2014-03-03 - A New Chairman

Tony Stark and Natasha are actually here early. He shows her something on his Avengers Holo-ID Card. He hadn't talked to her about it earlier. In either case, he's waiting for everyone to arrive and settle down that is going to come to the meeting anyway. He hasn't received early votes from those absent other than Spider-Woman, so he isn't expecting them.

Ant-Man enters and looks at his wristwatch a little compulsively. He nods to the couple and sits down.

Natasha looks at the HoloID and makes a slight noise of frustration, but doesn't say anything... actually, she slides her arm into his, and leans forward to kiss him gently, then gives him a slight nod.

Then her expression reverts to a more business-like one, and she takes the chair beside him.

She-Hulk steps in, moving quickly to her seat...and ignoring the less than businesslike interaction between Tony and Natasha. They're allowed.

Bruce Banner arrives wearing a purple hoodie and finds a seat at the table. His face is covered with a two week old beard, but he remains fairly quiet as he awaits the meeting's call to order.

Henry McCoy slips into the room. He's still wearing his suit from earlier, though the jackets been stashed somewhere with the tie, and his shoes. His sleeves rolled up and his top button unbutton. He does a somersault into the room and lands in the chair next to Banner. "Dr. Banner. I hope your doing alright? I've been reading some of yours and Dr. Pym's papers." He waves to the others.

Hawkeye wanders in a little bit late as usual. He's dressed in a t-shirt, a motorcycle jacket, and jeans, the knit cap with an H on it tucked into his pocket. He waves around at his fellow Avengers and sinks down in a seat near Pym. "Doc," he says to the man with a smile.

Ant-Man nods to Clint, "Hawk."

Banner blinks as Beast makes an entrance, "Ah. Uhm.. I've been well enough, keeping busy." He gives a smile and ays, "What did you think of them?"

The kiss? It surprises Stark a bit, though he doesn't say it, he just raises an eyebrow. Not that he is complaining mind you! Nor does he push Nat away. He just takes his Holo-ID Card back and does a couple other things on it. "Banner, don't forget to save. And make sure you eat something if you don't remember what you ate in the last few hours." Tony doesn't even look up when he says that.

"Alright, only one person got nominated for Field Leader. People's confidence in you Hawkeye is high. Don't try to be Captain America, I just ask you try and think before you leap. Other than your implusiveness at times, which is only slightly worse than my own, you have a good head on your shoulders and I know you will look after your teammates while getting the job done."

Tony finally looks up from his Holo-ID card. "Congratulations. It's a lot of responsibility, believe me, I know, but you gone up a hell of a lot since we originally founded the Avengers together. I believe along with the others that you are ready for this, not because you need to be, but because you have proven to be."

Beast adjusts his glasses, "Quite informative. I would be speaking as a layman of course. My expertise laying more in biological and chemical areas of study. But the work you've been doing with the atomic structure and the effects of energy on them... Mind blowing... Oh oops I'm shutting up now."

She-Hulk glances at Beast. "Shop talk somewhere else? I don't talk law in meetings. Unless it comes up." She flickers the blue guy a warm smile, though, to take the sting out of it.

Natasha actually flashes a rare genuine smile down to Hawkeye, giving him a nod of congratulations on the position.

Banner nods to Beast, but does not respond as the meeting begins, not giving a response to She-Hulk. When Hawkeye is announced, Banner gives a small clap of approval, though being first to do it, it is rather quiet and is soon stopped.

Ant-Man leans over to the two scientists and says, "Hank is being modest. I concur with him. Amazing insights into atomic structure." Pym stops his praise to give Hawkeye an awkward pat on the back. "I know you'll make Steve proud."

Clint returns Nat's smile and gives Tony a nod of thanks for the kind words. A grin is shot to Ant-Man. "Thanks guys, I appreciate the confidence. Now that we're back up on active duty, I'll be scheduling some training time in the simulator, we have some new faces, or well, one new face and some old ones getting back into the game and it'd be good to know what we can all do. Get used to working together."

Tony's Holo-ID card beeps, and he responds back to something on it. "In either case, Wasp is running late, office emergeny. Now I would like to inform everyone, that Black Widow has decided to withdraw her nomination as Chairman. She's still plotting Wonder Man's demise, so doesn't think she will be able to handle the position in a neutral manner. I'm almost tempted to encourage her, fun times," he states dryly. Tony doesn't seem to be really flattering Hawkeye with the tone he's using, he's just speaking what he sees as fact.

