„Everything okay Pepper? You don´t look good. “Maria Hill said as her new Boss entered the Stark Tower.
“Yes. Everything okay Maria. I was just informed that a young Man that I met yesterday had a deadly Accident.” Answered Pepper as she took the Tablet from the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
“Something I should investigate Boss?”
“No. He was just the Lift Boy. I just met him yesterday in the Lift that’s all. It wasn’t just a normal traffic Accident Maria. No Super Villain and no Alien Invasion. Just young Men that didn’t watch on the Street. Keep Cool! So Maria. What is on my Plan today?” she smiled and made it clear that she wanted to talk about something else.
“Nothing important Boss. At 10.15 you have a meeting with Derik Windstour from the PR Section. He has some new Ideas about the Global Agenda Stark had talked about. At 11.30 Mr. Links from the Advanced Technology Section wanted to see you to inform you about something that his Team had planned. At 12.20 the Major will be here for a Public Relation Visit. And General Ross called about a dozen times alone in the last 20 minutes. He asked very friendly if we could contact Tony. What shall I tell him when he calls again?”
“Fuck me?” Pepper tried to sound funny but she knew that Ross wasn’t someone who would give up that easily.
“Sorry Boss. That isn’t part of my Contract. He is way too old for me and don´t deserve me! Should I put it in some more diplomatic Words?”
“Give it your best Shot Maria but please don´t call him silly old Man again could you do me the favour?” she said and smiled at her.
“Will do my best Boss but can´t promise it. He once called me Missy! I won´t forgive him for that! Nobody calls me Missy!” she said angry as she left the Office.
Pepper smiled as her friend left the office and turned towards her Monitor. Her daily work was done relative fast and the Meetings went very good. At 3pm she got a call on her private Phone. Only the Avengers had this number so she knew that it was very likely Tony.
“Pepper. Tony here. I wanted to inform you that I reached Wakanda. Steve said I should say hello and that he miss the nice Chats with you.”
“Oh hey Tony. Be so Kind and say hello to all of the others. Also I must warn you that General Ross is still trying to catch them. Maybe he it isn’t wise to tell me where you are. I am not sure if General Ross is playing fair on this.”
“Oh Pepper Darling! If he finds a way to hack this Phone he deserve to find us! But I think you are right. I think I will be back in 3 or 4 Days. Be so kind to cancel all Meetings for the Rest for the next two Weeks.”
“Why? You said that you will be back in 3 or 4 Days!” she asked confused.
“I know Pepper! But I will visit Paris for a few Days and look for a new Car!”
“Tony! You can´t be serious? The Meeting with Elon Musk is next week! He wanted to talk with you about the new Battery System for the Tesla 4. Do you remember? It was your Idea to help Musk. You cannot let him wait again.”
“Really? Send Maria to him! She can do it.”
“Are you nuts Tony? Maria is not really an Expert for the A.R.K. It was you who created this stupid thing so get your Ass back here as soon as possible and talk to Musk! This contract is important for Stark Enterprise. We need this Contract if we want to pay your Checks.”
“Come on Pepper! Musk is an Idiot and I don’t like the way he acts!”
“Does he remember you on your old self Tony?” Pepper mocked him.
“Remember me to cut your Income Pepper!” he answered her and after a short chat ended.
“Tony. When I hate to say it… but as you build Weapons… you least cared about your Work!” she moaned and looked at the Picture of his Father on the Wall. Howard Stark. The Man who had built Stark Enterprise out of nothing. ”Howard. I hate to admit it. But your Son could have learned a lot from you.”
As she returned to her Computer she saw a new Email from a secured Member of the Avengers. As she checked the Sender she smiled as she saw that the mail was from Philip Coulson. This was one of the few Secrets that she had for her own. Not even Tony knew that Philip was still alive. He informed her with the Mail that Nick Fury had put him in command of the new Build S.H.I.E.L.D. and that it was now only one Team and a flying Fortress called the Globemaster. Attached to the Mail was a List of his new-found Team. A young Woman called Sky, a Scientist Team of a young Man named Leopold Fitz and a Woman called Jemma Simmons, and two Specialists called Grant Ward and Melinda May. He asked if she could offer him a Secured Landing Zone for the Globemaster and also wanted to know if was possible to support him a bit. He didn’t want to use the official Ways so nobody knew that S.H.I.E.L.D was still alive. He wanted to rebuild the Organisation from the Scratch and make sure that it was impossible to infiltrate again. Pepper felt sorry for Philip. She knew what he had left behind after faking his Death and she knew that he had always been Loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and to Tony. She informed him that she would do whatever possible for her. He informed him that there was an abandon Test Size that was big enough for him and his Team.
It was good feeling to help him that was sure. Her mood went up as she gave the order to the Facility Manager of the Base. With a much better mood she left her Office and went to the Basement to leave the Building. On her Way home her mood went up even more and she decided that she wanted to use the good day to go shopping. After a long and relaxing shopping tour she reached the Chrysler Building. She took some time to chat with the old Man on the Door and tried to show a friendly face. The fact that he had been there yesterday as the young Boy had died had put the old man in a light Shock.
As she entered the Lift she took the time to smile at the new Lift Boy to greet him properly. Inside the Lift was another Woman with long black hair and a Dress that showed her impressive Body. But she didn’t care much about her and just wanted to get out of her Shoes and get some sleep. Her third Step on the Road of Corruption was one that she could impossible avoid. She simply couldn’t knew who the Woman was that stood behind her. She had never been very interested about the World in that Tony lived now. If so she had maybe been able to recognize this Woman. She was a former Wrestler and had been blessed with superhuman Strength and Durability. She had been never been more than a low Level Criminal after her Career. As her Criminal Life started she had also gained a new and much more dangerous Ability then her fighting Skills. It was the Power to manipulate the Mind of one Person. Other than her evil Comrades she wasn’t able to give specific Orders. All she could do was to imprint a deep and stable Form of Love to a certain Person or a Specific Object.
After the little Test yesterday she knew that she had exact 14 seconds before the Lift would reach its destination and the Detectors inside the Floors would react to her Power. She didn’t knew how they exact worked but it seemed to be something that changed the vibration of her Voice. Sadly it was something that a detector could find. The change in the Voice was to extreme and while she used it her Eyes started to emit a red light. This was the Reason why she had used her Power on the Lift Boy before he had started his Job. He would never notice what happened with her Eyes. He was deeply in Love with his Job that he tried his best to be Serious and to ignore all the other Things in this Lift.
Pepper also didn’t noticed that the Eyes of Davida started to glow in a deep Red. She had only 11 Seconds left before the Lift would open again and that her Time Limit was over when that happened.
“You really love wandering alone in the Central Park under the Full Moon.” She simply said putting all her Power into her Voice. She wanted to make sure that Pepper would fall into the Trap the Ringmaster and Mesmero. It was her duty to make sure that she would go there. The rest was the Job of the other Two.