'Johnny's coming in. I have to go see T-'

'No, you've gotta come in, too.'

'What's got you so worked up?' Johnny questioned as he climbed out of the car. Happy stood aside to let him out before he leant down again to talk to Sue in the driver's seat.

'I don't know who he is, but some guy is here talking to Pepper,' Happy jerked his thumb over his shoulder. 'I don't like him. He's sleazy. It's like a well-dressed Jabba the Hut just walked in and is taking whatever he wants.'

Johnny's hearty laugh echoed through the area and Sue let out a sigh. In her eyes, the more time she sat listening to Happy's paranoia, the more implants Tony could be injecting into his arms. Happy's recent promotion in Stark Industries had brought about complaints that Sue heard nonstop about from Pepper. She assumed this was another example of his 'head of security' mania.

'Please, just come inside,' Happy begged. Johnny bent down to look at Sue as well, their faces staring at Sue and forcing her into a corner.

She let out a sigh and pulled at the handle on her door. Happy and Johnny stood up straight and closed the passenger side. They waited for Sue to walk around the car before the three walked up the stairs to the door. Happy held it open and followed the siblings, eager to show the two the situation at hand. The badge on his chest swayed back and forth at each step. He strode with his shoulders broad and anxious to be told 'you were right, Happy! You saved Pepper!'

They reached Pepper's office and looked through the glass walls that encircled the room. The inside was dark, but Pepper's figure in a white suit could be made out on top of the glass table. A colourful display of a human brain filled the darkness and a man stood explaining his proposition.

'What are we looking at, Happy?' Sue asked after a while of watching the seemingly normal meeting. She glanced down at the watch on her wrist and resisted the urge to walk back to her car on her own.

'I don't like him!' Happy exclaimed. 'He's showing her his brain! He walked in like he owned the place!'

Johnny looked around the waiting area. He didn't like the scene of Pepper being guided down from the glass table by the man in the office. His gaze wondered before landing on a man who was slouched in one of the chairs. He was bald and held up a magazine that he barely read. The dress shirt that peaked out from under his blazer was barely buttoned up and Johnny knew he was something to do with the man in the office. He was just as unlikable judging by the way his legs sat over the armrest of the chair. The lack of respect for the space annoyed Johnny, despite him sometimes having the same indecency. But he would never do it with Pepper around.

'Well, Happy, I'm sure you'll be able to put him in his place,' Sue turned back to the man with a huff and patted him on the shoulder. 'Good luck.'

'Susan Storm!'

Before she was able to leave, Sue turned to where her name was called from. Pepper and the man with the big brain walked out of the office and noticed the three that stood together. Pepper looked flushed from the meeting and Johnny resisted the heat that ran to his fingertips. The way the man with slicked back orange hair had his hand on Pepper's lower back made him angry. Johnny had to stuff his hands into his pockets to stop his fingertips from lighting up with the flickers of flames.

'This is a surprise!' the man grinned. Sue raised an eyebrow at the man whose teeth were too perfect to be real. They caught the light and glowed blue for a second, adding to the fake aura he stunk of.

'I'm sorry, do I... know you?' Sue looked at Pepper. The women tried to talk through their eyes, but their attention was pulled away when the man next to the redhead stepped forward.

'Aldrich Killian. My company just received your signature for Richards' company,' he grinned and stopped in front of Sue. He held his hand out for her to shake, but Happy and Johnny appeared before him instead.

'Susie doesn't shake hands,' Johnny spoke up, his frown deep and his eyes flaring. 'Not with men like you.'

Aldrich Killian didn't lose his grin and decided to walk back to be beside Pepper. This didn't soothe Johnny's tense stature and he tried to meet Pepper's eye, but she politely smiled at Aldrich who looked to her once more. Happy glanced over his shoulder at Sue, who gave him a reassuring look. She stepped out from behind him and held the same smile Pepper wore.

