Devil of Menace

3 - Recruits

Coulson calls again but it's declined once more. "He's not answering." He sighs. I keep working on my phone, typing furiously. 'OVERRIDEN' pops up in large green letters, "Try now." Coulson dials once more and the call goes straight through, "Stark, we need to talk." Tony's face pops up on the screen, "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message." I join Coulson's side, "This is urgent Starko." I say gently. "Then leave it urgently." Tony says, annoyance lacing his tone. At that moment the elevator door opens and Coulson and I step out into Stark's penthouse. "Security breach." Tony says before turning to Pepper, "That's on you." Coulson steps forward, "Mr Stark."

Pepper smiles politely, "Phil, Vik. Come in." I smile graciously and return the hug she gives me. "Phil?" Tony asks sarcastically, "Uh, his first name is Agent." I roll my eyes at his statement but Coulson remains unbothered. "Come on in, we're celebrating." Pepper repeats, drawing attention to her champagne glass. She offers me one but I politely decline, "Not a big champagne fan." I say. "We can't stay." Coulson says. "We need you to look these over." I say, holding a file out to Tony, "As soon as possible." Tony stares at me, "I don't like being handed things." I purse my lips and sigh but before I can threaten my friend Pepper turns to me, "That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade." She hands her glass of champagne to Coulson and takes the files from me. She then takes Tony's glass and hands him the file. "Thank you." She says. "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday." Tony says, completely disregarding the file.

"Anthony, you know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important, plus this isn't a consultation." I explain, frustrated. "Is this about The Avengers? Which I-I know nothing about." Pepper stutters. "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify." Tony retorts. Pepper looks back to Phil and I, "I didn't know that either." She says and I smile. "Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." Tony mocks. "That I did know." Pepper jokes. I speak up, "Narcissism so all-consuming it borders on mental illness, but this isn't about personality profiles anymore." Tony sighs, "Whatever. Miss Potts, got a minute?" He says as Pepper joins him near some sort of computer. They chat for a minute or two before I hear Pepper ask, "What is all of this?" Tony expands his arms and a number of videos appear on screen, "This is, uh. This." He explains. Old reels of Steve fighting begin to play at the same time as numerous others. The Hulk attacking Culver University, Thor fighting the Destroyer in New Mexico, me fighting on recent SHIELD missions, and Loki and the Tesseract.

"I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight." Pepper says after the videos finish. "Tomorrow." Tony whines. "You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework." Pepper insists. Tony rolls his eyes, "Well, what if I didn't?" He asks. "If you didn't?" Pepper repeats, confused. "Yeah." Tony nods. "You mean if you finished?" Pepper asks, causing Tony to nod. "Well, um... then." She leans forward and whispers something in Tony's ear. Tony gasps as I grimace and Phil looks away in embarrassment. "I can hear you guys." I say, disgust prominent in my voice. "Square deal. It's the last date." Tony agrees. Pepper kisses him gently before saying, "Work hard." And leaving with Coulson. I stay behind and watch as Tony grabs the holographic form of the Tesseract, worry clear in his face. "You know what you have to do Starko." I say ruffling his hair. He nods, "I know, it's just, this is my dad's work. I have to keep to what he wanted, and I don't trust SHIELD to do that." He explains. I nod, "Me either."

A few hours later, Steve, Coulson, and I are inside a quinjet, heading to Fury's location. Steve watches the video of Hulk's attack on Culver University on Coulson's tablet. The pilot speaks, "We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." He says. Coulson stands from his seat and walks over to Steve and I. "So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asks curiously. "A lot of people were," Coulson replies, "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula." The Hulk on the video roars as he smashes a jeep, "He didn't." I say, cringing at the noise. "Not really. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Coulson explains. Steve looks at me in confusion, "A genius." I state.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." Coulson splutters, Steve smiles warmly and I smile at the interaction. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." I grimace at his choice of words. Steve looks at the ground and turns off the tablet. He walks over to the cockpit, Coulson following. "I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board." Phil rambles. Steve looks out of the windshield, "Well I hope I'm the man for the job." I stand and wrap my right arm around his waist, causing him to look down at me, "Oh you are, absolutely." I reassure. Coulson clears his throat, "Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." Steve tenses slightly, "The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?" He asks. "With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned." Steve relaxes at the sentiment but my brows furrow. "Come to light? What are you talking about?" I ask but the jet begins to land, saving Phil from an awkward attempt to cover his statement.