＊＊＊

Justin couldn't help but feel a tiny bit smug at the moment. The last few weeks had been exactly what he needed, he'd been running ragged flying across the world and constantly working, constantly planning. Dealing with difficult annoying people, (politicians) that he couldn't just kill without getting slapped with annoying labels of being a supervillain and such. So this vacation really had been a terrific idea, naturally would be after all - it was his idea. His eyes lingered briefly on the smooth and toned curves of his current paramour, the one who'd spent the vacation with him, truly the whole reason he took one in the first place.

She was a masterpiece, sculpted to perfection, every inch of her not only beautiful, but lethal. It was like sleeping with a tiger. Knowing that in any moment of pleasure only death by claws awaited you. Not that he worried overly about death, she needed him alive to extract information after all. But really, he had certainly been moving in other circles in his old life, but even Justin's memories couldn't find anyone that measured up in beauty amongst the super models he'd dated. Mystique didn't count, she could literally be anyone.

And for the last few weeks, he'd had her completely, in every way. Some that ought to be illegal. Probably were illegal depending on what country you'd ask.

The Black Widow herself. Although she called herself Natalie Rushman at the moment. He lightly let his hands run across her soft and silky, yet so deceptively strong arms - as she snuggled into him. They'd had a long fun night of absolute debauchery in the penthouse of Rio de Janeiro's most expensive hotel - Justin worried at times she'd manage to shatter his pelvis with the way she went at him. The woman was a master at her craft. Still now at this moment, Justin could not say for sure whether she was sleeping - or faking sleep, to perhaps catch him making a phone call or a comment while thinking himself safe.

It was all was amazing of course, he'd thought Mystique would be impossible to compare to for the rest of his life, but naughty little Natashalie measured up - Oh, did she ever measure up... Although the added thrill of manipulating and fooling the Black Widow was almost comparable in pleasure for him. He'd tried things he'd never even thought one could do in his past life, or his current one - the woman determined to weasel into his heart and confidence, through his pants - seemingly not able to say no to whatever he proposed. Either that or Natashalie was a kinky girl.

They made them different in Mother Russia, he supposed. Gotta keep warm and all that.

He was fairly certain she'd bugged his phone and every locale they've visited, from Milan to Paris to Vancouver. Wherever he visited for pleasure and relaxation, the spy likely tried to find whatever connection these visits had to his business or goals. Of course there were none. He hasn't even had any contact with his people this entire time - by design.

Poor woman must be getting frustrated by now. Weeks of laying down and taking it for England, so to speak - and nothing to show for it. She was good at her job though, Justin simply assumed she must be getting angrier, because he'd seen nary a sign. She really was a magnificent actress. If he hadn't already had meta knowledge about who she was, he might have even fallen for her - she was that perfectly adjusted to match his likes. Confident and flirty, bit flashy with her body yet able to hold an intellectual conversation and willing to disagree and argue. Not only that but she had a clear sense of humor to boot and of course one couldn't discount that she was a wildcat in bed.

Very well crafted considering whatever profile on him they had would be outdated due to his… Change.

Slowly Justin slid out of bed, quietly stepping over to the balcony, uncaring of his nakedness as he grabbed a cigar, cutting the tip off and lighting it up, taking a deep puff. No doubt if she hadn't been awake before, she would be now. Maybe it was time for the endgame… He'd enjoyed their time together, but he did have work to do. He was starting to itch, being away from his company for this long. And while having fun times 24/7 with an Olympic gold medallist in the art was certainly fun - it didn't feed his brain the same way that business and engineering did. Power was a drink one drank heavily from and was hard to put away for any amount of time.

He'd have to pick a nice place for the ending. Somewhere with his people prepared enough that she couldn't kill him when he dropped the bomb that he'd known all along about her, and that he had been stringing her along, using her for his own amusement. His own little revenge for her future stupidity, her helping to ruin the world.

He also literally had recorder everything with the Black Widow now, that could make things interesting come Avengers, if he wanted to stir the pot a little. If Natashalie was even capable of feeling embarrassment. That's a thought… Could he drive a wedge already? Hmm. Make her look bad at the very least, certainly.

For the first time in weeks, Justin picked up his burner phone, stepping over to the desk where he'd left it for the night. He could almost feel Natashalie's ears metaphorically perk up, or perhaps he was projecting, because she'd never given even a hint to him, in words, action or body language - that she was paying attention in that way.

Like he said. Masterful acting, truly world class. Which makes one wonder why she sucked so bad at it around Stark. Unless that was another ploy - to make her seem less dangerous.

He dialed the only number on the phone that was actually real. "Bakshi." He said calmly as soon as it picked up.

"Sir. Is the line secure?" Bakshi replied, Aware that we were in a communications blackout. Likely guessing the only purpose for my sudden contact.

"It's secure enough." He turned and glanced at the bed, "It's time. Set it up, I'll bring my date, she's proven… Interesting enough." That should grab her attention…

"Is that… Wise, sir?" Bakshi asked, I detected the faint amused undercurrent in his voice. It seemed I was not the only one that found this little ploy on the Black Widow amusing. Although as my right hand man, Bakshi obviously had some reservations about pissing off one of the world's most famous assassins.

Obviously the man didn't know how to live a little. Or wasn't aware of how completely she'd been tamed and leashed by SHIELD now. She wouldn't give me a slap over the head without Fury ordering it first.

And for all that Fury was acting tough, he was all about the status quo. He wouldn't rock the boat. Not to the extent of assassinating him. Now Pierce on the other hand… But he doubted HYDRA saw him as an obstacle yet.

