Pepper
entered her office and threw her shoes in a corner. Happy, who came in behind
her and closed the door, smiling.
"That
bad boss?" he asked amusedly as he sat down and grinned at his boss.
Pepper had been struggling with this new contract the whole time. Cyberdine
hadn't really made it easy for her either.
"Heaven.
What was this guy thinking? That he could pull Stark Tech over the table,"
she sighed as she let herself sink into her chair.
"I
guess everyone thinks so until he gets to do it with you for the first time,
Miss Potts. Tony will be proud of you. The contract seems to be important for
the company?"
Pepper laughed
amusedly. "Yes, it is. The chips from them will greatly increase our
performance in Europe. But I have to say I'm looking forward to not doing
anything for the rest of the day.... Nothing..." She said as she slowly
concentrated on the monitor and suddenly became pale.
Immediately
Happy became aware. If his boss looked like that, only something bad could have
happened. "Boss?"
Pepper
jumped up from her desk. "We need to get into Tony's office now!
Quick," she screamed and ran past him. Happy Hogan followed her as fast as
he could.
"Boss?
What happened? Is Tony all right?" he shouted after her as he ran after
her through the corridors. Like a mad woman Pepper screamed that people should
avoid her and when she finally arrived in Tony's office she almost jumped over
the desk and activated the table's holographic systems.
"Boss?"
Happy puffed and could hardly keep up with her.
"Don't
worry Happy. It's not about Tony. But the mail is important. And if we have bad
luck, we get real problems."
"He is
Tony. Who should cause him any problems?" Happy laughed as he dropped onto
the sofa.
"First
Bruce Wayne will get annoyed and then Batman!" Pepper said as she eagerly
sorted out the records that the holographic system was displaying.
"Oh!"
swallowed Happy now anyway. "That's... bad! What's it about? Can I help
Boss?"
Pepper
nodded. "I need immediately a stock of all our ARK models type 9. And I
mean ALL stocks! Immediately!"
Happy knew
this tone of voice exactly. Pepper was extremely worried. He had no idea what
was going on but when it came to Wayne it was bad. If it also had to do with
Batman it was extremely worse. Immediately he ran and grabbed one of the staff
members and pulled him with him.
30 minutes
later he came back to Pepper and sighed, "Boss, we have a problem, I'm
afraid".
Pepper sat
in front of the monitor and seemed absent, staring at the screen. "What?
Sorry Happy. What did you say?" she asked as she shook her head slightly
as if trying to dispel a bad thought.
"Our
inventory of ARK Type 9 reactors does not match the records. One is
missing." He said as he put the papers on the table. Pepper took the
folder and sighed as she rubbed her forehead.
"This
is extremely bad Happy! We must inform the JLA immediately!
"Boss?
What happened at all?! Why do we get into trouble with Batman? What did we do
to him?"
"Him?
Nothing at all. But one of the Javelin has been shot down. And according to
Susan Storm-Richard, it was a transmitter powered by one of our ARC
reactors."
"What?
That is impossible!" said Happy as he opened his eyes. He couldn't believe
what he heard.
"Happy!
We have to inform the JLA immediately! They must be aware that it has nothing
to do with our company! And I want to know where that missing reactor went
Happy! I trust you there! You get additional privileges for JARVIS for the
duration of your assignment."
"But
boss! I am actually..."
Pepper
looked at him gently and smiled. "Happy. Someone stole from the company and
managed to steal one of Tony's reactors! If we don't clear this up as soon as
possible, the league will blame us. You know what could come over us and Tony.
And you are the only person I trust completely! I have to inform SHIELD
immediately and the league! I ask you to help me there yes?"
"Don't
worry boss! I'll take care of it. Everything else okay? You seem a little
absent?"
"No
problem. Just a headache. I now go to my office and write a mail for the league
and then I wait for the call from Fury. This is not going to be funny."
She sighed as she left the room.
Happy
totally agreed with her. Those would be challenging times. But before he left
Tony's office he went to his desk. Pepper had forgotten to shut down the PC. He
saw that the video camera had been turned on and she had sent a video message.
Who she went to didn't interest him. She was the boss and so he shut down the
system and assumed that she had stored the feed as it was her duty.
Then he set
off to find the leak inside the company.