Chapter 4
After the conversation with his father, Stiles finished packing and spent the whole night preparing the house for his departure. He lined the house with mountain ash, like Deaton had done to Melissa’s home. Once again wondering why she had been the only one to get the special treatment. That druid only had eyes for the true alpha.
It surprisingly only took an hour to teach his father how to put the barrier up and wield Mountain ash.
He showed his dad all of his weapons and how to use them properly, including the wolfsbane bullets that he had managed to get out of Chris Argent before the hunter had left for France.
If Stiles had to leave, he would at least leave his father protected as much as he could.
As the sun rose on the horizon, Stiles managed to sneak off to the airport with no one the wiser, preferring not to make a scene.
His dad was the only one in the know, giving him a huge hug goodbye before he left, ordering him to call every few days.
Stiles had not flown very often but he had taken enough trips with his dad to know that how fast he got into first class was something to be impressed about.
The seats were super plush and comfortable and the food was amazing.
If he fell into a food coma on the flight over, no one but he and the flight attendants would be the wiser.
He was gently shaken awake by the flight attendant when they landed and groggily grabbed his carryon and exited the plane.
Once he finally made it through the gates, he didn’t even need to look around to find his drive.
The whole crowd stood staring at the men standing in the middle of the airport, holding a sign that just read "Stiles."
Stiles beamed as he headed towards the two men, not even self conscious anymore about the fact that he was wearing an Iron Man t-shirt and Captain America converse.
Tony stared back at him behind his sunglasses, brow raised, while Cap gave him an amused smile.
He stopped in front of the two men shaking hands with Cap who clapped his back in a brotherly manor and Tony gave him a quick hug and back slap before pulling away and grumbling. "Why are you wearing an Iron Man T-shirt?"
Stiles shrugged "I may, or may not own more superhero t-shirts and plaid shirts than I do anything else."
Tony groaned. "Oh god you're a fan boy, back on the plane with you."
Stiles and Cap both laughed as they all headed towards baggage claim to pick up Stiles things.
People still eyed them all as they went, making Stiles slightly nervous.
Tony noticed and shrugged. "Better get used to it kid, pretty soon everyone is going to know who you are."
Stiles frowned, clearly confused and Steve huffed. "Come on Tony, your being evasive and most likely scaring the kid."
Stiles scoffed. "It takes more than that to scare me; I'm just wondering what job Tony has in store for me. He's been really tight lipped about it."
Steve chuckled. "He's also really gleeful about all the people it's going to piss off."
That made Stiles even more confused but Tony cut them both off. "I'll explain once we have you settled in at the tower."
Stiles stopped mid step, foot slowly lowering to the ground before Tony turned around to stare at the wide eyed boy as he stammered. "I-I'm going to be living in the Avengers tower? I thought you were just going to help me find an apartment or something..."
Tony shrugged. "We have plenty of available rooms. Plus it'll be a lot easier for us to have you close for the job we have in mind for you."
Stiles curiosity was killing him the whole trip as he sat in the back of Tony's sports car, Steve giving him small amused glances, knowing it was killing him not to hound Tony about the job.
When they arrived at the tower, Stiles craned his neck to stare up at the top of the tower in awe but was quickly ushered in by an excited Tony.
He was dragged past security and onto the private elevator that brought them into a posh looking corridor which reminded him of a fancy hotel or condo. "Everyone has a room here. A few of the team have other places as permanent residence but Steve and I both live here full time. I have the penthouse of course; Steve willingly picked one of the smallest rooms, why I really don’t know. Here's your door. Go on in."
Stiles stared at the door with awe; Tony had his Lacrosse number etched into the door, the cursive 24 looking way too elegant to be his number.
He finally opened the door and was awed at the size of the room. It was clearly meant for long term stay. The living room and kitchen were open concept with huge windows looking onto the New York skyline. The decor was very sleek and contemporary with a mix of wood, marble, stainless steel and white, which Stiles was petrified to get dirty.