"She's vetted enough, make it happen. Tonight." Justin said, taking another puff of his cigar. God, the finer things in life really were just ridiculously good to enjoy. He hung up right after, carelessly tossing the phone on the desk again, returning to the balcony to greet the rising sun, smoking in the nude. Internally making bets on how long the spy was going to leave it before she 'woke' up and joined him.

Twelve minutes later he heard the rustling in the bed, Natashalie letting out a cute little yawn as she tiptoed up to him, melding into him, an arm around him, enjoying the sun with him, just as uncaring if someone spotted them. "I'm surprised you have the energy to be up so early…" She purred out, a little smirk on her perfect lips as my body reacted.

"You give me every reason to want to face the day, my dear." Justin said with a wry grin, blowing some smoke into the humid morning wind, "I have an important meeting later today…" Justin ran a hand through her vivacious red locks, before twisting her hair in it, pulling her head back harshly, leaning down and murmuring, "You'll be there with me." Their position allowing him to hide the gleeful smile he wore.

The power in his hands to do this to an eventual Avenger. It was exquisite. One that so eagerly fucked friends, colleagues and the world's governments - in a future that wouldn't happen any longer. Still, he held a grudge.

She had no idea just how outmatched she was simply through metaknowledge.

The poor woman.

Hours later…

Justin would miss these little times, as he leaned back in the limousine, just cuddling the exquisite woman on the way to a warehouse he'd bought on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The political climate had changed slightly, and the bribes and political favors needed to hide a remodel of it to his expectations was no longer worth the trouble. So he was fine burning the location for his little Natashalie and her SHIELD masters. He'd just tear it down after and build condos for his employees or something equally useless for the spy organization to keep an eye on from now on.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, wearing an understated green dress that Justin had picked out for her. One that made it especially hard to hide a weapon in. Considering how much it showed, barely using any fabric at all to be called a 'dress', she'd have to hide one inside her, if she wanted to get away with it.

Which, fair enough, she might have.

He wasn't a complete fool. She would be… Displeased in a few minutes after all. So keeping weapons away from her was only smart. He wasn't going to go so far as to probe her for one though. It would reveal everything too soon.

"Are we going anywhere important? Business stuff, baby?" Natashalie asked teasingly. Quickly licking her lips, a gentle reminder of all their fun times. She rarely did anything these last few weeks that didn't allude to it in some way. Trying to wear down his defenses no doubt. Make him get addicted to her presence.

It would have probably worked on anyone not aware of what she was doing.

Justin patted her leg, lips twitching, he had trouble containing his amusement this close to the pay off. "I think it's time you see what's really going on behind the scenes, is all, my dear." He demurred.

"You say it like it's a big deal!" She said coquettishly, snuggling tighter into his side,"Is it going to be very exciting?"

Justin let out a laugh, drawing a curious pout out of his fake sweetheart. "I'm sure it will have its moments." He patted her leg again, smirking, "You'll never forget today, I promise you that."

Of that he had no doubt.

They pulled up minutes later. Justin felt the slight tension that suddenly appeared in Natashalies arm muscles just by him holding onto her arm so tightly to catch the miniscule hint - when his security detail met them at the site, Domino and Phantazia at the head of it. Domino, Natashalie knew solely through spotting the woman now and then on our travels - as she remained my bodyguard just with more distance during our… Playdates.

At least in person for this persona of hers. Justin had no doubt Natashalie had already devoured all of SHIELD'S information on Domino and Phantazia before her mission.

'Ladies." Justin said amicably, "Shall we?" He nodded towards the charcoal colored looming warehouse in front of them. The surrounding area looked run down, covered in graffiti and debris.

Justin's staff had kept his own warehouse safe, but now he'd have to buy up the whole area and get it respectable if he was going to make his warehouse into condominiums. Couldn't live near all this trash after all. And the garbage around here was bad too.

"Is that an offer for a threesome boss?" Domino asked playfully, eyeing Natashalie up mockingly, making the woman meld into him with an obvious attitude of mine. "Or a foursome, I suppose?" Domino asked Phantazia with a glint of laughter in her eyes.

Phantazia just gave her a look, before sniffing and entering the warehouse ahead of them, my security detail securing the entrances and exits as we followed behind.

"What… Is this?" Natashalie asked with some confusion, and a hint of bite to her tone. Her head on a swivel as she took in the entire area.

Ohoho, someone's starting to pick up what's happening here. Justin thought, as he stepped away from her, sauntering off to the throne-like chair that was the only visible furniture in the empty warehouse. He sat down on it casually, leaning back, "What's this? You mean you don't know?" He mocked, as Domino and Phantazia took their places next to his throne, ready to defend him if necessary, as a grin bloomed on his face, "Why? Have I completely fooled the one and only Black Widow?"

It was interesting to see the change. As Natalie Rushman shredded all the soft angles of her persona, the stance and the cute little way she tilted her head disappeared - and transformed into sharp edges with a sense of imminent danger clear in her stance and movements, a predator instead of the silly but confident socialite she'd been, she was now Natasha Romanoff, her eyes hard and cold.

And angry. Couldn't forget the anger that was literally coming off her in waves.

She was livid.

"Who told you?" She bit out, an intense aura emanating from her, her eyes held murder in them.

"Someone's a little bit angry, huh?" Domino quipped from my right, waving a hand in front of her face, "I can practically smell the stench of second hand embarrassment all the way over here."

Justin's smirk got wider as his bodyguards got into the mocking as well, watching the tense spy. One that was well aware she was very much outgunned right now. Not that she'd attack him without orders first anyway. He was way too high profile. And she was too much of a kept animal.

Phantazia scoffed, tossing her blonde hair snobbishly, "What can you expect, she must be mortified to have been on her knees for so long and achieving nothing in the end." She smiled coldly, "What an amateur."

