Ivan Vanko was dead.
With him died a years-long vendetta against Tony Stark, and thanks to the new Arc Reactor powered by Howard Stark’s rediscovered element, the pall hanging over Tony’s own life had finally lifted.
Unfortunately, surviving one crisis only made room for the next.
The battle between Iron Man and Vanko’s drone army had torn through the Stark Expo before Tony managed to lure the fight away from the crowds.
That didn’t mean there were no casualties.
The expo had been packed.
The instant the attack began, panic swept through the visitors. Thousands rushed for the exits at once, and the resulting crush left numerous people injured. Even after Tony drew the fighting elsewhere, the shattered glass roof continued raining razor-sharp debris onto the grounds below.
Then there was the property damage.
Entire sections of the expo had been reduced to wreckage. The elaborate Eastern-style garden where Tony and Ivan fought their final duel looked less like a landscaped attraction and more like a demolition site awaiting reconstruction.
Fortunately, the expo had been held on Stark Industries property.
Just as importantly, Tony had emerged as the victim and ultimately the hero who stopped the attack.
With Justin Hammer’s reckless partnership with Ivan Vanko exposed, nearly all public blame landed squarely on Hammer Industries. Tony only needed to fund compensation for the victims and repairs to the expo out of basic responsibility.
No.
The real headache arrived the following morning.
Nick Fury wanted to see him.
Tony sat across from Fury’s desk, eyeing a familiar folder.
THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE
He remembered discussing it before. Fury had brought it up during an earlier meeting, along with Evenson, explaining that both sides would undergo an evaluation before any decisions were made.
So...
This was the verdict.
Tony reached for the folder.
Fury calmly pressed a hand down on it.
"I’m not sure that’s the one you should read first."
Instead, he slid another file across the desk.
"Agent Romanoff’s evaluation."
Natasha hadn’t been assigned solely to protect Tony.
While posing as his assistant, she’d also spent weeks observing him, evaluating both his personality and psychological profile.
Tony opened the report and began reading aloud.
"Subject frequently engages in impulsive behavior. Displays strong self-destructive tendencies. Exhibits classic narcissistic personality traits..."
He looked up.
"I object to everything except the last one."
Fury didn’t smile.
"That report reflects your behavior over the past week."
"I was dying," Tony protested. "People tend to get a little reckless under those circumstances."
He resisted adding that if Fury hadn’t sent him Howard Stark’s old research when he did, he’d probably be buried by now.
Tony flipped another page.
His eyes brightened.
"Recommendation: Iron Man is suitable for the Avengers Initiative."
He leaned back smugly.
"I’ll have to think about it."
"Keep reading," Fury said.
Tony’s grin slowly disappeared.
"...Tony Stark is unsuitable."
He frowned.
"Wait. What?"
The distinction couldn’t have been clearer.
The armor passed.
The man inside it did not.
"I’ve changed," Tony said immediately. "I’ve got a new heart. I’m not dying anymore. I’m serious about Pepper. I’ve turned things around."
His objection wasn’t really about joining the Avengers.
It was about being rejected.
Tony Stark could reject the Avengers.
The Avengers weren’t supposed to reject Tony Stark.
Fury folded his hands.
"This isn’t about intelligence or capability."
"It’s about judgment."
"The Avengers aren’t celebrities. They’re a rapid response team meant to confront threats ordinary people can’t handle."
He met Tony’s eyes.
"Every mission carries the possibility of death."
"When that moment comes, a soldier needs to think about accomplishing the objective, protecting the team, or making their sacrifice count."
"Not spiral into reckless behavior."
"If one Avenger loses control, teammates die."
"Entire missions fail."
"The consequences are too serious."
The room fell silent.
"So," Fury concluded, "our recommendation is to hire you as a consultant."
Tony snorted.
"You can’t afford me."
"I’m not some broke freelancer."
"Speaking of broke freelancers..." Fury rubbed his forehead. "Don’t you think it’s time you paid Evenson?"
"He has complained to me several times."
Tony’s eye twitched.
"He still wants his paycheck?"
"That barrier of his nearly got me killed."
The memory remained painfully vivid.
