Always You {𝟚} | Marvel √

5

Malibu
Tony's House

Pepper & Natalie were in the living room, talking to people on the phones as the news played. "Yes, but the fundamentals of the company are still very, very strong despite the events in Monaco," Pepper said in the phone.

"Yes, of course," Natalie said into her phone then she looked at Pepper. "The AP wants a quote," she said and Pepper covered her speaker.

"Don't tell them. Fax them-" Pepper said to her as Rhodey in his uniform entered the house.

"Where is he?" He asked and Natalie looked at him.

"He doesn't want to be disturbed," she said as Pepper looked at him.

"He's downstairs," she said and Rhodey nodded before he started to walk into Tony's lab.

"But what happened in Monaco?" The news asked.

"Yes, but-" Pepper said.

"But his continuing erratic behaviour may lead many people to ask themselves, Can this man still protect us?" The news said.

"Iron Man never stopped protecting us. The events in Monaco proved that," Pepper said.

Tony's Lab

Tony was sitting in a car, watching a hologram, with Emma sitting next to him, asleep, catching up on her sleep from jet lag. "Query complete sir. Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son, Ivan, who is also a physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet-era weapons grade plutonium to Pakistan, and served 15 years in Kopeisk prison. No further records exist," the hologram explained then Rhodey entered and walked up next to him.

"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now-" He started to say but Tony quickly interrupted him.

"Shh," he said, then Rhodey looked at Emma asleep and slowly nodded.

"Listen. I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door and taking these," Rhodey softly said but Tony wasn't paying attention. "They're gonna take your suits, Tony, okay? They're sick of the games. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore. Are you listening to me? Are you okay?" Rhodey asked.

"Let's go," Tony softly said before he got out of the car but fell and Rhodey ran up to him.

"Hey, man. Hey, hey! You all right?" Rhodey asked as he helped him up.

"Yeah, I should get to my desk," Tony softly said and Rhodey helped him to his desk. "See that cigar box?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Rhodey said.

"It's palladium," Tony said as he sat down at his desk. Then he removed the Arc Reactor which was smoking.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked softly.

"If you must know, it's neutron damage. It's from the reactor wall," Tony softly said then opened it and a clip was inside burned up.

"You had this in your body? And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" Rhodey asked softly, as he pointed at the infection spreading onto his neck.

"Road rash. Thank you," Tony said then he replaced Arc Reactor and started to drink green liquid again as he saw Rhodey was staring at him. "What are you looking at?" He asked softly.