<div class="floatleft">(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/jotunusmc/120715110642-downey-hall-h-story-top.jpg)</div><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>  Name:</strong> Tony Stark<br/>  <strong>Title:</strong> Iron Man<br/>  <strong>Location:</strong> Inside Maria's Private Office<br/>  <strong>Time:</strong> 5:35pm EST Thursday<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong> <strong>Maria Hill</strong></span></span><br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">     Tony watched as Maria unleashed a barrage of insults and accusations in his general direction. During her tirade the only physical response was Tony dropping his chin just slightly, focusing in on the bold woman with slightly narrowed eyes as he absorbed every word she had to say. As she spoke he was beginning to get a better read on the woman and her motivations - something he had constantly been working at, even when she was one of Fury's underlings. He had always sensed her apprehension about him in dealings with SHIELD. Of course he was curious as to why. There were a lot of people in the world - specifically among the US Government and UN officials that had a problem with Tony and the power he wielded. Maria was different though, and he was still trying to determine what her exact angle was.<br/><br/>     When her train of contempt slowed to a stop, ending on a final remark about his physical appearance, that annoying smile of his reappeared. It was a wide grin, and a confident one - as always. What Maria didn't realize was that Tony didn't particularly have anything against her aside from her business decisions. He chose to get under her skin, not because it amused him - but because it aided him in figuring her out. <br/><br/>     You see, Tony was arrogant... yes; but he was calculating and precise. His mind was far sharper than most realized... as most assigned his genius merely to technology and didn't recognize it in it's all encompassing whole. Tony rarely lost his cool - even though he <em>appeared</em> wild and reckless to most, he willingly took brazen risks. Having thought his actions through - for the most part - and choosing to accept the consequences for the end goal. Even now the wheels were silently turning as he formulated his response. He let out a laugh though, which was the slightly personal side of him coming out in a natural defense to the possibility that she just might have gotten under his skin.<br/><br/>      After that laugh rang out, distilling very little of the tension in the air, Stark began his response, <strong>"If I had a jacket to offer you, I gladly would - though you wouldn't fill it any better than Director Fury's shoes."</strong> That statement had begun with a smile and ended with a crisp tone and sharp eyes. <strong>"And a mirror? Please Maria, I wish you <em>were</em> a bit more like me; maybe then you'd understand how responsibility actually works in the <em>real</em> world. That was something my father understood, and it is something I understand."</strong> He thought about elaborating on the details of those words - that her structured world did not, and <em>could</em> not exist without people who were willing to bend the rules a little. That would have been a waste of both of their time however; though Tony <em>did</em> enjoy hearing himself speak.<br/><br/>     <strong>"I think you're the one who's staring into a mirror. I don't seek to control Bruce by any means. Am I trying to ensure the well-being of others by having a couple of safety measures in place? Sure. But isn't that exactly why you and all the other haters want me to hand over Iron Man?"</strong> His tone was getting sharper, as he was building up to the point of his response, and essentially his visit as a whole - despite what she may think he's here for. <strong>"You"</strong> he said, speaking collectively <strong>"climb up on your high horses and you look down on 'cowboys' like Fury and I."</strong> Stark purposely chose to use her exact term from earlier in their conversation. <strong>"But Fury is the reason the Avengers exist. Not <em>SHIELD</em>.</strong>" His eyes really began to narrow down, and he took a small step in Maria's direction, squaring up his shoulders with her. <strong>"SHIELD didn't create jack shit. Are you trying to give Loki and Thor competition in the deity department? Cause it sure as hell looks like it. Getting trapped in a fucking cave in Afghanistan, looking over the devastation my own hands created is what made Iron Man, with the help of my father's technology. And without him, SHIELD would be nothing."</strong> Tony paused for just a moment, maybe to gather another breath before he continued, but surely not long enough for her to get a single word in edge-wise.<br/><br/>     <strong>"Without me and my reckless choices, New York City would be a fucking crater right now, and that probably would hardly have slowed Loki down. Maybe you should try thinking for yourself for once instead of following every God damn order that gets passed down!"</strong> Tony fully believed every word he was saying. He didn't view himself as a cowboy, he viewed himself as a visionary maybe even a revolutionist. There were times when structure and order had it's place, but then there were also times when those foundations needed to be uprooted and relaid. Now was one of those times. <strong>"If I left the Avengers to your charge they'd be in dire straights. What the fuck are you and those pompous government assholes going to do the next time someone wants to reenact Alien vs Predator all over the place? The world needs to be prepared, the Avengers need to be prepared. And what is SHIELD going to do to prepare them? Nothing. That's right, nothing. Without me you're stuck hiring some crackpot communist scientist to figure out half of what I know!"</strong> Thoughts spun through Tony's head of Justin Hammer and the man's jealousy for Tony's power and accomplishments, and he felt the same thing from Maria - just in a different way. Not that he'd go out and say that, at least not until he was sure.<br/><br/>     He was simmering with fire, as if there was some other passion burning inside him that had been riled up. Something beyond his dislike of Maria, SHIELD, or anything else. It was some internal battle that Tony was still fighting - trying to be the hero that the world needed. He wasn't stupid, he knew he had his faults... but he knew also that he was trying to do the right thing, and he'd be damned him some uniform was going to tell him he was doing it wrong. <br/><br/>     Tony only let the tension hang in the air for a moment before he cracked it back down with another stinging joke. <strong>"And who are you kidding Maria? You know you're dying to wear these pants."</strong> Perhaps he was trying to lighten his own mood, or perhaps he really was the arrogant asshole that didn't give a damn.<br/><br/>     Just as Tony finished his elaborate response and his snarky final comment that attacked Maria and multiple levels - partly for his own amusement - he offered her another wide and annoyingly confident grin. He crossed his arms over his chest and just stared her down in that robe - which was still uncomfortably revealing - for her at least. Just before Maria could begin to respond to Stark's legitimate concerns (or his immature antics) Tony's PDA began to ring. He held up his hand in her direction and pulled out the device, noticing the number was one that belonged to Stark Tower. Another smile came to his face as he realized yet another opportunity to poke at Maria <strong>"Excuse me while I take this. It's probably someone actually doing their job and not prancing around in their underwear pretending to know it all." </strong><br/></span></span></div>