Shield's Call for Help
CHAPTER 8: SHIELD'S CALL FOR HELP
"Daddy," Harry reached out with grabby hands, wanting to be picked up.
He was feeling very lethargic and needy since the start of Christmas break. Tony had been building a new Iron Man suit for 12 hours straight and just came up to grab lunch when Harry began pestering him.
"Daddy," the boy whined again, arms still up in the air.
Tony was already on edge from the lack of sleep that the moment Harry whined for the third time, he snapped.
"What do you want?!" He roared.
Too shocked at being screamed at, Harry only stood and tried to keep tears from falling. He sobbed out a quick "Nothing," and the ran to his room.
"Shit!" The older man groaned and raced upstairs to his son's bedroom.
Hearing quiet sobs from inside, Tony knocked and slowly opened the door.
"Harry?" He called out from the door. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."
His son was inconsolable, face buried on his pillow. Tony sighed and moved closer towards the bed.
The Stark temper never flayed a lot but when it does, it's always double the intensity. And the fact that Tony had not once yelled at his son before, Harry took it much worse.
Tony sat next to the boy and gently ran his hand through the long wavy hair. 'he's gonna need a haircut soon'
"Hare-bear, please look at daddy," pleaded the forlorn father.
Harry ceased his tears and turned to face his father ever so slightly. The over-tired and anxious Tony Stark immediately brought the four-year-old to his lap. He buried his nose on the top of the messy mop and murmured more apologies than he ever had in his life.
"I'm very sorry for being mean, baby. Daddy's just really tired working all night."
Harry sniffled, "It's 'kay, daddy. You need much sleep," He whispered and cuddled closer to man's chest.
"I know, I know. I haven't slept much lately, have I? I just want the suit done as soon as possible so you and I could spend the rest of the holidays doing whatever you want," Tony pressed a long comforting kiss on his child's head.
"Just want you, and Aunt Pepper, and Uncle James, and Uncle Happy." His small voice was gentle.
Relishing on the fact that Harry didn't turn into a spoiled little brat even after all the major spoiling he'd done, the billionaire decided to have a simple Christmas dinner instead of his usual trip to the Stark Mountain Villa in Aspen, Colorado. He had kept taking his little boy on various trips both in and out of the country and believed it was about time they celebrate something at home.
Christmas at the Stark home was anything but simple. He should have known nothing was ever simple for Tony Stark.
The California mansion became a total Christmas wonderland for both father and son. There were fake snow covering most of the living room floor, a huge train track complete with ridable train car surrounding the piles and piles of gifts under the most beautiful tree Harry had ever seen.
Harry never asked his dad for anything, but he still gets little gifts and trinkets every now and then. Tony wasn't alone on the pursuit as his Aunt and Uncle always have something for him whenever they went on business trips. Whether it be a new stuffed animal, clothes (Aunt Pepper bought him a hanbok once), or even just a simple fossilized shell one of them found. He personally liked those shells the most so he could add more to his small rock collection. Even Happy would always get him his favorite pastry from the other side of town when picking him up from school.
He thought he had seen the biggest pile of gifts on his birthday but seeing the one in front of him now had him throw the idea out the window in a matter of seconds. As much as he liked opening presents, Harry wished his father would stop over-buying gifts for him. He already had too many clothes and toys to last him a lifetime. He's always been a careful and sentimental child so he rarely breaks any of them. He still even carry his stuffed snake everywhere!
He remembered life in the orphanage and thought about the smiles on the other children's faces when donations come. So, when Tony asked Harry what he wanted for Christmas, the boy told him that he wanted to give some of his toys to Ms. Robins.
Tony can't help but be proud of his boy. Only four and already a philanthropist. He'd give the world just to keep him kind, innocent and sweet. He put up a branch on the original Stark foundation on the spot and called it Harry's Gifts.
When he told Harry, the boy was beaming. He hurriedly placed half of his toys and a few of his clothes on a box and written a short letter signed H. Stark to send it with. Tony also added a million-dollar check so they could take more children out of the streets. He had a lot to thank St. Mary's Home for the Children for giving him his son.
Knowing Harry had donated half his toys, Tony went on a major shopping spree to buy more. He was using the recent charity development as an excuse to over-indulge his son on presents. Especially since it was Christmas.
He knew he was spoiling the kid like hell. At least he was trying to as Harry doesn't seem to let him.
If it had been any other child, Tony might have drawn the line at 20 presents. He wasn't just gonna let his kid turn into a huge, sheltered, pampered brat whenever his demands aren't met.
But Harry.
Harry was different. No matter how much indulgence he'd give the boy, Harry managed to stay humble and compassionate.
