I was dressed in a suit, one of the few fancy suits I had, as I entered a rather fancy Italian place. From outside of the building I could see the place had been full of noise, talking, and banging of kitchen staff working in the background. It was only the second that remained once I entered the building.
A nervous young man nearly tripped over himself as he went to the podium to greet me.
"Welcome to Chizo's, d-do y-you have a r-r-reservation, sir," The boy tripped over his words worse than he had over his feet.
"Yeah, I'd be with the O'Reilly Family, a table for four."
The boy nervously rifled through a few pages on the podium for a few moments. It didn't take him long before he found it, then escorted me towards where the table I would be eating was.
Louise had invited me out to eat with her parents the other day. Something that surprised me more than a bit. But surprise or not, I wasn't going to turn down Lousie anytime soon. Since arriving to this world, she'd practically become my best friend. Someone to share discussion on mundane shit like TV shows or movies to the more serious adventures I'd gone into.
Louise didn't have any fear of interacting with the odd since befriending me, so the least I could do was not turn down meeting her parents for dinner.
I'd met them both before obviously but this would be the first time I'd have dinner with them. Not even going to talk about how we were having it in a fancy restaurant that I needed to use a fancy suit from a store Tony Stark recommended to me. I made sure not to order till they arrived, merely having a glass of water while I waited.
There was the sense that everyone in the restaurant was staring at me with the corner of their eyes. They obviously knew who I was, but that would be hard not to know. I was being spoken of in the same breath as Captain America and Iron Man now. I was a worldwide figure that had his own paparazzi following him around.
Only my super-speed combined with my flying ability let me go around them. That and the ever downsizing of those groups with social media and smartphones popping up. The worst part of being famous to me was how I could no longer pretend to be the meek young reporter just barely knowing what he was doing. No one would underestimate me like that anymore
I'd managed to scroll around the internet and several forums to get some opinions on myself. It was mostly good. But there were sections dedicated to some wild conspiracies about me being a secret… furry. Once I found those, I stopped giving that sort of thing attention. The media sphere was what I needed to watch out for if I was worried about public opinion. Places like Fox, CNN, CSBNC… Stark News.
Yes, Stark had started up his own news network. He managed to nab ABC News from Disney somehow and was making a run with it. Though, someone called Michael Corn was now under internal investigation… probably going to look into why myself later.
But in any case, I'm pretty sure that this development of owning a 24-hour news channel proves Stark no longer has a soul.
My rambling thoughts were interrupted when I caught sight of Louise and her family strolling through the front door finally. It was at this moment that I felt my heart leap into my throat, I could feel my throat dry up at the sight of them… or rather at the sight of Louise in a black dress.
It wasn't that it was so revealing or anything some would consider indecent. It was simply not a sight that I was used to when it came to her. She was typically drawn to more sporty or functional clothes. Louise once joked, I hope it was at least, that it was so it would be easier to drop kick someone if the time came.
It was a simple black dress, with a matching jacket and handbag. The slight touch of makeup on her face combined with her impressive arms was somehow far more breathtaking than I'd thought was possible for her. Meanwhile, Jim O'Reilly wore a simple gray suit and his wife a matching dress. Unlike with their adult daughter, I didn't really pay any attention to the pair's outfit.
As they came towards me, I stood up in my chair, sliding open the seat next to me for Louise but found Jim taking the seat. I found the glare from the man a bit funny given how little he could do to me. It's not like he could shoot me.
Guns were pretty useless against me at the moment.
"Pat, it's been so long, dear," Mrs. O'Reilly smiled at me as she sat down across from her husband.
For a bit, we were mostly silent as the waiter returned and took our orders. I let Louise order for me, something that impressed Mrs. O'Reilly for some reason. I just didn't know anything about Italian food and Louise basically knew what I'd like versus what I would hate.
"I hear that you've gone on a vacation recently?" Mrs. O'Reilly asked as the Waiter left.
"Yeah, I was feeling a bit of pressure after the whole Alien Invasion thing that went down. Decided to see the sights and take time to visit places. You know, experience calmer parts of the world before I went deep back into the highstakes stuff again."
Of course, this was a lie. Louise's mother lacked the security clearance needed to know about my Kandor Project. Louise technically did too, but I'd already told her my plans before I went to Fury about the situation. I think that it was only due to the long shots of any results for the project in the next decade that the Director backed the play.
Hell, even if we were to learn how to return to normal size, we'd need to wait for somewhere to put them all before we release them en masse.
Not that any of this could be told to either of the O'Reilly Parents.
"Ah, you go anywhere interesting?"
"Nah, went to San Fran, went back to Dublin for a bit, there's nothing like the good old Irish Cheddar brands," I shrugged. My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. "I only have about two days left of vacation, but given how fast I can get around I can still go to say Paris or Rome without much worry and be back in time for work. "
"Oh, those sound romantic," Mrs. O'Reilly grinned, glancing at her husband with a glowing look in her eyes, "It reminds me of our honeymoon."