Tony waited impatiently for his reaction before Stiles finally turned, smiling. "I love it, Thanks Tony."
Tony snorted. "You haven’t seen it all. Jarvis lower the screen and open the entertainment system."
With barely a whir, a huge screen descended on the main wall and two large shelves opened up from the wall, filled with gaming consoles and games.
Stiles eyes bugged out and he stood speechless.
Tony smirked. "I'll have you know, I'll be over regularly to kick your ass at Call of Duty."
Stiles mouth closed with a click before he huffed. "You’re on! Though seriously, thanks for this. This is amazing."
Tony shrugged and motioned for the bedroom. "Go check out your bedroom and bathroom and see if I need to make any changes."
Stiles stared at the walk in large king size bed and the walk in closet with awe before turning to Tony. "I don't have anywhere near enough close to fill that closet and that bed is way too big for one person."
Tony chuckled. "You’re eighteen Stiles, I'm sure you'll have someone to share it soon enough."
Stiles blushed before moving on to the bathroom with actual Marble and a huge soaker tub that could fit four people and a walk in shower with multiple shower heads. "What kind of person needs this huge of a bathroom, Tony?"
Steve chuckled. "I told him the exact same thing but he wouldn’t listen."
Tony shrugged. "I can afford it and I figured we wanted to keep you happy what with you being our new Liaison."
Stiles gaped. "A what?"
Both men smirked. "You’re going to be Liaison between us and anyone who wants to use us for missions, mainly S.H.I.E.L.D, so that their not trying to pin us with missions that their people can easily handle themselves. Mainly, you are going to be our right hand man."
He blinked for a moment, not quite sure he had heard what had come out of Tony's mouth. So many things wanted to blurt out of Stiles mouth and yet the most ridiculous was the first to spring free. "Well there goes my idea of trolling you guys by wearing Avengers T-shirts all the time."
Tony and Steve both chuckled before Tony replied, smirk firmly in place. "Kid, I can revamp your wardrobe but the idea of you showing up at your first meeting with Coulson with an Avengers t-shirt on would be priceless."
Steve laughed. "He is all about uniform; I think that would drive him nuts."
Stiles huffed. "Guys, if I’m going to be a representative for you guys, I'd rather not look like a broke high school student. Which technically I am..."
Tony raised a brow. "Kid, you’re working for me now. You are nowhere near broke. Pepper will be over with my attorney later tonight to get you to sign the paperwork and contracts. She's just glad she won't need to be both CEO of Stark Industries as well as Liaison, besides; she and Phil are way too close. She was going soft on him. As for clothing, we can always go shopping. Consider it a work necessity, we can charge it to the accounts. We'll leave you to get settled and unpacked. The fridge is stocked and Jarvis is patched into your apartment if you need anything just ask him. He can also be your personal DJ if you want. We have a gym and pool as well as an open entertainment area if you want some company there’s usually one of us there. Jarvis can let you know directions or even where we are if you're looking for any of us."
Stiles nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed but relaxed a bit once he was left alone to unpack.
The unpacking itself took no time at all and took one tiny corner of the walk in closet.
Once he was done he started exploring the apartment, noticing little things like the top of the line cell phone that wasn’t even out in stores yet and the laptop on the desk that put alien ware to shame.
Tony had spared no expense tricking out Stiles apartment.
He quickly logged into Skype on his new phone and called his dad, knowing he would be waiting impatiently to know he had arrived safely.
Something eased inside his chest at the site of his dad, staring back at him on the screen, relief clear on his face. "Hey, Kid. Made it safely to New York?"
Stiles grinned. "I did. And you will never guess where I'm staying. The avengers Tower! Tony wants me to be Liaison between the Avengers and any military organizations that want to request the use of them. I just hope I can do a decent job. I mean, I've been telling the pack what to do semi successfully for a while now and have been raised around the Police department so I do have some experience but I've never managed superheroes before."
The Sheriff's eyes widened in surprise. "That's a damn big title kid. I'm proud of you. He wouldn’t have asked you to do it if he didn’t think you were up for the job. I have faith in you."
