Chapter 9 - Inheritance (3)
Sometimes, what we pass on to those who follow us has the most impact, not what they leave behind when they depart from us.
The lack of presence at one's side in battle.
The absence of a comforting smile at the end of the hard day.
The quiet solace we receive in sharing our grief is now gone.
I have often wondered if those who leave us feel this as well or if this is the final burden a parent feels at the end of a journey.
I sometimes find the absence itself comforting, for although it is painful, its presence reminds me that once there was something there…there was someone there.
(Gamma Research Lab - Culver University, Willowdale, Virginia - May 29th 2010)
"So you really think we can solve it?" Betty shifted slightly as she looked at the one man she truly thought she would never have seen again "Really reverse this?"
"I've got to try, Betty," Dr. Bruce Banner gave her a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he extracted the thumb drive she had given him.
The drive held every piece of information and data available on his original research and, more importantly, the accident that had created his 'condition'. With this, he could finally find a cure and put the nightmare that he had been living to an end. All he had to do now was find a way to send the information to his colleague Mr. Blue who, hopefully, could provide the final piece of the puzzle. As he turned to look up at Betty he felt his heart skip a beat before pushing the feeling down. She couldn't be a part of this, she was already in too deep, and now he just needed to make sure she was okay.
"Betty. I-" He took a deep breath as he looked up into the eyes that haunted his dreams. How he wished he could stare into them forever.
Creeeeeeak…
The sound of a door caused him to stop as Betty moved quickly placing herself between Bruce and the front of the lab. Bruce for his part ducked his head down and tried to conceal himself as much as possible, the borrowed shirt and jeans hardly made it look like he belonged in the high-tech science facility. His hand tightened around the thumb drive as he glanced around the room looking for any sign that Ross and his men were about to spring out at him, especially the squad that had haunted him in Brazil.
"Sorry, but the lab is closed. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Betty broke out the stern administrator tone that always sent grad students scurrying away, as she looked at the tall man in a perfectly tailored suit who had disturbed them. "If you'll just head to reception then I'm sure they can help you."
"Thank you Dr. Ross, but I think I'm right where I need to be," The man gave a casual smile as he moved forward, placing his hands out to his side so they were clearly visible. "And if it is not too much trouble I'd like to speak to Dr Banner behind you."
Bruce reacted immediately standing up and pushing Betty behind him as his eyes darted around the room looking for the squad of soldiers or agents he was expecting to burst forth any second. However, the grimace on his face turned into a frown as he saw no evidence of either. His eyes went back to the tall lithe man with jet-black hair that was streaked with grey that looked at him with friendly deep blue eyes, well one was deep blue the other was slightly paler than the other.
"Dr. Banner, please. I'm not here to hurt you." Dick Grayson stopped moving forward, radiating an aura of calm and trustworthiness, which he decided to reinforce with a touch of honesty. "If I was, why, I would have pumped this room full of a very powerful specialised nerve toxin that would have had you passed out on the floor. Then I would've had you shipped to a nice little cell somewhere where we'd keep you full of drugs and asleep for the rest of your life"
"So why aren't you?" Bruce replied for some reason feeling relaxed as the man before him detailed what could have happened.
"Because I'm here to help" Dick gave an honest smile as he turned and leaned against one of the lab tables, the act removing any tension left in the room "And you aren't the first unique individual I met."
"Who are you really?" Bruce asked, his eyes examining the man from head to toe.
He looked like a typical government agent in a suit complete with Raybans which he had removed, but if he was a government agent he wasn't like any Bruce had ever seen. The suit he wore was tailored, high-end, and looked like it cost more than he used to earn in a year. Then there was the man's casual attitude, most people he had encountered on the run that knew what he was met him with a cold disdain and a slight edge of fear or else a not too subtle interest in what he was mixed with fear. However, the man in front of him with a slightly pale eye and casual smile was the first man that wasn't the least bit afraid of him.
"Agent 32" Dick responded, smirking a little as both doctors before him raised an eyebrow at the numerical designation all agents in SHIELD's enhanced operative division had. "I work for an organisation that manages situations like yours."
"Manage?" Bruce tensed remembering what always happened when he let his guard down "You mean lock up."
"No, I mean manage. Sometimes that means lock up but most of the time it means keeping an eye on people and keeping other people away." Dick shifted so he was standing again, opting to lay all his cards on the table, speaking directly and honestly "I can help, but I need to understand how your condition came about."
