Man in Blue

Prologue

She remembered seeing him in a photo.
It was centered on the apparent death of JFK, but it was was the man in the background that drew Haelilia's attention. Her mother and father had been at the parade when JFK was killed and had taken the picture mere seconds before the assassination. The man in the background was pointing something at the President. From the angle of the camera, and with the graininess, it looked like a small circle. The next few pictures they had taken showed the aftermath of the shooting, but it was the man that demanded her attention.
In the following shots, he was holding a bag, putting something in it. The next shows him, in a sky blue jacket with black pants, taking another glance at the pursing confusion. Long black hair had swung down in his face and had hidden it from the camera's view. The last picture had the rear bumper of the Presidential limo. In this picture, the man is standing in front of the other man and was handing him a large bag. Haelilia's grandmother told her that they looked like curtain rods. Haelilia wondered why the man was handing the other man the bag of curtain rods. Especially at a time like that.

Vicky, Haelilia's current best friend, and conspiracy nut, said that it was the man that killed the president, and that the curtain rods were really a Sniper Rifle used to kill Kennedy, but Lily's mother had told them both that it was another man that had been caught and eventually killed that had taken the fall for the killing of the President. Ilia smacked her friend on the arm, earning her an indignant "OWW!" before thanking her mother for sharing the pictures for her event report for seventh grade and going back up to her room to leaf through her father's comic book collection he had given her before being shipped off overseas somewhere for the Army.

Later, she remembered seeing him in person.

She had taken her students on a visit to the Smithsonian Museum, since the incident with the Helicarriers in the skies had perked their interest in History, her chosen field.
The bus was waiting for them, but she had to go back in the museum for some wayward students. She found them, and had given them a stern talking to and had them walk ahead of her back to the busses. As they walked out, a man in a dark blue jacket with the hood raised snaked past them towards the Captain America display. She gave him a once over, making sure that he posed no threat to her kids, then dismissed him as an ordinary museum visitor. Only later did she think back and remember his blue jacket and his long black hair obscuring his face.

Now, she was at Braelle's motor shop, tinkering on something bulky that she had been given, as Lily had a tendency to mess up delicate parts in engines, clocks and pretty much everything else. Her hands were not tuned for an engine, they were tuned for page turning, typing and scrolling for hours on end, just for one more piece of information before she published her book. She had several working titles, but nothing struck her fancy, yet. She had Conspiracies in Government, but that seemed boring and no one would buy a boring book, Back Alley Deals with Senators, but she had notified that another book had taken that name. Her favorite was Proper Secrets, but even that was not quite right. She sighed and Braelle's blonde head popped out from under the car she was working on.

"I know that sigh. Thinkin' about that dang book of yours, ain't ya?" Braelle's very twangy country accent had been what Lily was first drawn to when they met in college. Braelle was from some place called Roebuck in the 'Heart of Dixie' as Braelle liked to call South Carolina. They shared many general education classes, and later Braelle helped Lily with her math classes and Lily returned the favor for History and Political classes. She dodged the lug nut or lag nut? whatever, that Brae threw at her to get her attention.

"Yes, Brae. I'm thinking about my book. The editor wants a permanent title as of yesterday and I'm still not satisfied with what I have." There was a ding from the inside of the shop and both young women moved into that area, away from the garage. Lily threw a rag, disgusting thing, at her best friend in retaliation for the thrown lag nut. When they got there, a man was standing at the counter, looking annoyed.

"I have been standing here for five minutes, young lady. I would like to speak to the manager or owner of this dump." His crisp white shirt looked funny in a shop where everything was dirty. Brae looked at Lily and smirked. She did a quick 360.

"I'm the owner and Manager of this here 'dump' as you so eloquently put it. How can I help you today?" She drawled out. The man blinked then sputtered.

"You- you can't be the Manager! Or the owner! You're just a girl!" Lily sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Just 'cause I'm a lady doesn't mean that I can't own or manage this shop. I am Braelle Davis. Now, do ya need something, or are ya just gonna stand at look at me?" The man had the grace to blush, and it did not look good on him.

"My employer would like to extend an employment opportunity to you, Ms. Davis. He drove by one day and liked the look of your... operation here, and would like to upgrade your systems, tools and budget." Braelle looked ecstatically over at Haelilia, but stopped short when she saw the doubt on her friend's face. Lily stepped up and addressed the man.

"Hi, yes, uh, couldn't help but overhear. I have a few questions, regarding this, too good to be true opportunity."

"All questions will be answered when you... who are you anyway?"

"Sorry," she replied curtly, "Name's Haelilia, I'm her business partner and sister-in-law."

"Okay, Haelilia, I suppose you can come to the meeting tomorrow as well. All questions will be answered when you meet the big man." Haelilia snorted, causing Braelle to laugh.

"Okay, metaphors aside, who is this mystery endorser? The 'big man'?" Now it was the man's turn to look amused.

"Why don't you know? Mr. Tony Stark."