Best Shot
Chapter Two
Best Shot
“Quite frankly, I am offended by the allegations against my department and myself.” Secretary Katherine ‘Kate’ Barton nee Bishop spoke with an expressionless face, refusing to give her audience anything. She was standing in a glass office that was designed for this very purpose, to have a ‘face-to-face’ meeting by use of holographic representation of the meeting’s participants. Her current meeting participants were the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense, along with the President of Interpol. Steve Rogers was in person with her in the room. He didn’t have an official role in the meeting, but both he and Kate felt the need for him to be included.
“Are you denying the claims against you Madam Secretary?” The defense secretary asked.
Turning her head sharply to the speaker, she defended herself. “Of course I am. My staff has been nothing but supportive during this effort. When the Defense Department ‘noticed’ those missing weapons.” The word ‘noticed’ was said laced with ridicule of the lapse in security and action from the agency. “and Homeland Security was able to pull suspects from facial recognition, it was my department that assisted with filling in the holes of those agencies’ dossiers.”
The Homeland Security Secretary, Sebastian Cruz stood and slammed his hand against the surface he was sitting at to drive home the point of his frustration. “Because the suspects were mutants and your department doesn’t make individual mutant information freely available for interagency collaboration without a formal request and a lot of red tape.”
“Everyone has the right to some degree of privacy. I shudder to think what you gentlemen would do with free reign over that information.” Kate countered the group in a casual tone, not allowing the anger and frustration she was feeling to enter her voice. “However, a formal request was made, and we complied fully with it.”
“That may be but not before you alerted the Avengers and arranged for them to intervene and hijack an entire joint agency operation.” The President of Interpol, Josiah Rajan alleged.
“Why would I get involved in stolen weapons?” Kate asked while scanning the ‘faces’ in the room. “I think we all can agree that such an undertaking is far removed from not only my department’s capabilities, but also jurisdiction.”
“We all can agree on those points, which is evident by the disastrous outcome we are now dealing with.” Rajan said speaking about the mess his agency was now charged with, cleaning up the debris from the ocean and having three criminals on the run.
Steve Rogers spoke up for the first time, “I would like to go on the record by stating the Avengers were never notified of this mission.”
The Interpol leader followed up, “Are you Captain Rogers denying that two of the Avengers were involved?”
Kate watched as Steve looked down as if gathering his thoughts on how to answer the question. Jumping in, she offered clarification. “One Avenger and a New York based neighborhood vigilante were involved, and both are in custody.”
“In the custody of your department.” The Homeland Security Secretary pointed out.
“They both signed the Sokovia Accords which put them under my department.” She challenged as she stared at the men, defying anyone to interrupt her as she continued. “Listen, they didn’t get away with the weapons. The weapons are accounted for, even if it is not in the manner you hoped. Mr. Stark and Mr. Parker are not the problem. Your three on-the-run suspects are. I will, of course, keep my ear to the ground for rumblings of your suspects whereabouts and pass along any imperative information to the appropriate agency. However, Mr. Stark and Mr. Parker are my problem. I acknowledge they acted outside the parameters of the Accords and will deal with their actions fittingly.” Through the glass enclosed room, Kate saw Rhodes walking to her. “If that is all gentleman for the time being, I have other obligations to see to.”
“This isn’t over.” Secretary Thomas Williamson of the Defense Department promised.
Sighing, she conceded “I’m sure it isn’t.” Lifting the remote in her right hand, Kate hit a button which resulted in the three holographic figures to dissolve away. Waiting until her deputy closed the door behind him, she asked, “They give you anything?”
“Three people, two men and one woman. Parker reported to Interpol that the woman turned blue.”
That was useful information to Kate. They haven’t been able to get a positive identification on the third suspect in the weapons’ robbery. “Mystique?”
“Who’s that?” Steve asked.
Kate shook her head at the Captain. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to give you anything without proof in case I need to call your team in.” Steve was about to inquire further into the topic when Kate cut him off with a request. “Do you mind running interference downstairs? Clint isn’t happy with Tony or Peter right now. I need someone down there to deescalate the situation. Peter’s aunt May, will be with him, but I doubt her presence will do anything if Clint has decided to hand Tony his ass.”
