Chapter THREE
Bruce ran his hand through his dark hair, peppered with grey. "Look on it as a challenge, you have to make god-proof technology."
Tony cocked his head and considered that. "That would make me pretty awesome if I could pull it off." He nodded his head. "You know, more awesome then I already am, obviously."
"Obviously," said Bruce dryly.
Thor scowled and looked at Bruce. "How can you stand this one's endless wittering?"
"I only listen to every other word he says," said Bruce absently, squinting closer at a detail on the blue print. "It helps."
Tony wasn't offended. "That's probably for the best. My magnificence is best taken in small doses, like sunshine."
"Or sodomy," noted Bruce, straight faced.
Tony hid a smile at the other man's humour. Giant crazy monster lurking within aside, Tony had a certain fondness for the dry wit of the reclusive nuclear physicist.
Thor looked between them. "What is this word, sodomy?"
Tony smirked and looked at Bruce. "Your can of worms, Doc, you shove them back in the tin with Goldilocks. My advice, wear gloves."
Before Bruce could formulate an answer, Tony's phone rang. He pressed a button to take it on loud speaker.
Pepper's voice filled the room. "Tony, are you there?"
She sounded just a little bit out of breath and Tony glanced at his watch, noting it was about the time she normally went for her morning run.
"Hello, light of my life," he said blithely. "Enjoying your constitutional?"
"I was."
Tony picked up the largest remnant of his communication device and pulled on a loose wire. "Was?" he repeated distractedly.
"Tony, do you remember that discussion we had a little while back where you said you wanted me to have a security detail and I told you it wasn't necessary?"
"Mm, vaguely," he said, tugging a little harder on the wire. "I remember I was being perfectly logical and you were being hysterically unreasonable."
"Of course you do," she said dryly. Pepper sounded like she was getting a little more out of breath. "Quick question for you. Despite me telling you on numerous occasions that if you organised extra security for me I was going to cut important things from your body, did you go ahead and do it anyway?"
Tony blinked, Pepper suddenly having his full attention. "No," he said, the calmness in his voice belying the way his whole body had just tensed. "Why do you ask, Pepper?"
"Because I'm pretty sure I've picked up a couple of friends," said Pepper, her breathlessness becoming more pronounced. "And I can't seem to shake them."
All distraction was gone from his voice now. "Pepper, tell me exactly where you are," he said urgently. This was exactly what he'd been afraid of when he'd first brought up the subject of her having bodyguards. She ran a billion dollar company and was the girlfriend of not only Tony Stark but Iron Man. Tony had made a lot of enemies in his life which he hadn't cared about until Pepper had come along.
"About half way through the park, on the running track, coming up to the fountain."
"Don't panic, I'm on my way," said Tony, already running towards the door. "Jarvis, get my suit ready." He barked the command at his automated computer. Tony knew he was too far away to make it there on foot in time.
"Usually when you tell me not to panic it's the perfect time to start panicking," Pepper noted, her voice strained.
Bruce was off the sofa and standing beside Thor. Both men looked concerned. "Tell me where the maiden is," said Thor, gripping his hammer tightly. "I will fetch her to you."
"You won't find her in time, you don't know where you're going," said Tony, glaring at the door which held his mark six suit. "Jarvis, the suit, NOW!"
"There is a malfunction in the launch mechanism, sir," said an apologetic Jarvis. "The mark six cannot be accessed."
Tony's heart was pounding in his chest as he realised they were wasting precious seconds. "I'm coming down to the lab, clear the mark seven," he barked out.
"But sir, you still haven't finished the repairs from-"
"JARVIS!" Tony practically screamed at him to do as he was told. Tony was in the elevator, about to push the down button when his coms activated.
"Stark, I'm halfway there," came Steve's voice and clearly he was running as well. "I know where she is, I've got this."
Tony punched at the elevator button, knowing he wasn't going to leave Pepper's fate to anyone other than himself, but even so, he only had one word for Captain America. "Hurry," he rasped to the other man, even as fear clawed at his insides at the thought of someone hurting Pepper.
Pepper jogged along, sneaking yet another look over her shoulder. The three men were still very much on her tail. They were a little distance back, but she knew that she'd have little hope if they decided to speed up and take her down. When she'd first spotted them some instinct had told her that something wasn't right. Perhaps it was the fact that all three of them sported brand new looking jogging clothes or that they had exactly the same running shoes and haircuts. There was just something about the three of them that had Pepper instantly on edge. She'd run her usual route and then stopped to chat to a couple of other joggers for a bit and the three men had milled around the area at the same time.
When Pepper had taken off, they'd immediately followed her again and she knew this was more than coincidence. Both Happy and Tony had on at her lately about her personal security and Pepper's first thoughts were that Tony had organised her bodyguards without telling her, which would have been absolutely something he'd have done. For once though, Tony hadn't gone ahead and done whatever he wanted it seemed, because she'd heard real fear in Tony's voice when he told her he was coming. Tony rarely showed any kind of panic in a situation, no matter how dire it was and Pepper didn't like hearing it now. She rounded a curve in the jogging track and frowned when she saw no other joggers there. It was unusual and she instinctively sped up, heading for the fountain where she knew other people always were.
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‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "The Price of Legacy", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section. This fanfic will consist of 30 chapters and will also have a sequel that I'll be publishing later on. 🎈‼️
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