"So you knew all along." Natasha grit out between clenched teeth.

"Yes, thank you for making my vacation so enjoyable. Let Fury know that I'll definitely throw a couple million on hiring you for my next vacay as well." Justin said, waving a hand dismissively, "You're a terrible spy, but you're alright on your back." Perhaps it's a mistake to mock her so, but Justin couldn't help it, he just felt so powerful in this moment. He couldn't wait to hold this feeling over the rest of the Avengers too... Well... From a different beginning of course, he wasn't sleeping with all of them.

"You're going to let me just go…?" Natasha asked suspiciously, eyes flicking between his two bodyguards for a moment. Looking for the trap.

"Natasha, Natasha," Justin tsked, shaking his head, "You're not important enough to take down. You were a distraction for me on my holidays, don't get a big head, darling."

"Boss, that's just cruel." Domino giggled, holding a hand over her mouth. For all that she claimed cruelty, the woman seemed delighted at the current situation. Even Phantazia seemed coldly amused.

The Black Widow had a reputation amongst mercenaries like my two bodyguards. The schadenfreude was evident in this situation.

"You think too highly of yourself, Hammer." Natasha said coldly, back straight and unbending. The way her fists clenched didn't speak of such calm, however. He'd managed to unsettle her if she was giving off such easy tells. Or she was showing me what she wanted, it was honestly hard to tell with her, for all that Justin was mocking her, she was a terrific spy, he just had prior knowledge.

"Well, when you're this high up, it's so easy." Justin said casually, snapping his fingers like he had a sudden thought, "How's Laura by the by? You know I've always wondered if the reason you simp around Barton so much is simply because you can't have kids, so you impose yourself on their family…" Justin's grin turned slightly malicious as he saw his words take effect. And my starting gambit toward Hawkeye starts...

Natasha… No… The Black Widow, took a step forward, unblinking eyes meeting his with fear and hate in them, "Who told you that name!" Her words snapped out sharply, reverberating across the empty warehouse. "Tell me!" She ordered, the threat of violence clear in her tone.

Phantazia raised an arm, hand pointed in her direction, Justin reached out his own to stop her, "No, no need to batter down the poor little spider. She's just a little shocked that her boss just can't seem to protect the information important to her and her little clique." Justin leaned forward in his chair, meeting the Black widow's gaze unflinchingly, "Don't blame me for the failings of Fury, why on earth did you and Barton trust him in the first place, aren't you supposed to be a spies? He's the spy!"

"You're lying, trying to throw me off the scent." Natasha said coldly, "You won't steal me away from SHIELD." Her eyes narrowed, "Where did you get that name?" She asked yet again, nostrils flaring angrily.

Domino started to giggle as Phantazia rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath about deluded bitches. Justin shook his head pityingly, "Oh dear, you're under the impression I want to keep you? As a bed warmer perhaps, but darling I don't need you for any other skills, you're overestimating yourself quite a bit I'm afraid." Teasing her is just too much fun, I'm having a hard time to stop myself from breaking out laughing maniacally. Justin thought, as he smirked, watching the Widow seething in anger.

"Boss, want us to escort the itty bitty spider out of here?" Domino interjected before the Widow could retort. "Bakshi will be upset if you miss your flight," She reminded him playfully.

Justin eyed the tense spy across from him, before waving a hand, "Take her away!" He'd always wanted to say something like that. Too bad it's too obviously villainous to have a pit of lions or something to dump his enemies in. Or a gladiator arena for his enemies to fight in for his amusement. Ah, life goals. Maybe one day.

As Domino began walking the spy away, Justin tossed a final comment out, with his voice raised slightly to ensure he was heard, "Also, if you want children, darling? I have a way for you to regrow ovaries ready soon, just a friendly offer. No strings attached." Well, no visible ones. He thought with amusement. He wondered what SHIELD would think of that offer… And if Fury would become paranoid enough he'd believe she might be compromised. Oh well, it was a throw away offer anyway, if something comes of it or not doesn't really matter.

As soon as the Black Widow was confirmed to be gone from the vicinity, Justin returned to his limousine and was immediately on his way to the airport. His phone and laptop returned to him as he immediately set into contacting Bakshi again and getting updated on his businesses. He'd kept the Widow off her feet by dangling information and the impossible in front of her while not actually giving her any information. It was a risk to throw Barton's family out there, but it would make Fury and his favorite spy team more careful for the moment.

Not to mention his attempt at unbalancing the Widow even further.

By the time they finally decided how to handle Justin - he'd be a world power on his own and untouchable for the likes of SHIELD. Let their own paranoia and hunt for a non-existent leak distract them.

"Wait a couple of days, then send my tapes with Widow to SHIELD." Justin ordered Domino. He might not be trying to recruit her exactly, but he wouldn't mind making her life more annoying, and make her even less trusted. Like everyone at SHIELD being aware that she was a glorified toy for weeks without achieving anything. And acting or not, it's hard for people to venerate her as a professional spy and performing an act, when they know she failed - people believe what they see and hear over what's said or reported. Let her coworkers start to wonder.

Plus. It certainly put him in a positive light…

Domino whistled, a teasing grin on her face, "Boss if I ever piss you off, please just tell me so I can beg for clemency." But she dutifully tapped away at her tablet, setting up my orders. As usual Phantazia was with the driver, more prepared to stop any attack in its place when she could see it coming first.

"I thought you didn't want to beg underneath me? Something about being a seven out of ten." Justin drawled misinterpreting on purpose, raising an eyebrow with a playful smirk on his face.

Domino paused, seemingly surprised by his teasing, before she threw her head back and laughed delightedly, "Well, those videos were interesting, I watched quite a few of them live, you know. You've got moves, boss. But it's still a no. I don't shit where I eat."