Stiles smiled at his dad, before changing the subject. "So let me show you around my new pad. It's pretty amazing."
Pressing the button to invert his camera he started showing his dad around the bedroom and bathroom before moving to the living room and kitchen, making Jarvis close the entertainment system and finally showing him the New York skyline.
His dad whistled impressed but when Stiles looked at him he could see that little crease of worry on his forehead, the one that usually meant he was worried about something but didn’t want to mention it. "Come out with it, Dad. What's worrying you?"
The Sheriff hesitated but then finally spoke. "You're sure he hasn’t asked anything of you right? Like.... You're fully consenting and he hasn’t tried to do anything to you?"
Stiles snorted. "Dad, I promise you I am not a kept boy and no one has behaved in any way untoward. I can’t believe I used that word..."
His dad snorted but looked relieved. "Just if you ever feel uncomfortable, just know you can always come back or we have family you can go live with if you don't want to come back to Beacon Hills."
Stiles smiled back at his dad. "Don't worry. If I ever feel uncomfortable at any point, you will be the first person I tell."
There was a knock at his door and Stiles bid his father goodnight before he answered the door to greet a gorgeous strawberry blonde who could be none other than Pepper Potts accompanied by a rather green skinned woman, who was beautiful in her own rights, dressed in tight pencil skirt and shirt and vest combo that should not look as good as it did.
Pepper smiled extending her hand. "Hi, Stiles. I'm Pepper Potts, and this is Jennifer Walters, Tony's Attorney."
Jennifer smirked. "He wishes. I don't take on most of his big corporation cases. I accepted this one to make sure you didn’t get taken advantage of to be honest."
Stiles gaped as he realized who he was standing in front of. "You're She-Hulk!"
Stiles accepted the hand she extended and let it be shaken limply, too shocked to reciprocate. "That I am. Though right now, I'm the attorney that’s here to make sure that you both understand and feel that the contract is to your liking."
They all sat at the kitchen table as they went through the papers, showing an exorbitant wage and an advance that would set him up for a long time. The regular privacy agreements were pretty straightforward as well as a list of Stiles tasks as Liaison. There was also an agreement that Pepper would train him for a few months before fully giving over control to Stiles.
Jennifer eyed him seriously as he reached to sign the final paper. "Just know that if at any time you feel like you don't think you can handle this job or don't feel safe or comfortable you can back out of the job with no repercussions. There is a hefty severance package set up for you as well should anything happen that the avengers decide they want to let you go. Mr. Stark has full faith that you are the man for the job and does not want you to feel trapped in this."
Stiles shook his head. For the first time, people were asking for his skills instead of looking him over as the weak human. He wanted to do something worthwhile with his life and this looked like it could be it.
He signed with a flourish and the two women smiled, shaking his hand before pepper pulled him into a tight hug, exclaiming. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you! If I had to be the go between for Tony and Coulson one more day, I was going to jump off the roof."
Stiles laughed and bid them goodbye as they waved and left.
Being left alone in his new apartment, it took him no time to start feeling antsy, needing something to do.
He looked around before finally speaking. "Jarvis?"
The voice echoing around him made him jump. "Yes, Sir? How may I be of service?"
Stiles tried very hard not to fan girl over the fact that he was speaking with an honest to goodness Artificial intelligence. "What is there to do around here that's fun?"
Jarvis spoke, his British accent, oddly soothing. "There is a Pool on the Thirtieth floor as well as a gym and a sparring room. The twentieth floor has a gun range and the twenty fourth floor has a full scenario room for training exercises. I would suggest staying away from that floor unless accompanied by a member of the avengers. May I suggest the gym if you would like to burn off excess energy? Mr. Stark and Mr. Barton are currently using the facilities and would provide company."
The idea of running off some excess energy felt compelling.
Ever since the Alpha pack had rolled into town, Stiles had stuck to a regimented workout routine, hoping to give himself some form of chance of survival.
He wasn’t about to let that go now that he had a desk job.
