Iron Maiden - Days of Future Past

by Methos2523

By 2043, Morgan H Stark was a citizen of a dying world, with reality itself collapsing, it wouldn't be long before the Earth faced the end. With the apocalypse nigh, Morgan was actually surprised when an old ghost from her dad's past showed up with a plan... She might not be able to save this timeline, but creating a new timeline where the world doesn't end was entirely possible.

18. Chapter 17

TITLE: Iron Maiden - Days of Future Past

DISCLAIMER: The Marvel Cinematic Universe characters and everything from Earth-199999 belongs to Marvel under the umbrella of The Mouse of Doom, ahem, sorry, Disney... anything from other Marvel Universes / dimensions / timelines belong to their respective comic creators… basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic SHIELD on me, I'm just here for the fun.

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Stark Mansion
10880 Malibu Point
Malibu
California

March 25th, 2010

"Tony? You haven't left yet?" Pepper asked, coming down into the workshop and seeing Tony tinkering with a large life sized holographic projection of his fancy future suit that Morgan had given him. "You know how important today's meeting is." She said firmly when he turned to look at her.

"I saw the schedule," Tony scoffed. "How much bluster did the pirate shove at my lawyers to get a meeting with me today?"

"I don't know," Pepper admitted. "But you need to meet with him, show him that him sending agents into your company isn't acceptable."

"You know he's going to try something," Morgan commented from over to the side where she was working on a new Angel project. "It's Fury, he's always going to be planning something or plotting to screw you or someone else over. It's SWORD, SHIELD, whatever they want to call themselves... they're always the same, don't care who they screw over, just as long as they can claim they did it for the good of the world, or for the greater good, or whatever bullshit they're spouting right now." She ranted a bit, not even bothering to look up from where she was soldering some components onto a miniature circuit board.

"He can try whatever he wants, it's not going to work." Tony said flatly, refusing to even contemplate Fury anymore. He wasn't important, literally. The only reason Fury and his little corrupt HYDRA riddled organisation were still around was because Morgan needed them to be around for the invasion in two years, after that, they were dead men walking as far as he was concerned.

"Tony," Pepper said warningly, staring across the workshop at him.

"Fine, whatever." Tony rolled his eyes. "FRIDAY, save it, check the new palette and see how it works." He said before swiping the hologram away, letting it vanish as FRIDAY started running her simulations. "I'm going, I'm going." He said, seeing Pepper glaring at him. "Short day, have fun kids." He said casually as he headed over to one of his cars, picking the Mustang Shelby just out of a feeling for today and climbing in before turning the engine over.

"More wings?" Pepper asked curiously, walking over to see what Morgan was working on.

"Just an idea me and dad were bouncing around last night," Morgan shrugged. "Bit of a larger wing span, sharpened tips, more of a spread between the layers so they can fan out as a larger shield to cover other people as well. Trying to add a bit more flexibility into them as well, boost up manoeuvrability and speed a bit."

"Is this going to be for the Air Force again? An upgrade?" Pepper asked curiously.

"Probably a one off if it comes out right," Morgan mused with a nod as she wiped her soldering iron off on the sponge and set it back into it's holster. "Uncle Eightball was talking about the leader of the Angels squad last night, with him getting a promotion it got us thinking about promotions as well."

"The Air Force decides promotions, not you and Tony." Pepper said flatly.

"Yeah, I know that mom," Morgan snorted. "I meant Angel promotions. Like how the leader of the squad could have a different set to set her apart. Maybe kick it up a notch, see if we can get her to the level where she can work with Uncle Eightball on more than just search and rescue stuff."

"I see," Pepper mused, looking at the framework of the wings curiously. She couldn't actually tell for certain, but they definitely did look a bit larger, and brighter than the wing designs she'd seen in the workshop before. "A bigger angel?" She asked curiously.

"We're thinking Archangel," Morgan grinned. "Would be a pretty kick ass call sign too, kinda fits having Archangel leading the Angels squad." She explained. "Just seeing what other sort of tech I can work in to it. If I upped the Arc reactor, I might actually be able to get a semi decent energy shield as well, a flaming sword might be a bit much, but it'd be fun." She quipped, turning to look at her mom with a grin.

"No." Pepper said flatly, looking down at where Morgan was sat and shaking her head. "I don't need to imaging you and Tony working on flaming swords. I've got enough nightmare material with you two in those flying suits thank you very much."

"Spoil sport," Morgan huffed playfully then smiled. "It wouldn't work anyway, the Air Force don't really use swords for much other than officers dress I think, something like that." She shrugged. "It'd be fun to play with, but pretty useless in a fight really." She said, dismissing the idea completely, no matter how entertaining it would be to actually figure out.

"Good," Pepper smiled, happy that common sense had won the day. She really didn't want to imagine the sort of damage Tony, or Morgan for that matter, could cause while trying to build an actual flaming sword.

"Actually... why didn't you go into work with dad?" Morgan paused, just realising that her mom was still here while her dad had gone into Stark Industries to deal with Fury today. "Don't you have meetings or something today."

"Not until later," Pepper shook her head. "I thought today we could actually go down to Tony's tailor and get you fitted for some proper clothes." She explained. "Not only for the Expo, but you're going to need dress outfits for galas and events, so a complete wardrobe really."

Morgan actually grimaced at that thought, slumping down in her chair and looking up at her mom woefully. "Do I have to?" She all but begged.

"Yes." Pepper said with a no-nonsense attitude in her tone. "You need clothes Morgan. Jeans and band t-shirts are not suitable for every event, no matter what your dad says." She added the last after seeing Morgan about to speak up.

"Ugh, I hate being fitted for clothes," Morgan huffed playfully before standing up, stretching and cracking her knuckles together to work out the kinks from holding the soldering iron for so long. "Yeah, I know about galas and events. We had a ton back in my time. I just wanted to hear your mom voice again." She said with a fond grin. "You've nearly got it."

"I don't know if I should be happy about that, or worried about your sense of humour." Pepper shook her head fondly at the idea.

"You always said I got my sense of humour from dad." Morgan quipped. "FRIDAY, JARVIS, whoever's around, lock the place down when we go alright?" She asked aloud as her mom started leading her towards the door to head upstairs into the mansion itself.

"You inheriting Tony's sense of humour? Worried, I'm definitely worried." Pepper said with a small smirk as she shepherded Morgan upstairs so they could head out for a day of shopping and mother daughter bonding time.

Though while they were climbing up the stairs, Pepper couldn't ignore the small warm glow in her heart at Morgan's mention of her 'mom voice'. Maybe the separation she felt between her and Morgan wasn't as great as she'd been feeling after all.

---

Stark Industries
Los Angeles branch

At quarter past one in the afternoon, Tony strolled into the meeting room with a casual and completely indifferent attitude in his body language, fighting back the smirk at seeing the look of indignant annoyance on Fury's face at being kept waiting this long.

The meeting had originally been penned in for one, but after the last power play Fury had pulled in appearing in his mansion and disabling JARVIS along with the rest of his security, he'd felt that turnabout was fair play, deserved, and so much fun.

"Stark." Fury ground out, glaring over as he stood up from his chair as Tony strolled into the meeting room.

"Pirate." Tony quipped back with a completely bored tone of voice as he headed to the table and casually pulled out one of the chairs, sitting down with it at an odd angle and showing that he wasn't interested in this meeting at all. "Fine, you've got me for ten minutes. What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want, but what I can do for you." Fury said, sitting back down at the table and looking over to Tony with an appraising eye.

"You don't have anything I want." Tony said simply, casually waving that comment away and dismissing the thought entirely. "If that's all you've got, I've got more important things to do." He said, starting to stand up again.

"I think that I do." Fury said, reaching into his pocket and drawing out a small vial, placing it on the table and pushing it over, causing the small glass bottle to roll down the table across towards Tony.

"What's this?" Tony asked as he sat back down, honestly curious as he picked up the vial, noting the transparent liquid inside, probably ten or fifteen millilitres worth.

"I propose a deal." Fury said, ignoring Stark's question altogether while watching him look at the vial curiously. "You drop the charges against Agent Carter. In return, we bring you into the fold. A consultant position. A full contract with SHIELD. That's just the sweetener, a temporary cure for your palladium problem."

"A cure?" Tony raised his eyebrow at that, looking across the table at where Fury was sat. "Not interested. You couldn't afford me." He said flatly.

"Think about it." Fury said, glaring across the room at Stark. "There's enough for three doses there. It should take the edge off for a couple of days. Get you thinking straight."

"Huh," Tony mused, standing up from his chair and looking at the vial in his hands curiously, turning it over in his hand and appraising the clear liquid inside before simply dropping it on the floor and crushing the entire thing underneath his heel. "It's worthless." He said simply, turning back and actually savouring the shocked expression on Fury's face. "Like I said, you've got nothing that interests me."