"You want to recreate what happened to him?" Betty Ross moved forward causing Bruce to shift as she glared at the man who to her just wanted what her father wanted.
"No," Dick was firm in his answer, his eyes connecting both with Betty and Bruce who both deflated at his firm response "I have no interest in recreating what happened to you Doctor Banner. However, I need to understand how it happened. What exactly were you working on?"
Bruce shared a brief look with Betty who just nodded feeling for some reason that they could trust this man and reasoning that the story of how he ended up like was couldn't do much harm. Bruce sighed as he relayed his fall from world renowned scientist to dangerous fugitive all because of his involvement with Betty's father General Ross and his Project Gamma Pulse. He made sure to give no specific details of the project beyond the overall objective of the project to cure radiation sickness, not wanting to give any hint on how to recreate his condition.
"So you were trying to create a cure for radiation sickness?" Dick asked after a few short moments his burrow furrowing as he finally pieced together what had never made sense about Bruce Banner's file.
"Yes, not only cure but reinforce cellular resistance to radiation." Bruce replied, a brief smile appearing on his face as he remembered better days that quickly melted away with his smile "Our funding ran out however and I…I risked everything trying to prove it could work and it turned me into this."
"You weren't working on a cure for radiation sickness," Dick's response caused Bruce to blink as he looked at the man who had a grimace on his face "Doctor Ross do you know what your father does?"
"He's a General in the military, he runs a weapons development program. Testing out new weapons and vehicles."
"Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross isn't just a General in one of the Army's weapons development programs, he's the General in charge of all of the Army's weapons development programs." Dick let out a deep breath as he explained who Ross was and what he had done, whilst also trying to figure out what to do now his suspicions were confirmed "In particular he is in charge of the off-the-books Weapon Plus Program. That program's sole aim is to recreate the work of Doctor Abraham Erskine. That's what he had you working on."
"Erskine… Project Rebirth," Bruce fell into a chair next to Betty whose eyes also widened. Every scientist who even remotely touched human biology knew who Abraham Erskine was, and Bruce let out a mirthless chuckle as everything fell into place. "That's why it caused a cellular mutation that enhanced my body's biochemical response beyond what I expected. Because it was supposed to."
Dick gave the Doctor a few moments to process what he had just learnt and hoped the knowledge of this betrayal didn't make him do anything stupid. He had always suspected that General Ross had been twisting what happened with Project Gamma Plus to cover up a mistake he had made. Ross's version was Banner, who had been fully aware of what he had been working on and had stolen an experimental dose that he had used on himself when Ross uncovered his theft and then fled. However, that version had always irked Dick as well as Fury as too clean and clear-cut. Dick had been further convinced something was amiss when he viewed Doctor Banner's psych report which did not indicate dishonesty and the scientist's actions since only reaffirmed it.
"Okay, we need to ge-" Dick suddenly stopped talking as his eyes snapped to a beaker on a nearby table that had trembled slightly.
Acting on years of instinct he moved over to the lab's windows on the far side of the room, his eyes raking over the courtyard and grounds that were visible. It didn't take him long at all to spot the armed soldiers, trucks and other equipment streaming onto the college campus. He made no reaction as he turned his head back to where the doctors had been and saw them disappear through a door which slammed shut. He sighed. Not much he could do now, Banner would never trust him in the time they had, and a confrontation would likely result in him transforming. Dick moved swiftly back through the door he came from as his hand tapped his earpiece twice.
"Bobbi, you there?" Dick moved swiftly. Instead of taking the stairs, he leapt down them using years of acrobatic and parkour training. It was easy as turning on a light switch. "We've got a situation developing. What do we know?"
"Yeah, boss I'm here. It's General Ross's unit, he's got a higher security authorisation than our op was cleared for, so we didn't get a heads up he was coming." Bobbi responded with a mixture of genuine professional remorse and sheer annoyance that the op had been blown "I take it the good doctor's rabbited?"
"Yep," Dick made a false grin as he exited the building and started to slow down as he took in the scene before him, which was nothing less than a full-blown military occupation of the small campus "Inform the team to hold positions, we are not getting caught up in this mess."
"Understood, I'll tell them … Shit" Bobbi's curse stopped Dick in his tracks. He saw Betty running out of the building as soldiers swarmed forward. "Boss, we've got an enhanced individual on-site with Ross's forces."
