A Hero's Journey

Iron Monger

Him and Tony were working on the suit, the top half on a stand as they reached up inside of it.

They had been tinkering for the better part of three hours, bickering back and forth about everything under the sun.

"I'm telling you, Tony, here soon the Seahawks are going to make a big comeback." Ghost started.

"Sure they will. Those dirty skyrats suck more than the girls I used to be with did." Tony retorted.

The assassin gives the billionaire a look. "One, gross. Two, they are not skyrats, those are the Ravens. Three, have you even seen them recently? They got to the Super Bowl a few years ago."

"And they choked, Ghostie-Mostie. They always do." Tony responded.

"Pick a better team then. I'll wait."

"The Chargers." Tony gave, and Ghost paused.

"The Chargers? Really? Not even in my top twenty of who I think will win the Super Bowl this season." Ghost answered.

Tony also stopped for a minute. "And who do you think will win it all?"

Ghost thinks for a minute. "Saints. I think the Saints will take it."

He gave Ghost a look. "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

The door opened, and both of them turned to see Pepper walk in. "Hey, Pep." Ghost greeted.

"Ghost." She greeted, and stepped towards a their work circle, which was just parts on tables set up in a circular pattern around them.

Tony stood up and walked to meet her, so, because he wasn't going to work on Tony's suit without him, followed. "Hey, you busy?" Tony asked. Then before she could answer, he continued to ask, "You mind if I send you on an errand?" Pepper puts her hands on her hips. "I need you to go to my office." Tony grabs a device off of the table, and Ghost deflates. Oh, not the USB. "You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the revent shipping manifests. This is a lock chip." He hands it to her, and she looks at it. "Me and Ghost coded it, so it'll get you in. It's probably under 'Executive Files.'" Tony turns around and steps away.

Ghost continues, "If it's not there, it's on a ghost drive. If that's the case you'll need to find the lowest numeric heading."

Pepper blinks. "And what do you two plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?"

"Stop them." Ghost answers.

"They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them." Tony answered.

Pepper looked at Ghost. "And you?"

"My job is to guard him and make sure he doesn't die until the threat to him passes. If that means helping him take down corrupt members of his company, then that's what I'll do." Ghost responded.

Pepper took a minute to process before shaking her head. "Tony. Ghost. You both know I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if Tony's going to start  all of this again. And I can't help if you help him."

Ghost looked down at the floor. He understood. She had to draw the line in the sand. But... Tony didn't get it.

"There is nothing except this. There's no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign." Tony turns and steps to Pepper. "There is the next mission and nothing else."

Ghost's eyes widened. That was his mindset when he first joined SHIELD. Then, he met the Carol. Sure, he still had that mindset, but it was lessened. Then he met the Bartons. Laura and Cooper were highlights, and Clint wasn't that bad. Then Natasha came around.