<div class="floatleft">(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/jotunusmc/iron-man-2-tony-stark.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> R&amp;D Level, Tony's Personal Lab<br/>  <strong>Time:</strong> 4:00pm Thursday<br/>  <strong>Tags:</strong> <strong>Elizabeth Ross</strong>, Everyone else</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;">     A freight train - fully loaded. That was Tony. He was hard to get going, and tended to favor the straightest and least difficult route possible... but once you got him moving, he was almost impossible to stop. You couldn't call the man lazy. Sure, he was eccentric, and preferred to find the easiest and most efficient way of doing things, but he wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty and building up a sweat. In fact, it was when Tony was physically working hard that he was at his best. It helped him focus; as if every part of his body was working synchronously to one passionate purpose. He called it "hardware mode" and it was his escape from the responsibilities of life - not that he took those too seriously anyhow, or at least he never showed it.<br/><br/>     Heavy metal music blared as Tony was dragging a thick cable over to a large piece of equipment that looked somewhat like a satellite, but was pretty bare and roughly welded together. One hand was unraveling the massive coiled cable as he trudged with determination towards his newest project. His eyes seemed zoned out as if he was thinking deeply as he worked, making calculations in his head as he wrestled with the huge cord. When he finally reached the object he flipped open an aluminum panel door, exposing the female connector slot with about the same diameter as the cable he'd drug over. He grabbed the loose male connector and forced it into place.<br/><br/>     The frustration inside him was evident in the way he was working. His movement almost seemed angry. He usually vented many of his frustrations through his work, but it kept him balanced. So much had changed in the last few months. Ever since the Chitari invasion things had spun quickly into madness. Loki had created chaos, and the chain reaction was still going off. Nick Fury was on thin ice with UN after the Avengers had left Downtown New York a complete mess. Tony's tower was still getting patched up after the crazy episode, along with the rest of the city. Tony was heated at the situation Fury was in. If the UN had their way, New York wouldn't even exist anymore, and the entire eastern seaboard would be dealing with nuclear cleanup. He hated the politics, the fake show that public officials put on - always looking after their own asses. He didn't trust any of them. <br/><br/>     After the victory over Loki and his minions Maria Hill had come over making demands to the team as if she owned the joint. She was the interim Director of SHIELD while Nick Fury was on "leave" and she was a fucking Nazi as far as he was concerned. She was peeved - specifically at Tony - for ignoring higher orders from SHIELD during the invasion, as if she'd never broken a rule in her life. Even Captain America had gone on a breaking and entering tour of SHIELD storage, and if <em>that</em> guy bends the rules than no one is off limits. Tony had interrupted Hill's lecture in the debriefing and promised her that the Avengers would never disobey SHIELD protocol again - because they were resigning from SHIELD. He had spoken for everyone, but they had agreed - even Cap', who was still quite angry about SHIELD trying to weaponize the Tesseract. Bruce and Thor were quick to side with Tony, both having terrible experiences with both SHIELD and the American Government. Natasha and Clint were a different story, they were part of the secret UN unit long before they were a part of the Avengers, so they were floaters right now - still part of SHIELD, but still welcome among the rest of the self-proclaimed outcasts. <br/><br/>     There wasn't much Maria, SHIELD or anyone else in the world could do about it. Nobody could tell them what to do. They were too powerful, and had far too much support from the world population for their leaders to force the team into compliance. They had all the leverage. Tony had offered the entire team permanent quarters in Stark Tower - if they so desired. In fact, the majority of Stark tower was getting renovated into becoming official Avenger Headquarters. All of the team's personal quarters and main floors were finished. They were just finishing up some of the smaller less important details. Work had already begun on the other two towers of the Stark complex, and the other two buildings would become the new Stark Industries Headquarters - unless Tony commandeered them as well - which likely wouldn't happen if Pepper had anything to say about it. She was already irritated that he'd taken over Stark tower - though she was kind of expecting it. She supported Tony and the team's choice though, so she gave in eventually.<br/><br/>     Of all people, Pepper was the only one that had any hope of swaying Tony from whatever course he was on. She didn't look it, but she was quite powerful in her own right. She knew how to run things, and that even extended partially into Tony's personal realm. The two were constantly butting heads, but in the end one always conceded to the other once they got on the same page. She was as stubborn as he was, but she was understanding - and with her he was the same way, though few others had that luxury. To everyone else Tony was a pain in the ass on most fronts - he was funny... and charming... but a pain in the ass none the less. Bruce got along well with him - but that's because he was smart, he knew getting into a confrontation with Tony would be a battle, and it might push him too far and put him in 'rage mode'. So Bruce tended to agree with Tony, for the sake of avoiding a rampage of random destruction. <br/><br/>     Stark punched several buttons on the equipment and several screens on the wall behind it came to life. He picked up a keyboard that was set on top of it and set it on an empty cart next to the machine. His fingers worked quickly and his eyes darted from screen to screen as he began inputting data and initiating a diagnostics test. Once the sequence had booted up he crossed his arms and watched the screens for another moment with calculating