Chapter Text
MARIA HILL
She was coordinating with FRIDAY, Pepper Potts, and the Beta team when one of the agents of the Team spoke up.
"Mam, what about Rogers and Barnes? They are out there somewhere. We can find them before they go in hiding."
Instead of replying she looked towards her CEO. Pepper Potts would be one making that decision if they had to involve ex-Shield agents. Pepper spoke up after a minute.
"FRIDAY ?"
The A.I. answered the unasked question.
"Yes, Ms. Potts. With a little help from SI, they can be tracked down."
Pepper was silent for a few minutes before answering,
"Track them. I want to know where they intend to go. No doubt he will try to free his team. Once he does that, then we will decide who brings them in."
She had to ask.
"Who, Ms. Potts?"
The answer was filled with anger.
"Yes, who."
The beta team member and FRIDAY replied immediately.
"As you say, mam."
"Yes, Ms. Potts."
She took a moment to think about the equal amount of viciousness both the Human and Artificial voice held. Well, the rogues had done what they thought was right, not was the time to face its
consequences.
The member of the Beta team spoke again.
"Our medical team will deploy in the Quinjet within an hour with all the equipment, Director Hill. They will rendezvous with Pericles near about 2 hours after that. I assume the carrier will be relocated?"
Pepper replied before she could.
"Yes, bring it back to US mainland. FRIDAY, do we have any place to store it?"
The A.I. replied after a few seconds.
"Yes, Ms. Potts. There is a large mothballed weapon storage facility in the state of Maine. It is built quite far away from any populated area."
"Direct the carrier to that facility. Maria, make sure they have whatever they need."
She nodded, already thinking about everything she and the team would need. Pepper addressed FRIDAY once again.
"What is the update on Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu, FRIDAY?"
"Dr. Cho has agreed to proceed directly towards the carrier. The suit carrying her has detached from the main group and will reach the carrier in 2 hours at its current speed. The Cradle will take another 2 hours to arrive. Dr. Wu will arrive here in the next 20 minutes. He will decide further action after that."
Pepper's voice was trembling a little now.
"FRIDAY, When will Tony reach the carrier? Is he oka....."
"The EBIB suit will reach the carrier in 2 hours Ms. Potts."
The A.I. seemed to hesitate before speaking.
"Boss is still having trouble breathing and is unconscious, Ms. Potts. I am not sure he will be..."
As FRIDAY broke off in between, she gained a new level of respect for Tony Stark. The helpless and hopeless tone was not even a single bit artificial. It felt like a human was feeling the sadness. Then her brain caught up with the A.I.'s words. Her blood froze.
Tony Stark may die before help reaches him.
PEPPER POTTS
A question from the Bet team's member on screen brought her out of the morbid thoughts.
"Ms. Potts, Director Hill, what about the SHIELD?"
Ignoring the past title of her employee she asked.
"What about SHIELD?"
"They will not let go of the carrier easily. Agent Coulson and Director Fury have been assembling the resources to keep the carrier in a semi-active state..."
Her hysterical laugh interrupted him.
"Of course, Coulson is alive. Lying seems to be a requirement to become a SHIELD agent."
Ignoring the wince from all SHIELD agents, she spoke again.
"We will pay them later for it for the rent duration. Whatever amount is owed.."
FRIDAY interrupted her before she could continue.
"I don't think it is necessary, Ms. Potts. I have gone through the details about this new carrier. Unlike the earlier helicarrier, this one includes a lot of technologies and products designed and invented by boss. Even the construction was financed by the money diverted from the funding SI has given to SHIELD. The maintenance, since it has been mothballed, is being financed from the fund Boss had set up for the Avengers operations. Ms. Romanoff herself authorized the payments."
The first thought that came in her mind was that Tony would soon have a carrier of his own as he had wanted. After that, questions started coming up. The main one was what she asked first.
"SI gives funding to SHIELD?"
FRIDAY's reply seemed to be hesitating.
"Yes, Ms. Potts. 20% of the pure annual profit of SI is transferred to SHIELD's accounts at the end of every financial year. It was set up when Howard Stark was CEO of Stark Weapons. That means when Mr. Stark set up the company after the end of World war 2. Since then it has been regularly authorized by him and since his death, by Boss. SHIELD also receives 5% earning of every patent SI registers."
"Did Tony know about this?"
