Connections
Pepper growled in frustration as she tried to reach her husband for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. FRIDAY had informed them of Tony and Steve leaving the building an hour ago, but neither has responded to any calls. She hoped Tony hadn't done anything stupid. Thankfully, Rogers was with him. Finally, Tony answered on the last ring.
Before even allowing him to speak, Pepper stormed ahead, "ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!" May jumped, startled by the woman's outburst. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? FRIDAY TOLD US YOU LEFT BUT YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TELLING US WHY! YOU'D BETTER GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE NOW AND STAY WITH YOUR KID OR I SWEAR TO GOD-"
Tony finally managed to interject, "Pep, I'm on my way!" Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Where even were you two?"
"We found the guy who put the poison in the vents-"
"Wait," Pepper stopped him, "In the vents?" She heard him sigh.
"I'll explain when I get back, but I need to talk to Helen right now. I have important information for her." Pepper huffed.
"We will be talking about this later, Tony." She gave the phone to Helen, who had walked out of the medbay doors midway through their conversation, and stood raising an eyebrow at her. Pepper shook her head.
"Tony." she said, Helen nodded in realization. The doctor put the phone up to her ear.
"Stark, the samples-" Tony did not let her finish.
"It's not true parathion," Helen was shocked into silence. "We found the man who put a device in the vents to release the poison into the penthouse, and he told us it was apparently is a special compound the main dickwad behind all of this made just for this."
Helen furrowed her brows. "But, the samples tested positive for parathion throughout all trials. So, why would it test positive, unless…" Tony finished her thought.
"It is parathion, but this guy modified it. Whatever he did to it, it was made to specifically target Peter."
"That's why his metabolism did not burn through it. Whoever made it must have altered it to match Peter's metabolism. So, the antidote wouldn't work because it wasn't regular parathion!" It was like a lightbulb finally clicked on in her head. "It must also be why no one else was affected. He made it so that it would dissipate quickly, before anyone else came in." She paused. "Wait, you mentioned that there was more than one person involved?"
The response didn't answer her question. "I'm coming in now, I should be there in five." Abruptly, the billionaire hung up. Helen stood with Pepper's phone in her hand for a few stunned moments, before racing back into the medbay. She clumsily handed the phone back to Pepper and went to the toxicology examination results from before.
Bruce was standing at the monitors, keeping an eye on Peter. Pepper had an arm around May, who was sitting, head in her hands. Her eyes were red, leftover from the tears that came after she found out her baby was still dying. She looked up when the doctor raced back in.
"Helen…" She said weakly.
"I think I know what happened." With that, she launched into her theory.
Tony didn't bother to apologize to any human obstacles as he sped through the halls of the Tower towards the medbay. He threw open the doors and came in just as Helen finished talking.
"Good, Tony, you're here." Helen steered him to a seat next to the bed. "Sit. You're running yourself ragged and you need to rest."
The billionaire tried to stand up again, but Pepper put a hand on his chest.
"Uh-uh. I am not letting you obsess and neglect your own health. I know you care about Peter, we all do. But, you need rest. Stay here, be with Peter. I will look into this other man." her tone left no room for argument. He looked at May, who still shook slightly with repressed tears, but was pulling herself together with the newfound hope that they could help her boy.
"I'll help you, Pepper." she stated strongly. The CEO gave her a sympathetic smile, but shook her head.
"You need to stay here, too. In case Peter wakes up again." May protested.
"I need to help, Pepper, I can't just sit here and watch-" Bruce cut in.
"Then take my spot." Bruce suggested from his place by the monitors. May turned to him. "You are a nurse, right? And since you're his aunt, you know how to best handle his enhanced vitals. I'm a nuclear physicist, not a nurse." He cracked a small smile. "I'll go with Pepper, you help out here."
May took a look at Peter and nodded. "Okay. Just find that man and let's save our boy." She strode over and started fussing over her nephew. Pepper led Bruce out of the room.
"Where did Helen go?" She asked Bruce on the way to her office.
Bruce was almost jogging to keep up with the woman's long and fast strides. "She… she went to go try to synthesize a solution to counter the modified insecticide. She is using the samples to try to make an antidote herself."
When they reached her office, Pepper did not even need to swipe a pass. FRIDAY let her in automatically. The CEO went to her desk and was barely sitting before she started pulling up files on her computer. Bruce looked over her shoulder.
"This is a list of all companies that are or have been in direct competition with any of Stark Industries divisions in the past five years." On the screen, a file opened to show names of a multitude of companies, ranging from recognizable ones such as Pym Tech or Oscorp, to some that Bruce had never even heard of.
"FRIDAY, narrow this list down to ones that have been put out of business due to market competition with Stark Industries." The huge list of names narrowed down to around 15. "Pull up files of the business owners and CEOS," around 20 new windows opened. Pepper looked through them. "Now, narrow this down to just men." Only five names were eliminated. Pepper couldn't help but scrunch her nose at that. Bruce gave her a confused look. She saw it and sighed.
