Avengers Wreckage

Chapter 37

Tony Stark was busy as hell. Congress was pushing a very draconian superhuman registration act, and he had his people working to mitigate it. There was his east coast duties with the Avengers, and trying to run his company.

And then there was this.

"It's not possible," Tony said, looking at a photo of two women eating dinner together.

Beth Cabe looked at her boss and replied, "To the best of my knowledge the photo hasn't been manipulated.'

"But she's dead," Tony muttered.

The photo was of Clymnestra Erwin and Monica Rappaccini, eating out at a LA hotspot. Taken by a SHIELD operative.

"How did Erwin die?" Beth asked.

"She and her brother worked with me back when Stane took over my company," Tony remembered. "When I started to recover and started a small business with them, Stane bombed the building, killing her brother."

Tony got up, going around his desk and getting a water from the fridge. He clearly wanted something alcoholic, but stopped himself.

"What I didn't realize was that Cly blamed me for her brother's death," Tony sighed. "She worked with a faction of Advanced Idea Mechanics to try to kill me. Sadly a mini-jet crashed into a building she was in, killing her."

"Did you find a body?" Beth asked him calmly. "And if so, did you confirm it wasn't a Life Model Decoy?"

"No," Tony admitted with a sigh.

Beth used her tablet to blow up the image of Cly. "Lot of scars, and I think that's a metal exoframe under her clothes," she noted.

"Well, it looks like AIM rescued her and put her back together," Tony sighed.

"That's the head of the main AIM branch she's sitting with," Beth agreed.

Tony looked thoughtful as he asked, "Do we know where they went?"

Beth looked sheepish for the first time. "SHIELD kind of dropped the ball. They only tagged Monica, and they gave surveilance the slip," she said.

"So at best we know that she's LA based,' Tony sighed. "That's a big haystack to search for a single needle."

"We'll put SHIELD on it...," Beth trailed off.

"Yes?" Tony guessed he wasn't going to like this.

"Ask Force Works for help too."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Master Planner's eerie, cloak garbed form appeared before the villains. "Iron Man has been sighted in the city," it said, "put all operations on hold."

"We can take him!" Whiplash, a minor Iron Man villain, called out.

"Many have said that, but he's still here," Master Planner noted.

Red Beetle spoke up, "And even assuming we win, what then?" He shrugged, "Every active and reserve Avenger ever descends on LA to kick our asses."

Master Planner was faintly surprised at Red Beetle's intelligence, not that they showed it. "Precisely," they said. "Armored agents, especially, keep your heads down. I'm certain Iron Man can detect and track your technology."

There were grumbled, but no one was arguing.

"We are done," and they disappeared.

In her semi-secret headquarters, Carolyn Trainor took off her holographic rig, then sat back with a frown.

"Trouble?" Tinkerer asked. Phineas Mason was a whizened, wheelchair bound old man, but he was brilliant with technology.

"Iron Man's been sighted in town." Carolyn replied.

"Ah. What I'd give to get at intact pieces of his technology," Phineas sighed.

Curiously Carolyn asked, "Haven't pieces of his tech appeared on the black market?"

"They're usually deliberately put out on the market by Stark, boobytrapped," Phineas said with a grumpy sigh.

"All right, that makes sense," Carolyn mused. She added, "We should keep our heads down too, as a precaution."

"Such a pain," Phineas muttered.

Carolyn was going to use a hologram to disguise herself, then realized that might be tracked by Stark too. Instead she donned a hat, sunglasses, and headed out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Olivia Stane raised her eyebrow as she saw the call coming in. "Tony," she smiled coolly, "what can i do for you?"

"I have some information for you," Tony stark said briskly then added, "and... I may need your assistance."

"I'm listening," Olivia nodded.

"let me transmit you an image," Tony did. "This is Clymnestra Erwin and Monica Rappaccini. Monica is the head of a branch of AIM, and I think she's in LA."

Olivia scowled, "It's related to the tech robberies, isn't it?"

"I think it's likely AIM is tied up in it somewhere," Tony answered.

Olivia sat back, looking at him thoughtfully. "So how does Clymnestra fit into this?" she asked him pointedly.

"That's a long story," Tony admitted.

Olivia felt a pang of guilt over her father's actions. Then listened in sorrow over his friend's breakdown and apparent death.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said gently.

"Thanks," Tony sighed.

Getting back to business Olivia noted, "You're assuming she's now working for AIM. Do you think she still wants revenge?"

"That's what concerns me," Tony sighed.

"Other than AIM generally being around LA, do you have any idea where they are?" Olivia asked with a sigh.

"Sorry to say no," Tony admitted. "They also have multiple shell companies and huge amounts of money to use."

"Oh, even better," Olivia sighed too. She made a decision, "I'll ask my team to keep an eye out for both, as well as AIM activity. That's about all I can promise."

"That's enough, thank you," Tony said. "I owe you one."

After Tony hung up, she smiled wryly. "And one day I'm going to collect."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"DANVERS!" Ron Black yelled.

Carol left her desk and trotted over to his office. "Yes sir?" she asked.

"You sure about this" Ron asked, holding a print out of her latest story.

"Edwin Cord is defrauding investors and promising tech he can't deliver," Carol told him, "I've consulted with experts on it."

"He's going to be pissed. And his lawyers are going to want your hide," Ron noted. "If tgey sue, we'll throw you under the bus."

"Got it," Carol nodded.

"You're not surprised?" Ron noted.

No, not really," she smiled at him wryly. Carol added, "Mind if I get back to it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ron waved her out of his office.

"Congrats, looks like you'll get another cover story," Monica Stewart said cheerfully.

"Assuming I don't get sued," Carol noted.

"There is that," Monica agreed.

"What are you doing slumming with the crime reporter?" Carol teased. Because she had refused all offers to go out with the others, she was mostly tollerated but not liked. Much.

"Looking for some info. Cordco is really bogus?" Monica asked.

Carol shrugged, "Yes and no? They're a real company, but they're promising the public tech they can't deliver."

"Fuck. My sister in law tried to talk me into buying in," Monica muttered.

"You dodged a bullet then," Carol said.

"Okay, thanks," Monica waved and walked off.

'I hope she didn't actually buy it,' Carol mused. She set to work on a story on the latest drug shooting in the city. Trashy, but it also sold papers.

To be continued...

Notes: It didn't occur to me when I wrote it, but SHIELD would almost certainly notice the head of AIM going out to dinner. So...