Olivia Stane took a nervous breath as she looked at her lover. The nearly while-blonde haired woman got up from her desk, pacing around the office a bit as the smartly dressed woman murmured, "When is he getting here?" Jennifer Swensen reached out to pat Olivia's arm gently as the redhead in a bit of a rumpled suit soothed, "It's still early, love." "I know," Olivia conceded as she ran a hand through her hair, "but..." Just then Connie Leeds voice came from the intercom, "He's been sighted on the way, ma'am. ETA is five minutes or less." "Thanks Connie," Jen responded calmly. She turned back to Olivia, "Best to take a seat behind the desk. Gives more of a aura of authority." "Right," Oliva gracefully sat down, taking a few deep soothing breaths as she tried to mentally prepare herself. Outside the upper story window they saw the sleek black sports car come up to the front gate, there was a short conversation then he hurried on. Parking in front of the main building the black haired man picked up a suitcase and adjusted his tie before going in. "Ms. Stane," Connie said with unusual seriousness through the intercom to the office, "Anthony Stark is here to see you." "Send him up," Olivia answered firmly even as Jennifer took on a near military stance waiting nearby. A few moments later and they heard the elevator chime, then Tony opened up the door and went in. "Ms. Stane," he nodded respectfully, "what do I owe the honor of this invitation?" Olivia rose to offer her hand, noting how firmly he shook it. "I thought we needed to clear the air," she answered firmly, waving Tony to a seat. "Oh?" Tony looked at her thoughtfully. "I've read my father Obadiah's diaries," Olivia said flatly, "I'm well aware of the tortures and harm he did to you and your friends." Tony nodded slightly, keeping his face mostly expressionless. "Then you can understand," he said dryly, "why I'm a little wary of you, especially since your primary agent wears a copy of one of my armors." "It's not," Jen spoke up calmly, "a copy of your designs, sir." She walked up to him, "Jennifer Swensen, formerly of MIT robotics." "I remember you," Tony reluctantly admitted, "I once tried to recruit you for Stark International." Jennifer met his gaze calmly as she said, "Then I also assume you remember the technology I was working on." "MACS," Tony murmured, "man amplified combat system." "Exactly," Olivia stepped in, "and it is the refined version of that technology that is the basis of our War Machine." "And the name?" Tony raised a eyebrow. Olivia opened her hands in a shrugging motion, "There is no copyright on file for the name, Mr. Stark. Unlike your own Iron Man identity." "I was only Iron Man temporarily," Tony replied smoothly, "there is a Stark Enterprises employee in the suit now." "Certainly," Olivia nodded agreeably. Tony rose, "As we're both based on the west coast I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again." Olivia walked him to the door, "I look forward to it." Tony paused in the doorway, "I'll be keeping an eye on you." And with that, he was gone. "Whew," Jen slumped in a seat. Olivia smiled weakly, "I'm glad that's over." Jen and Olivia moved over to the couch and flopped down tiredly. "Is it me," Jen finally said, "or did you threaten to out him as Iron Man?" "Not in so many words," Olivia answered with a sigh. She smiled grimly, "He's not going to trust us until we prove ourselves... this will give us the breathing room to do so." Jen slid a arm over Olivia's shoulders and hugged her gently as she murmured in her ear, "I'm proud of you." There was a tentative tapping on the door. "Yes?" Olivia called. Connie looked faintly pained, "Security reports that Stark covertly released some kind of techno probes before he left. They're rounding them up now." "Well, snoopy isn't he?" Jen commented grimly. "Do you have payback in mind?" Olivia looked mildly cross, "I think I can come up with something creative." Meanwhile, the heroine called Warbird descended from the sky, her black and gold uniform hugging her body. She landed beside the new headquarters at Stane and waited for the ID scans to finish before heading inside. "Damn him," Warbird scowled, walking into the meeting room and sitting down as she tried to digest what she had learned. The Avengers had reformed... without her. During a prison break on the Raft, a high tech prison off shore from Manhattan Island a group of rag tag heroes had responded to the crisis. Forming up around Captain America and Iron Man they had successfully contained about half the inmates, and in the aftermath Cap had offered them membership in the Avengers. 'Jessica was so happy too,' Carol thought grimly, 'her boyfriend Luke Cage is going to be a Avenger, along with Spider-Man and Spider Woman. I wonder if she even realized how stunned I was to hear that?' Losing the Avengers had hurt Carol in ways that she was still feeling, and knowing that the Avengers had been reformed and no one offered her membership was a bitter pill to swallow. Intellectually she understood that the new team had come together in the spur of the moment, but it still rankled to know she, a experienced hero and long time Avenger, had been passed over. 'And now this,' Carol thought, walking over to the fridge. Earlier that day Tony Stark appeared at her work, taking her out to breakfast even as he smiled charmingly to her coworkers. Over food he had explained his concerns over the team that Olivia was forming, and pretty much asked her to be his spy. A bottle of beer glistened in the light, waiting there cold in the fridge. Carol reached for it, a finger trailing over the slick surface, tempted to drink like she hadn't been in weeks. Then she firmly made herself grab a soda, shutting the door and walking over to a love seat where she sat back with a tired sigh. 'Yes, I don't entirely trust Olivia,' Carol mentally conceded as she drank the soda, 'but I'm not going to be his pet spy, either. It would destroy any trust between me and my teammates.' There was a soft sound as someone came up the stairs, then Thunderstrike emerged. The black haired woman in armor looked tired and hot from the sun, but her smile was warm as she saw Carol sitting there. "Good to see you," she said as she got out a bottle of water. "You too," Carol admitted, feeling a slight smile tugging at her lips. "You look pretty tired," she noted. Jackie Lukas smiled wryly as she sat down across from Carol, "Oh, I am. I just spent half the day flying in a grid pattern over the city." Carol blinked, "Why would you do that?" Jackie rested her head on the back of the chair, "We were thinking that my mace might respond to the magic that powers the Wrecking Crew... maybe help us find them." Carol shook her head, "Not a bad theory, but you shouldn't have gone out alone. What if you did find them and they got the upper hand?" "Worried about me?" Jackie asked, smiling wryly. Carol felt a odd flutter in her heart, but made herself ignore the pleasurable sensation. "Of course," she replied, "we're friends." "Thanks," Jackie flashed a warm smile. She looked at Carol questioningly, "You look a little down... is there anything I can do?" Without really intending to Carol expressed her frustration at being excluded from the Avengers though she only skimmed over her earlier meeting with Stark. "I suppose what really annoys me is that they couldn't even bother to call," she admitted, "I had to hear about this from my friend Jennifer." Jackie reached out to pat her hand, "To be honest I'm glad they didn't call." Carol blinked, "Eh?" Jackie smiled slightly, "We'd be in a lot of trouble if we lost you to the Avengers." Carol felt herself blush, "I'm sure you'd manage." "Maybe," Jackie stretched out tiredly, "but I don't want to find out."
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