"Stark, we know about the palladium. The toxic side effects. We know you're dying." Fury bit out, glaring up at him with his one eye and seeing Stark's power play for what it was. "This isn't a game anymore."

"Your information's out of date, laughably." Tony snorted. "I haven't used palladium for months now. The Arc reactor's clean, no toxic by products, no radioisotope leaks... Lithium Dioxide?" He asked with a smirk, seeing Fury's eye twitch when he named the compound that would have alleviated the problem temporarily. "I looked into it, wasn't worth it."

"Stark..." Fury ground out, his brain running at a million miles an hour as he tried to parse everything Stark was saying. If this wasn't just another power play, and Stark really had solved his Arc reactor problem... then everything he'd brought to the table was worthless and he had no bargaining chips whatsoever left to deal with.

"Like I said. You've got nothing. Literally, it's embarrassing for you actually, turning up like this and trying to bluff when you've got nothing in your hand." Tony shook his head dismissively. "Actually, no, that's a lie. What I want, is to see you all burn in hell." He said flatly, glaring down at where Fury was still sat. "You sent an agent into my business, to steal from ME!" He raised his voice. "And you think you can get me to cover it all up because you thought I was dying and decided to hang the cure over my head until I agreed to drop the charges?" He shouted down.

"Stark..." Fury hissed, frantically trying to find anything else he could counter with here and coming up empty.

"No." Tony said, evening his voice out as he glared down at Fury. "You don't get to do that." He sneered. "You sent an spy into my business, where my people work, and had her try to steal designs from me while you thought I was dying?" He demanded.

"We had good intel that you were using palladium as a core for your Arc technology." Fury explained.

"Doesn't matter," Tony waved that away entirely. "You were trying to use me, use my health to get me to drop charges against your pet little spy!"

"Get over yourself Stark. This isn't about you." Fury shot back. "SHIELD is greater than you, greater than any one person." He argued passionately. "The world isn't just about you, this is bigger than you."

"FRIDAY, you got everything?" Tony asked, not even bothering to reply to Fury's pathetic little rant.

"Got it boss, video recording of the entire meeting." FRIDAY's Irish brogue came back through the meeting room, clearly surprising Fury who narrowed his eye at Stark dangerously.

"Send it to my lawyers, send a copy to our contacts at the FBI and the Department of Justice." Tony ordered aloud. "Video, audio, full transcript." He smirked when Fury glared at him. "Let the FBI know they can tack on charges of blackmail and conspiracy, coercion, whatever they can come up with."

"Stark, you can't do that." Fury bit out.

"Actually, just have. It's done." Tony said dismissively, not caring in the least about the anger he could see on Fury's face. "Send any more of your little pets into my business, I won't just have legal tearing you apart. I'll do it myself." He threatened, glaring down at Fury and making him understand damn well that he was serious. "I'll do it with my own hands."

"Stark, it wasn't about that... Agent Carter was only supposed to..."

"Don't care." Tony cut him off with a wave of his hand. "You know where the exit is." He said dismissively. "I'll have your photo circulated around security, they've all been fitted with new weapons after your little spy decided to shoot up my parking lot, come back again sometime or send some more of your spies over, and they'll get an up close and personal look at them, I've only tried them out shooting targets and test dummies, giving security something to really test them out on would cheer them up better than my usual Christmas bonuses."

"Stark..."

"Come at me again though my company, my friends, my family... and I'll bury you so deep you'll need an entire team of archaeologists just to find your remains." Tony ground out as he turned. "You know where the door is, like I said, you're not worth my time."

With that said Tony simply turned on his heel and walked out of the meeting room, not even bothering to turn his head when he heard Fury's impotent shouting yelling for him to come back. Walking away felt damn good, Fury and SHIELD just weren't worth the time it would take to even look back at him.

---

JB Clothiers
859 South Spring Street
Los Angeles

Morgan hid her grimace well as she followed her mom into the upscale and high priced tailors in the middle of Los Angeles.

Her eyes roamed casually around the various mannequins on show, all showing off gorgeous suit jackets in every fabric imaginable, with classic and well tailored cuts designed to emphasise and flatter the wearer perfectly.

"Virginia my dear, you return to brighten my rooms once more."

"Jerry," Pepper let out a tinkling laugh as the older silver haired man strode up to her, approaching with flamboyant flair and wide arms as he embraced her and gave a cheek to cheek air kiss on both sides of Pepper's face.

"My darling, you look as radiant as ever." Jerry smiled softly as he stepped back from Pepper. "When I saw your name on today's l'agenda, I had assumed that you were bringing Monsieur Stark in for our final decisions, but this is not so?" He asked, looking towards Morgan curiously.

"No, but I do know that Tony has decided on the English cut this time. A single breasted jacket for the Expo gala tuxedo with a low cut on the waistcoat." Pepper explained.

"Ah, an exquisite choice indeed." Jerry smiled at that, waving towards his assistant for her to note that down in the Stark file. "Now, tell me, what have you brought for me today?" He asked.

"Morgan?" Pepper smiled, indicating for Morgan to come over and stand next to her. "I trust Jerry, he's been Tony's tailor since he was a teenager."

"Much longer that that my dear," Jerry chuckled. "My father fitted Howard Stark for many years before I assisted in making young Tony his first suit. Actually, I believe his first was at the age of eight if I do remember correctly." He explained with a smile. "I do remember though that Mr Stark senior had a fondness for silver suits, as was the style for the extravagant back then, while Tony is much more in favour of the classic black style."

"That's a lot of suits," Morgan said with a shrug, looking towards her mom and nodding.

"I assume you will keep this private, it's... rather sensitive at the moment." Pepper explained, looking between Jerry and his assistant.

"Of course my dear, discretion is assured as always." Jerry nodded solemnly. "Am I to understand this delightful young lady is Monsieur Stark's..."

"Daughter." Pepper explained with a fond smile.

"I see," Jerry nodded knowingly, a small quirk on his lips as he looked Morgan over appraisingly. "And am I to also assume that you will need a dress for Monsieur Stark's extravaganza that approaches?" He asked.

"Extravaganza yes, dress no." Morgan shook her head.

"Non?" Jerry repeated, curiosity in his face as he looked at Morgan with a glint in his eye now. "A suit then?" He asked with a smile. "A tuxedo my dear?"

"Several suits as well actually," Pepper nodded in agreement. "We're going to need a full business wardrobe as well as something for the Expo's opening night." She explained. "Something to work with Tony's usual flair, but... more feminine?" She asked hopefully.

"I see, I see." Jerry nodded, clicking his fingers a few times and waiting for his assistant to bring over his silver tray that was already set out with a measuring tape, a platter full of golden pins, and several fabric swatches. "Hmmm," He mused, standing back from Morgan and resting his thumb under his chin as he tapped his finger against his cheek. "An autumn lady clearly, darks most certainly."

"Yeah, whites and creams wash me out." Morgan nodded in agreement.

"A classic black per chance?" Jerry asked. "Satin lapels, slim cut obviously, silk lining." He said, casually walking around Morgan and appraising her figure from each side. "A silver shirt maybe? A plain white would be more classic, but an off white, perhaps even a grey or a silver, might flatter your colouring better. An Italian cut I think?"

"I normally go single breasted," Morgan nodded in agreement with what the man had said so far.

"Yes, yes, I see it now." Jerry nodded. "You have quite the petite build, slim, athletic, much like your father." He nodded in agreement. "Yes, the Italian cut will flatter you almost perfectly my dear."

"Sounds good to me." Morgan said, looking to her mom with hopes they were done with this now.

"Now, colours..." Jerry mused, reaching out and not quite touching Morgan's hair, but judging his own skin tone against the warm and rich colours, along with checking against her tan. "Certainly not pales or pastels, not with this skin." He shook his head. "Deep rich tones, something to clash I think. Blues, purple, royal colours, a deep teal perhaps?"

"Purple's my colour." Morgan grinned at that, causing a chuckle of amusement to come from her mother that was very quickly covered up.

"Ah, a lady who knows her tones, perfection." Jerry smiled widely. "A deep purple lining then, perhaps a flare of colour for the tuxedo? A flash, nothing more." He said, musing on something and shaking his head. "No, not the waistcoat, that much colour would make the rest of the black look drab and boring." He said before clicking his fingers. "A pocket square, some cuff-links, purple sapphire I think, set in silver? I do not think gold is your colour at all my dear."

"That sounds delightful," Pepper smiled at the thought.

"Melena, the purples if you would, and violets, just to see, curiosity bounds that I look at both." Jerry said with a smile. "Have you been fitted for a tuxedo before my dear?"

"Yeah, a load of times." Morgan sighed, crouching down and pulling off her cowboy boots and putting them off to one side, happy that she'd come in just her jeans and t-shirt now and didn't have to take anything else off.

