An undercover cop on the brink of an investigation with far-reaching consequences.
A woman escaping a troubled first marriage.
An encounter in a dangerous part of New York City.
Could be a recipe for trouble or the beginning of something good.
Whate...
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Jane
There is an Ancient Greek saying, attributed to Plutarch that says, "come back with your shield – or on it." It was supposedly the parting cry of Spartan mothers given to their sons as they left for battle. It meant a warrior was never without his shield, either returning home from battle victorious, alive and carrying it, or dead and carried back upon it by his comrades. I don't know why that phrase came to me on the morning the assembled law enforcement teams prepared to leave for a series of raids. That type of mindset wasn't second nature to me, and I didn't think the people on our combined NYPD / FBI team felt that way. Perhaps it was the look of determination that was on Tony Stark's face when he returned to the hidden compound after seeing to the needs of his security chief, Happy Hogan.
It's accurate to say that he took the attempt on Happy's life personally. Bruce enlightened me on the bond between the two men, saying it was more like brothers than employer and employee. Happy, despite being considerably younger than Tony, had been a caretaker for him for almost twenty years. A former boxer, he was hired as a private security guard for Stark Technology when he retired from the ring. Something clicked between the two men and Happy showed he was more than capable of heading up the security division for the company, responsible for company security as well as personal security for Tony, his wife Pepper, and their daughter Morgan.
When Tony arrived the previous night, he asked to meet with Thor and Bucky first, before the rest of us were expected to meet in his quarters. Expecting Tony's arrival, Bucky had crammed our remaining weapons training into either a full morning or afternoon session, with the help of the FBI and NYPD members on our team. It was draining to fire a gun repeatedly for hours but by the time we finished most of us were able to make those head shots and could fire off a full magazine in quick succession. We wouldn't go down without a fight. That evening was to be dedicated to planning with Tony addressing us first. When we did arrive, he didn't say a word until we were all inside and the door closed.
"First of all, Happy will be alright," he announced. "The air bags engaged like they should and although both he and Gary, his driver, suffered facial injuries, and some broken bones they'll be out of the hospital soon. Gary and his family will be joining our families in seclusion while Happy will be coming here." He pulled up a tablet and unlocked it, showing us a picture of a man in his 40s. "This is Justin Hammer, a former business partner of mine. He tried to take over the company about eight years ago, having illegally bought stock to put himself in position to take control of Stark Technology. I, as majority shareholder, rebuffed him, and sued to force him to divest his stock, after learning he used blackmail and coercion to buy up stock. His goal, at the time, was to turn Stark Technology into a sole source contractor for the American military, developing weaponized software and AI that could be used to spy on foreign entities." His face became grim, and he spat out what we all knew what was coming next. "He's involved in this insurrection and was likely behind the hacking of Happy's vehicle."