"This guy that they talked to apparently said the creator of this altered parathion was a man." Bruce nodded, and turned back to the screen. Pepper rubbed her eyes.
"There are still 15 names left." Bruce thought for a second, then spoke.
"FRIDAY, can you eliminate anyone who does not have degrees and/or background in biological sciences, specifically biotechnology and biochemistry?" FRIDAY compiled, and the list narrowed down even more, to only four names. "They would have had to have knowledge of biology, specifically toxicology, to make alterations that would affect the human body in a certain way." Bruce answered the unasked question.
Pepper pulled up additional information on the four remaining suspects. "Let's see what we have here."
Tony held Peter's hand in his own, rubbing his thumbs lightly over his knuckles in a soothing gesture. May sat across from him, running a hand through her nephew's hair. Taking a deep breath, the billionaire broke the long silence between them.
"I'm sorry," it was whispered, and May almost missed it. She looked at the man, confusion evident on her face.
"What are you apologizing for?" she questioned, watching as Tony just rubbed his free hand over his forehead.
"It's all my fault," His voice seemed choked, "He was targeted because of me, poisoned because of me. Without me, he would be okay and breathing on his own, instead of lying in a fucking hospital bed." May pinched the bridge of her nose, having seen this coming. As she got to know the former playboy better, she saw the real Tony Stark, the one he hid under partying and snarky comments and his 'ego'. The Italian woman could almost see the guilt radiating off the man. He held guilt for every mistake he has made. No matter how many lives he saves, Tony always focused on the ones he couldn't, just like Peter does.
"Look, Tony," May looked the man straight in the eye. "I am going to be blunt here. At first, I did not like you." Tony shrugged in a 'that's fair' fashion, but May continued speaking, "But I was just scared. To me. It seemed as though you were encouraging Peter, my baby, to go out and put his life in danger. The whole debacle with the Snap," the man flinched, "Made me realize I was wrong. Peter would have gone out and risked his life whether or not you had given him the suit. But, you gave him extra protection. You knew he would go be Spider-Man no matter what, and we couldn't stop him, so you made sure he was safer doing it. I'm thankful for that."
"Do I wish Peter wasn't targeted? Of course I do. Anyone in their right mind would. But do I blame you? Not in the slightest." May gave him a smile, "Not after all you've done to save him."
Though he would try to deny it, Tony could feel tears starting to prick his eyes, but he blinked them away. Before he could respond, FRIDAY's voice spoke.
"Boss, there is a Ned Leeds who says he is here to 'hang out' with Peter," both of their eyes widened.
"Shit," Tony blinked at the curse from the woman. "I forgot Ned was coming over." Tony bit his lip, then spoke to the AI.
"Give him authorization to come here. Tell him to come to the medbay, but do not explain anything. It'd be best to hear it from us." May nodded.
"You got it, Boss." with that, Tony stood and went to the doors.
"I'll intercept him." After waiting in the hall for ten minutes, Tony heard the elevator doors open, and saw the Filipino boy hurry out. Worry was clear on the kid's face, and he stopped in front of him.
"Mr. Stark, what is it?" he started, but continued before an answer was given. "FRIDAY told me to come here to the medbay, but why do you need me here? I was going to hang out and build the Hogwarts LEGO set with Peter, but he didn't respond to my texts or calls- Wait. Is Peter okay? Is that why I'm here? What happened to him?" Ned's voice grew higher with each sentence, and inwardly, the older man remarked on how that rambling was so much like Peter.
"Ned, is it?" The boy looked about a second from passing out due to Iron Man himself knowing his name, but his concern for his best friend overpowered his awe. He nodded. "There was… an incident. May is in there with Peter right now."
"What kind of incident?" Ned's concern only grew. Tony seemed reluctant to tell him. The kid didn't need to know that his best friend was poisoned and was currently dying.
Instead, he told him part of the truth. "Spidey-related stuff." Ned only nodded in realization. "We are keeping a close eye on him. But, he woke up earlier. I'd tell you what happened but it's classified." Okay, that last part was a bit of a lie. There wasn't really any way to tell Ned the actual situation, and Tony did not intend to make the kid even more scared.
Ned looked past Tony to the doors of the medbay, bouncing on his feet. "Can I see him? Is there anything I can do to help?"
The billionaire inhaled slowly. "No, you should go home, kid. You’d be better off there with your parents."
Shaking his head, the Filipino boy countered, "They aren't expecting me home until tomorrow afternoon. I want to stay here with Peter, and help if I can." Though the boy was hardly intimidating, Tony could see he wasn't about to budge. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as May had done to him earlier. He didn't see what the kid could do to help, but it couldn't hurt to let the kid hang around, as long as he stayed out of the way.
