On the other side of the world, someone else was watching what happened at the committee hearing. A man was actually busy tinkering with something but was still listening in to the hearing, which was dubbed in Russian. The walls in this man's home was covered with newspapers articles regarding Tony Stark, Stark Industries, and of course, Iron Man. Showing his obsession with the billionaire.

He finished making the final touches to what appears to be electric whips, which he activated to see if it's working well. He put on an exoskeleton with the two whips and it was all powered up by a miniature Arc Reactor he made. As he powered on the whips, he used it to slice the TV in half, showing that he is now coming for Stark.

Blake (V.O.): "Meet Ivan Vanko, son of Anton Vanko, who was a Russian physicist that helped Howard Stark design the Arc Reactor. Unfortunately, he was deported due to Howard accusing him espionage. As a result, Anton fell to his lowest and later died around the time Tony announced to the world that he was Iron Man. Now Ivan seeks to avenge his father by going after Tony."

—

Location: Malibu, California

Blake (V.O.): "We'll get to Ivan later on, now let's just see what Tony is up to."

Tony: He claps his hands and everything turns on. "Wake up. Daddy's home." He said.

JARVIS: "Welcome home, sir. Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir."

Then a video of the hearing was brought up on one of Tony's screens. He chuckled seeing the video there on YouTube.

One of Tony's robots was using a blender to try and make a drink but he forgot to put the lid on, which made a mess.

Tony: "U!" He yelled to the bot.

U then turned which he then knocked the blender over.

Tony: "I swear to God I'll dismantle you. I'll soak your motherboard. I'll turn you into a wine rack." He said.

U looked down, making a very sad noise. Poor U :(

Tony: "How many ounce a day of this gobbledegook am I supposed to drink?" He asked while pouring his drink.

JARVIS: "We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms, sir."

Tony drinks the green liquid. He then pulls his device to check for blood toxicity.

Tony: "Check palladium levels." He put his thumb on the device.

JARVIS: "Blood toxicity, 24%. It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition. Another core has been depleted."

One of the screens showcases the arc reactor on Tony's chest and how it's affecting his body.

Tony lifted his shirt to take out the Arc Reactor. He took out the core which it appeared to be rusted and slightly burned.

Tony: "God, they're running out quick."

JARVIS: "I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core."

Tony then opened up a box that contained several replacement cores. He inserts the new one in the Arc Reactor and puts it back in his chest.

JARVIS: "You are running out of both time and options. Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you."

Tony lifts up his shirt to see his chest, showing on the screen. There were blue lines around the Arc Reactor.

JARVIS: "Miss Potts and Mr. Riley are approaching. I recommend that you inform them.."

Tony: "Mute." He said, cutting the AI off.

Pepper Potts, secretary of Stark Industries, puts in a passcode and entered the area Tony was in with Blake following behind her.

Tony: "Uh-uh." He pointed.

Pepper: "Is this a joke? What are you thinking?"

Tony: "What?"

Pepper: "What are you thinking?"

Tony: "Hey, I'm thinking I'm busy. And you're angry about something. Do you any of you have the sniffles? I don't want to get sick." He told the two.

Blake: "No, I am perfectly healthy. How's it going, Tony?" He said while he hugged Tony, which he hugged back.

Tony: "Doing great, how's it going with Eyepatch?"

Blake: "I got phone call from him about the committee hearing and my ears are still ringing."

Tony: "Yikes." He simply said.

Pepper: "Tony." She said getting his attention. "Did you just donate..."

Tony began to walk around the room with Pepper and Blake following behind him. He was moving some holographic displays on his way.

Pepper: "...our entire modern art collection to the..."

Tony: "Boy Scouts of America." He finishes for her.

Pepper: "...Boy Scouts of America?"

Tony: "Yes. It is a worthwhile organization." He then threw one of the holograms to a target, which he scored. "I didn't physically check the crates but, basically, yes. And it's not 'our' collection, it's my collection. No offence." He told her.

Pepper: "No, you know what? I think I'm actually entitled to say 'our' collection considering the time that I put in, over 10 years, curating that."

