Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Seventeen
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Seventeen:
Tony parked in his garage and cast a forlorn eye at his smashed Shelby Cobra. It still hurt every time he looked at it-especially since he spent so long perfecting the car from the inside out. It wasn’t as bad as the loss of his piano, though. Without music to distract himself from work Tony was almost constantly stressed.
Getting a new piano was on his list of things to do today. He made a quick, professional, call to Pepper about it and mumbled something about taking care of some wrongful business transactions before he said goodbye. He could hear her protesting this idea just as he was hanging up and felt like a total ass.
Tony checked Jarvis for any minor coding errors that may have occurred when he was taken offline last night and decided to get an early start on taking out some terrorists. As he pulled on his neoprene gear he made a call to Rhodey.
“Yeah.”
“Rhodey, I’ve got some business to take care of just outside Gulmira.”
Rhodes sighed. “Well, at least you told me this time.”
Tony smirked. “I’d ask if you wanted to come with, but you need some training before you get in the air with me.”
Silence.
“Wait…”
“I’m making a new one for you. Mark II-A, I suppose. Or how about ‘War Machine?’ That sounds like something you’d like.”
“Tony… I…” he laughed suddenly. “Man, it’s not even close to my birthday!”
Tony grinned. “Come by on Saturday and we’ll get you all scanned and ready.”
“Damn, Tony…”
“Keep the skies clear for me, alright platypus?”
“Only if you quit calling me that.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll call it in. Armed Forces are going to want to monitor how you do, you know…”
“Whatever,” Tony shrugged. “See you Saturday, Rhodey.”
They both hung up and Tony stepped onto his “test pad.”
“Jarvis, suit me up and load navigational map three into the HUD.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tony felt a bit like he was being taken care of by a pit crew as he was bolted into the red and gold suit. The headpiece clanked shut and he really did feel like another person-like Iron Man-when he looked up at the hole in his ceiling and checked general flight patterns on the HUD. When nothing was in sight he kicked the boots into gear and flew above commercial jet altitude. On a whim, he decided to fly supersonic and was propelled forward by a loud crack of air molecules slamming into other air molecules when he moved too fast for them to stay with him.
“Jarvis, how’s the new power output?”
“Optimum, sir. The new reactor is working at five times the capacity of the last.”
Tony grinned. “My math is never wrong.”
He made the rest of the journey in silence-speaking only once he got to the mountain range in Afghanistan. “Check the area for specified microchip signals.
His HUD system lit up with a multitude of red circles.
“Civilians?”
“There are fifteen being held where the closest shipment was delivered. I’m reading another thirty that are already deceased.”
“Shit. Show largest threat to civilian safety.”
Jarvis magnified three tanks-all armed with Stark Industries weaponry and guarding a huge munitions supply and one of his older missiles-a Spartan. All civilians were being held in a nearby quarry. Tony’s mind worked quickly on the problem at hand and he landed with a flair between the tanks and the captives.
There was only one man guarding them and he literally pissed his pants when Tony tuned to face him with that perpetual frown of disapproval and glowing blue eyes. He grabbed the M-16 out of the terrorist’s hands and bent the barrel in half. Without being told, the group he’d been holding at gunpoint ran as far away as possible-making Tony’s job twice as easy as it would have been.
Unfortunately for the guy who was standing in a pair of urine-soaked trousers, his comrades in the tanks decided to fire an RPG at Iron Man’s back. It clanged off the armor and landed in the gravel and Tony barely had time to react as it exploded and sent him flying into a rock face. The so-called ‘guard’ was now decorating the quarry with his guts and Tony was half-covered in gore.
He was still holding the bent M-16.
Dropping it, Tony crouched from his prone position and turned to carefully aim an energy blast from his right palm at the Spartan missile at the center of the “tank triangle.”
Five times the usual power exploded from the conduit and slammed into the missile with the force of a hydrogen bomb.
Not only did the missile explode, but the tanks, munitions, half the quarry surrounding the tanks, and the encampment of terrorists behind the missile were taken out by the blast. Tony was slammed into the wall by the blast wave and stayed there until the wind died down.
There was a crater.
Tony gave a manic laugh and stared at what he’d done. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he muttered.
“Indeed,” said Jarvis-sounding quite smug and pleased with himself.
“Jarvis, do a system check and see what else is nearby.”
