A friend of Tony stark
"Uh..." Harley didn't know what to do, his first reaction being to quickly close the garage door. "I don't know you."
You smiled a little. "I'm a good guy, trust me."
"But how did you know my name?"
"Because a friend of yours is also a friend of mine."
That made him more confused. "I have no idea what's going on."
"Sorry." You chuckled. "'The Mechanic'."
The boy's eyes turned wide. "You know Tony?"
"Sure do." You started to look around, paying close attention to the potato gun on the desk. "Mark II, huh? Where's the first?"
Harley was hesitant for obvious reasons but eventually showed you a colorful little gun which was hidden behind a small trash can. Still quite awkwardly, he handed it over.
"Hey, I promise I'm cool." You assured him, taking the gun and assessing it for a moment. "Barrel's a little long."
"And the gauge is too wide, I know. That's what he told me."
Giving the Mark II another once-over you pursed your lips. "All the same capabilities but with more power? The loading slot's pretty cool."
Harley nodded a second time. "Yeah. Are you smart or something?"
"I like to think so. Maybe even as smart as you."
He smiled a bit before turning more serious. "What's your name?"
"Like I said, a good guy."
"Isn't that exactly what a bad guy would say?"
"Hmm. Maybe."
As you walked around a bit, Harley watched your every move. There was something about you that he recognized but he didn't know what it was. It could have been the way you spoke or the way you looked, but he definitely knew you from somewhere.
"How did you meet Tony?" You then asked, taking a seat in the small area with the vending machine. Harley didn't move at first so you offered another smile. "Come on, take a seat. I won't bite."
After thinking it over, he complied and sat opposite you. He kept looking around and you could tell he was nervous.
"I sorta just.. Found him here." He confessed.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Kinda like you now."
"I would've called in advance but I decided scaring people is more fun." You teased. "So, you must have known him pretty well for him to help out with this place."
"I guess. I helped him out with some stuff."
"Like a sidekick?"
He frowned. "I'm not a sidekick."
You raised a hand in defense and laughed quietly. "My bad."
"He just needed help finding someone. And I got to see his suit!"
"Yeah? How was that?"
"Uh... Awesome!" Excitement replaced whatever nerves he was feeling. "He's so cool. We fought bad guys together."
You raised a brow. "Wow. I bet that was fun."
"It was! But I miss him."
Your face fell and you looked down for a minute. "Me too."
Harley smiled sadly. "He helped me with school too."
You recognized the look in his eyes because Peter had the same look when you first met him as well.
"Do you have a hard time with other kids?" You asked.
He looked at you, amazed by the guess, and shrugged nonchalantly. "A bit."
You nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know how that feels. I actually made something to help myself out. Wanna see?"
"Sure."
You opened the pocket of your jacket and dug around in it before taking out a small pencil. You held it out to the boy and he accepted it curiously.
"A pencil?" He questioned, clearly expecting more.
You smirked. "A very useful pencil."
You pointed at the eraser on the end and Harley turned it over, noticing it was more like a button. He looked at you and you nodded. He then pressed it and there was a cackle of electricity as the graphite end sparked. Harley jumped and dropped the pencil on the floor, making you laugh.
You picked it up and twirled it between your fingers. "Nice, huh?"
He gawked at you, stunned. "What is that?"
"My own invention. You've got your gun, our mechanic friend has his suit, and I've got my pencil taser."
"That's seriously awesome."
You smiled once more as he continued to stare at the tool and held it out again. "Have it."
Harley smiled too. "Really?"
"Yeah. I can make tons more."
He took the pencil again. "Thanks."
"No problem, kid. Show those bullies who's boss, yeah?"
He nodded. "I will."
"Hey, Harley?" You asked after a silence.
"Yeah?"
"Did Tony say anything else? Before he left, I mean?"
"Oh. Uh... Not really."
"But how was he? Did he look okay?"
"He was sad, I think. And scared."
You tilted your head, curious. "What do you mean?"
"A few times he was really quiet. Like he was remembering bad things. He wouldn't speak at all. Actually, I don't think he could. I thought it was PTSD."
All of your features softened at hearing that. Even now it was still hard for you to think of your cold and distant dad as someone who felt human feelings. He had changed a lot, you knew that now, and this news saddened you. You wondered how long he'd been suffering through it and if anyone else knew.
And then, after a few minutes of talking to each other, you got up to say goodbye to Harley.
"Will you come back?" He asked. "Can you show me how to make the pencil?"
"Sure." You smiled a little. "If you need me for anything, I'm here, okay? Just give me a shout."
-
Even when you were hard at work in your lab a few days later you couldn't help thinking about your dad's PTSD struggles. You knew what he was like and knew he wouldn't dare ask for help from anyone. If you wanted him to have some peace of mind you'd have to somehow intervene yourself.
You talked to FRIDAY for hours on that particular day until finally you had an idea. You thought about a helper bot, something much like an AI that Tony could talk to instead of another person. You thought he'd prefer that over anything else. And it wouldn't hurt to have something around to keep the peace in general.
"Shall I create a design plan, miss?" FRIDAY asked.
You were way ahead of her, already grabbing a handful of paper sheets and bringing your computers around.
"Sure." You answered, writing down the base ideas.
"What shall I call the files?"
"Let's call it..." You thought for a moment before coming to a final decision. "How about The Ultron Project?"
The word meant 'avenger' in Roman origin so you thought it was rather fitting as a peacekeeper.
"Creating The Ultron Project..." There was a brief pause. "Creating file Day 1... Day 1 open."
"Brilliant." You smiled to yourself, excited over this new creation. "Let's start with a basic algorithm, something that responds to verbal queues, and then we can go on from there."
"I am already in the process of downloading previous projects, miss." FRIDAY replied.
"Thanks."
About five months later, and things were the same as they usually were.
You worked for SHIELD, you invented and upgraded some of the Avengers' gear behind the scenes, and you avoided most people coming past the lab unless they were a friend. You couldn't believe how drastically your life had changed over the last few years. It was all too surreal sometimes.
You were currently in the process of perfecting something you decided to call 'Widow's Bite' and humming along to a Def Leppard track as you worked. Most people probably preferred silence for focus but you were the opposite, only able to function when music was blasting through the speakers. Not to mention it gave you so much energy.
You kept in contact with Harley and occasionally met some superheros in the halls but you kept your head down. You still changed your appearance every few months now because you couldn't shake the feeling that someone was still out there. You didn't know what the feeling was exactly, just that it was very bad you didn't want to let your guard down because of it.
However, in spite of this new paranoia, you still jumped when your phone started ringing and the music automatically turned itself down.
"Death by irony is always painful." You mumbled to yourself, picking up the phone and answering it. "Make it quick."
"As charming as ever I see." An all too familiar voice replied.
You almost dropped the phone in shock and had to take a moment to process if everything was still real and not a dream.
"Agent?" You questioned, still wide-eyed. "My favorite agent?! I missed you!"
There was a chuckle on the other end as his voice came through. "Hey, Ellen."
"Shit, how are you? It's been so long."
"I know. Sorry about that. The director wanted everything on the down-low."
"Classic Fury. But why change that now?"
"I need a favor and I don't want him breathing down my neck about it."
"Oh? How scandalous."
"Indeed."
"So what's up?"
"It's easier to explain in person but my team and I encountered another Asgardian and our jet may have been beaten up in the process."
You smiled. "And you'd like some help fixing it?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"Well I've got no social life and nothing going on so I'm all for it. Where do you want me?"