Dick's eyes swept the area and quickly spotted the enhanced, he was the one rushing across the yard in full combat gear as quickly as if he was Captain America from an old movie. Dick's eyes lost track of him as they moved to several soldiers firing projectiles emitting a white gas into a crosswalk between two buildings. He quickly saw their target, Doctor Banner had clearly been trying to get to the other building and escape but was now being immersed in the thick white smoke, which Dick guessed was some kind of sleeping agent. It wasn't going to do much.
"I see him, get his photo and pull everything they have. We'll sort this ou-" Dick couldn't finish his thought before the crosswalk exploded.
CRACK! BOOM!
"RAAAAGGHHHH!" The Hulk bellowed as the green monster landed in front of the trucks and soldiers who had fired at Bruce Banner, some of whom took one look then turned and ran.
Dick halted in his approach and just watched the carnage as it happened, knowing that his involvement in the situation wouldn't do anything except potentially make it worse and his job harder. He was there to observe and to extract Doctor Banner from the situation if possible and then resettle him away from hostiles and danger. The world was complex enough with Tony shouting he was Iron Man. They didn't need Dick showing up on certain people's radars fighting a giant green monster just like they didn't need the army making Hulk soldiers.
"Sir, do you want to deploy Team White? The scenarios show the Hulk is sensitive to sounds. My cry might slo-" Dick could hear Bobbi was already getting ready to intervene.
"Bobbi, keep the team where they are and stay in the van." Dick's command had an immediate effect as he knew it would. White Team was SHIELD's elite specialised unit, and it wasn't intended to be deployed in situations like this.
"Scrub all data and footage of this incident."
"Yes sir," Her voice had an edge to it and Dick knew she wasn't happy, but he could deal with that. What he couldn't deal with was his team turning the campus into a warzone that even SHIELD couldn't cover up.
One of the burdens of leadership, giving orders like this. Team White were all people of action. It was why Dick was in charge of them because he was the same. Moreover, he was in charge because he could make the tough calls and was probably one of the only few people in SHIELD who could control the unique individuals that made up SHIELD's White Team.
Fortunately for Dick and the team, the whole incident didn't take long to resolve. He watched the enhanced try and manoeuvre the Hulk into a trap between two trucks carrying heavy sonic cannons. The trap quickly failed when the Hulk demolished both cannons, using debris first as a shield and then using them to slice the cannons in half. The enhanced then re-engaged his target directly, which ended with the man being violently punted into a tree.
Dick watched as Betty then appeared, seemingly calming Banner's other half down enough for the green giant to scoop her up and leap away. He didn't bother watching the aftermath; instead, he turned on his heels and made a beeline to where his team was stationed, his mind already creating plans for what to do next. Ross would likely pour more resources into capturing Banner now that his daughter was with him. With his level of clearance he might even get access to SHIELD's digital tracking system to help him do it. As Dick entered the surveillance van and was greeted by a few cold stares from his team he just hoped this wouldn't get any more out of hand. The last thing they needed was Ross to force a confrontation in a place where there were lots of bystanders.
(Wayne Manor - Gotham City - May 30th 2010)
Alfred beheld something he had not seen in the Wayne manor for decades: children playing. Well, it was as close to playing as had been seen by the old walls in a long time. They were in the main gallery, largely as it afforded Xialing's, now Cassandra Cain as she preferred to be called even in private, room as she was busy practising a ballet routine for the academy she had only joined today. He wasn't surprised. The girl was as driven and dedicated as anyone he had ever met. Although the academy was only a cover, she was determined to master it like everything else, he was sure it wouldn't be long before she was the principal dancer in both her year and the academy as a whole.
However, the real surprise was Damian who since the incident four days ago had become a lot more muted and less arrogant in his dealings with everyone. The boy was still training every chance he got, but he had taken up other activities besides constant gruelling exercises. One thing he had taken up was reading, and he found no shortage of books in the Wayne Family Library. Currently, he was sprawled on one of the many armchairs tearing through the collected works of Charles Dickens, which brought a smile to Alfred's face as Bruce had done the exact same thing at the young lad's age.