"Oh," I said, mildly interested but I kept finding my eyes being caught by Louise's. She shared a small smile with me, before kicking me in the leg, and mouthing at me not to ask. So I said; "So where did you go?"
From there I was greeted by a long spiraling story about their journey to the Niagara Falls For the HoneyMoon and how they had many misadventures since they went by car. There was a time someone hijacked them, the time when Jim and she needed to bring a random woman to the hospital since they were in labor but it didn't end there.
The story was somehow so boring. and Mrs. O'Reilly argued with her husband over some of the details, that by the time the food arrived I could've leaped for joy. We ate in silence as the story stalled for a few moments, then Mrs. O'Reilly opened her mouth, no doubt to start talking about
"Pat," Jim suddenly spoke, his face a frown. "You say you're going back to work. Do you have your next assignment already?"
I sighed in relief, glad that he'd beat his wife at starting a conversation.
"Yeah, I can't say anything about the details, but I'll be going overseas for my next story."
"Overseas?" Jim said, his interest notably rising with his voice's timbre at the idea. In front of my eyes, Louise glowered at her father before schooling her face into a neutral expression. "That sounds like it will take a while."
I shrugged. It would take a while, the paper had lost their middle east correspondent in a dangerous landmine incident. While lacking the language skills, my general durability made me a decent choice till we got someone else out there. Luckily I could learn on the fly from our interpreter still in the area. They were going to the Bulletin's choice rather than me.
The problem was that they didn't want to be known in the area as a reporter. It was apparently a dangerously hated job in the region. I hadn't even been told what country I was heading towards yet, but it wouldn't be a peaceful one. We were investigating The Ten Rings, they didn't take people looking into their business well.
Though, I wasn't worried about a group that was still using guns and explosions as their main weapons.
"I'm not sure how long I'll be there but it can't be longer than six months. And hell, even if I don't manage to get anything published it'll be only temporary," I shrugged. "And… again, I'm fast enough that I can still pop back here whenever."
Jim seemed to deflate slightly at the news, but only slightly. A lot of people wouldn't have noticed, but I'd spent enough time around the man to know his tells.
I took a bite of my food, not really giving any heed to what it was. Something with tomato in it?
"Is something going on?" I asked, deciding to cut straight to the chase. Even though I was looking straight at Louise, she wasn't the first to answer.
"Nothing," Jim mumbled through bites of his meal.
I kept my eyes on Louise though, who slid back into her seat with a low moan. When her feet touched mine I got a jolt but realized it was because her table was small enough for her tall frame to reach me without stretching much.
"So Pops thinks you're going to get me killed," She said in a sudden sardonic manner, twirling some pasta round on her fork. "All these aliens and mad scientists."
I paused mid-bite, before brushing the concern aside. I didn't think it was likely, since I don't plan on bringing Louise in any of the super heroics, even just talking about them were going to stop soon. At least the ones where Louise could act. I'd talked to Matt about his bringing her into the Doc Ock stuff and he agreed not to pull that again.
Though he'd need to slow down his own nightlife thanks to him and Foggy opening up their Law Practice. So I didn't need to worry about him bringing her in.
"I get the concern," I said, attempting to placate the man. "But I don't plan on bringing her into any super-heroics."
"Her job already puts her on a danger list given the shit Stark has been up for the last few years."
Jim sighed aggressively before I heard a loud snap under the table, Mrs. O'Reilly had kicked the man. Her glare was pretty good, enough to make the man pale slightly, so the man turned to face me.
"Look, I like you-" Louise chortled into her drink, Jim continued on without giving the girl any heed. "-but just being your girlfriend will put a massive target on her head."
"I suppose… " I blinked.
…
I turned to face Louise, who shrugged. I blinked again.
"Huh."
I can't believe this is the second time this event has happened to me.
Unfortunately for a lot of folks, this was when I heard the ringing whistle play through my ear before a man's voice filtered into the sound. I would later learn that everyone heard this broadcast as it took over several of America's new stations.
Including StarkNews.
"Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. America, ready for another lesson? In 1864, in Sand Creek, Colorado, the U.S. Military waited until the friendly Cheyenne Braves had all gone hunting. Waited to attack and slaughter the families left behind. And claim their land. Thirty-nine hours ago, the Ali al-Salam Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I, I, I did that. A quaint military church, filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers. The 'Braves' were away. President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir."
"And to the dreaded, Lugh. The man who claims godhood and. I will personally reveal you to the world as who you truly are on the inside. A powerless man… incapable of making a difference to the lives of the good people of the world, you only bring death. The Alien attack on New York is proof of that alone. You failed at catching a woman, you failed at catching a fellow god. You will now fail to catch a simple man."
I will show how you are no more important than a fly, pretending otherwise with grand claims and hollow feats. You've flown too close to the sun, boy. You don't know who I am? You don't know where I am? You'll never find me, and you'll NEVER see me coming."
