Damper

Author: Sakura123

Category: Iron Man (2008 film)

Timeline: Post-movie

Rating: K+

Written: 5/13-14/08

Completed: 5/17/08

Characters: Tony Stark/Iron Man, J.A.R.V.I.S., Pepper Potts, Nick Fury

Summary: Tony Stark is working to complete a prototype Inhibitor bracelet for Reed Richards, when Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. drops by to with an intriguing mission offer. Better than it sounds, honest. MAJOR SPOILERS if you haven't seen the movie and post credits ending.

Disclaimer: Iron Man and all recognizable names or items are property of MARVEL COMICS and Twentieth Century FOX. All rights reserved. Storyline and Original characters are property of me, the author. All Rights reserved.

Tony Stark glided down from the skies into the entrance of his garage, traveling at a lesser speed through the winding pathway he swung his legs forward and positioned his hands in front of him to halt the speed of his decent. He landed on the specialized pad he rigged to help him out of the suit, stumbling a little as the thrusters on his hands died out.

"Welcome back, sir," Jarvis greeted, his voice echoing all around Stark. "Hey, Jarvis," Tony yawned sleepily inside his armor. The long trip to and from Australia wore him out, all he wanted to do now was sleep. Without request, the floor separated below Tony, he raising his arms outward he attempted to remain as still as possible while his machines removed the armor from his body. Once the helmet was removed he breathed a breath of fresh air. "Remind me to tweak the ventilation systems in this thing, eh, Jarvis?" Tony mused, rolling his neck.

"Will do sir. Its been logged with the other modification hopefuls," Jarvis answered. The "Iron Man" armor was now completely removed, leaving its inventor only in his body synthetic wetsuit that allowed the exoskeleton to mimic his body movement completely. Despite its advantages, the exoskeleton he created did not protect him from all forms of harm -- but he couldn't complain if all he came out of a fight with were bruises and a bloody nose. Rotating his arms to work cramps out of his muscles, Tony proceeded over to his crowded work desk. "Where's Pepper?" He asked, picking up a cup of steaming coffee.

"As we speak, on her way down here," Jarvis replied. Tony grinned appreciatively at the sound of approaching stiletto heels clicking down the spiral stairs, he pretended to indulge himself in his coffee when Pepper appeared at the newly repaired doors of his basement. With unconscious precision she unlocked the door and stepped inside, the smell of motor oil and burnt rubber assaulted her senses. Pepper Potts was looking unusually stunning -- if not a tad frumpy -- this evening, dressed in a fitting blue sundress and a black cardigan. "Hey, how'd it go?" She inquired, pulling the cotton cardigan closer around her waist. Tony shrugged. "You know, the usual board meetings, Paparazzi -- oh, and, a wonderful evening with a instant reporter--"

"Be serious! I meant the hostage situation. Madame Masque?" She interjected. The name tasted like venom in Pepper's mouth for some reason. "Oh. That," Tony paused mid-sip to reflect on the name; Is what they called her? Iron Man remembered from Nick Fury's initial description, Whitney Frost was the daughter of a rich count in Rome, Italy. She had recently become the leader of her father's mafia, Maggia. Maria Hill, who acted as a mole in the gang, reported that Frost was planning to rob a Stark Industries warehouse, in Melbourne, Australia. Naturally, Stark was volunteered to stop her, as the "Avenger Initiative" was, technically, still a work in progress. Like he would've said no; prior history prevented such a thing.

Thrusters on full throttle, he arrived on the scene under eight hours and wasted no time accessing the situation. Twenty hostages, all employees, about a dozen henchmen and one Whitney Frost. He "infiltrated" the building without hesitation, barreling straight through the wall. He found them holed out in the stock room. It was there he sorta remembered White giving him a name like the one Pepper used, but he never had time to commit it to memory.

The very next second he was shot with yet another weapon from his own company. An RPG, ironically. The armor protected him from the blast, but the brunt of the explosion sent him flying through the warehouse walls and straight into someone's new Audi. His head was ringing for hours afterward, but he managed to dispatch White and her henchmen with the armor's mini-turrets, aiming for the non-critical areas of their bodies. Scratched and dented, he proceeded to free the grateful hostages and hog-tied the criminals with a specialized wire he was still perfecting. Iron Man waited until S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived on the scene and took off to the skies, eager to get home.

Tony shrugged his shoulders, downing the last of his coffee. "Yeah, I think that was her codename. I can't tell, she fired an RPG on me," He mused, grimacing. The memory of steel meeting steel and the explosion rattling his body was still fresh in his mind, he shuddered. Pepper moved closer to her employer, checking him over for any injury. "You're not hurt, are you?" She inquired worriedly. "Jarvis, he's not hurt is he?" Tony shook his head the exact moment his A.I responded, "No, he remains severely unharmed." Tony placed the coffee cup on the table and picked up a sheet of paper. "I'm just bruised," He answered with a wary sigh.

