With that, Rhodes all but hurries out of the room, clearly eager to take his new toy for a spin. Stark, however, remains behind. This, Ellis finds himself raising an eyebrow at. It would seem there's something else that the billionaire has to talk to him about. Something he wasn't prepped for.
"Thank you for being so reasonable, Mr. President. I hope that I can count on you to be reasonable on one more thing. It's about Thaddeus Ross."
Ellis blinks.
"General Ross? What about him."
Leaning forward, Tony taps a button on his little hologram device. The War Machine specs vanish, to be replaced with other data. Leaning forward as well, Ellis begins reading… only for his eyes to grow wider and wider, his face to grow more and more drawn.
"My work with the World Security Council has me going all over the world sir, both physically and digitally. Now normally I don't really pay attention to the US Military's peacekeeping efforts across the globe. Democracy itself has the United States to thank for singlehandedly propping it up in the face of Communist Expansion over the past several decades. But when I find a US General making a mockery of everything our great country stands for… I start to take notice, sir." Report after report cycles before the President ' s eyes. Indiscretion after indiscretion on the part of General Ross is laid bare right in front of him.
" From what I ' ve been able to gather, under your predecessor ' s administration, Thaddeus Ross used the horrible attacks on September 11th, 2001 to push for his own pet super soldier project. He got all the funding he could ever want at first and got to work on trying to get results. However, as the years went on and things didn't move fast enough, your predecessor's administration became… irritated with Ross."
Ellis was aware of some of that, yes. Of how… the Hulk came to exist.
"If Ross hadn't pushed Dr. Banner as hard as he did, we might have actual United States Super Soldiers right now instead of one very brilliant scientist who turns into a giant green rage monster whenever he gets angry. And we certainly wouldn't have a United States General running all over the world, misusing US resources in an effort to capture said scientist."
At that, the President has to look away from the data that Stark has compiled to raise an eyebrow at the other man.
"Some would say securing Dr. Banner should be one of our top priorities, Mr. Stark."
Tony smiles ruefully at that, shaking his head.
"Ross would certainly say that Mr. President. However, the Hulk cannot be beaten by conventional weaponry. I've run projections that suggest even nuclear weapons wouldn't be able to put him down. Hell, even the Iron Legion and War Machine working together would probably be defeated by the Hulk. Because there's something that Thaddeus Ross either doesn't understand or has been willfully keeping from you, Mr. President. And either option makes him too incompetent to be allowed to keep his command."
Ellis narrows his eyes at that. It would seem they were finally getting to what Stark TRULY wanted out of this meeting.
"And what is that, Mr. Stark?"
Flashing him a macabre grin, Tony taps the Resolute Desk.
"The Hulk gets stronger the greater the threat."
Those eight simple words hang in the air of the Oval Office. As Ellis processes them, he finds himself sitting back in his chair rather heavily.
"… Is that confirmed, Mr. Stark." "Yes sir. Cross-referenced from every engagement that the Hulk has had with both local forces in the countries Banner has fled to and Ross' men whenever he tracks him down. Put simply sir… beating the Hulk and capturing Dr. Banner is outside of our current abilities. I think deep down inside Thaddeus Ross knows that but refuses to accept it. Instead, he's let brave men and women who have signed on to protect the United States of America get killed or crippled by this monster because of his own personal vendetta against Banner. And he'll keep doing it too unless he's stopped."
Its clear Stark is very passionate about this. And the evidence is stacked against Ross, even if Ellis wanted to ignore the moral side of Stark ' s argument. The General has been overstepping his bounds for years now in his hunt for the Hulk if what Tony has gathered is true. And Ellis is pretty sure it is. Ross has been breaking international laws, skirting the Geneva Conventions in some places, and all around brewing up a PR disaster for the United States.
In a way, Tony coming to Ellis with this is almost a boon. But more than that… election year is coming up. And Ellis needs Tony Stark in his corner. There's simply no denying that.
"You make a strong case, Mr. Stark. I'll have the proper people look into this… and I swear to you, something will be done."
Purposefully vague, but they both knew Ellis couldn't just say it outright. Tony smiles and rises from his chair, causing the President to do the same. They shake hands one last time, with Stark giving him a grin that's all teeth.
"Thank you, Mr. President. I knew I could count on you."
"Of course, Mr. Stark. Just as I know that I and the American People can count on you."
"Always." With that final word, Tony is shown out of his office. Ellis slumps back down into his seat with an explosive sigh. They were all right about what they'd said.
Tony Stark was a changed man after Afghanistan. And he was intent on changing the world with him. They could all fall in line and have a place on his ship… or get swept away in the rising tide.
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