"Wonderful," Jerry chuckled. "Please my dear, take a seat while I see to the young Miss Stark. I feel we will be here for quite some time now." He said with a chuckle as he looked toward Pepper.

Morgan didn't groan as she followed Jerry's instructions to stand in the standard T-pose while he took measurements of her arms, shoulders, and every other body part imaginable, but it was damned close.

She simply stood there like a shop dummy as he whirled the tape measure around, reading off precise measurements down to the millimetre for his assistant to write down on a crisp white note pad, taking note of every little musing that came out of Jerry's mouth as he worked.

She would admit the collection of purple satin's and silks that had been brought out were absolutely gorgeous though.

"That one." She said without hesitation when Jerry asked which appealed to her the most.

"A violet Mulberry silk?" Jerry asked in surprise, holding up the swatch of fabric approvingly and draping it over Morgan's shoulder. "Hmmm, I would have thought darker, but you appear to have inherited your flair from your father as well as his colouring, not to mention his exquisite taste." He said with a chuckle.

"For the lining?" Pepper asked curiously, looking at the violet silk and trying to imagine it as a dress or something she was more familiar with.

"Most definitely," Jerry smiled softly, looking over at Pepper and nodding. "Yes, yes I think it is the perfect choice. A flash of colour against a midnight black, barely there and only seen with wide and flamboyant gestures." He said with a wide smile. "The same violet Mulberry for the pocket square, the outfit needs something to tie it together of course."

"That works." Morgan shrugged. She definitely wasn't as energetic as her dad was when she moved around, but it was her colour, and if she was going to have any colour lining her clothes, then it was going to be this one.

"Now, the pants." Jerry said, looking down at Morgan's legs and tapping his finger against his lips dubiously. "A tight fit, or more conservative?" He asked. "Normally with an Italian cut I would say a tight fit, especially given Monsieur Stark's predilections, but for a lady..."

"Tight fit's fine." Morgan nodded.

"I see, a flattering cut most certainly. Perhaps a deep black with a faint silk pin stripe, something to draw the eye and lengthen the leg." Jerry nodded approvingly. "And your accessories? Heels?" He asked.

"Flats." Morgan rolled her eyes. "Cuban heels if I have to, but under protest."

Jerry chuckled at that, giving Morgan a sly smile as he nodded along with what she was saying. "Then I do not have to account for the extra length and angle of the heel, this will be the same for your business suits too I assume?"

"I never wear heels." Morgan confirmed.

"From what I know, she doesn't even own a pair." Pepper nodded when Jerry looked over at her curiously. "Cowboy boots are her day to day wear, and I rarely see her out of them, so I think that's as high of a heel as Morgan's going to go."

"Definitely." Morgan confirmed, not willing to argue anything further there.

"Then we can begin," Jerry smiled, gesturing for Morgan to step up onto the platform his assistant brought over so that he could start measuring up around her hips, thighs, inseam and full length. "How many suits are you thinking? A collection of shirts to fit as well?" He asked, looking over to Pepper as he run measurements every six inches down Morgan's legs.

"Six for now," Pepper confirmed. "We might need some more later, along with some more evening suited sets for events." She explained. "At least one or two lighter, linen maybe or something like that? We're going to be in Europe a lot of the time coming up, so something more casual but still smart that would fit in with the businesses over there."

"Ah, yes, I know precisely what you mean my dear. Another six perhaps?" Jerry asked.

"Four business and two casual I think, Morgan doesn't have the same love of attention that Tony does." Pepper explained, drawing a dry chuckle out of Jerry in the process.

"Simple blacks and greys then my dear, for the shirts. Sea Island Cotton, silver buttons I think, slim fit again, an understated collar, slightly loose, nothing to draw the eye away from your looks my dear." Jerry nodded with a smile. "I do not think pleats, they will not suit this style that you are creating ma petite. Simple and understated, classic and powerful."

"That sounds perfect," Pepper smiled.

"Melena, the blacks my dear. The brocades too, just out of curiosity." Jerry said, waiting for his assistant to take away the purple swatches as she disappeared into the rear of the building again.

"We might need something for June as well, something... I don't know, with a bit more character?" Pepper asked.

"Oh?" Jerry paused, looking around to Pepper again and seeing Morgan did as well, though she turned with a raised eyebrow to match.

"What's for June? We're not doing another gala or anything?" Morgan asked, racking her brain to try and remember if FAITH had told her anything about June this year that she needed to know. Nothing really stood out that she could remember, after the Expo thing, everything should be quiet really until the Invasion.

"Tony was talking about going to New York for June," Pepper clarified when Morgan continued to look at her.

"For the R 'n' D compound?" Morgan tilted her head curiously. "That's not a dressing up thing." She said with a confused furrow of her eyebrows. "That's me and dad in the workshop and working on high energy particle physics while digging stuff up."

"No, but the New York parade is." Pepper said knowingly, seeing the reaction spark in Morgan's eyes. "He wanted to go with you as well, so do I." She explained as she saw the wide grin beam across Morgan's lips. "So he'll probably need another suit for that as well, if I know Tony, something in deep red." She said with a wry laugh towards Jerry at the thought.

"We're doing the New York parade?" Morgan gasped, grinning at the thought of actually going to a parade again and all the fun that it brought with it. "I thought dad was going to be... you know, in London for it?" She asked, looking at her mom to convey across the idea of her dad's upcoming operation without saying it aloud.

"Your father was definitely excited about the idea," Pepper smiled gently at her. "I think he wants to do it before going to London. SI are sponsoring a float, I've already spoken with the organisers and planned a few things, but I've left everything else open." She explained. "I thought it would be something we can plan together?" She asked hopefully.

"Hell yeah!" Morgan laughed at the thought.

"I do assume you are talking about the New York Pride parade?" Jerry chuckled to himself. "Yes, I can certainly see Monsieur Stark in a rich ruby suit with some gold flair, velour perhaps." He smiled widely at the thought.

"That sounds like Tony." Pepper chuckled softly at the mental image.

"For that, you will need something special indeed, no, no, blacks will not do for such an event." Jerry laughed, waving the mere thought away with a dismissive flutter of his hand. "Satin, almost certainly. Purples and violets, something that shines and cut to your show you off my dear." He said with a smile as he envisioned such a suit.

"The suits I normally wear for Pride are more metal and..."

"Morgan," Pepper interrupted, rolling her eyes when Morgan grinned at her.

"I will not ask ma petite," Jerry chuckled again at the byplay. "But for Pride, yes, we will make you shine like the gem you are my darling." He said with a wide smile. "Now, let us begin with the blacks..."

With that said, his assistant came over again with a large variety of black swatches, satins, silks, wools and brocades, letting Jerry pick them one by one and draping them over Morgan's shoulder appraisingly, judging their tone and shimmer against the violet satin that was still there for comparison.

It was definitely going to be a long day.

---

Stark Mansion
10880 Malibu Point
Malibu
California

"Morgan?" Tony asked aloud, climbing out of his Mustang after pulling it in to park back in his workshop, looking around for any signs of life at all. "Pepper?" He asked curiously. "JARVIS, FRIDAY? Where is everyone?"

"If I may sir, Miss Potts escorted young miss to an appointment with Sir Jerry this afternoon." JARVIS English tones explained. "Given the nature of the booked appointment, I am given to believe they will be some time."

"Ah," Tony nodded with a chuckle. Poor Morgan, she'd have to be going crazy by now being fitted for clothes, accessories and god only knows what else. "Looks like it's just us then kids." He said with a grin, reaching his arms out and spinning with glee in the workshop. "FRIDAY, load up the renders of the mark eighty five again, pull up everything, life size it for me please baby girl."

"Sure thing boss, coming right up." FRIDAY's Irish brogue chirped up with a cheerful flair in her voice as the hologram of the suit appeared standing only a few feet away from where Tony was standing right now.

"Huh," Tony mused, walking around the hologram curiously and admiring it from every angle.

He absolutely loved the smooth lines of it, the way it was futuristic and sleek, but still very iconic and masculine. It was the perfect blend of lethal and stylish at the same time, strong, deadly, and doing it in his own indomitable style.

"FRIDAY, just trying something here, highlight the gold will you? Pull it all up, brighten it a bit." Tony asked, walking around the suit as the minimal gold accents brightened considerably and stood out against the wet look scarlet finish.

Somehow it just didn't look right. The gold was nice, a nod to the gold titanium alloy he originally used in his armour, and definitely added a touch of something that set off the red rather perfectly.

He knew from working on hot rods that you only did a candy red paint over a gold finish. The gold accentuated the reds and made them richer, more vibrant, and set off the specular detail of the candy coat to a perfection that no other finish could match.

But that was the past now. Gold and reds were his colours before Morgan, before Pepper. Back when he'd first built the Mark Three and he was functioning on half alcohol and half trauma, with an unhealthy amount of caffeine topping it all off.

