2010-06-16: Beauty &The Ego

Players:

Jennifer_icon.jpg Tony_icon.jpg

Summary: Tony returns to the mansion to find the welcome wagons out of town.

Date: June 16, 2010

Log Title Beauty & The Ego

Rating: PG


NYC - The Avenger Mansion (Meeting Room)

Continuing in the metallic theme, this room is set up much like an amphitheater, the lowest level holding the table for the team to sit at, and the next level up being kept for the reserves or allies brought in for briefings. Each seat has a display, where the information being parceled out can be looked over individually.


It's not often that Jennifer gets to come out to the Avenger Mansion, since she's put herself on the reserve list. Still, this is a good place to come down and get some peace and quiet when she needs to get some serious work done. She's got several folders and papers scattered all over the table with copious amounts of sticky notes attached to each, and a steaming cup of coffee rests to one side. Right now, she's got one folder open and is perusing the contents.

After a long morning dealing with various military officials Tony has finally made it over to the Mansion. He had been trying to stop by for several days but something always seemed to pop up to keep him tied up. Jarvis offered a welcome as he came in through the garage and informed Tony that there were only a handful of people currently in the mansion. He wandered around for a few minutes then headed over to the meeting room. The door to the meeting room flew open as he strode in announcing to probably an empty room, "I'm back! Please, please….carry on! No autographs, unless you ask nicely."

Jennifer peers over her files, emerald green eyes catching Tony's before grunting her disapproval. "And for how long before you decide to run off with no warning again?" she chides. She's never really gotten along with the man, and now is no exception. "The place is something of a ghost town since you left."

Tony ignores the clear disapproval of his spectacular entrance. Instead he makes his way around the room heading towards where she is sitting. "I'd apologize but we both know how terrible I am at it." He is now standing across from where she's working. Not close enough to truly pry but close enough to be nosy. "I had hoped everyone would feel welcome to stay here in my absence. I'm all over the place, its my nature. That shouldn't keep anyone from making use of the place."

"I hate to say it, but you and Steve are the glue that keeps the Avengers together," says She-Hulk, flopping the folder down on the table. Prying eyes would notice that the files are a mix of current events, prominent political figures and super villains of all sort. "After you left, Steve left shortly afterwards, and we haven't seen hide or hair of you for over a year. A lot of people are still active, but nobody really acts like a team anymore."

Tony gazes down at the floor watching a foot shuffle across the carpet from side to side as he listens to Jennifer's account of the last year. "I can't speak for Steve's reasons but its not as if I fell off the face of the Earth. I admit, reluctantly mind you, that I should have been more in touch." Tony walks up to the table, peers down at the open files, and tries not to whine when he speaks next. "If something was going on people could have picked up a phone."

Jennifer's scowl deepens. "I hate to break it to you, but you're not exactly the easiest man to get a hold of." She waves a hand in the air as she says, "It's not like we've got a Iron Man Signal we can shine on a passing cloud to summon you."

Tony says, "Oh! I'll write a sub routine that can access World News reporting agencies. It'll toss up a glyph of my helmet to let me know someone at the mansion needs take out." Tony scoots himself to the side so that he can sit on the desk just outside of Jennifer's opened files. "We'll call it Masko. Make Anthony Stark Kiss Off."

"Mask-O?" asks Jennifer incredulously. She pinches the bridge of her nose as if the mere thought of it just gives her a headache. "So," she says attempting to change the subject. "What /have/ you been up to?"

Tony wonders if anyone pays attention to the news anymore. "This and that. A bit more of the latter." Tony reaches out to turn the nearest file around to get a better look at it. "Were you concerned I'd dropped off the other side of the Earth without giving you a call?"

The file is that of news article of that of mutant lynching down in Alabama, and a seemingly unrelated file of a governor in Kansas. Before Tony gets a chance to read any of She-Hulks scribblings on the post it note, she reaches over and snatches it away from him. "No," she says. "Just wondering what you were plotting. Wondering why you came back when you did and wondering why choose one of the few moments I come here."

Tony pouts as Jennifer snatches back her work from him. "I didn't specifically know you were here. If I had, I'd have brought you a present." He had an agenda to grind but stopping to goad Jennifer into being annoyed was like a favorite pastime. "I'm back to shake the dust off this place and dig up the Avengers from wherever they're hiding. Between all of the shootings, dismemberment's and Dr. Frakenfurter doing the Time Warp in Central Park, we need to get together again."

Jennifer looks levelly at Tony as she packs away the folder. "No." she says. "Not me. Not after you kicked me out the first time when we all /knew/ Jack had to go. Not when you kicked me out the /second/ time after Bone. I was given a choice to either be a full time attorney or a full time Avenger and you made that choice astoundingly easy."

Tony sighs as Jennifer appears to be cleaning up her work to get out of Dodge. He couldn't fault her for being pissed at him but he was not the Avengers. Now would be a perfect time to hash this bit out. "Look, I've got a P.H.D. in being an ass. Whatever beef you have with me is warranted but I am not the Avengers. I'm a part of it. I'm not asking you to become active. I'm not telling you not to. You asked what I was up to and I've told you." Tony slides off the table to stand in front of where she is sitting. "Whether you want to work with the others or help the city is your choice. You don't have to like me to work with me. It won't hurt my feelings either way. Think it over."

"You told me what you wanted," Jennifer says smoothly. "You told me you wanted to dig up the Avengers. This implies finding members both past and present to add them to the active roster, am I correct?" She doesn't even wait for Tony to respond before continuing. "Having been an active member of the Avengers in the past, and currently an active reserve, this would include me in that statement, to which I gave you my reply." She arches an eyebrow at the man challenging him to argue with a lawyer. "If you need to call in the reserves, I'll be happy to help, but my primary responsibility is that to my law firm. I know you have dim view of lawyers, but believe me when I say that I /am/ helping the city. I'm helping the country in ways that I never could as an Avenger."

Tony says, "So you're basically telling me that you'd rather sit behind a desk scrawling away in legalese or throwing the book at someone in a court in comparison to physically saving people?" Tony stands appearing to look shocked even though he knew exactly what she was trying to say. He reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You're an Avenger regardless of the what prefix you're using before that."

Jennifer gives Tony a cool look. "I'd rather be behind the scenes to make sure that we have the /right/ to go out there and physically save people." She sighs wearily and leans back in the chair, causing it to creak some. "The laws we have pertaining to super powered citizens is sketchy at best. Mostly non-existent. We need an advocate in the courtrooms to make sure that something like the Mutant Registration Act doesn't happen to /all/ of us."

Tony grows frustrated with the conversation. There had to be some way to get her to see the need for her to get back out there, so to speak. "I wish all of us were as lucky as you are. Most of us don't get the choice to chose what they would prefer doing." Perhaps the best thing would be allow time to do his work for him. "I didn't stop in to interrupt, no…I did. I didn't mean to have this conversation turn out the way it has. I'll let you get back to what you're working on." He turns away from Jennifer and walks himself back over to the door.

Jennifer waits for Tony to leave the room, managing to keep her composure until he's closed the door. "God DAMMIT!" she yells, slamming a green fist onto the metal table, causing it to bend on it's central anchor, launching all the paperwork into the air. She sits there, looking stunned at her own outburst as the papers settle down about the floor. With a weary sigh, she reaches out and adjusts the table back into it's proper angle (or at least as close to it as she can eyeball it) and starts to pick up her mess. "Good going, Jen," she mutters under her breath, chiding herself. "Five minutes back and you already want to punch his face in. Some things never change."

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