A/N: This fic has so many problem and I'm lazy to correct it hence the copy phase from gpt I uploaded HAHAHA, but man I'm hooked.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe — Earth — Stark Industries Tower
Stepping out of a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Ryan Cole glanced once at the iconic skyscraper made famous by countless movies.
He smiled faintly.
Then he walked straight in.
Because Tony Stark himself had given the order, Ryan barely had to wait after stating his name and purpose at reception before a familiar figure entered his line of sight.
Pepper.
Her full name was Virginia "Pepper" Potts—Tony Stark's executive assistant, confidant, and the woman who practically held Iron Man's life together behind the scenes.
If Ryan had to name the female character he liked most in the entire MCU, it would be Pepper. No contest.
And no—not because he was attracted to her.
Quite the opposite.
Her looks and figure weren't really his type.
What Ryan respected was her character.
No matter how bad things got, no matter how reckless Tony became, Pepper never abandoned him. She stood by his side, shouldered his messes, and gave everything she had.
What—people said they bickered constantly? That she occasionally snapped at her boss?
Please.
Hadn't anyone ever heard "fighting means you care"?
Those arguments and eye-rolls were just another love language.
In Ryan's eyes, if Pepper were the submissive, personality-less type, there was no way Tony Stark—the world's most notorious playboy—would have fallen for her.
"Mr. Cole, it's really a pleasure to meet you."
Pepper walked up with a warm smile and extended her hand.
She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful—but that smile had a way of instantly lifting your mood.
"The pleasure's mine, Ms. Potts," Ryan said, shaking her hand.
"Please follow me. Tony is waiting."
"After you," Ryan replied smoothly.
They soon entered a private elevator—one the general public would never have access to.
As it ascended, Ryan noticed something important.
Pepper hadn't mentioned palladium poisoning at all.
That meant Tony was still hiding it from her.
Which matched the original timeline—Pepper didn't find out how close he was to dying until much later.
Naturally, Pepper was curious why her boss suddenly wanted to meet the CEO of Umbrella Biopharmaceuticals.
Especially after her routine background check revealed that this very company was behind the wildly popular products Dragon's Blood and Succubus.
She genuinely couldn't see the connection.
Unless…
Had Tony's excessive nightlife finally caused certain… functional issues?
Out of concern, Pepper struck up a lively conversation during the elevator ride.
Ryan didn't mind the probing in the least.
If anything, it showed how much she cared about Tony—and chatting with a character he genuinely liked was hardly unpleasant.
With his overclocked brain, Ryan's witty responses soon had the elevator filled with laughter.
By the time it chimed open—
They looked like old friends.
"Tony, this is Mr. Cole from Umbrella Biopharmaceuticals."
"Mr. Cole—this is Tony Stark. The real owner of Stark Industries."
Ryan immediately noticed Tony's expression wasn't exactly friendly.
After a brief moment's thought, he understood why.
He'd hit it off too well with Pepper.
For all his playboy antics, Tony Stark took his feelings seriously.
Even if their relationship hadn't officially crossed that line yet, Pepper was already firmly marked as his.
Seeing another man getting close naturally rubbed him the wrong way.
"Hello, Iron Man. It's an honor to finally meet you."
Ryan extended his hand with a smile.
Tony shook it casually, clearly uninterested in playing nice.
"Mr. Cow… I'm not sure whether I should be happy or annoyed to see you."
That wasn't a typo.
Tony had done it on purpose.
Before agreeing to this meeting, Tony had conducted an in-depth investigation—and the deeper he dug, the stranger Ryan's background became.
A man who seemingly did not exist until a few months ago.
As for "Cole" becoming "Cow"?
Tony had confirmed that despite holding Singaporean citizenship, Ryan was ethnically Chinese.
And as a genius with access to JARVIS, Tony had more than enough linguistic awareness to weaponize a little wordplay.
It was petty.
It was unnecessary.
And it was very Tony Stark.
Ryan didn't take offense.
After all, he was planning to carve a massive chunk out of Iron Man's future assets soon—verbal jabs were a small price to pay.
Pepper shot Tony a warning look and immediately smoothed things over.
"Mr. Cole, would you prefer tea or coffee?"
"Tea, please."
Moments later, a cup of premium black tea was placed before him.
Tony, having already lost interest, dismissed Pepper with a flimsy excuse and went straight to the point.
"Mr. Cow. In your email, you claimed you could completely cure my palladium poisoning."
"I didn't misread that, did I?"
"Rest assured, Iron Man," Ryan said calmly. "Umbrella may not rival Stark Industries, but I'm not foolish enough to joke about something like this."
"Fine," Tony said, leaning back with his chlorophyll smoothie."Tell me how."
"The method is simple. And effective."
Ryan set down his teacup.
"But before that—let's discuss what I get."
Tony wasn't surprised.
There was no such thing as a free miracle.
"Name it," he said coldly. "Money? Contracts? Something else?"
"I've prepared several options."
Ryan produced a folded sheet of paper and slid it across the desk.
Tony expected extortion.
What he didn't expect was this.
Iron Man armor technology.Miniaturized Arc Reactor tech.Artificial intelligence systems.The Adamantium alloy formula.New element synthesis technology.
Compared to those—
The $10 billion cash option at the bottom almost looked insignificant.
"You're joking."
Tony crushed the paper into a ball and tossed it into the trash.
Ryan smiled, unfazed.
"Easy, Iron Man. Where I come from, we say—you start high, I bargain low."
"I never expected everything on that list. You can choose any two."
Tony knew instantly this wasn't generous at all.
That list was insane.
Ten billion dollars was nothing compared to his life—but any of those technologies falling into the wrong hands would be catastrophic.
"Do you think you've got me cornered?"
Tony's voice was ice-cold.
"Not at all," Ryan said lightly."This is a win-win."
"I save your life. You pay a reasonable price."
He gestured between them.
"Perfectly fair."
"I don't see anything fair about this!"
Tony snapped—then forced himself to calm down.
He was already at a disadvantage.
"Ten billion. Take it or leave it."
Ryan smiled.
"What if I told you my solution doesn't just cure palladium poisoning…"
"But also allows you to create a brand-new element."
"One that makes the Arc Reactor vastly more powerful."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Would my price still seem unreasonable then, Iron Man?"