"Since when did you two get that close?!"
Tony Stark stared at the pair locked in a hug, his face twisting into the unmistakable expression of a man watching his favorite toy get snatched away.
"If we're talking about being close," Ryan Cole said with a grin as he released Pepper, "I'd say you and I go way further back, Tony."
Pepper shot her boss an annoyed look, but Tony's jealous streak only made her feel oddly sweet inside.
"I don't recall being close with someone who casually walked off with a hundred billion dollars from me," Tony said stiffly. "And for the record, I prefer Mr. Iron Man."
Ryan didn't even blink at the jab.
Pepper, on the other hand, frowned. "Tony!"
"Alright, alright—I'll shut up," Tony said, surrendering immediately. "You talk business with him. I'll sit."
A lifelong veteran of the dating battlefield, Tony knew exactly when to retreat. He slumped onto the sofa, grabbed the top-tier champagne Ryan's secretary had delivered, and pretended to admire the office décor.
Pretended being the key word—his wandering gaze kept drifting back to the two of them.
"Pepper," Ryan said politely after inviting her to sit, "what brings you here?"
"Ryan," she said, getting straight to the point, "you said before that Tony's chest injury could be cured. Was that… really true?"
Ryan chuckled softly, pouring himself a glass."Honestly? I thought you'd contact me much sooner about this."
Pepper immediately turned and shot Tony a reproachful look.
After Tony successfully synthesized the new element and replaced the palladium-based Arc Reactor—curing his poisoning—Pepper had already raised the issue.
But whether he was afraid Ryan would fleece him again, or for some other reason, Tony kept putting it off.
"I'm sorry, Ryan," Pepper said, covering for him. "Tony's been tied up with the Expo."
Ryan spent most of his time buried in research, but that didn't mean he was cut off from the world.
Ever since installing his knockoff version of the Red Queen AI, he'd had no trouble keeping tabs on things he cared about—even if it wasn't quite on JARVIS's level.
Still, he had no intention of making things awkward.
Laughing it off, Ryan said, "Fair enough. Our Iron Man has been busy."
"As for the treatment," he continued, "yes—I can do it."
"But just like I said before, Tony would have to accept the risks involved."
At the mention of his own survival, Tony stopped sulking—but stayed quiet.
"What kind of risks?" Pepper asked anxiously.
"There's no real danger," Ryan said with a shrug. "But when you're operating that close to something vital, my confidence alone isn't enough. The patient has to believe too."
Tony snorted. "You sure you're not joking?"
To be fair, even Pepper had doubts.
Tony's chest injury wasn't some routine procedure. If it were that simple, the world's top surgeons would've fixed it years ago.
For a biotech company to claim they could solve what elite medical teams couldn't? Yeah—hard sell.
"How about this," Ryan said calmly. "Back where I'm from, we say talk is cheap."
"You brought a bodyguard with you, didn't you? Let's test it on him."
"You mean Happy?" Pepper asked, stunned.
"Yeah," Ryan said easily. "You don't expect me to supply a test subject, do you?"
"Even if I did, would someone here believe the results?" he added, glancing sideways.
Tony grimaced.
He wanted the cure—but risking his bodyguard's life wasn't his style.
"Alright," Ryan sighed theatrically. "I'll handle the test another way."
Then his expression sharpened, and the knife finally came out.
"But if I fix Iron Man," he said, smiling, "what are you offering this time?"
Tony had expected this.
"If you're asking for another hundred billion," Tony said flatly, "or more tech, the deal's off."
"Tony!" Pepper said sharply.
Ryan waved it off."Relax. This is a minor procedure. I'm not that greedy."
"Oh—by the way," he added casually, "greedy means ripping someone off."
Pepper visibly relaxed.
Tony didn't.
"So what do you want?"
Ryan smiled—the kind of smile that meant here it comes.
"Simple. I want the Super Soldier Serum formula."
"Oh—and a blood sample from the Hulk."
"What?! That's worse than a hundred billion dollars!"
Tony didn't explode, but his face darkened fast.
Pepper didn't know what either item was, but the names alone told her they weren't cheap.
"I'm not short on cash," Ryan shrugged. "So money's off the table. I only want those two things."
"Besides," he continued, unfazed, "your father—Howard Stark—was one of the Super Soldier Project's leads."
"Even if he was just assisting Dr. Abraham Erskine, you really think he didn't keep a backup?"
"As for Hulk's blood?" Ryan grinned. "You're the government's favorite contractor and their golden hero. That's hardly a problem."
Before Ryan could explain what "hardly a problem" meant, Tony stood up, grabbed Pepper's wrist, and headed for the door.
Seeing that Tony wasn't bluffing, Ryan sighed helplessly.
"Alright, alright—you win."
"You can pick one of the two," he said quickly."Or—after you're healed—just give me the obsolete reactor you pull out of your chest."
Tony froze at the open door.
After a long pause, he turned back, face stiff.
"Deal."
He didn't say which option he'd choose—but Ryan didn't care.
All three options sounded outrageous, but in reality?
They were dirt cheap.
The Super Soldier Serum had never been successfully recreated, no matter how advanced technology became—proof that Captain America's success had been a freak coincidence.
Hulk's blood sounded impossible to get, but Ryan knew better.
In his overclocked state, he knew Bruce Banner would be exposed within days due to radiation contamination from a soda can.
After a cycle of pursuit, resistance, capture, escape, and eventual cooperation, Banner would be placed under supervision.
At that point, getting a blood sample wouldn't be easy—but for Tony Stark? Definitely doable.
As for the new-element Arc Reactor?
Its value to Ryan was even lower.
Even without pulling out the atomic lattice data he'd memorized back in Elysium, his research on the original Arc Reactor had already hit a breakthrough.
Miniaturization would take time—but the principles and manufacturing process were already his.
Which meant the new reactor was only a matter of time.
Truthfully, curing Tony Stark wasn't about profit.
Ryan just wanted to build a relationship.
Sure, Stark was arrogant, stubborn, and had the personality of a live grenade—
—but favors were always worth collecting.