Chapter 10
As Senator Stern was talking and bugging the hell out of Tony and his family, Teddy had enough, and asked, “When can we get out of this?”
Lilith patted his arm. “Soon enough. But I feel for you. The sheer mind-numbing boredom, hypocrisy, and moron quota overflowing within this room, might make the baby exasperated enough for a first kick.”
“Mrs. Stark, can I quote you on that?” one of the reporters asked.
“Sure,” she said, flippantly, “why not?”
The reporter checked if the cameraman had gotten it, then scribbled notes and article ideas down, as he conversed with his colleagues, as all the reporters slowly turned their focus away from Senator Stern and Justin Hammer’s monologue, instead turning to Teddy’s classic gen-Z style commentary of the whole thing.
“Mrs. Stark, can we quote Teddy Stark on that?”
“Thank you, I love polite reporters, what’s your name?”
“Christine Everheart, New York Times.”
“Well, Miss Everheart, you are now the first and only reporter allowed to quote Teddy and I. Congrats, so yes, feel free.”
“Thank you.” she said as she continued taking notes on Teddy’s commentary that everyone was filming, including her two cameramen, one of who had caught her exchange for posterity.
Senator Stern finally caught on. “Stark, why is your kid even here at all?” he demanded.
“Because he's necessary to even out you in this room's average intelligence quotient.” Tony sniped.
“Did you just insult me?”
“Did he just?” Tony turned and asked the room. “Yes, yes I did. Senator, can we wrap this up, get to the stage where you realize I'm not going to let you steal private property just because you want it like a spoiled toddler having a meltdown and we can all get on with our lives?”
“It's an extremely powerful weapon. It shouldn't be in your hands.”
“Senator.” Lilith said cooly, standing up. Teddy shut up his commentary and all cameras turned to her. “I was not born in the United States of America, nor am I an official representative of the government, nor did I ever attend any sort of law school, much less in this country. But even I know the United States of America was founded in the belief everyone had the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the Bill of Rights, it states that, Second Amendment, and I quote, “‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ Even if the Iron Man suit of armour is a weapon, it is private property and you have no right to confiscate it using that fact as a basis. Furthermore, the Fourth Amendment states, and again, I quote, “”The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.”” The Seventh Amendment goes on to say “”In suits of common law where the value in controversy exceeds 20 dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.”” All of those laws overall state, in layman's terms, that the Iron Man suit is private property that you have no right to, neither as a private person nor as a representative of the United States government. This whole thing is a farce and a power play and I can't bring myself to care because if the suit leaves Tony's possession by way that does not involve him handing it over of his own free will, it will not only not allow itself to be used but also self-destruct rather violently. And the fact of the matter is, even if this weren't a farce and you wanted to pay Tony for the equipment, I looked over the balance. The raw materials for the suit alone cost around 12 million dollars, the arc reactor another 2 million, and if it were on the market, if you take into account all the factors that go into determining the price one Iron Man suit, the original one, not the current improved version, would cost the government about 75 million, for a suit that holds a single person and weapons that need to be specially made, another 5 million, repairs and maintenance that will cost you thousands of dollars every day, and not to mention none of your people will be able to pilot it. It's way out of your range, Senator, and if you were hoping this would get you the promotion to Secretary of Defense, you are way off the mark.” Then, as an afterthought she said, “I think the baby's agreeing with me because I just got my first kick.”
Teddy's only commentary to the cameras was a half proud, half satisfied smirk.
“Tony, how about this one?”
“Lilith, I don't need a PA.”
“Tony, you are drowning in work and both of us have way better things to do that are being hurt by you floundering under paperwork, not helped by the fact you haven’t had a PA since the one Obadiah hired for you.”
“Alright, fine. I'll choose a random one off the list.”
“There's two people on the list. There's Virginia Potts from PR and Natalie Rushman from Legal.”
“Eenie meenie miney mo… That one.”
