Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Avengers

"Tony!" Pepper Pott's shouted for the third time.

She shielded her eyes as dust and rubbled filled her office. Peering through her fingers, she glared at the hole in the wall and flicked her eyes to the armored man responsible for creating it.

"Why did you come through the wall?" She demanded. "Do you know how much that is going to cost to fix?"

"You texted me." The helmet on the suit popped open revealing a worried, and not the least bit ashamed Tony Stark. "Come to the tower ASAP. That's what you texted. Followed by 911 and all capital EMERGENCY. Then I heard you yell, I thought you were in danger."

"We are in danger. But I need Tony Stark right now, not Iron Man." Pepper said, trying not to look at the hole in her wall. It was only going to make her angry, and right now, that was not what they needed.

Shifting as his armor moved around him, opening like a cocoon, Tony stepped out, smirking now that he knew Pepper wasn't in danger. "So, you need me, huh?" He asked, wiggling his hips provocatively. "I hope I can help."

"That is not what I meant. Look at this," Pepper shoved a tablet into Tony's chest. "Stark Industries is no longer the only name in clean energy. We have a competitor, and they just made Fifty-six billion dollars, Tony. Billion! As in nine zeroes, in one sale to the U.S government."

Flicking the tablet up, Tony cocked his head at the news report that was hovering in the air. "Undisclosed contract with S.T.A.R Labs. Which is a subsidiary of Hammer Industries? What could they possibly be selling that's worth billions of dollars?"

Weapons were the most obvious answer. What else would the U.S government pay billions of tax dollars for but neglect to share what they spent the money on with the general public?

"Some kind of gun, maybe?" Tony wondered aloud.

His Iron Man suits had repulsors that were powered by the Arc Reactor. Maybe instead of using it for flight, Hammer made weapons from it. An Assault rifle that could fire for hours without needing to be reloaded depending on the size. Or maybe a missile? A tank? Plane? All of the above?

"This isn't good," he muttered, as he scrolled down through the report.

He had gone to war with that idiotic senator to keep his technology out of the government's hands. It was too dangerous to let them have it. Yes, Rhodey was now the War Machine, but he could shut that suit down whenever he wanted. The government just couldn't be trusted to use the Arc reactor technology without abusing it.

"Thank you. Now that we're on the same page, we need to talk about contracts. Stark Industries needs to start putting our own Arc Reactors on the market." Pepper said, taking her tablet from Tony's hands. "How long will it take to mass-produce them? Do you have blueprints we could send to the factories? We're playing catch up here, Tony. We need to do something."

"I do have blueprints, yes." Tony nodded. "But, I don't want to start mass-producing the Arc reactors. Not yet."

"Excuse me?" Pepper asked, her eyes narrowing as Tony pulled the helmet off his armor and set it on his head. "Do you understand what is happening right now? Stark Industries doesn't have time for your games, Tony. We thought we would be the only company in the world with this kind of technology for years. Then that Russian guy showed up, and now another company is selling its own design. They are selling it, Tony. For money. Our stocks are already dipping."

"Jarvis, dig up everything you can about S.T.A.R Labs," Tony said. "I want to know how Hammer Industries didn't go belly up after Justin's arrest."

"Right away, sir."

"Tony!" Pepper tapped the helmet. If it hadn't broken her hand, she would have slapped the damn thin. "Are you listening to me?"

She scoffed and went back to her desk, still doing her best to try and ignore the hole in her wall. Why can't he take anything seriously? Pepper wondered as she sat down. After the whole fiasco with him almost dying she had thought Tony was finally getting his head out of his ass.

Now, his family's company, their company was in danger and he was still playing superhero. The public might love Iron Man, but public morale wasn't going to pay the bills.

If Stark Industries won't start selling Arc Reactor technology, then S.T.A.R Labs has to stop. Pepper thought as she squared her shoulders and began drafting a cease and desist letter.

