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Summary: Michael arrives at the Stark Towers to make a proposal to the Secretary of Defense/Avenger/CEO. As the meeting is informal Michael is introduced to Kaji and AL as they arrive in the apartment.
Date: August 2, 2010
Log Title: Greetings Mr. Secretary
Rating: Log Rating. PG
NYC- Stark Towers - Personal Residence
Monday in the Big Apple, the streets lined with people, the hot dog vendors making a killing, and the Stark Towers as busy as it always was during operating hours. In a bid to avoid going downstairs and into the role of CEO, Stark had spent considerable time locked up in his basement lab. Now upstairs, blasting rock tunes, and throwing a squeaky ball down a hall for his dog to return, Stark waited for Michael to arrive for their impromptu meeting. He hoped that the Lt. Colonel wouldn't feel disrespected by being greeted in a t-shirt and jeans instead of a business suit.
For his part, Michael is dressed to the nines. A dark blue dress uniform with a high, stiff collar around the neck, and his medals hanging proudly on the right chest with ribbons on the left. He carries a formal white hat under his arm, and any person who deals with the U.S. Military will recognize this as the Marine Corps dress blue uniform, used for the most formal occasions. Apparently he had a meeting with someone before, as he comes in from the outside.
If Michael approaches the security desk in the lobby they will direct him to the elevators, and explain how to access the 93rd floor via the hand scanner. The officers would of course call upstairs to let Stark know that Michael had arrived and was on the way up so that the man didn't get held up. Once cleared the doors would part on the floor revealing the small welcoming area where Stark would be standing once the dog was crated in the master bedroom.
Michael gives a nod to the security people, and moves to the elevators. He steps up to the hand scanner when he is directed, putting his palm on it and stepping through in to the area. He gives a nod to Stark as he comes in. "Mr. Stark, a pleasure." He says with a chuckle. "You'll have to forgive me, I had a formal meeting with the Commandant of the Marine Corps this morning while he was in town."
"Ahh! I was aware that General Conway was in town. I may have to catch up with James later," Tony pauses for a moment and extends a hand out to emphasize the space near him. "Please, come in and make yourself comfortable." Tony walks into the living room and offers to get Michael a drink if he would like.
Michael chuckles. "He is doing some rounds in the city before he is down in Washington for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs. Why am I not surprised you're on first name terms with the Commandant." He asks dryly before he moves over. "I'd take some water, since I'm still in uniform."
"James? I'm on a first name basis with the President. We happen to get together for a game of golf once a month," Tony smiles as he heads off into the kitchen to acquire the glass of water. When he returns to the living room he hands over the glass to Michael then takes up the seat across from him. "Your call earlier was unexpected but welcome. I apologize for not having kept up better contact. I'm notoriously bad with returning messages."
Michael gives a nod at that, reaching out for the glass of water. "It's quite alright. I just figured I would come by to talk to you about a proposal." He says. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are an inexplicable amount of people who attack this tower."
The elevator lets out it's tone to let everyone know on the floor that someone is coming up, and out walks Kaji. In his anthro form, with bandages wrapped around his shoulder and biceps. And one over his chest it seems. Blood easily seen if you look close enough, and he doesn't really say much except for nodding his head towards the Lt. Colonel and Tony before heading into the guest room for a moment.
Tony sighs rather heavily. "Wherever I may be has an increased chance of falling prey to attacks. Recall the robot on the front lawn of the Avengers Mansion awhile back?" The truth was, Stark was tired of having every bad guy, and their grandmother with a grudge show up and wreck the lobby. The upside was that one could constantly redesign after the disaster. Noticing the arrival of Kaji, Tony quirks an eyebrow at the bandages and almost quips something that would surely get him killed. Instead he focuses on Michael, "What sort of proposal?"
Michael raises an eyebrow at the appearance of the…anthro thing. "Mmm." He says after a moment. "I'm fairly certain my daughter is going through a phase where this would be considered quite exciting, assuming you're actually a ripped and handsome young man with an interest in terribly boring young women beneath there." He offers, before he looks back to Tony. "Well, as long as I'm going to keep getting called in to it, I'd like to stash some gear here."