The butler was moving past, dusting the frame of the painting next to him when Damian snapped the book he had just finished closed and placed it to his right on the growing stack of finished volumes next to him. The boy grimaced as he looked to his left and saw that he had finally run out of the reading material he had carried in, his grimace was replaced by a sigh as he looked around for something else to focus his mind on. He looked at Cassandra as she did a pirouette and then a leap. Whereas before Alfred would have heard a scoff or scathing remark, the boy only watched for a few seconds before looking elsewhere.
His eyes started to glance at the myriad of paintings on the wall that he had ignored before. He had been training to be the successor of the greatest warriors alive. Artistic expression and vain statements of wealth had held no appeal. Alfred smirked a little as Damian's burrow suddenly furrowed and he moved to sit up as he looked at the paintings on the wall and noticed what was unique about the Wayne Manor Gallery. The rare few who came to the gallery expected to see extravagant works from history's greatest masters were quickly disappointed to find the Wayne Family's personal gallery hosted a different type of priceless art.
"They are all your family," Alfred's words caused the usually overly astute Damian to jump a little as he had been distracted by the paintings. "The past Waynes, men and women of worthy note. Thomas, your grandfather, told me how Solomon Wayne named this great hall hosting the gallery 'Elysium.' "
"After the Elysian Fields of Greek mythology?" Damian asked his eyes moving to Alfred who nodded then back to the paintings seeing that some seemed to pre-date the architecture of the building they were standing in. "Some of the pieces are older than the manor"
"They are. It is part of an old family tradition from before Solomon Wayne built the manor." Alfred gestured to the portrait of Solomon himself. The man was stiff, wearing judges' robes, and his eyes, even painted, seemed to burrow into you. "The family tradition is that to receive a portrait here, one must prove themselves deserving. It is only commissioned and painted after you have died; it is for the next Waynes to decide your worth."
"I don't see my father's parents," Damian made the statement without any emotion as he glanced around the room at the men and women who had built Gotham and the Wayne legacy.
"Your father keeps them in his private study. He has left instructions that when he dies it is to be moved here." Alfred took Damian's coldness in easy stride as he could see the curiosity and longing lingering just behind his eyes, "On that sad, sad day, you will have to decide your father's place in the Wayne legacy. And one day your children will have to decide as well."
"Is….." Damian trailed off as the question he was about to ask, he quickly looked away from Alfred trying to look disinterested.
"This is your family, Damian. It was built by love, commitment, perseverance and on the principle of leaving behind the world better than you found it." Alfred placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder whilst his other swept across the room over not just the portraits but Cassandra as well. "Your father exemplifies those traits in the extreme. I don't know what family means to the Al Ghuls, but to Waynes it means everything…..It also means that even if they are gone they are still with you."
Damian didn't respond, his eyes only flickered to the butler who withdrew his hand and moved away evidently heading to see his father. He felt more conflicted the longer he was in this place, this house where there was only one servant who was more father than a housekeeper and seemed eerily skilled at getting in his head. Here, the notions of strength and skill over everything else didn't matter and when he helped the weak instead of letting them perish he felt a strange sense of…. Well, he didn't know what it was. Saving the girl at the race had gone against everything he had been taught and for some reason since then he had felt, better, was the only word he had, than he ever had before. It was something that he wanted to feel again, to regain that sensation of…purpose.
As his eyes glanced around at all the faces that looked like his own but different he thought of his mother, grandfather and uncle. There was nothing like this at the compounds he had been raised in, no stories or tokens of past Al Ghuls, only his grandfather and the all-consuming mission to save the world. Even then the stories weren't exactly inspiring, just cautionary tales about those that had crossed the Demon's head and past foes felled by his hand. The boy's eyes continued to linger on the faces of past Waynes, he was so engrossed that he missed Alfred placing his hand on a picture frame which clicked open to reveal one of the many secret entrances to the Bat-cave.
Alfred gave a brief smile as he looked at Bruce's young son before the image of the child disappeared from view as the portrait entrance closed and the small elevator descended. When the elevator doors reopened it was not the warm comforting gallery from before him but the cold dark cave of his charge's alter ego. This entrance to the cave was only a short walk to the bat computer, which was where he found Bruce leaning back in his chair dressed in his uniform, as he preferred it to be called, minus the cowl which was placed on a table next to him. Alfred glanced up at the screen and saw that it was a collection of files, photos and analyses of Ivan Vanko, Tony Stark and Justin Hammer.
