#it’d be like nothing that’s ever been seen our tech is so much more advanced compared to ww2

[thewitchesworkshop]

In some far distant future robot women and human women team up to insight revolution against the patriarchy and pretty much destroy the entirety of the American government and build it into something new and actually functional

Tho I think we gotta see after ww3

[bluebellhairpin]

Fight or Flight, Rider

Poe Dameron X Pilot!Reader

A/N: Thanks to @writefightandflightclub​ and @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​, a fic I wrote has now been made into a full-fledged Oneshot - Hence the fic’s namesake (If I didn’t I’d never have picked a title myself) - I hope you two don’t mind a fic being named after you. (Also, I’m almost tempted to prepare for this to be a multiple-par fic/series, what’d you think?) - Nemo 

Based on: This Imagine + Conversation  

Summary: Poe was the best pilot in the Resistance fleet, but with the coming of a new recruit - that changes. They’re everything he was, and more. Everyone is impressed by them, but how will Poe react when meeting them face-to-face? 

Series Masterlist 

Masterlist  

Nothing could ever beat the feeling of flying. Nothing. 

Back on your homeworld - a planet filled with murky rainforests - flying was not easy. The trees and constant fog-like rain made flying dangerous, and flinding ships was rare anyway - most travel was done via tree-runners or underground tracks. The fact you got the chance to try a flight simulator when you were ten was complete insanity - but you did, along with many other youths - and you passed. 

As it seemed, despite the lack of flying on your planet, a lot of the native people had good reflexes and reaction times - so flying came naturally to most. With the addition of a rapid growth in technology by the time you were twenty, your own ships were built. 

Simulators were no more.

The ships were built small, sleek, and made with the capability to handle the pilot’s quick reaction times - they fit into your planet’s biome like a fish swimming in a river. 

From there your world changed - even though nothing could be seen from the outside. And it stayed like that, the outside world being unaware of the untapped pilot hoard.

Until word of the Resistance needing help emerged. 

An almost ancient distress signal came from the planet of Crait, and your planet’s chief authorities told you - and everyone else in the control room at the time - that they wouldn’t make it in time to reach the Resistance. 

You - having filed nicely under the ‘hot-headed rebel pilot’ trope since you stepped into the simulator all those years ago - called their bluff. In front of everyone. 

“Our tech gets a new advancement every day.” you said.

“We have hyperdrives in our own individual ships.” you said. 

“Why can’t we go help?” you said. 

Many other pilots there agreed - no doubt wanting a little more reason to fly other than courses and drills. At the very least, you had around twenty pilots backing you up.

Your superious looked at you, their gazes caught between glares and just plain unimpressed staring - almost as if they were trying to get you to waver. You stood your ground, as did the small group behind you. 

The time for true instincts came to show.  

Fight, or Flight? 

No more than half an hour later you were in your ship - with your squad - ready to jump into hyperdrive, along with three other of your planet’s squadrons. But when you reached Crait, appearing on the planet’s surface, you seemed to be too late. 

AT-AT’s and AT-M6’s were on the ground, as were some ruined ski speeders, and the entrance to an old mine was completely blown in. You observed as you took in the surroundings from your ship, despite the destruction there seemed to be no-one around, not in the machines, and not in the entrance to the mine - there wasn’t even any bodies.

“Alpha One, this is Delta One. We’re picking up activity in the North. It appears to be a solo ship. Going to investigate.” The leader of the Delta Squadron -  Joon said. 

“Copy that Delta One. Alpha Squadron will follow.” You said, and your squad followed, leaving squads Bravo and Charlie to keep circling the ruins of the fight. 

Eventually you came across a ship - one recognisable from your studies as the Millenium Falcon. There were people too, all being taken onto the ship. They looked up at your ships, some smiling, but others were cautious. 

“The crew of the Millennium Falcon,” you started, hovering your ship just near the cockpit of the much larger ship, “I am Commander (y/n) (l/n) from the planet Nephimm. We heard the Resistance needed some help.” 

“This is Rey,” a reply came almost instantly, a small laugh along with it, “We’re sure glad to see some friendly faces.” 

“Good to know.” You said, smiling back - even though Rey wouldn’t have seen it. “Think you could use an escort to wherever you’re headed next?” 

---------

So you escorted the Millennial Falcon to Batuu, and the base there - the safest one that they had at the time. Sadly you had to leave them as soon as they got there, orders were orders, so you didn’t get to meet any of them face to face. 

Despite leaving so soon, you still kept in touch with Rey, and your people became known as strong, reliable ally to the Resistance. When the call came for pilots to join the Resistance permanently, you jumped at the opportunity - you and a couple others from Nephimm. 

That’s what got you here.

Flying a course set by the Resistance leaders - in space no less. This was a dream - no more would you fly the same old courses between trees - now you were set for bigger things, and you were loving it. 

“All pilots, times up! Head back to base.” Finn’s voice said, connecting to all the pilots out training through their comms. “Good work guys!” 

With that, your joy dispersed, but only slightly. You’d get to do this tomorrow, except it’d be a different course. And if you were lucky, you might not get to do the course - you might get a mission instead.

Less than fifteen minutes later, you were back on solid ground, still in the cockpit of your own X-Wing. You were lucky enough to get one as soon as you came, and while she wasn’t your old ship, she was just as perfect. 

A loud thunk of her hull snapped you out of your daydream, you were almost ready to bite the person's ear off for acting so roughly with your ship, but then you saw it was your newest friend - Rey.

“Hey there Missy.” You said, smiling down at her as you climbed out of the ship. “What’re you beating up my ship for?” You shook your head at her, placing your helmet down on a nearby make-shift table. 

“There’s a certain someone that wants to meet you.” 

“I’m sure there is.” You said, taking the time to step around your ship to check it for any faults - not that there were any visible ones, you were very careful with ships that weren’t entirely yours (even if you did claim this one) - as your little droid relieved itself from its place in the X-Wing. You ran your hand over it’s ‘head’, it let out little beeps in return, before excusing itself. 

Little sucker was probably going off to taser a tree or something.

“Seriously (y/n). Poe Dameron wants to meet you!” Rey said, resting a hand on her hip. “You know who he is?”

“Of course I do!” You scoffed. “He’s the best pilot the Resistance has.” 

“Yeah, well he wan’t to meet you because apparently he feels he isn’t anymore.” She said, a smug grin reaching her lips as you looked over at her in shock.

“What? Who replaced him?” 

She gave you a look, unimpressed at your lack of knowledge.

“Do you really not know?” 

“There she is!” A voice called from behind Rey, and two men came over right after. “Rey, is this the pilot?” the closer of the two spoke, resting a hand on Rey’s shoulder as he leant over her to offer you his hand. “Hey, I’m Poe.” He didn’t even wait for Rey to answer him. 

You took him hand, shaking it firmly. 

He was pretty to look at, you give that to him - with his curly hair and warm brown eyes. Ah, you remembered hearing about him.

“You’re the poster boy.” you said, smiling brightly at him. His face morphed into a shocked and slightly offended one - until you winked at him - then he laughed. 

“Wow, you’re awesome.” The other man with him said, and you offered your hand to him too. “I’m Finn.”

“Hey Finn, Poe. My name’s (y/n).”

Despite the face Rey had told them that before, only now did they put two-and-two together. You were the Commander from Nephimm. You’d helped get them off Crait.

“You’re that pilot!” Poe said, causing you to laugh.

“Yes, you’ve said I’m a pilot at least twice now, Commander.” Poe let out a little ‘Oh’, then regained his composure to point to your X-Wing. 

 “You always fly like that?”

“Habit.” you shrugged. “Everyone of Nephimm flies like that.” 

“Really?”

“Okay, okay, I can see where this could go.” Rey said, stepping forward to rest her hands on both your and Poe’s shoulders. “Finn and I will leave you - Poe to turn full fan-boy, and you to explain. We’ll meet up later, okay?” she said to you, and with your nod, she was off, Finn reluctantly trailing after her - he mentioned something about wanting to talk to you too, but was shushed when Rey said he could later.

“So, everyone on Nephimm flies exactly like that?” 

“Well,” you sharted, slowly starting to unzip your flight suit - that thing was hella hot, and a bit heavy, “Not really everyone.”

[juju-on-that-yeet]

Catch

Whumptober 2020 Day 1: Let’s Hang Out Sometime Prompt: Waking Up Restrained

Summary: MarkBop wakes to find himself kidnapped, and soon realizes he's only there as bait for someone else.

