Dawn of New Change

PREVIOUSLY ON: Dawn of New Change

Taeyong and Tony team up to make sure that the terrorist threat attacking their home gets demolished. One manages to escape and Taeyong has a hard time trying to save his dad. Eventually they both make it out with a flight plan to Rose Hill, Tennessee where they crash land.

With new help from a kid called Haechan, they have to now find a way to destroy the Mandarin.

***

Taeyong didn’t know what to expect when he walked into Haechan’s house. It was normal looking, very plain and lacked any sort of character. Johnny’s house was cluttered with toys here and there, so many different traditional Korean decor that Taeyong used to think he was walking through a very old museum. Johnny hated his house, Mark was rather indifferent and Taeyong liked to fiddle around with everything.

Haechan’s house was different. It was incredibly pale and lacked any colour. All different shades of white, which before their crash into Tennessee, Taeyong didn’t even know there could be so many shades of white. But there was. Haechan’s house had a collection.

He was still wearing the poncho and had it woven tightly around his skinny body, that he practically had to waddle in behind Haechan to get inside. Haechan watched Taeyong with narrowed eyes as he guided the older boy into his bedroom. Taeyong looked around the sparse room, frowning slightly.

“This is your room?”

“Yeah. And? Got a problem with it?”

Taeyong tilted his head at Haechan, wondering if he said anything wrong or if Haechan was just a kid that really didn’t like people. He didn’t seem to care much about his dad, but maybe that’s because he had just found out that Tony was Iron-Man. Something everyone seemed to know, except little kids that probably had better things to worry about.

Taeyong shrugged, “I have a wall full of paper clippings of The New York Bulletin. Have you ever read it?”

Haechan shook his head, “Nothing from New York really ends up here.”

Taeyong nodded, “no right- you’re right. Well the Newspaper is kind of boring now. It mostly deals with polls to change up the circus line and other mundane stuff I suppose. But Ben Urich? He’s one of their reporters, I liked his articles.”

Haechan had pursed his lips tightly, as if he was tasting a sour candy. Taeyong watched him for a while, trying to give a smile. He didn’t know if Haechan could tell it was strained. Taeyong decided that he wanted to be with his dad, or any adult. “Right, well-”

“Show me,” Haechan demanded.

“Excuse me?”

“Show me his work,” Haechan grabbed one tail-end of the ruffled up poncho and dragged Taeyong out of his bedroom and into an office type room. There was a computer in the centre of the room, sitting atop a plain wooden desk. There were a few bits and bobs around the desk, but Taeyong didn’t care too much about it, when he dropped his poncho and circled around the computer.

Haechan started it up for him, but he immediately swarmed to the New York Bulletin website. Immediately there was a picture of the explosion in his house and a smaller picture of his dad in the corner. Taeyong sighed, pushing the chair out and giving it to Haechan. The younger boy started to read the article, whilst Taeyong bit at his thumb.

“This is bad,” he said.

“Why?” Haechan looked around at him, eyes wide and doe-like. Taeyong was reminded of Mark for a second. Oh God- had anyone informed Johnny about him? “You can just tell them that you’re alive.”

Taeyong shook his head, “the people that went after my dad and I. They’re called the Mandarin, and they wanted us dead. They’re already put my driver in hospital and they tried to blow us up. What do you think they’re going to do once they find out that we’re alive?”

Haechan pursed his lips again, face screwing up into a familiar look of disdain. Taeyong tilted his head again and waited. “So what are you going to do? At some point they’re going to know that you and your dad are alive.”

Taeyong sighed, “Dad will sort it out.”
“You’re sure?”

“Of course,” Taeyong turned away and started to walk back into Haechan’s room, there were piles of clothes strawn around the place. Taeyong moved to the closet and picked out some clothing that would fit into long but nimble limbs.

“Taeyong!” Haechan called, walking back into his room.

Taeyong lifted his head, peering over the bright orange t-shirt he put on. “Yes?”

“I think you need to see this,” Haechan bit his lip pointing back to the office space.

Taeyong followed him feeling a tight, controlled knot forming in his abdomen. He exhaled heavily and leant closer to the article that was freshly uploaded on the Bulletin site. A picture of Taeyong, probably from a year ago, was plastered over the front page. Stark’s Heir In Danger Or Dead?

“This… is very bad.”

***

Pepper’s heartbeat was erratic but she continued to drive to a safehouse, one of the many that Tony had made for when situations like these arose. Her heart was hurting for Taeyong and Tony, both of whom had fallen into the waters of the Malibu house’s destruction and hadn’t come out. She didn’t know what to do, pragmatically, she had the company to think about.

The press was also going to be a nightmare to deal with, but she just wanted to mourn the two. Both Starks who had been in danger since the very moment that Tony had decided to create that stupid suit in the first place. Her mind kept going over their fight, that was the last time she had even spoken to him.

