A Complicated Web

Chapter Thirty-Six: All Work Out

Tony dozed in his chair. It had been another long day, with nothing to show for it. Not one agent of SHIELD had come up with anything to help them find the missing teens. Part of him felt terrible keeping the others practically locked up in Stark Tower, but he knew it was for the best. But the strain had finally caught up to him and he'd nodded off, chair tilted back to a more comfortable position.

"Sir," JARVIS intoned for the umpteenth time. "Sir," he repeated louder until he was almost yelling.

Mr. Stark woke with a start, somehow managing to fall out of his chair at the same time. He did a sort of roll, coming back to his feet, looking groggy. "I'm up," he said in a semi-daze, brushing himself off. He looked around only to realize he was still the only one in the room. "Huh?"

"I was beginning to wonder if I needed to call in one of the others to wake you, sir," JARVIS said in a droll tone.

Tony shook like a wet dog, trying to get the circulation flowing. When that didn't immediately work, he went for the wet bar and poured himself a drink. "Did you need something, JARVIS?"

If the AI could have rolled his eyes, he would have. "I may have something that may be of use to your search," he announced, causing Tony to pause, his glass halfway to his lips.

Wiping his mouth, Tony set the glass down, more awake now than he had been a minute before. "Oh you do, do you? Well, let's hear it." He stood almost impatiently, hands on his hips.

JARVIS activated one of many 3D projectors in the room to bring up a recording of the student expo welcome dinner. "It took me a while to comb through all of the footage, but I believe I may have found some kind of connection."

The video began to play, showing the introduction of the various business professionals represented as sponsors for the expo. "Please pay particular attention to the table on the left," JARVIS requested as Tony heard his own remarks in the background, mainly questions from the immature audience about his love life.

Several businessmen and women sat around the table in question, including representatives from Krei Tech, Haedria Enterprises, and General Tech. While the majority of those sitting at the table seemed intent on the speaker, several pairs of eyes searched the audience, almost as if they were looking for someone specific. It was hard to tell where they were looking though. A woman sat near the two men sweeping the area, though she seemed unaware of her neighbors' actions.

"JARVIS," Tony warned, "I don't see how this has anything to do with our missing students. All I see is a couple of people scouting out the crowd. That's perfectly normal for a gathering like this." He picked up his glass and took a drink.

The image froze for a moment, as if some glitch had caught the footage before it switched to a different view. Thanks to the added security at the event, there were several different angles from which to look. "Do be patient," JARVIS intoned as the next video began playing.

The same two men who'd been scouting out the audience during Tony's question and answer period were now slowly walking around the tables. They seemed to saunter more slowly around the table where Hiro and his friends sat, with Tony and Pepper now joining them.

Tony moved around his desk to look more closely at the footage. "JARVIS, why didn't I notice these people before?" He looked more than a little unsettled to see the intent looks on the two men's faces before they quickly moved away from the immediate area. They'd stayed long enough to hear the invitation for dinner the next night.

"Yes, that was most careless of you, sir," JARVIS said. "However, I believe you may have dismissed them as they were relatively circumspect in their actions. If I had not been looking for correlations, I might not have noticed them myself. But, in hindsight, their actions are suspicious."