Pepper sat just behind Tony, her heart thumping uncomfortably in her chest but never would she dare show it in front of so many people. Of course, a lot of her anxiety was due to the man seated right in front of her. His unpredictable actions were destined to get him in trouble, and she had no way of stopping him. Pepper closed her eyes in an attempt to regain some composure, subconsciously moving slightly to the right as someone sat down to the left of her.
Pepper licked her lips nervously and glanced to her left to see who sat down beside her but had to look twice, expecting another uniform clad man and not a smartly dressed blonde woman. An inaudible gasp escaped Pepper's lips as Athena winked playfully at her. Relief flooded Pepper's chest, maybe at last someone could restrain Tony from making so many mistakes now that Athena was back.
"Your back." Pepper stated, her eyes widened and a smile over took her features. "Thank god."
"Yeah, just in time to see everything go to shit, it seems." Athena hissed quietly into Pepper's ear. "Why is the government on Tony's back?"
Pepper shrugged and looked over at Tony who looked like he was about to turn around. "I'm surprised it took them this long."
Tony turned with a smirk on his face which quickly fell when he saw the blonde sitting beside Pepper. His eye twitched slightly at the unimpressed look on both of the women's faces. Ignoring the calls that were aiming for his attention, Tony whispered to Pepper. "Is she real? Is she really there?"
Athena rolled her eyes and leaned forward, gaining his attention. "Oh, I am real and your going to turn around and keep all your smart comments to yourself. You hear me?"
"I remember you being more fun." Tony whined childishly, ignoring what she told him to do and remained facing them.
"Tony, you need to get your act together. This is the government, you can't sweet talk your way out of it. You need to develop a strategy." Athena growled at him, her eyes flashing a glare at him as his name was called out again.
Tony smirked, his eyes glistening with mischief. "I have a strategy. I'm going to sweet talk my way out of it."
Athena snarled and gestured him to turn around, her eyes glazing over in annoyance as he grinned at her in triumph.
"Mr. Stark, please." Senator Stern called out, this time hitting the table with the gavel in attempt to call order.
Tony winked at Athena before turning around to face the Senator with a sarcastic smile. "Yes dear?"
"Can I have your attention?" Stern asked him, his tone tense with annoyance.
"Absolutely." Tony spoke into the microphone, the same sarcastic smile on his face. From his posture and body language it was clear that the billionaire wasn't taking anything seriously, and probably never would.
"Do you or do you not possess a specialised weapon?" Stern asked him, his voice turning more professional as he became more aware of the cameras recording and broadcasting the hearing.
"I do not." Tony answered simply, his hand resting on the back of the chair as he remained half turned to the Senator. From this position alone it was clear that the Senator didn't have his full attention yet.
"You do not?" Stern repeated annoyed, leaning back into his chair.
"I do not." Tony confirmed but then rethought his answer. "Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."
"The Iron Man weapon." Stern clarified, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
"My device does not fit that description." Tony argued, practically able to feel the glare that was being burnt into his back by Athena.
"Well... How would you describe it?" Stern asked him, leaning forward in his chair while he raised his eyebrows.
"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator." Tony spoke, not answering the question as he should.
"As?" Stern's voice was beginning to portray his annoyance and he was clearly losing his patience with the playboy billionaire.
"It's a high-tech prosthesis. That is... That is... That's actually the most apt description I can make of it." Tony glanced over his shoulder and saw Athena rolling her eyes but he knew her well enough to recognize the smile that was trying to form on her lips while she tried to remain looking unimpressed.
"It's a weapon. It's a weapon, Mr Stark." Stern deadpanned, disagreeing with Tony's statement.
"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen-"
"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." Stern cut over Tony, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending or what state you're in." Tony kept his face blank, turning his body fully around to face the Senator. Tony's attention was fully on him now, hence the heavy glare he was sending his way. "You can't have it."
"Look, I'm no expert-"
"In prostitution? Of course not. You're a senator. Come on." Tony hit the desk in front of him with hand and all signs of previous seriousness was gone.
The courtroom filled with laughter at Tony's words. Turning around, he waves cockily at the crowd behind him. Tony grins at Pepper and Athena, who both look at him with no amusement in their eyes but pure annoyance. He mouthed "no?" at them and then sighed as they both shake their heads.
"I'm no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor." Stern announced. Tony's head perked up at mention of the Hammer's name and looked at the said man unimpressed as he entered the courtroom and sat down.
Tony looked behind him at Athena to see her reaction, and saw that Pepper was doing the same thing. Athena covered her face with her hands and refrained herself from glaring at the man. It was a known fact that Athena had no time for the stupid, and Justin Hammer fell under that title in her mind and in many others'. A sly smirk presented itself on Tony's lips as Hammer readied himself.
"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance." Tony's patronizing tone was about the only thing that could have made Athena smile at that moment and she agreed with him wholeheartedly.
Hammer raised his glass at Tony and laughed sarcastically. "Absolutely. I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony. You're the wonder boy."
Athena narrowed her eyes at the man as Tony looked away, bored and fed up with the man already. Justin Hammer stood up and made is way up to the screen. "Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad. Howard Stark."
Tony turned his head sharply at the mention of his father's name, annoyance quickly boiling inside him. He glanced over his shoulder at Athena, who mouthed at him to stay calm, though he could see the anger in her eyes as well.
"Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, he insists it's a shield." Tony heard a sharp breath exhaling from behind him, deducing it was from Athena as he shook his head at the man's words.
"He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America." Hammer finished and sat back down.
"That is well said Mr Hammer. The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber." Stern announced.
Tony looked up surprised and then behind him as the doors opened. "Rhodey? What?"
As the cameras flashed, Tony stood up to greet his friend by shaking his hand. "Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Look, it's me, I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on." Rhodey said, walking them back to the seats in a tired tone.
"I just-"
"Drop it."
"All right, I'll drop it."
"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, complied by Colonel Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?" Stern asked Rhodes, once both men were seated again with a smug smile on his face.
"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?" Rhodey clarified, knowing that that one paragraph did not reflect Tony in a good way on its own.
"Yes, sir."
"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner." Rhodey said as he attempted to avoid reading the paragraph.
"I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So if you could just read-"
"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summery of my final-"
"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you." Stern demanded, losing his patience.
Rhodey sighed and began reading. "Very well. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests." I did however, go on to summarise that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh three liabilities and that it would be in our interest-"
"That's enough Colonel." Stern tried to stop Rhodey from continuing but Rhodey carried on.
"-to fold Mr Stark-"
"That's enough."
"-into the existing chain of command, Senator." Rhodey finished.
"I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defence, if you ask nice." Tony spoke, after listening to everything that Rhodey had said. The crowd laughed and Tony leaned forward to finish his comment as Rhodey took a long gulp of water. "We can amend the hours a little bit."
"I'd like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that's connected to your report." Stern asked, trying to continue his mission of smearing Tony's suit.
"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time." Rhodey protested.
"With all due respect, Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. Let's have the images." Stern demanded.
Rhodey moved some pages around and then gestured for them to begin, reluctantly. As the images came up on the screen, an idea popped into Athena's head. With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and began hacking, knowing that she really shouldn't.
"Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground-"
Rhodey felt himself pausing as someone reached between himself and Tony. Words left him as Athena handed Tony her phone, leaving him to finish the job. Rhodey looked over his shoulder at the woman that had disappeared for two years, who only waved her fingers at him in response. Tony looked down at the device in his hands and grinned when he realized what Athena wanted him to do. Rhodey continued what he was saying, talking slower due to his shock.
"-indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational."
Tony looked over his shoulder at Athena, who was holding back a smirk and raised his eyebrow at her. "Now, this is fun."
Tony leaned forward and held Athena's phone up, interrupting Rhodey. "Hold on a second buddy. Let me see something here."
With the phone held up to the screen showing the images, he pressed an option on Athena's phone and connected it with the screen, successfully hacking into all the devices. "Boy, I'm good. I commandeered your screens. I need them."
Doing the same thing to another screen, the words "Welcome, Mr. Stark" flashed up in the black box. "Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on."
"What is he doing?" Stern asked, suddenly very concerned.
With Athena's phone now placed down flat on the table, Tony began. "If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea."
Clicking another option on Athena's phone, a video plays of a suit. Athena leaned back in her chair, ignoring the disappointed looks she was getting from Pepper, and studied the suit. It appeared badly built, which was probably why it fell over and why the guns went out of control.
"Can you turn that off? Take it off." Stern ordered, Justin Hammer standing up to do so.
"Iran." Tony clicked another option. Athena raised her eyebrow as she watched Hammer fumble around at the screen, the so called weapons expert unable to find an off switch.
"No grave threat here." Tony deduced before moving on to his next victim. "Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game?"
Athena couldn't help the snort that came when she saw Hammer's attempt at the suit. Incredibly pathetic.
"Justin, you're on TV. Focus up." Tony mocked. Athena bit back a smirk as she watched the video on the huge screens in amusement. Justin continued to fumble around at the screen, slowly becoming redder in the face as multiple gun shot sounds and cursing emitted from the video, more specifically himself. Tony looked over at Rhodey, who tried to hide his smirk, before giving Athena a cheeky smile in thanks.
Eventually, Justin opted to pulling all the plugs from the wall, ending the video abruptly. Tony leaned forward to his microphone. "Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty."
Scrambling into his chair and in a desperate attempt to regain some respect, Justin tried to defend himself. "I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived."
"I think we're done is the point that he's making. I don't think there's any reason-"
With his fisted hand pressed against his cheek, Tony talked over Stern. "The point is, you're welcome, I guess."
"For what?" Stern asked him confused, honestly fed up and just wanted to finish the hearing.
"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it. But I did you a big favour." Tony hit the table with his hand, passionately and stands up. Turning around to face the crowd behind him, he spoke ever so arrogantly. "I've successfully privatised world peace."
He threw his hands up, both forming peace signs as the crowd all stand up, everyone talking at once. His ego swelled at the reaction, and it only swelled even more as he spotted the amused looks on Pepper and Athena's faces. "What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns."
All amusement fell from the women's faces at his words, Athena practically snarling as Stern retaliated. "Fuck you, Mr Stark. Fuck you, buddy. We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today."
Tony slipped a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, ignoring the tired looks of his three friends. Pepper was beginning to doubt if even Athena could get through to him. Of course, Athena could be just as bad as him sometimes. Today was an example as that, when she handed him everything he needed to hack into the systems. Athena could be just as arrogant as Tony at times.
"You've been a delight." Stern snarled sarcastically. Tony walked through the crowd, shaking a few hands as he did.
"My bond is with the people. And I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to... pleasure myself."