Blake: "She has a point, Tony."

Tony: "It was a tax write-off. I needed that."

Pepper: "You know, there's only about 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about."

Tony: He tapped on one of his other bots. "DUM-E. Hey, stop spacing out. The Bridgeport's already machining that part."

Blake: "Hi DUM-E." He greeted the robot, which the robot waved at him and made happy chirps.

Pepper: "The Expo is a gigantic waste of time."

Tony: "I need you to wear a surgical mask until you're feeling better. Is that okay?"

Pepper: "That's rude."

Tony: "There's nothing more important to me than the Expo. It's my primary point of concern. I don't know why you're..."

Pepper: "The Expo is your ego gone crazy."

Tony: He picks up a painting of Iron Man. "Wow. Look at that. That's modern art. That's going up." He told her

Pepper: "Oh, you've got to be kidding." She said, very annoyed.

Tony: "I'm gonna put this up right now. This is vital." He said.

He then walks away with the painting to go to the other side of the area.

Pepper: "Stark is in complete disarray. You understand that?" She tells him.

Tony: "No. Our stocks have never been higher."

Pepper: "Yes, from a managerial standpoint."

Tony: "You are... Well, if's messy then let's double back."

Pepper: "Let me give you an example."

Tony: "Let's move onto another subject."

Pepper: "No, no, no, no. You are not taking down the Barnett Newman and hanging that up." She tells him.

Tony: "I'm not taking it down. I'm just replacing it with this."

Blake: "Geez, you two." He said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Tony stood on a desk about to take down the Barnett Newman art to put the Iron Man picture up

Tony: "Let's see what I can get going on here."

Pepper: "Okay, fine. My point is, we have already awarded contracts to the wind farm people."

Tony: "Yeah. Don't say 'wind farm.' I'm already feeling gassy."

Pepper: "And to the plastic plantation tree, which was your idea by the way. Those people are on payroll..."

Tony: "Everything was my idea."

Pepper: "...and you won't make a decision."

Blake then walked to side to let the two argue. U, Tony's bot, stood next to Blake and happily greeted him, which he greeted back.

Tony: "I don't care about the liberal agenda any more. It's boring. Boring. I'm giving you a boring alert." He jumps off desk. "You do it."

Pepper: "I do what?" She questions him.

Tony: "Excellent idea. I just figured this out. You run the company."

Pepper: "Yeah, I'm trying to run the company."

Tony: "Pepper, I need you to run the company. Well, stop trying to do it and do it."

Pepper: "You will not give me the information..."

Tony: "I'm not asking you to try..."

Pepper: "...in order to..."

Tony: "I'm asking you to physically do it. I need you to do it."

Pepper: "I am trying to do it."

Tony: "Pepper, you're not listening to me!"

Pepper: "No, you are not listening to me."

Tony: "I'm trying to make you CEO. Why won't you let me?"

She stopped talking and stared right at him, trying to process what he just said to her. Blake's eyes widened to the surprise as well.

Pepper: "Have you been drinking?" She asks him.

Tony: "Chlorophyll. I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries effective immediately. Yeah, done deal. Okay? I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not."One of the robots brings him a tray which a bottle and glasses on it. "Doing a bit of headhunting, so to speak, trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realised it's you. It's always been you." He pours the champagne. Pepper sits down, shocked and confused. "I thought there'd be a legal issue, but actually I'm capable of appointing my successor. My successor being you." He said while he hands her a glass. "Congratulations? Take it, just take it."

Pepper: "I don't know what to think." She said with a smile on her face.

Tony: "Don't think, drink. There you go."They tap glasses and drink.

Blake: "Congrats, Pep." He said to her.

Blake hugs her which she hugged him back and the three celebrated.

Blake (V.O.): "This was something we weren't expecting but nevertheless, it was a welcoming one."

—

Back in Russia, a man with a black trench came to meet up with Ivan, hands him an envelope, and walks aways. He opens the envelope to show a passport and ticket to the Grand Prix.

—

Back in Malibu...