Warnings: Violence, non-main character death (one offscreen, one onscreen but non-graphic)

Read on AO3 (Full Whumptober Series)

Enjoy!

~

A moment ago, MarkBop was taking a walk in the city, not far from Ego Inc. Now, he’s groggily waking up in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by an unfamiliar pair of people, tied to a chair and gagged. He tries to scream, but the gag smothers the sound. His side stings like it’s been burned, his head aches. He doesn’t recognize either person in front of him; one a severe-looking man and one a short and prim woman, both dressed like scientists, complete with lab coats. They stare at him without emotion in the face of Bop’s growing panic.

“Good, you’re awake,” says the man. “Perhaps my associate and I can ask some questions while we’re waiting for your friend to arrive.”

Friend? It’s then that Bop notices a table beyond the two people, where an object is vibrating loudly. Bop recognizes the sound of his phone, buzzing as someone tries to contact him. Probably Bing, Bop guesses. Are these people trying to get Bing? Also on the table is a folder, a laptop, and a couple harsh-looking tasers. One is a simple stun gun, the other a high-tech, futuristic-looking device. Bop is certain that the pair used the stun gun on him, for the fancier taser looks as though it would’ve stopped his heart in an instant.

A taser like that could cause Bing serious damage.

“I’ll take your gag out if you agree not to scream,” says the man. “If you do scream, we’ll very easily make you quiet again.”

Bop doesn’t doubt them. He nods numbly. His mind is swimming, not just from his headache. He hardly knows what’s going on, nearly too overwhelmed to think. The gag is removed from his mouth and he whimpers.

“What–” he gasps, “Why, what–”

“How much do you know about the androids?” the man asks.

“A bit too on the nose, don’t you think?” pipes up the woman, speaking for the first time. She’s moved to the laptop, and is looking at the screen as she talks. “This is a top-secret mission, after all.”

“It won’t matter what he knows,” the man replies, “It’s not as if we’ll leave witnesses.”

Oh, that’s not a good sign. Bop whimpers again and starts to cry.

“Answer the question,” the man says, unmoved. He takes out a clipboard from his lab coat. “Or you’ll be re-gagged or worse.”

“I-I don’t know,” Bop sobs, “They, I mean, they’re stronger and faster than people, and B–Bing is, um, he h-has malfunctions sometimes b-but he’s still really strong–”

“Confirms our haunch,” the man hums to himself, writing on his clipboard. “Anything else? Anything more specific?”

Bop realizes it’d be a bad idea to say anything more. He continues to cry, but shakes his head. The man frowns.

“Did I not just tell you–”

“Let it go,” interrupts the woman, “The target’s incoming. I’m getting into position.” She grabs the mean-looking taser off the table and walks away, leaving the room through a side door.

“Who’s the target??” Bop cries, even though he already knows.

“You’ll see,” the man says. He quickly re-gags Bop, and Bop is too overwhelmed to try struggling. He trembles in his chair, waiting and hoping.

He hears a door open from somewhere a distance behind him. Bop doesn’t know what the space behind himself looks like, but he can tell by how the sound is muffled that there’s still one more door between him and Bing. He hears a hair-raising crackle of electricity, a bang, a thud, a series of cracks, and a pop. Each sound makes him cringe. It’s hard to breathe through the gag, through his sobs. The slam of a door makes him jump, and he looks over his shoulder, afraid of what he’ll see.

It’s Bing, unscathed, but angrier than Bop has ever seen him. His eyes are neon orange, so bright they hurt to look at. His hands are clenched in fists. From the hallway he just traversed to get here comes a strange smell, not unlike burnt pork. Despite how relieved he is to see Bing, Bop can’t help but feel a little sick.

“How did you get past the taser??” cries the scientist, finally expressing emotion.

“I’m a fucking android, dude,” Bing snaps, “I heard your accomplice or whatever from a mile away. The taser never even touched me. It got her pretty good, though.” Bing takes a few steps into the room. “The real question is what you wanted me here for in the first place. That giant taser must’ve been for me, right?”

“I’ll never talk,” the scientist says. Bop looks back to him to see him backing away. Bing advances, walking past Bop to confront the scientist.

“You and that woman underestimated me, didn’t you?” Bing asks, intensely angry. “You guys thought I’d be an easy target for whatever the fuck you wanted from me, huh? Your mind’s about to be blown, dickhead.”

The scientist tries to run, but Bing grabs him, seizing him by his shirt color and slamming him against the wall. His head makes a loud smack as it hits the wall and snaps forward after. He’s too dazed to even cry out as Bing reels him back, getting in his face.

“Why did you guys bait me?” Bing asks. Bop can see him shaking with rage. “Why’d you take Bop?”

“No,” is all the scientist says, voice thready and weak. Bop suspects he couldn’t say more if he tried.

Bing yells in frustration and slams him against the wall again. This time, Bop hears a deep cracking as the man’s head hits the wall, and when Bing pulls him back, his body is limp and his head lolls. Bing pauses.

“Aw shit,” he mumbles, “I think I killed him.”

Bop starts sobbing again, thoroughly overwhelmed, and Bing immediately tosses the body aside to rush to him. He pulls the gag out of his mouth and breaks the ropes keeping him in the chair. As soon as he can, Bop throws his arms around Bing’s neck and buries his face in his shoulder. Bing hugs him back tight and begins stroking his hair.

“It’s okay, Bop,” Bing murmurs, “We’re okay, we’re both safe now.”

“They, th-they were gonna hurt you,” Bop sobs, “They were g-gonna hurt me, or kill me, I-I don’t know–”

“Shh, babe, it’s alright. Don’t cry, no one’s gonna hurt us now.” Bing sighs. “I wish you didn’t have to see all that, Bop, I’m sorry. And I wish I’d been able to figure out who they worked for or something before I killed them.”

“Th-There’s a file,” Bop sniffles, “On the t-table, maybe there’s s-something…”

“Oh nice, good eye,” Bing says, encouraged. He kisses Bop gently before helping him up from the chair and striding to the table.

Bing quickly finds the folder Bop mentioned, and opens it up to read as Bop follows more slowly, still regaining his bearings. He leans against Bing as Bing reads over the folder’s contents.

“‘Project Sunset’?” Bing mumbles, reading the first sheet. “What the hell is that?”

“I th-think those people wanted you more than m-me,” Bop offers, “With the taser, they must’ve wanted to…to do something to you.”

“Lemme see…” Bing continues reading. His eyes widen. “Woah, ‘android recovery’…‘observational research’…‘conditioning of first unit in-progress’…‘execute second unit recovery on…’”

“On what?” Bop asks, confused and unnerved.

“Today’s date,” Bing gasps. “Bop, if I’m the second one they wanted, and they already got one, I think…” His face falls. “I think these are the people who took Oliver.”

Bop can’t help but cover his mouth in surprise. Oliver went missing weeks ago, and not even endless searching by the other egos, the other Googles included, have succeeded in finding him. It would take an extremely well-executed plan to make him disappear, but a group of scientists with access to the kind of tech Bop saw in that awful taser could probably do it.

“Who are they?” Bop asks. Bing searches everything over, and grunts in annoyance.

“I can’t tell,” he mutters, “There’s no company names, no corporate logos, no nothing. I can check the pockets of the guys who kidnapped you, but if their docs don’t have company names, their IDs might not have them either. Or they could have fake names.”

“Maybe there’s something on their computer,” Bop suggests, looking over at the laptop, still closed after the female scientists shut it down to confront Bing.

“Good call, babe!” Bing exclaims, kissing Bop again and making him blush. “It’s gotta be encrypted to hell and back, but I bet the Googles can break into it. I’ll take the folder too, those guys’ IDs, the taser too…”

Bing does find an ID on the male scientist, but it’s not conclusive on its own. Still, Bing pockets it and leaves into the hallway. Bop is about to follow when Bing stops him with a raised hand.

“Wait for me a bit, alright?” Bing says. “I mean, you already saw what I did to the guy, and you really don’t wanna see what I did to the girl.”

It’s a little terrifying for Bop, sometimes, to remember how strong Bing is. To remember that Bing is an android with the power to kill in the blink of an eye. Bop’s never felt unsafe around him, and he knows Bing would never hurt him, but it’s scary to know what Bing can do. So Bop only nods and lets Bing go into the hallway alone.

