"Jin, you knew that guy too?"
"Yeah, he came to see me last time."
Nick Fury had approached Tony Stark after Iron Man 1 ended, offering him a spot in SHIELD. He pulled over a chair and sat at our table. Seeing that, Tony scowled.
"Motherfucker, I told you I'm not joining your secret organization."
Pfftâ
Tony's 'motherfucker' line hit so perfectly that I burst out laughing.
"This motherfucâ *sigh*⊠Fine. You said you didn't need anyone."
Fury swallowed his anger and continued.
"The lithium dioxide Jin gave you only eases the symptoms. It's not a cure. You need to fix the root problem."
I had no idea how he knew I gave Tony the palladium poisoning suppressant, but his intel was fast as always.
"Motherfucker, I know. I've tried every element on Earth trying to replace palladium."
"That motherfucker thing⊠anyway, not every element. Let's head to your place. I've got something for you."
And just like that, Nick Fury fell into the motherfucker hell. We went back to Tony's house together. The place was a disaster, so we grabbed chairs by the blown-out windows and kept talking.
"Your father said you were the only one who could complete his research."
"My father? He didn't trust me like that."
"What do you remember about him?"
"Cold. Calculating. Never told me he loved me. He was happiest when he dumped me in boarding school."
"That's not true."
Fury defending Howard Stark caught Tony off guard.
"You know my father better than I do?"
"He was a founding member of SHIELD."
"What?"
Just then, SHIELD agent Phil Coulson set a large plastic case next to Tony.
"What's this?"
"Your father's legacy. This will help. You can do it, right?"
"Do what?"
The plastic case contained Howard Stark's SHIELD-era research materials.
"Tony, SHIELD has more than your problems to deal with. Phil!"
"Yes, Director."
"Keep an eye on him until he solves his problem. Don't let him leave."
"Understood."
"Hey, wait a minute, motherfucker!"
Fury ignored Tony and walked over to me.
"And Jin, I need to see you."
"Why do you want to see me?"
"Sorry about the ship misunderstanding. And I'd like to borrow Natasha. We're short-handed."
"That's not happening."
"Why not? Natasha's been playing around in New York."
"That 'playing around' is important. Nick Fury, how much do you actually know about Natasha?"
"I know almost everything about her."
"That's the problem. You know her as data, not as a human. Natasha's done nothing but that work since she was a kid. She has no friends or family outside of it. She said when she's home she just cleans, does laundry, and trains. Nick Fury, you need to start treating the people under you like human beings."
Fury paused, thinking. I must've hit a nerve. Looking ahead, this exact mindset would cause problems with the Skrulls later.
"You're right⊠I admit it. But our work is important, you know that."
"That's SHIELD's problem. Now that Natasha's with me, I'm not letting you use her carelessly. Instead, I'll help with the big stuff once in a while."
"Sigh⊠can't be helped. Keep your promise to help!"
With that, Fury left. Phil Coulson exchanged a few words with Tony, saw Fury leaving, and followed him out.
"What'd you talk about with the motherfucker?"
"He asked for help."
"I see. Anyway, Jin, let's look at this together."
"Yeah."
Tony and I took the plastic case the motherfucker left and went down to the basement.
"From what I heard earlier, it looks like your father's legacy. I'll head out."
"Yeah, thanks for today."
"Oh, and check on Pepper. She's had a rough time."
"Got it."
Tony would handle it fine on his own, so I used Instant Transmission to return to my island house.
[Master, Hammer Advanced Weapons Systems has contacted us. They're holding a product showcase at the Stark Expo.]
"I see. Liquidate all Hammer stock."
[Understood.]
Intel on Hammer's drones was gradually leaking, so the stock would rise a bit more, but this was enough. Selling too close to the edge could trigger investigations or bad press if Hammer's crimes came out. That'd be annoying.
I gave the Lakshmi crew a week off and started a full inspection of the ship. I checked for issues from training, looked for accumulated damage on parts, and so on. And because this world had a lot of terrorism, I used AI to screen the passenger list.
"Get the Minerva Coin market ready too."
[Understood.]
Knowing the future means crypto is free money. There's no reason not to do it. Crypto will definitely exist in the Marvel universe too. It'll probably flow like the real world. I'll trade and mine, but if I mine too much the price will crash, so I'll keep it moderate.
That said, I don't plan to create one myself. If a famous billionaire makes a coin, the blame for losses falls on the creator, which hurts the company image. Conspiracy theories would pop up too.
The day of Hammer's product showcase arrived, and I went to the Stark Expo. This time I left all secretaries and bodyguards behind and brought only Natasha.
"Natasha, you brought your gear, right?"
"Yeah, but is something going to happen today?"
"Remember Ivan Vanko from the racetrack terrorism? I think he's working with Hammer. It's just suspicion, but I have a feeling something will happen at this expo."
I vaguely covered what I knew from canon.
"Got it."
We arrived at the venue and waited. Pepper and Happy spotted us and came over.
"Hello, Jin."
"Good to see you, Miss Pepper. Everything okay since then?"
"Since then, Tony just stopped by the company once. Nothing else."
Tony must've gone to the company to grab the 1974 Expo model Howard Stark made.
"Feeling better?"
"Yes."