Changing into some sweats and a t-shirt, he grabbed his iPod and exited his room, letting Jarvis guide him through the corridors and elevators to the gym, where Barton and Tony were talking smack as they used the weights.
They both nodded to Stiles in greeting as he walked in, Tony grinning. "I was wondering how long it would take you to make your way down. Hopefully Pepper didn’t scare you off of the job."
Stiles laughed. "She was pretty happy that I'm taking over the position. I can only wonder why."
Tony shrugged. "I may or may not like to egg Coulson on."
Barton huffed. "That's putting it lightly. You make him jump through hoops."
Tony shrugged. "He honestly doesn’t need us for half the stuff he requests our help for. Just because you are secretly in love with the guy, doesn’t mean I'm going to go easy on him."
Stiles couldn’t help the smile that crept up his face at the familiarity the two showed as they bickered about Coulson.
Leaving them to playfully argue, he walked over to the nearest treadmill and put his ear buds on, pressing play on his favorite workout playlist and looked over the treadmills settings before setting it up for a gradual walk to run with inclines so he would get a decent cardio workout and allowed himself to get lost in the tempo.
It wasn’t until he had finished his half an hour run that he realized that Tony and Barton were looking at him thoughtfully.
Taking his ear buds out he stepped off of the treadmill and raised a brow, wordlessly questioning them as he took in deep breaths.
Tony shrugged. "We were thinking that since you’re going to be liaison, you're going to be well known and a target so it would be a good idea to get you trained."
Stiles nodded. "I've been training both by myself and with the pack for a while now. I had no plan of letting that drop just because I have a desk job now."
Tony snorted. "I wouldn’t exactly call it a desk job; you'll be doing plenty of running around and will sometime accompany us to things."
Barton nodded in agreement. "Nat and I can work on your training, set you up with some hand to hand and basic weapons training as well as a good training schedule. You look like you're in decent shape but we want you in top shape."
Tony clapped his hands. "Anyway, that's enough serious talk, how about we give Stiles a tour."
Stiles was swept into a long tour of the tower. The place was huge, filled with so many different departments. The training room was amazing, set up for all sorts of different fighting scenarios and obstacle courses. The top floor was Tony's tinker room, Stiles words not Tony’s. Tony called it his workshop. Stiles was almost overwhelmed trying to remember everything until Tony reminded him that Jarvis could guide him anywhere he wanted to be.
The final stop was right on the middle floor, which amused Stiles that they didn’t work their way up or down floors.
They walked down a corridor until they walked into a room with a few cubicles with people busily typing at their screens.
Tony grinned as he waved around. "This is my intelligence team. They are some of the best in the world. They make sure our systems are impenetrable and also help crack other systems for us."
Stiles drifted off after that, his gaze focusing on the back of a specifically tanned neck who had a cubicle facing the window. Stiles knew the back of that head. He had sat behind it for years.
His feet started walking before he was even aware of it, marching over to the boy and turning his chair to face him.
Dimpled cheeks grinned back at him. "Hey there, Stiles."
Stiles gaped back, for a few moments before finding his words. "Danny!? But... What? Why? How?"
Danny looked sheepish. "A drunken dare that went wrong. The night after I broke up with Ethan I went on a pretty major bender and one of my buddies dared me to hack shield. I was successful of course but with that much alcohol in my system I didn’t cover my tracks as much as I should have. I woke up the next morning with a hangover from hell and Phil Coulson, looming over my bed. I got the black bag treatment and got dragged into an interrogation room. I was about to get thrown into a super top secret prison before Tony stepped in and demanded me for his intelligence team."
Tony smirked. "Technically I hacked his coms and called dibs. They wouldn’t have stuck you in a prison; they would have made you their whipping boy, hacking everything they wanted. They already have Sky, they don't need two super genius hackers."
Danny grinned, dimples flashing and shrugged. "Sorry I couldn’t send word. My parents were told but I can't really tell anyone I'm working as a hacker for Stark Towers. Confidentiality agreements and all that. It's really nice to have someone from home to talk to though. I'm glad you're here Stiles."
