?"
"Run it through SHIELD's database and pull me any info they have about the Avengers Initiative. Check also their status and links to any terrorist groups." Tony replied even as he pulled up other files on his system related to the suit.
He would need to upgrade his tech soon if he wanted better equipment to handle some of the things he wanted to do to improve the suit and his other projects. Not that he had any other projects at the time being. However, arc energy would be a start. After all; a source of energy that could light up entire cities cleanly without the use of too many fossil fuels would be a boon. Plus lower his expenses a little. Not that he cared about spending too much money; he liked the thought of spending wisely.
He almost forgot the name he wanted to research after the run-in with Stane. Until about two weeks later when he found himself looking at the face of a puce, red faced man with a handlebar moustache going into a police vehicle with the name "Dursley" flashing down at the bottom.
"In the greatest scandal ever to hit South England, Vernon Dursley, the former Account Manager for Grunnings Drills has been convicted of the murder of his wife, Petunia Dursley."
"JARVIS, what the hell am I watching?" the billionaire asked mid sip of his coffee. Tony's eyes were red without rest, his reactor heavy in his chest as he looked at the screen.
"BBC Global News sir," JARVIS replied. "This particular channel circles through various breaking news events as they happen."
Tony grunted a moment before requesting the AI turn up the volume of the television.
"Dursley was arrested in late August 2007 after returning from a vacation to Majorca by law officials' weeks after the body of his wife was found in their home July 13, 2007. Dursley pleaded not guilty to the crime and was arrested after witnesses placed him to be home at the time of death."
"Hey JARVIS, pull up the files I asked you about on Dursley."
What he found made him even more livid.
Money had been sent to an address in the UK from a ghost account linked to Stane back in late June 2007. An account he immediately began tracking to assist him to find any more of Stane's ties to the Ten Rings. The legal team was not formally informed although they seemed to deflect any involvement Stark Industries had with the Dursley situation. Additionally, no other receipts were electronically processed related to the money laundered to the Dursley account. Using JARVIS, he requested the AI to pull up information regarding the other members involved in the case. Images of Petunia Dursley came up along with live video footage of three children rushed into various buildings with coats covering their heads. He was able to hack into some of the school records he was able to find and saw images of the children taken for their local primary. Dudley Dursley was an exact carbon copy of his father. His cousins were decidedly different from their relatives. It was after seeing the school image of the nephew, ice ran through his veins.
Here he paused. Tony's anger grew towards both at Stane and the woman who apparently birthed a son that was apparently truly his. He had to shake his head a little as an image of a woman with scarlet hair came to mind; a faded imperfect image. One he filed mentally away as he pored over the items JARVIS was able to find. Apparently there was an obscure DNA test that had been conducted by his former partner. The results proved he shared the same genetics with the boy whose picture was an almost eerie replica to Tony at that age. The exception was the beautiful green eyes that the genius could only attribute to the boy's mother. Again another flash of scarlet came to mind. He groaned.
"JARVIS," he said, his anger building quietly behind his calm veneer. "Get Pepper to prep my jet and some accommodations in the UK; I have children to find. Also get me the files of everyone on our legal team, especially anyone with experience dealing with children."
"Immediately," the AI stated. Tony continued scrolling on various news articles regarding Dursley. His face set stonily against the data before him.
Little Whinging Man jailed for killing his wife and burning his home while two children were still inside
LOUISA LYONS, Greater Whinging Gazette
Published: 10:36 November 16, 2008
The tragedy that is the Dursley case has rocked all of Greater and Little Whinging to the core. An upstanding young businessman, Vernon Dursley had been on the rising track as an Account Manager for the prestigious Grunnings Drills, a manufacturer of well-made oil and well drills. As of yesterday, the portly young man has been jailed for at least 25 years for murdering his wife as well as attempted murder of his nephew and niece.
"Her family was completely freaky and was a stain to the reputation of mine! Their only saving grace was being tied to Stark Industries to which the man denied any connections to the brat." He had exclaimed when retelling the moments before his wife's death in cool, calculated detail.
Dursley (27) was the last person to see his wife alive between 19:07 to 23:07 on July 13, 2007. Their home at 4 Privet Drive was subject to an almost devastating fire which was taken care of by firefighters around midnight of July 14, 2007. This was on the heels of another disagreement the couple had over their niece (7) and nephew (8). Petunia Dursley, 29, had just finished seeing the couple's son (8) to a neighbour when her husband returned after work. When she had arrived home, it was inferred by the prosecuting team that Dursley had found their nephew and niece in the smallest bedroom of the house prying a floorboard open. Enraged by this act, he took his belt and whipped his nephew for being the instigator while locking his niece in the cupboard under the stairs.
His wife valiantly got his attention; struggling to fight him off. Their nephew managed to join his sister in the same cupboard with his sister, waiting for the shouting and yelling of his relatives to end. When it did end they couldn't open the door. The siblings remained in the cupboard unaware their aunt's body was keeping it shut. Dursley admitted to strangling his wife with his belt before setting their lounge fireplace ablaze minutes before he left at roughly 23:00. He admitted in his hearing that he purposefully left the fire unattended due to forgetfulness.