Kaji glances behind him as he notices the eyebrow quirk on Michael and he vanishes into that guest room. Changing into clothes and shifting out of that form before he walks back out, better dressed for company in more stylish everyday wear. "Sorry about that, just got out of training," he offers to Michael.
Tony crosses his legs in one direction, then uncrosses them, then crosses them back in the opposite direction. The comment about Michaels daughter greatly amused him but the latter matter he had a bit of an issue with. "You want to store weapons in the Towers? Not only that but has SHIELD decided to keep you in the neighborhood because of the attacks? Or is this more of a US Military request?" Tony is glad to see that Kaji has stepped into the room as this may eventually need some input from him as well.
Michael shakes his head. "I'm not currently being assigned to Stark Towers, nor is the U.S. Military asking me to do so. I'm just near by, very well trained, and have the clearance to get myself involved if need be." He looks over to Kaji. "Mmm. Can you stare blankly in all emotional instances?" He teases lightly.
Kaji actually cracks a smirk at that before he laughs, "Only when I just get my butt handed to me. Plus the ride home wasn't that great either. Traffic on all streets." He shrugs a bit before he looks over at Tony and motions towards Michael curiously. "This the gentleman you were telling me about?"
Tony snickers despite himself. "Forgive my lapse in manners gentlemen." With a brief pause he adopts a more formal clip to his voice, "Lt. Colonel Michael Pola, this is my personal guard Kaji." In answer to Kaji's question Tony finds himself nodding in the affirmative. "He offered to avail himself to the Avengers so by extension that would mean here at the Towers." With a wave of his hand he suggests non verbally for Kaji to occupy the open couch. "As for your proposal, I am not a fan of having weaponry on site, however, if this stash of weapons are locked specifically to your access I won't have a problem. You will however have to speak to my head of security due to the nature of your request. I'm sure you understand the necessity for doing so."
Michael chuckles a little bit, and gives another polite nod. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kaji." He says, before he looks back to Tony. "I find it fascinating you're not a fan of weaponry, Mr. Stark, all things considered. You somewhat revolutionized thinking on mechanized infantry." He offers with a chuckle. "I would be happy to have it keyed to my access. And I'm not looking for rocket propelled grenades or anti tank weapons."
Kaji ahs softly at Tony, and then moves to sit on the couch; wincing slightly as he moves his shoulder but it seems to pass quickly enough before he says, "Always good to have another member of the team. Hope ya aren't allergic to canines." He looks back over at Michael and waves a hand, "Please just Kaji." Then he quirks a brow with a chuckle, "If you're looking for those, they're right here." He juts a thumb at Tony on that remark.
There is a certain air of distaste about Stark as he listens to Michael speak then Kaji in turn. "I was creating weapons long before I ever graduated MIT. It all became a means to an end for me. I needed to keep up with military applications in order to fund research to change the lives of people. I was proud to arm our countries military, however, not so thrilled when my weapons wound up in the hands of terrorists." Tony pauses to gather his thoughts to pursue a path away from the past, and Kaji's comment was a great opening to lighten things up. "As much as I like taking tank rounds to the chest and standing back up again, it gets tiring to have to constantly repaint the suit." To Michael he waves a hand as if to emphasize the point he is about to make. "My company is steering away from its past, so having any sort of arms collection is an issue. This is small scale and can be controlled so, I am not being overly dismissive of the request."
Michael chuckles a little bit. "I can understand the point, Mr. Stark. I only overlapped Oppenheimer by about a year, but I did grow up in the cold war. The arms race left the world with a huge nuclear stockpile that we're still living down, and a mentality we may never escape." Pola says academically. "But at the same time…well, I'm a model for better living through military hardware. I've been firing guns as long as I've been alive and able to handle them. I can humbly say I'm one of the better un-augmented human shots in the world." He says with a shrug. "I can understand the point, but I also thank you for the consideration."
Kaji just stays silent for a moment before he looks back at Tony. "He could probably teach Al a thing or two about shooting. Not that she isn't a bad shot." He shrugs a bit before he looks back over at Michael, "I've never really fired any guns. I'm more of a hand to hand fighter. Close quarters and all that. Shifting helps in that regard."