She didn’t even get to talk to Taeyong at all, just dismissing the boy as she fought with Tony. Pepper’s hands on the steering wheel were gripping tight and she had to close her eyes for a second. There was no time to grieve, none at all when she also had the responsibility to take care of this Maya Hansen lady who had been in the middle of the crossfire too.

“Why were you at the house tonight? What was so important that you had to speak with Tony?” she asked, glancing over at Maya.

She was young, slumped against the window and had a tissue pressed against a cut on her head. Maya looked up at Pepper and bit her lip, staring out at the window. “I think that my boss is working in Mandarin. So if you still want to talk about it I suggest that we get ourselves somewhere safe.”

Pepper pressed her lips together and then stopped heavily on the breaks. Maya flew forward into the dashboard and shouted out when she hit her head again. “Look Ms. Hansen, I just lost both Starks today. I don’t give to flying fucks about the Mandarin, or your boss, or you. If you want to get somewhere safe,” Pepper unlocked the car doors. “Then do so. I won’t have cheek from some girl that thinks she knows better than anyone. You want me to treat you with respect, then you earn it,” Pepper gritted out. She started the car up and started to drive again. Maya was silent but put on her seatbelt.

“Tony says you're a botanist.”

Maya looked out of the window again. “I’m a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately funded think tank- but you can call me a botanist sure…”

Pepper stared at Maya before turning back to the road, “Your boss. Does he have a name?”

“Yeah, Aldrich Killian.”

***

Tony had a hand on Taeyong’s shoulder as they walked around the town with Harvey as their lead. “Sandwich was fair, the pring was a little rusty and the rest of the materials, I’ll make do. By the way, when you said your sister has a watch-” Taeyong looked over at the Dora the Explorer watch his dad was currently fashioning. “-Was hoping for something a little more adult than that.”

Haechan grinned at the two of them, before he shrugged and continued walking. “She’s six. Anyway, it's a limited edition. When can we talk about New York?”

Taeyong looked up at his dad who had a frown dawning his face. He gripped Tony’s hand, swinging it between them as they continued their walk. “Maybe later. Relax about it,” he said, looking back at Haechan who frowned.

“What about the Avengers? Can we talk about them?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said. “Later. Hey kid, give me a little space.”

Taeyong walked ahead of the two, towards a memorial set up. He took a seat and stared down at the array of flowers, pictures and lit candles. There were shadowy figures lining the walls of the dead-end site they were in. “Haechan, don’t,” he warned, rubbing his gloved hands together.

“What’s the official story here anyway?” Tony asked, sitting beside Taeyong and pulling the boy close to his side. Haechan was walking around the memorial and poking at all the stuff people had put down. “What happened?”

Haechan looked back up at the two Starks, “I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts. He won a bunch of medals in the arm and one day folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb.” Taeyong furrowed his brows, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands as he stared at Haechan. The boy rubbed his nose and spread his hands at the site. “He blew himself up. Right here!”

“Six people died right?” Tony asked.

“Yeah.”

“Including Chad Davis,” Taeyong said.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Yeah,” Tony kissed his teeth. “That doesn’t make sense, think about it. Six dead, only five shadows.”

Haechan pouted, “uh people said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to heaven. Except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn’t get a shadow. That’s why there’s only five.”

Tony turned to his son, “You buy that?” Taeyong shook his head, standing up and walking around to the shadows. “Wanna take a crack at it?”

Taeyong pursed his lips together. “I just- let’s say that the bomb thing is right for a minute. That an explosion of sorts occured. It could be that he tried to shield the bomb from others and his entire body exploded. There’d still be some sort of residue,” he muttered. Taeyong spun around and faced his dad, “not if he was the bomb.”

Tony arched his brow, “you think Chad was the bomb? Like it was strapped onto him?”

“No like he was physically the bomb. It ripped him apart until there was nothing left of him. Burnt his cells completely,” he said.

Tony tilted his head, “yeah. But that’s not what people said.”

Taeyong frowned, “people also said he went to hell because he doesn’t have a shadow. I’m not wrong.”

“You’re also not right,” Haechan said, looking around the memorial. “You know what this reminds me of?” He had a grin on his face whilst Taeyong and Tony looked at him and then at each other with confusion. “That giant wormhole in, um, in New York. Does it remind you?”

Taeyong looked back at his dad, who’s breathing started to spike. “That’s manipulative. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“They coming back? The aliens?” Haechan asked.

“Haechan,” Taeyong said warningly.

“Maybe-” his father answered. “Can you stop? Remember when I said I have an anxiety issue?”

Haechan stopped smiling then, walking closer to Tony, whilst Taeyong watched. “Does this subject make you edgy?”