"I didn't realize you had access to that feed." Justin said after a slight pause. Not aware anyone had been watching that closely. Sure Domino had been nearby, just in case, but he hadn't expected a voyeur.

Domino shrugged, an easy smile on her face, "You had super slut in your bed boss, I had to make do with the five finger discount version." She wriggled her fingers playfully.

Justin shook his head, not able to hide his own amusement at this conversation, "Next time I'll get you your own superslut." He promised, coughing to hide a chortle. How do you exactly reply to an employee spying on that!?

"A superstud would do as well." Domino said, biting her lip, "Like… It would do really well." She scratched her nose, eyes flickering to the front of the limo. "Although maybe for Eileen first, to dislodge the stick out of her ass." The last part said at a much higher volume.

"I can hear you." Phantazia said irritably from behind the partition between the front and back of the limousine.

"Yeah? So?" Domino said blithely. A loud sigh was all the response she got.

Justin shook his head, his bodyguards were getting weirder by the day, but he couldn't say he had a real problem with it. It was better than complete silence with boring statues just doing their job. Some personality was always better. Besides, the better they like him, the more likely they are to stick around and protect him beyond the five year contract.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now onto the next problem on the list. One he had neglected, one he'd seen as not really necessary, because why would he need it? After all, he had his own team developing. Which goes to show that you should never assume anything.

Magneto had taken hold of him without even having to put any effort into it. Showing how fragile he was still, shoving his face in his mortality. Counting on his team was all well and good, but it wouldn't help if someone like Magneto decided to turn New York upside down one day while he was in the office. Which he was capable of.

Justin needed to empower himself.

Not to fight. That was for his meatshields and the heroes.

To ensure he lived and thrived, no matter what.

＊＊＊

A couple months later… August 2007

Justin swaggered into one of his most expensive and secretive facilities. He had quite the pep in his step. Not only was Ellis running away with the presidential election that was coming up in two months - but Vanko had succeeded in synthesizing Justinium. The building of the world's first Arc reactor powered by the new element had already been on the way, just the final specifics on the new element not clarified. Now that it was, he'd have it ready for its grand opening.

Vanko was already working on experiments of crafting new alloys and materials using the power of an arc reactor running on Justinium. Just a small one, while we were building the large ones for his own factories and for the state of Texas. He had a set up of several miniature reactors, which still worked better than anything out there. Once he got that down, they would hopefully crack batteries charged by an Arc reactor in the building process - and be able to hold the amount of power to last year's before a recharge. Vanko was sure of the theory - he just needed to put it in practice through some trial and error.

Very costly trial and error, but it would be worth it.

He'd crush so many markets with those batteries. Communications and electronics for one, the automotive market, military sector, AI… Oh, he could almost float into the lab. He was so happy right now.

And of course the Vulture and Scorpion armors now had arc reactors with Justinium in them, giving them much more power. Opening new avenues to improve them. Justin would get Vanko to tinker on energy shields once he was done with the batteries. If Wakanda could do it just by having Vibranium up their ass. Vanko could figure it out with arc reactor power too.

"Maya, Helen!" Justin exclaimed as he walked into the testing lab for Extremis. "You ladies are as radiant as ever, you make a guy jealous here, what with the brains and beauty wrapped together!"

The testing lab's main feature was a cradle in the middle of the floor on the bottom level. Helen Cho had, upon seeing what Maya Hansen was working on - taken her doctorate to an online setting while she moved to Maya to combine her theoretical cradle technology with Maya's Extremis. With Vanko's help on the technical parts and Maya and Helen on the biological, the project had accelerated at a prodigious rate.

Justin hadn't anticipated this project to bear fruit until a year from now at least. So needless to say he was ecstatic.

Justin had underestimated Helen. The human trials hadn't even made her flinch; she'd been so excited about the possibility of Extremis. Granted they'd been volunteers and no one had exploded, so she hadn't had to be completely tested - but he was happy she wasn't too goody-two shoes. The not so voluntary trials weren't held anywhere near Helen anyway.

"Mister Hammer! You flatter us, It's only through your help that we have managed to get so far." Helen gushed, a tint of red on her cheeks, bangs framing her cute face as she rushed around in a white lab coat, making final preparations. So she was still adorable it seemed. Justin chuckled as he gave her a little wave.

"Don't waste time on pleasantries, make sure the cradle is ready!" Maya snapped at Helen, her face intensely focused, hair disheveled like she hadn't slept at all, wearing a wrinkled lab coat. "Oh, hey Justin." She threw out distractedly, obviously seeing no need to waste time on pleasantries.

Justin smirked, standing with his retinue at the ledge overlooking the cradle and the vials of Extremis. "Maya has the right idea, Helen. I thought I said to call me Justin, you're going to hurt my feelings here, darling."

"O-oh, of course… Justin…" Helen said, before rushing to do as Maya ordered, while still glancing back at Justin periodically.

Domino leant over the railing, snorting. "That little fawn down there still would love working under you, boss."

"She can hear you." Helen said, sending a weak glare over her shoulder up at a smirking Domino. Blushing as she caught Justin's eyes as well, quickly returning to her work, nervously adjusting her hair.

"Fuck already if you're going to do it." Maya stated bluntly, "My research is on the cusp of implementation after reaching a complete success, get it out of your system."

"Maya! That's… T-that's unprofessional…" Helen mumbled a very weak protest as she glanced his way again.

Oh, boy… Justin thought, ignoring Domino's teasing smirk. I have to keep reminding myself that sleeping with employees is bad. Sleeping with scientists that will make you billions is even worse. Stay strong.