"I do appreciate your offer, and understand what prompted it." Tony admits as he uncrosses his legs so that he can scoot further back in his chair. "I'm not about to turn away an offer of assistance. I merely need to have the proper channels setup so that there is no confusion as to who you are, why you're around, and why suddenly there's a locked weapons closet somewhere in the building." At Kaji's mention of Al he finds himself smirking with mischievous glee. Poor Wolf didn't have access to the service record of the very formidable Fiore. "I'm sure she would get along quite well with Michael. Maybe we can all hit a range sometime for amusement, maybe a bit of competition."
Michael gives a nod to Kaji. "Well, I can certainly respect that. I'm Force Recon; we're trained to be Operators, with most of us using a submachine gun, and backed up by a handgun and knife. I daresay that even with all of my training in the matter that you'd be able to take me pretty easily." He says to Kaji, before he nods to Tony. "I'm happy to go through all the proper channels in the matter, although I think if it gets snagged up you have more pull than I do."
Kaji notes that mischievous grin on Tony's face and he shrugs a bit before he looks over at Michael. "Of course, there may come a time where I'll need to learn how to fire a gun. Not every baddy can be taken down by hand to hand combat." He hms a bit and shrugs before he leans back against the couch, "Course, I do have those throwing knives," mumbles the mutant.
Tony folds his arms across his chest, looking rather thoughtful for him. "I'd rather not put the three of us in a room somewhere and end up trying to see who can top the other." There's quite a bit of amusement lacing his tone as he looks between the two men in front of him. "I'm sure that your proposal will be fine, Michael. As for the other, I did toss out an open invite before for a bbq. I suppose it can encompass the firing of weapons and throwing of knives, as long as it is a controlled environment. I don't want to have to explain why we weren't paintballing but firing live rounds."
Michael gives another chuckle to Tony at that and nods. "Well, as long as the two of you don't miss…" He teases dryly. "Actually, do you two mind if I change for a moment? I have slightly more relaxed clothing in the car, and I can show you an example of what I'd like to keep in the closet."
The elevator sounds, before the redhead emerges from it. Red hair is loose over her shoulders, a blue button down with a short black skirt, heels clicking as she heads for the kitchen first, putting something in her purse. "Tony? Hey…" Before she pauses, looking towards the living room.
Kaji looks over at Alessia entering before he waves a hand towards her, then he looks back over at Tony with a smirk. "A BBQ might be a better idea than that dance. Open skies and all that jazz." He looks back over at Michael and says, "Eh, I'll try not to." Then he shrugs a bit, "I don't mind."
With the elevator opening, Tony looks automatically in that direction. Seeing that Al has arrived he rises from his chair to walk over and meet her as she heads for the kitchen. "Hey, there." Tony says softly to her, and leans in to press a kiss to her cheek. "We actually need to talk to you if you've got a minute." He turns towards Michael after a moment, "I don't mind if you run out to the car. I'll call down to the desk and make sure that they know you're bringing up various weapons."
Michael chuckles. "Only the one, actually, I don't normally carry anything heavy." He says amusedly. He stands at Alessia's entrance, and offers a polite nod. "Ma'am." The man, dressed in the Dress Blue uniform of the United States Marine Corps. "I'll be right back." He says to them, heading out the door.
"Barbecue." Al repeats, looking at Kaji, then at Tony. "Weapons? Hold on, what in the name of…" Eyes are drawn to Michael, blue gaze sweeping over him. "Alessia works fine. Ma'am is my momma." A flash of a bright smile, before she's looking at Tony for an explanation.
Kaji grins back at Al. "Yup, Tony's idea." Then he just relaxes on the couch a bit, stretching his free arm before he starts to check his bandages for his wounds. "Seems the bleeding has stopped…"
With Michael having hopped into the elevator that left the two resident men to try and catch AL up on the conversation thus far. "The idea? Oh, right the BBQ. I'll have to explain that later. Right now, Michael is a military attache to SHIELD, that I have dealt with several times. He came over to make a proposal due to my /popularity/ as of late." Tony leans back against the bar at his back and continues to tell AL what has happened, "He wants to setup a weapons closet somewhere in the building that is keyed to him so that he can assist in situations if he's in the area. I told him that I personally don't have a problem with that but he would have to run this by you. As you would have to know him, what he's intending to do, and all of the other fun things about keeping a secured closet under wraps."