"As a result, the nominations include Wasp and She-Hulk." There is another beep on Tony's Holo-ID and he nods to himself. "I'm sending out the voting to you now to your Holo-ID Cards. Please submit your votes."

Beast gives Clint a thumbs up. He though at She-Hulk's gentle and probably maybe playful chiding. The mutant mad doctor turns to his Avenger's multipass. See he's being good and not causing any problem.

Natasha files her vote impassively, not responding to Stark's comments on why she withdrew herself nor his opinions on the idea of her actually throttling WonderMan. And any looks sent her way, if any, are not returned.

Ant-Man pulls his card out again and begins tapping. "No hacking so Howard the Duck wins this time, Tony. Promise."

"Thank you," Banner says to Pym and Hank. After Tony speaks, Banner listens and nods, keeping any kind of emotion to himself as he pulls out his Holo-ID Card and quickly submits his vote.

She-Hulk glances at Natasha. She...tried. But if Natasha doesn't want it, she'll just have to plot some other way to get Natasha busy enough to forget about not being in the field. Hrm. Has to be something.

Clint takes the further congratulations with good humour and pulls his ID from his pocket to vote before he tucks it away again. "Still need to meet that guy," he remarks to Hank about Howard the Duck.

"I never met the man, but I hear he is a quack," Tony states absently. He then makes an wowser sound. "I thought it was going to be a tie. Wasp wins Chairman, barely. As a result, you still willing to fulfill Public Relations Representative Shulkie? We still need to get some more good publicity out there, it has been a little slim. I'm afraid I didn't really make it out there, but I worked to try and not any /bad/ publicity for once. Victims of Heroes are still out there, as is Vandal Savage and Lex Luthor. We really need to start fighting back."

Natasha sighs, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. PR isn't exactly her thing. However...

"Stark Expo is coming up, Tony. The first since you've been outed as Iron Man... do you think they may try something?" The thought just occured to her.

Beast considers, "I would say Natasha, if they don't it is still a statistical likelihood that some one of nefarious planning and intent would do it with about a 99.9996% likelihood. So I guess to put that into consideration. I guess the proper answer would be, ‘Does a Bear shit in the woods?’"

She-Hulk nods. "Of course. I don't mind doing it." She's actually a little bit relieved...she has enough paperwork in her day job."

"Grats or condolences to Jan then," Clint says when the results are announced. The stuff about PR gets a nod. "Not sure how good I'll be with public relations but I don't mind reaching out to some of the other teams and get a united front going." Beast's comment about the Expo gets a nod "Yeah, any big event like that is like Super-villain Red Rover to start with add Tony and well-" he spreads his hands. "We'll have the team on hand to cover it."

"I'm not really sure, I haven't had time to think about it," Tony says honestly to Nat. "I need to though, and make precautions." He then nods at She-Hulk, "Then we are counting on you to get that started. Photoshoots, community service, whatever you need to do, drag the Avengers out and get it done. Leaving them to their own devices obviously isn't doing it."

"The next task of business, and the details aren't going on the Avengers Board in the meeting minutes," Tony says seriously. He takes a deep breath, and then slowly lets it out. "For those that don't know, Nat and I are having twins." A brief pause. "That means double the effort, double the time. With that and among other situations," he forwards Wasp the notice and his resignation, "I am submitting my resignation from an Active or Reserve Avenger. I will remain as Support Staff of course, but any time I am in the Iron Man suit, it will be for personal reasons and goals." He waits for a moment, "However, as Support Staff you can still come to me for your engineering concerns, and I will assist Wasp with settling in as new Chairman. I will be here as an advisor, but for right now I need to concentrate on two incoming children and the Stark Expo, along with finishing some items in Steve Roger's will. I have to track down Red Guardian, look after James Barnes, and select a new damn Captain America."

Ant-Man frowns and says, "You'll be missed Tony. I'm glad you're staying on as support at least. I'll help you both with your condition as much as I can. That does /not/ necessarily include babysitting."

"I'll babysit," Jen notes. Or threatens. "Twins are a handful. Besides...I like kids." A little bit of wistful envy in her voice there.

