"Just ask, dad," Grey finally snapped, rolling over on the couch to sit up, pulling away from where they'd been leaning against each other. "You're terrible at this beating around the bush shit."
"Are you on drugs?" Tony asked bluntly.
"I'm actively sitting here smoking weed, I would love it if you could explain that question." Grey couldn't quite stop the disbelieving snort as she held up her weed pen. She took another pull from it and blew the smoke away from Tony. "If you're asking if I'm doing other drugs, the answer is no, although I do occasionally want a stronger painkiller after sparring with Jim."
"I've been asking about you," Tony said, back to his hedging. Grey refrained from rolling her eyes. "About how you were when I was gone, Jim mentioned a crash that sounded like something out of my party days."
Grey's face hardened to stone as she understood what Tony was asking her. Her expression twisted, and Tony could tell he poured gasoline on the fire that was her anger. He was bracing for the verbal blow when it went out. Grey slumped and collapsed against the back of the couch.
"Happy caught me mid-breakdown in June," Grey said in a monotone. Tony wondered if this was the tone he used with his mom when she was worrying unnecessarily. "I was starting to realize what was happening to me, and you were gone, and Pepper was doubting me, and things were said by both of us that were intended to hurt. I wasn't gonna do anything, I just wanted to hide. He put me in touch with a friend of his from the Marines that became a psychiatrist. I'm not on drugs, I'm bi-polar. It's not cocaine, it's a manic episode. I've had tolerable ones so far, no crazy weird thoughts, just energy thank fuck. Oh, and the chronic pain? The radiating pain that doesn't seem to have anything causing it? Really doesn't have anything causing it! I have to deal with it forever!"
Grey's anger flared again, but she melted against his side when Tony pulled her close. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm before settling it on her shoulder.
"I have a third less of the lung capacity I should have," Tony said softly. "And at least ten pieces of a bomb still in my heart kept still by a magnet. Starks might be made of iron, but we sure are a fragile lot, aren't we?"
Grey couldn't help the outrageous laugh that burst out of her at Tony's teasing tone. She wiped tears out of her eyes and sniffed but kept smiling.
"C'mon kid, I'm your dad," Tony said, speaking again. "You can talk to me about anything."
And Grey did. She told him about her doubts, her fears, her diagnoses and even her relationship with Bucky. He listened, never judged, and didn't offer advice unless it was asked for. Then Grey listened while Tony spoke. She got to hear his side of the foam accident, and all about his crush on Pepper from the very beginning. He talked about the Legacies and growing up knowing there were expectations on him that he didn't know. Grey held his hand when he talked about Maria who taught him Italian and Piano, and how to make his own pasta, even though he hadn't really set foot in a kitchen since she died.
When Pepper found them the next morning, sleeping half on top of each other, she merely took a picture and tossed a blanket over them. She was quietly glad they were becoming the father-daughter duo they had been trying to portray. She knew them both well enough to know they both deserved it.
Line Break
"Alright, you know what, old man," Grey snarked, glaring over the top of her tablet at her dad. She waited until he was looking at her to continue with, "you and I? We're gonna fight."
"Good," Bucky said, not looking up from the gun he was cleaning meticulously. "Knock his ass out, he needs a damn nap."
Jim was the first one to lose composure and start laughing. Grey went next, falling out of her chair as she clutched one hand to her heart. She was still laying there, gasping for air, when Pepper walked in with Happy.
"Pepper, they're being mean!" Tony pouted, sending half-hearted glares at his best friend and his daughter. Grey started roaring with laughter again, losing her battle with calm. It set Jim off again, who finally set Bucky off. Pepper stared at them as she tried to figure out what happened.
"Grey said that she was gonna fight Sir," Jarvis said dryly. Pepper turned her attention to the ceiling. The AI was the only one not laughing or pouting. "Sergeant Barnes responded with 'Knock his ass out, he needs a damn nap.'"
Pepper snorted before forcing herself to ignore the humor. Happy, however, lost it as he heard Bucky's voice coming through the speakers.
"I want to put that on a plaque," Pepper said softly. "Or a t-shirt. Because that's the best thing I've ever heard."
"Oh!" Grey shouted, rolling over until she could stand up. "Put it on like a tank or something, we can wear them during training!"
"Speaking of, now that everyone is here, Grey, didn't you want to adjust that?" Bucky asked. Grey frowned, then lit up.
"Yes, thanks. Dad and I have been looking at the suits, and we need to change course. Less cardio – thank God – more into strength training and stamina."
"The framework of the suit is going to do a lot of the heavy lifting, and these are heavy. The strength of the suit alone is designed to overpower a Winter Soldier," Tony put in, shaking off his pout. "They're walking tanks."
"After Tony explained how the repulsors work, I'm adjusting your hand to hand to incorporate Jiu-Jitsu. Pepper, I do want you to keep going with the judo because you have real skill there," Bucky said, sounding remarkably like an encouraging teacher. Grey couldn't help the swell of pride she had for how far he'd come. She knew that he still had a long way to go – he wasn't sleeping every night and wasn't sleeping through the night when he was. But any progress was amazing as far as she was concerned.
"And I'm going to be teaching everyone how to properly aim when firing missiles, what kind of missiles will be in the suits, and how each missile works," Jim said. "I refuse to watch you all act like rookie pilots on their first day of flight training, it's embarrassing."
"Lots of learning in our futures then," Pepper said, slightly overwhelmed. "Good to know. Grey, I need a series of signatures, miss CEO."
"Okay. There's still time before Lyn summons us for dinner. And I had a question about hiring practices."
The boys watched them walk away, then exchanged bemused looks. Jim was the first one to speak, "Anybody else worried that those two are going to accidentally take over the world?"
"Accidentally? No." Bucky shook his head. "I think they're going to mean every single thing they do, and that's what should worry us. I'm going for a beer, anyone else?"
"Water for me," Tony said, surprising Jim. "I think it's time I step away from Howard's alcoholic legacy. Or at least try to."
"Water for me too," Jim said. "I'm on duty tomorrow, and General Morrow is gonna remain mad at me until y'alls lunch later this month."
"For the Exo suits, for pararescue, yeah! I need to remember to set aside time for that concept design. After I finish the boot thrusters, then coding Grey's gift," Tony said, nodding. "Jarvis, once I finish project Bambina, remind me to start on the wings."
"Of course, Sir," Jarvis said, flashing the lights.