Alessia definitely has her eyebrows raised, looking at Tony. "That…Marine, wants to set up a weapons cache here in the towers, keyed to him. Are you freakin' serious? Ah…" The redhead closes her eyes, clenching her jaw for a moment. "Fine."
Kaji looks back at Alessia and says, "You can always try and set something up with him. I mean, you are the head of security, right?" He shrugs a bit before he checks the bandages on his chest.
"I have to entertain the idea, nothing is set in stone as of yet," Tony insists. "I have mentioned my dislike of weapons in general to him, and I do not want any one else at the Towers armed but having an available marksman in the area may keep the building in one piece. I think this is one of those issues where we may need to hash some things out, like what it is that he wants to store and who will have access, and see if this is the best idea in general before giving him the go ahead."
Alessia gives Kaji a long, hard look as skin goes white with tension around her lips. Eyes shift back to Tony. "Ah can handle it, Tony. Ah've quite a few questions for your SHIELD Attache friend."
Kaji just smiles at the look, and moves off to the guest bedroom. A soft hum from him as he shifts anthro as he walks through the door, a soft rip from the bandages as he goes to redress them.
Tony turns his head to watch the walking wounded walk off. "He's not a bad guy," Tony says to Al as he turns his attention back to her, and meaning Michael. "I met him when a robot decided to land on the front lawn and attack the Avenger Mansion."
It takes several minutes for Michael to come back in, wearing an olive suit looking uniform with a much more discrete set of ribbons accompanied by two expert marksman badges dangling down. Hat still tucked under his arm, he also carries a small box with him.
"Do Ah even wanna know what happened to the Wuffie?" Al sighs, moving to start digging into the fridge for something to eat. She glances over her shoulder at the Marine, as she's getting out some pasta to heat up. "Can Ah make ya somethin' to eat?"
Tony isn't sure who she is asking but he turns toward Michael. "This is your idea of comfortable clothing?" With a sigh accompanying a disbelieving shake of his head he waves Michael over to the bar. "If you would like anything other than the water, please feel free to attack whatever food I've got."
Michael grins. "This has been my business suit for the entirety of my adult life, Mr. Stark." He offers. "Besides, I'm not allowed to wear fatigues in this situation." He says, as he takes off his jacket and neatly folds it over the back of a sofa. "If you're making something for anyone else, I'd be happy to have some, but I don't need anything special." He grins.
"Ah'm not making anything special, just mixing up some pasta an' sauce Ah made ealier. Stark can tell ya Ah have a habit of feeding strange, stray men." Alessia glances over at Michael, then at Tony. "So Stark tells me you want to have a weapons cache, here in the tower."
Kaji walks back out of the room, ears flicking at Al's tone and he hms a bit before he shrugs his shoulders. No bandages on him, and there's no visible marks of the wounds; seems that the surface has closed up. But he's still careful in his movements, so there's deeper damage. "Any meat in there?" Is asked as he walks over to the kitchen.
Tony wonders why Al is calling him Stark. To his recollection she's never done so before, so if he looks puzzled for a moment, this is why. Deciding to keep his mouth shut for once he sits on a bar stool and watches Kaji enter the room. /Always thinking with your stomach./
Michael mms. "Well, I am one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, we don't come much more stray." He offers in return, smiling. "Weapons cache makes it sound like I'm installing AA guns on the roof; I'm asking to put a couple of guns in a keypad closet so I don't have to haul it through traffic in the case of an emergency." He responds, taking the small box and offering it to Alessia.
"My father served. Just not in the Marines." Hey, she's acting as Head of Security, of course she's calling him Stark instead of Tony. It's business! "No, a waepons cache to me is a closet full of guns. AA Guns on the roof would be more a minor military installation, sir." A look at Kaji. "There's meat in the sauce, but there are hamburgers cooked inthe fridge for you to heat up. Ah've learned, livin' around ya, ya walkin' disposal."