Maya Hansen lifted a vial of Extremis. Looking entranced as she stared at the orange fiery looking liquid. "All that matters is the science, Helen. If the boss wants to bend me over the entire time I wouldn't care as long as I got to keep working."

Noted. Justin thought with amazement, he'd never seen Maya so… Extra. It wasn't like Maya was unattractive. Although he'd probably not bother, he still didn't want to mess with his scientists. It just seemed like he could only lose in that situation.

"What the fuck kind of conversation is this?" Frank Castle grumbled from behind Justin and Domino. The man looked gruff, bored and unimpressed to be here. He'd had to be practically torn away from his armor, he'd been obsessed with it since his first time.

Brock Rumlow on the other hand seemed relaxed, even though his eyes were sharp and taking in everything around them. "The super soldier serum, boss?" He asked with anticipation.

Their presence and that of a serum certainly had that connotation didn't it? Frankly, although he had people researching the super soldier serum as well, it was not high on his priorities. It wasn't really that important.

Justin chuckled, almost vibrating at the railing as he watched Maya and Helen bicker lightly as they went over the last checks. "Not quite. Extremis just kept misfiring with the super strength aspect in it. Maya and Helen finally found success when I ordered them to discard that aspect and concentrate on the more important one."

"More important than super soldiers?" Frank said, stepping forward, a spark of interest in his stance.

Justin grinned, "Regeneration." He breathed out, fingers twitching on the railing. Domino gave him an amused look, shaking her head.

Brock hummed, "What kind of regeneration are we talking about, boss?"

Justin turned slightly to meet the Vulture's eyes, "The kind where cutting you in half is a minor inconvenience."

"Shit… That is better than super strength." Brock acknowledged, sharing a covetous look with Frank, "That what we here for?"

"Amongst other tests, yes." Justin said. The two men backed off to hold a quiet conversation between themselves. Over the last few months of working out the kinks in their armors, they'd managed a good working relationship even if they couldn't quite be called friends yet. They'd receive the full Extremis treatment. He couldn't have his team die. It would definitely be annoying to recruit replacements.

"That offer on for everyone?" Domino asked, faking nonchalance. Eyes locked on the Extremis vials with curiosity.

"Not yet." Justin said, continuing on before she could get the wrong idea, "We need mutant test subjects before we can adapt Extremis to make sure you don't explode or something, we don't know enough about the X-gene and how Extremis would react to it." She'd probably still be fine just through luck, but Justin wasn't willing to risk it.

They could blow up a few dozen mutants first and make it work. After all there were a bunch of them that had entirely useless powers.

"Huh, need me to round some people up?" She volunteered.

Justin turned to face her fully, considering it. "If it can be done quietly, and the people for the first trials are… Expendable." He said carefully.

Domino shrugged, "Everyone has people in their life that's kind of expendable." She said, leaving it at that.

"Mister Hammer. We're ready." Helen called up. One of the military volunteers already laying in the cradle, hooked up. This particular volunteer was missing both legs. He'd already accepted a post in his security team if this worked. Justin certainly wouldn't have let him walk away afterwards.

It's one of the reasons he was so sure his arc reactors taking over the power grid of everywhere - as well as his Extremis initiative - would work. He'd practically have impossible to kill security teams protecting them. Shoot them all you want, they'll still get up and shoot you back. His facilities would be safe. Supervillains, Heroes, SHIELD, HYDRA. No one will be able to even touch his facilities after this rolled out.

Everyone watched in anticipation as Maya and Helen hooked up Extremis to the IV. The cradle hummed as it was initialized, the technology helping direct Extremis in a way that required less power in the serum itself for the first activation. That lack of enough direction being one of the reasons the serum was usually so explosive.

"Ten seconds until full effect." Maya called out, barely breathing; she was following the information on the screens attached to the cradle with fanatic eyes.

Ten seconds later everyone in the viewing gallery drew in a breath as the man's legs began growing. Within a minute the man in the cradle had a fully functioning new set of legs. Justin leaned back slightly, letting out a shaky breath. It worked. He'd read the reports. He knew it did already. But seeing it…

"Sir… I'm yours until the end of time. You want me to kill someone, I'll kill them, you want me to blow up the president, I'll do it." The man in the cradle swore, staring down at his new legs with tears in his eyes.

Ah, loyalty… Extremis will be very profitable for me. Justin thought smugly. "The incoming president is my buddy, actually, so we'll put a pin in any bombings, I look forward to you being on my team, Arthur."

"Just for demonstration, do you volunteer for a damage test for Mister Hammer to see?" Maya asked Arthur, the navy seal veteran.

"Anything, I'll do anything, fire away." He said firmly.

Without a warning Maya ran a scalpel over his throat, cutting it, the wound healed before our eyes before there's more than a few drops of blood escaping the cut.

"Wow, that feels weird…" Arthur mumbled, Helen loosening his bindings, preparing to let him out of the cradle.

Justin waited for the man to be escorted out. Not everyone working for him needed the full picture. He walked down to the floor, shaking both Maya and Helen's hands vigorously. "A Nobel prize is coming your way soon." He promised. "The other samples… They work?"

Maya led him over to a cabinet holding a row of vials, gesturing to them. "As you asked, we have several different weaker strains of Extremis."

Domino raised a surprised eyebrow, leaning forward to peer at the vials, her own face reflected from the glass."Why would you want it weaker?" She asked, confused.

Justin rubbed his hands together in glee, "Economics my dear. What would we gain from making everyone on the planet able to heal from being cut in half?" He queried.

"A lot of money." Domino joked, half serious. But she was thinking, her eyes flying rapidly across the vials as she thought it over.

