3

One call to Jarvis, his artificial intelligence, was enough to get everyone on the alert. A helicopter with doctors was promised to be here in half an hour. And on principle, he was treated like a crystal vase.

- Mr Stark, you should be examined after all. - asked a young bald soldier with startlingly blue eyes who wore a nurse's patch on his shoulder. They were now in the same pillbox, the duty station, communications centre and command headquarters all in one.

- Not sandy, I won't crumble, - Tony waved away, turning to the sergeant, who, recognising the missing tycoon, gave him his satellite phone. - By the way, ten grand has already come to you.

- You shouldn't have, Mr Stark. I'd have given you a free phone call! - The military man was embarrassed.

- 'Then, if you don't mind, I'll make another call.

The sergeant nodded. Of course, he would mind. As it was, he had earned a month's salary for one call.

- Hello, who is this? How do you know my personal number? - The tired voice of his assistant was somehow deadened. Tony was pleased he was being taken care of but also embarrassed that he had caused this excitement.

- Don't you recognise your boss? Aye-aye-aye, what a bad assistant! I should get another one.

- Tony?! Is that you? Potts asked, shocked.

- No, of course not. I'm your conscience who's come to torment you!

- It's definitely you, Tony," she sobbed. - 'I thought, I thought...

- You won't! - replied Stark. - Get ready for my arrival. IDs, new clothes... Oh, yeah, and get some shawarma!

- Shawarma? - The sobs stopped because of the surprise on the other end.

- Yes, I want shawarma. And a cold beer, you know what I like. Good to hear from you, Pepper.

- Good to hear from you, too, Tony.

Stark hung up. That call had cost him more courage than attacking terrorists. Well, okay, he exaggerated. A little. A little bit. Pepper's not just his assistant; she's his best friend. Which he'll never, ever admit to unless he's drunk. Speaking of which.

- You guys got a drink around here?

The sergeant looked at the nurse and the lieutenant and pulled a canister of pure alcohol from somewhere in the cellar.

The helicopter arrived a little later, forty minutes later. The arrivals saw a disgusted, sober and scowling Stark, who was not intoxicated in any eye. Alcohol had no effect on him whatsoever. How could he go on living? He even drank undiluted alcohol straight from his throat to the shocked stares of those around him. He liked this new body less and less. He flew to Kabul in two hours, where transport was waiting for him, which took him to the airport in New York, and there he was already on a private plane to Malibu. In front of the open gangway stood a pretty red-haired girl in a beige suit and sunglasses - the day was quite sunny. The whole journey Stark slept and ate, slept and ate. Dropping even down to the soup rations, which weren't as bad as he thought they would be. He'd even eaten ten of them on a bet but hadn't felt overeating until now. Nor did he go to the loo. The food was broken down into essential micronutrients and absorbed immediately into his body. Well, at least there's one good thing about not wasting time on the loo. A dodgy one, though, as that's usually where the most brilliant ideas come from.

- Tony! - The red-haired girl jerked and almost rushed to him with a smile but held herself back.

The miniature friend was prettiest just when she was smiling, even if it wasn't often. Small snub nose, wide, though thin lips, grey-blue eyes with slyness. She had a slender body and small breasts, but she proudly held her posture! She may have been inferior in beauty to the models in his bed. Still, as a person, she was superior to them all put together. In fact, that was why he did not translate friendship and business relations into horizontal ones. And Pepper would not agree to become another girl for the night; she needed a serious relationship, for which Stark was not ready. And now? He didn't know or think about it now.

- Pepper, how nice to see you - but Tony was not embarrassed by anything, and he hugged her carefully as if the greatest jewel. The girl noticed this and drew the wrong conclusions.

- Are you injured, Tony? You should see a doctor, after all.

- I feel great. And after a hot shower, shawarma and a non-alcoholic cocktail, I'll feel even better.

- Non-alcoholic? You are so not okay!

- Okay, Mummy, I'm not fine. Can I come in now?