There wasn’t anything that Steve could do right now regarding the explosion and blame falling on both the DMA and the Avengers, but he could do something about the potential death of two people downstairs. “Good idea.”
Kate looked physically relieved to both that Steve wasn’t going to ask any more questions and that he would play referee between her husband and father. “Thank you. We will be right behind you.”
Rhodes and Kate watched Steve leave the conference room and when there was enough distance between the two and the Captain, Rhodey followed up on the Mystique angle. “Anyone else fit that description?”
Looking through the glass walls as Steve continued his journey to going downstairs to see to the charges that Kate had given him she again sighed, “No, we need to be a hundred percent certain on this one. The Homeland Security footage showed a shape changer of sorts, and Wyngarde is already accounted for. So the traits and now the physical description seems to solidify the identification of the third suspect.
Taking out his phone, Rhodes scrolled through to find the information needed. Reading from the screen he told her. “The other two are confirmed as St. John Allerdyce and Jason Wyngarde. You add Mystique to that and the picture is not too pretty.”
“No, it’s not.” She agreed putting her hand to her eyes and down to her nose before pulling it away, she was so tired. “I was willing to hand over the weapons information to the other departments because I knew there was no way in hell anyone would be able to catch Pyro and Mastermind. Tony and Peter screwed up on that one royally. This was supposed to look like we were aiding the other departments, not hording information to ourselves.”
“All the while we were handling things behind the scenes.” Rhodes added feeling just as upset as Kate was that all their hard work could have just literally blown up in their faces.
Kate started to walk out of the room with Rhodes following her. “If anyone gets a whiff that we are dealing with the Brotherhood here, then it’s over. We have to keep it confined to the department.”
Rhodes held the door to the conference room open until Kate passed through. “Agreed, but how?”
“No clue.” She reluctantly admitted taking a long pause before continuing. “But a gigantic explosion in the ocean didn’t help. That was the very reason we alerted Interpol, so they would be in place, ready to intervene and to secure the load. Not to have their ship act as a landing pad for Ironman.” Turning around to face Rhodey, “Where are they now?”
“The communal area downstairs.” He informed bobbing his head downward to indicate the location of the area that served as a ‘group living room’ for the Avengers when they were in residence. “I think it was smart sending Steve down there first.”
“Clint is on the way with Mrs. Parker. They should be here anytime now.” Kate pulled out her phone to check for any messages Clint may have sent her about their arrival time. The pair were slowly moving to the elevator to meet up with everyone. “We aren’t out of the woods with Interpol or the other departments yet. I want a legal guardian here in case someone shows up wanting to question the boy before we release him to his aunt. Once he is officially in her custody they can’t touch him without her or us being present.”
Pressing the button to call the car to their floor Rhodey asked, “Are we not going to question him?”
“Yes we will. We will be questioning them both. I want to know what and who they saw on that boat.” The doors opened and Rhodes placed his arm in to keep it open for Kate to get in. Once she stepped into the elevator she turned and asked, “What the hell were they thinking getting on a boat full of weapons, a shape shifter with a serious grudge against humanity, an illusionist that scares even Professor Xavier with what he can do, and a guy with a fire fetish?”
All Rhodes could come back with was, “Its Tony, so who knows. He was probably trying to book them for one of the kid’s birthday parties.”
“That would be funny if it wasn’t a serious concern.” Kate confided as Rhodes stepped into the car. “Remember the underwater mermaid party he threw for Lila?”
Hitting the button for the first floor, he turned and asked, “I do remember that. What ever happened?”
Slanting her head to the side she disclosed to her second in command, “We settled with SeaWorld.”
Shaking his head as the elevator doors closed on them Rhodes empathized, “That poor seal.”
~~~
The single use coffee maker just spit out its last drop of black gold into the waiting mug. Tony picked up the container and held it up to his nose, permitting the bitter smell to invade his senses. He had had coffee on the plane, but it was government-grade coffee and wasn’t the best. He was about to take his first sip of what he suspected would be many tonight when he was interrupted by shouting. “Damn it Stark!” Tony carefully maneuvered his cup which he almost dropped at the surprising call directed at him. When he turned, he saw Clint coming at him with May Parker not far behind. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Oh, hey Clint.” Tony replied calmly and gestured to the teenager sitting on the bar stool at the counter in the communal room. “You remember Peter Parker? The teenager didn’t even turn around to any of it. Tony surmised the kid was exhausted and using the last bit of energy to focus on the sandwich reaching his mouth. All Peter did to acknowledge the introduction was a wave of his hand over his shoulder towards the shouting man.