He returns with one more inclusive ID in his pocket and the taser, now turned-off, in one hand. He holds the laptop and folder in the other arm. He turns around, back to Bop, and looks at him over his shoulder.

“Hold onto me and close your eyes,” Bing says, “And I’ll lead you out of here so you don’t have to see…anything.”

Bop only nods, and obeys. He holds onto Bing’s shoulders and shuts his eyes, following Bing’s slow footsteps down the hall. It’s horribly unnerving to hear nothing but both their footsteps on the ground, to smell that awful burnt-pork scent still in the air, and to see nothing at all. Bop knows Bing is walking slowly for his benefit, but he wishes Bing would hurry up so they could get out faster. Finally, he feels Bing stop and hears him open a door. Bop follows him out and feels the sun on his face. When he opens his eyes, they’re outside, and the door to the building – an abandoned warehouse – has shut behind him.

“Hey, we made it!” Bing says, smiling brightly, trying to be encouraging. “C’mon, babe, let’s go home.”

Bop doesn’t have to be told twice.

As he walks alongside Bing, though, he can’t help but keep glancing at the objects in Bing’s arms, and wonder what they’ll lead to.

[barbariccia]

Shepard: What did you find at the other colonies?

on the way to freedom’s progress, we have a quick briefing with jacob and miranda, who clue us into the situation. so far we’re having a real mystery with the disappearances; there’s no signs of attack or struggle, no corpses, no alien matter. nothing but empty colonies gone dark.

it’s a... nice enough little place, if a little dark and dreary for the lack of people. lights turn on when you enter buildings, like the place has been waiting to welcome someone back home, and jacob remarks that it’s like everyone got up and left in the middle of dinner (though the set dressing doesn’t accurately reflect this so much as have some empty food trays on some tables).

but the closer we go into the complex, the more we know we aren’t alone. there’s mechs up and running; we can hear them moving around. and they’re hostile. the moment they see us, they open fire.

nothing for it but to keep on going. we open the door to one complex, and--

everyone draws their weapons - the three quarians, and our little cerberus team. it’s tense for a long moment, and then a decidedly familiar voice cuts that tension like a hot knife through butter.

the quarians she’s with aren’t happy about lowering their guns in front of cerberus operatives, but tali orders them to stand down, and turns back to us, her eyes shining through her helmet with disbelief. she’s upgraded her clothes! no longer wearing drab greys, since finishing her rite of adulthood she’s added some of her own flair into her appearance to a much more recognisable pattern, something that’s mature and still undoubtedly her all at once.

Tali:  Shepard? Is that... you’re alive?

Shepard: Tali’Zorah, you served on my ship. You know what I do to people who threaten me.

Prazza: Damn it, Tali, this is bullshit! Why would your old commander work for Cerberus?

Tali: I don’t know. But if this is shepard... I don’t know. Shepard would have a reason.

yeah, my reason is “apparently i owe them a life debt for posthumously saving my body and i’m not happy about it”.

Shepard: We can discuss the specifics once I know why you’re here.

Tali: One of our people was here on Pilgrimage. His name was Veetor. We came to find him.

Shepard: Everyone else is dead. What makes you think Veetor survived?

Prazza: We saw him when we landed.

Jacob: You saw him? Then why isn’t he with you already?

Tali: Veetor was injured, and he was always, ah, nervous--

Prazza: She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit’s CO2 scrubbers and an infection from an open-air exposure, and he’s likely delirious.

i’m not sure i ever got the chance to originally talk about the quarian design during my me1 playthrough, so this is a good a time as any to bring it up! the quarians dress the way that they do because they all have weak immune systems. now living in sterile conditions, they easily become ill if exposed to open air, which was always the case as their home planet had very few pathogens with which to infect them. anyone wanting to safely removing their suit must take immuno-boosters, medicines and other supplements, and there will always be the element of danger in this act. so for a young quarian, not considered a full adult yet, on a foreign world, to get sick...

tali tells us he’s hidden in a warehouse across town, and we decide to work together, much to the distaste of her crew.

Shepard: Your people really don’t like Cerberus. What did I miss?

Prazza: They killed our people, infiltrated our flotilla, and tried to blow up one of our ships.

Miranda: That’s not how I’d have explained it, exactly. It was nothing personal.

I DON’T KNOW, SOUNDS PRETTY FUCKING PERSONAL TO ME.

we move in two teams, and soon enuogh, prazza and his group race ahead rather than going slowly and helping us disable drones as we go. after a while, tali harries us on, urgent.

Tali: Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech! It’s tearing Prazza’s squad apart!

Miranda: They did want to get to him first.

i will not dislike miranda for the things she says without knowing her better as a character i will not dislike miranda for the things she says without knowing her better as a character i will not dislike miranda for the things she says without knowing her better as a charac----

tali opens the door for us, and we get to see just how good the quarians are at fighting.

... muy excelente.

we shoot the thing apart. tali’s off to the side doing what she can for her people, but it’s kind of a hopeless cause, and we leave her to it to unlock the door veetor’s hiding behind. within...

Miranda: Great. We come all this way, and our only witness is a babbling idiot.

this is the first time we can perform a renegade or a paragon action; you have your gun out for the renegade action, and i presume shep shoots the screens dead.  the paragon action has shepard tinker with their omnitool and close them down peacefully; veetor turns to face us, finally.

Veetor: You’re human. Where did you hide? How come they didn’t find you?

Miranda: Who didn’t find us?

Veetor: The... the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone. You don’t know. You didn’t see. But I see everything.

he turns the screens back on, and all nine of them show a patched-together piece of footage of the colony being targeted. there are insects swarming by the camera, and figures with silhouettes we don’t recognise lifting bodies and throwing them into a pile.

clue me in, boo.

Jacob: They’re a species from somewhere beyond the Omega 4 relay. Only a few people have ever seen one in person.

Miranda: They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercs. If they’re involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies.

Jacob: The collectors have advanced tech. They could have a weapon that disables an entire settlement at once.

Veetor: The seeker swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away. Machines like tiny insects.

Miranda: Sounds like miniature probes, maybe. Find victimes, then immobilize them with a stasis field or nerve toxin.

Shepard: What happened next?

Veetor: The monsters took the people onto the ship, and then they left. The ship flew away. But they’ll be back for me. No one escapes!

we can ask about the collectors themselves; they’re an enigmatic alien race that few people have heard of and less people have seen. jacob theorizes they didn’t find veetor because his environment suit kept him hidden from their sensors; miranda thinks it’s because they’re only targeting humans. either way, we can’t exactly ask them.

veetor gives us some data that he recorded from the swarms and the collectors, and miranda says we ought to bring him to TIM to be questioned further. the door opens behind us, and in comes tali.

Tali: What? He’s injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!

Jacob: We just need to see if he knows anything else. He’ll be returned unharmed.

Miranda: Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we’ll never get the intel we need.

SO UH THESE ARE LOADED LINES. whatever’s happened between cerberus and the quarians is clearly not a small issue. miranda takes offense to the fact that prazza’s group ran ahead of us, even - and boy i don’t like the association from “small group does thing” and “all group is bad because of it”!!!!!

Shepard: You don’t have to take Veetor and go. We oculd work together. Just like old times.

Tali: I’m still trying to accept that you’re even alive. And you’re with Cerberus.... I’ve got responsibilities now. A mission of my own. I can’t walk away from that. Not even for you.

i’m glad tali reached maturity and came out the other side after helping us fight saren with a responsible head on her shoulders. she cares for the people she works with, and she knows that she can’t just give up on what she’s already doing for the sake of an old friend... but still, it’d be nice to have her on board.

i let her take veetor back to the flotilla, and she gave us the datapad for our trouble. and with one final look back at the monitors, still showing the collectors and their human targets... we leave Progress behind.

[takadasaiko]

Second Chances Chapter Nineteen

FFN II AO3

Summary: The Avengers go after Stane, Howard struggles to find a way to tell Tony what he overheard, and the Stark household gets an unwelcome surprise.

Chapter Nineteen

It was far too early for as late as they had all gone to bed the night before. Not that she had gotten any sleep. Tony had tossed and turned, and even when he dozed she could hear him mumbling in his sleep, his mind still running a million miles a minute even as his body attempted to rest. Nothing worked to help calm him down, and around five-thirty she had felt him slide out of bed. Half an hour later she gave up too.