eyes. <br/><br/>      His face was still sour. Not at the work in front of him, but at the most recent news he had discovered. He frequently hacked into the SHIELD database and checked up on the shady unit, and a recent discovery had him irritated. Hill had hired on Elizabeth Ross as her Director of Communications, and Tony knew there were other motives behind it. Betty had recently finished her degree and had little experience - if any. She was intelligent, and savvy, but it just didn't fit to him. Maria was trying to get reins on the Hulk and Betty was the only living soul that had a chance at calming down his favorite green rage-monster. Tony didn't like that. He understood the dangers of Bruce's transformations, and having Betty nearby to prevent any mishaps would be a good thing - he just didn't want Maria in control of that. If a conflict as serious as the last one ever arises again, the team would be in deep water without the Hulk. Tony hated admitting that he wasn't the strongest member of the team... but witnessing what Bruce's alter ego could do left even a technology-minded Tony in natural awe. The Hulk was an organic machine of pure and dangerous wonder. He doubted if even the entire team of Avengers combined could stop the Hulk - and he didn't want to find out.<br/><br/>      After a few moments Tony stepped away from the screens, the computer sequence was running solid on its own and didn't need his constant attention anymore. He needed to handle this most recent development, and he could only think of one way. <strong>"Jarvis."</strong> Pepper was going to give him an earful. She hated when he infringed on her personal territory - Stark Industries. He'd kept her as CEO, and as such, she required that he not meddle with the company. If he was going to push his responsibilities off on her then he <strong>damn</strong> well better not get in her way. <br/><br/>     "Yes sir?" The computer replied to him via the built in PA system. <br/><br/>      <strong>"Call Elizabeth Ross."</strong> Tony said.<br/><br/>      "Planning a surprise visit for Bruce sir?" The smart computer asked as it hacked into the unlisted directory for Ms. Ross's personal number.<br/><br/>     <strong> "No Jarvis, this visit is for me."</strong> Tony replied with a smile. He could just imagine Maria's face when she hears the news.<br/><br/>      Tony's super-computer sidekick made the connection, putting the pieces together from Tony's recent research. "Sir, Ms. Potts is not going to like this." If anyone else had access to Tony's personal lab, overhearing the conversation would sound like plotting an affair. Even though it wasn't, Pepper would be just as furious as if it was. There was <em>absolutely</em> nothing she took more seriously than her work. <strong>Nothing</strong>.<br/><br/>     Tony ignored the computer's words of warning, and Jarvis must have known that Tony wouldn't listen to him anyway, because the speakerphone was already ringing. After a few moments the phone clicked over to her voicemail - she must have been away. Her greeting played, followed by a beep.<strong> "Betty, it's Tony. I was calling to congratulate you on your new job."</strong> Tony was flipping quickly through screens on his handheld touchscreen PDA. <strong>"In fact it looks as though you're flying there right now."</strong> He had brought up the SHIELD database flight data. He touched the screen several more times before speaking one last time. <strong>"If you're interested, I'm willing to offer you the same position at Stark Industries here with Bruce. My personal Helicopter will be waiting for you on the Heli-carrier when you land. See you soon."</strong> and after that Jarvis hung up the call. Tony was hoping that Betty would jump at the chance to be closer to Bruce - the two really needed each other right now. If it helped Tony gain an edge over SHIELD, well then that was just an added bonus, he thought to himself with a clever grin.<br/><br/>     Jarvis chimed in again, "Good luck sir." <br/><br/>     <strong>"Thanks Jarvis. You think she'll take the offer?"</strong> Tony inquired, sometimes he actually thought his super-computer creation was smarter than most people.<br/><br/>     "That was for when Pepper finds out." The computer replied in a dry tone. If it could laugh, it probably would have.<br/><br/>     Tony's eyebrows raised up and he nodded subconsciously with a slightly worried look on his face. <strong>"You're right, I should go make the offer in person."</strong> he said more to himself than to Jarvis; he didn't want to be anywhere close when Jarvis confirmed the hire to Pepper. <br/><br/>     Tony trotted over to the back door of his lab, opposite it's main entrance, and typed in a security key code - the buttons were scanning his index prints with each push. With a quick hiss the door slid open and Tony stepped into a circular room that housed all of his suits. <strong>"Bring out the Mark V."</strong> he spoke to Jarvis and the floor began to move an open as he walked, pieces of the armor being attached to his body with every step. The Mark VII was the most recent suit, but that was an emergency call suit, and carried far more firepower than he would need for a simple utility run. By the time Tony had crossed the circular room, another door snapped open and outside their was nothing but open air. Tony's walk increased to a slow jog and he jumped out the entrance in a somersault. The weight of the metal suit quickly put him in a rapid free-fall down the back side of Stark Tower. Tony laughed slightly before stopping his spin and facing his hands and feet to the ground. His boots and gloves flared to life and he came to a quick stop before rocketing up into the air and arcing over into horizontal flight. <br/><br/>     <strong>"Jarvis, track down the private jet that's flying Elizabeth to SHIELD."</strong><br/><br/>     The computer sighed in Tony's helmet-speakers before complying, "Inputting the coordinates to your HUD sir."<br/><br/>     Tony's boot jets cracked and he rocketed forward at full speed, as if he was throttling a dragster down a 1/4 mile strip. Tony laughed loudly as he felt the G's from accelerating at such a fast rate. He'd been flying the Iron Man suit for quite some time now, but the joy from every outing still felt like the first time. <br/><br/>     <br/><br/></span></span></div>