Clint walked into the kitchenette and into Peter’s view. Pointing a finger at the boy who called himself Spiderman, Clint warned the child, “You’re next.” Then readdressed his intended target, “Tony, what was going through your mind?”
Knowing that Clint was very mad, Tony took a sip from his cup, a gesture that was guaranteed to outrage the already upset Barton. “I don’t know, not let a teenager get kidnapped or blown up, the same ol’ stuff.” Looking to the woman who had walked in with Clint, Tony greeted, “Mrs. Parker, don’t you look nice.” That got Peter’s attention, the kid turned in his stool so fast, Tony was sure he broke it.
“Don’t start.” May said to Tony as she moved next to Peter. “Peter I can’t even think of a punishment right now to go along with this one.”
Rubbing his face Peter explained, “Aunt May, it’s really not a big deal.”
May screamed as she threw her hands out at the simplification of the night’s activities. “No big deal?! You were arrested! By Interpol! I am standing in the Avengers’ compound at almost one thirty in the morning because this is where the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Mutant Affairs brought you. What is your definition of ‘not a big deal’?”
Tony put a hand out and gestured a ‘calm down’ motion with it. “This is one of those times where things just sort of snowballed out of control May, don’t be too hard on the boy.”
“And don’t tell me how to handle my nephew.” May demanded with fire in her eyes focused at the Ironman.
“Ah, I see everyone is here.” Steve reported in a fake happy tone at the scene he had walked in on.
Leaning down on the counter’s surface with his elbows, Tony let his head drop at the newest addition to the drama. “Steve what are you doing here?”
With his ‘serious Captain America’ face, Steve summed up the turmoil of the last few hours. “Two Avengers sabotaged a multi-departmental operation. You didn’t think certain people would have questions about our role in that?” Then a small smile appeared, replacing the strict face, “That and Kate asked me to make sure Clint didn’t kill you two.”
“Still on the fence on that one.” Clint piped in.
Pushing himself up, Tony questioned with concern about the inclusion of his daughter in the conversation. He knew that Kate was probably made aware of the situation, it was sort of her job. The Interpol agent who questioned Peter and himself took absolute delight in alluding to the fact that Kate was caught up in this, but Tony just assumed it was part of interagency collaboration. Rhodey was handling things, wasn’t he? Then why was Clint here? “Why? Did something happen to Kate?”
Folding his arms Clint answered, “No, but you know she is supposed to be on bedrest Tony.”
“Why is she not on bedrest anymore? Because of a little explosion?” Tony joked, trying to still brush off the entire affair.
Steve directed his eyes upwards. “She is upstairs talking to Rhodey, after a very insulting conference call with leaders of the agencies you messed with tonight.”
Shaking himself out of whatever was going on in his head, Tony observed as if it was as simple as breathing. “She shouldn’t be here.”
Tilting his head at the very obvious statement, Clint commented, “No shit Sherlock.”
Breaking away from the staring match he was having with his aunt, Peter warily asked, “So what is the damage?”
Steve raised his eyebrows and took a breath. “I don’t know yet. You are in DMA’s custody. I’m hoping Kate will be able to talk her people into just letting the Avengers deal with this ‘in house’.”
Looking up from Peter to Steve, May asked for the Captain to explain what dealing with Tony and Peter ‘in house’ would entail. “What are you going to do to them if she does go along with it?”
“Oh, you know Steve.” Tony interrupted and lifted one of his hands up. With the hand, he opened and closed it numerous times, gesturing a mouth talking. “He will give us a long lecture about responsibilities and doing the right thing. We will promise to be good and move on with our lives. Right Steve?”
“Something like that.” Steve agreed, then made an effort to straighten out his back and push out his chest. “You are going to need to debrief with me.”
“Yeah, well Rhodey wants to talk with us.” Tony informed the Captain. Apparently, the debriefing could not happen on the plane due to security reasons. Tony had practically begged Rhodes to take his statement on the ride to save time and get them all home and into bed faster.