Pepper found her husband downstairs with a cup of coffee that he clearly didn't need and he had an earpiece in his ear. Cap, he mouthed when she caught his attention and she moved to the kettle to start boiling water for tea. Her gaze remained focused on it as she listened to Tony's hushed conversation. Surveillance had shown Stane entering the building, and from the sound of it Steve, Peggy, and whoever else was involved in the decision making were planning to slip into the building. A glance over confirmed that Tony had a tablet open and blueprints that he probably shouldn't have access to displayed. "I have FRIDAY finding the best entry point, but just eyeballing the security, I should be able to override the alarms for…. sixty seconds, maybe, before tripping the secondary systems." There was a brief pause. "Might be able to push it to ninety. Anything else and we'd need override codes. You want to move now that's what I got for you."

Pepper glanced over at the sound of the guest bedroom door opening around the corner and Howard shuffled his way in. He looked like he'd gotten about as much sleep as they had. Maybe less.

The dark haired man ghosted over to the coffee pot and poured a mug of his own before he seemed to notice that he was sharing the kitchen with two other people. He blinked owlishly, gaze drifting to where Tony had started pacing, his voice taking on that agitated tone he got when he felt like he was having to dumbdown his process. After all these years he and Steve still hadn't quite found middle ground when discussing the more technical aspects of a mission.

"Hey, you got a sec?" Howard asked in a hushed whisper.

Pepper nodded, reaching over to pour the water from the kettle into her mug and she followed him into the living room. She took a seating the couch, but he didn't immediately follow. Instead he moved nervously, glancing back as if to make sure Tony was still distracted. When he seemed to be satisfied by Tony's frustrated remarks into phone, he joined her on the couch and leaned in, his voice still hushed. "I need your, uh…. advice on something."

Pepper quirked a ginger eyebrow at that. This wasn't going to go well. "Shoot." He stared at her like he had no idea what she meant by that and she motioned for him to continue.

Howard took a long drink from his coffee mug, and when he lowered it, his gaze only darting to meet hers for the briefest moment. "I, uh…. couldn't sleep a wink last night. Kept tossin' and turnin' and trying to find a way to uh….." He sniffed, his mustache twitching a little as he did. "I'm not great at this."

"At what?" Pepper prompted as gently as she could.

"Asking for help."

The corners of her lips tugged upward a little. "Tony has trouble with that too."

"So I've noticed."

"Sometimes it's better just to jump right in."

"Right," he breathed. "Right…. IknowaboutObie."

With the way he ran the sentence together, it took half a beat for Pepper to put together exactly what he had said. That's when the dread hit.

"Obadiah Stane," he clarified, voice still hushed. "I know Tony preferred I didn't, but I wasn't gonna be much help if —"

"He did more than prefer," she said quietly, her voice firm.

Howard looked like he was quickly reassessing his expectations. "I didn't know," he finally murmured.

"That was the point."

"But now that I do, I can't just not do anything about it."

"Exactly the reason Tony worked so hard to keep you in the dark on it."

The dark haired man pushed a frustrated breath out through his nose, brown eyes meeting her own blue. "Look me in the eye, Pepper. Look me in the eye and tell me if you could make it so he didn't have to go through all that that you wouldn't."

She swallowed her immediate response and pulled in a breath that did very little to actually ease the tension that was building in her chest. It did give her just a moment to find the right words though. "It's not my call to make," she said softly. "I love him, but I also know him. I know how, if it's his to carry or not, he'll take on as much responsibility as he can manage and then add some more on top of it. I know that if he thought for even an instant that there was a universe out there where Thanos won, he'd never be able to forgive himself."

"Timelines find new ways to correct themselves."

"Maybe, sometimes, but then other times there are constants, aren't there?" She waited and he gave a stiff, reluctant nod. "If he's the only one that could have beaten Thanos in the end or just the only one in those set of circumstances, we'll never know for sure, but Tony will convince himself that it's all on him. He won't mean to, but he will. It's his choice to make, not mine and not yours, no matter what we know."

She waited a long moment and watched him work through it. He hadn't known Tony long, but she'd bet he had seen enough that he knew she was right. Finally, he loosed a long breath. "It's my fault. Only reason Obie would ever be in his life would be because of me. How can I live with that?"

"By knowing it's his choice."

He nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair. "Tell me it's not what breaks us," he whispered, and Pepper reached forward, her fingers touching one slightly trembling hand that was clutching his coffee mug like his life depended on it.

"You two had a lot of issues, but Obadiah wasn't one of them. He never blamed you for that."

"Okay," he breathed. "Okay. So I guess I shouldn't tell him I know, huh?"

"Oh no. You're telling him," Pepper answered, sipping at her tea and trying not to feel a little smug at the way Howard balked at the statement.

"You just said -"

"I did, but you told me and Tony and I don't keep secrets. With everything we face, it wouldn't work if we did. We have to be able to trust each other completely, so I'm not keeping this from him. That said, it'd be better coming from you. Just… wait until after whatever happens today happens."

"Guess I shouldn't distract him, huh?"

"Not if you don't want this to be harder than it already is."

Howard nodded, standing from his seat. He turned and tried for a smile that he almost managed. "Thanks."

"I'd say anytime, but if you ever put me in that position again…"

"No, I mean…. For everything that you've done for him. He'll be okay. No matter what, my kid's gonna be okay because he'll have you."

That pulled a real smile from her as she watched him turn, sauntering back off to the kitchen where it sounded like Tony was ending his call.

                                             _________________

Security was tighter than they had anticipated. He could still get them in without a problem - that had never been in question - but Stane's team had hidden the motion sensors and security cameras behind a different firewall. Something that wouldn't have been a problem at all if Tony could have been onsite. As it stood, he had to use his small window to get a smaller-than-planned team in to put a piece of tech that he'd designed himself in place to boost the signal. Once it was there, they wouldn't be able to keep him out. It was the putting it in place that was quickly becoming problematic.

"Remind me again why our resident tech genius can't just hack his way in and get remote access?"

Tony massaged the bridge of his nose, desperately trying to will away the migraine that threatened. It was like Barton was trying to remind him why, somehow, the kid had been the sensible choice to send in with his tech. Cap and Peggy were obvious no-goes, even with Peggy's proven ability to pick up on the technological advancements, neither of them were on par with what was needed here. Same with Barnes. Wilson had been a brief consideration. He was a quick study, but in the runthrough Tony had given them before they'd left their new base of operations, Sam had opted out of being responsible for it. He couldn't follow Tony's explanation while things weren't exploding around them. Rhodey would have been a good choice. While he wasn't necessarily design-minded, between his training and his long-standing friendship with Tony he had a good handle on intricate tech. He was, however, a stubborn bastard that hadn't let Tony upgrade the War Machine armor with nanotech, meaning that unless he wanted to leave his suit hidden outside the building and hope it got to him in time if things went south, he wasn't a viable option either. He wasn't exactly subtle when suited up. And while Tony was relatively sure that Clint followed more than he let on in a tech debrief… they couldn't risk him frying the delicate piece of equipment because he was too busy popping off to listen.

So that left Pete. In the fray of things with limited backup. Fantastic.

"Because I need the signal boosted to be able to gain access," Tony forced out through gritted teeth. "I need you watching Parker's back, Barton."

"Yeah yeah yeah. We got it. Don't we, kid?"

"Oh yeah, Mr Stark! Tony. Sir. We're good! Almost there!"

"I can hear you, kid. Maybe keep your voice down so every security guard in the building can't?"

"Oh. Right. Okay, we're here."

"Good. Remember what I told you?"

"Every word."

"That's my boy," Tony breathed out and let his gaze wander past his monitors. The only other soul in the room was Howard, who was hunkered down and seemingly focused on the 3D display of the building's blueprints. He'd been discussing strategy with Cap and Peggy - the three of them in their element, even if in a different setting than they'd worked together all those years before - but he'd long since gone quiet. Now it was almost like he was doing everything in his power to look busy. He'd been that way since they'd left the house that morning. With so much riding on the mission, Tony hadn't thought too hard about it, but in the high-tension lull that would have been filled with chattering any other time, Howard's silence was deafening and it was making his son even more edgy.

Tony tapped the mute button on his mic so that he could still hear Peter if he needed a refresher, but none of the team could hear him. "I swear, if Barton gets that kid hurt -"

"Parker's smart. He'll be fine." Howard didn't even look at him as he spoke and Tony thought he hadn't heard him sound quite as much like his father since he'd arrived in 2024. His tone wasn't comforting. It was like he was being brushed off.