“Rushman it is. JARVIS, run another background check, will you? Only perfectionists, authors, historians, prep school kids, and obscenely bored teenagers know Latin and there's nothing to suggest here she is or was either one.”
“Of course, Mrs. Stark.”
Natasha passed Fury only one message. “I'm in.”
When she got promoted to Tony Stark's PA, she saw right from the start the seduction route wouldn't work. His wife was heavily pregnant and even if she wasn't, he was too loyal to her. She would have to go the normal spy route. Sneaking. Or just looking through his paperwork.
She looked at the NDA they were having her sign. She's broken more of these than she could count. Because she had looked into Tony Stark and talking around him in circles just didn’t work. He may be nonchalant about just about everything, but that did nothing to lower his IQ.
It took her a little while to get used to his routine, but by that point she found all that sneaking wasn’t that necessary, asshe got dumped with all his paperwork anyways, with the instructions, “Make a summary that fits on a post-it” and she also has to manage his schedule and his meetings, leading to plenty of time to make a personality assessment.
Natasha Romanoff had always been one of those strange SHIELD Agents who didn’t have an automatic dislike for paperwork. She didn’t actually like it, but she found that a lot of useful information could be very well hidden amongst paperwork, and she thrived on information.
On day 8 of the job, she found a diamond in the rough in all that paperwork. Fury didn’t particularly care about what Stark Industries was doing, but this was gold. It was a contract, but not a business contract, but a different kind of contract she was all too familiar with. She didn’t get to finish reading when it was plucked out of her hands.
“How did that end up there?” Tony Stark asked, as he walked away with a contract she didn’t get to finish reading, no being able to find out who Stark wanted gone, who was going to do the deed, what restrictions there were (was it going to be made to look like an accident or something natural like a heart attack, she had jumpstarted enough of those to know it was very much doable), but she had read the first part, and she was going to find out who Tony Stark wanted gone enough that he was paying 5 million dollars for a single hit.
“Mister Stark?” she asked, as he passed. “That was a bit of an unusual contract.”
He took out his lighter from his pocket and held it out to the bottom of the page, not putting out the fire until there was only the margins left for him to hold on to. “It’s irrelevant, and never should have gone into your pile, Miss Rushman. Please, continue. There should be a query from Pym Tech in there, forward it to my personal inbox, will you?”
“Of course, Mister Stark.”she said, all professional. She had figured out as soon as she noticed seduction wouldn’t work that a professional attitude and overall competency would work even better.
When he got back into his personal office, and closed the door, which she had yet to see when he was inside, she silently moved herself a bit closer so she could listen in. She wished she had Barton’s enhanced senses, but her own minimally enhanced by the Infinity Formula would work well enough.
“Tony, really? A hit contract?” Lilith Stark asked, exasperated.
“You want that obstacle out of the way as much as I do.” Nothing on so much as the gender or crimes against the Stark's of the obstacle.
“Yes, but that is the dumbest way to go about it.”
“Is it though? We both know who Rushman is. She sees the contract, she sees we want him gone, she wants favors, she goes out and does it.”
“Maybe you grabbed it from her too quickly?”
“If she's good she'll figure it out. For 5 mil, and a favor, she better be as good as her reputation states.”
“How is she to know you want Ellis gone and aren't willing to use conventional methods?”
“We agreed to give those two a break, right?”
“Both are squirming from boredom and begging for an assignment. A hit like this will be good for them.”
“Give her 3 days before you send out the miracle duo.”
“I'll probably only send him just in case, but sure. Rushman has 3 days in which if Ellis isn't gone I unbury everything about her.”
“You haven't already, Lilith?”
“I have Belova on retainer. If I need the information I can get it but I haven't bothered yet.”
Natasha assumed they exchanged smiles after that, and heard the faint sounds of kissing. She moved her desk back and made sure there was no hint he had been eavesdropping. Logically, she should decline, in case this was a trap, but then again, an open favour, especially from a powerful person like Tony Stark was always a good thing to have. She was going to have to contact Fury.