"I'm here for the weekend," Jim said, checking his phone. "I can help with the boot thrusters. I'm only on duty Friday."
Iron Man
"And you've done the math for this?" Grey demanded again, looking warily at the arc reactor on her hip, powering the boot thrusters.
"I've already done a test with the boots, kid," Tony said, scrunching his nose as he adjusted something on his computer. "I had to recalibrate it from my reactor."
"The math is different for the different reactors?" Jim asked, frowning.
"Dads has to divert a specific amount of power just for the magnet keeping the shrapnel out of his heart," Grey said. Tony had drilled construction of the reactor into her head. The two of them were the only ones that could manufacture a miniaturized reactor without blueprints. "So these are giving off more power than his does, we might need a lower output than he does to achieve base flight."
"The suit will handle all the inflight calculations, so we won't have to," Tony said, lecturing as he worked. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but Pepper, or his therapist, but he really enjoyed having people listen to his science babble. When he thought about the fact that they were interested in the science, and him, he felt warm. He wouldn't admit that either. "This is just so each of us can get used to maneuvering around before we strap on the suits."
"So that leaves us with the most important question of the day," Grey said, rocking onto her toes before realizing what she was doing.
"Frosty the snowman, do you want to learn to fly?" Tony finished, spinning around to look hopefully up at the assassin.
"Jesus, with the eyes," Bucky said, caving after four seconds. "Those are the real lethal weapon you created. Doesn't help they look just like Grey's."
"Is that a yes?" Grey asked, a soft expression on her face as she looked at him.
"Of course, I want to fly, what kinda idiot do you think I am?" Bucky said, grinning. Pepper held her fist out for a bump, the same excited grin on her face. "Let's get going!"
"What did yours factor in at?" Grey asked, nodding her head toward his similar set up.
"Ten percent was good for me, wanna start there?" Grey's eyes flickered, an image of Tony smacking into the ceiling coming immediately to mind. It was her favorite scene, to be fair.
"Let's start at five," Grey said, blinking rapidly. "I'd rather not smack into the ceiling. I rather like my nose, thanks."
Tony made the adjustments and hit the button without warning, sending Grey shooting up about a foot and a half before she caught her balance with a shriek and a curse. She balanced out, wobbling almost dangerously a few times. Tony adjusted the line of code until she looked relaxed.
"Two point seven, seems good for you," Tony called out. "Ten would've sent you through the roof, good call kid."
"Happy to be of service. Gods below I've gotta start doing more core work this is a bitch without a frame." Tony cut the power and sent Grey dropping to the ground. "Who wants to go next?"
Three hands flew into the air, Pepper's almost smacking into Jim as she tried to step forward too, intent on being first.
Pepper spent her flight with a wide smile on her face as she treated it like a surfboard. When she was dropped to the ground, she almost pouted.
Jim went next and swore, rapidly the whole time he was in the air. When he landed, he beamed at Tony, pride and love visible as he looked at the genius of his best friend.
Bucky kept a neutral expression the entire time he was in the air, not relaxing until he was on the ground again.
"I really don't like that harness," were the first words out of his mouth. "Jarvis, will you call Lilian, see if she's got time today?"
"Are you okay sugar?" Grey asked, hesitantly reaching out to touch Bucky's cheek. He caught her hand and pressed it to his face, giving her a small smile.
"Yes. I am. And the flying was amazing, that harness just brought up a lot of emotions."
"When you're ready, you and I can sit and design a flight harness that won't trigger you," Tony piped up. "This was only for this test flight anyway, and won't be present in any suit you fly."
"So sure, I'm gonna let you put me in a tin can, huh, Stark?" Bucky teased, relaxing from whatever bad memories he was still dealing with.
"Gotta protect my family," Tony said, strangely serious. Bucky gave him a long look, then smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners with the force of his smile. "Any other feedback, let me hear it or risk getting an uncomfortable suit."
"There's a good chance, at least once Grey and I are gonna end up pulling the suit on over a skirt and heels, can you make something that can adapt around those?"
"Probably not mark two, but I'll add it to the worklist. Our jobs should be mostly planned for a while, right?" Tony asked, glancing at Grey.
"Everything is on our call until 2012, then I'm sure we're all fucked," Grey said. She had her arm around Bucky's, trying to offer comfort.
"I want it to be standard, each model is embedded with a tracker, one not powered by the reactor, in case of emergency," Jim said. "And a way to reach out to us."
"I'll do you one better," Tony said, moving away from his desk. U came around the corner with six jewelry boxes in the basket on his back. "One for each of us, Happy too, when he gets back with groceries. Similar to the Legacy bracelets, but these are just for the family."
Platinum bracelets greeted them. Simple and plain faced, there wasn't a screen; when the gemstone was pressed twice, the coordinates lit up. The other bracelets lit up, the same coordinates, and the interior of the bracelet heated up, warning that someone needed something.
"Lilian is free only now, I gotta take this appointment, sorry," Bucky said, quickly pressing a kiss to the top of Grey's head as he left, his phone in his hand, and his new bracelet around his right wrist.
"We really gotta do something about that prosthetic," Tony said, shaking his head. "Anyway, anymore feedback?"
"Make sure you put something in our palms to prevent burn," Grey said, glancing down at the boot thrusters. "These can give off serious heat, and we all work with our hands, let's protect them, yeah?"
"Bucky designed tactical suits for us all," Pepper said, looking at the folder he'd handed her as he rushed out. "Flight suits, whatever you want to call them. Even gave us gloves!"
"Make mine fingerless, else I'll meltdown, please," Grey called out absently, still inspecting her bracelet.
"Me too, actually," Tony said, taking notes. "Jarvis, you've got the specs, how long?"
"I can fabricate a single suit in seventeen hours, sir," Jarvis said, flashing the walls blue. Tony beamed and flashed him a thumbs up. Grey could just almost hear the fabricators in the next room start working under Jarvis' guidance.
Iron Man
"Hey you," Grey said softly, walking out to the poolside, where Bucky was watching the sun set.
"Hey, come on out, it's beautiful out," Bucky said, not turning around. Grey walked out, a towel wrapped around her, her bathing suit just noticeable. She left the towel on a lounger and sat next to him, lowering her feet into the water. "In the early days, Hydra had a harness on me, to keep me in the chair. It just freaked me out for a moment. I'm okay, though, really."
"Good," Grey said, leaning against him. "Sorry I didn't realize it was gonna do that."