"Found anything interesting, sir?" Alfred asked as he examined the interlacing pieces of evidence on the screen.
"Ivan Vanko is most certainly alive. The corpse they recovered had numerous inconsistencies when compared to Vanko's profile. I believe Justin Hammer was behind it, although all the evidence I have for that is some off-the-books payments and some interesting technical purchases." Bruce replied. His eyes never left the screen as his mind tried to connect any dots he had not already or find any thread left unpulled. "I'm pulling more records but that will take more time and what I have currently..."
"Is not enough to get SHIELD to act yet," Alfred reflected, his observation earning a grunt of agreement from Bruce, as the butler's eyes turned to the pictures of Tony. "And what of Mr Stark, I heard his birthday party yesterday was eventful."
"His blood toxicity hit 62%, the party was his send-off. He allowed Colonel Rhodes to take one of his suits and he donated his art collection to charity; he'll likely be dead within the next 48 hours." Bruce replied his cold calculating tone only caused Alfred to sigh.
"I've already contacted the lawyers. When it happens we will be filing multiple claims and suits, and hopefully, we can take control of the Arc Reactor technology. That's despite Tony's best efforts to give it away to the army through Colonel Rhodes."
"Can nothing at all be done for the man?" Alfred asked his eyes lingering on Tony's image, he felt his heart shrink a little at the thought of his old friend's child dying with no hope of a cure.
"Not by us." Bruce's eyes glanced at his oldest companion, seeing the hurt there he decided to give a little bit of hope. "Fury gave him the old files, Tony is currently working through them. If he can synthesise the proposed element, I give him a 1 in 19 chance."
Alfred didn't respond, not that Bruce expected him to, decades around the butler had taught him that any news good or bad never evoked anything beyond a slight acknowledgement. He continued to work as Alfred remained by his side silently watching the information he was processing. Largely it was centred around Tony but he was also tracking two other cases SHIELD was involved with that had shown increased activity. The first was the Bruce Banner situation, and he saw that despite the doctor's attempt at a low profile Ross was tracking him with SHIELD's resources, which someone higher up than Fury had to have given the General access to. He would have been inclined to get involved if it had not been for the fact that Dick and his team were already assigned to it. He trusted his former apprentice to deal with the situation. The other was a curious one, that had seen Phil Coulson and Agent Barton reassigned to New Mexico to investigate a strange energy fluctuation around an unidentified object that had appeared.
"Hammer is unveiling something new at the Expo tomorrow, he's just rearranged the event schedule" Bruce finally spoke as he pushed his seat back from the computer and stood up. "Alfred, clear my schedule, I'm going to make an appearance at the Wayne exhibit."
"Certainly sir," Alfred moved forward and picked up the cowl that had been waiting by Bruce's side "Should I pack your evening wear as well?"
"Yes Alfred, I feel like I'm going to need it," Bruce grunted as he moved off to get changed, hoping he could address the impending crisis before the clock ran out.
(Wayne-Stark Expo - Flushing, New York City - May 31st, 2010)
Bruce waved to the crowd, giving his best smile as he exited the main pavilion stage before Justin Hammer shook his hand grinning like a lunatic as he walked on. Bruce had managed to use his position as a co-sponsor to take the spot just before Hammer Industries' presentation so that he could observe what was happening first-hand. As he exited the stage he was greeted by Alfred who passed him a bottle of water and gave a subtle nod to the stage starting to play the various anthems of branches of the armed services.
He didn't bother to pay attention to Hammer's words; his focus was on the drones slowly rising from below. They were clearly based on Stark's Iron Man design, right down to the power source housed in its chest, an evident weak spot that could be exploited. Their human profile also made the joints and neck areas susceptible to precision strikes. Overall they were typical Hammer products: overdeveloped with a list of clear issues present, but packing enough firepower to make Generals and U.S. congressmen rush to approve massive purchase orders.
"But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a place for man on the battlefield." Hammer turned around and gestured to the centre of the stage his grin widening as he reached the pièce de résistance of his triumph over Tony. "Ladies and gentlemen, today, I am proud to present the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, my close friend, Colonel James Rhodes!"
