better than your dreams//tony stark

♡nine♡

"You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

E. E. Cummings

Pepper and I are heading to the Stark Expo for Justin Hammer's presentation. I'm not excited about it but I didn't want to make Pepper go alone. We arrive and I open the door for Pepper.

"I'll keep the car down here, all right?" Happy tells her.

Pepper smiles. "Thank you, Happy."

I can hear the announcer. "...Justin Hammer. His presentation will begin shortly in the main pavilion."

Pepper and I watch from the side as Hammer dances on to the stage. "Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Thanks for coming. Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad."

Pepper groans. "Oh, Lord."

"Oh I regret coming with you," I tell her.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed the headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a difficult problem. They are about to run out of ink," Hammer states. Two people run on to remove the podium. "Get that out of here. Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer drone." Drones rise out of the stage as he calls names. "Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines! Yeah! Yeah! Woo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you. But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes."

I look at Pepper surprised. "What?"

Rhodey rises and salutes in an Iron Man looking suit.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for..." Hammer starts to look at Rhodey. "Hey, all right. Yeah."

Tony in his Iron Man suit lands on the stage. Pepper and I both stand up. We rush toward the backstage area.

"He's locked us out of the mainframe," a tech says.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper asks.

"Please, please, go away. Go away. I've got this handled," Hammer insists.

I give him a look. "Have you now?"

"Yes, I do. In fact, if your guy hadn't showed up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please, now go away. Thank you." Hammer turns to a technician. "Listen, we gotta get these bitches out of here. What?"

I grab Hammer and hold him down on the desk. "You tell me who's behind this. Who's behind this?"

"Ivan. Ivan Vanko," Hammer informs me.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"At my facility," Hammer tells me.

I push Hammer into the desk hard before letting go. "Asshole," I mutter.

I leave Pepper with Hammer. I need to get to Vanko and she can keep an eye on Hammer. I head out of the building finding Happy where we left him.

Happy rushes over to me. "Nobody's answering the phone. What's going on?"

"Get in the car. Take me to Hammer Industries," I instruct.

"I'm not taking you anywhere until you tell me what is going on," Happy insists.