He wasn't that person anymore. He didn't need the gold to remind everyone of his place in the world, he knew who and what he was, and with that self assurance came a confidence that matched any he'd ever felt before, in the board rooms, in his workshop, or out in the world as everyone stared at him.

"Double up on the reds, down the shoulder and arms, the legs too… bring the shoulders in a bit, a big sleeker, not as much overlap… FRIDAY, kill the golds, get rid of them." Tony said, absently swiping at the hologram. "New render, replace the golds with chrome, brushed silver lowlights, mirror finish on the larger areas. Like we had in the Mark Five and the other future suit."

"Rendering now boss," FRIDAY confirmed as the hologram shifted, the colours changing slightly and the golds being replaced with the brushed silver and chrome finish that he'd imagined.

"Huh," Tony mused, scratching at his beard idly as he walked around the suit, tilting his head at the ten hexagonal lights that were scattered around the torso and arms of the suit, glowing with a faint blue like the nanite reactor that was housed in a pride of place on the chest of the suit. "Drop the colour of the lights too will you, plain white, no accents."

"Changes complete Boss," FRIDAY replied as the saturation of the hexagonal lights dropped entirely, causing them to match the silver and chrome surrounding areas with a clean and crisp white light.

"Lift up the hands, show me the knuckles?" Tony asked, waiting for the hologram to lift up both of it's hands, posing with the knuckles and back of the hand showing clearly for him to inspect. "Add some extra chrome in there will you, cover the knuckles, tops of the fingers."

He watched as the changes were made, the extra chrome flair on the fingers really setting off the hands and leaving the red armoured section over his wrists to separate the arm and hand sections of the suit quite nicely.

"Bring up the saturation of the reds a bit, just a touch. Candy finish, my usual apple red, high gloss." Tony ordered, standing back from the hologram and staring at it, considering it very carefully as he walked around and admired the sleek scarlet and chrome finish that was a perfect mix of his past Iron Man designs, and the future that he wanted to pave with Morgan.

"I like it." He decided after admiring it for a moment.

The flash of mirror finish chrome was definitely gorgeous, and set the suit off well against the wet look red finish that the bulk was comprised of. There'd already been some silver in the suit, underlying areas around the gold finishes that separated everything and neatly tied everything together, but getting rid of the gold entirely brought the chrome and red look together in a far sleeker way than the gold ever did.

He'd experimented with the silver look before with the mark four suit, it had been a good look, portable and light, not as heavily armoured as the mark three but it definitely had the look that he was going for. Now, looking at the updated mark eighty five with the silver flair, he could see the same sort of feel that he'd had when designing the theme for the mark five.

"Yeah, it's a new brand. Update everything, we're sticking with Morgan's liquid chrome Stark branding from now on." Tony said with a wide smile. "The future is now kids, it's past time we properly embraced it." He said, nodding to himself. "Actually, grab the future SI logo and everything from FAITH's database, send it over, get everything ready for Expo, I want everything ready for the unveiling of the new brand."

"Save the new design to the nanite reactor boss?" FRIDAY's voice came back, double checking what she was about to do.

"Do it," Tony confirmed, walking around the workshop and idly clicking his fingers and slapping his hands together. "FAITH, you around?"

"Yes Grand Boss?" FAITH's voice replied through the workshop speakers.

"Can you give me a rundown of the Avengers members," Tony asked aloud. "Full bios, pictures, usual screens if you will." He asked. "Morgan mentioned some names before, and I want to know exactly what we're dealing with here."

"Coming up Grand-Boss," FAITH's voice came back again. "All the Avengers through to the disbanding of the brand?"

"Yup," Tony nodded. "Skip me, wait, actually... show me, I want to see what that future looked like." He said, a tone of curiosity in his voice as the holographic screens appeared around the workshop, letting him wander over to the nearest one to take a look.

"Information projected Grand-boss, however..."

"What is it FAITH?" Tony asked curiously, already looking over the screen that showed himself, clad in what was apparently the mark eight suit, it's gold titanium and candy apple red paint job looking as beautiful as ever.

"While the media and international reports indicate you were a member of The Avengers Initiative while financing the team. Officially you were not recognised as a member of The Avengers." FAITH reported.

"I wasn't?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrow at the screen dubiously. "Why not?"

"Unknown." FAITH answered. "In all official documentation, Tony Stark was only ever listed as a SHIELD and Avengers consultant, not an official member."

"Huh," Tony frowned, tilting his head as he read off the reports of how he'd apparently renamed Stark Tower to Avengers Tower, and practically handed the keys over to the team. Letting them live there, use it as a base, financing them, homing them... was there anything he didn't actually do for them in that screwed up future?

Consultant, that rang a bell. That was exactly the position Fury had tried to blackmail him into. A SHIELD consultant, Not that anything like that was worth his time to even think about.

"Fine, whatever. Not going to happen." Tony shook his head dismissively, waving his hand over the file showing the future's past Tony Stark and dismissing it entirely. He wasn't that man, he was never going to be that man.

That Tony Stark had been a doormat for SHIELD and The Avengers, he didn't know what had happened to cause him to fall so low, but he could bet a good portion of his fortune that Fury and his shitty spies had everything to do with it.

"Rogers." Tony said aloud as he approached the next screen, noting the updated uniform and information that said he was apparently the lead and commander of The Avengers Initiative. "Asshole." He said with a smirk, feeling oddly satisfied at saying it aloud to the life sized holographic render of Steve Rogers. "Anything about Rogers that's actually relevant?" He asked, just out of curiosity.

"Mr Rogers was the lead in disseminating one third of the SHIELD database in two thousand and fourteen, forcing SHIELD to go underground and retreat from the public eye." FAITH reported. "Before going rogue, he focused entirely on battling HYDRA prior to the attack on the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Lagos, Nigeria."

"Yeah yeah, none of that's going to happen, that screwed up future doesn't matter anymore." Tony said with a frown. "Physical abilities, anything we don't know from the history books?"

"No Grand-boss, Steven Rogers enhanced abilities are well documented. He showed no abilities in the future that deviated from the known and recorded history." FAITH explained.

"A relic then, outdated, boring, yesterdays news." Tony dismissed the screen with a wave before looking at the next one. "Romanoff." He nodded, already family with this screen after Morgan had shown it to him before. "Anything actually interesting on Little Miss Spider?" He asked aloud.

"Natalia Romanov. Data of birth, unknown. Place of birth, unknown." FAITH reported. "Inducted into the Red Room Academy at a young age. SHIELD psychologists estimate that by age ten, all human empathy, morals, and associated behavioural norms had been effectively removed from all subjects. From then, they were trained in various forms of assassination, espionage, seduction, torture, interrogation, intelligence gathering, and weapons."

"Not a great childhood." Tony commented wryly, looking at the picture of Romanoff slightly wearily now and feeling a bit sad for her.

"SHIELD assigned Clint Barton to counter and assassinate her in two thousand eight. According to reports, Mr Barton however managed to turn Miss Romanov to SHIELD's cause, and allied himself with her, returning to SHIELD where Miss Romanov joined the organisation and used her previous skills for SHIELD's benefit."

"Yeah, bet they loved having someone like her playing for their team." Tony grimaced, not liking the idea of SHIELD having an assassin of Romanoff's calibre on their payroll at all.

"During psychological profiling, it was suggested that due to Miss Romanov's training and previous history, she would need a constant handler while employed by SHIELD." FAITH explained. "Mr Barton was given this role due to him already having a rapport with Miss Romanov, and actively chose to work solely with Miss Romanov for the next two years until two thousand ten when Mr Barton was directed to an assignment in New Mexico, while Miss Romanova was directed to infiltrate Stark Industries."

"Wait, Fury sent her to spy on SI last time?" Tony asked in surprise. Idly wondering how that went. "So... Robin Hood's basically her Jiminy Cricket then? Keeping her on the straight and narrow. Being her conscience and morals because she doesn't have any?"

"A crude but accurate description of Mr Barton and Miss Romanov's relationship Grand-boss." FAITH agreed.

"So when he went off the deep end after having his brain scrambled like an egg..." Tony mused aloud.

"Indeed, the previous history files do indicate that your hypothesis is correct Grand-boss. When Mr Barton started showing erratic tendencies, Miss Romanov's actions mirrored his, and she distanced herself from everyone else, betraying some and swapping allegiances seemingly without reason or cause." FAITH explained.

"Great, so if Robin Hood goes nutso, then Little Miss Spider goes off the deep end too, great." Tony groaned, dragging his hand down his face. "Right, keep an eye on both of them, FAITH, FRIDAY, that goes for both of you, keep an eye on Robin Hood to make sure he doesn't go fruit loops crazy and take Miss Thighs down with him."

"Sure thing boss." FRIDAY's Irish brogue broke through the workshop, causing Tony to smile fondly at the accent.

