Chapter 9

Exactly 4 hours and 3 minutes later, Tony's Audi roared into the private sub-level parking garage at Stark Tower. He went straight to his lab.

"So, where are we, Jarvis?" He asked wanting a current update from Jarvis as he entered the lab.

"I'm actually finishing overwriting protocol 775 of the SHIELD data base system currently." explained Jarvis.

"Well done, J. Let me check two or three things before you bust Shield's chops," Tony said as he started deploying holographic images of files in front of him.

"Sir, I have to warn you that it won't take long before Director Fury's security director figures out what we are attempting to do…" The AI cautioned before being abruptly cut off by Tony.

"I know, J. That's why we have to be fast and that's why I'm here and not calmly drinking coffee in Virginia right now," Tony said ironically as his hands moved quickly sorting out files. "So when you bust in, I want you to search for all files containing the following keywords: Claire Wise, Anna Bloomfield, Dane Anthony Potts, Virginia Anne Potts or Edna Edith Potts names and download them onto our private server. Shield's not as slow on the uptake as they once were thanks to me and we will not have access to their files for long Jarvis, so you have to be quick!" Tony ordered as he slid two holographic files to his right and deposited them into Jarvis's inbox.

"I am always quick, Sir." Jarvis sarcastically replied.

Tony didn't immediately reply to Jarvis' attempt at sarcasm preferring to deal with the task at hand. "Ok, I've set up the smoke screen from Stark Tower and reconfigured your break-in to appear to be from somewhere in China. I don't want Fury to figure out too fast that we are the ones who hacked into his system."

"You know sir that Director Fury will eventually discern the origin of his security breach," Jarvis started.

"Yes, I know Jarvis, but at least I want enough time to analyze their data and plan our next move. I don't know what information they have collected, and I don't know yet how this Claire Wise is connected to Pepper or Dane." Tony stopped as he thought again about how it was that a damned SHIELD agent had somehow wormed her way into his family. His family… This thought of him having a family suddenly made him grin like an idiot. He knew that righting all his wrongs wasn't going to be easy, but he knew also that he was determined to get his family back. He had already wasted too much time away from them and he would do anything and everything to win back Pepper's trust and love and hopefully win Dane's love too.

He shook his head because he was getting ahead of himself again. "Ok Stark, first you need to find out what SHIELD is trying to do here!"

"OK Jarvis, let's add to the keywords anything related to the state of Virginia, and also add the nickname "Pepper". Try to focus on all classified data especially any data hidden on ghost drives." Tony said as he started rearranging more holographic images.

"As you wish, sir." was the AI's polite response.

Tony sighed heavily the weight of what they were about to do resting uncomfortably on him, "Are you ready, J.?"

"Yes, sir." Affirmed Jarvis.

"Ok, Fury, let's see what you're hiding from me." Tony said as suddenly thousands of holographic images started floating all around him as Jarvis began to pull the data from Shield's databases. The images started to switch to different colors as Jarvis downloaded them on to his secured drives. Tony watched the progression on his main screen as the seconds ticked by quickly and the total number of files increased dramatically with each second of time that elapsed

Tony had already started reviewing some of the selected files as Jarvis was continuing to gather data. There were so many different files, from reports of field agents, to recording of phone calls, even medical certificates.

After few minutes, the holograms suddenly disappeared and Jarvis spoke "Connection lost, sir."

"Damned, ole one eye must have finally hired some competent people to oversee his security. Did you have enough time to find what we were looking for?" Tony asked his AI.

"I believe so sir, I scanned over 90% of Shield's database using our key words." Jarvis answered confidently.

"Well done, J." Tony exclaimed, "Can you now show me only the files that cover the last 5 years?"

"Yes, Sir" Jarvis said after a few second, "Sir, it appears that more than 80% of these files are related to a classified project name 'Salt's offspring'." The AI added.

"Who the hell did Fury put in charge to create Shield project's names?" Tony asked in disbelief somewhat miffed at the apparent meaning behind the project name. "No matter, show me the files related to this project, J."

Tony started to work his way through the files and it didn't take him a long to figure out that his previous suspicions were justified as he started to read a mission assignment for a SHIELD agent assigned by Fury to this project.

