"Release the LMDs, whatever state they're in," he answered evenly, small talk was already over. No sense in beating around the bush here and he knew he wasn't Tony's favorite person in the world right now anyway. He took a gulp of the coffee and then continued. "Submit a report to S.H.I.E.L.D. saying the project was scrapped. You actually might want to pull any other projects with S.H.I.E.L.D., too, but if you do it all at once it'll look suspicious. Maybe you'll even want to work with the next Director, who knows." Nick said this all calmly, ended with a shrug. This wasn't a request, this was an order and it was dire. His plans were going to hinge heavily on Tony's cooperation here and he could get by without it, but it'd be really nice if he could just get one fucking break, one little something off his mind before this whole shitstorm hit.
"I'm out," he eventually clarified before Stark could start getting antsy, but not before drained about half the cup of coffee. Didn't even feel hot, he'd drunk so much scolding coffee over the years he figured half his tastebuds weren't working anymore. He couldn't really taste it, either, but maybe that was something like nerves. Was he nervous? Maybe. But he sounded calm, at least he had that. This wasn't the end of the world, not if he could help it. "Trial starts on Monday. Pretty sure they'll be stripping me of my rank and very likely throwing me in prison. Expect to be called in to testify."