"You good?"

That finally pulled Howard's attention towards him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't know. You've been quiet since we left the house this morning. Seem pissed."

"Just focused," he answered as he turned back to the blueprint.

"Mr Stark? I've got it linked up. What now?" Peter's voice echoed through.

It took half a beat longer than it should have for Tony to pull himself out of one conversation - or lack thereof - and to unmute his mic for another one. "All the wires in place?"

"They fit perfectly, Mr Stark."

"'Course they did, kid. I designed it. Light 'er up."

It only took a moment for his screens to respond, but as soon as they did Howard was on his feet and coming to take a look. Okay. So that interested him. Tony shoved down an old and familiar hurt that he didn't have time for. Instead he focused on the data and what he needed to do to own it.

Fingers flew over a digital keyboard as he countered the codes created to keep him out. They weren't a match for him, and a small, lopsided smirk tilted his lips as he won the brief battle. "Got ya. Look alive, kids. Sending the schematics your way. I've got eyes, so time to work for a living."

"Says the man on the other end of the comms," Barton answered, his tone light.

"Says the man that's gonna get you out alive," he answered, grinning as he flew through the video feeds. "Okay. So here's how the plan's about to change…"

                                            _________________

Once Tony was in Stane's systems, they were in. The element of surprise might only last so long, but that didn't matter when the tech genius had the ability to lock off sections of the building, effectively trapping guards and making it difficult for Stane's people to really respond.

The team moved relatively smoothly through the building and Steve could hear some of the light bickering over the comms - Bucky and Sam, Rhodey and Tony, and at one point someone popped off about the play by play Parker was giving - and he felt a small smile tug into place as he sent his shield flying to knock a gun trained on him off its mark.

"Are they always like this?"

He glanced over as Peggy straightened from checking her downed guard. "If the team's working, yes."

She echoed his smile. "It's a good team," she murmured, and he couldn't help feeling like there was more. Any hopes of finding what that might be were put on hold as Tony's voice echoed in his ear.

"I've got eyes on our baddie, Cap. Heading up to the roof to a helipad and he's moving fast."

"Sam and Rhodey?" Steve asked, already taking off up the stairs with Peggy behind him. If he didn't make it in time they needed someone that could get airborne.

"They've got their hands full, but as soon as they're freed up we'll send you some back up," Howard's voice joined in.

Okay. Then it was on him. He'd been in tighter spots before.

The super soldier burst through the door leading to the roof, seeing a chopper touching down. A tall man looked back at him, and while the scars that lined his face made him difficult to recognize from the pre-Iron Monger photos that SHIELD had kept, he knew it had to be Stane.

"I got him!" Peter Parker hollered out, and fraction of a second later Steve realized he hadn't heard him over comms. The kid dodged a shot at him, plugging up a weapon with his webbing, before a shock of energy sent him sprawling across the rooftop.

"Go," Peggy ordered and he nodded as they split ways - her towards the teen and Steve to do everything he could to stop the chopper from taking off. He threw his shield at the rotor blades, but another shot from their enhanced weapon sent it flying off course.

Stane was being ushered in and the chopper lifted back up off the ground. If they lost him here it could be some time before they found him again. He couldn't risk it.

His boot was firm against the concrete as he used the short wall circling the roof to launch himself off of, gloves hands catching the landing skids and using his momentum to swing up, legs wrapped around the skid as he climbed up.

The door opened above and he barely missed the energy blast aimed right at him, the weapon recharging for another shot. He moved fast, but not fast enough. The second shot clipped him hard in the shoulder and he felt his grip loosen and slip. The chopper rushed one way as he fell another, barreling straight at the street below.

He didn't hit though. He felt a hand catch hold of him, the familiar sound of a suit's propulsion rockets replacing the rush of air around him, and James Rhodes adjusted his grip. "I got ya, Cap," War Machine said as they started a much more controlled descent down.

They landed and Steve's knees buckled, hand going to his injured shoulder as a soft curse escaped him.

"Rhodey, you get him?" Tony's voice - more than a little worried sounding, but he imagined the other man would deny it if anyone mentioned it - sounded over the comms. "Cap?"

"I'm fine," he assured him. "The kid?"

"Shaking it off like a champ," Peggy answered.

Steve loosed a breath. At least there was that. "I lost him. Iron Monger. Tony, I'm—"

"We'll get him," his friend answered, sounding like some of the stress was dissipating from his voice. "Let's regroup and see what we've got."

                                            _________________

Captain Steve Rogers. Stane had heard somewhere along the way that Howard's old friend had finally been found and had made himself a pain in everybody's ass, no matter which side you leaned towards. The super soldier had led a team after him, compromising his hideout that he should never have been able to find. He had to have a source. Someone inside the organization that Stane had been putting together this past year. It was the only way he had found it so quickly. The only way he could have gotten the override codes for their security.

"Sir?" one of his men called over the noise of the rotor blades. He handed Stane a tablet. "Our hacker in Newark thinks he found our security problem."

Stane waved him off. "Take care of it. Whoever the leak is, I want them dead within the hour."

"It's not anyone from out side. It's another hacker. Even Marty couldn't get anywhere near him to get an idea who he was."

That caught his attention and he jerked the tablet out of the other man's hands, dark blue eyes scanning the information sent over a newly secured link. "That little shit."

"He's been trying, but —"

"It was Tony Stark."

"Okay…. we can —"

"Find him. Quietly. I gave him a chance to stay out of this and he dove straight in. It's time to make that little prick regret it."

                                            _________________

It was like being slowly crushed to death. He could feel the weight pressing down on his chest to the point that he wondered if he should have Tony's AI system give him a once over. But then Howard would have to admit why he felt that way and that just wasn't a good option with everyone out staring danger in the face. He just had to keep it together until they were safe. That was the plan. It was a good plan when they had thought they'd be able to bring Stane in on the first try.

Howard had to play dumb when Tony and Steve had booted him out, even as Peggy pushed for the latter to get a pro to look after his shoulder. There wasn't much of a point. He'd be healed up like he'd never taken a hit at all by morning. They talked back in a private room, the other Avengers with them, for what felt like hours. It wasn't. He knew it wasn't, but when all he had to think about was should he or shouldn't he tell Tony that he'd snooped and gotten ahold of the one piece of information that he'd been so desperate to keep from him, it felt like eternity. He wasn't sure that he could sit through an entire car trip back to the cabin that night with him without slipping. It had been everything he could do to hold it together all day, and even that had been done mostly by just… not talking directly to him. This whole thing would be so much easier if he could just pretend he'd never heard anything. He was a good liar. If Pepper didn't know about it, he could have gotten away with it.

But she did and so he couldn't, and damn it all he was regretting more life choices than he was comfortable with at the moment.

"C'mon, we're heading out," Tony's voice cut through his swirling thoughts as he strode by, patting his shoulder as he passed him.

Howard swallowed hard, steeling himself. Okay. He could do this. They were done for the night and maybe he should just come out with it. The last thing he wanted was for them to get back and Pepper toss it out into the open like a grenade.

He waited, jaw clenched tightly as he looked for the right moment where he was pretty sure Tony wouldn't just pull over and toss him out of the car. Not in town where he could get over to Steve's place for the night, but not so close to the cabin that his son would decide he needed to work on his directional skills and just dump him to find his way back if he could. No, this had to be planned just right.

"So you gonna tell me or what?"

They were just barely out of the city. Not good. It was going to be a long walk back to Brooklyn. "Tell you what?" he managed, hoping Tom wasn't toying with him. He could have talking to his wife, already had the whole story.

"What I did to piss you off."

Or maybe not. "I told you, I'm not —"

"Listen, you can bullshit anybody else you want, but the Howard Stark cold shoulder was a staple of my childhood. I know it well, and there was always something that started it off. Even if it was just, you know, existing. Unless you decided to hate me for no reason overnight, I'm guessing something set you off now."

"I'd never hate you," Howard managed, the knot in his chest only growing. If it got any bigger it was going to cut off his airway.

Tony snorted. "You say that now." He glanced over from the driver's seat as they sped along down the road towards the cabin and Howard drew a deep breath. He had to trust him. Trust him to get it. Trust him to be capable of taking a few steps in his shoes. His lips parted as Tony gave up, turning back to the road. "Fine. Don't tell me. I just thought you would —"

"Stane."