Pepper nodded understandingly; Ever since the "Iron Monger" incident, Pepper was seeing less and less of Tony outside business meetings, the basement, and charities. He spent all of his free time with the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, pouring over some secret project for the head of the organization. Pepper never had the honor of meeting the boss of S.H.I.E.L.D, but she was sorely tempted to punch he or she for running Tony Stark into the ground, regardless of their character. And if it wasn't them, then it was home-base or international crisis in need of Iron Man's iron fist (pun intended). "Would you like me to run some bath water?" Jarvis' electronic voice inquired, noticing his creator grimace again.

"You know what, Yes, I would like a bath. Thank you Jarvis," Tony said, putting the paper down. His little pet project would have to wait. Major pampering was in session.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked, realizing she was not needed any further.

"Make it a date, Pepper," Tony replied, a roguish grin spreading across his features. Pepper laughed softly as she followed the businessman upstairs to the living room.

When Tony emerged from his bath, Pepper had already left for home and it was well past midnight. He spent four hours soaking in the bathtub, letting the warm water relax his sore and taut muscles. He nearly fell asleep but Jarvis woke him with a douse of icy water, raining down from the shower head. Tony found himself shouting expletives at an unknown enemy before realizing his artificial companion committed the crime.

He stumbled out of the bathtub in a fowl mood and proceeded to his bedroom to slip into his pajamas. More relaxed than he bad been when he returned to the house, Tony made his way across the living room floor, never minding the disfigured shadow standing next to his umbrella stand, and trudged back down to his workplace. The door slid open accordingly, he made his way over to the crowded counter in the middle of the floor.

A spare boot and gauntlet laid on the counter, closest to the magnifying glass. The Iron Man suit was becoming a near daily fix-em-up for Tony; In almost every battle he was in, the ones with high artillery or explosives, some part of his exoskeleton got dented or damaged. He and his robots spent their late nights repairing the limbs or some electrical conduit that it made it possible for him to do the humanly impossible inside the suit.

However, fixing the suit was not a priority this time. Thank God.

Sitting on the stool, Tony picked up a metal bracelet sitting on the edge of the table and examined it. The architecture was of a simple design, though the inner circle hinted at a much more complex structure. Tony let out a yawn as he picked up the soldering iron, he began to weld the loose wires together. "Hey, Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Let me know when its 6:00am, will ya?" Tony murmured distractedly, flinching when a spark jumped out at him.

"Perhaps you should retire earlier than six, Tony," Jarvis offered, hopeful.

"Jarvis…"

"Right, right. 6:00am it is," Jarvis quipped.

Tony nodded a brief 'thank you' before returning his attention to the bracelet in his hand. As he emerged himself in tinkering with the bracelet, hours melted away without his notice. When his eyes started to bother him he donned a pair of goggles. The sixth hour was approaching steadily, Tony was nearly finished with attaching the wires to the bracelet's computer chip when the lights began to flicker like a Morse code signal. Tony looked up from his work suspiciously, alarmed by the erratic behavior of his light fixtures. Lifting the goggles from his face, his gaze shifted toward the computer panel on the wall across from him. "Jarvis, what's going on?" He blurted, grabbing the power glove from off the table.

He received no answer.

Damnit, not again. Stark jumped from off the stool and turned to face the doorway. He cursed.

"You really must work on that security system of yours, Tony," Nick Fury shot the bewildered man a self-satisfied smirk. Tony only slightly lowered his arm, poised for attack, he regarded the eye patch on fury's left eye before unconsciously staring at his bald head. "I'll keep that mind, Fury," Tony replied looking toward the computer panel on his basement wall. Fury took notice of which direction Stark's gaze had moved and proceeded further into the workshop. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about your computer. Its fine, I just shut it down," He explained.

"I figured," Came the semi-curt reply. Tony sat back down on the stool and picked up the soldering iron again. "You know, if you keep this up, I'm going to hire a pack of vicious guard dogs. Preferably of the Doberman persuasion--"

"Mr. Stark, I could get past anything you throw at me. I'm being conceited, of course, when I say this," Nick Fury interjected.

"Of course," Tony replied dryly, placing the bracelet back on the table.

Fury's expression suddenly turned serious, Tony suspected he wanted him to do something. Ever since the man let himself into his house, all Fury ever did was demand something from Iron Man. Help specifically. Technically, he wasn't the first superhero of his kind. Tony knew this of course; Reports of several superhero factions, "mutants" to be precise, running rapid in the NYC had reached as far as Los Angeles and beyond.

The Daily Bugle reported negative PR on Spider-Man, and the entire world was enthralled by the foursome celebrity, aptly christened the Fantastic Four. It was a practical three-ring circus in Manhattan. There were also rumors of a group of mutants in Westchester, that called themselves the X-Men. Iron Man could now add himself on the growing roster of freaks and wanna-be superheroes. He would die laughing of embarrassment if didn't firmly believe in what he was doing.

"As you well know, I didn't come here for chit-chat, Stark," Fury began.

"No, that would actually mean you have a life beyond espionage," Tony murmured, rummaging through a tool box.