He still had absolutely no idea what had possessed his future self to make FRIDAY sound Irish, or somewhere in her early twenties, but the more FRIDAY was around, the more and more he really got on with her, and he definitely appreciated the different sounding voice and the Irish accent that really made her stand out on her own.

"Right, that's the Wonder Twins, get rid of them," Tony said, clicking his fingers a few times as the screens showing Romanoff and Barton winked out of existence. "Thor?" He asked, walking over to the next screen and evaluating it curiously.

"Thor Odinson was never an official Avenger either according to the files Grand-boss." FAITH reported. "He neither accepted lodging in Stark Tower, nor accepted financing, weapons or technology from you." She explained. "His appearances were sporadic and unscheduled, and was off planet more than nine tenths of each year The Avengers were active."

"So... extra muscle but not somebody we could count on to show up then?" Tony read off the screen, noting Thor's strength and durability were up there with The Hulk and vastly surpassed Rogers. "Might be worth keeping an eye on if he pops up again, and this whole 'off world' thing really has me curious now." He mused curiously, looking at the projection of the tall and muscle bound man with long blonde hair. He almost looked like he could be a viking version of Rogers somehow. "Wait, if me and Thor weren't officially Avengers... the team was basically Rogers, Romanoff, Barton and..." He looked to the next screen. "Banner."

With that said he dismissed Thor's screen and wandered to the next one, looking at the two holograms showing Doctor Bruce Banner in one, and a The Hulk towering over his human form next to it.

"Honestly I'm surprised Banner joined up." Tony mused, idly cataloguing Doctor Banner's list of specialities and scientific achievements. "What did SHIELD offer to get him on board?" He asked.

"Records indicate SHIELD offered nothing Grand-boss," FAITH answered crisply. "Doctor Banner was originally brought on board to investigate and track The Tesseract which exhibited constant amounts of gamma radiation."

"That explains that," Tony nodded thoughtfully. According to these records, Bruce had done more work on gamma than anyone else in the world. He was quite literally the man that wrote the book on the subject, so if SHIELD wanted the best, he was the one they would turn to.

"After the invasion of New York, you offered Doctor Banner a contract to work with Stark Industries research and development. Shielding him from both SHIELD and General Ross." FAITH explained. "Doctor Banner was recorded missing in two thousand and fifteen after The Hulk was unwittingly released and encouraged to rampage through Johannesburg. He returned in two thousand eighteen, there are no records of his whereabouts during that period."

"Huh, Banner and Green Bean managed to vanish for three years without a trace?" Tony nodded, actually impressed with that. Hiding away as Bruce would be easy enough, but hiding away a ten foot tall angry zucchini took a whole other level of skill. "Where's Banner now?" He asked curiously.

"Records indicate Doctor Banner returned to the United States thirteen days ago. His current location is unknown." FAITH reported.

"Knows how to stay off of the grid then," Tony snorted. "The spy twins should take some lessons from him." He said with a grin, swiping away Bruce's hologram. "So... who do we have left?" He mused, looking at the four remaining holograms and striding over to the first.

"Sam Wilson," FAITH announced as Tony walked towards the screen. "Took the name Falcon after the two thousand and fourteen incident which exposed SHIELD and caused the demolition of SHIELD's primary headquarters named The Triskelion." She explained. "He was charged with the theft of the Falcon wings from Fort Meade in two thousand fourteen, but you shielded him from prosecution and spoke with the United States Army personally, adding finance in return for them dropping the investigation into Mr Wilson's activities that led to the theft of the Falcon EXO-Seven flight exo-suit."

"Anything important?" Tony mused, looking at the wing designs and definitely agreeing with Morgan that their current Angel designs were leaps and bounds ahead of this ridiculous falcon wing design. "Former Air Force, former Air National Guard, former veterans counsellor... is there anything this guy isn't a 'former' of?" He asked incredulously as he read down Wilson's biography. "He involved in anything important?"

"Mr Wilson was given Mr Rogers vibranium shield in two thousand twenty three, and took the title of Captain America from then until two thousand forty three. He was still active during the apocalypse, but showed no indication or willingness to track down Miss Maximoff or arrest her for her crimes." FAITH explained. "Mr Wilson was not affiliated with SHIELD, the United States Army, or the United States Air Force after taking on the title of Captain America, and solely chose his own missions, with no oversight, authority or accountability."

"Asshole." Tony snorted, waving away the holographic screen. Wilson was a non-entity entirely now. The Falcon wings contract had been black listed, he'd replaced the entire thing with their Angel wings that worked a hell of a lot better, and were far more reliable.

Wilson would never become Falcon, if SHIELD decided to recruit him to Fury's boyband in a few years, it would be without the wings or anything, so chances are he would never be an Avenger, and never be in a position to take on the Captain America name in the future.

"Little Red Riding Hood I know," Tony grimaced, looking at the photo of the brunette in the weird scarlet leather outfit. "Save the file, the whole thing. Get it to Romanoff next time she pokes her head up. She was interested in Maximoff, let her see how screwed up things got."

"Packaging file on Miss Maximoff for distribution," FAITH announced as the holographic screen showing Maximoff vanished from view.

"And that leaves one..." Tony mused, wandering over to the last screen. "VISION?" He read aloud, noting the name was specifically written all in capitals. "Wait... this was JARVIS?" He asked in surprise, staring at the strange being and trying to see anything in him that remotely resembled the JARVIS that he knew and loved.

"VISION was recorded as conglomerate entity comprising of JARVIS, ULTRON, and a sentient presence housed within The Mind Stone." FAITH explained.

"Magic marbles of doom, right." Tony nodded, still staring at VISION's rendering and trying to understand how this happened. "FAITH, walk me through it... what the hell happened here?" He asked. "Morgan gave me the basics... but seeing it..."

"VISON's origins start with the construction of the ULTRON artificial intelligence, originally coded by yourself and Doctor Banner." FAITH explained. "Though the coding was not complete, nor active when the alien sentience within The Mind Stone made contact and corrupted the original program."

"So magic marble took over one of my AI's?" Tony asked curiously.

"That is the recorded history of the event Grand-boss," FAITH confirmed. "From there, ULTRON gained a physical body, originally using parts from the Iron Legion program, then progressing to a vibranium hybrid body created using technology from Doctor Helen Cho."

"Yikes," Tony muttered, not liking the sound of that at all. A crazy alien AI thing housed in a vibranium body would definitely be nightmare fuel.

"Upon activating the body, you uploaded the remains of JARVIS code, which combined with both the ULTRON code, and the unspecified alien sentience housed within The Mind Stone." FAITH explained. "The resulting sentience was named VISION by Thor Odinson, and took the name from that moment forwards."

"Huh," Tony simply stared, not really having anything to say to that.

It was a wacky enough story. Two significantly different AI's, combined with a weird alien space rock, created a synthetic human in a vibranium body, with a magic rock embedded in it's forehead.

"What happened to him?" Tony asked curiously, even if VISION wasn't JARVIS, there was apparently enough of JARVIS inside him to make him curious about his life.

"VISION was destroyed during the invasion of two thousand eighteen." FAITH explained, causing Tony to stagger slightly. "The vibranium remains were then taken by SWORD, the re-branded SHIELD organisation, and reprogrammed to assassinate Miss Maximoff on SWORD's orders."

"Huh, SHIELD... SWORD, whatever they want to call themselves, sounds like they actually wised up for once." Tony snorted in amusement.

"Records are sporadic Grand-boss, but VISION failed to secure Miss Maximoff, and left SWORD as well. There are few records indicating his presence from that moment on." FAITH explained. "Mrs Stark used the theft of VISION's corpse, which was registered as Stark Industries property, in her legal suit against SWORD prior to closing down the United States holdings of Stark Industries."

"Good for Pepper." Tony smirked, feeling his heart skip a bit at the way FAITH called her Mrs Stark. "So... that's it." He said, dismissing the last screen and looking around the workshop. "The Avengers that never will be." He said with a smirk. "Is there any of them we can actually trust at all?" He asked, honestly curious what FAITH's response would be.

"History indicates Doctor Banner is the most trustworthy of the original Avengers. Though he also failed to defend you against the other Avengers on several occasions, leaving you to take the blame for assumed slights and incorrect assumptions. Prior to his disappearance however, he was the closest member that associated regularly with you Grand-boss." FAITH explained.

"Yeah, I was thinking Banner too." Tony nodded, happy that FAITH had come to the same conclusion he had. "Keep an out for him or Green Bean anywhere. Ping me if either of them pop up, General Asshole might not be around anymore, but I'd bet SHIELD and a dozen other agencies are already watching and waiting to snatch him up for themselves."

"I will keep watch Grand-boss, designation Green Bean added to Doctor Banner's records."

Tony snorted out a laugh at that, tapping his nanite reactor core and waiting for the flood of nanite technology to flow out and encase his body within the modified mark eighty five Iron Man suit.