'I appreciate the offer for the company, Mr. Killian,' she said with her hands together in front of her. 'I hope you'll treat it well.'

'Oh, I will, Susan,' her and her brother cringed at the use of her name. 'I was just showing Pepper my breakthrough in immoral biotech research. The Richards' company will be a very useful asset to our research. It's a pity that you have to sell it.'

'Hm, pity,' Johnny cut in, his tone sharp.

Sue excused herself from the conversation and made her way through the institution. She heard the footsteps that followed her, and she knew it was Johnny without turning around. They were both equally as put off by the man named Aldrich Killian, but Sue had other things on her mind. The sleaze ball that now owned the company was about the sixth thing on her list of things that worried her.

She made it outside and descended the stairs. Johnny made it through the door and saw Sue open the door to the driver's side of her car.

'Can you get the company back?' he called out as he squinted from the sun's glare.

'No.'

'Great. Now Ostrich Killian owns it. Brilliant.'

'Johnny, if you've got a problem with it, you sort it out,' Sue said over the roof of her car. 'I've got enough to think about.'

Johnny scoffed as she got into her car and drove off, the tires screeching against the road. He watched her turn the corner and turned when the door behind him opened. Out walked Killian and Pepper, Happy slipping through the frame before it closed behind Killian.

'I'm sure I'll see you again, Pepper,' Aldrich leaned forward and planted a kiss on her cheek. He gave her another fake smile before he walked off to the car that was driven by the slouched man from the waiting area.

'I'm gonna follow him, tonight,' Happy appeared next to Johnny. 'Find out what his plan is.'

'I'm with you, Hap.'

---

When Sue walked through the front door of Tony's house, she was greeted by his suit that sat on the sofa. Its arm laid along the back with one of its ankles resting on the opposite knee. The lights inside the helmet were lit and followed Sue who walked down the hall and into the living room.

'Is this what we've come to, now?' she questioned. 'Wearing the suit around the house?'

'Just thought I'd break this one in a little,' Tony's voice came from inside. 'It's a little pinchy in the gooey bag, though.'

Sue felt small as the suit stood from the sofa. The mask glared down at her and she thought about the last time she saw it covering Tony's face in New York. When Thor ripped it off after Johnny brought Tony back down to Earth, the resting face of Tony Stark lingered in Sue's mind. She remembered how she thought she would be returning to Malibu alone. Johnny would be with her, of course, but the space where Tony always stood beside her would be empty. Not only that, but a place in her heart would be left unfilled. The invasion of the Chitauri was the day Susan Storm knew she was in love with Tony Stark.

'So, what's new with you?' Tony asked. The suit watched Sue turn away and head towards the stairs that led down to the workshop.

'I'll tell you when I see you downstairs.'

'Downstairs? No, there's a... a radiation leak! Don't wanna go-'

'I think me of all people can handle some radiation, Tony.'

Without turning around, the suit stopped on its pursuit towards her and shook in its place. The helmet bounced up and down from the vibrations and the arc reactor shook lose from its hold. The forcefield inside the suit burst through, the hint of blue dispersing through the air once the pieces were dissembled around the room. The mask of Iron Man landed by Sue's feet, but she barely gave it glance as she headed down the stairs.

'Real nice,' Tony mumbled once Sue made it to the workshop. 'You know that was the Mark 42? You just blew it up like it was a piñata.'

Tony jumped down from the pull-up bar with a glass screen attached to his head. JARVIS's blue data glowed on the sides of the mask that Tony used to operate the suit. He turned around to look at the woman that exploded Iron Man and saw her heavy eyelids and weathered look.

Sue saw the workshop wasn't in that much of disarray like the last time she was there. That night ended with her staying late into the night and ensuring that Tony was in bed. But she knew he was back downstairs as soon as she left.

'I ate,' Tony piped up and pointed to the half-eaten meal sitting on his tools trolley. Sue forced a smile onto her lips. It was a start.

'Well done, you.'