When she went back to the apartment belonging to Natalie Rushman, financed by her very generous Stark Industries salary, she got out an untraceable burner phone she got for all undercover missions, connecting only to Fury with a remote self-destruct function. The oldest spy tech still in use.
She pressed the button to call him, and the phone only rang once before he answered. “Romanoff.”
“Sir.” she paused. “I have a bit of a situation.”
“Punch your way out, the usual. Don’t wait for permission.”
“Not that kind of situation. More like a dilemma.”
“What is it?”
“There is a high chance my cover has been blown, I’m pretty sure I’ve been made, by both Stark and his wife, but neither is doing anything about it, much.”
“Play along as long as you can.”
“Keyword much. They want a hit, 3 days to do it, nothing connecting, 5 million dollars and an open favour.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Likely, I know. But they also have someone else to do it, mentioned a miracle duo, a male and a female, who would be willing and good enough to pull off the hit and who Stark, both of them, have in the wings.”
“Anything mentioned about the two?”
“Nothing else. She also said she had Belova on retainer, and that can only be Yelena. Sir, should I go through with it?”
“You’ve been made anyways.”
“The Stark Empire is more literal than it seems, I suspect, sir. I could go in.”
“May is already in.”
“May, sir?”
“I sent you on this assignment earlier because I tapped a communication between two moles in SHIELD who botched the awakening of Captain Rogers, and their boss, the White Witch. She’s working with the Winter Soldier, very closely. They’re involved, and they get orders from someone up higher. They mentioned a Boss, a Mrs. Boss, and a kid.”
“The Starks.”
“That’s what it seems.”
“You sent Barton and I away because they were going to recruit us.”
“They were talking about trying to feel out you, Barton, and May. Barton was overdue leave, you had an assignment, and May was going to let them recruit her and report from within.”
“Is she in yet? Is there a possibility she could tell if this was a trap?”
“The ones who are recruiting went dark, they’re still feeling her out, I suspect recruitment could come within a month.”
“Sir, I can get in a lot faster with this hit.”
“You want to do it.”
“I think it would be beneficial, yes.”
“You’re a former KGB and Hydra agent who has lived most of your life in Russia, serving those two agencies, with no proof of as much as coercion of any kind, and you want to go through with an assassination on US territory that is very likely a trap. You know what happens if you’re caught.”
“They’ll dig up my other hits and put me on death row ASAP if I’m lucky, dozens of life terms and backroom deals if I’m not, you’re disavowing me and Barton will get let off as well for bringing me in, as will Coulson.”
“You got it.”
“I have a feeling the open favour from Stark is way more valuable.”
“Not about the money?”
“It could be helpful, some of my stashes are running dry, get another safehouse maybe. I’m talking about getting into their web as well. I’m one of the best and they know it.”
“If they have the White Witch and the Winter Soldier, they don’t need you, Romanoff.”
“They might need an in at SHIELD though. It’s not like I haven’t played double agent before.”
“They don’t need an in for SHIELD Romanoff. Might have been one of the Starks, might have been the Witch or the Soldier, but someone with goals lining up perfectly to theirs tried recruiting me back in 97. Untraceable. I mean it when I say they don’t need an in at SHIELD.”
“What do you suppose they need from me?”
“You? I don’t know.”
Natasha paused, then said, “Sir, how much of my past was on my SHIELD files?”
“Stark, master hacker, of course. Nothing but the general scopes, nothing about your heritage.”
“I didn’t change my last name that much though. Sir, if they have Yelena as theirs, I’m pretty sure I know what they want.”
“World domination?”
“A symbol. Just like with Rogers, and just like Teddy Stark as a symbol. They don’t want world domination, they just want background control.”
“Romanoff, I want the information, do the hit if you think it's necessary.”
“Thank you sir, I will.”