He took a moment to walk over to the mirror in the workshop, stepping back so he could admire the clean lines of the suit, the crisp and wet look red candy paint job, and the new shining and reflective chrome finish that practically sparkled and really set off the wet look of the suit perfectly.

"JARVIS, I'm heading out for a fly, clear my head." Tony announced, firing his repulsors and flying towards the ramp leading up and out of the mansion itself. "If Pep and Morgan get back before me, tell them I'm having fun and practising with the new suit." He said with a grin.

"Of course sir," JARVIS responded in his ear as Tony flew up into the sky, marvelling at the responsiveness and speed of the suit as he fired the repulsors at full burn and shot off over Malibu, a sonic boom shattering the sky behind him as he flew off.

---

Stark Industries
Los Angeles branch

March 26th, 2010

"Tony?" Pepper called out curiously as she wandered in to the Stark Hanger that both Tony and Morgan had commandeered for their personal projects now.

Ever since they'd been working together on the Stark jet, and then the Stark International Satellite, the hanger had officially been dubbed the 'Stark Hanger', and been cordoned off and secured for Tony and Morgan's personal use.

The shining new SI jet was taking up most of the hanger as always, and looked even more impressive in person than seeing the small digital photos and blueprints she'd seen of the jet in Morgan's files.

She was rather bemused to see Tony's beloved Mustang Fastback parked to the side in the hanger though, well, parked was somewhat of a misnomer as it was currently in pieces. The frame had been completely pulled off the car and was sitting a few meters away from the car's skeleton. The engine itself had been pulled out, and from what she could see it had been moved to the side and treated like discarded trash.

"Tony?" She called out again, raising her voice over the classic rock music that was blaring out of the car's speakers.

"Dad, mom's here!" Morgan yelled from where she was bent over the front of the car, digging around inside where the engine had originally been with various tools that Pepper couldn't even recognise stuffed in her pockets and one in her hand.

"Huh?" Tony asked as he pulled himself out from underneath the Mustang, laying on a flat wheeled bed as he worked on the underneath of the car for something or other. "Oh, hey Pep." He said with a grin, looking up from his position on the floor as Pepper walked over to him.

"It's nearly ten," Pepper said pointedly, looking down at him. "Your meeting with Doctor Selvig and Doctor Foster?" She reminded him pointedly.

"Oh, yeah, Doctor Streaky." Tony grinned, pushing himself further out from under the car and climbing up off of the wheeled bed. "See, I remembered." He grinned, reaching into the back of the car and pulling out a hanger with a clean t-shirt and simple red shirt hanging over it.

"A record I'm sure." Pepper drawled with a small smile as Tony pulled off his oil stained Black Sabbath t-shirt and replaced it with the plain black one from the hanger, giving Pepper a rather nice view of his toned stomach and chest that was only marred by the constant glowing of that circular Arc reactor. "What are you two even doing to that poor car?" She asked curiously as Tony pulled on the red shirt.

"My fault," Morgan piped up from the engine section with a grin. "I told dad about how big electric cars were going to be in the future, so he started talking about figuring out the engine designs and power needed for the torque on a muscle car like this, instead of just the little toy commuter car things most companies end up pumping out as electrics. Then we started doing the math and… well, you know how that goes." She trailed off with a smirk.

"Electric cars?" Pepper asked dubiously, knowing exactly what Morgan was talking about. Morgan seemed to be exactly like Tony when it came to a challenge, they both likely did the initial projections and checked their math over before deciding that a practical experiment was going to be far more entertaining than simply talking about the equations or running simulations was ever going to be.

"Yeah, apparently Japan has a couple already. I looked into it just to see when they kicked off." Tony shrugged. "Nissan are working on something, but they don't really take off until the late twenty twenties apparently." He explained with a shrug as he buttoned up his shirt. "I figured with Morgan's battery tech, we can size things up a bit, get some designs going, start working on a whole new department for SI. Stick Arc tech under that umbrella as well, everything clean and eco, save the planet, green power and all that sort of stuff."

"That's... possibly the least ambitious thing you've mentioned using Morgan's future technology for." Pepper said thoughtfully after rolling the idea around in her head for a few moments. "The publicity would be good, actually very good… eco friendly cars, buildings, even power plants if the Arc technology scales up like you say."

"It does." Morgan confirmed as she walked around from the hood of the car, casually leaning back on it and wiping some oil and grease from her face. "Some decent battery cells and a high powered electric engine, there's nothing to it really."

"Nothing to it for people used to twenty forties tech." Tony rolled his eyes as Morgan grinned at him. "It's definitely doable though, I saw the specs, some of the SI future designs. We didn't partner with anyone, just leased the patents and sold the battery tech, but it was a good earner."

"Yeah, mom was pretty high on the eco thing in the future," Morgan nodded, drawing Pepper's attention again. "Green power and low emission stuff, paper free offices and carbon free factories, it was your thing really." She explained with a smile over to her mother.

"I'm glad that didn't change," Pepper smiled at the thought. "You really think you can do this?" She asked.

"Yeah, definitely." Tony confirmed. "This one's just for me though, proof of concept, my baby." He grinned eagerly at the thought. "I'm pulling out everything, going to fit a solid Arc reactor set up to the engine, really see how far the torque can go. Hook up FRIDAY properly, satellite connection, audio, heads up display linked to the windscreen... all the bells and whistles." He smirked proudly.

"It's kinda fun," Morgan admitted with a smile. "Kind of curious to see what FRIDAY will be like in a car. Self driving cars never caught on really, but having someone like FRIDAY or FAITH take the wheel is a whole other thing to the crappy algorithms and smart coding they used in my time."

"Just don't create a sentient car Tony," Pepper groaned, shaking her head, much to Tony and Morgan's amusement. "I'm not sure how people would feel about seeing FRIDAY drive the car around on her own to come and pick you up or something."

"It'd be fun," Tony grinned at the thought.

"So, Doctor Selvig right? You need me in on this as well?" Morgan asked, looking over at her dad curiously.

"If you want?" Tony shrugged back. "Physics and R&D department, just going to be going over their stuff and seeing how interesting they are." He explained. "Scientific papers, journals, that sort of stuff?"

"Pass." Morgan said quickly, holding up her hands in surrender. "Fun science I'm totally down for, but reading papers and journals full of dull equations and star charts and whatever else those two have... I'd end up thinking of astrology and horoscopes and all that crap before I fell asleep."

"Hanging here then?" Tony asked. "Can get started on fitting the new hardware if you want?" He offered.

"Coffee first," Morgan nodded. "I'll come with, steal a pot of coffee from the office and come back." She said with a grin.

"I'll have someone find you a percolator you can bring over," Pepper rolled her eyes, knowing Morgan was completely serious and would likely just take the entire coffee machine from the office cafeteria and drag it over to the hanger if she was left to her own decisions. "Come on then, Doctor Selvig was announced at security when I came to find you."

Tony just nodded at that, striding out of the hanger with Pepper and Morgan following him, Pepper already fussing over Morgan and trying to wipe away some oil and grease from her face, a motherly action that did make Tony grin as he watched, amused by Morgan's huffing and evasion as she tried to keep Pepper from making too much of a fuss.

By now people around SI had got used to Morgan's presence. Nobody had actually come outright and asked who she was, but considering she was always seen around SI in the presence of either Tony or Pepper, and had a platinum rated security badge hanging from her jeans, they happily just assumed she was one of Tony's personal staff and just left it at that.

SI staff were more than used to Tony's erratic behaviour and antics by now, so it was just something they took in their stride and let roll over them while they continued on with their day.

It was as they walked through the main offices and up to the conference rooms that Morgan's attention and curiosity was piqued, outside of the main conference room where her dad was heading towards was a rather stunning brunette, seemingly bored and bouncing her legs impatiently as she sat on the comfortable black couches in the waiting area outside of the conference rooms and fiddled with her phone.

She was curvy, hiding it quite badly under an off the rack blouse and jacket combination, with cute glasses and ruby red lips that really stood out from her pale complexion, making it pretty clear that she wasn't one of the normal suits, scientists, or engineering types that floated around SI every day.

"Well, you're obviously not Doctor Foster?" Tony asked aloud, tilting his head as he tried to quantify the strange brunette in the waiting area.

"Uh, no sir, I mean Mr Stark... I mean Doctor Stark." The woman stammered as she stood up quickly after noticing who was speaking to her. "The doc's... Doctor Selvig and Doctor Foster I mean, they're... um..." She pointed awkwardly to the door to the main conference room over the other side of the waiting room.

"Right, my turn." Tony nodded absently. "Have fun kids." He said with a smirk back to Pepper and Morgan before he wandered towards the conference room and pushed open the doors to stride through, making his usual dramatic entrance with a smile on his lips.

