- I'LL GIVE IT TO MY HUSBAND AND YOU'LL LOSE EVERYTHING, DAMN MUTANT - a pretty good-looking woman in her early forties quickly left Alex's office after he refused her a skin rejuvenation procedure. It's not like he was eager to do it now, but he'd been making money off of it since before his superhero career began. But women always want to look good and many rich men pay well to get themselves in order, and they don't mind having their wives look good either, even if they have one or two younger mistresses. This particular woman had simply angered him with her behavior. She could have just come in and done everything politely and quickly. But her husband's money and power hit the woman in the face, and she'd already forgotten what polite communication was, so Alex calmly sent her back to her husband. The millions he gets paid for what plastic surgeons do, but better faster and without surgery, are not worth putting up with. So, morally satisfied, he answered an unexpected call from Tony Stark.
The call changed his plans for the next few days. After just a couple of hours on the plane, he learned in general terms what was going on. It turns out that terrorist attacks are happening not only in Russia. A certain terrorist who calls himself the Mandarin is carrying out a series of terrorist attacks in the United States or in the Middle East countries where American bases are located, and with each such act, he sends a recording on the air in which he publicly criticizes the government and intimidates people. Therefore, while studying the data, he was a little amused by the recording where Stark calls for a meeting with this Mandarin. As if they were simple martial artists. The thought of Tony and the Mandarin fighting in the boxing ring appeared in his head, and the audience shared and cheered for their representative.
Having reached the city, Alex did not hesitate and went straight to the hospital where Happy was lying. Hoggan is Tony's bodyguard. There was no point in calling Tony, he provided all the information that was needed and it could be done without the unnecessary noise that Stark could create.
One call from the billionaire and the passage to the hospital to the patient was ensured. It would have been possible to go through the main entrance , but there were several reporters there, and the extra noise was not needed.
Happy himself was not in the best condition. Multiple injuries from the explosion covered most of his body, and the patient himself was in a coma. Having access to the patient, it was possible to immediately begin treatment. Many nurses and doctors watched as Alex manipulated the water he brought from one limb to another. Having checked that there were no serious problems inside the body, Alex began to manipulate the water to speed up tissue regeneration. Some even filmed on their phones as a layer of water slowly moved over the patient's body and where there used to be red spots from burns and traces of the explosion , after a while there was clean white skin. The hematomas that were all over the body also passed after a minute of treatment. Literally twenty minutes of work and the head of security at Stark Industries began to look like a sleeping person. When the work here was finished and there was no point in being here, Alex wanted to leave the hospital just as quietly, but the fact that he was here did not go unnoticed, the people from the security service that Tony had put in place were holding back the reporters who desperately wanted to get inside to take an interview.
Not really keen on talking to the press, Alex left the medical facility the same way he got in, through the back door. The next stop should be at the billionaire's own home.
- He built himself a nice house - driving up in his car, he looked at the modern mansion built for the former head of Stark Industries and was able to appreciate the sense of taste. A beautiful house built according to the latest design innovations along with a view of the ocean was beautiful. Alex could easily imagine himself living with such a view, and for an Internet star it is also very convenient to have so much water nearby that it would allow him to use his abilities very effectively.
After looking out of the car a little and showing his face to the camera, the gate opened and the car drove inside. There were cameras everywhere that tracked the movement of the car and the journalists' helicopters that flew over the house. The loud statement of such a person as Tony Stark caused a great stir and many were ready to take risks to get a good story. Jarvis kept a close eye on all the guests who arrived to his creator or who wanted to get into the house without permission.
As soon as he passed through the glass doors of the entrance, he was met by the owner himself, already in an iron man suit with an open visor. The suit was somewhat different from those in which he had been seen before, but with his unprofessional eye, Alex found it difficult to notice the difference, only the different coloring was clearly expressed , expressed in a slightly different shade of gold.
- You can't even imagine how grateful I am to you for your help - the owner of the mansion began immediately. For an iron man who had thought only about himself all his life, it was awkward to forgive others for help, so it was surprising to see him like this - thank you, I am in your debt.
- Don't worry, everything is fine, you arrive when I call you. - Alex was getting the information that Tony had destroyed his house together with his friend when they were fighting in suits, but now the mansion looked like brand new.
- Well, you're comparing slightly different things, there was a very interesting situation with aliens - waving his hand, Tony led his guest to the bar where he began pouring alcohol from an expensive bottle into glasses - passages between worlds, the potential destruction of a bunch of worlds in case of failure, not inviting anyone to such fun is very stupid.
- That's why you were here alone now when you called the terrorist to your house - Tony's raised right eyebrow let him know that Alex appreciated the irony in the fact that he decided to deal with this problem personally without calling anyone. - I'm honestly surprised that there aren't a bunch of shield agents here right now who will monitor the situation and help in case of an attack.
To which Stark just waved his hand, " Fury called me a couple of times, but I don't want to talk to him about this, and I called you to help Happy , I can handle a gang of guys who had weapons myself just fine."
- Aaa, you have turrets with machine guns hidden all over the house - while examining the house, Alex paid too much attention to the walls and columns that were in plain sight.
- No - and here Tony thought - but it's a good idea, I'll have to do something about it somehow.