The HUD lit up with red again and Tony smiled.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Seventeen:
Tony parked in his garage and cast a forlorn eye at his smashed Shelby Cobra. It still hurt every time he looked at it-especially since he spent so long perfecting the car from the inside out. It wasn’t as bad as the loss of his piano, though. Without music to distract himself from work Tony was almost constantly stressed.
Getting a new piano was on his list of things to do today. He made a quick, professional, call to Pepper about it and mumbled something about taking care of some wrongful business transactions before he said goodbye. He could hear her protesting this idea just as he was hanging up and felt like a total ass.
Tony checked Jarvis for any minor coding errors that may have occurred when he was taken offline last night and decided to get an early start on taking out some terrorists. As he pulled on his neoprene gear he made a call to Rhodey.
“Yeah.”
“Rhodey, I’ve got some business to take care of just outside Gulmira.”
Rhodes sighed. “Well, at least you told me this time.”
Tony smirked. “I’d ask if you wanted to come with, but you need some training before you get in the air with me.”
Silence.
“Wait…”
“I’m making a new one for you. Mark II-A, I suppose. Or how about ‘War Machine?’ That sounds like something you’d like.”
“Tony… I…” he laughed suddenly. “Man, it’s not even close to my birthday!”
Tony grinned. “Come by on Saturday and we’ll get you all scanned and ready.”
“Damn, Tony…”
“Keep the skies clear for me, alright platypus?”
“Only if you quit calling me that.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll call it in. Armed Forces are going to want to monitor how you do, you know…”
“Whatever,” Tony shrugged. “See you Saturday, Rhodey.”
They both hung up and Tony stepped onto his “test pad.”
“Jarvis, suit me up and load navigational map three into the HUD.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tony felt a bit like he was being taken care of by a pit crew as he was bolted into the red and gold suit. The headpiece clanked shut and he really did feel like another person-like Iron Man-when he looked up at the hole in his ceiling and checked general flight patterns on the HUD. When nothing was in sight he kicked the boots into gear and flew above commercial jet altitude. On a whim, he decided to fly supersonic and was propelled forward by a loud crack of air molecules slamming into other air molecules when he moved too fast for them to stay with him.
“Jarvis, how’s the new power output?”
“Optimum, sir. The new reactor is working at five times the capacity of the last.”
Tony grinned. “My math is never wrong.”
He made the rest of the journey in silence-speaking only once he got to the mountain range in Afghanistan. “Check the area for specified microchip signals.
His HUD system lit up with a multitude of red circles.
“Civilians?”
“There are fifteen being held where the closest shipment was delivered. I’m reading another thirty that are already deceased.”
“Shit. Show largest threat to civilian safety.”
Jarvis magnified three tanks-all armed with Stark Industries weaponry and guarding a huge munitions supply and one of his older missiles-a Spartan. All civilians were being held in a nearby quarry. Tony’s mind worked quickly on the problem at hand and he landed with a flair between the tanks and the captives.
There was only one man guarding them and he literally pissed his pants when Tony tuned to face him with that perpetual frown of disapproval and glowing blue eyes. He grabbed the M-16 out of the terrorist’s hands and bent the barrel in half. Without being told, the group he’d been holding at gunpoint ran as far away as possible-making Tony’s job twice as easy as it would have been.
Unfortunately for the guy who was standing in a pair of urine-soaked trousers, his comrades in the tanks decided to fire an RPG at Iron Man’s back. It clanged off the armor and landed in the gravel and Tony barely had time to react as it exploded and sent him flying into a rock face. The so-called ‘guard’ was now decorating the quarry with his guts and Tony was half-covered in gore.
He was still holding the bent M-16.
Dropping it, Tony crouched from his prone position and turned to carefully aim an energy blast from his right palm at the Spartan missile at the center of the “tank triangle.”
Five times the usual power exploded from the conduit and slammed into the missile with the force of a hydrogen bomb.
Not only did the missile explode, but the tanks, munitions, half the quarry surrounding the tanks, and the encampment of terrorists behind the missile were taken out by the blast. Tony was slammed into the wall by the blast wave and stayed there until the wind died down.
There was a crater.
Tony gave a manic laugh and stared at what he’d done. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he muttered.
“Indeed,” said Jarvis-sounding quite smug and pleased with himself.
“Jarvis, do a system check and see what else is nearby.”
The HUD lit up with red again and Tony smiled.
TBC
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