"Glad to hear it. Let's head in."
We entered the venue and took our seats. A moment later the lights went out and Justin Hammer danced onto the stage with music. Pepper and Natasha looked like they'd seen something they couldn't unsee, but the audience found it entertaining and clapped and laughed.
Americans loved showmanship, but it was unfortunate that it was Hammer doing it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. This country has had to put brave men and women in danger for far too longâ"
Just then my phone vibrated. It was Tony. I picked up and he spoke urgently.
"Jin, where are you?"
"Hammer's venue."
"Hammer's working with Ivan Vanko! I'm on my way. Keep Pepper safe."
"Got it."
Tony had successfully created the new element 'badassium' from his father's legacy, thankfully.
I hung up and Pepper asked,
"Was that Tony?"
"Yes. He says Hammer and Ivan Vanko are working together."
"Then isn't this dangerous?"
"Tony's coming here, so let's get to a safe place."
We quietly left our seats and moved to where Happy was, and I put Pepper in the car. Then we heard glass shattering and people screaming. I looked up and saw Iron Man flying, with War Machine and Hammer drones chasing him, firing bullets and missiles.
I hesitated for a moment. Honestly, staying in the venue was safest once people evacuated. The Hammer drones were all following Tony. Running out clumsily and having Pepper catch a stray round would be a disaster. But using Instant Transmission to move her to safety felt wrong with Tony's love line in mind.
"Jin, should we prepare?"
Natasha asked me.
"Wait a sec. Once people are out of the venue, let's find Hammer. Then we'll know who's controlling War Machine and the Hammer drones, and where from. We move then."
"Got it."
Right on cue, people started screaming and pouring out of the venue.
"Miss Pepper, Happy, move with us. Splitting up could be dangerous."
"Understood."
"We're going to Hammer now. Someone seems to have hijacked the systems. We need to find out who."
Pepper and Happy got out of the car and followed Natasha. We went back into the now-empty venue and headed to the backstage area.
Backstage, Hammer was shouting at employees sitting at computers.
"Do something!"
"We've been hacked. There's nothing we can do from here. He's taken control."
Hearing that, Pepper walked up to Hammer.
"Who? Who took control?"
Hammer panicked.
"Please, you're in the way. Get out."
"Hammer! Tell me who hijacked the systems. People are getting hurt out there."
"It's all Tony's fault! I'm sure Tony hacked it!"
Natasha had enough of Hammer's nonsense. She twisted his arm, put pressure on it, and interrogated him forcefully.
Crack!
"Say who! Who is it!?"
"Ugh! Ivan, Ivan Vanko!"
"Where is he?"
"At our company."
I told Happy to guard Pepper and headed to Hammer's company with Natasha. I drove while Natasha rustled in the back seat, putting on her combat suit.
"Damn! I gained weight. The suit's tight."
"Well⊠you did hit every restaurant in New York."
"You told me to!"
"I did, but you could've eaten in moderation and worked out."
By the time Natasha finished squeezing into her suit, we arrived at Hammer's company. I got out holding my cane-sword. Natasha finished gearing up and stepped out.
"This is a restricted area."
Hammer's security blocked the entrance, but we had no time, so I attacked with the cane.
Thud!
I didn't draw the blade â killing here would cause problems â so I kept it as a cane and struck vital points, knocking guards out. Natasha used the gear I gave her to subdue them efficiently.
Thud! Whack! Bzzzt!
"Guh!" "Argh!"
Watching Natasha move with cinematic, sexy precision as she took down guards was impressive.
"Oh~ nice."
"Don't talk. The suit's tight and I can barely breathe."
We cleared guards as we moved and reached the room where Ivan Vanko had been. Ivan was already gone. Two security guards were dead, hanging from the ceiling by wires â looks like Ivan killed them escaping.
I rushed to the computer, hacked in, and rebooted War Machine. Then I called Tony.
"Tony! Rhodey's back to normal."
"Thanks, Jin!"
"You succeeded in making the new element."
"Yeah, I'm not dying anymore."
"Dying?"
Pepper, connected via the venue computer, heard that and spoke.
"What's going on?"
"Well⊠I was going to tell youâŠ"
Tony gave a brief explanation of the palladium poisoning.
"You were dying?"
"I didn't get a chance to say."
Natasha nudged me and pointed at a monitor showing drone status. The screen showed Hammer drones converging on Tony and Rhodey.
"Sorry to interrupt the love talk, but drones are inbound."
"Got it."
I cut the call with Tony and said to Natasha,
"Let's head back."
"Yeah, I want to change out of these clothes."
"Let's work out together when we get back."
I trusted Tony and Rhodey to handle the rest.
The next day, Hammer was arrested and we gave our statements. I heard the drones and Ivan Vanko were handled, and Pepper was rescued, but unlike canon, the Hammer drones' self-destruction left Happy injured and hospitalized. I went to visit Happy, used Heal on him, and gave him a personal bonus for his hard work.
Natasha and I did martial arts training and workouts, and a few days later Tony and Rhodey contacted us about receiving medals.
Why didn't I get one?
Not that it mattered â thanks to training with Natasha, my [(F) Fighting] went up to D, and I gained [(D) Modern Mixed Martial Arts].