"Mr. President, Lt. Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Stark are here for your three o'clock."
Seated behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Matthew Ellis pauses in his work and lets out a soft sigh. The President of the United States waits for only a moment before pressing the button on his intercom. "Send them in."
Maybe a couple years ago he might have made them wait. Privileges of being a President early in his first term and what not. After all, Tony Stark had not actually contributed very much to Ellis' campaign, so it wasn't like he owed the man very much.
However, they were over halfway through that first term now, and Ellis wanted to go for a second term. Making time for the man who was well on his way to owning half of the world was just common sense. Making such a man wait as some sort of power play was just stupid. Especially when the President was well aware that Tony Stark was here to do him and the entire US Government a favor.
A member of his Secret Service opens the door, allowing Tony Stark to step inside with Lt. Colonel James Rhodes just a step behind him. The military man is done up in his full uniform with all of his medals, his hat tucked under his arm. He also wore a stoic but slightly confused look on his face, making it clear that Stark hadn't told his friend why he was here. But then to be fair, even Ellis wasn't supposed to know why Stark was here just yet.
"Mr. President, thank you for meeting with me."
As Tony saunters across the room, Ellis stands and walks out from behind his desk, meeting the businessman's charge with an outstretched hand. As the two of them shake hands, Rhodes comes to a stop next to Tony and snaps off a salute.
"Mr. President, sir."
Giving Rhodes a smile, Ellis nods his head.
"At ease Lt. Colonel. Please, both of you have a seat. And really Mr. Stark, I should say it's me who should be thanking you."
There's a brief pause at that from the billionaire. His eyes twinkle as he looks at Ellis for a moment before grinning.
"Ah. I suppose I should have known you would already be informed as to why I'm here, Mr. President."
Ellis smiles softly, even as he makes his way back to his own chair. Only once all three men are sitting does he speak again.
"I am still the President of the United States, Mr. Stark. It would be rather disappointing if I didn't know why you were here."
He injects a certain amount of humor and levity into his voice, but the thing is… the President is completely serious. And frankly, it IS disappointing in a way. Fifty years ago, the President of the United States was the most powerful man in the world, bar none. It could even be argued that that was true twenty or thirty years ago. These days, however? With the World Security Council using SHIELD as their bludgeon and corporate power stronger than ever before, the Presidency had lost a lot more power than most people realized. Ellis, having had his ass in the chair for going on three long years now, definitely felt it more than most.
"Well, I hope you're not too disappointed, Mr. President. My relationship with the World Security Council isn't exactly secret at this point."
Letting out a sigh, Ellis leans back in his chair and laces his fingers together, resting them on his stomach.
"No Mr. Stark. No it is not."
The Lt. Colonel is looking between the two of them a little confused but stays quiet all the same. He'd probably have something more to say if Tony was being more belligerent, cavalier, or just disrespectful… but Stark is actually being quite reasonable right now.
And wasn't that the kicker? Tony Stark was a changed man. The President had heard those words from more people then he could count now over the last few years. Whether it was from a news report, or an intelligence briefing… or even just a nice conversation over lunch with his good friend Secretary Alexander Pierce.
Everyone said the same thing… Tony Stark has changed.
Back in 2007, Ellis probably wouldn't have given Stark the time of day while he was running for President. After all, he was running on a platform of change, of getting the fuck out of the Middle East after his predecessor had gotten them bogged down for over six years there. Not to mention, Tony Stark had been a PR liability and a half at that time. Not the kind of endorsement pretty much any presidential candidate would be looking for. Even a war hawk. Of course, three years on and they were still in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Tony Stark had gone from PR nightmare and the United States Military's primary weapons dealer to a man with a finger in every pie and an idea for every sector but private and public. Stark Industries was still selling weapons at the same quantities they were before Stark's abduction and subsequent escape, but they were selling everything else at similar quantities.
This meant that even though the same amount of weapons were coming out of Stark Factories as had been before, the amount of their revenue that came from weapons alone had gone from about seventy-five percent to less than ten percent according to the last Ellis had heard.
With Stark's new wife, Pepper as the CEO and Stark himself as the CSO and Head of Research and Development, Stark Industries was literally all over the place… and they were succeeding at literally everything they put their mind to. The company had become the biggest in the entire world just a few months ago, and it didn't seem to be slowing down. Everyone else was struggling to keep up. Even that massive tower they were building in New York was a monument to their rising strength.
All that said, Stark still found the time to work for the WSC and develop new weapons technology that had even someone like Ellis positively salivating over it.
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