EPILOGUE

Justin Hammer adjusted his glasses and indicated for the noisy crowd of reporters in front of him to quiet down. Cameras continued to flash in his face as he spoke. He smiled, preening a little with all of the attention. "First of all I want to thank you all for coming today."

One of the many reporters called out to him. "Mr. Hammer, how do you feel?"

Justin's smile widened. "I feel very good, thanks for asking. I'm a man enjoying his freedom after being wrongfully imprisoned, nothing could be better."

The reporters started shooting questions out at him. "Justin, Justin, do you hold any ill-will towards the people who put you behind bars?"

"Of course not," he said smoothly. "They were taken in by Ivan Vanko's lies. We were all his victims in the end."

"Mr. Hammer, do you think you'd be a free man today if Ivan Vanko hadn't gone on that killing spree in the maximum security prison before confessing he forced you into helping him?"

"Ivan Vanko is a sick and twisted man," said Justin. "His mind was warped and his need for destruction unquestionable. It causes me great distress to think of his victims of his prison rampage and their families. I can only hope that the knowledge an innocent man has been given his freedom as a direct result, will bring them some small comfort. I'm just glad that the appeal board listened to his confessions and took it to heart."

"Are you worried about what Vanko might do next?"

"The guy is in a coma in a prison hospital," said Justin in satisfaction. "The most Ivan Vanko can do to anyone now is drool on them."

"So, what's next, Justin?"

Justin hooked his fingers into his waistcoat. "I'm going to live life, enjoy the little things. Prison gives you a whole lot of time to think and work out what it is that you really want."

"And what is that exactly?"

Hammer looked directly into the camera, his expression determined. "I know I want to leave a legacy, something to always be remembered for. I want to make a difference in this world and make it a better place."

"And how are you going to do that?"

Justin waggled a finger at them and grinned. "Ah, now, I guess you're all going to have to wait and see, aren't you? But mark my words, the world is going to remember the name of Justin Hammer forever."

There was a flood more questions and Justin had a ball answering them all. The last time he had microphones being shoved in his face they were calling him a monster. This was much more fun. His aide eventually signalled that the interview was at an end and led him away, but not before Justin had managed a triumphant end to the press conference. He'd drawn himself up to his full height, making a peace sign and declared 'God Bless America and all who sail in her'. Justin had thought that was pretty funny when he'd come up with it and it'd make a good headline for the papers tomorrow.

His aide and several security people rushed him down a corridor to his waiting limo. "How'd you think it went, Patrick?"

Patrick, his aid, bobbed his head accommodatingly. "Very well, sir."

"Yeah," said Justin proudly, "I thought so too. Where am I due next?"

"You've got a meeting with your PR people at noon, they're eager to get underway with rebuilding your brand, Mr. Hammer."

"Good, good," said Justin happily.

"They're aware you've just been released today, sir, but they have a lot of ideas they want to run by you."

Justin nodded as he strode along the twisting corridors. "Fantastic, I've got some ideas of my own I'm keen to see happen." They were out in the daylight now and he was being bundled into the black limousine. The rest of the day was filled with meetings and interviews and it wasn't until it was getting dark that Justin finally made it back to his penthouse suite. He walked into the darkened room and without bothering to turn on the lights, he headed towards the big screen TV in the lounge room and turned it on, eager to see himself on the news. The room lit up with images as he hastily clicked through different channels, looking for himself. He landed on CNN and grinned when he saw his face plastered on the screen, the commentator's voice filling the room.

"- a media furore today when Justin Hammer was released from Wentworth Prison. The formerly disgraced head of Hammer Industries held numerous press meetings today to tell his amazing story. Mr. Hammer says he holds no ill-will towards those who imprisoned him and is only looking to make up for lost time-"

"Stop talking over me," muttered Justin in annoyance as the commentary was over the top of his press conference footage. Finally they ran a clip of his last press conference.

"Of course I understand why people think I was working with Ivan Vanko. The man was a genius, an evil one and I was forced into doing his bidding, to protect the lives of those around me."

The TV Justin looked directly into the camera.

"But even though I was an innocent victim of that lunatic, and I was crucified in the court of public opinion, I want everyone to know that this experience has made me a better man, a stronger one. So, in many ways, I owe Ivan Vanko a debt of gratitude."

Justin was mouthing along with the words his alter ego was saying, enjoying every second of his fifteen minutes of fame.

"I am the Phoenix, risen from the ashes of unlawful imprisonment and I will soar again-"

"Mute."

The signal command came from behind him and Justin practically leapt out of his expensive Italian loafers at the calm voice. He whirled around to see Tony Stark calmly sitting on his sofa, watching him steadily. Justin attempted to recover quickly, plastering a big smile on his face. "Tony, well, isn't this a wonderful surprise." To give himself something to do and get his heart rate to slow down, he walked over and turned on the lights. He turned back around and smiled at his uninvited guest. "Don't tell me, let me guess, you're here to offer your congratulations on my release personally. Maybe even take me out for a celebratory drink or two? How about it, the two of us out cruising for women and tearing the town up, just like old times?"