Tony had a patent on the element that powered the Arc Reactors. If Tony wasn't going to act, then she had too. And if she couldn't get S.T.A.R Labs to stop producing Arc Reactor technology, then maybe she could at least slow their production. Or get a meeting with whoever had managed to duplicate Tony's work.

Hopefully, it wasn't another vengeful terrorist.

NEW JERSEY,

Harry waited patiently as a black sedan idled next to the boulevard curb. He was waiting, rather patiently in his opinion, for Natasha to finish her check of the car. Ever since Fury had confirmed HYDRA's existence in S.H.I.E.L.D, his spy/assistant had added bodyguard to her list of duties when it came to him.

Not that I mind, he thought, rather focused on how tight Natasha's jeans were as she bent in the back of the sedan checking under the seats. The Black Widow really was one of the most beautiful women in the world.

"We're good," Natasha announced, as she slid fully into the back seat.

Harry climbed in after her, and when he pulled his door shut, the sedan pulled forward despite the fact that the driver's seat was unoccupied. Fans hummed inside the dashboard, and a frigid blast chased away the humid air.

"Hello," the sedan chirped as it pulled into the empty street. "I have been instructed to take you to Camp Lehigh, New Jersey. Is that correct?"

Harry nodded even though the car wouldn't accept it as a gesture of confirmation. "Correct," he told the car.

The sedan slowed, then turned down a boulevard that would lead them out of the city to the military base.

Harry settled back in his seat. The drive to Camp Lehigh wouldn't take long, but it would have been faster to take the helicopter straight from his lab to the base. A car's dangerous enough, he thought as he recalled what had happened when Natasha and Steve Rogers went to the base in the Winter Soldier.

Fury was still Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, however, Harry wasn't going to risk trying to fly in. The nuke sent at New York had proven that not even Fury could stop a HYDRA launched missile aimed at American soil.

"So, how does it feel to be a billionaire?" Natasha asked, breaking the silence in the car.

Harry glanced at her. She was staring at him with her signature amused smirk. He smiled and leaned further back in the leather seats of his hundred thousand dollar sedan. It was the nicest car he had ever been in.

"It feels like I'm going to be able to do a lot of good," he answered, and it was the complete and honest truth.

Lack of funds was right next to his age on the list of things that had been holding him back all his life. No matter how many plans he had, or designs he drew, he couldn't do a thing without the money to buy the materials.

Maybe that was a good thing though. He had damn near a decade to plan. Nothing in life was ever guaranteed, but Harry liked to think he was well prepared for what was coming.

He plans and backup plans. And backup plans for his backup plans.

"You know, the government is going to want another Helicarrier, right? Probably more than one." Natasha said.

Harry nodded. "I'm counting on that," he said with a smile. "The more money they give me, the more money I have to spend on things that matter."

"Such as?" Natasha asked.

"You're not still mad that I kept the contract with for the Helicarrier a secret are you?"

Natasha scoffed, shaking her head. "No, I'm not," she said. "S.H.I.E.L.D is concerned about what else you're hiding. As well as your business practices."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry frowned. He didn't like the insinuation in the statement and S.H.I.E.L.D had no business judging him when they let missed being taken over by a terrorist organization for seventy years.

"We're worried about your misuse of the Pym Particles you recreated," Natasha spoke bluntly. "You didn't even try to hide what you were doing."

"So?" Harry asked.

He didn't see a problem with building a small Helicarrier then using the Pym Particles to make it normal-sized. He maximized profits by completely cutting the manual labor cost and lowering the materials budget by millions. That was just good business.

"What happens when HYDRA is gone?" Natasha asked. "Are you going to do the same thing to S.H.I.E.L.D? Charge us billions for something you only spent millions on?"

"Of course," Harry said. He had no problem admitting that freely. If the U.S. government and S.H.I.E.L.D wanted weapons, they were going to pay every penny he could squeeze out of them.

Natasha didn't look happy with the answer. She turned in her seat so she was facing him more, and Harry noticed the top two buttons on her shirt were undone. I wonder if she feels uncomfortable when Fury asks her to flirt with a kid, he thought as he waited to hear what she had to say about that.

