FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

17 - SHOWTIME

"YES PEPPER, I KNOW... I've thought this through, believe it or not... okay maybe I haven't thought it through that much, but it could work!... you know, it would help if you weren't so negative... Alright, alright! I'll tell her... Thanks Pep, I owe you one."

Tony laughed silently as he ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He made his way over to the third level of the building. Distinct grunts and huffs could be heard from the hallway as he pushed the doors of the training room.

He walked in on Angie kicking away at a punching bag. She stopped as soon as she noticed his presence, catching her breath.

"I've got news," Tony announced cheerfully "I think I have a solution for our Hellhound problem."

Angie grabbed a towel nearby and brought it to her damp forehead. Weeks had gone by since that night in Brooklyn when she last saw Steve. Along with Tony, she had spent almost every waking moment trying to find out more about the new threat. It had been a pretty remarkable failure so far, so any new lead was definitely welcome.

"I'm listening," she told him, untying the gloves from her hands.

"I was just talking to Pepper. There's an international astronomy and aeronautics summit in California next week. They're throwing a charity gala and I hear some big names are going to be there."

"Big names...?"

"ESA, NASA, the APSCO..."

"Tony..." her eyes narrowed "Don't give me letters, you know I have no idea what they mean."

"Right, sorry." Tony chuckled a little "Basically, representatives of the biggest Astronomy organisations on the planet. Physicists from all over the world..."

Angie perked up a little "Physicists...? And you want to do what, extract information about a potential spaceship about to invade Earth?"

Tony grinned, glad she was catching on "Exactly."

She scoffed "I was being sarcastic, Tony. I don't know how those organisations work but I highly doubt they'd share top secret information with you."

"You forget about my superpower of persuasion."

She chuckled crossing her arms over chest "If by persuasion you mean offering to pay for everything..."

"It's like you read my mind," his smirk widened "Trust me, people get very talkative once a sponsorship from Stark Industries is on the table."

"Well... we are pretty desperate for information. I won't pretend I'm above using bribery," she shrugged, throwing the towel back on a stool "Guess you got your work cut out."

"Me? Oh no, Angie... didn't I tell you, I get to have a plus one?"

Angie's smile melted right off her face "That's very funny... I mean... you are joking, right...?"

⁂

"Have I mentioned how much I hate you for making me do this?"

The New York City skyline slowly disappeared from sight as the Stark Industries jet plane gained altitude. Angie heaved a long sigh letting the low rumble of the engine take over her thoughts. She still didn't know why she allowed Tony to drag her into this.

"Only twenty thousand times since we took off," Tony smirked, leaning back against his seat on the other side of the aisle.

Angie let out another sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had refused categorically at first, but somehow, Tony ended up getting what he wanted. She couldn't tell whether he was as persuasive as he pretended, or if she had truly gone soft. Either way, the next thing she knew, she was boarding his luxurious private plane, heading to the other side of the country.