'Tony! Hey, Tony!'
Sue forced him to turn his gaze back down to her. The glare he sent out to find the man who shouted faltered from his drunken state, but Sue wasn't certain he wouldn't use his repulsors once he found him. Sue had to admit that he was intimidating in the Iron Man suit. It gave him at least half a foot on top of his already tall frame and she was barely eyelevel with the arc reactor that glowed through his suit. His shoulders were broad, and Sue couldn't help but notice how the hotrod red of the suit shaped around his arms.
'It's time to pack it up-' Sue started but caught sight of the shattered glass that littered the kitchen floor. 'What happened back here?'
'I was trying to show Pepper the door.'
Sue raised an eyebrow but lowered it when she saw Tony wasn't going to bother to explain. Dropping the subject, the woman took the bottle out of his mechanical hand and held it in both of hers.
'Tell everyone to go home. I understand why you're doing this, but you should at least remember your birthday if its going to be your last,' she said in a soft tone and Tony stiffened at the hint towards the reason of his actions. 'Tonight's over.'
He looked like he was listening to her for a moment. She was hopeful as mumbles rang throughout the room from people thinking they were going to have leave. If they could get the room cleared by three, she could make it home by four and get some sleep before the meeting she had tomorrow.
'Can I just say?' Tony lowered his head, and she resisted the gag that came from the smell of his alcoholic breath. 'You look amazing tonight'
'I... I do?' she questioned. 'I'm in a denim jacket and the suit you gave back to me in a plastic bag.'
'Maybe it's just all the time, then...'
Sue stood in shock as Tony displayed a small smile on his face. Even though it was slightly lopsided from the way his head was spinning from the alcohol, it did make her stomach flutter. Her mind went blank as she stared at the billionaire in his metal suit. She opened her mouth to let out some jibberish, when the voice of James Rhodes boomed,
'I'm only going to say this once!'
The party turned to James who stood in Tony's silver Iron Man suit. Tony sobered up and Sue took a step away from him, seeing James look around with a face of fury.
'Get out,' the mask fell shut and the eyes of the suit lit up. Everyone scurried towards the lobby, Pepper caught up in there somewhere.
Sue followed the crowd when she saw Tony and James have a stare off. She didn't want to get caught in between whatever would happen between then and she knew Tony wasn't one to back down from a fight. Especially not when someone has put on one of his own suits.
The party gathered outside but didn't head back to their cars. They watched through the floor to ceiling glass windows as Sue caught up to Pepper. Natalie appeared from the other side of the lobby; her dress just as tight as always.
'Miss Potts, are you okay-'
'Don't you start with me!' Pepper cried in anger. Natalie stopped and watched carefully at her boss's accusing finger that pointed at her. 'I'm on to you! You know every since you came here, it's been-'
James and Tony fell through the ceiling and collided with the grand piano. It collapsed under the weight of the two metal suits and debris littered the floor. Screams came from the party outside, and Pepper shrieked as the best friends wrestled while getting to their feet. Sue watched with wide eyes as Tony picked up what looked like part of the lid of the piano that was destroyed and spun to throw it like frisbee. James raised his arm and blocked the solid wood, sending it flying in Pepper, Natalie and Sue's direction.
A gasp flooded through the party as the wood bounced off the barrier that surrounded the three women. Cameras began to flash as reporters made their way through to the front to capture the moment. Images of Sue standing with her hand out in front of her were sent off to the press within seconds and Sue dreaded the news articles that would appear tomorrow.
The two continued fighting and Happy helped Pepper out the house with Natalie following close behind. Parts of the house were torn apart and thrown, blocked and sent flying towards Sue. Everyone flinched as a dumbbell was thrown through the air and blocked by the dome produced by The Invisible Woman. Despite the barrier, she couldn't help but flinch from the collision before it slammed into the floor and chipped at the dark grey tiles below.
'Miss Storm!' Happy hissed and Sue turned to see him holding the door open to lead her out.
She put her hand down and rushed out the house. Happy made sure she was out of the sight of cameras and reporters who turned their attention to the Tony. The man let out an almighty roar as he had knocked James into another room of the house. Everyone scurried away and Happy went to open the door of his car for Sue but paused when the woman walked past him.
'Miss Storm?' he called out but she ignored him.
