It was noon. The sun was blazing.
"Miss Potts, where is my best brother Tony Stark? I've called him over twenty times, and he didn't answer once!"
Dante had driven all the way from Washington, D.C. to Stark Tower in New York, and now barged into the CEO's office on the top floor without knocking.
Of course, the current CEO and majority shareholder of Stark Industries wasn't Stark himself—Pepper Potts held that title. Stark was just freeloading with flair.
Maybe after getting completely shut down by Lois Lane, the man had finally realized who he actually loved. His relationship with Pepper had rapidly heated up over the past month.
How could Dante tell?
Because Pepper was radiating honeymoon glow.
"Calm down, Agent Dante. Tony will be here soon—he's meeting me for lunch," Pepper said, guiding Dante to the sofa. She sat beside him. "So, what's the rush? Did Tony do something… again?"
"Oh, Miss Potts, he absolutely did something. And this time, it's genuinely good."
"Uh-oh… Wait, this isn't serious, right?"
"What do you mean serious? It's not serious—it's just… shockingly helpful. And for once, I'm not being sarcastic."
Dante shook his head, amused and slightly exasperated.
What was Tony Stark doing every day?
Judging by Pepper's tone, the man probably racked up more drama than a daytime soap.
"Don't worry, Miss Potts. Tony might be impulsive, flawed, a walking narcissist—but he's not the kind of guy to do anything truly evil."
"I hope so." She smiled and extended her hand. "And from now on, just call me Pepper."
Right then, Tony Stark walked through the door carrying a massive paper bag, sunglasses halfway off.
"Oh, Pepper, these cheeseburgers are insane. Swear on my dad's beard, there's nothing better in all of Queens—what the hell?! Dante! Why are you here? And why are you holding hands with my girlfriend?!"
Tony's voice shot up an octave, and even his mustache seemed to bristle.
Pepper looked at him with a mix of triumph and embarrassment.
"Oh, come on, it was a polite handshake. Unlike you, not everyone treats handshakes like foreplay."
Dante couldn't resist roasting him.
But Tony wasn't fazed. He set the bag down, took two quick strides, and dropped himself between Pepper and Dante, cutting them off like an overgrown toddler.
"Hey, hey, hey. Are you seriously acting like a jealous middle schooler?" Dante shoved him a little. "Pepper's like a big sister to me. Even if I were a scumbag, I wouldn't make a move. Okay?"
"Don't give me that. Everyone at the FBI knows you've got a thing for older women. You're tangled up with three of them in your Star Team alone!"
"Cough! Older women and older sisters are totally different categories! Pepper, don't listen to his garbage."
Dante waved it off quickly. He wasn't shameless enough to flirt with a friend's girlfriend—especially not in front of said friend.
"Hmph. Fine, spill it. What brings a busy man like you to my tower at lunchtime? You're not here to mooch lunch, are you? I only bought two burgers. Haven't you heard? People who interrupt a couple's private time get kicked to death."
Despite the grumbling, Tony finally cooled off.
Dante laughed and threw his arm around Tony's shoulder.
"Because my good brother Tony Stark just did something amazing. Didn't you text me this morning? You said you helped Fury upgrade the latest Helicarrier, right? And that the collaboration between the FBI and Stark Industries was speeding up construction? Estimated completion—soon?"
At the mention of that, Tony immediately threw his arm around Dante too, like they were frat bros.
"What's our relationship, huh? Your business is my business. Besides, I'm curious about a lot of your Bureau's tech… Ever since that little hacker Skye joined your team, I can't even hack the FBI's database anymore. She's that good."
"It all started when Fury reached out asking me to help solve a propulsion issue on the Bureau's satellite launch system. I looked at the schematics and made a few minor adjustments. The satellite can now do continuous sub-orbital flight without needing to land."
"Then, of course, Fury brought a bunch of beautiful agents to thank me. You know how it is, I don't chase women—I just demonstrate excellence in front of them."
"So I went underground with Fury, looked at those old Helicarriers. They were pretty busted, but nothing I couldn't handle. They'll be operational in two weeks, tops. Ninety percent were already built. Naturally—" Tony pointed to himself with both thumbs "—I filled in the critical ten percent."
Dante listened and finally understood.
Still, intentional or not, Tony had just saved him a ton of trouble.
So Dante leaned in and whispered in Stark's ear—laying out the full, hidden risks of the Insight Project.
Tony's expression started to shift as the implications sank in.
"Wait—so… did I just make everything worse?"
"No, no, no." Dante grinned. "They're so focused on catching their mark, they haven't noticed the sniper aiming at them."
The Insight Project?
It was just bait.
A shiny, world-ending, high-tech, juicy worm on the hook.
Originally, Dante had been planning to wait for a better opportunity to take out HYDRA in one clean sweep.
But thanks to Grant Ward's precision assassinations, there was now a brief window where HYDRA was flying blind.
And Tony? He'd just completed the most critical piece of the trap.
There wouldn't be a better time.
With no major missions on the table, it was time to push the plan forward.
Use the Insight Project as bait—let HYDRA think they were on the verge of "controlling the world."
They'd bite. No question.
"Wait, Dante—did you tell Fury about this?"
"I'll tell him after I finish setting everything up. I don't plan to let the Insight Project go live anyway. HYDRA's gonna come knocking at the Bureau's front door soon enough—and that'll be our chance to crush them all."
"You make it sound like squashing a bug."
"We're both seasoned foxes. Don't play innocent with me."
Dante elbowed Tony in the side, grinning.
"Don't tell me you didn't leave a backdoor in those satellite and Helicarrier systems. One only you can crack open."
"Do I look like the kind of guy who'd do that?"
"So… is there one or not?"
"…There is."
(To be continued.)