Flying full speed toward Pepper...
Smashing face-first into an invisible magical wall...
Then immediately getting blasted back into the sky by an exploding drone.
His dignity had suffered far more damage than the armor.
Fury sighed.
"The man doesn’t ask for much."
"Consider it charity."
Tony stared for a moment before shaking his head with a reluctant smile.
"...Fine."
"It did keep Pepper safe."
"I’ll pay him."
A SHIELD agent in a black suit hurried into the room and whispered something into Fury’s ear.
Fury’s expression immediately darkened.
"I’ve got another situation to deal with."
He stood.
"You’re free to go."
Tony shrugged and left.
Fury, meanwhile, headed straight for his office.
The moment he entered, he spoke without preamble.
"What was so urgent, Agent Hill?"
Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff were already waiting.
Hill placed a thick report on his desk.
"We’ve completed our preliminary analysis of everything recovered from Hammer Industries."
Judging from her expression...
The news wasn’t good.
After Natasha reported Umbrella’s presence inside Hammer Industries, Fury had dispatched an extensive cleanup team. Because Hill headed SHIELD’s Umbrella task force, she personally supervised the search.
Sarah’s laboratory had been hidden well.
Not well enough.
SHIELD eventually found it.
Rows of cultivation tanks filled with mysterious fluids dominated the room. It looked exactly like the kind of biological research facility nightmares were made of.
Fury had immediately ordered everything examined on-site whenever possible.
Anything that couldn’t be analyzed there had been transported back to SHIELD.
If logistics had allowed it, he would have hauled the entire laboratory back intact.
"You look disappointed," Fury observed.
Hill nodded.
"The liquid from every cultivation tank has been analyzed."
"The only substance we could identify was an enzyme solution."
"Nothing else."
Fury closed his eyes briefly.
Again.
The same enzyme solution.
It was identical to the modified enhancement drugs SHIELD had recovered before, samples that had become impossible to analyze after their active components were destroyed.
Someone had erased the evidence before abandoning the facility.
Hill continued.
"The computer systems were also completely wiped."
"No recovery?"
"Our analysts tried everything."
"They managed to recover..."
She hesitated.
"...only a collection of adult videos."
The room became strangely quiet.
Natasha visibly shivered.
Her encounter with Sarah had left a deeper impression than she liked to admit.
Fury simply felt a growing headache.
Whoever had abandoned that laboratory had worked with terrifying efficiency.
Destroyed the biological samples.
Erased every research record.
Left behind nothing but pornography as a taunt.
Did he seriously believe the lab had contained nothing except enzyme solution and adult videos from the beginning?
Not for a second.
An Umbrella executive didn’t hide inside a second-rate weapons manufacturer just to spend all day watching porn.
"What about the woman you fought?" Fury asked Natasha.
"I’ve reviewed the footage."
"I want your impression."
Natasha answered immediately.
"Blonde. Blue eyes. Tall."
"Strong Germanic features."
"She tried to disguise it, but her English carried traces of a German accent."
Fury nodded slowly.
Evenson had previously claimed Umbrella was the new identity adopted by surviving members of a certain infamous organization.
Everything Natasha described seemed to support that possibility.
"She’s an exceptional close-quarters combatant," Natasha continued.
"Her experience exceeds mine."
"I would lose in a straight fight."
She stated the admission without embarrassment.
An agent’s pride mattered far less than gathering accurate intelligence.
"She also demonstrated some form of invisibility."
Natasha remembered Sarah simply disappearing before her eyes.
"Whether that’s a mutant ability, advanced technology, or biological enhancement from Umbrella... I can’t say."
Fury leaned back.
"Then it sounds like we need answers from the source."
If Justin Hammer truly knew nothing about Umbrella operating inside his own company...
Fury had a bridge in Brooklyn he’d gladly sell someone.
Hill’s expression became awkward.
"That’s actually why I called you here."
Fury frowned.
"What happened?"
"The NYPD refuses to release Justin Hammer into SHIELD custody."
"I went personally."
"They still said no."
The room fell silent.
It seemed Justin Hammer had become far more difficult to retrieve than anyone expected.
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