"It's not your job to protect me from every bad thing in the world, Grey," Bucky said softly, but firm. "Big things, yeah sure, a heads up would be fantastic, but I don't need you to try and anticipate my every panic attack."
"I know," Grey said, not sorry for her concerns. "I'd do it if I could, you know that, though."
"I know." Bucky let the silence go for a moment, enjoying the moment.
"Dad said that once Stane is dealt with, he's gonna devote his efforts to redoing that arm for you. Are you okay to wait?"
"If I was still with Hydra, they wouldn't even bother, I really don't mind waiting. Is he going to use the adamantium to fortify the suit?"
"Yeah, it's heavy, but not too much for the reactor. Pepper and I might have to step up our strength training though," Grey said, scrunching her nose up as she thought. The water felt good on her legs, so she pushed herself in fully, leaning against the wall. Bucky was quick to pull his shirt off and join her. This might not have been the life he imagined for him, back in Brooklyn, but it was shaping up to be something incredible.
Iron Man
"But it still doesn't explain why he had the serum in his trunk! Stark Industries hasn't toyed with that serum since Cap decided to spend seventy years as a freaking popsicle," Tony whined as he tightened something on the exoskeleton, he was building to house the suit. "You didn't learn anything, did you?"
"I barely remember the mission," Bucky said, handing over a different sized wrench. Tony took with quiet thanks, locking the bolt into place. "It was a retrieval, but I was ordered to leave no witnesses."
"Except for the camera," Tony said, trying not to pout. He wasn't used to not getting answers. "Jay, have you had any luck tracking down that video?"
"You'll have to ask Miss Stark for the video, Sir, if you are determined to watch it," Jarvis said, the walls around them flashing blue. "I believe Hydra has it on a closed server, one I cannot access without direct access."
"That's inconvenient. Keep searching through SHIELD and SI servers, with the access you have," Tony said, glaring at something on the exoskeleton. "This is wrong, Buck, pass me the soldering kit, if I leave this, it'll shatter on impact, cause irreparable damage to someone's leg."
Bucky was quick to pass it over, moving the paper blueprints out of the way.
"Why do you want the video?" Bucky asked.
"I need to get desensitized to seeing it," Tony said diplomatically. He paused to finish the soldering; his nose scrunched. "Grey warned me that in 2016 Cap's gonna start some shit over it, and it's gonna end up being shown to me. I don't wanna do something stupid in grief and attack you."
"You are remarkably calm about this." Bucky braced for the other shoe to drop.
"Grey warned me what happened. That Stane's behind it all doesn't surprise me, anymore. And yeah, it fucking blows that you killed my ma, but it was on Hydra's orders, and it wasn't exactly something you wanted to do, so I'm trying to be a good person about this."
"I was prepared for your anger," Bucky said softly. "I was the one that did it."
"Yeah, well, Hydra's really good at taking away people's free will," Tony said. He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. The reactor glowed through his t shirt. He knew that this was going to be hard, even with the three months he'd been working this particular problem in the back of his mind. He knew, logically, that Barnes hadn't been fully present when Hydra ordered the hit on his parents. That said, he didn't have to like it that his mother's killer was sleeping with his daughter. "I don't like what you did. And if I could stop thinking about it, I really would. But I trust you. You've earned it, protecting Grey."
"She protects me," Bucky said, reeling with the open acceptance. He'd expected Tony, at least, to throw a fit about his living there. He'd prepared a go-bag, ready to leave if it was asked of him. But it never happened. Tony had shaken his hand. Tony trusted him.
"She protects us all," Tony corrected. "I think that's her real gift."
"Can she actually see the future?" Bucky asked quietly. "Hydra's dying to get their hands on enhanced people. They've experimented and gone insane looking everywhere. Dr List is practically a fanatic, and Whitehall… He makes me sick to my stomach."
"I think she's a genius," Tony said. "I think she can see connections that we can't even imagine existing. She doesn't just see the bigger picture, she can see everything, all at once. The big players, the little ones, even people we think aren't connected, she can find the exact right connection to pull."
"She says she's had them her whole life," Bucky said.
"Jim and I didn't believe her until 9/11. In the week before she would wake up screaming from nightmares of the attack. And then it happened. The most devastating attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor." Tony looked sick. "It was like something unlocked after that. She was proved right, we believed her, and then they started coming all the time. Her glowing eyes is a fun party trick she came up with, asked Jarvis to help her make it happen. She said it was important, so I didn't question it."
"Her eyes don't actually glow?" Bucky demanded, feeling cheated.
"Contacts controlled by the necklace she wears, with the power button on her ring. I think she's just dramatic." Tony frowned and started working on a joint on the exoskeleton, adjusting it with a wrench until it fell apart. He replaced a metal rod with another and started soldering again. "But if she says it's important, I've given up questioning her."
"She told you not to go to Afghanistan, didn't she?" Bucky asked, handing things over as Tony needed them. Bucky watched him place a hinge on right-side up, then flip it so it was upside down.
"Begged, actually," Tony said bitterly. "I told her no, it was my responsibility, not hers."
"She offered to go in your place?" Bucky asked. "Sounds like her."
"She called it my origin story. Told me that she could give me all the information I would need if I stayed home. I couldn't do it."
"Why?" That was the question Tony kept asking himself. Why had he gone to Afghanistan instead of believing Grey? Why hadn't he stayed in America where he'd have been safe? Why had he allowed a car battery to power his heart?
"Something Howard said to me once," Tony said finally. "Starks have responsibilities. Things we have to do, that's why Starks are made of iron. Except for the fact that Helen said I was anemic. I think I wanted to go. I wanted to change into the person Grey always told me I was. I wanted to give up the playboy ways, I want to settle down, build something worth it."
"And getting kidnapped was the best way to do that?"
"Blank slate," Tony shrugged. "I can do anything I want, now."
"You could before," Bucky said. "You're Tony freaking Stark. Hydra operatives have a blanket do not interact order on you. All of them. We are to either murder you outright or stay very far away from you. You're, what, the richest person alive? The smartest person alive? Who cares about everyone else? If I were you, I'd buy an island very far away and retire. Raise alpacas or some shit."
