It was somewhat awkward, having to deal with the looks Rhodey kept giving her when he realized she had a far better grasp on how bad the situation Tony was in than Pepper did herself.
Jazz was under no illusions. Any chance of developing rose-tinted glasses about how the world worked had been taken from her long before she ever had a chance to be a child.
She knew Tony would be tortured and quite likely forced to build weapons like the Jericho missile so it could be used against American forces, or he would be killed. Since no ransom demands had been made, it was the only scenario that made the most sense about why they couldn't find his body with the rest.
Pepper was a civilian, but she had also grown up with a relatively normal childhood. She took it badly finding out what was being done to her boss...especially with how calm Jazz was about the whole thing.
Then again Jazz knew that as long as Tony could pretend he was complying with their demands, he would be alive and therefor rescue was an option.
She had endured a curse that literally fried nerve endings all at once and would drive people catatonic, and she had come out more or less intact. Tony would need help from someone who knew better than most what being tortured was like, not some overpaid therapist.
He wouldn't be the same man he was before, but perhaps once they got him back he would learn to grow up a little bit.
Rhodey stuck around, rather than leave as he normally did.
Jazz didn't need to know why. Her reaction to the news Tony was in the hands of terrorists and what they would likely do to him did not fit the profile of a civilian, no matter how one looked at it.
"You know I'm British, right?"
"I know you spent a lot of time there."
Jazz looked at him flatly, before stating in a blunt voice, "Cut the crap. We both know that I'm from the English enclaves. Did you really think that the nonsense going on over there only started when the old bastard finally died? That hypocrite they have as a dark lord was active long before the 'government' finally had the balls to acknowledge it, and he had a particular interest in me."
Rhodey dropped all pretenses of being ignorant to what, or more specifically who Jazz was.
"You're Jasmine Black," he stated.
"There's a reason I went by Jazz Evans. Knowing them they have a taboo on the name to try and track me down because of some stupid prophecy that anyone with wit could tell was a self-fulfilling one."
Rhodey did not look happy, but there was little he could do about it. Jazz had entered the country legally and she was a US citizen the second it was confirmed Tony was her biological father. She might not have been born in the States, but she did hold a valid dual citizenship. Three, if one were to count the fact her mother was half Irish and hadn't renounced her roots to the country.
What pissed Rhodey off was the fact that he suspected, but didn't dare confirm, that the former "leader of the light" had been deliberately raising Jazz as a child soldier.
Her reaction to the idea of someone close to her being torture was telling enough about her upbringing. She had known from far too young an age that she would be forced into a war, whether she liked it or not, because the adults refused to do anything about it and were relying on her to save their skins again.
It was little wonder she had left the first chance she got.
Rhodey was silent, before he quietly asked... "If we can get him back... can you help him?"
"Who better to help heal a victim of torture from extremists than someone who's had to live under that sort of fear their entire life?" she replied tiredly. "If nothing else this might be able to help my own unresolved PTSD. Though I will say this... I am going to expose who set Tony up to be captured."
"You know who did it."
"I don't have proof, not yet. I have to wait a bit before I can get any and the man is cunning enough to hide his tracks beforehand after the show I put on with the board."
Jazz was completely and utterly disgusted with Stane. Not even a full two weeks had passed and he was attempting to take over Stark Industries as the senior member of the board. After the complete and utter fiasco that happened when she got rid of the most corrupt members, they really needed to avoid taking another major hit.
Which was why she felt nothing but sweet, vindictive satisfaction when the lawyers came to discuss options since Tony was officially MIA, and presumed captured.
And Tony had called her 'over paranoid' when she insisted they cover all contingencies, such as when he was unavailable and presumed missing. The lawyers had loved her for it, because it meant they had a clear cut protocol they could follow instead of scrambling after the fact to cover their asses legally.
She might have been sorted into the house of the noble and brave, but at her core she was pure Slytherin and she had learned long ago to cover her bases before it came back to bite her in the ass.
Which was why she waited for someone to call her in before hiding a smug look at the furious expression Stane had on his face.
She knew keeping the fact Tony had a daughter from him would be well worth it, if only for that expression.
"I demand a paternity test!" said Stane furious. He definitely hadn't expected this to happen.
"You are free to test against Mr. Stark's own DNA, but I assure you he had them done himself with three very well respected and qualified companies. Ms. Evans is indeed Anthony Stark's biological daughter and more than capable of taking over in his absence until his condition is confirmed," said the lawyer coolly. "The appropriate agencies have also been alerted to her status and she was granted a full US citizenship once it was confirmed."
Along with full diplomatic immunity, since the MACUSA was all too happy to snub the English fools and the normal government had agreed to it once they had the full measure of Jazz's character. She wouldn't abuse it like some teenagers would, and had a very down-to-earth personality.
Besides, giving her that much was a very friendly incentive for her to keep developing new toys to keep soldiers alive, even if she wasn't inclined to make weapons like Tony did.
Stane still went through with it anyway, trying to discredit Jazz's claim on Stark Industries. She could literally see him seething when he found out that she had full control over the company and there was no way he could claim it himself.
Then again, perhaps it had been slightly overkill to reveal she already had a sizeable stake in the company with her own money, and that the shares she inherited with Tony out of commission only gave her a controlling interest. None of the other shareholders or board members had enough clout to deal with her unless they could prove she was doing something illegal, and even then she had enough money to buy her way out with the same top notch lawyer team that kept Tony out of trouble.
Jazz was rather pleased she had finally figured out how to recreate the counter device to the paralysis frequency that she knew Stane had.