The centre of the stage opened up as Hammer reached the highlight of his presentation, as Colonel James Rhodes appeared in the modified armour that Tony had let him take. Bruce's eyes narrowed at the overly armoured and weaponised suit, the minigun mounted on the shoulder was a weight imbalance that could be exploited and the armour placement was poor. The chest and front of the legs were heavily armoured but the sides and the back were glaringly weak and had over a dozen spots where a strike with the right tool would cripple it.
He was momentarily distracted however when the roar of engines caused him and everyone else to glance up at the sky as Iron Man appeared soaring through the air. Tony hovered for a second before landing in front of Rhodey giving the crowd a wave as he leaned in close to whisper something. Bruce looked at the new armour Tony was wearing as well as the Arc Reactor in his chest which seemed to be shining more brightly than before. As he took a quick glance at his phone that displayed the cloned readout from Tony's blood scanner he could see the man's hemotoxicity had dropped by several percentages. It wasn't much but at this stage, but it could only mean one thing, Tony had achieved the impossible and synthesised the new element his father had theorised all those years ago.
"Well I'll be. Guess you were right Howard." Bruce let out a chuckle as thought of how proud his old friend would be for his son, the chuckle quickly died as he saw Rhodey's suit and the drones suddenly ready their weapons and aim at Tony
"And so was I. Alfred, sound the evacuation plan and get my suit."
"Of course sir." Alfred lifted the pad he was holding and tapped on it activating alarms across the expo as he followed Bruce out of the main pavilion as Hammer's drones opened fire.
Alfred didn't even slow his stride as Bruce disappeared from his view suddenly, decades of doing this meant he was used to his charge disappearing when trouble occurred. When he reached the outside of the building his eyes glanced upwards to where Tony was soaring through the sky followed by a dozen drones and Colonel Rhodes' rogue armour. His eyes quickly went earthbound as a black mass streaked across a nearby rooftop as several projectiles were thrown at the Hammer drones crashing out of the building to attack civilians. The Batarangs were precise and devastating, slicing into the drone's vulnerable areas causing them either to topple over or else start sparking and malfunctioning. Alfred reached the limo they had arrived at the Expo in and proceeded to drive it as quickly as possible out of the combat zone, one so that they could create a cover for where Bruce was, and two so he could use its hidden features without fear of the car being blown up. Before departing he turned to look into the back seat to make sure Damian and Cassandra were still there, Bruce had given them strict instructions to stay in the vehicle unless he said otherwise. Alfred couldn't help but give a little grin as he saw one of the back doors open and the bag he had left from open and empty, he pressed a button causing the open door to close as he turned the engine on and left.
Bruce threw several more Batarangs as he leapt from one exhibit to another arcing around the main pavilion so that he could re-enter the building and confront Justin Hammer. His route however allowed him also to bottle up the drones trying to pour out of the building and target the crowds that were now fleeing the battle between Tony and Hammer's drones. He grimaced as he saw that several drones had already managed to exit the building and had managed to move far enough away they were out of his range. He glanced at them his mind trying to assess how he could contain the drones to protect civilians and confront Hammer to end this quickly when suddenly two streaking blurs gave him his answer.
"You're safe now," Bruce wasn't sure if he should sigh, groan, shout or just roll his eyes as he saw the dark red, green and yellow of the Robin suit smash into a drone's head as Damian pulled his sword free and gestured for the couple he saved to run "Move that way and you'll be safe."
"Robin! You've got two more on your left, I've got the ones going right!" Bruce did sigh at that, as Cassandra leapt over Damian in full view of people in the Batgirl suit.
'I'm firing Alfred after this. So much for stealth, this is going to be a nightmare to clean up' Bruce thought to himself as he exhaled a deep breath knowing who had given his wards the suits. He had half a mind to charge over there and drag them away but for the moment he had bigger issues. Bruce moved swiftly back into the main pavilion and found his target yelling at his technicians as Pepper and Romanoff approached him as well.
"What do you mean we're locked out?! It's my system. I can't be logged out of my own system, for fuck's sake!" Hammer looked like he was ready to drop dead and had no idea how to stop it as he gestured to his assistant to do something "Call the guards! Tell them to shut it down remotely"
"We can't get them, sir, there's no signal, it's being jammed!" The assistant gestured to their phone which was dead causing Hammer to just snatch it and try sending a message himself before throwing it into a wall.
"Well… Call their cells!" He yelled "Someone do something! He can't be doing this!"
"Who can't be doing this?" Pepper arrived with Romanoff right next to her, her eyes glaring at Justin Hammer and his staff. "What have you done?"