It's not that Tony is spoiling him in purpose. Or that he's trying to push the child to his limit. Tony just couldn't help himself coddle and pamper the little cherub.
What Tony didn't know was that Harry also wanted to get him presents. He saved two months' worth of his allowance and asked Happy to take him to a jewelry store. He didn't want to use the credit card his father set up for him. Aunt Pepper sure was mad at that. She told him he wasn't supposed to give a four-year-old credit cards. It made no difference anyway as Harry hadn't even used it once. He simply had no use for that much money, so he had it stored on his desk drawer under his pile of artworks. His weekly allowance alone would last him a month.
The four-year-old, under the supervision of his driver-slash-bodyguard, bought a silver old-fashioned pocket watch and placed a photo of the two of them from the day the adoption was completed. He had the front engraved with the words 'to daddy' and the back with the words 'from Harry'.
The salesperson at the store cooed at Harry's adorability. Said he was the cutest and sweetest customer she had in years.
He also bought a charm bracelet with a little chess piece on it and a box of macarons for Nicholas. For Selene, he chose a necklace with a half-moon pendant and a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean from his candy stash.
He found a beautiful emerald green teardrop pendant for his Aunt Pepper. She always told him his eyes were the most magnificent shade of green and that she could just get lost looking at those emerald orbs. Harry got her the same shade so she would always remember him.
Uncle James didn't like jewelry, so Harry asked Happy to take him to a bookstore next. Tony was still busy building a suit in his lab so Happy had more than enough time to take the boy out on his endeavors.
Harry knew his Uncle James worked in the Military and that soldiers often ate food from packets (at least according to the YouTube video he saw with Nicholas), so he bought him a book on Finding Food in the Wilderness for dummies. He thought that if his uncle knew where to find food in the forest, he wouldn't have to eat the yucky food from packages.
James won't actually be needing the book, but Harry didn't know that.
Since the boy could not buy his present for Happy at the time, he decided to wait until either of his father or aunt and uncle would take him out for dinner, then he'd ask for them to take him to buy a new pair of sunglasses for Happy. He really seems to like them, Harry thought.
All-in-all, Harry would have to stop buying over-priced chocolate milk from the school cafeteria for a while. He spent all his savings already and even managed to use his emergency money. It didn't matter to him because to see his family and friends smile as they open his Christmas gifts for them was worth it.
Out in the ocean, Iron Man placed a Stark Energy Reactor on a pipeline transport.
"You're good on this end. The rest is up to you." The man in the suit notified through his suit and flew towards Stark Tower.
"You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper Potts asked on the other line.
Tony smugly said, "Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."
"Wow, so maybe our reactor takes over, and it actually works?"
"I assume, Light her up." Iron Man ordered.
The power is switched and the Stark sign lights up, making the tower stand out among the Manhattan buildings.
"How does it look?" asked Pepper through the monitor.
"Like Christmas, but more... me." Tony annoyingly gleamed.
Pepper went on to discuss public awareness campaigns and involvement of the press when Tony interrupted her and told her to enjoy the moment.When Tony arrived at the landing port right outside the penthouse and began to take off his Iron Man suit, JARVIS announced Agent Coulson of SHIELD was on the line.
Tony, not wanting to deal with anything else, Especially SHIELD, deadpanned, "I'm not in. I'm actually out."
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."
He ignored the call and went straight to Pepper who was staring at the monitors of the reactor device.
"Levels are holding steady... I think," she said.
"Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?" Tony jokingly boasted as he reached her.
Pepper rolled her eyes at the man and turned to look at him, "Well, ha, I really wouldn't know now, would I?", at which Tony immediately countered,
"What do you mean? All this came from you."
"No. All this came from that." She pointed to the energy in his chest plate.
"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit."
"Twelve percent?"
"An argument can be made for fifteen." The man negotiated.
"Twelve percent? For my baby? And Harry? Is he twelve percent to you?" Pepper knew it wasn't the case but he always liked to hear Tony express his love for his son.
The father in him instantly defended, "My Hare-bear cannot be measured by percentage." He dramatically clutched his heart-turned-arc-reactor as if Pepper had just told him the worst news possible. "And in any case, I couldn't give myself that much credit for Harry. He's a little angel all on his own."
Tony turned his head towards his son's bedroom and sighed,
"I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"
Pepper poured herself and Tony a glass of champagne, and grinned, "Not gonna be that subtle."
They flirted for a little while when JARVIS, again, informed him of a certain SHIELD agent.
"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten."
Before either of them could react, a familiar voice replaced his AI's.
"Stark, we need to talk."
Tony was pissed. He just wanted to have a quiet evening celebrating the success of Stark Tower while his son slept peacefully. "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."
"This is urgent," Coulson replied.