"Something was holding me back before. Maybe it was the near-death experience, or the torture, or having a car-battery attached to my heart, but I just don't care about what people think anymore. I'm going to save them from the bad things, because no one else is stepping up. SHIELD, the CIA, all those big, hulking intelligence agencies out there, they're not doing anything. Gun violence is just as bad as alien shit. If we're going to protect humanity, we have to do our best to help them too. We can't be the only ones that change, everyone has to."
"You sound like your daughter," Jim said from the doorway, spooking Tony. "You might wanna be careful about that, someone might call you a bleeding heart."
"I need a vacation," Tony said, leaning back in his chair. "Preferably one without terrorism."
"Last time I asked about that, Grey said something about Monaco, and threw her shoe at me," Jim said brightly. "You put that on backwards."
"What?" Tony's eyes flew to the hatch he'd soldered onto the suit. It was in fact, backwards. "Damn. Well, congrats, I just killed myself. I can't think anymore. I'm going upstairs."
"Stay out of the sunroom," Jim said. "That's what I came down to warn you about, Grey's taken it over. She's got both headphones in."
"Copy that," Bucky said. "Jarvis, keep an eye on her, if she goes more than twelve hours without food, let me know."
"Of course, Sergeant Barnes."
"What's she working on?"
"I think she's multitasking again," Jim said, following Tony back upstairs. "She had turned the south wall into a whiteboard, with plot points, and the east wall had Stark Industries policies plastered over them. I think she's reshaping the company again."
"Plot points?" Tony teased, pointing out that Jim had used the same phrase they'd heard from Grey dozens of times.
"I gave her HR's policies. She's fixing them," Pepper said as they entered the kitchen. "Did you know there's a rule in there that people with natural hair have to keep specific hairstyles, even if they're not lab personnel?"
"You're kidding me," Tony said flatly. Pepper was at the oven, several grilled cheese sandwiches on the flattop. Tony started going through the cabinets, gathering what he needed to make a tomato soup. "Okay, yeah, let her go nuts, but she has to get board approval to pass everything, I'm not getting involved. She might mistake me for the target."
"She threw her shoe at you, didn't she," Pepper asked, fighting a grin.
"Yesterday! The little brat smacked me with her sneaker after weapons training!" Tony pouted but blanched the tomatoes quickly. He hadn't done this in years, but he could still remember the steps.
"Bucky, how're you doing, helping Happy with the security department?" Pepper asked. Bucky sat at the counter, and grinned.
"He's giving me carte blanche to restructure security for him and make cuts. Firing incompetent people is very fun," Bucky said. He really liked his security consultant position. His whole job was to see who was up to the task and who wasn't. He'd already found four employees that were up to no good. They'd been marked in the system; Jarvis was keeping a list for them. "And weeding out the moles. It's fun to be the good guy for once."
"Oh good. Are you just doing security, or the whole company?"
"Can I do the whole company?" Bucky asked, excited. "Please?"
"Jarvis, give the Buckster full access to the company. Go nuts, kid," Tony said, throwing a wink at him. Bucky looked like a kid on Christmas as he reached for his tablet.
Iron Man
"Thank you, for your cooperation," Grey said, giving the board a mocking bow as they stood and left the conference room. Her family was quick to file in, curious about what she'd done. "Blind hiring practices, with AI removing any identifying information from applications. Completely restructured our compliance division, started the process for tightening relations between us and the SEC. Increased funding for safety for factory and production workers. Congratulations, Stark Industries now has the most modern and transparent reporting policies in the world."
"And that's just the beginning, apparently," Pepper said as she started reading the minutes of the meeting. "Did they get anything they wanted?"
"Nope."
"And what did you get?"
"Everything. We now comply with European standards for pay, medical leave, and vacation. I've restructured the work week to allow for a thirty-five-hour week, rather than forty, while still ensuring compensation matches that of a forty-hour week. Overtime is no longer mandatory, but optional, and limited to ten hours a week." Grey flipped through her folders until she found the one, she wanted, passing it over to Tony. "Everything you need to know about is here. Pepper, you'll have a full and complete report in your email inbox any minute now."
Pepper's tablet pinged, and she pulled open the indicated email. It contained a word document. It was eighty pages long. Pepper sighed and looked at Grey in exasperation.
"You got them to agree on an eighty-page document in under three hours?" Tony asked, impressed. Grey simply smiled, flashing her dad her dimples, and batting her eyelashes. "Right, scary hell-child. Well, I've finally finished your birthday present."
Grey looked at him, surprised. Tony gave her a wry grin and handed her a small box. She opened it to see a lovely watch. It was obviously the newest Stark Watch, modified, but it wasn't alone. There was a tiny earpiece, almost looking like a sticker, and a mouth swab. Grey didn't hesitate, recognizing the comms device for what it was, planting it in her ear, and using the swab to capture her DNA. Tony showed her where to put it on the watch, to start the activation. The watch glowed with a purple flame.
"Hello. I am Bambi, a learning AI designed to assist you in your day to day."
"Hi Bambi," Grey said, astonishment and joy spilling out of her. "I think you and I are going to be good friends. Dad, this is incredible!"
"I figured Jarvis had enough on his plate, and Bambi's servers are contained within the watch, so they're secure. You can trust them." Grey's eyes danced with ideas.
"Perfect timing too," Grey said. "I've got that interview with Christine tomorrow, she's doing a piece on me for Vanity Fair, which is just ridiculous."
"Not Jayne?" Pepper asked, looking up from the document.
"No, Christine needs a bit of love from us, keep her in our favor. Jayne's running pieces on the phones, the tablets, and dad's return. All while prepping pieces for Stane after his arrest. I want her to publish his deeds the exact minute he's been arrested." Grey fastened the watch to her wrist, just below her legacy bracelet.
"Won't that be suspicious?"
"Yes."
Pepper debated arguing, but decided it wasn't worth it. Grey knew what she was doing – they hoped – and could handle herself.
"These are good changes. When are they going into effect?"
"As much as I'd like to say immediately, the board did manage to argue for the New Year. That's usually when policy changes go through anyway. We're going to announce them, start sending out the new versions of the employee handbook, what have you. HR is on it." Grey sighed and ran her hands over her face. Bucky handed over a hair tie, allowing her to tie her hair up in a short ponytail. "I called Alice White, from Time Magazine? She's running a piece on our changes, through both Time Magazine, and she's gonna freelance a copy over to Wall Street."
"Exactly how many reporters do we have on staff?" Tony asked, curious.
"Just one, for now. Christine won't sign on until Monaco, and Alice really likes Time," Grey said. "She said she's willing to work with us though, so we should put her on retainer."