She also made very sure that when, not if, Stane tried something because he thought he could use her young age to an advantage that she had back up.
Rhodey had been suitably impressed with the invisibility cloak, and beyond pissed when she proved Stane had been behind Tony's kidnapping in the first place.
Once they proved Stane was colluding with terrorists, particularly the ones that had Tony captive, they could raid his files and hopefully get a trace on where Tony was to rescue him.
Besides, Jazz did not tolerate traitors. She would never forgive Peter for what he had done to her parents and Sirius.
Two weeks later...
Jazz hated press conferences, but this one was for a good purpose. It had taken a bit of doing, mostly to prove she was in fact just as competent, if not more so than Tony was at running a billion dollar company.
Pepper was right by her side, taking the same role she always had. She knew that Jazz would stop at nothing to retrieve Tony if they had even a clue where he was.
"Good afternoon everyone. I'm sure by this point you've heard the rumors of the fact that Stark Industries has fallen under new management. I am here to put these rumors to rest. My name is Jazz Evans, and I am the current owner of Stark Industries," said Jazz with the best poker face she could manage. "Yes, miss...?"
"Sarah Daniels, Wall Street Journal. May I ask why Stark Industries has put a teenager in charge of a billion-dollar company?"
"The simple answer is that Tony Stark's rather loose...habits... have finally come back to roost. I may use my mother's maiden name, but I am the biological daughter of the currently missing Anthony Stark. I'm not ready at this time to take up the Stark name in full just yet, at least until my father's status has been settled once and for all."
That set the niffler in the vaults.
"You claim to be Tony Stark's daughter?" said another journalist, eager for a scoop.
"It was quite a shock for Tony when he found out. I have the test results from three different agencies available for anyone interested. For security reasons, we agreed to keep my status as his daughter quiet, since I wasn't the one to alert Tony to the fact I was his daughter when I was hired as Pepper's 'stand-in'."
"What security reasons?" asked another reporter.
Jazz gave them all a flat look.
"People claim to be related to the rich and famous all the time out of greed or for personal power. Cleaning up after Tony was a headache enough without having to deal with being cast under such a suspicious light."
When she put it like that, it was fairly obvious why she kept her silence.
"What are your plans for Stark Industries?" asked the first reporter.
"Effectively immediately I am downsizing the weapons division of Stark Industries, and putting more emphasis on defensive applications such as body armor, better plating for available vehicles and the Anti-IED devices that have proven so effective at keeping good soldiers alive in the field. I have it on good authority that the convoy that held my father was hit with one of our own missiles, and I refuse to let any more good soldiers die from weapons that should be on their side," she replied flatly.
The uproar at that was particularly loud.
Jazz merely held up a hand, and a small smile came across her face, silencing the noise.
"For too long Stark Industries has held a legacy of death. While we will still be supplying the agreed upon weapons that the government and other legitimate agencies have ordered, we will no longer solely focus on creating new weapons of killing. What we need is better training, not new toys that soldiers have to waste valuable time learning how to use and can easily backfire on them if they input the wrong command. Armor can't be used against good men and women putting their lives on the line, and can even be used locally to help law enforcement keep the peace without risking their own lives."
She could tell she had their respect now. Unlike Tony she displayed a calm, professional attitude. It didn't hurt that people had seen her before with Pepper, displaying a maturity level Tony simply lacked.
Besides, not even the anti-war groups would bitch about them developing better armor for soldiers rather than weapons. Especially if Jazz donated several units of them to local law enforcement to properly cover almost the entire force.
There was no point in giving them upgraded weapons when most cops developed a knack for the ones they had and would likely not use anyway. Body armor, on the other hand, was simple enough that they would embrace it readily so long as putting it on wasn't too complicated.
She already had plans for a cost effective bullet proof face mask that could easily be retrofitted to fit the already available face shields. They would cover a bit more than the ones the cops already had did, but it would take considerably more firepower to take a cop down with a headshot once they were put into production.
They needed to make a lot of good PR for what she was about to do to Stane, never mind the trick she pulled before Tony went missing.
And Jazz had quite a few ideas on how to get the people to like Stark Industries for the right reasons and do a world of good.
It was a pity Pepper had decided to latch onto Jazz in order to cope with the fact that Tony was still missing and likely experiencing something horrifying.
Jazz had never experienced having a proper female role model around, so the fact Pepper kept her from having even a single drink until she was twenty-one was a bit annoying.
Good thing Pepper just thought the expensive chocolates Jazz favored were simply imported brands. If she could read even one of the labels she would have found out that they were all bourbon-laced bon-bons. Those things had enough liquor in them to compensate for not being able to drink proper shots.
If Rhodey knew what they were, he wisely kept his silence on the matter. He didn't want to get hexed by an irate witch after all!
Jazz was relaxing in the massage chair, with the news channels in the background.
As expected, the news Tony Stark had a daughter was the top story, as was the fact that she had downsized the weapons division in favor of a more defensive line.
Pepper came in with a few pizzas, ones that were ordered before they left the reporters behind.
"They're certainly in a tizzy," said Jazz.
"We knew there would be," said Pepper.
"I bet you anything they're going to expect a secondary motive for what I do next."
Jazz knew full well that no one would be as altruistic as she was going to be until Tony was found and Stane arrested. Especially not after inheriting a large sum of money. People were going to investigate, try to find out what her angle was and what dark, dirty secrets she was hiding.
Which was why she was going to give them all the dirt they needed and blow a conspiracy wide open. Petunia was going to experience her own personal brand of hell and it was going to be all her fault.
Payback was a bitch, and Jazz was quite happily going to be the instigator in this particular revenge plot.