Pepper walked in to Tony's gym, which Tony was doing boxing with Happy in the boxing ring. Blake was with them in the ring with different clothing for this. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and workout shorts.

Pepper: "The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" She tells him.

Tony: "I'm on happy time." He said. Tony hits Happy in the face with his elbow. "Sorry."

Blake: "Whoa! Easy there, tiger."

Happy: "What the hell was that?" He said, adjusting his helmet.

Tony: "It's called mixed martial arts. It's been around for three weeks."

Happy: "It's called dirty boxing, there's nothing new about it."

Tony: "All right, put them up. Come on."

Then a woman with red hair entered the room holding a binder. Both Happy and Tony's attention shifted to her. Blake was drinking water from his water bottle and turns to see what both of them were looking at.

Blake eye's widened to see that the notary Pepper mentioned was actually Natasha Romanoff. Blake choked on his drink and coughed.

Happy: He walked to Blake and patted his back. "Hey, hey, hey, are you okay, kid?"

Pepper: "Blake, sweetie, are you alright?"

Blake: "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay."

Natasha: "Are you sure?"

Blake: "All good." He said, giving a thumbs up.

Nat then walked next to Pepper to get her to sign the papers.

Tony: "You sure you're fine? Just making sure."

Blake: "Yes."

Pepper: "I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." She tells Tony.

Natasha: "I need you to initial each box."

Happy: He taps Tony on the back of the head with a light punch, not enough to hurt him. "Lesson one. Never take your eye off..." Tony kicks him and he goes crashing into the corner of the ring.

Happy: "That's it. I'm done."

Tony: "What's your name, lady?"

Natasha: Rushman. Natalie Rushman. She introduced herself.

Blake smiled to himself, knowing that it's her cover name and not her real one. Speaking of which, what is she doing here? He's gonna have to talk with Fury.

Tony: "Front and centre. Come into the church."

Pepper: "No. You're seriously not gonna ask..."

Tony: "If it pleases the court, which it does." He says.

Blake: "Oh Jesus, Tony."

Natalie: "It's no problem."

Pepper: "I'm sorry. He's very eccentric." She apologizes to her.

Tony lifts up the ropes, allowing Natalie to enter the ring. As she enters, Tony takes his drink and sips down, while looking at her.

Tony: "What?"

Blake: "Wow, great introduction there Tony. Solid 10/10." He said sarcastically.

Natalie giggled and looked towards Blake, giving him what almost appears to be a seductive smile.

Blake: "I'm Blake. Blake Riley. Lovely to meet you, Ms. Rushman." He said, while he blushed a bit.

Natalie: "Lovely to meet you too, Blake." She said.

This moment for them really reminded them of the first time they met. The only difference is that Nat is undercover and Blake didn't seem to stutter like last time but still blushed.

Both of them stared at each other for a bit, forgetting that there were others here. It was no secret that Blake has a crush Natasha, but what he doesn't know is that she has a crush on him as well.

Happy looked at Tony with confusion on his face to what is happening with the two.

Tony: "Can you give her a lesson?" He tells Happy.

Happy: "No problem."

Tony: "Blake could you come with me for a sec?"

Blake: "Uhh, sure. Excuse me." He tells Nat as both he and Stark exit the ring.

But before he leaves, he walks up to Happy and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Blake: "Good luck, Happy. You're in God's hands now." He pats his shoulder and leaves with Tony.

Happy looked at him, confused to what he meant by that. They both walked up to Pepper.

Tony: "Pepper." He whispers to her.

Pepper: "What?"

He sits down next to her while Blake stands next to Tony.

Tony: "Who is she?" He asks Pepper.

Pepper: "She is from legal. And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that."

Blake side glances at the two for a bit and back at Nat.

Tony: "I need a new assistant, boss."

Pepper: "Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates. They're lined up and ready to meet you."

Tony: "I don't have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it's her."

Blake raises his eyebrow for a bit, not liking what Tony is thinking right now.

Pepper: "No, it's not."

On the boxing ring, Happy and Natalie walked to the middle.

