Chapter Thirty-One: Requesting the Relics

“My business is finished,” he said. “Let’s go upstairs and talk about something else.”

“I wonder if you could do me a favor and talk with Pepper for a while,” Tony Stark suggested. “Just so you know, I haven’t told her anything about my conversation with you. She just wants to have a chat with someone who’s caught the eye of so many wealthy ladies.”

Tony Stark added with a smirk, “You don’t mind, do you?” Harvey glanced at him and replied, “You’re handsome, but you look so much younger than Pepper. She doesn’t have enough money to even consider keeping someone like you. As long as you don’t deliberately flirt with her, I have nothing to worry about.”

Tony Stark waved his hand dismissively. “If you’re not worried, then neither am I,” Harvey said with a shrug. “Besides, flirting with beautiful women has never been my style—they always approach me first.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Tony said, clearly relieved.

But just as Tony was about to leave the underground lab with Harvey, Jarvis’s voice chimed in, “Sir, Agent Coulson is calling. Would you like to answer?”

“So soon?” Tony said in surprise. He’d asked Coulson to look into his father’s belongings and had expected Coulson to drag things out a bit—perhaps to curry favor or gain leverage. But now, barely ten minutes later, Coulson was already calling back. That could only mean they’d found his father’s effects.

“Maybe their skills are a bit better than you thought,” Harvey remarked.

“Let’s take the call,” Tony said, halting on the stairs.

This time, the connection wasn’t just audio—it was a video call.

A Black man in a black trench coat, wearing an eyepatch, appeared on the screen. Coulson stood beside him. As the man spotted Harvey Amberlake’s figure next to Tony, his gaze flickered.

“Tony Stark, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the man introduced himself. “I am Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Coulson’s superior. And Harvey Amberlake—last time one of our agents offended you. On behalf of the agent, I apologize. I’m sorry.”

“Director Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you called something like the Department of Homeland whatever?”

“Just call me Fury,” the man replied. “It’s not just you, Tony. Harvey Amberlake also commented that our agency’s name was too long. So we’ve been considering a shorter one. After some thought, we finally came up with something simple, direct, and reassuring: S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“I don’t know about reassuring, but it’s definitely easier to remember than the last one,” Tony quipped, in that infuriating way he had.

Harvey, meanwhile, simply sat down and started fiddling with his phone, not even glancing at the screen. Fury could only sigh inwardly. He knew Natasha’s encounter with Harvey had probably left a terrible impression. Still, seeing Harvey Amberlake at Stark Manor wasn’t surprising. He held a sizeable share in Stark Industries, and everyone in New York’s upper circles knew Harvey and Tony had become friends. Even if Harvey had no superpowers, fortune seemed to smile on him, so it was no surprise that two wealthy men would get along.

“Let’s put the matter of names aside and get down to business,” Fury continued. “Regarding your father, Howard Stark’s belongings, we did find some things. However, your father was involved in highly classified military projects, so his effects are considered military secrets.”

“So, in short, if I want them, it’s not going to be easy, is it?” Tony replied, not missing a beat. He’d dealt with the military enough to recognize bureaucratic doublespeak.

“No, no. Returning your father’s belongings to you is entirely reasonable,” Fury said, shaking his head. “But before we do, I’d like to ask you something. You’re thirty-nine now, and after all these years, you never thought to ask the military if they had any of your father’s things. Why now?”

“Because of this,” Tony replied, pulling open his shirt to reveal the arc reactor in his chest. He’d much rather say it was because of this device than admit Harvey Amberlake had reminded him to ask.

“This is called the arc reactor. It’s incredibly useful, and it’s the key to me being Iron Man. For certain reasons, I have to wear it at all times—I can’t take it off. I’m trying to find a new element to replace it, but I’ve already tried everything on the periodic table. No luck. So I thought of my father—he was a genius, just like me. Maybe he left something behind that could inspire me.”

A complex expression crossed Tony’s face as he explained.

“I see,” Fury said, glancing at the arc reactor’s white glow in Tony’s chest without showing much surprise. “I’ll have Coulson deliver your father’s effects to you. I hope they’ll be of help.”

If Tony Stark couldn’t find a replacement element, S.H.I.E.L.D. did have something that could alleviate his palladium poisoning. But that would only be a temporary fix; for Tony to survive, he’d have to find a solution himself. The Iron Man suit he’d built was a marvel—practically a humanoid fighter jet and far more agile. It was a weapon on par with superpowers. If Tony didn’t have much life left, they’d lose a rare superhero with the potential to join the Avengers.

“The sooner, the better,” Tony said, the complex look vanishing from his face as he nodded slightly.