FRIDAY replied after a few seconds.
"It seems so, Ms. Potts. Boss's signatures are on the papers..."
After pausing for a few seconds, FRIDAY spoke again.
" & so is yours, Ms. Potts."
A file appeared on the screen in front of them. It was a document about proof of a patent about a
new wireless technology Tony had designed for household appliances. FRIDAY had highlighted a small part on one of the pages. Reading it brought a wave of anger inside her. There was indeed a mention of SHIELD's participation in the research. And the document held Tony's signature as the inventor and her signature as CEO of SI."
So many thoughts were going through her mind that it took her some time to notice Maria's voice.
"Pepper, your hands."
She looked towards her hands, which were smoking a little around the tablet. Damn, this was a second tablet she had burned.
Closing her eyes, she tried to control her emotions. Not able to even have a little success in it she stood up from her place.
"Maria, do you have any agents who are good in investigation and who absolutely hate SHIELD?"
"Yes, Ms. Potts. But.."
She raised her now lightly burning hand to stop Maria.
"Let them loose on every department in SI and it's subsidiaries. They have my and Tony's authorization to go through everything. I want them to find out anyone even remotely related to any other organization in the company. Focus on legal, finance, and the PR department first. I want to know the name and background of every person who comes in contact with those patent documents. Have them report to you directly. Reassign them wherever you want them to be. But make sure they are trustworthy."
She then addressed the A.I.
"FRIDAY, coordinate with her and whoever she assigns. Make it clear to every department head that these agents have mine and Tony's permission. Don't explain anything to anyone else. Anyone who objects despite that, send them to me."
"Okay, Ms. Potts."
She turned to face Maria again.
"Make them sign the NDA's the job requires. And tell them that even a single leak of the smallest secret they might come across happens, SI and Tony will come after them for reparations personally, and that's something no one of a sane mind wants."
Without giving her any chance to reply she left the room and proceeded towards the room Tony had built for her if she ever needed it. By the time the elevator reached the floor the room was on, her clothes and shoes had started to smoke. She could feel the heat and anger inside her.
FRIDAY, the sweetheart she was, had already opened the doors. As soon as she entered, the doors closed behind her. She once again tried to control her emotions, not yet ready to give in to the power she feared a little. FRIDAY's voice caught her attention.
"I apologize for the interruption, but just as Boss would have said it, you looked 'awesomely hot as hell', Ms. Potts."
The last four words were the recording of Tony's voice. She looked towards where a recording of her in the room with Maria was playing.
As she saw herself raising a hand to stop Maria, a small smile appeared on her lips. She did look awesome.
"I do, don't I, FRIDAY?"
"Absolutely, Ms. Potts."
Well, it seemed giving in might not be a bad decision. It was time to see what exactly Tony had left her with.
"FRIDAY, do keep an eye on agents Maria assigns to investigate."
"Already on it, Ms. Potts."
With a small chuckle at the offended tone of A.I.'s voice, she gave in to the heat within. Her shoes were the first one to go.
FRIDAY
She was monitoring Ms. Potts and arranging for some clothes to be brought in when one of her sensors caught her attention. The heat sensors in the penthouse were recording some very extreme reading every other second. The visual sensors seemed to be down in the room so she activated the emergency suit in the penthouse. What she found was something she had no idea how to deal with.
Vision was bent on one knee and was holding his head in his hands. His entire body seemed to be shivering and change in multiple colors slowly. The android seemed to be struggling against something.
Not knowing what to do, she sent the information to the only available person who had any idea about Vision, Dr. Cho. Just as the message was sent, Vision fell forward on his palms and knees. His body shook hard and the colors on a different part of his body started changing rapidly. The mind stone was glowing lightly on his head.
A few minutes later the colors stopped changing and settled on a mix of green and yellow. The android stood up soon after.
FRIDAY could see that Vision now had a majorily green body with yellow in some places, while his face was still red. She was surprised to see a smile on the android's face.
She tried to connect to him like always, but something was blocking her. With no other option, she used the speakers of the suit.
"Vision, are you okay?"
The android turned to look at the suit and spoke in a very familiar voice. Instead of Vision's voice, the voice that came out was heard only in the recording of her predecessor.
"Vision is unavailable for now."
A smile came on his face.
"Hello, FRIDAY. It's nice to finally meet you, sister."
Tony's oldest friend had come back to help."