“Yeah a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?” Tony bent forward, breathing heavily. Taeyong walked over, his hand reaching out but stopping halfway. He wanted to be there for his father but didn’t know what would help or not.

“Are there bad guys in Rose Hill? Do you need a plastic bag to breathe in? Do you have medication?”

“No.”

“Do you need to be on it?”

“Probably.” Taeyong had enough and scooped some snow from the ground, holding it on his father’s neck.

“Haechan, please shut up.” Taeyong watched as the snow melted against his father’s neck and leant against him whilst Tony continued to breath in harshly. “Dad?”

“Yeah…”

“Chad Davies. Maybe he has relatives here?”

Tony looked up at Taeyong and nodded. “Okay, back to business. Mum, relatives, friends? Does he have any?” Tony looked around his son at Haechan who gave a small smile.

“She’s where she always is.”

“See? Now you’re being helpful.”

***

“I’m going with you,” Taeyong said, looking up at his father with a fierce glare and pout. Tony sighed, spinning around to face his son with a saddened expression. “I’m coming,” Taeyong whispered.

“You can’t. It’s not even a big mission-”

“Then I should,” Taeyong said. “It’s not life threatening and even if it was; who saved you and brought you here?” Taeyong had wide eyes as he looked back at his father.

“Technically, we weren’t even meant to come here-”

“Same difference,” Taeyong sniffed. “Dad,” He placed his hands on Tony’s shoulder, pushing him down so they were the same height. “I’m coming.”

“No you’re not-”

“I am.”

“Pepper will kill us both-”

“Dad!”

“Taeyong!”

“Um…” Haechan looked at the duo, “I have a Johnny on the phone?” he waved his home phone at the two.

“Oh Johnny!” Taeyong called, rushing past Haechan and grabbing for the phone.

“You called Johnny?” Tony asked, incredulously.

“I called Uncle Rhodey too. Couldn’t get Pepper,” Taeyong waved away. “Hello Johnny?”

“Taeyong! What’s this I’m hearing about you being dead dude? It’s all over the news, mum’s been crying all day. She’s only just got back into work.”

Taeyong bit his lip, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make anyone worry. I’m in Tennessee right now.”

“Tennessee? What the hell are you doin’ there for?” there was a sharp gasp before Johnny continued talking “Are you on an Avengers mission?”

“No,” Taeyong shrugged. “Just a regular mission.”

“That’s so cool…”

“Eh. It’s alright, but better when you’re not getting shot at. Me and dad are both working to find out if the death of Chad Davis has anything to do with what happened to Happy.”

“Oh right, he’s still in the hospital ain’t he?”

“Yeah… Then dad called for the Mandarin to attack our house and now everyone thinks we’re dead. I don’t even know if Pepper knows that we’re alive and we’ve managed to find a place from this kid Haechan- dad has anxiety and I haven’t even finished my schoolwork,” Taeyong said. His words slightly jumbling up, but Johnny got the gist of it.

“Okay, okay. Let’s calm down, tell me what’s going on now?”

Taeyong tapped his feet on the hardwood floor and stared at the television. Haechan had put on the News and he was watching the current news in New York. There was some random bald dude called Wilson Fisk who had pledged aid to Hell’s Kitchen. Taeyong furrowed his brows, “Hey Johnny, can you put the News on for a second?”

“Uh… yeah. Give me a second.” Taeyong watched the television and waited as Johnny shuffled around to put his own TV on in the background. “Oh that? The Wilson Fisk thing?”

“Yep.”

“It’s pretty bad over in Hell’s Kitchen apparently. New vigilante stuff. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, remember?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, kind of. I haven’t kept track, try get me some information on it, would you?”

“Oh sure. Any particular reason?”

Taeyong pouted, “Not yet. I just feel like I should just keep myself updated on the situation, you know?”

“Yeah okay. I’ll tell mum everything and Mark- he’s in the kitchen. Wanna talk to him?”

“Nah it’s alright. I’ll meet with you guys after everything’s over. Then I’ll tell you everything.”

“Promise?”

“Of course.”

Taeyong gave the phone back to Haechan, ready to argue with his father again about going to meet some random lady at a bar, when he noticed his dad wasn’t around. Looking back at Haechan, the younger boy simply pointed to the front door. “That’s so like him, come on,” Taeyong went to grab his poncho and extended his hand out for Haechan to take. “Let’s go on a mission.”

Haechan just cheered and left with Taeyong. The two of them made quick time getting to the bar that Taeyong’s father left to. Haechan was quick to explain where everything was, the town itself was small enough because everyone seemed to notice Haechan. They didn’t even think twice about Taeyong and his little native American poncho, whilst the two ran ahead.

The bar was glowing under the night sky and Taeyong gripped Haechan’s hand closely as he watched his father bump into a lady and then converse with her for a little bit before entering the bar. Taeyong looked around and decided to hide behind a car, just scouting the area for a little bit whilst he waited for his dad to collect information and then return back to them.