"Fine," he said after a moment of hesitation. "But stay out of Dr. Cho's way."
Ned nodded fiercely and almost burst into the medbay. He looked at Peter, and Tony heard a sharp intake of breath from him.
"Oh my god," Peter really was a sight right now. Hooked up to all sorts of machines with IVs and tubes everywhere. May turned to Ned, walking over and wrapping him in a hug.
"Ned, sweetie." Ned hugged her back, and pulled up a chair next to the bed. He sat down and just stared at his best friend's face. Tony returned to his seat, and resumed his vigil.
"Okay, it's down to two guys. There's a Grayson Woodward and a Daniel Price. Both live in New York, both with degrees in Biochemistry, and both owned tech businesses that competed with SI." Pepper and Bruce had quickly ruled out two other of the suspects, due to the fact that one died a year ago and the other moved to Stockholm.
The two remaining men both were of middle age with European descent. Price had smooth, black hair slicked back in a clean swoop. He had a charming smile, and light hazel eyes. He could easily pass as a normal guy. He lived in Queens, coincidentally, and owned Price Corp. before it went bankrupt a year and a half ago. Looking further into his records, she saw only incident involving a court case, and that was his divorce to his first wife, Helen.
Woodward, on the other hand, was single. He owned PoshTech when it was still in business, and his only infraction was from when he was a teenager and he stole a candy bar from a convenience store. He had sandy, wavy hair, not as maintained as Price's, and dark brown eyes. He had a small smile, not very charming.
Neither of them seemed the type to poison a kid, but Pepper knew all too well that looks could be deceiving. She printed off pictures of the two suspects and grabbed her purse.
"FRIDAY, tell Happy to meet Bruce and I in the garage." There was a whirl of confirmation. Bruce looked at her.
"Where are we going?" he questioned the CEO.
"NYPD. We have to make a little visit."
Pulling up to the precinct, Pepper and Bruce thanked Happy and got out. The security head nodded and pulled away to drive around the block a couple of times. They had chosen a more discreet car, as they wanted to avoid as much attention as possible. Thankfully, very few people paid the car or them any attention. They hurriedly walked into the building, and went up to the front desk. The woman behind the desk looked up in surprise.
"Can I help you?" she looked confused as to why the CEO of Stark Industries and the Hulk were in the precinct.
"We need to visit a Mr. Gary Moore. He was arrested yesterday afternoon." The receptionist turned to her computer at Pepper's request, and pulled up the file.
"Luckily, he's still being held at the precinct right now. I'll send a guard over to monitor the conversation and a detective will take you in shortly." she pointed to a couple of chairs by the entrance. "You can wait there. They'll come get you." Pepper thanked the woman and sat down with Bruce.
"Why are we here? Why are we visiting this Gary Moore guy? I thought he wasn't the main culprit?" Bruce looked at Pepper.
"He's not," The CEO responded. "But he saw the man who was. Tony said he didn't get the guy's name, but he saw his face. Hopefully, he can identify our real culprit."
Bruce nodded as a detective walked up to them. Pepper stood to meet her.
"Hi, I'm Detective Qian Biya." the woman said. "I'll be taking you to visit Mr. Moore. But first, I must ask, what is the purpose of this visit?"
"We need him to identify someone, for Avengers and SHIELD purposes," Bruce sent a smile, and was pleasantly surprised when he got one in return instead of the look of fear he usually gets. The detective nodded.
"Very well, follow me," Detective Biya lead them back to a visitor room. They each sat in a chair, and watched as Moore was lead in by two burly-looking guards. They stood on either side of the room once Moore sat down. The man in question looked skittish, and glanced nervously at both Bruce and Pepper.
It took all Pepper had not to slap him, but she maintained herself. Bruce took deep breaths, doing exercises Bucky taught him to calm himself down. The man in front of him helped hurt his nephew, but now they needed to find out how to find the real man behind this.
Moore stammered, "Mrs. Potts-"
"Stark," Pepper corrected automatically. Moore swallowed harshly.
"Yes, Mrs. Stark, my bad. But, I-I don't know what you want from me. I don't have anymore information. Any that I had I already gave to Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers."
Bruce looked at Pepper, and the woman pulled out the two photos she had printed, setting them out in front of Gary. He looked at them, and back at the CEO.
"Do you recognize either of these men?" she asked, searching his face. She could see the guilt he carried from the moment he walked into the room, she knew guilt when she saw it, having dealt with Tony for years. As well, she could see the hesitation Moore had to identify the man. "I know you feel guilty for what you did, and we know you were just an accomplice. So, help make it right by helping us find the bastard who told you to put the machine in the vent." Gary Moore gulped at the intimidating gaze the woman sent him. He turned to look at the pictures.
They sat in silence for a few moments, before Moore spoke again, pointing at one of the pictures.
"Him. He's the one."