I could feel my eyes unfocus as I paid the man attention.
"Pat?" Louise's concerned voice woke me back up. "You ok? You've been staring at a piece of floor for a few minutes now."
…
I glanced up at her, barely remembering the words that had been spoken before this message took over my ears. But I could see a worry on her face that didn't suit her, so I smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Someone's just called me out on TV and I couldn't help but listen in."
(Aldrich Killian: AIM HQ New York)
He could feel his body start to heat up, but it never went past the point needed to burn through most metal or breath fire. It stayed there. It didn't go up as high as it used to, it would take far more force to break through military grade armored vehicles now, but the raw strength boost Extremis granted was still there.
In a way, he was reminded of when he received the treatment the first time. The rush of power, the sense of completeness for the first time in his life.
Killian felt like he was better than ever.
"I want to run a few more tests," Doctor Maya Hansen said, the woman he had running the Extremis project, patting him on the arm. She was a genetic biologist. The only reason his plans had gone as far as they had. But he acquiesced to the woman's demand to remain sitting, knowing it was better safe than sorry. "But so far, it seems the evil Alien puppeting a helpless man around with mechanical tentacles was right. We have stabilized you."
"Oh, the things this opens up."
"Yeah," Hansen replied. "Means we don't need to set up the Mandarin and Ten Rings things up anymore. We fix all the members of the project with a single injection."
Maya had been a great employee over the years. If it wasn't for how squeamish the doctor could be she would've been his right hand at this stage. But the woman needed a push to engage with the less humane aspects of the operation.
She carefully ran his blood through an analysis machine, letting the computer run the tests. Maya wasn't even needed to read the tests, Aldrich was smart enough to understand the results.
"Yeah… we could do that," Killain said standing up, his hands burning the operating table as he got to his feet. "But there's still the payment to consider. I want our alien friend to be happy. I am hardly going to stiff a man who granted us all our dreams with only a single ask."
The AIM leader had already made the changes to the Mandarin plan needed to draw Lugh, Killian could feel his revulsion rise at the thought of that freak, directly into finding the Ten Rings Leader. They'd followed the instructions Brainiac had given them, and also they'd upgraded their hideout for Trevor, so the other man couldn't find where they'd hidden the actor.
The Mandarin would keep the alien distracted while Brainiac did whatever he wanted. Meanwhile, the operation to kidnap President Ellis would be able to continue thanks to their in with the upgrading the War Machine Suit contract with the US Military.
"Soon, I'll have everything I've ever wanted."
Suddenly, the intercom buzzed without thinking Killian answered.
"Sir," His new sercurtory, the last one leaving after an unfortunate accident with the AIM Leader's hot palm, nervously tittered. "You have a Captain Blonsky wanting to talk to you outfront."
Killian frowned.
"Tell him that I will be down in… " He glanced towards Maya, who suddenly frowned as she focused on the security to the lobby. There Blonsky and the infamous Dr. Sterns were downstairs waiting for him. "... in just a minute."
The man took in a deep breath, calming his racing heart with the techniques he had been using to keep his heat under control for the last few years. With this calm, Killian got dressed in his causeal business suit and made his way down to the lobby.
"Mr. Killian?" Captain Blonsky reached out and the two men shook hands.
Killian could feel the strength of the man's grip, the urge to test his strength against the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement subject. He metaphorically burned to show up the US Military's attempt to catch the bottled lightning that was Captain America once more. Those fools that attempted to imitate greatness rather than achieve it themselves.
"And you must be Captain Blonsky and… Stenps?"
"That's Sterns, Doctor Sterns," The Doctor corrected quickly. "If you remember, you did try and recruit me a few years ago."
Killian did remember. The rejection remained an enranging experience given that the doctor denied him for a job teaching shits the basics.
"Yeah, you turned me down. One of the few to do so. That's a list that includes Tony Stark, you know?"
"I believe my exact words were… eat shit and die."
Author's Note: I hope that one guy is happy now. Louise is actual his girlfriend now. She hadn't been before. I had no real plans about it. But their single comment has enraged me enough that I've changed the direction of their relationship for the sole purpose of annoying them. I didn't want to do this... no, wait that was a lie. It doesn't actually change the direction of this story other than needing to devote a bit more time to them as a pair outside of the super-heroics. I do find it slightly cringe to write though, but I suppose I'll never learn to write romance if I don't try here.
Shame they couldn't have a catchy pairing name.
Anyway, I do plan on showing Killian's attempt to recruit Sterns. Because I think it'll be funny and color their interactions for you. But I could simply leave it as a noddle incident. For now, I'll leave it with Killian saying the wrong thing and accidentally causing a injury to Stern's person.
edit
So obviously, the part about only doing this to make the guy annoyed was a lie. I was joking and thought that it would be picked up. But I forget a lot that text alone is a toneless medium.