"Funny, I remember the old times as me trying to avoid you and you trotting after me like a barely housetrained puppy," said Tony coolly.

Justin laughed too loudly at that. "This-" he indicated between them, "this is what I've missed. I love our banter, Tony. The back and forth of two great minds."

Tony just stared at him, expression unreadable.

Justin went over and poured himself a drink. "Drink?"

"No."

Justin took a thoughtful sip of his drink. "Oh right, you're on the wagon, aren't you? You've cleaned up your act and you're all about being Mr. Respectable so you can be good enough for Pepper." He arched an eyebrow. "Is that still on, by the way? I haven't been keeping up with the society pages while I've been away."

"I know you organised that fake confession from Vanko," said Tony coldly. "And I know you're responsible for those prison guard's dying in Vanko's faked escape attempt."

Justin swirled his drink. "Tony, I have no idea what you're talking about and I can't help but think that if you had even a skerrick of proof, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He took another sip of his drink, enjoying the aged liquor. "I just want to get back to my life and pick up where I left off with all of my friends. You know, go through all of my messages that have built up in the last six months." He pulled out his cell phone and pressed a button.

"You have no new messages," the device told him in an indifferent voice.

Justin kept the smile firmly fixed on his face. "My secretary has probably already cleared them."

Tony rolled his eyes and stood up, walking up to him. "I'm putting you on notice, Hammer, I'm watching you."

Justin felt a surge of satisfaction at that. "But why would that be, Tony?" he asked innocently. "You just said yourself I'm just some barely housetrained puppy, what could the great Tony Stark possibly fear from me?" He gave Tony a self-satisfied look. "Unless you really do think I'm some kind of threat to your little world of happy ever after."

Tony arched an eyebrow. "You're not exactly super villain material, Hammer."

Justin inclined his head. "True, I don't shoot lasers from my eyes, I'm not super strong or able to fly, but I do have one super power that has you worried, now don't I, Tony?"

"Being a giant ass doesn't count as a super power," Tony informed him flatly.

Justin emitted loud, fake laughter at that jab. "Oh, Tony, you slay me." He cleared his throat and fixed the other man with a knowing look. "But no, my super power is that I know where you live, Anthony-" he pressed a finger to his own chest, "in here. I know how you think, what makes you tick and what you can't live without. That's my super power and it's the one that's got you turning up on my doorstep and trying to scare me."

Tony regarded him carefully. "Am I scaring you, Justin?"

Justin gave a nervous laugh. "No, of course not. We're friends you and me, why would I be afraid?"

"I had to disable eighteen security devices to get into this hotel room," Tony pointed out mildly. "That makes me think you're a little worried."

"That has nothing to do with me," Justin lied. "I think it comes with the penthouse suite."

"Right," said Tony, his scepticism obvious. "You've got a second chance, Hammer, a second chance to not be as big of a loser as you were before you went to prison. My advice is be smart for once in your life and use that chance to move on."

"Or what?" Justin challenged him. "You'll sic Iron Man on me?"

"No," said Tony easily, "Iron Man has a code of ethics by which he lives by." He gave Justin a cold stare. "Me, not so much. It's taking everything that is in me not to crush you like the bug you are, Hammer, don't give me any kind of excuse."

Justin felt his stomach curl in fear but he swallowed hard and faced down the imposing other man. "Neither Iron Man nor you are going to do anything to me and you want to know why?" He didn't give Tony a chance to answer. "Because if you kill me Pepper is never going to forgive you."

Tony snorted. "Do you think she cares if you live or die?"

"I think she cares if you turn into a vigilante going around deciding who lives and dies," he countered quickly. "Like you just pointed out, I'm harmless, a bug and how would it look to have the almighty Tony Stark or the invincible Iron Man going after a bug. Why, I do believe it'd make you into nothing more than a bully and lose you the love of your life." Now it was Justin's turn to give the cool look. "You're just going to have to live with this thorn in your side, Tony, because I'm not going anywhere and you can't do a damn thing about it."

Tony didn't say anything for a long moment, just giving him a considered look. "Looks like you've got me, Justin," he said at last.

Justin blinked, a little taken aback by how easy that was and immediately suspicious. He smiled. "I just want us to be friends, Tony, that's all I've ever wanted. I say let's leave the past in the past and look towards a glorious new future." Justin stuck out his hand for Tony to shake. "What do you say, old buddy, shall we let bygones be bygones?"

Tony eyed his outstretched hand and for a moment Justin thought the other man was going to leave him hanging but then Tony reached out and slowly shook his hand. Tony gave him a warning look. "Don't make me regret this, Hammer."