"What, me?! This all happened when your guy showed up! If he hadn't arrived it all would be fine". Justin quickly moved in front of Pepper blocking her view of his staff's computer as he started to redirect blame for the catastrophe "So please leave. Go away, I've got this handled."
"Have you?!" Pepper snorted in disbelief as she gestured to a nearby window where the sky was filled with explosions as Tony dodged the fire coming from the drones trailing him.
"YES! Now please leave," Justin let out a deep breath as he turned to his chief of security and leaned in towards the man "Listen we need to get these bitches out of he-"
Justin suddenly found himself off of the ground and a deep pressure around his neck as his chief of security fell to the floor. Hammer's eyes went wide as dinner plates he was greeted by a huge black-robed monster lifting him into the air by his neck. Only two people reacted to Batman's sudden appearance as everyone else just froze at the sight of the onyx-armoured man. Nat's reaction was to give a small smile as she watched Bruce induce sheet terror and fear into the CEO whose trousers suddenly became slightly darker in colour. The other was Pepper who just blinked as the dark legend of her hometown manifested itself before her very eyes, however she shook herself out of shock and refocused on Hammer.
"VANKO! WHERE IS HE?!" Batman's dark gritty voice boomed as tightened his grip on Hammer's throat and then eased up just enough for the man to speak clearly "I won't ask again!"
"He's at my facility… just a few miles from here." Hammer managed to eke out before his eyes gazed into the cold white lenses of Batman's cowl "P-Please don't hurt me."
Batman didn't respond beyond dropping Hammer to the floor and then turning on his heels to face the two women, his eyes darting to both of them. Nat just looked down at Hammer and then up into Batman's face giving an impressed smirk at his efficiency, it was one of the fastest confessions she had seen. However, Pepper was giving him an odd look of relaxation and security as if his presence was comforting which was not something he was used to.
"It's good to see you again," Pepper gave Batman a small nod causing him to frown a little both at the action and her words, "You, um saved my life once, well twice actually, and my dad's,"
Batman's mind went into overdrive as he tried to place her, his brain opening and closing every encounter he had ever had in Gotham where he saved anyone remotely fitting Pepper's description. He stopped himself however before reaching an answer when Hammer coughed behind him reminding him of the severity of their current situation. Instead, he just gave Pepper a firm nod which she smiled at before redirecting his attention to Romanoff.
"You coming?" He asked the question and then moved off before waiting for any sort of response.
Pepper blinked and tried to look at her assistant but only could see the back of her as she quickly followed the Batman away. The woman's stride and demeanour shifted so quickly that it told Pepper that she was certainly no legal aid or office worker. Romanoff removed the clip from her hair letting it fall down from the professional bun she had put it and picked up her stride to keep pace with the dark knight.
"I'll call Happy to bring the car around" Romanoff brought out her phone to ring the Stark security chief but stopped as Batman spoke
"Don't bother, mine's faster," Batman pressed a button on his belt it wasn't a few seconds later that a long black armoured vehicle roared across the expo and halted in front of them,
Nat looked over the vehicle it was a cross between a heavily armoured tactical assault vehicle that looked like it could go and occupy a small city by itself and a personalised custom-built pursuit and capture vehicle that any cop would desire. She wasn't surprised by its black colour scheme or the slight bat-like theme that appeared on the vehicle's spoiler. She was loathed to call it a car as she could see several dozen features and additions that told her that the vehicle before her could do a lot more than simply drive on the road.
"Oh I am so driving," Nat turned her head to look at Batman who just moved forward, the car opening up in response to his presence.
"No," Batman replied as he leapt into the batmobile landing perfectly into the driver's seat, "Besides, you need to change."
Nat rolled her eyes not having a comeback to the very reasonable statement as moved forward as well leaping over Bruce and twisting in the air to land in the passenger seat next to him. He didn't bother to wait for her to say she was ready as the car roared to life and started to streak off. She looked around and saw that although there was a back area getting to it was going to be too much hassle so she started to strip where she was to change. She half turned to make a comment to Bruce to keep his eyes on the road as pulled her top off but found the statement stifled as she saw he was completely ignoring her.