"There's a fugitive in South America we need your help to apprehend. You might know him,"

"Oh, really?" Tony inquired, distractedly.

"Yes. His name is Bruce Banner; Not too long ago he was a employee of UC Berkeley, when he exposed himself to high levels of gamma rays to save a student from exposure. Miraculously, he survived the ordeal but not without serious side affects…"

Tony stopped rummaging in his tool box long enough to cast a sidelong glance at the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative. He vaguely recognized the name Banner. If he remembered correctly, Bruce had come to him hoping to get a grant to keep their gamma ray research lab up and running. He didn't remember if he ever helped Banner, however. I'll just ask Pepper, later. "Side affects, what kind of side affects?" He asked, curiosity piqued. Fury grinned, he knew that would get his attention. "As far as we know, whenever Banner looses his tempter he literally transforms into the jolly green giant --"

Tony blinked in exasperation. "Your kidding me," He deadpanned. Fury simply shook his head. "Its true. Only this version isn't selling vegetables and he hardly "jolly"; When Banner transforms, he wields incredible strength beyond that of any normal human or mutant in some cases. To put simply, he is a mindless brute that destroys everything in his path. Agent Hill reports that Banner is working to create a cure to reverse his "illness", but the U.S. Military plan to move in and apprehend him before that can happen…"

"And you think somehow, I can help with all this, because…?" Tony trailed off, giving his soldering iron a twirl.

"Because, we can't very well ask the Fantastic Four. They're busy with -- what are you building?" Fury's attention was now focused on the bracelet on the table. Tony perked up slightly, his eyes shifting to stare at the bracelet lying idly on the table. "Oh, this? This is a little something I cooked up for, Reed Richards. Apparently, everyone's favorite boy-toy is can't turn his fire off," Tony replied offhandedly.

"What does it do exactly?" Fury inquired.

"It sends a electrical charge through the wearer and prevents them from consciously using their abilities. The charge, uh, doesn't harm the person by any means. It's a complicated tale for later," Stark answered.

"…Interesting," Nick mumbled, his eye shifting to left. That could be useful in the future, he thought.

"That is it," Flippantly. "Anyhow, you were saying?"

"Oh.. yes! We need you to make contact, apprehend if necessary, Bruce Banner before the military does. Its imperative that this doesn't become a full blown crisis," The man insisted.

"I thought you and military were on good terms?" Tony said.

"On occasion, yes, we affiliate ourselves with the military. However, in a situation like this, they're more interested in potential benefits that Banner's accident could bring them, rather than trying to help cure it. At the moment, we're not on good terms," He said.

"Huh… what makes you think I'll help you? You've hardly been apperceive of the aid I've given you so far?" Tony allowed a confident smirk to spread across his face.

"You won't say no. Its not in your best interest. Especially if the Hulk decides to visit LA," Fury stated calmly.

"You'd let him get that far?" Tony continued to dodge the actual question at hand.

"Accidents happen all the time in my line of work, Stark. There are no guarantees," Fury shot back. Tony said nothing, recognizing a threat and a warning when he heard it. There were plenty of options in this situation, at least one of them would have him traveling down a road he dare not venture down again. Apathy was as big a killer as weapons handed to terrorists under the table.

When he looked up at Fury, the man was making his way toward the basement door. "I can see that you need time. When you've made up your mind, you know how to contact me…" With that, the man proceeded up the stairs. Fury thought of following him, to see where he made his entrance (and prevent him using it next time), but found himself frozen in his spot. Another moment passed before the lights flickered again and the familiar beep of his A.I. coming back online snapped him out his trance.

"Sir?" Came the distorted voice.

"Hey Jarvis. Enjoy the nap?" Tony spoke up.

"Not at all. We really must boost security protocols if he plans to visit again. All this shutting down can't be good for my Hard Drive systems," Jarvis said.

Tony shot a glance at the doorway again, a grim expression befalling his features. "I'll put at the top of the to-do list. In the meantime, continue monitoring the house, huh?"

"Sir, its well past 6:00am. I believe it is time for you go to bed. You have board meeting at 10:00am," Jarvis reminded him.

Damnit. There were times Tony wished he hadn't killed Obadiah Stane. Without argument, Tony pulled himself out of the chair, his muscles loosened slightly but retained their tautness to a small degree. There would be plenty of time to make a decision later on in the morning, even if he knew what his answer would be. The light in the basement shut off the very moment he began to climb the spiral stairway. In the corner, the eyes of his Iron Man helmet glowed to life, as though preparing for the inevitable.

(END)

Authors Note: I found it infuriatingly hard to concentrate on other things besides IRON MAN, so I ended up writing something out to satisfy my buzzing mind. I just got back from seeing the movie and it rocked my socks majorly. I wanted to do something that tie into my Fantastic Four story "Headlock", but then I thought back on the previous, "Vespertilio" and realized it would be a major continuity error (facepalm), as Iron Man and the Avengers were already an assembled group (Based on Earth-616) in that story and not an budding project started by S.H.E.I.L.D.'s "Ultimate" Nick Fury in the Movieverse. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this.