Liam looked at Tony with open disdain, not even bothering to hide it. "If it wasn't for Pepper, I wouldn't have shown up at all."
Tony's expression stiffened slightly, but he still refused to back down. "I told you, I could've handled it myself."
Even as he said it, he walked over to Rhodey, concern immediately replacing the stubborn edge in his tone. "Rhodey, you alright?"
Rhodey gave a tired nod, clearly still shaken from being controlled. "Yeah… but I think I should return this armor to you." His voice carried a trace of guilt, knowing he had just caused Tony more trouble than anyone else on the battlefield.
Tony didn't make a big deal out of it. He simply helped him steady himself. "Forget it. You're fine—that's what matters."
Rhodey let out a breath, then turned toward Liam with genuine gratitude. "Weiss, seriously… thanks for this."
Liam waved it off casually, but his eyes flicked toward Tony. "No need. Not like someone else here is going to say it anyway."
Rhodey immediately glanced at Tony.
Tony's lips moved slightly, like he was about to say something, but in the end… nothing came out.
The silence said everything.
At that moment, Rhodey shifted his focus, raising his arm cannon and locking onto Ivan Vanko. "Ivan Vanko. Didn't expect you to still be alive. But this ends here."
Ivan stood frozen, his mind spiraling. "Impossible… impossible…" he muttered repeatedly, unable to comprehend why his entire system had suddenly stopped responding.
"Hold on," Liam said calmly, stepping in.
Rhodey frowned. "What?"
"Leave him to me."
There was a faint smile on Liam's face, but it carried a different kind of meaning. Ivan wasn't just some disposable criminal—he was a rare technical genius. Maybe not on Tony's level, but still one of the few people in the world capable of independently developing an Arc Reactor.
That kind of talent was far too valuable to waste.
Rhodey hesitated. "He's responsible for all of this. People died."
"Those drones all have self-destruct systems," Liam said lightly. "Just say he went up with them."
Tony's head snapped up instantly. "Wait—they can self-destruct?!"
Without waiting for an answer, he immediately blasted off, clearly worried about Pepper being caught in the explosion.
Liam watched him go, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes. The drones only had that capability in theory—under his electromagnetic control, they weren't going to detonate unless he allowed it.
"Alright," he said, turning back to Rhodey. "You should head out too. I'll take care of the rest."
Rhodey gave a reluctant nod. "Fine."
Once he left, Liam moved without hesitation. With a flicker of spatial distortion, Ivan was pulled straight out of his armor, completely helpless.
Then, almost as an afterthought, Liam activated the drones' self-destruct sequences.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Every unit's chest lit up with a blinking red warning.
Ivan finally snapped out of his daze, panic flooding his expression. "Are you insane?!"
But his body refused to respond. He couldn't move, couldn't resist, couldn't even struggle.
Liam's lips curved slightly. "You'll work for me from now on."
The next second, both of them vanished.
Moments later, the entire field erupted in explosions.
Deep underground, inside a hidden research facility, two figures reacted instantly the moment Liam appeared.
"Master, you're back."
Sophie and Phoebe stepped forward, their connection to him through the mental network allowing them to sense his arrival immediately.
"Where's Mystique?" Liam asked without wasting time.
"She's not here," Sophie replied calmly.
Liam didn't dwell on it. The facility was jointly managed by Mystique and the twins—if one was absent, the others could handle everything just fine.
He gestured toward Ivan. "Top-tier scientist. Get him set up."
Phoebe nodded immediately. "Understood. Follow me."
Ivan, whose memories had already been subtly rewritten, didn't resist at all as he was led away.
"Master, aren't you staying?" Phoebe asked suddenly, stepping closer and grabbing his arm.
Liam paused.
For a brief second, he felt the warmth of her body pressed against him, and something stirred faintly—something he hadn't noticed before.
He cleared his throat quickly. "Got things to handle. Next time."
Phoebe pouted slightly, clearly dissatisfied. "You better mean that."
"I do."
Before she could say anything else, he vanished again.
A moment later, Sophie returned and looked around. "Where's Master?"
"Gone," Phoebe replied, crossing her arms.
Sophie sighed faintly, disappointment flickering across her face.
Back at the expo, Liam reappeared just in time to hear raised voices.
"Tony, I can't do this anymore!"
Pepper stood in front of him, her expression strained, her voice carrying a weight that had clearly been building for a long time.
"Can't do what?" Tony asked, confused.
"I can't handle the pressure. Every day, I don't know if you're going to die, or if the company is going to collapse."
"Pepper, relax—no one's forcing you, and I'm not dying anytime soon—"
"But I am!" she cut him off sharply. "I'm done. I'm quitting."
Tony froze.
"Quitting? You're serious?"
For him, it was completely unexpected.
But from Pepper's perspective, it made perfect sense. She was just a normal person, constantly thrown into life-threatening situations, carrying the burden of running an entire corporation, all while dealing with Tony's unpredictability.
There was no guarantee of stability.
And more importantly… no guarantee of meaning.
She cared about him—but she didn't know if he felt the same.
Liam, watching from the side, understood it immediately.
This wasn't about work.
It was about uncertainty.
He smirked slightly. "Guess I'll help."
Without any visible movement, a subtle psychic suggestion slipped into Tony's mind—not control, not manipulation, just a push.
A nudge toward honesty.
Tony suddenly stepped forward and pulled Pepper into his arms.
"Pepper… I love you."
She froze.
"What… did you just say?"
"I said I love you," Tony repeated, his voice steady for once. "No one loves you more than I do."
Liam immediately looked away, completely uninterested in watching what came next.
Across the hall, two familiar figures approached.
Natasha Romanoff and Phil Coulson stopped mid-step when they saw the scene.
"…We picked a bad moment," Natasha said dryly.
Coulson just nodded.
Then Natasha's gaze shifted, landing on Liam. "Didn't expect to see you here, Mr. Weiss."
Liam gave a relaxed shrug. "Got invited. Apparently, a certain megalomaniac needed help."
Tony, now walking over with Pepper beside him, didn't even argue.
"…Yeah. Fair."
For once, he admitted it without resistance.
If Liam hadn't stepped in today, things might have ended very differently.
....
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