Happy: "You ever boxed before?" He asks her.

Natalie: "I have, yes."

Happy: "What, like, the Tae Bo? Booty Boot Camp? Crunch? Something like that?"

Natalie's face shows brief annoyance at his statement before Tony calls her out.

Tony: "How do I spell your name, Natalie?" He asks her

Natalie: "R-U-S-H-M-A-N."

Pepper: "What, are you gonna google her now?"

Tony: "I thought I was ogling her." He brings up Natalie's file on the table and shows many things about her. "Wow. Very, very impressive individual.

Pepper: "You're so predictable, you know that?"

Tony: She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?" He asks her.

Pepper: "No one speaks Latin." She tells him.

Tony: "No one speaks Latin."

Pepper: "It's a dead language."

Blake: "I speak a bit of Latin."

Tony: "Wait, really? No, prove it."

Blake: "Obsecro ne quidquam stultus, Stark (Please don't do anything stupid, Stark)."

Both Tony and Pepper looked at him with shock and surprise.

Tony thens enhances on one of Natalies photos, showing her modeling and posing. Blake's eyes widened and blushed, seeing Nat almost naked, only wearing a bra and panties. She was absolutely perfect. Her skin smooth, her red lips, just everything.

Pepper: "Well, as I was saying before, you can read Latin or you can write Latin, but you can't speak Latin."

Tony: "Did you model in Tokyo? 'Cause she modelled in Tokyo."

Pepper: "Well..."

Tony: "I need her. She's got everything that I need."

Blake looked at the ring, seeing Happy going to the corner getting somethings while Nat was looking back at him, Tony, and Pepper.

Blake: He mouths to Nat. "You modeled in Tokyo?"

Knowing what Blake said, she only smirked, winked, and made a kissy face to him, which caused him to blush even more.

Happy came back to see Natalie looking towards the others.

Happy: "Rule number one, never take your eyes off your opponent." He goes to take a swing, but she grabs his hand and flips him over, legs over his head.

Pepper: "Oh, my God!" She yelled.

Blake: "Damn!"

Natalie had him pinned, but then she lets him go.

Pepper: "Happy!"

Tony: "That's what I'm talking about."

Happy: "I just slipped." He told them as he was struggling to get up.

Blake: "You did?"

Happy: He was obviously in pain. "Yeah."

Tony: "Looks like a TKO to me." He rings the bell and Natalie leaves the ring.

Natalie: "Just... I need your impression."

Tony: "You have a quiet reserve. I don't know, you have an old soul."

Natalie: "I meant your fingerprint." She holds up the binder

Tony: "Right." He clears his throat and signs the paper.

Pepper: "So, how are we doing?"

Tony: "Great. Just wrapping up here. Hey. You're the boss."

Natalie: "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She asked.

Tony: "No."

Pepper: "Yes, that will be all, Ms Rushman. Thank you very much."

As she was leaving, she walks past Blake and smiled at him.

Natalie: "Goodbye, Mr. Riley." She said, almost seductively.

Blake: "Goodbye, Ms. Rushman." He said as he smiled back to her.

He watches her leave as, thinking if he is seeing things right, she was swaying her hips. Like she was getting his attention.

Tony: "I want one."

Pepper: "No."

Tony: "Come on, she's perfect. Blake, back me up."

Blake said nothing as he kept staring down the hall where Natalie left. His mind is somewhere else right now.

Tony: "Kid? What do you think of her?"

Blake: "She's absolutely perfect." He blurted out.

Pepper: "For the position?" She asks him.

Blake then was brought back to reality.

Blake: "Uh, yeah, yeah, I think s-she is qualified f-for the position, um. I gotta go." He then ran.

Tony and Pepper looked at each other and both grinned, knowing that Blake has a crush on "Natalie Rushman."

Blake (V.O.): "Yup, that just happened. Eventually, I had a chat with Fury about Nat showing up there. He pretty much assigned both of us to investigate what was going on with Stark recently. It was weird that Tony was acting much more irresponsible than usual, but what's coming up next is something that I couldn't even describe."

To be continued...