Dursley, who had been let go from his position at Grunnings in the winter of 2007 due to unethical relations with another male employee (name withheld), had a history of being violent towards partners. Prior to meeting Petunia he had a few relationships with women his family had matched him to. One said he had bashed her head into the headboard during intercourse while another said Dursley would convince her male cousin to join them in a series of perverse interactions. All were in agreement that Dursley had a difficult, short-temper that was highly feared by those in contact with him for long.
The month before the murder, his wife had managed to secure a portion of their nephew and niece's inheritance at over 2.3 million pounds to assist with the raising of the young children in their care. Dursley, jealous over this even made the statement: "that money belongs to us, not them". Prosecutors used this sudden influx as part of Dursley's undeniable motive.
Judge Eduoardo Spaienti stated in sentencing Dursley: "This has been the most difficult case I have had the displeasure to preside over. It is also very clear that you had every intention to kill your wife and harm the lives of two minors in your care."
Dursley's solicitor, Andrei Dreher, said: "The defendant recognises the terrible pain and suffering he has inflicted upon his family and is now very remorseful."
His son is now in the care of his aunt while his nephew and niece are with foster parents. Detective Superintendent Donald O'Brien who led the investigation states: "My heart goes out to his son, nephew and niece. Little children shouldn't have to deal with that sort of behaviour nor should they be expected to. Everyone lost in this case, most of all those three."
"Run by me why you are going to Europe again?" Pepper asked Tony with a tight expression on her face.
Tony grinned back through the video call interface at his executive administrative assistant and hopefully future significant other. "I'm doing some research regarding clean energy and other things. Call it field work."
"You never do field work. You leave that to your hired guns." She replied.
"Well I do it now." Tony retorted. "As a business mogul, philanthropist and genius with billions of dollars, getting messy shouldn't be a problem. I mean look at what happened two weeks ago. How's that coming by the way?"
Pepper glared at him in her kind way; the way that made him recall her wicked sharp way of stabbing him with emotional guilt or blackmail.
"You know I think that colour looks really good on you Pep and you should treat yourself out on my behalf because I am sadly an incredibly selfish and totally ignorant human being in the presence of your greatness."
"Tony Stark," Pepper stated warningly. He gulped. "How long can we expect you to be away?"
"Possibly three days," he said, internally relieved that he finally got her to concede the point. Then again he was in a vehicle already on the way . "I'll try to keep this brief. Thought I needed something different from what's going on around here. I trust you Pep, you've got this. Look, about to board, I'll message you when I get in."
With a quick cancel and thank you to Happy who was looking at him with an arched brow. "Do you need me to go with boss?"
"No, I think I can manage. Take care of Pep for me." Tony quickly shut the door, took his suitcase up the stairs leading to his jet with a nod. Once seated in his customary spot, he pulled out the upgraded version of a netbook and hooked JARVIS into his system. He looked at the image of the little boy and little girl now on his screen with a thoughtful look.
"JARVIS, contact Reginald Whyte and Frank Brown. We're going to figure out why they took so long to get a hold of my son."
"Right away sir." the AI replied; a few more seconds. "Mr. Whyte is willing to speak sir."
"Good, Mr. Reginald Whyte, quite an interesting arm you have there."
"What? Who is this?"
"Tony Stark and I must say," here the billionaire paused as he tapped his fingers on the table. "Istanbul was an interesting destination to have been in for the past several years. It took you a while to get to my son. And what exactly is MACUSA?"
Let's just say, "Mr. Whyte" was not prepared for such a 3AM call.
Author's Note: We are now getting into ARC II of this tale. Plot devices laid out in the first 10 chapters will hopefully be answered in parts, darling munchkins will steal hearts and running amok aplenty abounds. In response to reviews:
Guest - thank you for your honest review. This fic does need a ton of work! I need a beta-reader, any suggestions?
PappyOldGuy – Thank you as usual kind sir. I'm thinking in terms of epic road trip with this fic.
Balagor – I love the name for one. Two, yes it just ended up Alt. I was fairly resistant to it at first because I love following canon. However, some characters just told me to buckle down and just write. Hopefully, this will help relate back to the first prologue. Cheers!
Almonda – Thank you, I hope this chapter appeases.
As usual, many thanks for the follows and favourites! If you need help with the timelines…I am using a mix of resources. Inspiration has been coming from the HP books, the Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, Pottermore, HP Lexicon's timeline, the MCU movies out up to Doctor Strange (which I have yet to see but might incorporate at some point), Wikia's MCU timeline, the tiki-toki timeline of Phase 1 leading into Phase 2 has been priceless as well as watching some portions from Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter and other bits and bobs of other fandoms. Not saying much but Harry's great grandfather on Lily's side is a name to look out for. That said, many regards and please kindly leave feedback as it does keep me on my toes!