Justin waved that joke away with a snort, "Domino, I'm not selling this to hospitals or anything. There will be Hammer Clinics across the world, protected by my security teams, each having cradles and weaker versions of Extremis available. The weakest version of Extremis will basically make you immune to getting normal sicknesses. No flu or cold or std for you, ever. Everyone on the planet will line up to pay for the treatment."

"Jesus…" Domino said, starting to realize just exactly what a money maker this would be. Maya had already wandered off to check test results while Helen watched us eyes big, apparently not herself having realized fully what I'd planned.

"The next stage of Extremis will cure your harder to treat genetic diseases as well as your cancers and kidney disease and such, not for life mind you, just what they're suffering from at that point of time." Justin grinned sharply, "At an obviously premium cost." Justin wouldn't only murder the pharmaceutical and medical sector with this, but there would be millions of people who wouldn't be able to afford the treatments. At which point they'd find out that anyone working for Hammer industries got them for free. The amount of loyal people he'll draw in will be mind boggling.

Helen gasped as she realized what Justin had long ago, "You'll… Be the only name in pharmaceuticals…" She practically had stars in her eyes as she stared at him. "You've cured disease!"

Justin smiled, accepting the plaudits, it was true after all. Without him they wouldn't have gotten to this point. Extremis would have been shelved after Tony used it minimally to help just himself. Like he does with everything else.

"And lastly… The most expensive level, curing limb loss, dementia and other neurological or wasting diseases… One that isn't for life, a one time fix…" Justin said, caressing the vials in front of him. He could skip arc reactor technology entirely and still become the richest man alive with this.

"The most expensive? Boss, so you're not even going to the military with the full regeneration version?" Domino asked, looking thoughtful.

Justin shook his head slowly. "No… I might cut deals and allow their bases - including temporary ones in war settings, to have my people running a cradle for their men with the limb regeneration level Extremis. They'll be charged for every dose, no permanent enhancement." He did not want people like Ross with an army of enhanced people, even if it was only for healing.

If he and the Avengers couldn't keep back alien invasions, he might reassess. But right now there's no benefit for him to go that route. Simply economically it made no sense to sell the full Extremis to the military and never earn another dime on that soldier. Because he could sell the milder version and get paid every single time they got badly sick or injured.

"Fuck… The world is going to change massively in a day…" Domino said, crossing her arms, tapping her foot nervously on the floor, she side-eyed him with wide eyes, "You're scary, boss."

"He's brilliant!" Helen defended. Blushing as Domino started laughing at her. Teasing her about her crush.

Justin left them to it. His eyes on Maya. It was time. "Maya, prepare a full version of Extremis." He started to unbutton his shirt. "Make it three, if Frank and Brock feel like they'll join me?"

"Fuck yes, boss!"

"...Can my family get the same level of protection?"

Not hard to figure out who said what. Justin smiled at Frank, giving him a thumbs up, "Everyone working for me gets free level one and two treatments anyway, but since you're on my team I'll extend the full treatment to your family as well."

"We'll have to test it on babies and children before it's safe to give to any kids he has. Although we've found that a pregnant mother does not leave any immediately visible negative effects on the fetus if injected with Extremis." Maya said, as usual only interested in the scientific aspect.

"Your wife right away, of course, Frank. Anyone else as soon as safely possible." Justin said magnanimously.

That sound, it's the sound of Frank Castle becoming fully loyal and willing to do anything for him.

Fuck he's on a roll today.

An hour later…

He would have expected Extremis to burn. But it had been an easy process, no worse than getting a flu shot really. Good sign for the commercial aspect. He'd borrowed a scalpel from Maya and couldn't stop cutting his forearm and staring in fascination as the wound immediately sealed up. No fire. No glowy orange stuff to make it clear what was happening. Just low key but super effective healing.

He'd taken the step, the first step in protecting himself from the likes of Magneto. Although it wasn't perfect. They'd done a lot of testing. These tests were only performed by Maya's section. To see how long it lasted.

One of the men tested survived for four days of being shot before Extremis started getting so slow it didn't heal him fast enough to survive. And men had been killed in every way imaginable, but only complete decapitation worked to actually kill them dead. Even blowing a hole in your torso or removing the heart wasn't enough anymore, the body regenerated even that. Helen Cho and the cradle had really managed to push Maya's research to its limits.

And now he had it flowing in his veins. He could not get sick, his mind would never fall to dementia. He could hardly be killed unless in very specific circumstances.

In short. He was having a very good day.

As Frank exited the cradle, the day's work was done. His two first team members were both now supremely hard to kill.

Helen Cho approached him, looking hesitant, it was cute how flustered she was in his presence. She was still young, he supposed. "Helen, you've done more than I could have ever asked, ask for anything, if it's humanly possible I will deliver." Justin said grandly.

"...Anything?" Helen asked, a full blush breaking out on her face.

Domino sent him two thumbs up with a huge grin from behind the girl.

"I did say anything." Justin said, having a feeling where this was going.

….

Thor missed out - not taking advantage in Age of Ultron.

＊＊＊

September 11th 2007, New York.

Justin was bored. So incredibly bored. The presidential election was less than a month away. Due to his money flowing like water for Ellis, he had a lead of twenty percent in the polls, a ridiculous lead. One that couldn't be surpassed in time.

Ellis would be president. And Justin would have his patents. His free hand in using them, and a fast track process through the FDA for Extremis. Ellis didn't know it yet, but Justin owned him. One favor would become many. He'd become so flush with money and Influence that even the president of the United States of America wouldn't dare argue with him. Becoming the only name in both the Energy and Pharmaceutical sectors, plus his future dominance of the Military arms sector…

…If only it wasn't so boring. Why on earth Ellis invited him to a party/charity gala on this day of all days. Everyone had to fake a solemn look because of the date. That was no way to party.