"What else do we need to know this week?" Tony asked, changing the subject. "What's on the schedule? I've been drowning in the suit design; I don't even know what day it is."
"Grey has an interview with Christine Everhart at Vanity Fair on Thursday starting at ten," Bambi's voice came from the watch speakers. "There is a Legacy Dinner on the family calendar on Saturday. A flight plan is filed for Sunday morning."
"Hell, this month is flying by," Grey complained. "I need to go over meal plan with Lyn for the dinner. Wow, when did I become this person? "Oh, I need a nap today. I am so tired. Executive decision, I'm tapping out for the day. I'll take my paperwork home and get it finalized, Bambi, reschedule any meetings today for later in the week."
"What about your teleconference with the senator, that's this afternoon."
"Awh fuck. I'll do it from the house, it's in an hour, right?"
"Yep," Bambi said in Grey's ear. It looked strange for the family, not being able to hear both sides of the conversation.
"Fine then, I've gotta get home and deal with the one politician I know I won't kill," Grey said, rolling her neck so it popped, loudly. Tony shuddered and shook his head.
"How do you know you won't kill him?" Pepper asked, more worried than curious.
"I wouldn't take that from his brother," Grey said, hand on her heart. "It's Grant's closure."
Iron Man
Obadiah Stane parked his car in front of Tony's malibu house and climbed out, grumbling under his breath. Knowing about Tony's security, he shut up as he reached the stoop and rang the bell. He could hear it chime through the house and wondered if it would be Potts or Hogan that opened the door. It was neither.
"Stane! Tony can't come to the door right now, he's just in the middle of a story Trip's telling!" Sharon said brightly as she opened the door, her arm around Jean-Paul's shoulders. They each held a drink, and Obadiah could clearly see numerous people in the living room. Antoine Triplett, grandson of Howling Commando Gabe Jones, was in fact standing in the middle of the living room, a beer in his hand, speaking animatedly to what was obviously the rest of the legacies. Stane sneered at them, turning on his heel and heading back to his car, hands clenched into fists.
Obadiah knew Tony didn't have a relationship with them, he'd practically ensured it, starting the party that caused Tony's binge drinking so he would be too hungover to speak at Morita's commencement. From there, it was easy to convince Tony that they wanted nothing to do with him. Had he been played? Or had that bitch daughter of his intervened? She was always sticking her nose where Stane didn't want it.
"For someone involved in Hydra and other terroristic things, that man has a terrible poker face," Jean-Paul said solemnly. "He's being watched?"
"Closely," Bucky said, lowering his rifle, well hidden in a shadow Stane never would've seen. "Grey says we need him. For now."
"I need him like I need a bullet in the head," Sharon said.
"Well come on, I'll pour you one then," Bucky said, grinning. "You know that's a Hydra code word, often used for drops, right?"
"Really?"
"It's whiskey and water on ice," Bucky said, unloading his gun and putting it in a hall closet. "Did you see the cover?"
Sharon smiled, pulling out the copy of Vanity Fair she'd picked up at the airport. Grey Stark sat on a red throne, wearing a shiny gold wrap dress, with her signature red blazer draped over the arm. Her red heel was on top of the Stark Industries logo, a crown proudly on her head.
"Brilliant article," Jean-Paul said. "Read it twice on the flight over. How much did she have to pay Everhart to be that nice? She's got a reputation, and this was not expected."
"Christine's going to join the team, eventually," Grey said as they rejoined the party. "We want her to stay an outside player for now."
"A brilliant and fiery young woman, Grey Stark sees the world, not for what it is, but for how it could be," Pepper read out, opening another copy of the article. There were several scattered through the room. The one sitting on the piano bore Christine's signature. "Gifted with the ability to see the brightest potential in everyone around her. Grey is a woman we can expect to see in headlines for years to come; she is certain to become a trailblazer, shining brighter than her father at the same age."
"And wasn't that a blow to my ego," Tony pretended to whine. Grey laughed and threw a pillow at him, nailing him in the head. "I invented incredible things, but she's the shining star of the Stark Line. That's an actual line, on page three of the article."
"Christine did certainly go on," Grey said, sipping on a mug of decaf coffee. "But you know, I am a once in a generation mind, hiding behind beauty that would win over the Gods of yore. Or something to that affect."
"Come on, girl," Trip said, a wide smile on his face. "Saving the world and looking good, that's the real legacy of the Howling Commandos."
"You need a title," Lizzie said. "For the media, something snazzy that you can trademark. Have you given it any thought?"
"The Iron Family," Jayne piped up. "I slipped the trademark through a few weeks ago."
"You're going to be the cause of so many headaches, aren't you?" Brian asked. Grey merely flashed her dimples. "I'll call records, have them set aside a file cabinet for you."
"Katherine, if I give you a name, would you mind terribly setting up a meeting?" Grey asked, causing the agent's eyebrow to rise in curiosity.
"Depends on the name. Who would you like to meet, little bird?"
"Rosalind Price, possibly of NASA," Grey said, an enigmatic smile on her face. "I'm a fan of her work."
"Come on Grey, stop scheming for like, six minutes and just enjoy the party," Bucky said, dropping down next to her feet on the couch.
"Sorry, I've been working a different angle recently and almost forgot about her. It's been an itch."
"I'll get you a file," Katherine promised, tipping her beer in Grey's direction.
"What are you doing, now that you're back home?" Morita asked Tony.
"We're working on a way to track down and clean up whatever caches there are of Stark Weapons that aren't in proper hands," Tony said. He had a water in his hands. "After we start on that, if we manage to find any intelligence, we can use it to figure out how they got there."
"We know how they got there," Sharon argued. "Stane's been dirty from day one. Let me take him out, and you can move on! SHIELD can make it look like a boating accident killed him, you can mourn for the camera and rush the investigation!"
"Or we expose his crimes, give him a public trial that will find him guilty of many many felonies, and as the FBI escort him from the courthouse, he's shot by a Ten-Rings sniper, ten feet behind Tony Stark, giving a press conference about all his efforts to clean up the man's mess," Grey said softly. When everyone turned to her, her eyes were glowing.
"Do we have a Ten-Rings sniper?" Pepper asked.
"Hydra, Ten-Rings, tomato to-mah-toe," Bucky said back. Grey fought not to grin.
