Chapter Text
Pepper sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair, in an impersonal, sterile white hospital room, quietly seething. She had never thought that she would miss Extremis flowing through her veins, but in that moment, as she went over everything that had happened, everything that the Avengers had put Tony through, she knew that if she still had Extremis within her and those cretins in front of her, that she would have gladly watched them all burn.
Her Boss, her partner, her best friend, was lying there in a medically induced coma, fighting for his life – again! Having been betrayed – again! She could not fathom how or why one person could be subjected to so much pain and betrayal time after time; why whatever Tony did everything fell entirely on him. He was a brilliant man, an inventor, a businessman, a futurist; a superhero for Christ's sake!! And yet the group of people he had done so much for had clearly failed to see behind his public facade, and remained quick to make him the scapegoat for anything and everything wrong in their lives; like the media doesn't blame him for enough already?!
Virginia Potts was normally the epitome of the poised, smart, composed CEO. But at that moment, she was simply a girl, a scared angry girl worried about her friend, and feeling the need to seek vengeance upon all who had contributed to his current state.
But rather than wallow in her worry and despair, she clung to her anger; feeling like it was all that was stopping her from falling apart entirely. She needed to be strong – for Tony. She needed to be his CEO, his right-hand; his fiery Pepper-Pot. And although her fire may be figurative now, she was going to make damn sure that it still burned those who had hurt her Tony.
Tony had been compiling evidence against Ross since he first met Bruce; heck, he had bought Ross' favourite bar just to blow it up! Tony had wanted to bring the General down long before he became Secretary of State, but what with the Mandarin and then the SHIELDRA Data Dump, he had not had the time to focus on it. Fortunately, this had not stopped FRIDAY from continuing to collate evidence – or from delegating this task to JOCASTA as FRIDAY had to focus more and more of her servers on pretty much splitting herself in two to not only be available to Pepper to assist with SI, but also to help Tony; especially with the aftermath of the Data Dump.
Between what had already been compiled, what Jo had continued to gather, and then what both Jo and Friday dug up about his underhanded actions in manipulating the Accords for his own nefarious purposes, Pepper was sure there was enough to break Ross entirely. She did not just want him caught out, she wanted him humiliated; stripped of his power and demolished.
She had Friday email all of the necessary evidence to the relevant alphabet agencies, while she called the White House directly. Even before Tony saved the President's life, calls from Stark Industries were not unheard of, but she now had access to much more direct numbers. She thought it best to ensure the President was made aware of the issues within his own Cabinet, rather than him being ambushed the following day by the actions of the CIA, FBI etc; or worse, the press.
She was quick to the point when she reached the relevant person – not expecting to speak to the President directly, and expressing as such from the offset, and being prepared to speak to whomever she would need to inform about an issue with the Secretary of State (and consequently getting much further must faster due to her diplomacy and patience). She advised that she had emailed some evidence on behalf of Tony Stark that he had been collating in the public interest, as well as in his capacity as an Avengers Representative, which should be brought to the President's attention as a matter of urgency; as the same had been sent to the CIA, FBI etc, and that as such she expected that Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross would shortly be taken in for questioning at the very least, if not arrested outright.
The lady she had initially spoken to got quite indignant on the General's behalf, trying to infer that Pepper was mistaken, and thereafter being quite condescending in her manner, basically trying to undermine Pepper, and infer that she clearly did not know what she was doing. Pepper quashed that attitude quickly, the steel in her voice quickly turning that condescension to fear as she reminded the woman of whom she was speaking to; the CEO of Stark Industries, one of the largest and richest corporations in the world and therefore an entity that the President would most certainly not want to upset. The call was quickly taken over by someone Pepper could only presume was a supervisor, who was most apologetic before assuring that this information would be brought to the President's attention as a matter of urgency, and thanking her for informing them of the situation. Pepper was equally polite, but firm when she clearly declared her expectation that the President take prompt and decisive action in dismissing Ross from his role. She pointed out that the alphabet agencies being involved meant it was unlikely to stay out of the news, so it would be better for the President to get out in front of it rather than questions being foisted upon him. They quickly (sounding more than a little intimidated) agreed and assured that the President would be informed immediately.
Before ending the call, Pepper added; “And please let the President know that Dr Stark will not be available for the forseeable future; if he has any questions, he is to contact me directly.” Friday terminated the call before the now stuttering person on the other end could manage to ask for any further information on that point.
Pepper asked JOCASTA to keep an eye to ensure that the President acted accordingly, and to keep a record of what happened to Ross, as she was sure Tony would enjoy seeing it when he woke up.