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[b][center][img]http://i.imgur.com/RdDKbep.jpg[/img][/center][/b]
[hr][center][h3][b]March 20th, 2005[/b][/h3][/center]
[center][b]Stark Tower, New York City (6:02 PM / 1802 MT)[/b][/center]

[color=gray]“What’s this about, Stark?”[/color]

Tony Stark stood in silence, something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He had called SHIELD Agent James Rhodes to his penthouse apartment an hour ago and he had been thinking about the reasons for the greater part of the day. A bottle of Stärkst held firmly in the inventor’s right hand as his left dug itself into his pants pocket, the bottle gleaming in the glare of the sun as it began to set.

[color=853333]“You guys dropped the ball this time.”[/color] Tony commented; clearly referring to the attack on Belle Reve and HYDRA’s resurgence. [color=853333]“Dugan’s dead, isn’t he? What happened?”[/color]

James Rhodes had spent a lot of time with Tony Stark, even called himself a friend— but he wasn’t going to take Stark’s tone sitting down especially after the tragedy that happened at Belle Reve, the second largest operational facility that SHIELD had their hands in; a facility that was in ruins as the agency scrambled trying to put it back together and reacquire the omega-level prisoners that had been freed by HYDRA’s vicious attack to disarm SHIELD. A facility that only got attacked because the former Director of SHIELD had been visiting. What would’ve happened if he had been visiting his son in Blue Valley? Fury had always called Dugan a fool for his “softer” approach following Terrence Sloan’s retirement in 1980.

[color=gray]“They caught us off-guard.”[/color] Rhodes’ brows narrowed in irritation. [color=gray]“Maybe if you hadn’t [i]declined[/i] that [i]initiative[/i] Dugan was trying to put together he would still be here, maybe America wouldn’t be facing down a damned resurgence of HYDRA.”[/color]

[color=853333]“Why didn’t Dugan go to [i]anyone else[/i]? You guys had a whole laundry list of names— Banner, Adam, Milton, Wilson, McCabe, Barton, Pym, and whoever else was on the slip. Why did you need the ‘Invincible’ Iron Man?”[/color] Stark rose the bottle taking a swing as he finished his sentence. Sure, Rhodes meant well but that sure felt like cheap shot aimed at some sort of pompous guilt trip. He remembered the initiative well enough and he remembered why he turned it down; he hadn’t wanted to be caught in some government web where Iron Man was told where to go and who to help. That kind of bureaucracy would’ve been some kind of Orwellian nightmare. But maybe he had been wrong? Sure felt like it.

[color=gray]“After you said no, Dugan sat on the project. He wanted you on board alongside Carter and some others. But apparently you turning it down meant the initiative wasn’t ready. I never understood why Dugan liked you so much.”[/color]

Tony smirked as he shook his head. [color=853333]“Because he was a ‘Dum Dum’.”[/color]

[color=gray]“Funny. So you invited me here to have a debate and insult the dead? While HYDRA is out there?”[/color]

Tony closed his eyes. [color=853333]“No.”[/color]

[color=gray]“Then what?”[/color]

Stark turned around as he put the bottle on a nearby desk. [color=853333]“I asked you here to tell you I [i]changed my mind[/i]. About the Avengers Initiative and about not helping SHIELD. All of it. I am ready to be the federal government’s Iron gofer.”[/color]

[color=gray]“...why now? Even with HYDRA, you didn’t help with AIM or KOBRA. Why is it different?”[/color]

[color=853333]“Call it as my way of commiting to my civic duty, Rhodey— you know how it goes, I can’t help myself. I’m a bonafide patriot. Call me the [i]Iron Patriot[/i]. I mean apparently you guys are incompetent as hell that you get overrun by a few [i]nazi’s[/i]; what is this, 1942? Plus it’s a really slow and boring Sunday, so chalk it up to boredom. Got it? Cool.”[/color]

[color=gray]“I’ll take you to Fury right away.”[/color]

[color=853333]“Yeah, you do that.”[/color]

[center][img]http://www.serenitypropertysolutions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/horizontal-rule.png[/img][/center]

[center][b]The Triskelion (6:25 PM / 1825 MT)[/b][/center]

[color=853333]“So this is the Triskeleton. Neat. Hope you paid Luthor a pretty penny for it.” [/color]

James Rhodes took a heavy breath as he shook his head, [color=gray]“Luthor didn’t build it— and it’s the [i]Triskelion[/i].”[/color]

[color=853333]“I’m Italian and German, not [i]Greek[/i].”[/color] Tony Stark stated as he let out a light chuckle, pleased with his comment. 