"That works, too," Sharon said. She couldn't help but laugh, "if you want to be all dramatic about it. Sorry I'm a spy, I think like a spy."
"Grey's a drama queen. But there is always a good reason for it," Jim laughed. "Honestly, I think every word in that article is true. I give it two years, and Grey Stark will be a household name."
"I give it two years, and Grey'll be Director of SHIELD," Trip bet. "Think she'd take Fury down in a heartbeat."
"I like Nick!" Grey protested. "But I like his teams better. He's the gift that keeps giving. And I can't wait for all the goodies. But he does have an obscene amount of secrets, he could even give me a run for my money. And that Index has to go."
"The gifted index?" Sharon wasn't really surprised Grey knew about it. At this point, Sharon was willing to believe the girl knew everything.
"I know it's supposed to be for safe keeping, but it feels very Number the Stars," Grey said. She shrugged. "Powered people are gonna become a lot more common in time. There's nothing we can do about that. They shouldn't be registered or forced into SHIELD service."
"You think they should be given free reign?" Trip asked.
"I think as long as they're not breaking the law, or hurting people, who cares if Joey can melt metal? It's no different from someone who can play an instrument."
"But what if they hurt someone?"
"Then they get arrested and go to jail? Same as if I do it," Grey said. "It doesn't matter what abilities a person has; it only matters what they choose to do with it. If they want to fight and save people because they can, great. Love that, sign here. If they just want to be left alone? Cool. Here's my number call me if you need me."
"Is everything you say an inspiring speech? Calm down," Trip teased. "We agree, mostly. But you'll never convince Fury to get rid of it."
"By the time it becomes an issue, I'll actually have to argue with Coulson about it." Grey rubbed at her face and sighed. "Actually, I'll need to talk to you about that at some point, Trip."
"What me?" Trip asked. "Talk about what?"
"Not kicking things in temples, for starters," Grey grumbled under her breath. She was heard, but not understood.
"It's a party, kid, relax," Tony said, throwing the pillow back at her. Bucky cheated and grabbed it out of the air in front of her. Grey, to her credit, didn't flinch.
"I don't know the meaning of the word, old man," Grey laughed, leaning back on the couch, and kicking her feet up on Bucky's lap. Sharon stood up, a smile on her face.
"Let me tell you a SHIELD legend, alright, you guy'll love this one," Sharon started, drinking the last of her beer.
Iron Man
"As glad as I am that you're back with us, alive and well, that press conference of yours was a kick in the teeth, Doctor Stark," General Morrow said, settling in his seat opposite Tony. Pepper and Grey sat on the other sides of the table of the empty restaurant.
"It would've been worse if not for Grey," Tony admitted, still grinning. "I was ready to cancel it all, shut everything down. Grey heard what I wanted to do and laughed at me."
"Loudly," Pepper teased.
"Granted, it was something I wanted to pitch anyway, but no one would've listened to me," Grey said. "This worked in everyone's favor. Stark Industries is projected to double profits this quarter on personal devices alone. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile have both approached us for contracts."
"Impressive, but still not something that helps our troops," Morrow said. "We need those weapons contracts, to protect this country."
"Gun violence has reached an all-time high, Tom," Grey said shortly. "And Stark weapons are the most found on the black market. They're the preferred weapon of drug runners, cartels, and gangs. I don't want that to be what I put into the world. I won't have it. The military can find other weapons creators."
"I know you're right," Morrow said. He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. "I know. But Stark Industries has the best weapons, our troops will suffer for the loss. And no one will want this to happen."
"We will continue to produce our body armor lines, as well as funding research projects as often as we can," Tony added, sitting back as a waitress stopped by with waters and menus. "We aren't going to leave you high and dry, General. This is what we have to do to move forward."
"Let's talk about something a bit more exciting, shall we?" Grey said, shoving a straw in her water and stirring the lemon wedge to the bottom. "Tom, we've looked at the potential design for the wings."
"And?"
"Repulsor technology would be best," Tony said, flipping a folder open and taking over the presentation. He talked about the potential for energy consumption, flight suits, and the logistics of how the wings would be controlled. Every time Tom asked a question, Tony would answer it, even at one point, scribbling out a long string of equations Grey couldn't hope to follow. Tom, however, was delighted by everything Tony was saying.
Pepper and Grey exchanged silent and subtle looks three hours after the men started talking.
"I hate to be the one to point this out, but the servers are itching to open the restaurant to the rest of the population," Grey said gently, breaking into the men's math bubble. They glanced around, and sure enough, Pepper's Stark Industries black card was already tucked back into her purse, and the servers were cleaning glasses at the bar, occasionally glancing at their table through the mirror. "Why don't we continue this in DC when we get approval for the suits and the contracts are signed."
"You're right, of course, Miss Stark," Tom said, the tips of his ears turning red. "The meeting is scheduled in eleven days, so I should have something further to share, shall we say, September the seventh? Lunch again, this time on the Air Force."
"Always happy to have lunch on the government's dime," Tony said standing up and sealing the deal with a handshake. Tom was such a gentleman, he insisted on shaking Pepper and Grey's hands as well.
When the family was on their way back to the jet, Grey said, "I really like General Morrow, he's a very amicable man for all his years in top brass."
"You can call him Tom, Grey, it won't offend him," Jim said.
"Ha, never gonna happen. It's a respect thing. It's why your crush will always be Dr Cho to me," Grey said brightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jim said in a rush.
"Oh puh-leez. You stuttered so much when you were introduced, I thought you had a stroke," Tony said, jumping in to tease his friend.
"She asked about you," Pepper informed him, enjoying the excitement and hope that appeared on his face. "After you left. The interest might not be one sided."
"I hate you all," Jim said, barely refraining from crossing his arms over his chest. "Did she really?"
Iron Man
The amazing thing about flying, is the adrenaline, Tony thought as he soared through the night sky, a sleek, silver suit darting through the clouds over Los Angeles.
"Iron Man, you copy?" Grey's voice broke through the excitement, and Tony focused on his heads-up display. Altitude was listed, as was a list of codenames logged into his comms line. Right now, it showed Pepper, codename Rescue, Grey, code name Peacemaker, and Jim, War Machine logged into his comms. Bucky didn't have a code name yet, but Tony was sure he was listening. "How's your visual?"
"Crystal clear, no lag. Zoom and satellite are functional," Tony said back. "How's backend?"