Phantazia was his 'date' and only bodyguard tonight. Domino did need days off now and then, and he felt safer with Extremis in his veins anyway.

Justin sighed, shoulders hunching down as he glared at Phantazia sliding into the seat next to him. "What do you want, Mystique?"

He really needed to stop giving Domino days off…

She looked taken aback, before pouting, "How did you know?"

"I have protocols in place for shapeshifters now, obviously you talked to Eileen and she let you come over without giving you the way to do it undetected." Justin smirked at her playfully. "Someone must have annoyed her last time around…" He'd told Phantazia to let her through if it happened again anyway, as long as she was alone, made it easier to spot her coming...

"It's no fun if you ruin the game from the start." Mystique whined, looking petulant. No doubt because she couldn't switch appearance in this very public setting.

Justin waved down the bartender, letting Mystique pick herself a drink on his dime. Naturally she picked the most expensive thing they had.

"How nice of you." She cooed, hugging the bottle against her cheek.

"Yes, I offered you a drink." Justin said dryly, not really caring. He'd soon be swimming in money.

Mystique sniffed, her constant smile looking weird on Eileen's face. "I can drink the whole bottle in one go without needing to take a breath."

"A true connoisseur, chugging it is usually how people drink two hundred thousand dollars." Justin drawled sarcastically.

Thankfully Ellis would soon hold his speech at which point Justin could leave without looking like he was snubbing the candidate he spent over a hundred million dollars on. Well his superPac anyway, but it's basically the same thing with a thin veneer over it.

"So… You're pretty close to the incoming prez, huh?" Mystique said leaning in close, a flirty smile on her face.

"So that's your game… Erik, doesn't want to get rid of me anymore?" Justin asked, being careful to not mention Magneto in public. Who knew what would be bugged here, or how many of the servers or bartenders were actually spies. Damn SHIELD and alphabet agencies…

"Erik thinks there could be a lot of cooperation between us." Mystique said easily, leaning back in her bar stool, still caressing her expensive bottle of alcohol.

"This Isn't the place to discuss that." Justin said long sufferingly. Save me from dealing with ballsy mutants. This place is literally filled with agents, police and politicians. What a place to approach me in…

Mystique raised an amused eyebrow, "This is just a courtesy call, letting you know so that you can think of it, we'll be in touch." She slid off the bar stool smoothly, giving him a peck on the cheek. This really wasn't going to help with the media, they were already constantly saying he was sleeping with his bodyguards..

He'd get a Tony Stark level reputation soon if that kept up.

"Don't lock your hotel room door tonight." She whispered into his ear, biting it lightly, before she walked away, extra sway in her hips.

Justin smiled amusedly watching her walk away. A lot of men would face a blizzard comparatively when Phantazia returned to be swarmed by men due to Mystique's show with her body.

He took his phone out, dialing Bakshi, speaking immediately, "My hotel room is compromised, book me another one across town under an assumed name." No way he was getting any closer to Mystique or Magneto then he had to.

"Yes sir. And your current room?" Bakshi asked, "Do we need to… Cause an incident?"

Justin was briefly tempted to get Mystique in trouble, but it really wasn't worth the potential hassle from Magneto, not to mention that Mystique and her shapeshifting could cause endless issues for him if she got pissed enough. "No, just give the room to some nobody."

He hung up, and noticed with some relief that Ellis was getting up to speak. Good. He could leave soon. Then he saw it.

Fuck. Why?

Tony Stark, moving his way, trademark sunglasses on. They were indoors, what a fop.

"Anthony, I thought you supported the other guy?" Justin said resignedly, getting up to shake the man's hand to at least attempt some civility in front of so many influential people.

"Justine! Just the tiny man I've looked all over for, you've been busy, I keep trying to schedule a game of racquetball or something, but I can't seem to find you." He swiped his glasses off, hanging them off the neck of his suit, "What's up with that?"

"Some of us work for a living, Stark."

"Work, really? That's what you're going with. Okay, alright." Tony Stark said, gesturing at him with large motions, obviously having worked pretty hard to get drunk. "No homo, but you do look better, what's the trick? Water polo? Competitive tea drinking?"

"Did you want something, Stark." Justin said lowly, leaning away from the expansive gestures of the man. Fantastic, he got the man in one of his manic moods.

"Yeah, I want something. I want to know what you're up to. You're buying the farm, the pigs, the nuts and bolts, all of it, but you're not doing anything with it. What's up?" Tony said, clapping him on the shoulder, his breath stinking of booze. "I just wanna, you know-" He cut off, a weird expression on his face, "Hang on, I gotta piss. Don't go anywhere." He put his finger in Justin's face, "We're not done, Justine!" He warned, as he stumbled off towards the bathrooms.

As soon as he was out of sight, Justin drained his drink and left immediately. Forget staying in town, he'd find something to do in Canada tonight. He didn't want anything to do with Tony fucking Stark. Not until he was the one with all the cards.

Soon…

＊＊＊

"Vanko… No." Justin said, covering his face. What had he done to deserve this?

Ivan Vanko just crossed his muscular arms and scoffed, "It yes, yes? Suit good?"

How did this even happen? Iron man hasn't happened yet. Why on earth did Vanko build Whiplash? And yes, he'd named the suit just that. Justin stared ahead at a suit. More reminiscent of what he'd seen Shocker wear in some video games than an iron man suit if he was honest.

The sleek suit was obviously powered by an arc reactor, but it also had four more in the back, giving power to not only the whips that Vanko could deploy from several places on the suit, but the Shocker style rings around his arms. He'd cracked repulsor tech to manage flying, but instead of doing repulsors in his hands like Iron Man would soon… He'd gone for something a bit more… Brutal. Justin had been shown the video of Vanko testing them out. The arms crackling with power, almost blindingly so, before a wave of pure arc power shoots forward and destroys anything in its path.