She frowned a little at his response. She wasn't disappointed in not being ogled at by a man old enough to be her father nor did she want that kind of attention from Bruce Wayne of all people. However, she knew her looks had been engineered to elicit such a response from men and this was the first time with a man near her that she hadn't been looked at with lust. Even Dick Greyson had looked at her at least once with desire when they ran their first op together, so Bruce's lack of response was as perplexing as it was curious.
"We're here," Nat stated, diverting her attention back to the situation at hand as the Batmobile smashed through the security gate in front of Hammer's building. "If you pull up at the East entrance we should only have to deal with a few guards before reaching the main server room Vanko will be in."
Batman didn't respond as he twisted the wheel causing the Batmobile to skid to a halt facing the building's east side. Nat frowned as she watched him press several buttons, a screen in between them flicked on and showed both a layout of the building and a thermal imaging readout of everyone inside. She saw that there was basically no one present, and it was a straight shot to the server room, apart from the 2 dozen walls between them and it.
"What are you doing?" Nat asked as she zipped up the front of her SHIELD uniform eyeing the man sitting next to her.
"Driving," Batman said laconically, then pressed the button on his steering wheel that fired the vehicle's thrusters sending them straight into the side of the building.
Nat couldn't help but tense and grip her seat tightly as they smashed through the first wall, then the second and then another. However, she felt the tension leave her body as despite seeing them colliding with every wall she felt no jolt or movement inside the vehicle, it was as if they were taking a slow cruise down a country road. Their journey ended as quickly as it began as Bruce slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel to cause the batmobile to stop. He was already leaping out of the vehicle before Nat could fully register what was happening.
"Very subtle," Nat shot Batman a raised eyebrow as she left the vehicle seeing that they arrived in the server room, her breath visible in the cold air
"It was quicker than beating up a dozen guards," Batman replied moving forward again forcing Nat to follow like she was a little girl the thought caused her to scowl, and she had to halt as Bruce suddenly stopped "Vanko's gone,"
As Nat arrived next to him she saw two dead guards hanging from the ceiling power cables warped around their necks as makeshift nooses. They stood in front of what looked like the main terminal which was displaying a readout of Rhodes' suit as well as the remaining drones as well. Nat didn't waste a moment; she moved forward, using every technical skill the Red Room and Barbara had drilled into her to free Rhodey from Vanko's programs.
"Stark, you just got your best friend back," Nat smirked as she pulled up a comm line with both Stark and Pepper.
"Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff." Tony let a deep breath, her reboot of Rhodey's suit had just saved his life.
"Well done on the new chest piece." Nat gave him a warm smile and sent him all the data she could on the drones "I'm reading significantly higher output, and your vitals all look promising."
"Yeah, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thanks for noticing." Tony replied as he moved over to Rhodes now prone from waiting for his suit start back up
"What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying!?" Pepper's worried voice caused Nat to glance at the panicked woman, seeing Hammer being escorted off in handcuffs in the background
"Pepper is that you? No no no, I'm not. Not anymore." Tony replied trying to sound as calm as possible "Look I was going to tell you,"
"You were gonna tell me?!" Pepper's voice went so loud that even Nat flinched as the woman directed all her fury at her boyfriend "You really were dying?!"
"Hey, hey. Save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming, Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you." Nat stepped in to end the domestic squabble, she sent Tony a readout of the drones converging on him as well as another hostile she guessed must be Vanko in his suit, she turned to look at Batman and just frowned "What are you doing?"
"We're too far away to render assistance. Besides they've got that handled," Batman was inserting a flash drive into a nearby server bank before starting to throw devices that stuck to the surfaces they hit "I'm making sure this doesn't happen again,"
"With bombs?" Nat raised an eyebrow as she saw him continuing to place explosives around the room
"Yes" Batman replied throwing a dozen more devices around the room, "I'm purging any data related to the Arc Reactor, and I would be grateful if you sounded the evacuation alarm."
Nat's fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard activating every fire alarm in the building as she then turned back to the Dark Knight of Gotham. "How long have we got?"
"Enough to leave," Brue replied, lifting his hand and pressing a button that caused all the explosive devices to start beeping. Shall we go?"
"I hate you."
(Authors Notes)
Not my best ending I know and it was a little rushed but I just ran out of time to write this and wanted to wrap up the Iron Man 2 arc here and now so we can move onto the real meat of the story.
Next chapter or two will deal with the aftermath of this chapter and a set up for the events of the Avengers movie.