Book One - Part One: Dark Knight

Chapter Twenty Eight

A/N - I MIGHT JUST SQUEEZE IT TO 30 CHAPTERS. PLUS A SMALL EPILOGUE THAT WILL LEAD UP TO BOOK THREE/IRON MAN 2

Later Tony looks over the files, music blasting, worry seeping in. He didn't really care that he was in the firing line, but now Elena is. Behind him is his cell phone listing six messages, all the same: 'Missed Call – Pepper'. Suddenly, the music powers down unexpectedly.

"What gives, Jarvis?" Tony asks.

"You have a visitor, Sir. Obadiah Stane is here" Jarvis informs him, Tony clenches his jaw and stands.

................

Upstairs Obadiah holds a pizza as Tony moves towards him.

"It's UNOS. Four cheese. I just had it flown in from Chicago" Obadiah tells him, Tony remains stoic. Obadiah puts the pizza down, crosses to

Tony and hands him a letter. "I'd like you to proof-read something for me"

"Would you like me to spell-check it, Sir?" Jarvis asks.

"Can you turn him off? All the way?" Obadiah asks Tony. Tony scans the letter.

"Spin down Jarvis" Tony looks up from the letter, surprised. "Your resignation"

"You were right. It's not my company -- not my name on the building. We were a great team...but I guess this is where our paths diverge" Tony hears a blip from the phone system, he looks to it and sees incoming call; Pepper Potts. Tony looks to Obadiah.

"Pepper. I should take that"

"Tony. Please. I'll be out of here in a minute" Tony finally nods, pushes a button, sending the call to voice mail. Obadiah meets Tony's eyes, fatherly. Puts a hand on Tony's shoulder. "We have too much history to part on bad terms. I'd like your blessing" Tony's eyes, suddenly registering a paralysing pain. Tony sinks back in his chair. Stane places the sonic taser down on the table. "Easy, now. Try to breathe..." He kneels beside Tony. Unbuttons Tony's shirt. "You can't mess with progress, Tony. It's an insult to the Gods. You created your greatest weapon ever but you think that means it belongs to you. It belongs to the world" Tony's eyes are wide with pain, unable to move. All he can do is gasp and gurgle as Stane begins removing the chest-piece from its socket. "Your 'heart' will be the seed of the next generation of weapons. They'll help us steer the world back in the right direction – put the balance of power back in our hands. The right hands" Obadiah removes Tony's heart. "By the time you die, my prototype will be operational" Obadiah smiles. "It's not as conservative as yours" He wraps the heart in cloth. Then stands, clicking off the sonic taser and pocketing it. Tony rolls from the chair, onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Already slipping away. "The sad thing is...we're both the good guys" Obadiah kills the lights and leaves.

...................

At the parking garage at Stark Headquarters Pepper, Coulson and five dark-suited Agents walk with urgency towards two Crown Victorias. Pepper is on her cellphone, worried.

"I don't know, he's not answering his phone. Will you just go over there and check on him? Thanks, Laurie" She clicks off. The Agents pile into the Crown Vics, and Coulson holds a door open for her. Pepper instead beelines for her parked Audi. "I know a short cut" She hops in. Coulson looks at the Agent behind the wheel, then back at Pepper.

"I'll ride with her" Coulson hurries over, jumps in and the Audi races off. The Crown Vics try to keep up.

.................

Tony, on fumes, pulls himself up a shelving system. It topples, spilling items -- including the Lucite-encased heart Elena gave him. He crawls to it, smashes it open. He lifts the glowing chest piece.