"Virginia Potts has resigned as CEO of Stark Industries and has also called an end to her 3 year relationship with Tony Stark. This relationship break up was perhaps the result of Virginia Potts being kidnapped one month previous by one of the Iron Man enemies in an apparent attempt to force Tony Stark into some sort of a bargaining with the kidnapper. Miss Potts was successfully rescued by Stark shortly after her kidnapping. Given that she is no longer under the protection of Tony Stark it's still highly probable that Virginia Potts could still be a potential target for kidnapping. Our recommendation is that she should now be placed under SHIELD covert protection. You are hereby assigned to insure Virginia Potts' safety and security until, we are sure that she is no longer a potential target."

"Ok, that makes sense" was the first thought of Tony. He even felt a little grateful to Fury for wanting to protect Pepper. He had been wallowing in his own self-pity for so long that he hadn't even occurred to him that she could still be a target even if she wasn't with him. He wondered why Fury hadn't told him about Shield wanting to protect Pepper. Then, he remembered his state of mind state during this period of time. During this time he hadn't been really listening to anyone about anything that wasn't related to his next mission with Shield. He was totally in denial about Pepper leaving him. In an effort to forget about Pepper, he had spent 90% of his time in his Iron Man suit during the first year, taking on one mission after another.. And when he had been on the ground, he had been too drunk to think about anything else at all. The years which followed the first one were not much better for him.

As he continued his research into Shield's files he found a more interesting report from the SHIELD agent in charge of Pepper's security to Fury.

"It appears that Virginia Potts is pregnant. There is not a lot of doubt with regard to who the father is. I'm waiting for your orders."

Tony couldn't believe what he was reading. Fury knew about Pepper's pregnancy and hadn't said anything at all to him! Anger started to flood into his body. He selected another file and found a contact report about a meeting regarding the "Virginia Anne Potts" case. As he read through it, he suddenly felt his blood freeze at the following words.

"Since it appears that Tony Stark has no idea about her pregnancy, we will be allowed certain liberties to follow his child undected as he grows. It will be interesting to see if the compounds present in Stark's ARC reactor could have an effect on his offspring. We will also have to consider the genetic aptitudes of his father and grandfather as well as his mother in assessing the value of the young Stark to Shield."

Overwhelmed, Tony reached for the chair behind him and fell heavily onto it. He ran his hand nervously through his hair as he tried to process this new information. He hadn't even thought about the possibility that he could genetically pass down to his children trace elements from the ARC reactor. Since he wasn't a biologist or a geneticist, he wasn't sure about the effects of the vibranium of the ARC reactor on his sperm. He tried to pull himself together as he continued to open other files one by one until he found one that literally broke his heart. It was a note from the Shield agent Evans to Nick Fury.

"Virginia Potts appears to be giving up living on her own. She appears to be entertaining the idea of calling Tony Stark to tell him that she is pregnant. I must assume that she starting to suffer from depression as a result of their separation. Although she continues to work in her business being a consultant to the CEO of Stark Industries, she appears to no longer be fully involved in her work. Awaiting your orders."

Fury orders was clear and cold blooded.

"We have to keep her from contacting Tony Stark. Do whatever you can to re-engage her at work. Drum up some new business opportunities to occupy her time. The situation is perfect for us. Tony Stark is currently 100% available for Shield missions. Iron Man is of great value to Shield and we want to keep him working exclusively for us instead of him leaving Shield to take care of Potts... Moreover, we'll have his offspring well within our reach for study. His child no doubt will be a great recruit in the future and will probably be more obedient and devoted to Shield than Tony Stark considering the fact that we will educate him in this way."

This was worse than anything Tony could have imagined. Shield had completely ruined his life... But then again just who was he kidding: he had ruined his own life by letting Pepper leave to begin with. But after all he had done for Shield the least Fury could have done was to help him get Pepper back. It was beginning to appear that Shield had completely sabotaged his life during the past 5 years by hiding the truth from him and doing everything they could to keep Pepper far away from him. He wanted nothing more right now than to fly to the helicarrier and show Fury exactly how he felt about this! But he knew that it was not a good idea to confront Fury right now. He had to be smarter than them. He had to think about his next move carefully. He was still reading through the files, and discovered file after file of documentation to support just how much Fury had done to keep he and Pepper apart. "She wanted to come back" the thought flew through his mind almost breaking his heart. He was starting to understand just what she went through during all these years. And all because of him… It had always been because of him… The only thing he could ever seem to do for her had always been to hurt her… He felt the pressure of guilt inside his chest grow until it was almost unbearable. As he continued to blame himself in his mind for Pepper's misery, a file suddenly caught his attention. It was a medical report: a medical report for one Dane Anthony Potts.