"Boring, but Jarvis has started running calculations for Mark three," Grey said, centered behind three monitors, one dedicated to Tony's vitals, one for his location, tracking him through his bracelet with the Stark Satellite. "Dad I don't want you going too much higher, oxygen is thin enough up there."
"Jarvis is pumping my suit with supplemental; I should be fine to finish this test flight." Tony didn't think he ever wanted to land. "Stop worrying."
"Absolutely not," Grey said. Tony pushed the repulsors harder, gaining a burst of speed and flying past a Ferris wheel on the boardwalk.
"Take note, it's significantly less core work when in the full suit. The exoskeleton does all the work," Tony said, doing a barrel roll for the fun of it. "I will however, never fly out through the garage again, that was horrifying. Jarvis, what's SR-71's record?"
"That's a bad idea," Grey said, but was cut off by Jarvis.
"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is eighty-five thousand feet, sir," Jarvis said.
"Records are made to be broken, come on!" Tony tilted back and launching himself upward, aiming for the moon. He wobbled slightly from side to side, but dismissed it as just needing practice.
"Sir, there is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring," Jarvis said. Grey sighed and shook her head, pulling on her VR glasses to see through the floors above her.
"Barnes, Potts, get a broom, Dum-E, I want you on standby for any possible fires. Bambi, we're gonna need a construction crew out here tomorrow."
"Why?" Pepper asked. As if by fate, or really good timing, the screen showing Tony's telemetry went red and started screaming out an alarm. Grey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Got it."
"Should we worry?" Jim asked, concerned. Grey shook her head, and by the time she looked over, Tony's vitals had popped back up. The family could hear him cheering, or screaming, one.
The satellite tracked the suit as it toward them, speeding along the highway. Iron Man flew toward the house, pulling up when he was on the roof.
"Cut power," Tony instructed. Grey yanked Pepper back as Iron Man crashed through the roof, the piano in the living room, the living room floor, the lab floor, and into the garage, crashing onto Grey's mini. Grey gave Bucky a glare and took the broom out of Pepper's hands and smacked the arm of the suit. Tony just leaned his head back. The family could hear him groan through comms.
"Did you at least break the record?" Bucky asked, looking at the destruction scattered around the garage.
"Fuck you," Tony bitched. He sat up, jerkily and stomped over to the machines designed to take off the suit. It was a seventeen-minute process, and at the end of it, Tony was forced upstairs to the couch, his oxygen tank next to him, and a hot coffee in his hands, decaf. "So, gold titanium alloy then, yeah?"
"Should've thought of that yourself first," Grey complained. "You're a genius, dumbass."
"Don't talk to your father that way," Tony said, his eyes glittering. "Jarvis, make the revisions to the designs, use the alloy to prevent icing. Increase balance calculations, I kept wobbling. Can I see the specs? The main transducer is sluggish at plus forty altitudes."
Jarvis turned the coffee table into a holo table, pulling up a 3D hologram of the mark two. Grey's tablet was commandeered to show what the suit would look like, once finished.
"We're nicely ahead of schedule," Grey commented idly. "The benefit is still later this week, we should have enough time to get all three of our suits combat ready. Jim, you and Bucky will quarterback from downstairs. I'd like one of you to make sure Stane stays at the benefit, I don't want him able to even try and claim any credit with our work. Jim, hate to do it, but you gotta get us flight clearance to get into and out of Gulmira without raptors crashing our party."
"How?"
"Call the damn president, I don't fuckin' know!" Grey sniped back. "That's why it's your job. My job is to not pee my pants when I'm launched into the sky at mach-jesus by my lunatic father."
"And save the hostages," Tony said.
"And save the hostages," Grey repeated, smiling. "They're using human shields, with Jarvis and Bambi doing targeting, we should be able to take out just the hostiles. Speaking of, Bambi, have you got us satellite footage?"
"Streaming to your tablets now," Bambi said, this time through Grey's phone so they could be heard.
"See the Jericho?" Pepper pointed out. "I thought we halted construction on those, and the only three we had, were under lock and key. How do they have it?"
"Stane must have a factory off the books somewhere, still SI, but not under our control, Jarvis, send the intel to Katherine and Brian. If anyone can find it, they can," Jim suggested. Headlights had the five of them reaching for weapons, before they recognized the SUV as Happy's. Three knocks at the door, and the family could hear his key turning in the lock.
"What happened here?" Happy asked, looking at the piano. He glanced at Grey first, wondering if it had been her. Pepper pointed at Tony before standing to take some of the pizza boxes from his arms.
"Forgot the suit weighed as much as a small tank," Tony said. "Landed on the roof."
"After he iced over and fell out of the sky," Bucky put in, leaning back in his chair with a beer. "Screamed like a girl."
"Did not!"
"Lil bit," Pepper teased, leaning over to press a kiss to Tony's cheek. "It's okay, I would've been louder."
"I probably woulda fainted," Grey said, staring at Happy until he pulled a bottle of ranch out of the bag in his arms. She beamed at him and took it, plopping some down on her cheese and black olive pizza. "Not convinced I won't this weekend anyway."
"How are we getting there?" Pepper asked, smiling at Bucky in thanks for her wine.
"Flying, obviously," Tony teased. Pepper swatted him. "I figure we'll just take the suits. Easier to slip under the radar, and we won't have to argue with governments yet."
"This one's a freebie," Rhodey said, reading an email on his tablet. "General Morrow is going to pull a few strings, get us permission to enter Afghanistan air space. Thankfully, there's a Stark Industries in the country, so we don't need a visa."
"We don't need a visa?" Grey asked.
"When Tony was negotiating to turn Stark Industries into an international company, he was able to argue that he and his immediate team needed the ability to get in and out of the country at the drop of a hat, as long as it was Stark Industries related, they agreed," Pepper lectured. "We still need passports, but the governments have given us the green light to not need a visa."
"So, I could go, right now to our office in Kyoto?"
"Only for Stark Industries related things, and then again, only me, Pepper, and now you," Tony said. "Jarvis did some work on that for me before Afghanistan."
"Ah. Well, shit, how long's the flight gonna be?" Grey asked. "It's nine from Ohio to Amsterdam."
"It will take approximately twenty two hours, from Los Angeles to Afghanistan by airplane," Bambi said helpfully. Grey looked at Tony and glared at him until he got the hint.
"With the speed our suits go, it'll take about nine hours. I figure we take off, Jarvis and Bambi can handle autopilot and we sleep most of the way there."
