I really didn't want to attend this Expo.....I could careless about what Justin Hammer is presenting.
As Natalie and I were sitting down, Justin comes facing out onto the stage. "Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Thanks for coming. 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 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." I roll my eyes.
"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. Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer drone." Drones rise out of the stage as he calls names. "Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines! Yeah! Yeah! Woo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you. But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theatre of war. 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?" I look at Natalie then to Rhodes.
"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for"
I was then shocked to see Tony flying in and landing next to Rhodes. I look around nervously as everyone cheers. Suddenly Rhodes gun along with all the other drones point at Tony as he flies off. Natalie and I cover our heads as the glass above us breaks. Natalie pulls me with her behind the stage where Justin is leaning over a technician. "He's locked us out of the mainframe."
"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" I yell as I run up to him.
"Please, please, go away. Go away. I've got this handled."
"Have you now?" I narrow my eyes.
"Yes, I do. In fact, if your guy hadn't showed up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please, now go away. Thank you."
Suddenly, Natalie grabs Justin and holds him down on the desk. "You tell me who's behind this. Who's behind this?"
"Ivan. Ivan Vanko."
"Where is he?" She asks.
"At my facility."
Natasha lets go and leaves. I grab my phone and dial the police, "I need NYPD, please."
"No, no, no!"
"Command Central." I say.
"No, no, honey. Don't call the authorities."
"Okay. Right away. Right away." I hold my hand up to Justin. "Step aside. Step aside." I push passed him and lean over the Technician. "Tell me everything you know. Go."
"All the drones and James Rhodes is compromised. We've been locked out of everything."
"Can you try and hack the system?" I ask.
Suddenly I get a video call from Natalie.
"Well done on the new chest piece. I am reading significant higher output and your vitals all look promising."
"Yes, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you." Tony suddenly says.
"What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?" I ask worriedly.
"Is that you? No, I'm not. Not anymore."
"What's going on?" I ask.
"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you."
"You were gonna tell me? You really were dying?" I raise my voice.
"You didn't let me."
"Why didn't you tell me that?" I yell.
"I was gonna make you an omelette and tell you!"
"Hey, hey. Save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you." Natalie says.
"Great. Y/N?"
"Are you okay now?" I ask.
"I am fine. Don't be mad. I will formally apologise..."
"I am mad!" I yell.
"...when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack."
"Fine." I huff.
"We could have been in Venice."
"Oh please." I roll my eyes and walk away.
"I told you that five minutes ago." Justin yells as we look over the screens.
"That's your guy here." I say to the police coming toward us.
"Excuse me?" He asks.
"You're being placed under arrest."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Hands behind your back sir." He was turned around and getting cuffs placed on him.
"I'm trying to help here. I get it. I see what you're doing. You're trying to pin this on me, huh? That's good. That's good. You're starting to think like a CEO, taking out the competition. I like that. You think you're making a problem for me? I'm gonna make a problem for you. I'm gonna be seeing you again real soon." He yells back at me. I roll my eyes and follow the officers outside.
"When they get here, I think you should station them at the south, east and both west exits."
"We shut down the 7 train in and out of Willets Point already."
"Well, have city buses there to ferry people to operating lines." I nod and stop waking.
"Yeah. Are you coming with us?" He asks.
"No, I'm gonna stay until to park is clear." I smile.
"Okay."
I stay outside and watch as everyone is cleared out, I really wanted to wait for Tony.
As I'm standing outside a drone next to me starts beep. I stare at it as the beeping goes faster. I screamed as I felt arms grab me, Tony had grabbed me and flown off, the drone exploding from below us.
I scream and close my eyes as we fly through the city and onto a rooftop. "Oh my God. I can't take this anymore." I yell as he takes his helmet off.
"You can't?"
"I can't take this." I panic.
"Look at me."
"My body, literally, cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or wreak the whole company." I yell.
"I think I did okay!"
"I quit. I'm resigning. That's it." I grab my chest.
"What did you just say? You're done? That's surprising. No, it's not surprising. I get it. You don't have to make excuses."
"I'm... I'm... I'm not making any excuses." I shake my head
"You actually were just making excuses. But you don't have to."
"No, I wasn't making an excuse. I'm actually very justified." I step forward.
"Listen. Hey, hey. You deserve better."
"Well..." I smile.
"You've taken such good care of me. I've been in a tough spot, but you got me through it, so... Right?"
"Thank you." I nod.
"Yeah."
"Thank you for understanding." I whisper.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's talk clean-up."
"I'll handle the transition. It'll be smooth." I sigh.
"Okay. What about the press? Because you only had the job for a week. That's gonna seem..."
"Well, with you it's like dog years." I laugh. "I mean, it's like the Presidency." Tony cuts me off by pulling me in and kissing me. I hold onto the back of his head as his hands wrap around my waist.
Tony pulls away and smiles, "Weird?"
"No, it's not weird." I whisper and bite my lip.
"It's okay, right?"
"Yeah."
"Run that by me again." I smile and pull him closer, starting to kiss him before we were cut off.
"I think it was weird...You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape." Rhodes says awkwardly, sitting beside us.
"I had just quit, actually." I nod.
"Yeah, so we're not..."
"You don't have to do that. I heard the whole thing." He smiles.
"You should get lost." Tony laughs.
"I was here first. Get a roof."
"I thought you were out of one-liners." Tony smiles.
"That's the last one."
"You kicked ass back there, by the way." He nods.
"Thank you. You too. Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"
"Not okay. Not okay with that." He shakes his head.
"It wasn't a question." Rhodes then flies off.
"How are you gonna resign if I don't accept?" He holds onto my hands as I laugh.
I couldn't believe we were actually gonna do this.