"Then leave it urgently." At that moment, the elevator door opened and the agent appeared.
"Mr. Stark" Agent Coulson greeted.
Tony ignored the man so Pepper welcomed him instead, "Phil! Come in."
"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent." Tony muttered, feeling a little put out on the interruption. Not to mention his son could wake up anytime and barge in. He had enough trouble with Fury knowing about Harry. That man was too dangerous and he'd die before he'd let anything happen to his little boy.
"We need you to look this over." He held out a file towards Tony, "As soon as possible."
"I don't like being handed things." Except when it's his four-year-old showing him his latest artworks.
"That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade." She passed her glass of champagne to Phil, took the file from him, then took Tony's glass of champagne while passing the file over to the man.
Tony sighed and said in a completely professional voice, "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."
"This isn't a consultation." Agent Coulson informed, looking a little fearful. At what? Tony didn't know.
Pepper interrupted, "Is this about The Avengers?" At the agent's look, she added hastily, "Which I...I know nothing about."
"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify." Tony commented.
"I didn't know that either." The woman maintained.
Tony huffed and rolled his eyes inward. "Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." If only they knew how well he played with his Harry, they'd eat shit.
Pepper just had to smile at that, "That I did know."
Coulson ignored the exchange. "This isn't about personality profiles anymore."
"Whatever. Miss Potts, got a minute?" Pepper walked over to Tony who placed the files into his own computer.
"You know, I thought we were having a moment," Tony remarked.
"I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken."
As she looked over the files, she asked, "What is all of this?"
"This is, uh..." Tony extended his arms and a holographic form appeared floating in front of them. It showed profiles and videos of different people (or being). There was a fighting Captain America, a roaring Hulk attacking an army, Thor battling God knows what in New Mexico, and one of Loki and a glowing blue cube.
"I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight." Pepper hastily announced at which Tony countered she should do it the next day.
She dismissed the idea as she stared at the hologram. "You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework."
"Well, what if I didn't?" He asked. "And what about Harry? If I go now, he'd know something's wrong. You know how he is." Tony whispered.
"Have Happy take him out on a playdate with Nicholas. Or I could take him with me." Pepper suggested.
"Yeah. No. You have work to do. The playdate is fine. He's been asking me about letting him visit his friends anyway." Tony agreed half-heartedly. He supposed Harry would be safer with the mother and son than he was in Stark Tower alone.
At that, Pepper went on to speak louder, just enough to make Coulson think they were still talking about the files, "You mean if you finished?" Well, um...then." She whispered flirtily in his ear, both to alleviate Tony's worries and annoy Phil.
"He'll be fine. He knows how to contact you. And you know Nick's mom. She won't let anything happen to Harry. Just don't forget to call. He'll know something's wrong if you don't call for too long."
Tony visibly relaxed at that. "Square deal. It's the last date." Pepper then kissed him generously before telling him to work hard and left with Phil.
Tony was left alone staring at the hologram and thinking about how he's going to come up with an excuse for Harry. His son always worried too much. If Harry ever finds out Tony's going on a mission, he'd flip.
He remembered when the boy discovered how and why Tony had an arc reactor on his chest. He was inconsolable for quite a while and refused to leave his side for days.
"J, contact Nick's mother for me." He ordered as he walked towards Harry's room.
"Yes, sir."
Tony crept into the child's room and gently sat on the bed. He wanted to keep Harry safe. If he'd have to go and find out what's even closely endangering his son's safety himself, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
The steady breathing and soft snores coming from the sleeping boy instantly calmed Tony. He brushed a few strands of hair and delicately pressed a kiss on his head.
"I love you, my little angel."
Right as Tony was back on the desk, JARVIS informed him young Nicholas' mother is on the line.
"Hey, Stella. Good evening." He greeted through the phone.
"Good evening, Mr. Stark. What can I do for you? Assuming it's you who needed me and not Harry."
"Yes, actually I was gonna ask you if you can take Harry on a playdate with Nicholas tomorrow." Tony inquired.
"That's alright. Nick has been pestering me about asking you to let Harry come play anyway. What time will he be over?"
Tony sighed in relief. "Happy will drop him off at 8 and probably pick him up after dinner if that's alright?"
"Yeah, no problem. Is he allergic to anything?" the mother asked over the phone.
"No, but try to avoid feeding him anything with onions. He's not gonna eat those anyway." Tony advised. "Oh, and ask him if he wants a snack around 3 pm. He usually gets hungry by the time but he won't ask for it. You know what? I'll just put food on his backpack. He's probably gonna say no when you ask anyway."
"Got it. I'll see Harry tomorrow. Goodbye, Mr. Stark."
"Thanks Stella. I owe you one."