Stiles felt just as thankful that he wasn’t completely alone. He grinned playfully at Danny. "I always knew you liked me."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret wanting to be friends."
Stiles scoffed. "Tony tricked me out with a pile of games. Come up sometime and we can game."
Danny grinned, nodding his agreement as Tony pulled him away to finish touring the floor."
He eyed Tony suspiciously. "You knew Danny and I went to school together didn’t you?"
Tony smirked. "Yup, and that you knew each other. I figured I'd keep it a surprise to see your reaction. It was completely worth it."
Barton snorted and Stiles rolled his eyes as they kept walking down the corridor to the elevator and pressed on the top floor.
Stiles frowned. "We've been on that floor before Tony."
Tony shrugged, trying to look innocent. "Figured you might want to see your office."
Stiles perked up as the doors opened and they exited, following Tony as he moved to the first door on the right, passing a pretty little blonde who gave them all a smile. "Hello Mr. Stark, Mr. Barton."
The billionaire smiled back. "Morning Julia. This is Stiles. He's going to be head of Liaison, once Pepper is done training him. Stiles meet Julia McCormack. She is going to be your personal assistant."
Stiles felt a little floored at the fact that he was going to have a personal assistant. Let alone that she was going to be older than him by a few years. That dark voice in the back of his head telling him there was no way someone like her could be happy with having someone so young be her boss."
She looked surprised but didn’t seem taken aback. "I didn't expect someone so young to be honest but if you handpicked him, there must be a reason."
Tony grinned back at Stiles. "Stiles is more than he seems. He is just what we need for the job. Just make sure you support him."
She smiled and nodded and Stiles couldn’t help but like her. She seemed genuine, not trying to kiss up to Tony at all.
Stiles got ushered into his office and gaped. The space was huge, with a breathtaking view of the skyline. It was the kind that corporate grunts broke their backs over for years to get. And yet here he was at eighteen, being given a sleek, plush top of the line office with a large working desk and conference table and sitting area.
Tony walked to the middle of the office arms extended. "You are going to be the one deciding what missions are worth us taking on and which ones can be dealt with internally within their own departments. You are most likely going to be entertaining lots of military personnel who will try to barrel over you or bully you because of your age and size, though with your workout routine, the size thing will most likely change. So we made sure you have the best Assistant and an office that makes a statement. I'll take you shopping for the Wardrobe change also. Though if you want to throw them off with Avengers graphic t-shirts feel free, I would love to see their faces. You may be a bit nervous and overwhelmed at first, but trust me, once Pepper is done with you, you will be a wall that will not budge under pressure. They will also underestimate you, let things slip around you that they wouldn’t with someone like Pepper. You’re smart enough to use that to your advantage. They have been known to lie to try to get us to take missions before. It's gone bad when they did."
Stiles frowned, looking concerned. “They are lying to you to get you to take missions? That could get you guys killed! I’m starting not to like this Coulson guy.”
Barton was quick to chime in at that comment. “Coulson will only omit truths if necessary and never anything that could compromise a mission. It’s the military you have to watch for blatantly lying to get us to take missions.”
Stiles felt Tony’s hand on his shoulder, grounding him. “Don’t worry; we’ll make sure you are more than aware of who to watch out for. I have faith in you kid.”
Stiles squared his shoulders, feeling determined.
Tony believed in him and his abilities. It was a new feeling, being trusted instead of second guessed and Stiles would make sure that Tony never had the chance to regret the decision. The avengers were now his team and he would make damn sure that each and every one of them was taken care of. No one would be taking advantage of them on his watch.
He turned to Tony and grinned. “I’ll have the teams back, don’t worry Tony.”
Tony smirked back, looking smug. “Of course you will. I don’t hire idiots.”
Stiles sputtered and was left to catch up as Tony exited the office, Barton giving him an amused look as he followed.
Working with the Avengers was definitely going to be interesting and Stiles couldn’t wait to start.