The car swerved dangerously as Tony slammed his foot against the break. Tires squealed and skidded and Howard thought he might know real fear as Tony turned to look at him, the rage sudden and palpable in the air. When he spoke his voice was low and dangerous. "What'd you say?"

He swallowed hard. "Obadiah Stane."

"You son of a bitch."

"Tony, I pieced it together —"

"What did I say about bullshitting me?" the other man snarled. "I'm not an idiot."

"Neither am I!" Howard snapped back. "You've been sidelining me on this, but I knew I could help you."

"And there it is. Are you seriously that arrogant? You are. Of course you are. You always thought it was your way or nothing else. I should have known you wouldn't do the one thing I asked you to do. Because you're smarter than me, right? Better? You can —"

"You want me to drop the bullshit, you first." That stopped him and Howard pushed a sharp breath out through his nose. "I get you're pissed. Maybe you got a right to be, maybe not. All I know is I'm doing the best I can to help you and you're tying my hands!"

"I'm trying to keep your timeline intact!"

"I know, and I'm gonna —"

"What are you gonna do, Howard? Ignore it? When Stane comes waltzing in you're just gonna put on your best smile and let it all play out?" Tony held his gaze for a long moment before turning to throw the car back into gear. "Thought so."

"What'dya want me to say?"

"There's nothing to say."

He opened his mouth to argue and Tony cut him off. "Whatever it is, keep it to yourself."

Howard slumped back against the passenger's seat, lips twitching down into a deep frown. He'd always been good at knowing what to say to get people to do what he wanted, but not with Tony. No, the kid had his number. He just didn't seem to care whyhe'd done it. He wanted him safe. Was that so bad? Was it so terrible that Tony'd be willing to spend what little time they had left hating him? If his reaction was anything to go by, apparently it was.

                                            _________________

Tony was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. He'd spent the majority of the day feeling like that six-year-old little boy that had been so desperate to get his father to pay attention to him all over again and at a loss as to what he'd done to be so thoroughly ignored. It wasn't actually what he'd done, he knew now. It was what Howard had done. That self-centered, arrogant bastard had done enough damage by hopping to the future to begin with, but he couldn't just accept this one thing Tony been firm on. It was enough to make him want to take a swing at him, and if he'd said one more word on the trip home Tony was about sure he would have pulled the car over and done just that.

"Listen," Howard said just as Tony thought maybe they'd make it inside without another fight erupting. "I know you think you've got this all figured out, but you don't know me like you think you do. If I say I'm not gonna let what I know change your future with Stane -"

"You didn't actually say that," Tony growled in response. "And if you did, it wouldn't matter. I doknow you."

Howard squared his shoulders. "I'm not the man that raised you. I'm not gonna be him."

"You will," Tony answered, "because that's who you are. Selfish, self righteous, and convinced you know better than everyone else, especially me. Guess I should thank you for making me see it."

"Tony…."

"Go to bed, Howard." He turned, refusing to look at him any longer. Refused to speak to him any more. If he was going to be any use to anyone else, he needed sleep. Arguing with Howard Stark had been and always would be an exercise in futility.

Tony trudged up the stairs, forcing one foot in front of the other. He saw the light on in his and Pepper's room and turned to the right instead to Morgan's. The little girl was actually asleep when he slipped into her room. She stirred only a little as he bent over, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Love you tons," he whispered.

"Three thousand," she mumbled back, never fully waking up, and he felt a warmth replace the exhausted rage that had threatened to pull him under downstairs. He straightened, lingering just a moment to watch her settle back into a deeper sleep, and he knew if he didn't slip out right then that he'd sit himself down in the rocking chair and be asleep before he could stop himself.

Pepper was stretched out on their bed, book laid out in front of her and she was dressed for bed. "Hey," she greeted, not looking back at him.

"Hey."

She put a bookmark into place and closed it before sliding off the bed to cross the space between them. His wife didn't say a word as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He sank into the embrace, his own arms around her and his nose buried in the crook of her neck. A sigh escaped him.

"Everybody okay?" she asked softly.

"Mostly. Cap took a hit, but you know how he bounces back. Pete too, which could have been a lot worse than it turned out. It just knocked him for a loop."

"Did you get Obadiah?"

"No." Her hands moved to his hair, smoothing strands back in a soothing fashion that had him leaning even harder into her. "Gonna put me to sleep," he chuckled.

She hummed softly in response. The woman knew exactly what she was doing. "You okay?"

"I wasn't anywhere near the action, Pep. Safe and sound behind my computer."

She pulled back and her blue gaze held his own darker one. "That's not what I mean."

Tony cringed a little, nodding towards downstairs. "You heard that?"

"Yep."

He pulled in a breath and started for the bed. Her hand drifted down his arm as he did, landing in his hand and she followed him, sitting next to him at the edge. "He knew about Stane. I don't really know how… he said he pieced it together, but he overheard something. He's just so…." Tony swallowed the building rant and looked back to his wife who was listening patiently. "You don't look surprised." He blinked hard. "You knew. Why didn't you say anything?"

Pepper sighed, not willing to release his hand just yet. "Because it was better coming from him."

Tony stood at that, pulling free and for the first time since he'd walked into their room he saw confusion flicker across her expression. "And what if he'd just kept it to himself? Were you going to tell me?"

The confusion evened out to a knowing look and she stood slowly, reaching for him. He pulled back ever so slightly, the movement reflex as he battled the rising panic he couldn't quite place, much less control. "Hey," she said softly, stepping forward and her touch was gentle but firm as she pressed her fingers against the side of his face and guided him to look at her. "I understand that you're going through a lot. Howard, Obadiah… It's a lot, but I am always on your side. You know that."

He struggled to keep his breathing even and her free hand moved to rest against his chest, palm pressed against the reactor. "Breathe, Tony."

He nodded, the motion jerky and uneven, but he leaned in when she did and focused on her as their foreheads touched. The feel of her hand, the sound of her own breathing, and her very presence. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I trust you. I do."

"I know you do." She squeezed his hand and he let his eyes drift open to meet hers. He found her searching his gaze, like she was trying to gauge her next statement very carefully. "It's amazing what we're willing to do for the people we love."

"Please don't try to rationalize what he did."

"How far would you go if it was Morgan?"

"That's not fair."

"Why not?"

He didn't have an answer for that and he hated it. At least the smile she gave him was soft, and so was the kiss she pressed against his lips. He felt her leading him back towards the bed, but he pulled back suddenly. "He's not him, is he?"

"Not yet. He has a chance to be better."

"I shouldn't have said what I did."

"And you can apologize in the morning. Tonight, let's get some sleep."

Tony nodded, leaning down to steal another kiss before turning to get ready for bed.

                                            _________________

"Daddy?"

The single word cut through layers of sleep and Tony jumped a little at the small finger that poked at his cheek, waking him. He reached up, rubbing hard at his eyes. "Hey, little miss. What are you doing up?"

"He said." She crawled onto the bed with him and Tony's brows drew together as he struggled to sit up. He glanced past her at the clock. 4:45 in the morning.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Pepper mumbled, the movement and their voices finally waking her.

"I don't know. Who said, baby? Howard?"

She wrapped her small arms around him. "The mean man in the kitchen."

"Honey, did you have a nightmare? FRIDAY, lights up to thirty percent." The instruction hung in the air with no response from his AI. Pepper reached over to the lamp next to her side of the bed and light flooded the room.

Morgan pulled back a little at that and her eyes were rimmed red. "No. The mean man."

Something about this wasn't setting right with him. "What'd he say?"

"He said come upstairs and tell you or… or he'd hurt Howard. He was really mean, Daddy. I don't like him."

"Tony." Pepper's voice was deadly serious from her place next to him and Tony pressed a kiss to their daughter's forehead.

"Hey, you. I'm going to go check for him, okay? Can you keep your mom safe?" He waited for Morgan to nod before shifting her off his lap. "That's my girl."

He threw the covers off and felt Pepper's fingers wrap around his wrist, her expression carefully masked so that she wouldn't scare Morgan any more than she already was. They both knew what could be waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Howard was down there, though, and if he was in danger he couldn't just leave him.

Tony moved to the dresser and punched a code into a locked drawer. It opened and he pulled what looked like a watch from it, fitting it over his hand and locking the piece of tech into place. He didn't dare go into what could turn into a fight for his life without something.

"Be careful," Pepper said quietly from the bed, holding onto Morgan.

"You too. Be right back."

