Ch69. Furious Fury

"Okay, J. Connect him." Tony grumpily said, turning on his chair towards the wall on which JARVIS usually projected video calls for him.

Tony didn't need to wait for long. A few seconds later, a glaring Fury appeared on the wall, and if looks could kill, Tony had no doubt he would have combusted the second Fury's eye landed on him.

There was really only one reaction to that.

"A nice day we are having, aren't we?" Tony cheerfully quipped with an innocent megawatt smile.

"Stark..." Fury growled.

Tony's smile widened, "Yes. That's my name, you big grouch. Did you call me for a reason or do you only need to fulfill your daily growly quota and I am your unlucky victim? If this is a long-term problem for you, I'd recommend a therapist, you know?"

"Do I look like someone in the motherfucking mood for jokes, Stark?" Fury narrowed his eye in fury.

"The hell if I know!" Tony dramatically exclaimed, "I am not adept at reading eye-patch expressions. Maybe if you wore an eyepatch with different colors for specific moods?"

He surmised the current color would have been purple mad if Fury really did use his advice.

But would that stop Tony from pissing him off even more?

Heh... nope.

Fury didn't even twitch in response. Such a childish remark would never get a rise out of him. Knowing they would never get to the heart of the matter if he let Stark joke around, he decided to stop the foreplay and go straight to the reason why he called.

"What is Miss Romanoff doing?" He asked with anger shining in his sole eye.

"Like right now?" Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "I've no idea. It's not my problem."

Fury was a hard man to anger, mostly because of how much he has seen and done over the years but Tony said it with such a nonchalance that Fury's face contorted in pent-up anger.

"It is your problem! Since you took her from SHIELD, she became your responsibility! Everything she does is on your shoulders!" He cried out.

Tony instantly raised his arms in a placating manner, "Oi, oi, oi. I think you are misunderstanding something here, black baldy." He flippantly said, "I am not Natasha's caretaker or nanny. Quite the opposite, in fact. She is supposed to be my nanny."

Fury gritted his teeth and calmed down. He understood that Stark was just trying to rile him up. An annoying asshole was the default setting of Stark. Fury couldn't fault him for that. If such a thing was illegal, he would have arrested Stark long ago.

"Motherfucker, Stark! Is everything a joke to you?" Fury asked.

Tony shrugged, "Depending on what you are talking about? But yeah, pretty much everything is insignificant compared to my fabulousness."

"What about the violent death of twenty high-level officials of Russia and the only lead being a card with a picture of Black Widow spider? Is that also insignificant?" Fury stiffly asked, his sole eye gracing Stark with a focused steely look.

From how Stark's eyes widened, Fury realized he had no idea abo...

"Oh, she is leaving cards?" Tony exclaimed with a child-like wonder.

'Or not. The bastard totally knew about Black Widow's activities.' Fury mentally deadpanned.

"That's not..." He started to rebuke Stark. It was not a...

"Neat!" Tony gushed out, abruptly interrupting Fury.

"Ne- ... Stark, this is not a laughing matter! This can cause massive diplomatic issues!" Fury angrily shouted and banged his hand on his table, breathing hard.

He could take threats with a calm facade. He could take a gun aimed at his head and not blink. But this flippant and casual attitude of Stark was pissing him off somewhat fiercely! Did the asshat have no idea that this could possibly even cause a war if the reaction wasn't carefully controlled?

Fury's angry gesture made Tony a bit subdued. Clearly, he was far too good at riling people up if even the big black spy broke his perpetual scowl for him.

"You aren't even gonna ask why these people are dying?" Tony curiously asked before hastily adding, "Not that I am admitting Natasha is responsible! Pfft. A card depicting a black widow is in no way proof that the killer is Black Widow."

Fury returned to his calmly scoffing expression, "I don't need to ask. I know these people are connected to the Red Room project. There is only one reason why Romanoff would feel the need to torture people to the death of her own volition. And the brutality she unleashed on them is a clear sign she is doing it because she wants to. When it is just a job, she is never going quite so far. I've known her for years, Stark. I understand her much more than even she understands herself."

That was... fair enough. If there was one person that knew a lot about Natasha, it would be Fury. Tony could give him this small victory.

He nodded and asked, "Do I want to know how badly they suffered?"

He actually did want to know how SHIELD saw it from their perspective but asking directly in his usual manner would probably just manage to piss Fury off even more. Well, no biggie. If Fury doesn't tell him, he will just have JARVIS hack SHIELD or something...

"No." Fury snorted, "Your fragile mind would not be able to handle it and your delicate rich boy sensibilities would get spooked out of their mind at the atrocities your 'fiancee' is doing. She practically did what I want to do to you right now." He added with a cold glare.

"Aw! Are we at the stage in our relationship where you try to demean me with big words? Your bully level has just increased! Respect plus!" Tony cheerfully applauded with a grin, showing Fury that his threat had no effect. "And I thought you were supposed to be on the side of justice." He sighed in mock disappointment.

'Bitch, please! I am Stark! I was receiving threats since I was practically ten.' Tony inwardly snorted. Did fury really think a threat would work? How silly.

Fury did not think threatening Stark would work but damn if it didn't alleviate some of his stress.

He knew Stark was in some way responsible for Romanoff's wild ride in Russia. The second he spotted his mug today, his gut feeling was telling him the dipshit in front of him had a much greater part in it than he first thought.

"Call her back or I will deal with her for you. Permanently." Fury said with finality in his tone.

Before he could turn off the video call for a great exit effect, Tony reacted and ruined the moment for him.

"This is not the end of this matter." Tony calmly said, for the first time his expression serious as he gave Fury an intense but indifferent look.

He didn't care about Fury's threats when they were aimed at him. But threatening to kill Natasha, now that he didn't appreciate.

Fury's eye dimmed at that. He has just realized he might have underestimated Stark a bit too much.

"No. It is not. Did you think you and Romanoff can get away with this so easily?" He growled out. "This is just the beginning, motherfucker."

And with that, he turned the video call off.