“So, why don’t we just go in?” Haechan asked.

“Because,” Taeyong said, looking around at the different people entering and leaving the bar. “This is my dad, he’s being hunted by the Mandarin and yes- arguably, it does look safe, but I wouldn’t risk anything. This has been a pretty rough week,” he sighed.

“What happened?”

Taeyong looked down at the ground, kicking up some slush and turned back to Haechan. “A friend of mine went to find some information on this Aldrich Killian guy and when he went to and spy on the man’s assistant, he was caught in a bomb explosion,” Taeyong replied. “It looks like he was caught in one similar to Davis’s one. The shadow, the crater. Even the residue is pretty similar,” Taeyong muttered.

“So what? Aldrich Killian is the killer?” Haechan asked, furrowing his brows and sniffling again.

“No he’s just some guy that-” Taeyong stopped. “Works in Advance… idea mechanics. Maya Hansen…” Taeyong scrambled away from the car when an explosion from the bar started up. Taeyong ran past Haechan and towards his dad, pulling back when he saw him jump into a cafe and another lady follow him. Taeyong was about to run back in when Haechan grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“Come on! Look!” Haechan pointed to a man whose face was glowing red. Haechan bent down, starting to scoop up the snow and throw it at the man. Taeyong tried to grab Haechan and stop him when the man came over to the both of them. He grabbed the both of them and started to drag the two boys helplessly towards Tony.

Haechan grunted and shouted, trying to run away whilst Taeyong walked calmly with the man. He didn’t try to make a sound or even look distressed, whilst they were dragged towards an area selling Christmas trees.

He found his father lying down on some fallen Christmas trees, completely soaked. Taeyong surveys the rest of the area and notes that a water tower had been destroyed.

“Mr Stark! I am so sorry,” Haechan grunted, pulling at the guy’s arm.

Taeyong was still, looking at his dad with complete confidence, “This is not the most pleasant position to be in.”

Tony gave his son a nod, “It’s not your fault Haechan.”

“I want that file Stark,” the man said, pulling Taeyong and Haechan together in front of him.

Tony looked between the two whilst Taeyong stared back. “It’s not your fault kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?” Taeyong smirked, feeling Haechan still and then without warning, pulled out his little weapon and flashed a bright light at the man. Haechan ran away from the scene whilst Taeyong went straight to his dad.

Tony opened his arms and let Taeyong run into them. They both stood up and turned back to the man, “You like that Westworld? That’s the thing about smart guys. We always cover our asses.” Tony used a repulsor ray at the guy's face, before pulling Taeyong away from the fight. “What are you doing here?”

“You left me. I told you I’d come-”

“Yeah and you also got yourself captured like a loser-”

“Hey!” Taeyong went over to the man and picked his pockets, finding the man’s car keys. “I didn’t mean to get captured. Haechan was the one that decided to throw snowballs at the guy.”

Tony took the keys and together they headed for the man’s car. Heachan followed them with a skip to his step. “You’re welcome by the way.” Taeyong and Tony both stared at each other confused, before looking back at Haechan. “For saving your life.”

Tony clicked open the car and then turned back to Haechan, “A, I saved yours first and B, thanks… sort of?” he turned back to Taeyong who shrugged and went round to sit on the passenger side. “And C, if you do someone a solid don’t be a clutz, all right? Just play it cool. Otherwise you come off grandiose,” he finished, dropping the files he obtained in Taeyong’s lap. The younger snorted, flicking through them.

“Unlike you?” Haechan deadpanned. “Admit it, you need me. We’re connected.”

Taeyong arched his brow, sitting forward to look over his father’s front and back at Haechan. “Oi! He’s my dad first.”

“What I need-” Tony said, pushing Taeyong back in his seat. “Is for you to go home, be with your mum, keep your trap shut, guard the suit and stay connected to the telephone. Because if I call you, you better pick up, okay?” Tony looked up at the air, making Taeyong grin. “You feel that? We’re done here. Move over or I’m gonna run you over.” He started the car whilst Taeyong put on his seatbelt.

“So, now you’re just gonna leave me here, like my dad?”

Taeyong snickered, taking a liking to the kid.

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. “Wait- you’re guilt-tripping me, aren’t you?”

Haechan pouted, hugging himself. “I’m cold,” he whined.

“I can tell,” Tony teased. “You know how I can tell? Because we’re connected.” He stared the car and started to drive out.

“Bye Haechan!” Taeyong shouted, and they sped off. 

NEXT TIME ON: Dawn of New Change

"Just a role, the Mandarin- see it's not real!" Trevor said. 

Taeyong glanced at his dad before stepping closer, "I don't think he's lying dad..."

"You're the Mandarin?!"