Iron Woman - (Fem Iron man X Pepper)

Chapter 22 - Fury

I was sitting in a Donut, nursing a massive hangover while I ate a donut when a man walked up. "Ma'am! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the doughnut."

I roll my eyes and fly down, following him inside. "I told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band." I sigh.

"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" Fury asks.

I get distracted, "It's...It's... It's...I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly I'm a bit hung over. I'm not sure if you're real of if I'm having..."

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet."

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" I ask.

"That's not looking so good." He points at my neck.

"I've been worse." I sigh.

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." I look up to see a woman...Natalie.

"You're fired." I point.

"That's not up to you." She Sits down next to Fury.

"Y/N, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff."

"Hi." I roll my eyes.

"I'm a Shield shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."

"I suggest you apologise." I nod.

"You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know better..."

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." I sigh.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Woman and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" He turns to Agent Romanoff, "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Miss Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorised usage."

"What do you want from me?" I ask.

"What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Agent Romanoff leaves. "You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with....hit her." Suddenly Romanoff comes back and injects my neck.

"Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" I ask. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?" I ask

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain." I nod.

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms."

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." I nod.

"Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

I was escorted back home...I could see all the damage I caused now. "That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Fury points as he sits outside with me.

I shake my head, "No, it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturised it and put it in my..."

"No. Howard said the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery."

"Just him, or Anton Vanko in on this too?" I ask.

"Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next 20 years in a vodka-fuelled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

"You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven't tried everything? What haven't I tried?" I ask.

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started."

"He said that?" I ask, not believing it.

"Are you that person? Are you? 'Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart."

"I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan." I sigh.

"What do you remember about your dad?"

"He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that. You're talking about a guy who's happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school." I roll my eyes.

"That's not true."

"Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did." I nod.

"As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of Shield."

"What?" I ask.

"I got a two o'clock" Fury stands.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What's this?" I stand and pint to a box.

"Okay, you're good, right?"

"No, I'm not good." I shake my head.

"You got this? Right? Right?"

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get." I sigh.

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?"

"Yeah." I nod.

"And Y/N, remember, I got my eye on you." Fury leaves me.

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Roma off leaves.

I turn to Coulson, "Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice." I nod.

"I'm not here for that. I've been authorised by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?" Coulson asks.

"I think I got it, yeah." I nod.

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment."