Chapter 9: SHIELD

A/N: A look at some of the forces arraying themselves against Tony at the moment, followed by Tony waking up from a productive nap.

-x-X-x-

"Coulson!"

Turning at the sound of his name, Agent Phil Coulson smiles slightly when he sees the familiar faces coming down the hallway towards him. Nodding, he greets each of them in turn.

"Agent Barton. Agent Romanoff."

At being addressed, Natasha Romanoff, known to many in the intelligence community as the Black Widow, nods her head in response.

"Agent Coulson, sir."

Unlike her partner, Natasha is the picture of professionalism. Clint Barton on the other hand, is all grins as he reaches out and claps Phil on the shoulder.

"Just got back from a slam dunk. How about you, how are things going on your end?"

Phil isn't surprised to hear that Barton and Romanoff have completed another mission, likely with a mutually stellar performance. Clint Barton, otherwise known as Hawkeye, is one of the best agents SHIELD has picked up in the last ten years. Meanwhile, despite being recruited just six months ago, Natasha Romanoff was far from wet behind the ears or green. No, hers had been a hostile recruitment, where Barton had made the call to flip her on their enemies rather than carry out her assassination.

So far, Barton's decision seemed to be paying dividends. That was good, because if it hadn't, or if any part of Natasha's change in allegiances had turned out to be false, not only would it have been a black mark on Barton's record, it also would have forced them to neutralize the gorgeous but lethal red head.

Frankly, they probably couldn't afford to have a Level Seven like Barton babysitting Romanoff for much longer anyways. While she'd climbed the ranks quickly since her recruitment back at the start of 2008, leaping all the way up to Level Four in that short amount of time, she couldn't be trusted yet on the sort of extremely sensitive missions that Barton tended to be best for.

In the end, the two of them would probably be split up by the end of the year again, and Natasha would be left to sink or swim entirely on her own. Based off of what Phil knew of her history, she would likely swim just fine.

Of course, Barton's question puts a… not-quite frown on Phil's face, prompting Natasha to quietly speak up.

"Still on the Stark Assignment, sir?"

Even Barton winces at that one, prompting Phil to offer them both a wan smile.

"That I am, Agent Romanoff. That I am."

One would think that the debriefing and assessment of Tony Stark would be a cakewalk. Definitely should have been a cush assignment. But things weren't adding up. And everything SHIELD knew so far was giving them more questions than answers, truth be told.

"Damn, he's still giving you trouble? Sheesh, how much can a billionaire as public as Stark really be hiding? Shouldn't it be easy to find out just how much his shit actually stinks?"

Clint shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. Beside him, Natasha also looked annoyed on Phil's behalf. Whether that's just her mirroring Barton and trying to appear empathetic, or whether she actually means it… Phil hasn't known the woman long enough to know one way or the other yet. Still.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Stark is proving to be quite the stone wall. I cannot say anymore than that, however. The investigation into Tony Stark has been classified at higher levels."

Phil doesn't want to be That Guy, but he also didn't get to where he was by being loose lipped. Barton and Romanoff understand immediately, of course. Information security is just part of the game. Funnily enough, Clint actually did have a high enough security level to be read in on the Stark Assignment if he was going to be coming on board… but Natasha didn't. Not yet anyways.

Fortunately, neither of them go so far as to try to pry. Still looking pained on Phil's behalf, Clint sighs and gives him one last pat on the shoulder.

"Well… let us know if the Director decides to give you some extra discretion, yeah? You know we'd love to help."

Phil's answering smile is actually genuine, regardless of how small it is. Mostly because he's imagining the sort of help Barton and Romanoff could give him in forcing some answers out of Tony Stark. It's unbecoming of him to fantasize about giving the obstinate and impossible billionaire a beatdown of course, but no one will ever know if it only happens in the privacy of his own mind, right?

"Not to worry, if Director Fury decides to let me bring agents of your caliber onboard, the two of you will be the first to know."

That gets smiles from both of them, though Natasha's is much more reserved while Clint's is very toothy. With those parting words, they head on their way and Phil continues down the hall, finally reaching the Director's Office. After knocking, he's allowed inside a few moments later to find Nick Fury talking with his second in command, Maria Hill.

The brunette SHIELD Commander nods to whatever Fury had said last before moving towards the door, giving Phil a nod as she passes him.

"Agent Coulson."

"Commander Hill."

And with that exchange of pleasantries, Maria departs and Phil is left alone with Fury. The one-eyed Director of SHIELD sits back in his chair and looks at Phil for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Stepping forward to the front of the desk, Phil stands with his hands clasped behind his straightened back.

"No sir, I don't think you are."

Another pause and finally Fury waves a hand.

"Alright, get on with it. Report, Agent Coulson."

With that, Phil launches into the latest on everything they have on Tony Stark. Which… isn't much. He details their attempts to slip into Stark Industries' mainframes and how they've been met with failure at every turn. He also details Stark's most recent actions, both the public ones that everyone knows about, and the ones that SHIELD can't confirm but believes are his doing all the same.

"… Unfortunately, we've made no further progress in managing to pin Stark down for the deaths of Obadiah Stane or Aldritch Killian, sir."

Fury scowls at that, before gesturing to his computer. It turns so they can both see the screens, and after a handful of taps at Fury's keyboard, two videos begin playing side by side. On one of them, Obadiah Stane is recorded having what appears to be a massive heart attack at the third annual Fire-Fighters Family Fund Gala. On the other, one can see Aldritch Killian teetering his way to the edge of a roof on his crutches… and when he finally gets there, hesitate for only a second before plunging off.

By all accounts, the two deaths seem to be exactly what they are. A natural end to an old man who had drank too much, smoked too many cigars, and ate too many steaks… and the regrettable suicide of a disabled man who had finally reached the end of his rope. And yet… as Director Fury proceeds to explain, they're convinced that they're anything but.

"We know Stane was dealing with the Ten Rings. We know he was working with them under the table to make a quick buck. We know he sold out Stark. I don't for a second believe that his heart attack just weeks after Stark's return to the United States was a coincidence."

Phil nods his head.

"No sir."

"As for Killian… the suicide might be a little bit more believable if Stark hadn't swooped in mere days afterwards to buy out AIM and fold it into Stark Industries. Do we know anything more about what this… Advanced Idea mechanics has been working on?"

Coulson frowns, wishing he had more than he does. But alas…

"They weren't on our radar until now unfortunately. They've been admittedly small potatoes for the past ten years after being formed by Killian in the late nineties. We know that Aldritch Killian and Maya Hansen were working together on some sort of new medicinal treatment. Stark has said as much in the joint press release he did with Dr. Hansen. Supposedly, acquiring AIM is part of his stated goals of expanding Stark Industries into as many other markets as possible. As is the new partnership with the South Korean company U-GIN."

Fury nods, frustrated but not truly upset. This is all information that they already had after all, and if Phil had anything new, he would have led with that. Instead, this meeting is mostly just to keep the Director up to date on the fact that there IS nothing new at this time. Just in case Fury wants to change tactics. After a long moment of silence, the Director grunts.

"What was it he said to you at the funeral again? About how he managed to escape the Ten Rings?"

Phil hums.

"He claimed he blew them up sir. That he only survived because of a doctor named Ho Yinsen who saved his life. We've managed to confirm the existence of Dr. Yinsen, at least. And it's incredibly likely that he was indeed a captive of the Ten Rings at the time of Stark's kidnapping. So that part checks out at least."

Fury nods and then waves a hand airily.

"What about that other thing? The part where you said he was joking with you?"

Frowning, Phil thinks back for a moment, a bit more uncertain.

"… He said he made a magical set of armor and flew away, sir."

Fury snorts derisively.

"A… biblical description, wouldn't you say? Almost as biblical as what happened to the Ten Rings after Stark's rescue. Everything they had in Afghanistan, destroyed in a matter of days. Almost like it was by the hand of God Himself."

Coulson raises an eyebrow at that. He'd never taken Fury as particularly religious. Was the SHIELD Director implying what he thought he was implying?

"Sir… do you mean to say you think Stark is being protected by divine intervention?"

Phil's voice carries a healthy dose of incredulity with it. Fortunately, that's not what Fury is trying to say. He lets out a scoff and shakes his head, before glancing back at the videos on his monitor.

"Divine? No. But something is protecting Stark. Something or someone. And they're running circles around us. I don't like that. I don't like that one bit."

Finally, he turns his one working eye back in Phil's direction.

"Stay on this assignment, Agent Coulson. Keep trying to figure out what the hell Stark is up to. Because I've got this itch under my eyepatch that says the longer we let him get away with this shit, the more fucked we'll be down the road."

Nodding sharply, Coulson straightens up.

"Sir."

"Dismissed, Agent."

As he leaves the Director's Office, Phil can't help but frown. Debriefing Tony Stark should have been a milk run. It should have been a couple weeks at most. And yet here he was months after the billionaire's return from Afghanistan, no closer to answers than when he'd started.

Fury was right. Something or someone was on Stark's side, protecting him and keeping them away. But in doing so, in blocking their investigation so thoroughly… all they'd managed to do was put Stark and his projects even more on SHIELD's radar. It didn't matter if Tony Stark's father was one of their founders, or that his godmother, Peggy Carter, was one of their former Directors.

Whatever Tony Stark was up to, they'd figure it out and if needed, put a stop to it. Phil just hoped that they could figure this out before it was too late.

-x-X-x-

"Tony… Tony, can you hear me?"

Slowly, Tony opens his eyes to the sound of Pepper's voice. He smiles as he hears her calling to him, looking up at her under the shining artificial light above her head.

"Hey Pep. Looking like an angel right now."

As always, Pepper blushes at the compliment, but smiles right back. Of course, she's not the only one in the room with him.

"Dr. Stark, how are you feeling?"

Looking over to the other side of his 'bed', Tony sees Helen Cho leaning over him, the scientist checking readouts as well as giving him a visual once over at the same time. Heh, is she checking him out more than just in a scientific sense? No, maybe that's just the drugs talking.

"Hey Doc. Feeling great. How'd it go?"

Pausing her visual examination of his body, the Korean woman looks him in the eye, speaking plainly.

"As far as we can tell, the procedure was a complete success. You've spent the last few hours in the Regeneration Cradle following your surgery. The shards are gone and the Arc Reactor's housing unit has been removed to allow for your sternum to heal properly. You are a whole man once more."

Tony grins, unable to help himself.

"As opposed to a hole man, I assume?"

It takes Helen a moment to get it, seeing how English isn't her first language. Still, she IS a genius so… huffing, the Korean Scientist rolls her eyes at him.

"Yes, Dr. Stark."

As she steps away to look at the data some more, Maya takes Helen's place while Pepper takes Tony's hand in her own.

"How's the body temperature, Tony?"

Looking to Maya, Tony hums in consideration. He feels… great, truth be told. Not even a little bit hot. Only… raising the unoccupied hand on Maya's side of the Regeneration Cradle, Tony focuses a little bit and watches as an orange glow permeates beneath his skin.

"It's exactly as I want it, Maya. No issues at all so far from Extremis' end. Between the work we put in, the Regeneration Cradle… and Mystery Ingredient X, it seems we're in business."

On his other side, Pepper squeezes his hand a little harder. Tony looks over to see her looking worriedly at the glow. He tries to give her a reassuring smile, but it's clear she's a little disquieted by what she's seeing. Maya on the other hand…

"Incredible. I don't know what that stabilizing agent you used was, Tony… but whatever it is, it's perfect."

Tony hums at that. No, he hadn't told Maya, Helen, or Pepper that he'd brought Super Soldier Blood into things. Masking the blood, which had easily been turned into a whole new Super Soldier Serum, as a 'stabilizing agent' for Extremis had allowed him to introduce it without freaking anyone out. He wasn't sure when he would tell them, or even if he would tell them… well, he'd tell Pepper eventually for sure. But first…

"For our personal use, yes. However, the stabilizing agent… it comes with some side effects. We won't be able to use it to spread Extremis to the general population just yet."

It was tempting. Oh it was tempting. Make everyone superhuman and no one would be superhuman, right? Except… the world wasn't built for it. If everyone suddenly had Super Soldier Serum combined with Extremis coursing through their veins, they would destroy civilization overnight. Even setting aside people without the right mental fortitude for the Serum, there would be so much unintentional damage to a world that wasn't built with billions of super soldiers in mind.

Maya looks… chagrined.

"What? But I thought-!"

Before she can get too upset, Tony takes her hand in his still glowing one, giving her a bright smile.

"Maya. Don't worry. We'll keep working on Extremis. By the end of the year, I expect we'll have at least one version of it ready for use in hospitals, on surgeries just like the one I went through. And by next year I want to have diluted versions for people with disabilities Killian suffered from. We'll make the world a better place, just like he wanted. Trust me."

She relaxes and he knows she trusts him. Good, because he means it. At the same time though, looking over at Pepper… Tony recognizes that he's going to have a much harder job of convincing the red head of what he wants to do next. Tony is powerful now. Strong. Even a bullet through the head probably wouldn't be able to put him down. But it means nothing if Pepper isn't there right alongside him. Safe. Able to recover from anything. Including plane crashes.

Tony lets out a deep, shuddering breath. Funny… it had been easy, getting to this point. Convincing Pepper to let him turn her into an Extremis Super Soldier on the other hand… that was going to be tough.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Pepper is pretty stubborn. Wonder how hard Tony is going to have to go to convince her. And hm, SHIELD is trying to make moves, aren't they? They might just be in over their heads though here...

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