[color=gray]“Whatever. Normally you don’t just [i]meet[/i] the [i]Director[/i] of SHIELD, but these are extenuating circumstances. I’ve already called ahead.”[/color]

[color=853333]“You tattled? Here I wanted it to be a surprise.”[/color]

[color=gray]“Fury doesn’t like surprises.” [/color]

[color=853333]“I have a new nickname for you Rhodey, want to hear it?”[/color]

[color=gray]“Not really.”[/color]

[color=853333]“It’s Buzzkill Machine.”[/color]

[color=gray]“Whatever Tony, he’s waiting. Through that door.”[/color]

Rhodes had led Tony this far, and whilst he had a plan he still couldn’t help be a little anxious and nervous. From what Rhodes had told him he knew that getting Fury on board was not going to be a quick effort. He had to show him something that he had and tell him the facts plain and simple. He took a light breath, ‘This is no big deal’ he told himself as he opened the door to the office of the Director of SHIELD not knowing what he was really getting himself into.

[color=5F6385]“Stark. Can’t say this day hasn’t been interesting. Never expected to see you here after what you told Dugan in ‘03.”[/color]

The new Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury stared down at the young man that had walked right through the door. When he heard that Tony Stark was on his way to talk to him he wasn’t sure what to think. Stark was an aloof idiot with a drinking problem and a hero complex. Much like others among the SHIELD ranks he had never understood what his predecessor saw in him. But he wasn’t really ‘ready’ to have a conversation with Tony Stark after what he had been through today. Between trying to predict HYDRA, the Carter incident, and getting SHIELD on track he didn’t really need some spoiled over-embellished child prodigy who thought he was too cool to work with SHIELD two years ago.

[color=853333]“Well, I’ve had a two whole years to think about it and decided to give it a whirl.”[/color] Tony paused for a moment as his smirk dropped from his face. [color=853333]“What happened at Belle Reve shouldn’t have been possible.”[/color]

[color=5F6385]“I agree.”[/color]

[color=853333]“I just want to make this clear, [i]if[/i] we start this relationship together. So before you scowl at me for five minutes, listen.”[/color]

Fury’s brows narrowed as he offered no reply immediately, perhaps curious to see where Stark was going with this discussion.

[color=853333]“You [i]need[/i] me. America needs a true patriot out there protecting them and last time I checked you haven’t had a [i]hero[/i] worth their spit in your organization since [i]1978[/i]. I want to help and bring my team on board with taking down HYDRA. But I won’t be like Milton or Adam— I work [i]with[/i] you, not [i]for[/i] you. Where this working relationship goes next is up to you, but know with or without you I will take down the Red Skull with my own hands. This isn’t 1942 or 1963 or even 1978, I’m not going to let a bunch of Nazis ruin such a wonderful year.”[/color]

Nick Fury removed the cigar from his mouth as he tapped it against the ashtray in front of him. [color=5F6385]“Is that a fact?”[/color]

[color=853333]“About as much as I’ve already decrypted the source location of that crummy youtube video.”[/color]

[color=5F6385]“I see.”[/color]

There was a silence. Nick Fury didn’t like Tony’s tone in his little statement, but damn it if he wasn’t right that he would be useful. As a consultant Tony Stark would make an expendable but very useful ally in the war that was coming and Fury found himself needing soldiers— outside of Barton, Drew, Hill, Rhodes, Chang, Coulson, and a handful of others he wasn’t really in a place to be picky. But he couldn’t be walked over, he wasn’t Dugan after all. 

[color=5F6385]“You’ve got balls, Stark; but you are walking on thin ice. If the information you have proves valuable and not a crock of crap then we’ll look at your terms. But don’t think I’m going to let you make demands of an officer of the federal government. If you cross me I can make your life very [i]difficult[/i].”[/color]

[color=853333]“Noted. Let’s get to it then.”[/color]