𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎
Audelia Motter and Tony Stark had each other's backs through thick and thin. But after the abduction of the billionaire in Afghanistan by the Ten Rings...
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Natasha Romanoff had never seen anything worse than the sight of Justin Hammer literally dancing onto the main stage of the Stark Expo with Pick Up the Pieces playing on the surround sound speakers, and she had seen a lot in her life.
"Yeah. That's what I'm talking about! Thanks for coming!" Hammer pointed out to the crowd with a charming smile before taking his place behind the podium at center-stage, clearing his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then the Iron Man and Imperial arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad."
"Oh lord," Pepper muttered under her breath in annoyance, locking eyes with Natasha, who she still knew as Natalie. She kept her ears open to listen to what Justin was saying, peering around the Expo to see if she could spot Nathan anywhere in the crowd.
"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed the headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a difficult problem. They are about to run out of ink," the crowd stayed silent at Hammer's joke as two interns ran out onto the stage, taking the podium away as they handed him an earpiece mic instead. "Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military: The Hammer drone!"
Natasha and Pepper sat still, eyeing the situation warily as the ground of the stage opened up, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, Justin Hammer had a different drone for each section of the military. He pranced around the stage, basking in the audiences applause now that they saw his creation.
The man let out a laugh into the mic as he turned to address the crowd now, all of the drones lined up behind him.
"As revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. So, ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"
"What?" Pepper muttered incredulously, staring wide eyed at the stage. Natasha's eyes widened slightly as well as James Rhodes, wearing a now decked out version of the pro-type Iron Man suit he had taken, rose up from under the stage.
As Rhodey saluted, the drones behind him followed his movements and mimicked them as Justin Hammer laughed into the microphone once again.
"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for..."
A hush fell upon the crowd as their heads turned toward the sky, to the opening in the roof before them at the familiar hum that flew through the air. A flash of color flew by them as everyone's heads were turned back to the main stage, where Iron Man and Imperial landed before James Rhodes and Justin Hammer.
The applause from the crowd was almost instant as Audelia Motter and Tony Stark rose to their feet in their suits, walking toward Rhodey as Hammer quickly ran around them to address the crowd.