"The collateral damage…" Justin moaned, rubbing his eyes, having removed his glasses. "You can not fire that in a city!"

Vanko rumbled, looking mullish, hand coming up to rub his cheek, "I aim good, no problem." He decided.

"Yes, problem!" Justin bit out, "You're angling to get on my team, do you have any idea what public opinion… Or… Or the politicians will do if you fight someone in DC and they dodge. What if you blow up the White House!?"

"Needs renovation." Vanko said with a toothy grin, in no way affected by Justin's rant.

Justin gaped, staring at him, "That is not an acceptable reaction!" He blustered. Was he the only engineer that was sane?

Vanko clapped him on the shoulder, chewing on a toothpick, seemingly entirely unconcerned, "No worry, will work fine." He promised.

"You're my number one scientific asset. And you… You want to fly around fighting weirdos!" Justin's voice might be becoming a bit shrill. But really. Vanko was a resource. He didn't want him blown up.

He also didn't want him getting in a fight with Iron Man. The collateral damage would be… And god, if he killed the man, who's going to do all the drudge work with the heroes?

Cap and his two stooges were pretty useless as they are. If Stark isn't around to gear them up, creating War Machine, etc. it would make things so much more difficult for Justin.

"You… You're taking Extremis first. You can't die. That's an order. Alright. An order, buddy!" He said, defeated. There was no point in alienating his valuable golden goose. With Extremis he was at least unlikely to die.

"Already take. It's okidoki." Vanko said, walking off to continue tinkering on the Whiplash armor.

"... Why the fuck did no one tell me?"

"I need that fucking AI…"

No matter what universe, Ivan Vanko just does whatever the fuck he wants, apparently.

Well… If he ever figures out Kilgrave maybe that will change…

＊＊＊

Justin was sitting in his office, finishing some touches on the speech he'd hold when he would take three sectors of the economy over his knee at once, when Bakshi walked in and disturbed him.

"Yes?" Justin asked, not often interrupted by Bakshi without at least a knock or a call ahead first.

"We've found him, sir." Bakshi said, nervous energy running through him.

Justin slowly leaned back in his chair, rubbing his lips in thought. This would be a dangerous step. But oh so satisfying. And it would give him a counterpoint on his team versus the Avengers. "Where?" He asked.

"The sensors on the base in Siberia were triggered." Bakshi confirmed.

Justin smirked, the man had been very uncomfortable when Justin had shown knowledge on HYDRA bases he couldn't possibly have - which Bakshi then hacked into his HYDRA base and confirmed, baffling the man. Justin liked keeping him on his toes. And awe of his abilities and knowledge would keep him on his side in the eventual necessary battle with HYDRA.

He couldn't have them control the world when he was obviously so much better suited for it.

"Time for a field test for the Scorpion and the Vulture then. Send them." Justin ordered. Siberia was a perfect place to get them surreptitiously involved without the rest of the world becoming aware of power suits.

"It shall be done, sir." Bakshi acknowledged, "What about… Whiplash?" He asked.

Justin grimaced, he did not want Vanko out and about right now. But the man would be offended if he didn't at least get a message. "Send him an invite, but email it, don't put a high priority on it. Maybe he'll miss it and it will be all over."

Bakshi looked politely skeptical at that working, but bowed slightly with a murmured "Sir." Before turning to exit the office.

Justin hummed in thought looking through his console, a few typed commands would ensure the security team would be nearby to do evac in the worst case scenario. His team might not need support in a fight, but the logistics of entering and exiting a situation, or escaping with all the equipment in case of a loss, was possibly a different matter.

He also sent a request to a contact in the KGB or FSB, or whatever they were called nowadays. One everyone bought at some point. But Justin would buy him and exclusivity for the next 48 hours at least. Long enough to be in and gone before the agent would sell it on to everyone else. Of course the man didn't actually know it was Justin talking to him. Justin had enough meta knowledge about SHIELD that he managed to fake it well enough the FSB man thought he was selling information to SHIELD.

Siberia…

He was probably getting wiped again then.

That would certainly make it easier to get the Winter Soldier if that was the case.

Pity he'd have to order the rest dead if they were in containment there at this point.

Oh well, little Bucky was the important one anyway.

So he had the suits to be Iron Man's equal, or really he had three of them so he was quite superior actually. He'd try to get the Abomination as a counterpoint to the Hulk… A risky endeavor but potentially worth it. And Bucky would make a wonderful counter to Steve. Captain America would never move against Bucky seriously.

Barton just shot arrows, he hardly needed to bother with a counter. And the Widow for all her skills at the pillow arts… He didn't need a super spy on a team fighting alien invasions, he could do better. Technically he could count two of his three suit wearers as the counterpoints to the agents. Because any of them would absolutely crush Natasha and Clint.

Massive firepower was a superpower that was hard to fight against.

Hmm… He wondered briefly if Loki would be interested in being a counterpoint to Thor?

Probably not worth the hassle…

Besides, if necessary he could just wave Jane Foster ahead of him if things developed the same there. With the mutants involved who knows. Justin really didn't want the likes of Magneto or Sinister to work with Loki...

Hopefully Magneto would truly be against the alien invasions...

Should he get involved in the whole Thor debacle? It would be really helpful for Earth if Asgard didn't go to hell in a few years.

Warning Thor about Hela?

Hmm, he'd have to think about it. He had no good way of explaining it.

Last thing he needed was Hela released early and invading with the Asgardians or her undead army.

Although he'd pay good money to see Cap try to brain her with a shield and hold his usual all day nonsense.

Maybe he could get Cap out in space for Thor 3?

＊＊＊