Natasha gives Tony a brief, tight smile. She wasn't expecting him to mention the twins thing yet, but might as well come out now. Besides-- Simon wasn't here, which makes her less prone to lashing out angrily. She also shoots Clint an apologetic look-- now Tony has given Clint /both/ sets of news before she could, the inital pregnancy and now this.

She does shoot Jen a /very/ grateful look. "...thank you," she says sincerely. "This has been... trying... for both of us, and... just thank you, Jen." She will probably let Jen have access to the brats as often as She-Hulk can stand it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Clint says after Tony's announcement, well announcements. "What? Twins? And you're stepping down?" he sits back in his chair and rubs the back of his neck. He lets out a breath and looks over at Nat and Tony "Guess condol-ations all around then. Jeeze" he says still floored by the news.

"Yeah, this would be something they would do," Banner says quietly, "But at least the public seemed to show support for Steve, so we aren't alone and by ourselves in this." He sits back in his chair and blinks as twins are mentioned, "Congrats," his tone is polite, though the mention of Tony's move from active to support catches him unawares, "Um.. wow.". Banner crosses his arms and says meekly, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Perhaps we can push for more exposure on the research we have done, especially our work on energy."

Beast raises an eyebrow, "I would suggest a press conference announcing the current team roster. I know before I joined I always enjoyed it when you did that." He frowns knowing it wouldn't be Cap yelling Avengers Assemble but some traditions were too timeless to go to the wayside. He raises an eyebrow, "Oh my stars and garters. Congrats to the both of you."

She-Hulk nods to Beast. "We can do that." She lets out a breath. "It won't be the same, though." She hasn't lost Tony yet. He might come back. "And Tony, you know that you are welcome back...I know I speak for everyone...once your life is a bit saner."

Ant-Man nods and says with a wry smile, "Yes in 18 years or so when you ship them off to college."

"I'm not sure if I should be scared or thankful." A pause, "Wait, no, I would be scared if it was /BANNER/ offering to babysit, sorry. If you can handle them, I wouldn't complain. I'm searching for a more full-time babysitter, someone Nat and I can trust, but even then, all hands on deck would be appreciated. I wouldn't be able to trust them in just anyone's hands, not with the number of enemies me and Nat have, and the Avengers as a whole," he confesses. He's worried about their safety, truly worried. But he tries to keep it subdued.

"In either case, let's keep the twins thing quiet for now, just between those in this room and Wasp," Tony states. He then nods at Banner, "Good thinking, definitely take all your ideas to Shulkie and see what can be done for press releases, I made sure she had an up-to-date of the Maria Stark Foundations media contact list in her E-Mail box." That was...quick. "Thank you Shulkie, I...actually really appreciate that. I still consider you guys my family, and I want to keep it that way."

"But...on to the next bit! For those that aren't regularly involved in the Avengers Academy or haven't noticed, I stepped down as Headmaster of it. I'll try and still remain a Mentor for now, and I'm here if Hawkeye needs advice on filing paperwork, doing interviews for kids, or any other insane shit he is likely to come up against. Luckily, I only had to give romanace advice once and not sex advice to a student, so you should be good there Hawkeye, hopefully." A pause, "Obviously, I mean Hawkeye stepped up as Headmaster." He then blinks at Ant-Man, "Wait, why 18? I went when I was...15 was it? Anyway," Tony shakes his head at that. "I support whatever changes you want to make to the program Hawkeye, as I said before you are great with the kids, it will be fine." "Harumph," Banner says with some humor as his babysitting skills were questioned. He nods to Shulkie and mentally notes to talk with her later. Bannner looks to Hawkeye, "Should you need anything with the academy, let me know." The mild doctor relaxes a little in his seat and sneezes twice.

"Bozhe moi. You, romance advice?" Natasha barely keeps from letting out a snort. She glances at the gathered Avengers. "I believe, as well, the current plan is to announce the future Stark heirs at the Expo... because eventually someone will notice I am roughly the size of a small continent and figure things out anyway. Better to control when and how the information is presented."

Clint nods to Hank. "I always loved those press conferences," he admitted. "We should do one," he agrees before he nods about the school. "Yes, if anyone would like to step up let me know and I'll be happy to take you on, some of you I will be hunting down anyway to twist your arms."

"Ya, actually, I think I gave pretty good romance advice," Tony states, but his smile fades. "He took it pretty well." He gave reality romance advice, and he didn't sugar coat it. But he hopes it was good anyway.