- So that's why you decided to pack your things for the trip? - pointing to several bags that were lying near the aisle.
- It's not mine , it's Pepper's - Tony's mood worsened a little - she didn't like how I wanted to solve this issue and she decided to live somewhere else for a while.
- I can understand her, few people will like it if military actions are planned in your house, she is doing the right thing by deciding to be somewhere else - a few seconds of thought during which a sip was taken from the glass that was in her hand - But where is she?
- They called her and said that CIA agents had arrived at the office and wanted to talk to her, - he said calmly, as if there was nothing wrong with that.
- And you just let her go? I hope there's a whole army moving with her now?
- Why? Jarvis is keeping an eye on her.
- Wait , wait , so you let one of the people closest to you go, alone, without security, when you yourself called the terrorists to your place? - A little intense gaze and the gears in the man's head started turning. - And you didn't think that she might suffer the same fate as Happy just to piss you off?
A few seconds of reflection and Tony's eyes widen sharply - Jarvis, what's up with Pepper ?
- She's fine, Mister Stark, she just started a conversation in her office with CIA agents. - In addition to what was said, an image of a beautiful red-haired woman in a business suit sitting at a table appeared on one of the mirrors in the large living room, and in front of her were two men in jackets, and on another screen a waiting room appeared where, in addition to the secretary and the security guard, there were four more people sitting and waiting - six people arrived at the Stark Industries building .
- Jarvis, give the order to security to increase Pepper's security - not paying any further attention to his personal assistant, Tony returned his gaze to his interlocutor, satisfied - you see, everything is fine.
- You know better, just don't say later that…
- Yes, yes. Yes, I understand everything. You better tell me, what kind of business do you have there that you spend so much time with that red-haired assistant of Fury ?
- Do you have some kind of work or personal interest?
- Considering the fuss you've caused online, there are few people who don't talk about you. And the footage of your passion isn't destroyed as quickly as it is copied and uploaded to the web again.
- And you seem to be following this issue very closely. - A slightly intent look was directed at the owner of the house.
- Well, she was my personal assistant for some time. And there we had - Tony began to play with his eyebrows, clearly making it clear the meaning of the unspoken words.
- Even so . - Neither the owner of the house nor his butler believed the surprise that sounded from the guest's lips. - Does Pepper know about this? I'll have to ask her what exactly Natasha was doing with you.
Tony showed his mastery of the suit when he pulled the phone out of Alex's hands without breaking it with his glove.
- I was joking, no need to call - returning the phone to the owner - but seriously, what is she doing with you?
- It tempts you to go over to the right side, of course.
- To the right one?
-Well, yes, to become, like her, a defender of freedom and democracy in the world. - to which both people laughed silently.
- And how are her successes? - Tony even had a purely professional interest in keeping such a person close by, and not in another part of the world, formally in a hostile state.
- Let's just say that the likelihood that she will complete the task that was set before her is very small - a sly smile appeared on his face - but that doesn't mean that she shouldn't try.
Tony finally got a picture of what was happening. Politics, Alex is not to the liking of almost all the high officials who sit in Washington ( basically, like Tony himself) and are trying to somehow influence him. If you can't lure him to your side, then you need to look for weaknesses and they set a task for Fury , and the bald pirate himself is only happy to find out a couple more secrets. In this perspective, he even felt a little sorry for Natalie because she is just a puppet in their hands, while the iron man himself has freedom of action and the opportunity to defend his interests.
- Be careful with her anyway, you never know what this pirate will order her to do - Tony took a sip from his glass - By the way, I have good news for you, what we were talking about...
"Sir, you need to see this," Jarvis may have been just an electronic assistant, but even his electronic voice was panicked.
And there was something to see. On the camera that Jarvis had shown earlier, there was a fight between people in Stark Industries security uniforms. against several people in suits who had previously been identified as CIA agents. But these agents did not look much like people, their skin burned, and their touch set people on fire who tried to stop them. The superior number of guards did not give an advantage, because any means that were at hand could not help. On the cameras, it was seen how several dozen shots were fired at one fake agent, and he just kept walking. But the most important thing is that their goal was not to arrange a massacre, but to kidnap the CEO of Stark industries who is Tony Stark's girlfriend. Jarvis changed the camera to show her body being carried and put in a car and then leaving the Stark Industries office when they try to stop them.
The emotions on the face of the man in the iron suit did not bode well for the people who kidnapped his girlfriend.
Jarvis be prepared.
-Sir, they are trying to bypass my systems.
After that, the inscription " Danger ;-)" appeared on the TV screen, glass andany surface that Tony connected to the Internet .
- Tony, what's going on around here? - Seeing what was happening on the screen, Alex also began to prepare for battle, but the hacking of the system changed his plans
- Now is not the time for this Pepper ... - the man in armor no longer cared, his eyes seemed to be burning with anger.
- Is this a warning to me, what is happening around?
- What do you mean for you?
- Tony. Hurry up, we're about to be attacked.
- Sir, we have detected a heat signal that is rapidly approaching us.
Both people who were in the house just turned their heads and saw a rocket approaching them.
- Oh shit. - the thought that appeared in their heads simultaneously before the explosion.