Justin grinned as Tony let go of his hand and walked towards the door. "This makes me so happy, Tony, you have no idea. Call me and we'll do lunch sometime, catch up on old times." Tony didn't reply because he was already closing the door behind him. Justin didn't care, he smiled into his drink, thinking that this day couldn't get any better and bursting into an energetic impromptu dance number.

Everything was going just as he planned.

oooOOOOooo

Tony settled into the back seat of his limo as Happy looked at him in the rear view mirror. "How did it go?"

"It was as painful as I expected," said Tony flatly as he reached into his coat jacket and pulled out a glass flat screen tablet. He dragged his fingers over the device, bringing up a map of the area. "Activate tracker," he commanded it. Immediately a blip appeared on the screen, a red glow which hovered on his screen.

"Is it working?" Happy quizzed him.

"Like a charm," Tony muttered, taking in the array of information the tracker was giving him, the one he'd planted in Justin's body with that handshake. "His heart rate is up, higher than normal."

"The guy just got out of prison," Happy observed. "He's probably having sex."

"He's alone," said Tony distractedly, "so it's entirely possible."

Happy chuckled. "I feel better now we can keep tabs on the guy."

"Me too," said Tony flatly. "The guys an idiot, but even an idiot can have one good day."

"It's the same tracker which is in Pepper, right?"

"Yes," said Tony, still tapping at the screen. "I've put an alert in the system that if the two devices come within a hundred feet of each other, I'll know about it."

"Did you tell Pepper?"

"I don't want her to know I'm worried about this guy." Tony gave him a challenging look through the mirror. "You got something to say about that, Happy?"

"No," said Happy evenly, "I think you're right. Pepper doesn't need to know everything. I mean, it's not like she tells you everything either."

"That's right," said Tony and then he straightened up. "Hey, wait a minute, what isn't Pepper telling me?"

Happy grimaced. "Oops."

"Tell me, Happy."

"It was just a figure of speech," said Happy, hastily trying to back pedal.

Tony glared at him. "I order you to betray all of Pepper's confidences to you immediately, Happy."

"Oh man."

"Is it about me? It's about me, isn't it? What is Pepper keeping from me? Am I driving her crazy? I am, aren't I? I need to know, Happy, otherwise you won't be able to sleep tonight or any other night."

"Don't you mean you won't be able to sleep?" Happy countered.

Tony gave him a pointed look. "I know what I mean."

"Boss," Happy sighed as he put the car in gear and pulled out from the curb, "don't do this, don't put me in the middle of you two."

"Then come over to my side and then you won't be in the middle," Tony reasoned.

"If you two have issues, you should talk it out between the two of you."

"Wait, we have issues now?" asked Tony, his voice getting louder. "Since when?"

"I'm out of my depth," Happy announced and pressed the speed dial on the hands-free phone on his dash.

A familiar female voice answered. "Yes, Happy, what is it?" asked Pepper.

"He's gone insane," Happy informed her, "you deal with it."

"Tony," came Pepper's exasperated voice, "what are you doing to Happy?"

"Do we have issues?" Tony demanded to know.

"We don't, you do," came her teasing reply.

"Are there things you're not telling me?" he demanded to know.

"Are there things you're not telling me?" she threw back at him.

Tony hesitated. "Damn."

"I believe that's called a stalemate," said Pepper in amusement. "Come home. I'm waiting for you."

Tony smiled and sat back in his seat, the sound of Pepper's voice calming him like it always did. "Really?" His smile widened. "What are you wearing?"

"Hey no, you two!" said Happy loudly. "I'm still here, remember?"

"Happy, get out of the car," Tony ordered him.

"I'm driving."

"You've always got an excuse, haven't you?"

Pepper laughed. "Tony, stop picking on Happy and Happy, bring him home to me and I'll take care of Tony."

"Gladly," said Happy in relief.

"And this taking care of," said Tony cheekily, "will this involve us being naked at any point?"

"I've changed my mind," said Happy flatly. "I am going to throw myself from this car."

"I'm hanging up now," Pepper said in amusement. "Happy, stay in the car, Tony, behave yourself and I'll see you both soon and Happy, I promise you I won't be naked."

"Unfortunately I can't make the same promise," said Tony blithely.

Happy groaned loudly and Tony smiled, temporarily forgetting about his Justin Hammer problem as the promise of a night spent with the woman he loved stretching out before him.

The lull before the storm...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There you go guys, the cookie for this story as promised. ;) Hope it's whet your appetite just a little bit for what is to come – "The Magnificent Octopus"

In the meantime I'm going to be beavering away on my other fic, "Satis", so I'd love it if you joined me. :D It's pre-Avengers and pre-Pepperony, but I hope you'll enjoy the ride nonetheless.

And once last giant thanks to all of you who've read this story. THANKS!