"A sexy continent. I'm thinking I'm getting a pregnancy fetish," changing the topic with Nat. Stark IS kidding of course, one would hope. "As for the meeting, does anyone else have concerns or announcements to bring to the table?"

Beast looks to Banner, "Dr. Banner, He's probably saying that cause you'd probably let the kids play with the super collider before you'd let him." He looks to Stark making a tsk tsk and pointing a finger at Stark and rubbing another finger along it in the forshame action, "Already jealous of your kids getting to play with the super collider before you." He looks back to Banner and Pym, "Note, we need to build a super collider."

Ant-Man steeples his fingers and says, "Build a regular collider. I'll supersize it in two seconds."

The door opens, and in walks Janet. As she walks in, there is a pointed silence as she holds up her smartphone and....turns it off. As in completely off. She then sighs and shuts the door behind her. "I apologize for my tardiness. There was an issue...but fortunately fashion strides forward yet again." She doesn't elaborate on what exactly happened...just that *something* happened.

"Haha," Banner smiles and points at Pym, "See, this is why we can have nice things. Also resources, lots of resources." He would relax until the sound of the door opening reaches him, and in walks Janet, to whom he gives a nod of greeting.

Natasha just rubs her temples. If Stark ends up dead before she gives birth, everyone present probably has an inkling as to why.

"I got them. I'll take care of it, Tony." But she sees all of this as temporary. Even if it's several years, she can't imagine Tony staying away from the Avengers for any length of time.

"Glad to have you. I told those in this room about the twins, but that it will be kept between all of us, confidential," Stark states. "Also, congratulations. Shulkie will be remaining as Public Relations Rep."

"I thought you were the reason we couldn't have nice things," Tony teases Banner. "Ah what am I saying? When you aren't smashing up a city block or two, I like the big Green Man likely more than you do." He shrugs. "I'll find him things to play with."

"In either case, I opened the floor for people to bring up any concerns or announcements that they have," he states to Janet. Tony then adds while looking over to She-Hulk, "Thanks Shulkie."

Beast raises his hand, "Ohh... Nice Hank. Tony what about the individual you encountered today?"

"Oh, shit!" Tony forgot already! He really does have a lot on his mind! "Sersi, like Circe, but apparently with an S from the way she says it, slight pronunciation difference, but not much," Stark states. "Apparently she is a couple thousand years old, her race is called Eternals, she associates with gods from Olympus, and she's our home Earth's version of Circe not the Justice League's version. She may just be crazy, but she's sexy, funny, and kind of down to earth in a crazy kinda way. You should seriously check her out. I mean, say hello," he steals a look at Nat. "I am seriously needing practice on filtering my language before my mouth opens." He then looks back to those about the meeting room, "With me departing, you may want to see about another member, she could be a potential recruit if she is telling the truth, and if she isn't? Well, if she's a good kinda crazy, who are we to judge?"

There is a nod of acknowledgement towards Tony from Janet, as he offers his congratulations. "I caught your messages admist the logistics headache. Thank you for sending them." She remains standing, not opting to take a seat for the moment. "Oh...and good on telling about the twins, dear. I didn't want to sit on that any longer than I had to." A slow smile creeps to her face as Jan talks about the twins. Then...as Tony jumps into his meeting of an Eternal, the smile fades, replaced with genuine curiosity. "Circe? As is the sorceress that turned men into pigs?" Looks like someone read her Homer. "You're calling a potential immortal straight out of mythology down-to-earth? I'd like to see what you would consider unique."

"She thinks that Tony is my pet," Natasha chimes in with a smile. "She was giving me advice on how to keep him well-behaved."

"Told you, down to earth. She's total women's lib, Sersi is," Tony states. "And she likes it kinky as hell. Beast teased me about her being my soul mate if it wasn't for Nat, but honestly, I would run the other direction, not the uber submissive type. I like a little abuse, I date Nat, but not /that/ much." Tony rolls his eyes at that.

"She has some impressive powers though, I'll post a bit more about her on the Avengers meeting minutes. I think we are done though," Tony states. Next Avengers Meeting will be all yours Janet and I'll actually be able to skip one for the first time in my life other than the time I wasn't Iron Man." He then moves to get up, changing the status on his own Holo-ID Card to Support Staff. "We will arrange some meetings later between us so I can help you get into systems and adjust to being the Chairman, Wasp."