"You wanted a coffee machine honey?" Pepper asked curiously, looking at Morgan who's attention was flicking between where her dad had just entered, and the strange brunette standing awkwardly in the waiting room.

"I'll hang here for a bit, head back later on." Morgan said quickly, making the decision with a smile.

"Alright, please don't steal the cafeteria coffee machine though." Pepper all but pleaded. "I'd have a revolt on my hands if the staff were denied their regular caffeine dose."

"Deal." Morgan snorted with a grin, causing her mom to roll her eyes at her.

"I'll have something sent over to the hanger, some food too. You're just as bad as your dad is when it comes to meals." Pepper said pointedly. "I'll come and see you later again alright?"

"Sure," Morgan shrugged with a smile, waiting for a beat before her mom wandered off towards the elevators to take her up to the main offices on the top floor before she casually lazed back on one of the waiting couches and looked at the new woman curiously. "So... you with Doctor Selvig then?" She asked, tilting her head as the brunette woman span her head to her with a surprised look. "You alright?" She asked, seeing the woman's wide eyed look as her eyes flickered around, looking like she was searching for something.

"Yes, um... yeah, I didn't just... I didn't just make a complete ass of myself in front of Tony Stark did I?" The woman asked hopefully, a pleading and wide eyed look on her face as she looked down at Morgan.

"Nah, you were fine." Morgan shrugged casually, waiting for the woman to sit back down and noting her form fitting skirt and small heels that she definitely approved of. The fact that she was only an inch or two taller than her was definitely fun, she didn't meet many people around her five foot two stature, so it was nice not to have to look up to someone and actually be on eye level with them.

"Oh thank god!" The woman breathed out, practically collapsing back down onto the couch behind her, causing Morgan to grin over happily. "So, do you... do you work here too?" She asked, flicking her attention back over to Morgan curiously.

"Kinda," Morgan shrugged casually, dusting off her clothes and wishing she was wearing something nicer than oil stained jeans and a now dirty Iron Maiden t-shirt from the band's gift box pile. "You?" She asked. "Don't see you as an astrophysics type?" She asked with a flirty smile.

"Polisci," The woman grinned back. "Darcy." She introduced herself with a smile.

"Morgan." Morgan grinned back, her eyes focused on that delicious smile that quirked those ruby red lips perfectly. She'd never been one for lipstick personally, but on Darcy... she might be changing her mind. Between those red lips and her bright blue eyes that were nearly hidden behind some stylish frames, she was definitely eye catching. "Just came down with the physics gang then?" She asked.

"I'm interning for extra credits," Darcy explained.

"Ah, fun." Morgan smiled, remembering her university days well enough. "Wormholes and Einstein-Rosen calculations... not really polisci territory?" She quirked an eyebrow playfully.

"Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." Darcy shot back with a grin. "What about you?" She asked. "I'm guessing engineer." She said, a smirk playing over her lips as she appraised Morgan's outfit. "Awesome taste in music though, kudos for that."

"Engineer, electronics, working on some updated implant plates for cybernetics and stuff like that, bio-engineering and nerve cluster translations." Morgan rattled off.

"Whoa," Darcy breathed out, her eyes wide as she stared over at Morgan in awe. "Holy crap girl, no wonder you're working here. This place must be like heaven to someone like you."

"Pretty close." Morgan laughed. It wasn't her own Stark International compound from the future, but having her mom and dad here, alive and working with her, made it as close to heaven as it could possibly get really. "Just working on an old classic Mustang, sixties classic. Fixing up an electric engine to replace the guts, tearing the whole thing apart and fitting some extra tech before we start working on the framework." She explained. "Hence the oil and... you know, other stains."

"Totally get that." Darcy nodded. "Sweet ride too, what I wouldn't do to have a day out in a car like that." She smiled wistfully at the thought.

"When I get it fished I'll see if I can borrow it sometime and take you out for a drive." Morgan said with a flirty smile, seeing Darcy's raised eyebrows as she spoke.

"Like... seriously?" Darcy whispered. "Damn girl, you are the whole package." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"Cars aren't really my thing, give me a decent bike any day, but tearing out an old classic and updating it is all kinds of fun." Morgan explained with a grin. "Are you coming with the two astro docs then?" She asked, acting more confident now that she'd cast her net and it hadn't been instantly thrown aside.

"Probably," Darcy nodded. "I've been with Jane for nearly two years now, I can't just abandon her to Tony Stark's mercy, she'd be lost without me." She grinned back.

"Great stuff," Morgan smiled back. "Will be nice to have someone fun around for a change."

"You're doing the R 'n' D stuff too?" Darcy asked with wide eyes before shaking her head. "Right, cybernetics and stuff, of course you'll be there." She laughed. "You said you were looking for coffee? You know your way around this place then?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah?" Morgan quirked an eyebrow at that. "You want coffee?" She asked with a flirty smile.

"I like coffee," Darcy smiled back playfully, standing up from her couch and stepping over, offering her hand out to help Morgan stand up too.

"Me too." Morgan smiled as she accepted the help and indicated which way they should walk to find the staff cafeteria.

It might not be a proper coffee date, but it was coffee together, so it could be a start.

---

"So, you both came, great!" Tony grinned widely as he pushed through the double doors to the conference room, striding in and startling both Doctor Selvig and Doctor Foster where they were sat at the conference table going over a set of bound papers between them. "Heard you were over in New Mexico, thought it'd be good to get a meeting while you were close instead of flying off to god knows where."

"Ah, Doctor Stark." Doctor Selvig smiled as he stood up, holding his hand out for Tony to shake. "A pleasure to meet you." He said with a warm smile. "This is Doctor Foster." He said, introducing the younger woman that had stood up alongside him.

"I know," Tony grinned at them both, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting down comfortably. "Seriously, I looked you both up, went through your papers and research journals." He explained. "I don't book a meeting with anyone without knowing everything I need to first."

"Of course." Doctor Selvig nodded as he sat back down, that was perfectly understandable really.

"So, wormholes." Tony said bluntly, getting the discussion sorted, looking over at Doctor Foster now. "I read your paper, pretty high end stuff. Atmospheric disturbances proceeding the formation of an Einstein-Rosen bridge, lets you track them."

"For starters." Doctor Foster nodded. "You actually read my papers?" She asked in surprise. Normally anyone that read any of her papers or journals either scoffed or dismissed her work entirely without even contemplating whether it was possible or not.

"Sure," Tony waved the thought away. "Quantum tunnelling, power source would be a bitch, especially given the equations you've got so far. Fusion power would work, but it'd kick out a hell of a lot of exotic particles to create the wormhole. Arc would be more reliable, safer, give a cleaner power line straight through with no fluctuations." He rattled off off of the top of his head. "You want to create your own wormhole?" He asked curiously.

"I want to prove that Einstein-Rosen bridges are a scientific fact, not just theory." Doctor Foster replied firmly.

"Great, we're on the same page." Tony nodded. "I can get you the power." He said after thinking through the equations and double checking them again. "Arc power to kickstart the process. You'd need a specialised lab, an area to shield from the event horizon." He mused. "Breaking the Coulomb barrier is going to be a bitch though."

"I was still stuck on the power requirements needed to generate..." Doctor Foster whispered in awe.

"These are facilities you are constructing at your new research laboratory Doctor Stark?" Doctor Selvig asked, seeing how Jane had completely lost herself in her mind now and was going over every equation she could think of.

"To start with," Tony nodded. "Call me Tony, too many Doctors in this room, I think we can all stick to names if we're going to be working together right?" He asked with a smile.

"That sounds wise," Doctor Selvig chuckled, pleased by the drop in formality and the more casual discussion.

"Look, I'm serious here." Tony said, clapping his hands together. "R 'n' D compound. I'm getting the basics built up now, but it's going to be THE place for R 'n' D stacked with all the toys." He explained with a grin. "I've got a few other people I'm headhunting, but you two are the first. Building up a full think tank, not just physics... anything and everything, a place to really think outside of the box and start knocking our heads together."

"Might I ask... are there other names I might know?" Doctor Selvig asked curiously.

"Probably, one of them definitely." Tony smirked. "Bruce Banner. Genetics, radiation, got a few quirks and a little green problem like a big grumpy Yoda, but he's high up on my list." He explained, watching the two for their reaction's carefully.

"Doctor Banner?" Doctor Foster piped up curiously. "I've read some of his work, his papers on anti-electron collision theory are breathtaking." She said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, they were good stuff, and Helen Cho." Tony waved off the name when neither of the scientists recognised her. "Geneticist, working on artificial regeneration, genetic rebuilding, healing and limb regeneration." He explained casually. "She's pretty hot with it, I think with some proper funding and a license to go wild, she'll really be something special."