Sue kept her head down as she briskly walked down the path. People scurried past her to their cars and fought to exit out of the driveway, causing a bottle neck down to the main road. Sue didn't have the time to feel the relief of parking in the street as she was struggling to think straight.
Tony had said that she always looked amazing, and it wasn't in true Stark fashion. She wasn't sure how she should take it considering he was drunk. But nevertheless, it made her feel something. The way her stomach fluttered and the warm eyes he looked at her with made her feel like she was the only person in the world.
Surely, he would forget what he had said in the morning if James doesn't kill him beforehand. But Sue couldn't help but admit that she hoped he would remember.
---
'Miss Storm, your eleven o'clock is here to see you.'
'Thank you, Felicity.'
Sue headed into her office with her laptop under her arm. It was the fourth time she had ventured to the headquarters of the company as CEO. She did her best to seem professional as she greeted employees who gave her smiles and respectful bows of their heads. The meeting at eleven o'clock was booked through Felicity and Sue asked her assistant if it was a business proposal or a client. Felicity said she wasn't sure as she couldn't write down the name of the company quick enough. It was long and the man on the phone decided to just say that they would be there for the set date.
'Sorry, I'm late,' Sue said as she walked into her office.
'No, please, I appreciate the appointment.'
Sue smiled and looked up to see a man sat in the chair next to her desk. He was dark-skinned with a black eyepatch over one eye. He was bald and wore a black trench coat and black clothes. Leaning back in the chair, he waited for Sue to get situated behind the desk before he sat up straight.
'What can I help you with, Mr...?'
'Fury. Nick Fury.'
'What a name.'
'As is Storm.'
Sue let out a small laugh and waited as Nick Fury reached into his trench coat to pull out a file. He laid it down on the desk before linking his fingers through each other and leaned his elbows on the armrests.
'I've met with Mr Stark already. He wasn't for the idea and quite frankly, his recent actions have proven to be... erratic,' Nick said and gestured his hand when mentioning Tony. 'But I'd like to offer you a position in a project we're working on called the Avengers Initiative.'
'Look, Mr Fury-' Sue closed the file that outlined the objective of the Avengers Initiative. '-I appreciate the offer and the project sounds amazing. But I'm not ready to join anything at the moment. I can barely control whatever condition I have, if you could call it a condition.'
'Mr Stark did mention that he was working on a suit for you,' Nick Fury added. 'Sounds like you're suiting up for something.'
'When did you speak to Tony, may I ask?'
'Earlier this morning.'
Sue nodded and looked down at her desk. She avoided thinking of Tony after the previous night. She hadn't heard from Pepper, so she assumed that no one was willing to speak to him after his drunken party disaster.
'I'm sure you're aware of his issue with the arc reactor in his chest,' Fury asked.
'Yes. It may have been the root of all his erratic behaviour.'
'We've given him something to take the edge off. Agent Romanoff has been undercover under on my orders to monitor the effects. You know her as Natalie Rushman.'
'Natalie?' Sue repeated.
'We've put Mr Stark on house arrest. Given him some of his father's research and things to see if he can work out some sort of cure. He may be erratic, and in my opinion, insufferable, but he is a genius. If anyone can work it out, it's him. And if you don't mind me saying, but Dr. Richards' work could also be of help.
We monitored Dr. Richards' work before the Marvel-1 mission. He was on track for breakthroughs in chemistry, physics and space travel that we were working on ourselves. He was a very intelligent man, Miss Storm.'
A ping came from inside Sue's heart at the mention of Reed. Her eyes travelled to the photo frame that sat on her desk. When she was 'moving in' to Reed's office, she saw that he had a picture of her, Johnny and Ben from their college days. It was from a party they had attended in their first year and Sue looked tanned from the summer of 1989. All four of them smiled at the camera; Ben's being lopsided and nearly falling off his face after the nine beers he had consumed.
'Miss Storm,' Nick spoke up again and Sue pulled her gaze back to him. 'Your abilities would be an amazing addition to the Avengers. Please, think it over at least.'
'Alright...' she sighed and slid the file across the desk. 'I'll consider it.'
The two stood from their chairs and shook hands at the mini agreement. Nick thanked her and followed Sue to the door where she grabbed the handle for him. Before he left, he turned around and looked down with his one eye, which Sue tried not to stare at too intensely.
'Oh and about Dr. Richards' notes. Anything to do with chemistry and biology I think would be a great benefit to Mr Stark.'
'I'll see what I can find.'