"I thought the world was changing and you were changing with it?" Natasha said, throwing his words from a week ago back at him.

Harry scoffed. "It is. And I am. My plans for the world go far beyond just helping S.H.I.E.L.D, Natasha."

"Should we be worried about these plans?"

"Not at all," Harry answered. He reached forward and placed his palm flat against the back of the front passenger seat. There was a quick flash of light as his handprint was scanned and then the seat folded forward, flipping to reveal a screen on the bottom of the seat. I love this car, he thought as the screen blinked on.

In a few seconds, he had his files on the Pym Particles open. Due to the number of people intelligent enough to hack even the safest servers, as well as the threat of future A.I. and aliens, there was nothing about how to create them. Just what he planned on using them for.

"The only person misusing the Pym Particles is Hank Pym himself," Harry said, as the screen displayed a grainy picture of Ant-Man.

He moved to turn the screen so Natasha could see it better, but before he could, she slid across the seat and pressed up against him.

Harry didn't want to give her the satisfaction of reacting so he kept talking.

"Hank Pym was and still is, an egotistical piece of shit. He discovered something that could have changed the world. And what did he do with it?" Harry asked rhetorically, then answered. "He decided to stroke his ego by becoming a superhero."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Natasha asked, surprised by his aggressiveness towards the older doctor.

"I actually thinking I'm being quite generous with my description of Hank Pym." Harry snorted. "The Pym Particle was revolutionary. It was a game changed and Hank Pym decided to fuck the world and keep all that potential to himself."

He moved past the pictures of Hank Pym deeper into the files. A short video he was planning on releasing after the Chitauri attack began to play.

"On behalf of S.T.A.R Labs, welcome to Harvest-cornucopia!" a female voice enthused. "I'm this world's agricultural operations artificial intelligence. But please, call me Frey."

The official S.T.A.R Labs seal logo warmed onto the screen— a white star with the letters of S.T.A.R Labs next to it over a pitch-black background. The camera panned to show a group of farmers. Their hopeful eyes were locked on the logo high in the sky as if they were looking at a star.

The image bespoke of a future where humanity looked up to S.T.A.R Labs.

"For every person in every country on Earth, Harvest will be synonymous with sustenance." Beneath Frey's easy drawl, the first chords of an uplifting anthem began to play. "But what will allow us to produce such a bounty of fresh and wholesome food for every man, woman, and child on Earth?"

The narration paused for dramatic effect.

"Two words," Frey continued, answering her own question. "Miniature and farms. The scientists at S.T.A.R Labs have discovered a particle capable of reducing or increasing the scale of any form of matter. Dozens of thousand-acre farms, growing produce and raising cattle will be found in the same building, on the same floor, in the same room."

Natasha tapped Harry's shoulder, and he looked over at her. "We're getting close to the base," the spy said, pointing out the window to the military camp in the distance.

Harry paused his video. "Are you going to want to watch the rest later?" he asked.

Natasha shook her head. "No, I won't need to. The video explained enough."

"This is just the teaser trailer," Harry said. "There is so much more I'm going to do with the Pym Particles. I plan on shrinking landfills and firing the waste into space. On missiles that won't cost an arm and a leg. More Helicarriers to evacuate disaster areas."

Harry bit his tongue before he could launch into the spiel he had been writing. There was so much potential when it came to the Pym Particles he couldn't help but get excited talking about it.

Natasha smiled, and she patted his thigh as the sedan pulled up to the gates of Camp Lehigh. He thought that was the end of their conversation, but before he could step out of the car, she asked, "Do you feel guilty for stealing Hank Pym's work?"

"No," Harry answered immediately. Hank Pym had a chance to help the world, and he didn't. "I'm going to make much better use of his creation."

I'll be posting art of what Harry Hansen looks like Pre-augmentation in fees. Check my profile page for the link!

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