Kaji chuckles a bit, his tail swishing slightly behind him. "Hey, I don't eat /that/ much." He rolls his eyes with a shake of his head before he heads over towards the fridge to open it up and look for the meat. A soft hum coming from him as he shifts things around.
Michael gives a nod. "In the closet I would put basic Operator material." Michael explains. He opens up the little box to reveal…a handgun. ".45 calibre handgun. Springfield Operator, manufactured as an alternative to the Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Command pistol by Kimber, and later solicited to serve as the same when more were needed. It is similar to the one I wear as my standard side-arm."
"Kaji, what you eat in a day would feed me for about a week." Al sasses the Wuffie, heating the sauce and pasta on the stove, before she's filling four plates. Because Tony better be eating her cooking! Michael gets a long, lingering look. "Ah know what a forty-five is. My question is, where are ya plannin' to put this stuff, an' how are you going to /know/ that you're keepin' it secure and that some nutjob that comes bustin' in here lookin' for trouble isn't gonna get to it? These are the questions Ah have to ask."
Kaji's ears perk up as he looks back at Alessia, a hamburger patty in his mouth already before he swallows and smiles toothily. "Wolves are big eaters?" Like that excuse works, he didn't even heat up the hamburger! He finishes off the patties as he starts to head back to the couch.
Tony is looking over the gun from his vantage point. One can stop making weapons but one can not stop the mind from coming up with something better. The apartment really needed a larger fridge if Kaji was going to keep the pace that he is capable of when /hungry/. Tony seems content to just listen to the others and await the the arrival of the pasta. Of course he was going to eat whatever was getting made; because Al's cooking was always good.
Michael gives a nod, and puts the gun back in the case, closing it away carefully. "Well that depends on what is available at the Towers." Michael says simply. "Basically, what I was going to ask for was a keypad locked closet that only I and you had the combination to, along with the actual weapons themselves being secured in gun safes inside them."
Alessia arches a brow at Tony, before she's sliding a plate his way, and one towards Michael. Blue eyes look over the Marine's face. "Funny, Ah didn't know the Marines taught politics. Very smart move, addin' me to the list of those in the know." She moves to go get a bottle of soda. "Ah hate thinkin' of somethin' happenin' that furface an' Ah can't handle, but Ah'm smart enough to know Ah have to plan for it."
Kaji smirks a bit. "Gimme several more months, and there'll be a lot less that I can't handle. But. I've gotta get goin'. Going to hit up the gym at the Mansion for a bit." He gives a wave to the people there before he heads for the elevator.
Michael grins. "Well, once you get your field grade lobotomy they have to fill the wasted space with something." Michael responds with a grin. "I understand, and as I said, I'm not looking to have a whole armory in here. Just enough things that I can be useful in case there's something I need to help with." He explains.
Tony calls out to Kaji, "Don't get cocky!" That was probably the single worst thing that could happen to someone fighting the good fight, getting cocky with what they can handle. He picks up a fork and twirls some pasta around the tines while the others are discussing particulars. "The less people that know about this particular proposal the better. Not just because there would be weapons on site but also keeping Michael out of the public knowledge for as long as possible would be beneficial."
"Well, at least you're charming enough to know how to use it." Al says while digging into pasta, looking between Michael and Tony. "Ah'm all for discreet, Tony." He should know that.
"Well, owing to my brief stint out if I /ever/ want to pick up that first star I have to make up for lost time." Michael says, with a wry amusement in his tone; it is clear he doesn't think that is likely to happen.
Tony stares at his pasta as he twirls it about the plate before attempting to take a bite. "Well, I'd offer to assist with anything you would need but you have SHIELD access, and that's about the same."
"So you're still active duty, not just reserves, then?" Alessia asks politely, washing down her pasta with some soda. Blue eyes look up at the older man, curious.
Michael nods. "I'm the U.S. Military Attache to SHIELD. So I'm still active duty Marines as well as being a SHIELD Agent currently." He explains. "My reports go to a myriad of different places, I think."
Tony half smiles, "There's probably a stack of your reports sitting on my desk in DC." It's entirely possible that a untold number of reports were stacking up in an office he hadn't physically been in, in months. Though his staff there digitized anything important for him.