Locking the door behind him wouldn't do much good if they'd already made it into their home. Pepper would just have to get creative if they needed to get out. He had every faith in her that she could and would.

He made his way down the stairs and towards the light in the kitchen. Armed men stood waiting for him and Howard was on his knees between them. He looked back around, the beginning of a black eye showing. "Tony," he breathed. "I'm so sorry. Is Morgan -?"

"She's fine. You okay?" He gave a nod and Tony looked to where Obadiah Stane stood with a bottle of his nice scotch and a glass in hand like he was a welcomed guest. He looked him over, taking in the scars that the explosion had left him with. It should have killed him. They had told him that it had killed him. Just another lie someone had told. "Obadiah."

"Tony." The way the older man said his name sent an old chill through him and he couldn't help but feel like he was on display. "Look at you. Busy as always. I'll admit that this threw me." He motioned at Howard. "Time travel. You outdid yourself. Again. Granted, I wouldn't have thought Howard Stark would be the one you went to. Maria, maybe, but I guess you always did have daddy issues, didn't you, m'boy?"

"What do you want, Stane?"

Stane flashed a smile. "Right now? An exchange. You hand over whatever piece of tech you have hidden away to finish the job you failed at sixteen years ago and we go have a chat."

"What do I get out of this?"

His former mentor lifted a gun and pressed it against Howard's temple. "I don't blow your dear old dad's brains out."

"Obie," Howard managed, his tone pleading. "You and me, we were friends."

"Once. Well, a version of you. The Howard I knew died years ago. Opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I plan to take full advantage of the ones Tony here can present." Dark blue eyes turned on Tony. "You for your family."

"Okay."

"Tony -" Howard called out, starting to his feet. The man closest to him whipped him across the face hard, sending him sprawling across the kitchen floor.

"I said okay!" Tony snapped. "Don't touch him. Don't touch any of them."

Stane reached a hand out and Tony knew what he was looking for. He unfastened the watch and held it out to him. The older man smirked. "You always were a smart boy. C'mon. We've got a lot to talk about."

He wrapped an arm around Tony's shoulders and pulled him along like he used before Tony had found out who he was. A liar, a thief, and a murderer that was determined to show him who was in charge of the situation that he found himself in. Tony swallowed the urge to fight him. Until they were far away from the people that he loved, he couldn't risk fighting him. He didn't dare.

                                            _________________

TBC

Notes: I wrapped up the writing on this chapter and thought 'huh, that's a long one. It might be 5K'. It's actually 6.2K after edits, but I just didn't have a good place to split it, so here you go. A monstrous sized chapter of action and kick to the feels. Everyone just really needs a hug after this. Except for Obie. Obie needs a kick to the teeth.

[braincoins]

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t know...”

“Please?”

“Okay, but... in costume? You’re sure?”

“Trust me.”

Technically, Lance was here to cover it for the site. 

I love my job so much.

He was getting paid to attend the first Starlight Con, where the geeks of the city could pay honor and homage to their superhero. And he had a press pass to get him into basically any and every event he could want to attend! 

Cosplayers were everywhere, most as Starlight, but he caught a few Paladins wandering around. The dealer’s room was packed with superhero-related RPGs, CCGs, video games, and comics. 

Lance spent a good chunk of time in the artist’s alley, which was full to bursting with fanartists, fanfic writers, and a slew of fancomics. These were the hardcore fans (aside from the cosplayers), and he interviewed a few (and let them promo their stuff in return).

“Starlight does so much for this city, and she really captures the imagination!”

“I think it’s important for my daughters to see a strong black woman hero. She’s their idol - and mine, too.”

“I just think she’s super hot.” Because of course the fanboy contingent was out in spades. Lance drummed up some controversy asking their opinions on Paladin, and there was almost a literal fistfight between two fans when one said he thought Paladin and Starlight should hook up and the other said that Starlight didn’t need a man. Convention Center security was right on that, thankfully. Lance quietly decided not to publish the video he got of the fight; it’d just be embarrassing for them both, and “nerds fight over their opinions” wasn’t exactly newsworthy.

He was taking a lunch break when he saw two people stroll in wearing the best costumes he’d seen yet. They were Starlight and Paladin, of course, and they were almost immediately thronged by con-goers eager for pictures. 

The Starlight cosplayer seemed a little anxious, but her partner whispered something in her ear, then grinned and posed for the cameras. She copied him somewhat uncertainly and everyone snapped away and thanked them. Huh, first time cosplaying, maybe? Well, hers, for sure. He snapped a couple pics as they walked by and went back to eating his overpriced hot dog. Lunchtime was sacred. Hopefully he could catch up with them later.

There was a panel starting at 1 PM about the need for superheroes in this day and age. Lance got there early for some good crowd shots, recorded the whole thing, and got some interviews with the panelists afterwards. There was a police representative who gave the standard “vigilante” line, of course. One of the panelists said she was a cop but stressed that her opinions were her own and not representative of the city PD before saying that she loved Starlight and was glad she was out there, but that she didn’t want normal civilians trying to do what Starlight - and this new one, Paladin - were out there doing. “They’re... unique. Let them do the dangerous stuff. There are so many other ways of being a hero: adopting a pet from the shelter, or adopting a child from foster care! Donating time and money to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Taking a moment out of your day to do something nice for someone else.” Lance got every word she said... but didn’t get her number sadly. Oh well; can’t blame a guy for trying.

Coming out of the panel, he ran into the super-good cosplayers again, but they were thronged by other cosplayers asking about how they made their outfits. “Starlight” was uncomfortable with all the attention and questions; “Paladin” seemed to be enjoying himself, saying it was a “trade secret” and he could tell them but then he’d have to kill them and making everyone laugh. Lance let them be for now.

He prowled around the dealer’s room some more. There were some modern day snake oil salesmen here, of course, claiming that their smoothies or drink powders or “super foods” would make you healthy and strong just like Starlight! Lance tucked his press ID into his shirt; they’d pounce on him if they saw a chance for free advertising. He did take free samples though; most of them tasted kind of chemical-y, but there was some sort of granola crunchie thing that was actually pretty good. Might not make me a superhero, but at least it doesn’t taste like cardboard dipped in paint thinner. 

The con organizers seemed to have segregated the wackos into one area. Most of them were obvious nutjobs, but there was one, run by what looked like a high school girl, that made a pretty compelling case for Starlight being an extra-terrestrial. “It explains her gadgets!” the girl declared. “Super advanced tech, like nothing anyone’s ever seen!” She leaned close to Lance to confide, “And I think her ears are actually pointed. I mean, what point in making them look like that otherwise? It’s not like pointed ears are a necessary part of a ‘starlight’ themed aesthetic, y’know?”

“You think Starlight’s a space elf?” he asked skeptically.

She frowned as she straightened up and folded her arms. “That’s reductive. I think she’s an alien who happens to have pointed ears. ‘Space elf’ is just silly.”

“Oh, sorry, of course. Thanks for the food for thought, though.” But, it was a good point: why did Starlight want her ears to look like they were pointed?

Most people weren’t interested in looking too deep into the gift horse’s mouth. They were just happy Starlight existed and was willing to help out. There was another panel at 3 of people who had been saved by Starlight. Lance had to run and it took a flash of his press pass to get in since they’d just closed the doors.

Heh, I wonder if Shiro’ll be here. Everyone at the paper knew that Shiro’d been saved by Starlight hundreds of times, probably. He was probably her #1 Most Rescued or something.

But, alas, no sign of his colleague. Some of the “panelists” were mundane - “Starlight helped me carry my groceries” - but there were some more exciting ones. One guy had been part of a small crowd evacuated from a Planned Parenthood when a wackjob had threatened to blow it up.

“I tripped and fell and I could feel my ankle give. Probably wasn’t broken, I thought - and I was right, as it turned out - but I didn’t think I was going to hobble out of there in time. But then Starlight showed up, picked me up, and ran out of the building.

“You all probably know the rest of the story: the bomb did blow, but it didn’t have enough force to do more than knock out some windows. Made a mess of the waiting room, though. And that was where I tripped. It might have killed me, or at least injured me a lot more.”

A woman saved from her abusive partner. A group of kids who’d not only been saved in the moment from a drive-by shooting but who had thereafter dedicated themselves to making their neighborhood safer, following Starlight’s example. A teenager who said he’d never met Starlight or seen her in person, but that following her crime-fighting career gave him a reason to keep going every day despite the bullying he endured for being trans. “She’s black, like me. When she’s not wearing the mask, I bet she has to put up with bullshit all the time. But she doesn’t let it beat her down. She keeps going out there and saving people. Knowing she’s out there lets me know the world’s not as bad a place as it seems sometimes.”