He didn't need to think that of course, he knew outright from FAITH's future database that Helen Cho had perfected her cradle technology in the future, and had worked at SI after the whole ULTRON mess. So there was no guess work here, he knew that she was brilliant and was going to do amazing things, so getting her on board early was a no brainer really.

"You really mean to cover as many branches as possible then," Doctor Selvig nodded, more than a bit impressed by the picture Doctor Stark was painting.

"Definitely," Tony smiled happily. "Trust me, I've got things in the works that'll blow your mind." He smirked proudly. "It's about time people stopped being limited by what they thought was impossible, and started really pushing the boundaries."

"I couldn't agree more!" Doctor Foster smiled enthusiastically. "What about oversight? Directed research? Development guidance?" She asked. "Will the military have any say in our research and how it could be used."

"None." Tony said flatly. "The entire compound will be strictly R 'n' D, SI funded, I'll even be tossing my own money into the hat." He explained. "No government oversight, no military funding. If you want something or want to look into something different, shout for me, other than that... the skies the limit, well, stars actually, or further if your wormhole starts kicking things out." He finished with a laugh.

"That almost sounds too good to be true." Doctor Foster said wearily. "I know enough to know that nothing comes for free Doctor Stark."

"True enough," Tony nodded. "Any inventions or anything that comes out of the complex, SI gets first bid on the patent. A discount, thirty percent, that's it." He said with a shrug. "I'm not doing this completely altruistically, but if you work for me for ten years and only have one breakthrough... that's a steal for you isn't it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only thirty percent discount?" Doctor Foster asked.

"Like I said, that's it." Tony shrugged. "I've got so much in the pipeline that breakthroughs are going to be coming down like rain. I don't need to write binding contracts or force people into grinding out patents for me. Literally, if you knew what I've got releasing, just this summer, it'll blow your mind." He said with a wide grin. "Phones, tablets, processors, circuit boards." He ticked off his fingers. "I've got search and rescue contracts with the Air Force, armour, non lethal weaponry for the police and emergency services." He continued on. "That's just this year, not to mention Arc technology scaled up to power buildings, towns, entire cities in a few years."

"I take your point," Doctor Selvig breathed out, literally stunned by the amount of projects Doctor Stark had just rattled off off of the top of his head.

"Those are just the ones I'm personally involved in and aren't confidential." Tony shrugged. "Then the rest of SI? Other R 'n' D? The Expo and whatever the lab techs around here cook up when they're bored?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're really serious then?" Doctor Foster asked, wide eyed as she tried to contemplate just how much money Doctor Stark would be making from those projects alone. The number was easily in the billions just talking about things like cell phones and computer processors, and if he was serious about scaling up his Arc power to city wide plants... he was talking about obscene amounts of money on top of what the billionaire was already worth.

"I wouldn't invite you in if I wasn't." Tony shrugged, leaning back on his chair casually. "There's my spiel, I think you'd be a good fit, both of you." He explained. "Now it's your turn. Convince me I'm not wasting my time here." He said with a smirk, watching as Doctor Selvig and Doctor Foster turned to each other with wide eyes.

They hesitated for only a moment before Doctor Foster picked up the thick tome of papers she'd been going over with Doctor Selvig when he'd entered the room, and started to talk about her theories and formulae she believed were fundamental in opening a stable Einstein-Rosen bridge.

---

It was over an hour later when Tony emerged from the conference room, smiling widely and laughing alongside Doctor Selvig as they walked back out into the lounge slash waiting area, happy with the deal they'd struck and the promise of what the future might bring.

Doctor Selvig was going to tender his resignation at Culver University immediately, he would likely have to deal with some discussions with the university board or requests for further information regarding his tenure, but it wouldn't really hinder his plans in the slightest.

Doctor Foster was equally as enthusiastic, and while Tony had explained that all of the facilities weren't up and running yet at the new compound, the living areas certainly were, and if they wanted to move in and start discussing what their specific needs were for their laboratories, he was more than happy for them to move in as soon as they wanted.

The two had both happily accepted the offer, debating that they could easily return to New Mexico in a few months with vastly more advanced sensors and start gathering proper data on the phenomenon before really putting their equations to work in proving Doctor Foster's wormhole theories.

Tony was so busy chatting with Doctor Selvig about other possible uses for the prismatic ring accelerator, that he almost didn't notice the way Morgan was sat on the couch with the strange brunette woman from before, both were sat at either ends of the same couch with mugs of coffee clearly from the staff cafeteria, the Stark Industries white and black mugs were a clear give away, but they were turned and leaning on the arms of the couch to face each other, talking and laughing, and sharing some frankly disturbing smiles between the pair of them.

"Darcy, oh my god, we're doing it, we're really doing it!" Jane babbled out as she dashed over, sinking down and practically crushing Darcy in a hug.

Tony ignored the hug, but did raise his eyebrows at what he was pretty damn sure was a flash of envy in Morgan's eyes as she watched the pair.

"Really?" Darcy grinned with a little bounce on the couch when Jane released her. "New York, really?" She asked.

"Yep," Tony grinned down, amused by the little brunette, if a bit disturbed at the way his daughter was watching her. "You part of the package too shortstack?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, curious who the woman was and why she'd just been waiting outside during the meeting.

"Sorry, this is Darcy, she's my assistant... Erik's intern, and the one that collated all the papers and research and keeps my brain on track." Jane admitted with a small smile, feeling vastly more comfortable around Tony Stark now after spending some time discussing high energy physics and laughing with the man.

"Gotcha, know that feeling, got a couple of my own just to keep up with me." Tony admitted with a laugh. "The more the merrier, I'll set up things in Albany, security passes, make sure everything's up to spec. You guys can head on over whenever you're ready."

"Thank you again Doctor Stark." Doctor Selvig smiled honestly, holding his hand out again for Tony to shake.

"Tony, really." Tony sighed but shook the offered hand. "I'm probably going to be in and out of the compound regularly anyway, so I'll be around, and if you need me urgently... I'll set something up." He said, waving the thought away to mull over later on.

"Erik then," Doctor Selvig smiled. "I'm... we're certainly thankful for your generous offer, and I think working together will be a pleasure and a learning experience all around."

"Probably all of the above," Tony smiled at the thought. "You guys good from here? Or do I need to shout for someone to take you back down to parking?"

"I think we can manage," Jane said with a smile over at Tony. "Thank you though, honestly, you don't know how much it means to have someone actually take my work seriously and believe in my theories."

"I know how that is," Tony nodded seriously. "Let me know when you're moving in, I'll fly up and show you around the place myself."

"I look forward to it." Erik smiled again. "Shall we then?" He asked, looking to Jane and Darcy.

"Sure," Darcy beamed, standing up from the couch and offering a nervous smile at Tony. "Uh, it was cool meeting you. And... uh, I guess we'll be working together soon."

"Apparently so," Tony smirked, a bit amused by how Morgan's eyes lit up at that idea as she stood up from the couch as well.

"More coffee?" Darcy asked, turning to Morgan now with a playful and flirtatious smile on her lips.

"Decent coffee next time, I promise." Morgan shot back with her own flirty smile and a wink, much to Tony's horror.

"I'll hold you to that drive too," Darcy winked back with a laugh.

"Alright, that's enough." Jane chuckled nervously as she started shepherding Darcy away from the unknown woman. "Thank you again Doctor Stark." She said with a smile.

"Again, call me Tony." Tony shook his head in amusement. "Have fun kids." He smiled as he stuck his hands in his pockets and idly watched the two doctors practically dragging the strange woman out of the waiting area and down the corridor towards the elevators. "What was that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk as he looked over to Morgan, following her eye-line and raising his other eyebrow when he saw she was staring at the shortstack's rather curvaceous ass as she was being shepherded away by the two astrophysicists.

"What?" Morgan grinned back, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Flirting?" Tony grinned as the slight blush he could already see rising up on Morgan's cheeks.

"What?" Morgan parroted. "She was cute." She said with a grin. "Mom said she told you." She said, turning her attention away from the direction Darcy had gone and focusing on her father again.

"Not denying that," Tony mused. The strange brunette was definitely pretty, curvier than his tastes ran, but definitely cute. "Just... it's going to take me a minute, I'm used to having a daughter now... having a daughter flirt with some random intern?" He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Pft, you and mom flirt in front of me all the time," Morgan gagged playfully. "And I know what you used to be like. I've seen your google remember?"

"Right," Tony grimaced at that. "I don't have to tell you to be careful or..."

"LA LA LA LA LA!" Morgan yelled loudly, covering her ears and walking away. "Nope, not listening, nope, a world of no, not happening!"

Tony couldn't help but laugh at that, jogging to catch up with Morgan and continue teasing her as they headed back to their hanger together, considering the strange brunette and wondering if he should start running security checks on her already.

After all, he had to make sure the quirky nervous shortstack was good enough for his little girl, that was a father's prerogative after all. And if it meant he could get in some more teasing at Morgan's expense, all the better.