Chapter 13:
Mark could practically feel the suspicion radiating off General Ross.
It was pretty clear that Ross didn't like Mark, but he was ignoring him, like he was some kind of monster.
Mark didn't really care. Ross was kind of a jerk in the movie. There was no point in trying to reason with him. Even Ross's own daughter didn't like him much.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was a little better, even with all the Hydra agents hiding within it. At least Nick Fury was a decent guy. He actually wanted to protect the Earth.
"This is Mr. Mark, our new technical consultant at S.H.I.E.L.D."
Nick Fury responded calmly to General Ross's questions. "Considering the destructive power of the military's latest creation, we felt it was necessary to take precautions."
"What is he?"
General Ross asked, "Is he some kind of super-soldier you created? Does he have powers?"
Ross probably figured that since the military was secretly working on super-soldier serums, and those experiments had failed (hence, Abomination), then Nick Fury must have gotten his hands on some better tech and made super-soldiers like Mark.
"That's classified information," Nick Fury said smoothly, refusing to answer.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
General Ross looked surprised.
"It stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," Fury explained. "It's a mouthful, so we just call it S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Okay, S.H.I.E.L.D."
General Ross wasn't really interested in the name. "Has Congress approved this... super-soldier technology?"
"It's classified," Fury lied calmly. "Congress has approved it, but they haven't told everyone yet, including the military."
"You think I can't tell you're lying?"
General Ross scoffed. He was a high-ranking military official. He would have heard something about this. "I'm reporting this to Congress today."
"Go right ahead."
Fury didn't even flinch. "We'll be filing a report too. We'll tell them that the military was conducting unauthorized experiments on super-soldiers, and it caused an accident that destroyed an entire city block. And that S.H.I.E.L.D. had to step in to help clean up the mess."
"Fury!"
General Ross was furious. It was true that he hadn't gotten approval from Congress for his super-soldier program that created Blonsky (Abomination). He should have come up with a cover story. If Fury reported this to Congress, Ross was in trouble.
"General Ross, I suggest you face the facts," Fury continued. "The military can't control the Hulk. Hand him over to us. You saw how well he responded to our technical consultant."
"You don't know anything!" Ross yelled. "The Hulk took my daughter! And it's your consultant's fault! He handed Betty over to that monster!"
"Come on, your daughter's been kidnapped by the Hulk more than once," Mark chuckled. "If something was going to happen, it would have happened already. Maybe in a few months, you'll be a grandpa and won't need those super-soldier serums anymore..."
"What did you say?!" Ross's face turned red. He could practically imagine it happening.
"That's enough, General Ross," Fury interrupted. "I suggest you focus on damage control. This whole incident has caused quite a stir. You don't want to get impeached, do you?"
"My daughter's still with the Hulk..."
"We'll take care of it," Fury assured him. "After tonight, I think you can see that the military can't handle the Hulk. Just like with that monster today, your solution was to unleash the Hulk and hope for the best... The military can't solve these problems. You'll just make things worse. Let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle it. We're the professionals."
"I don't have the authority to hand over the Hulk," Ross said, frustrated. "You'll have to talk to Congress."
"I will," Fury said, staring Ross down.
Ross looked like he wanted to argue more, but then his phone rang. Fury pulled out his phone, looked at it, and then abruptly turned and walked away.
Curious, Mark followed him.
As they walked, Fury ignored his ringing phone.
"Why aren't you answering that?" Mark asked, grinning. "That's a very important call from the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You should answer it."
Fury glanced at Mark but didn't say anything.
"Come on, answer the phone!" Mark suddenly pretended to get angry. "If you don't answer it, you're dead!"
"Are you done with your little performance?" Fury asked flatly.
"Huh?" Mark paused, then dropped the act. "You knew?"
"I'm a highly trained agent," Fury said, looking at Mark. He made a mental note: "Has a strong need for attention."
"Highly trained?" Mark asked, curious. "So you must have good mental fortitude. Would you get mad if I insulted you?"
"I would," Fury said. "But now's not the time for chit-chat. Stark's in trouble."
"Huh?" Mark was surprised. He looked at Fury. Fury hadn't answered his phone, so how did he know?
"Miniature bone conduction earpiece."
As if reading Mark's mind, Fury explained, "Magic isn't everything, is it?"
"Okay, okay," Mark shrugged. "So what's going on with Stark?"
"Obadiah Stane has kidnapped Pepper Potts," Fury said calmly. "He's threatening Stark, trying to get something from him. We think it's the Iron Man technology..."
"You mean the arc reactor?" Mark quickly understood. "The original Iron Man suit isn't that complicated. It wouldn't be hard to reverse-engineer it. But that miniaturized arc reactor technology is way ahead of its time. I doubt Stane can replicate it."
"How do you know that?" Fury looked surprised. Their agents were keeping tabs on Stark, but they hadn't picked up anything about this.
"Technology isn't everything, is it?" Mark said with a smirk, throwing Fury's earlier words back at him.
"..."
Fury didn't say anything, but he made another mental note: "Holds grudges."
But before they could say anything else, another phone started ringing. This time, it was Mark's phone.
Mark was confused. He hadn't even given his number to anyone. How was someone calling him?
Before Mark could react, Fury, standing next to him, said,
"Why aren't you answering that?"
"..." Mark glared at Fury. He couldn't believe this guy was being so petty.
But he had to answer the phone. He wasn't worried about Fury listening in. He answered the call, and Stark's voice came through. "Thank God, Mark, you finally remembered you have a phone..."
"Stark?" Mark knew why Stark was calling. "What's up?"
"Pepper's in trouble. Obadiah Stane has her. He wants me to give him the arc reactor," Stark said, his voice tense.
"Did you give it to him?" Mark asked.
"Of course not!" Stark said. "It's keeping me alive! Without the electromagnet, the shrapnel will get to my heart, and I'll die... But Stane's only giving me half an hour. If I don't give him the reactor, he's going to kill Pepper."
"I understand," Mark said, even though Stark couldn't see him nodding. "So you want my help, right? No problem. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"There?"
Stark sounded confused. "Wait, where's 'there'? I can't remember how many houses I own..."
"You and your fancy houses," Mark muttered. "I'm talking about that beach house where you've been working on the suit. Stay put, and I'll be there with bells on."
"Bells on? What are you talking about?"
Stark had clearly never heard that expression before, but he was too worried to think about it. "Fine, fine, I'll head back there now. Just hurry! I don't want anything to happen to Pepper..."
"Don't worry, she'll be fine."
Mark rolled his eyes and hung up.
"Looks like we both got the same message." Fury spoke as soon as Mark ended the call. "Miss Potts isn't in any real danger, is she? Did you see that in your vision?"
"I also saw you turning to dust," Mark said, walking towards the helicopter. "Come on, let's go save her."