"The blood analysis does confirm the presence of vibranium at low concentration in the young Potts body. But as of this date there seems to be no adverse effects to his intellectual development or his physical growth. However we believe it is too early in the study to completely rule out the possibility that Dane Potts could suffer some abnormality due to the exposure of his body to the element."

"Damn!" was his first thought. Tony's monthly physicals check-up had never turned up anything unusual in his blood a result of the Vibranium exposure. How come trace of Vibranium were found in Dane's body? He didn't like this at all. He quickly scanned more files in order to find more current medical reports on Dane. He wanted to know if they had found something. But even the most recent was inconclusive. At least per Shield the vibranium in his body didn't seem to have any consequences for Dane. Tony felt somewhat relieved but he still had the fear that something was wrong with Dane. Tony was scared, very scared that something could happen to Dane because of him. He knew that Pepper would never forgive him if something happened to Dane moreover if it was somehow linked back to Tony. And of course he would never forgive himself either.

"Jarvis?" Tony said as a chill ran down his spine.

"Yes, sir?" answered quickly the AI.

"I need you to run some tests…" Tony said quickly, then paused.

"What type of tests, sir and on what?" Jarvis pushed back at him.

"I don't really know honestly," he took his head in his hands, thought for few minutes, and then stood up quickly. He selected some files, "OK J., I want you to implement blood analysis using my last blood screening and the results from Shield's blood test of Dane in a comparative analysis program," he started.

"Right now, sir?" Jarvis asked

"Yes, right now Jarvis. And I want to you to also run a projection curve taking into account all the possible evolution of any found anomalies over the next 20 years for both Dane and I."

"Yes, Sir." Jarvis obediently replied.

"Also, Jarvis, there are some RNA sequencing of Dane's genome in the Shield files that we recovered. I want you to try to find any correlation between Dane's DNA and my DNA that could be considered as a mutation... Try to look at the repeat sequences... See if you can find any connections which could potentially cause abnormalities and especially presence of vibranium in his body." He added, trying to think logically and clearly even though his mind kept bringing him back to the fact that they were talking about his son's life here.

"Sir, I don't want to contradict you, but I believe the Shield has done that already and concluded that there were no correlations," Jarvis said hesitantly.

"I'm betting that we probably don't have all the Shield files containing their test results and I want to make sure their analysis was correct. Besides, Shield doesn't have you, and I know for a fact that you are able to run circles around Shield when it comes to data analysis and in half the time too."

"That is true, sir." affirmed Jarvis, "However I should remind you that Shield most likely has a full team of competent biologists and geneticists working on this particular project and they have the advantage of years of research." The AI concluded fatally.

"You might be right Jarvis, but we can't just sit here and do nothing. This is my son's health and life we are talking about here. " Tony admitted.

"I have already begun the analysis, sir. Projected completion time is 6 hours and 33 minutes." Jarvis informed him quietly as if trying to reassure him that he intended to complete his assigned task not only quickly but accurately.

"Thanks, J." Tony said.

Tony thought now about his next move. What was he going to do? Pepper had probably no clue about was going on. No clue that she was surrounding by Shield agent and that her and Dane's life had been almost governed by them since 5 years. He shook his head, trying to think clearly about the situation. Shield would figure out soon that he hacked into their system and he had no idea what they were going to do to him or Pepper and Dane when they would. When they would see that only files implying Pepper or Dane had been download from their data base, considering only Tony had a vested interest in both Pepper and Dane, Shield would no doubt quickly ascertain his guilt. But what they would do? Shield seemed to be too much involved to abandon Salt's Offspring just yet. They have at least a dozen of their agents scattered throughout Pepper's life now from Dane's tutor to Pepper's coworkers. They could take action against them at any time. But then what would Shield possibly do?

"Fury would never kidnap them." Tony thought for a second. Then, he realized than he would never have imagined that Fury and Shield would do what they had already done to them. Dane was probably too much valuable to lose him now.

His whole body tensed when he eventually realized that Shield would probably do anything in order to keep control of Dane who appeared to be nothing more than a laboratory experiment to them. "Anything?" he thought… And probably, no matter what it cost Shield or Tony's family.

Tony's fist crashed on his desk! "Jarvis," Tony started immediately running to the other part of his lab, "Prepare the suit, right now!" he ordered upon reaching the elevator.