"Interesting. " Her gaze narrows a little bit, resting on the marine. "So what brought you to work with SHIELD?"
"An offer from Colonel Fury and the Secretary of Defense." Michael responds. "I was retired for several years after I took a piece of rebar as long as I am tall through the shoulder in Turkey, right at the beginning of the War on Terror. Some…" He trails off for a moment, smiling wanly, "things happened, and my daughter and I both realized we needed some direction. She went to school, and I took the offer."
Tony has finished off the pasta that had been set out in front of him. Not wanting to interrupting their conversation he cleans up his things, and collapses back down into his favorite chair and busies himself with checking messages on his computer pad.
Alessia looks at Tony wandering off. « Baby? Everything okay? » She speaks to him without a word out loud as she looks at Michael, finishing her pasta. "Ouch. That had to be rough to rehab. How old is your daughter?"
Michael smiles. "Eleanor is 14." He explains, reaching in to his coat to pull out a wallet. He flips it open to show a picture of a mid teenaged girl with his hair, very pretty and somewhat bookish. For all that he was discussing firearms in great detail a bit ago, he is all the smiling parent now.
Tony hears Al's voice and it causes him to pause the string of information that he had been running over. He doesn't respond so much in words at first as he thinks about the earlier part of the day, what drove him down to the lab for hours. Afterward he had come back up to the apartment to direct his anxiety in a different fashion by throwing a ball down a hall for over an hour. Now? He was drained, and having not been himself the entire day, he was simply listening in and hoping he wasn't appearing like an antisocial host. "Hey, toss that over here one time. You mentioned her before but I never got around to seeing the pictures."
« Why didn't you call me? » She sends to Tony, smiling at the picture. "She's lovely. Where does she go to school?" A smile as she glances at Tony. "Ah bet she's a Daddy's girl."
Michael looks over to Tony for a moment, noting the more subdued demeanor, but he tosses the picture over to him after a second. "She goes to a private school nearby." He says simply. "She is. We've been all we have for a little while now."
Trying not to bobble the wallet too badly when he catches it, he flips to the picture and smiles, "She's very pretty, Michael. There's also absolutely nothing wrong with being bookish either." Tony folds the wallet back to the way it should be and gets up from the chair to walk over and hand it back to Michael. I don't know why I didn't call. I got sucked in too quickly, and then half the day was gone before I realized what I was doing. Tony thinks at AL as he begins to return to his chair.
Al blinks at Michael. "Ah'm sorry to hear it. Ah..lost my father when Ah wasn't much older than she is." Her hand reaches out for Tony. « You have to stop that and remember to call me. »
Michael gives a smile at Alessia, although it is a sad one. "Breast cancer in 2006 killed Elaine." Michael explains with a shake of his head. He stands up and looks to the both of them. "I'll put it through official channels and keep the two of you in the loop on the matter. I have to be getting back to headquarters; I'll talk to the both of you later."
Tony had just taken Al's hand when Michael rose to make his goodbyes. "Thank you for coming by, and I'll keep the channels open…better." Michael then left with his box leaving Tony, and AL near the kitchen. He turns around towards her, "I have to learn to catch the behavior better. I may have to work an appointment or three in with my therapist. I haven't been back since he called me a control freak."
Alessia waits until Michael makes his goodbyes, before she's pulling Tony in to hold him close. "You should. It might help." Face nuzzling to his throat, kisses against his skin.
Tony returns her embrace as his eyes fall shut. "I don't know how well it will go but if I manage to actually talk to him, he at least is bound by an oath not to share information. It's something." A heavy sigh follows his words before he presses a kiss to the side of her head. "Thank you for dinner by the way."
"Ah just want you to feel better, baby." Snuggling into his arms, resting against him. "Ah've learned to cook ahead of time around here." A smile. "What say we go curl up and you get to rest a while?"
Tony agrees with the idea, "Sounds good to me, love." Together they walk back to the master bedroom. Tony checks on Athena to find her still unconscious from all the exercise, and collapses into the bed with AL to rest in case he's up again later for another marathon work session.