Lance interviewed every single one of them afterwards, even the little old lady with the groceries. No task too small for our hero, he thought with a satisfied smile.

He was about to leave for the day - the con went all weekend, and he wanted to file the report soon so maybe more people would come tomorrow - when he came across the couple with the awesome costumes again. Last chance! He called out, “Hey, Starlight! Paladin!” and jogged up to them.

They turned towards him; Paladin smiled widely but Starlight just groaned, “Oh my god.”

“Fantastic costumes! Can I get a picture? I work for the online version of The Daily World, and you’d be a great cover image for the story!”

“Anything for one of the citizens of our fair city,” Paladin said in a deep voice. I love it when they’re in character, Lance thought. 

“This is too much,” Starlight protested, doing a spot on impression of that weird, British-y accent of hers. “In the paper? Are you kidding me?”

“Really, you’re a knockout, both of you!” Lance assured her. “Best costumes I’ve seen!”

“It’s important to have only the very best equipment when you’re fighting crime,” Paladin agreed.

“You’re loving this,” she accused him.

“I absolutely am,” he replied with a wide grin. “Come on, Starlight. It’s for the paper.”

She sighed. “Oh, very well. I suppose it will look nice.”

“You gotta pose,” he told her, striking his own ‘Valiant Defender of the City’ pose in demonstration.

“Oh, this is ridiculous.” But she did her own pose anyway.

Lance snapped a few pics. “Perfect! Fantastic! I swear if I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were really them!”

Paladin started laughing, but then Starlight grabbed his arm. “Okay, that’s it, we’re leaving.”

“Aww! We’ve only been here a few hours!”

“That’s more than enough. Besides, if we’re too tired, we won’t be having any fun tonight.”

“Fun or fun?” he asked her.

“Either.”

“Okay, we’re leaving.” He waved at Lance. “Take care, citizen!”

“You too!” Lance said with a laugh as Starlight hauled him towards the exit. He checked his photos of them, which were all excellent, of course, chuckled, and headed out as well. He had a story to write.

{The Adventures of Starlight & Paladin}

[crypticbeliever123]

Chapter 6 of my fanfic on AO3. Please let me know what you think.

After her father’s passing Sara spent a lot of her time organizing the hunt for more fugitives. So far, they’d hunted down an ogre, a harpy, two gremlins, a basilisk that was nothing like the Harry Potter books described, a vampire that Mick was more than thrilled about killing and bragged about endlessly, and quite a few demons. Len hadn’t joined them on any missions since his return, not wanting to make a scene in his current form, which always happened as soon as someone saw a monster in their midst.

Despite knowing this, however, Gideon kept insisting that he go to join the others on the Bridge. So he did and when he got there he found Sara tossing him some sort of watch.

“What’s this?”

“A little something I had Ray whip up. Seeing as how you can’t really leave the ship looking like you do without drawing attention we figured you could use this to disguise yourself,” Sara answered.

“I call it a personal image inducer. It basically uses advanced holographic technology to cover your form with your human image instead of this. Not that there’s anything wrong with this look or anything. I mean it’s a decent look and-”

“Haircut, shut up.”

“I see,” Leonard nodded.

“Personally I think the gadget is a bit unnecessary. I mean it’d only take me a couple of minutes to whip up a good old-fashioned glamour charm-” Constantine began.

“Thanks, but considering what a huge failure you’ve proven yourself to be the past few weeks I think I’ll stick with the tech. It’s more reliable and Ray actually knows what he’s doing,” Leonard interrupted, slipping the watch on and activating the disguise.

“Aw, thanks,” Ray smiled at the compliment.

“I’ll have you know that I do know what I’m doing when it comes to magic. I just haven’t seen anything like this nor has anyone else that I can think of. You wouldn’t expect Edison to invent a time machine if all he’s ever known is light bulbs and phonographs, would you?”

“No, because time travel has nothing to do with light or sound, it has to do with time and quantum physics or whatever the hell it is. Meanwhile, what you do is just a bunch of spells and all spells have to do with is magic which you claim to be an expert on.”

“Alright, that’s it. You know I have had enough of you whining about how much of a screw-up I am just because I need more time to solve your petty little problems!”

“You wouldn’t think it was so petty if you were stuck in a twenty-four seven adrenaline rush with heightened everything driving you crazy, day in and day out. You think it’s so easy for me to be like this? Huh? Do you?” Leonard screamed as he shoved the demonologist.

“Alright that tears it!” Constantine shouted, balling his fists, ready to strike before Sara intervened.

“Would both of you knock it off?! I’m tired of the two of you fighting over this. Leonard, John will find a cure for you when he can. You have to be patient. No one in all of magical history has ever come across a changeling who couldn’t change forms anymore, so it might be a while before a solution can be found. And John, I get that Leonard can be a bit abrasive at times but he’s just as frustrated as you are, especially since he feels like he’s going out of his goddamn mind all the time from being stuck in changeling form for this long. So just both of you give each other some space and let’s get on with the mission, shall we?”

“Fine. What’s the mission?” Leonard asked.

“According to records famed monster hunter Van Helsing was spotted hunting an unidentified creature in 1848 Victorian England, which is odd considering that at the time he would have been about half the age he’s reported of being in these accounts,” Gideon answered.

“Shit,” Len muttered under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” Zari asked.

“I know Van Helsing. He tried to kill me countless times when I was in monster land. He’s a relentless, sadistic maniac who enjoys hearing his victims scream and watching them writhe in pain. Personally I think the only reason he became a monster hunter is so that he could kill something and not go to jail for it.”

“How’d a human end up in the monster realm?” Nate wondered aloud.

“According to the rumors back in that hellhole, he was trying to kill a witch but her magic versus his backfired and sent them both into monster world. The fact that he’s survived what might as well have been centuries as the only human in a land of monsters has made him a very, very feared individual amongst supernatural creatures.”

“Hold up. Centuries?” Wally asked.

“Yeah. Time doesn’t really exist in monster world. No aging just a lot of endless misery. Most of us just kept track of the days passing by tracking our sleep patterns.”

“Well however long he was there he’s out now and hunting something that we should probably also get to. Not to mention the fact that Helsing being a number of years in his own past could almost certainly screw up the timeline. So, everybody strap in and let’s go hunt us a hunter,” Sara said in her usually snazzy way.

“I love her send-offs,” Wally said with a big grin.

The team arrived in 1848 England and because of cholera outbreaks in the area were forced by Gideon to go to the Medbay to receive pre-emptive shots to prevent getting sick. After exiting the ship the team split up to search for Van Helsing and whatever creature he may have been hunting.

“Ugh, I hate shots. My arm feels all itchy now,” Mick groaned as they searched the area.

“No one likes getting shots, Mick, but would you rather your arm itch or would you rather start puking your guts and have severe diarrhea before ultimately coming to a painful and gross death?” Leonard asked.

“Fair enough. How’s the watch working out for ya?”

“Works well for a disguise but I’d really rather actually be able to change back into my old self. Seriously, Mick, I know people think you’re the hotheaded one between the two of us but when I’m like this I-” Leonard said before being bumped into by a pedestrian.

“WATCH IT!” Leonard snarled, grabbing the man’s arm roughly.

“Sorry. Sorry,” the man whimpered before running off.

Leonard sighed, shaking his head before turning back to his partner.

“See what I mean?”

“Yeah. That was even worse than when Red Jr. tried to take a photo of you to send to the Flash and you pinned him to the wall. By the way, the kid don’t accept stolen phones as replacements.”

“Yeah well he shouldn’t have tried to snap a picture of me in monster mode. Why he had to blab to Team Flash that I was even alive I’ll never know.”

“Could be worse. He could’ve-” Mick started to say before someone in the distance caught his eye.

“Mick?”

“Amaya?” Mick said, ignoring his partner completely as he ran into the crowd to chase after his former teammate who for whatever reason was in 1848 England.

“Amaya!”

“Mick!” Leonard shouted, trying to catch up to him before getting shot by a blow dart in the neck.

He turned his head to where the dart came from to see an unfortunately familiar face.

“Didn’t think you could get away from me that easy did ya?” Van Helsing said with an evil grin as Leonard passed out to the sound of sinister laughter.