Lifting Pepper by the shoulders and shifting her to the side as if she weighed nothing, he stepped inside his Boeing 737, refitted to the highest specification. Inside were large leather sofas, armchairs, TVs, a separate sleeping area with a double bed, two toilets and a shower. Two pita rolls were already on the table next to the sofa, and, swallowing saliva, Stark overcame himself by going to wash up. He didn't care about safety regulations, and who would stop him, anyway? Certainly not a couple of long-legged stewardesses casting tantalising glances at him. But he couldn't answer them yet. He had to deal with the changes in his body and get used to them. It was going to be even harder to go back. Pierce had downloaded the matrix and the titan's blood, and to roll back, you need the original matrix of his body. Which he doesn't have. After washing up, he wore a blue dressing gown and entered the salon.

- Pepper, there's a defective shower; it broke when you put it in your hands. Chinese, probably," he said, sitting on the sofa next to Potts.

- It was Italian and cost four thousand dollars. How could you break it?! - Pepper exclaimed in surprise.

- Nefazhno, profit potent info - grabbed the shawarma and took a huge bite; Tony waved away. After chewing, he continued: - How is it without me in the company? What happened?

- The stock dropped twenty points after the convoy was destroyed and you went missing. They started looking for you, but you're long gone. Where the hell have you been?

- I've been in a cave making weapons for my escape. Nothing unusual, though," he said, pulling a reactor out of his pocket and tossing it up. Pepper noticed this and barely restrained an exclamation, continuing in a whisper:

- Is that what it is?

- If I knew your thoughts, I'd be much happier...and probably smarter. So it's you tell me what you're thinking.

- Is that your arc reactor? Did you say it couldn't be shrunk? - squinting, she asked.

- You can do many things when life gets you by the balls.

- You gonna tell me about it?

- Some other time. When I'm an old grouch, and I'm telling stories from my youth.

- You're already acting like an old grouch.

- We all have our faults. For instance, you never told me you were worried.

- I was worried!

- I made you say it. That's different," Stark answered her, licking his fingers. - What about Obadiah?

- He refused to take your post for a few weeks and said you'd turn up. If you'd come back later, he'd have been forced to become CEO by the board.

- Useless old geezers, screwing up that someone's trading our weapons with terrorists!

- What? Pepper exclaimed. - Are you sure, Tony?

- I just blew myself up on my own mind. And I've seen warehouses with our logo on them on terrorist bases. How can you be sure?

- So what are you gonna do now? Are you going to take over the company? - Pepper asked hopefully.

- Mm-mm, no. I thought I'd just sit at home. Get drunk, play consoles, watch missed films," Stark continued after drinking his cocktail.

The cocktail was milky, cold and strawberry, just as he liked. Not a single malt, of course, but he had no desire to drink alcohol for the sake of taste. It's like having sex with a mitten; it's a perversion.

- You're unbearable! I've been waiting for you, hoping for you, sorting things out, and you!

- And I noticed, and I appreciated, and I promoted you! What do you think, CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts, does that sound like?

- Are you kidding me? Tell me you're kidding, Tony? - exclaimed the girl in a panic. - It's such a responsibility, and...

- And no one can handle it better than you. In fact, you do all my work," the man smiled at her. Probably, for the first time in a long time.

- And what will my salary be?

- You're the director now, so set it yourself.

- What if it's such that you can't pay for it?

- Knowing you, I don't think you'll set such a salary. And even if you have the nerve, so be it. Pepper Potts will be the last director of Stark Industries to drive it into bankruptcy.

- Okay," she sighed, accepting defeat.

Arguing with Tony Stark was like beating your fists into a concrete wall: you'd get your hands knocked off, which wouldn't do any good.

- Then what do you tell the press? Everyone's waiting for you, Tony. They want to know what happened to you and what you will do next.

- Think of something. Say I'm depressed and have PTSD, so the doctor ordered me to stay home, and I'm being a good boy and following his orders," he waved his hand in a 'Make something up yourself' kind of way.

- Maybe you really do have PTSD?

- Maybe," Stark shrugged, finishing his cocktail. - 'I'm going to get some sleep. Are you with me?

- You know the answer to that," Pepper grinned, already retreating into her paperwork. Which was about to get even more so shortly.

- It was worth a try.

The girl didn't notice Tony's smirk slipping away, leaving a tired and almost broken man.