"In an uncomfortable suit?" Pepper asked.
"The suits that require a machine and seventeen minutes to currently get out of, yes," Tony said back.
"Eighteen hours plus one for the fight, nineteen hours we're going to be in these cans?" Grey exclaimed. "Bambi, will my knee brace fit under the suit?"
"You won't need it," Tony said. Grey frowned; her nose scrunched. "The flight suits Barnes put together? Has a compression sleeve in yours for your knee."
"Okay fine, I'll ask – bathrooms?"
"Mark three, ask again later," Tony said with a hopeless shrug. "There's no way to get anything to handle that in the mark two suits, not in the time we have."
"Don't add anything to the suits, they aren't designed to be worn for ridiculous lengths of time," Grey said, the deciding vote as usual. "Just focus on making mark three and up easier to get in and out of."
"I can do that. I have an idea for a suit in a case," Tony said, pushing the sketches he had from his tablet to Grey's. "Have to figure out how to make the suits lighter."
"The alloy should help with that, shouldn't it?" Jim asked, the only other rocket scientist in the room. "Making it lighter?"
"Yeah, but if we want the suits to stay bulletproof, we need the adamantium."
"What if we wove Kevlar through our flight suits?" Bucky asked, running the ideas through his head. "How often are we actually getting shot at?"
Everyone looked at Grey, who shrugged, her mouth full. She thought it through as she wiped a drop of ranch from her cheek.
"Maybe stick with the something solid, bullets might not get fired at us, but we are likely to see laser weapons, whatever nonsense the terrorist organizations use, Hydra, and then aliens."
"Aliens?" Bucky asked, his eyes wide.
"Have you not been paying attention?" Pepper asked, unfazed. "Apparently terrorists with our weapons are the least of our problems."
"I fucking love this family," Bucky said softly in amazement. "I get to fight aliens?"
Grey couldn't stop the sappy look on her face as she looked at Bucky, childlike glee on his face.
"Oh hell, there's two of them," Happy said, looking at the same excitement on Tony's face at the prospect of aliens. "Am I the only normal person here?"
Grey looked at Pepper, who had already scheduled the two of them a time to go sky diving for the twenty fifth so they could get used to heights. Then she looked at Jim, who had already spent at least a decade jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. Bucky was a reformed-ish assassin from the nineteen forties, and Tony had technically volunteered to get kidnapped by terrorists.
"Yep," Grey said brightly.
"Crap," Happy said, grabbing a beer from the fridge and getting comfortable in his armchair.
Iron Man
Pepper was not a morning person. Sure, she could get up early and get things done if they needed to be done. But if given the opportunity, she would sleep until eleven, then lounge in bed for another hour before even considering leaving her bed. Grey was much the same, handling their morning workouts with poor grace and an attitude. So when the email came through at ten pm on Wednesday that they were having an 8am meeting the next morning, several harsh words were shouted.
Grey had woken up that morning borderline violent, and punctuated her sentences with swears. After two coffees, and an twenty minute rant about foundation, she was stuck trying not to doze off as some member on the board gave a speech half under his breath. She was either going to fall asleep, or fire him, and she still didn't know his name.
"Let me see if I understand your longwinded thesaurus recital, hmm?" Grey asked, cutting across the man with steel in her voice. "You want us to vote on whether or not we should bar my dad from ever taking the CEO title at Stark Industries or any of her affiliates, ever again?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said softer than a whisper. Grey could only tell what he said because he nodded.
"And you want to put this to a vote, today, with him in attendance?" Grey asked, moving again so she could lean forward. She crossed her fingers together, elbows on the table and rested her chin on her fingers. "Are you aware I'm legally allowed to fire you?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said again, still soft as the wind. If one were to look close enough, they could see him trembling slightly under Grey's stare.
"Well, he's presented a motion, does he have a second?" Grey said, brightly, leaning back in her chair, relaxed, and smiling.
"I second," Richard Walsh said gravely. "I know it isn't what Kevin had in mind, but I think it's time a younger generation stepped up. I'm happy to see what direction you will bring us, Miss Stark."
"Those in favor?" Grey counted as hands rose. There was a pause, clearly waiting for stragglers. They didn't have the majority by one point. Pepper, Tony, and Grey all raised their hands, smug expressions clear to those that cared to look. Kevin's knees gave out on him, and he collapsed into his chair, his hand on his heart. Grey didn't spare the man a glance other than in disgust.
"The motion has passed," Richard said when it became apparent Kevin wouldn't. "You have our apologies, Doctor Stark, but even when the courts bring you legally back to life, you will be unable to resume your position as CEO of Stark Industries. You are, however, welcome to keep your title of Director of Research and Development. I call this meeting to a close, we all have better things to do with our lives."
The board members left, with Kevin nearly sprinting out of the room. Happy's security team was faster and was already waiting for him.
"Have Kevin removed from the company, buy any shares he has, and blacklist him. If he's willing to do Stane's dirty work, we don't want him involved in our ally's work." Grey said aloud, speaking to Bambi. She'd have to sign the paperwork, but Bambi would send the alert to HR and IT.
"Jayne is set to publish the article on the move, is she clear?" Bambi asked, their voice only audible to Grey. Pepper and Tony sat together, reviewing files, waiting for Grey to finish her work.
"Yeah, give her the green light. Make sure Walsh doesn't have any overt ties to the usual groups, I think I'd like to keep him."
"Which collection?"
"Stark Industries; might be useful after the buyout goes through," Grey said, absently biting on a pen as she thought. "I'll take any ally that we can trust."
"You ready?" Pepper asked, after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah. Is there anything else that we need to do? The next seventy-two hours are likely to be a lot all at once," Grey said, standing and stretching. She winced when something pulled.
"No," Pepper assured. "Barring outright emergencies, all we need to do is the fundraiser tomorrow, and Gulmira."
"We've each had a test flight, so we know the basics, the flight systems and targeting should do all the heavy lifting. Isn't Cynthia's team coming tomorrow to get you two ready?"
"Oh yes," Grey said. "And I'm her only target, someone pray for me. I'll need it."
"It won't be that bad. Although this is your first real event with us, so I'll warn you now, Happy takes pictures of us before we're allowed to leave," Pepper said. Grey cracked up, believing her to be joking.
"Oh, no," Grey said, realizing.
"Oh yes," Pepper said, trying not to giggle. "Prom 2010."