“Rhodes and Kate want to talk to the both of you.” Steve clarified. “Again, I am hoping she will let me sit in on the ‘talk’, so we don’t have to do this twice.”
Checking his watch, Tony observed. “Would appreciate it, it is getting late.”
Kate unexpectedly appeared in the room with Rhodey behind her. “And I would appreciate not being woken up to the President of the United States yelling at me for the antics of my father and his…” Looking at Peter, Kate stumbled with the correct label for the child. “ward, sidekick, community service obligation?”
“Just call me Peter.” The teenager supplied. “Hello Mrs. Secretary.”
“Peter.” Kate returned, then acknowledged her father. “Tony.”
“Hello darlin’.” Tony raised his hand in Kate’s direction and wiggled his fingers in a childish wave. “You know this whole ‘Tony’ thing is getting old fast. Why can’t you just say ‘dad’? Like ever?”
“Because I know you want me to.” Kate unemotionally stated. “That and the last guy I called that put at least two hits out on me and attempted to destroy my family.”
“I will concede to half of that logic.” Tony declared before taking another sip of his coffee.
“Plus, I am keeping that card up my sleeve for when I need it.” Moving past the group of men, Kate approached May Parker and extended her hand. “Mrs. Parker, thank you so much for coming.”
Shaking the offered hand, May started immediately with the apologies she felt she owed the woman. “Madam Secretary, please call me May. Mrs. Parker makes me feel so old. I am so sorry to inconvenience you like this. I can assure you I will punish Peter for tonight.” May stopped for a moment then asked, “Actually, what did happen tonight?”
Kate held her hand out to the sitting area of the room, silently requesting that they sit for this portion of the conversation. She didn’t want to admit it, but her entire body hurt. Once the phone call with the President ended, Kate received a request for the conference call. That required her to put on a presentable outfit fitting of her position complete with hair, makeup and high heels. Then there was the stressful meeting itself, to show her strength and determination, Kate stood for the duration, not wanting to present any weakness that a seated position may have conveyed to the meeting’s participants. Kate sat in one of the recliners in the room while Peter and May sat on the sofa next to her. Tony remained in the kitchen with Clint drinking coffee, and Steve took the second recliner. Rhodey sat in the stool that Peter vacated and motioned to Tony for the man to get him a cup as well.
Kate positioned a pillow behind herself and sank into it. It didn’t give her the support she craved, but it was better than nothing. “This evening Peter decided to be a stowaway on a boat that was the vessel being used to transport stolen weaponry that was taken from a storage facility of one of the biggest suppliers to the military.”
“Why would you do that Peter?” May asked her nephew in utter shock of the sentence she had just heard. “They stole that stuff from the military, and you thought you could get it back better than they could?”
“Aunt May, I was there, they weren’t. I had to do something.”
Kate retorted to that statement with a harsh tone that reminded Tony of Nick Fury. “’They’ weren’t there because it was a high covert mission. People were in place, just not in plain sight.”
“Then why didn’t they stop me?”
Everyone with the exception of Kate and Rhodes’ eyebrows went up in question to that very valid inquiry. Kate remained emotionless. “They didn’t know you were there. An error clearly on both the defense and homeland security departments. You’re good Mr. Parker, but not that good. This operation wasn’t a complete failure, but it could have been so much worst. How long do you suppose you could have stayed hidden below deck?”
“I don’t know.” Peter admitted and for the first time since the events took place, looked to be ashamed of the actions he took.
Kate knew that face, her own son Cooper had perfected it already at the age of fourteen. She knew from that expression that the boy was acknowledging that he didn’t think things through and never considered the consequences of when being a ‘superhero’ goes wrong. Now they could have the conversation they needed to. “Thank you for being honest about that. What was going through your mind when the yacht’s engine started up? Did you ever consider, I don’t know, getting off?”
“I was afraid they would see me.”
Nodding her head, Kate had to agree. “A legitimate concern. So what was the plan?”
Putting his hands out in front of him, Peter searched for the right words to say. “I was going to wait until we stopped, then I don’t know, apprehend them.”
“You were going to conduct a citizen’s arrest on three mutants? In another country?” Kate leaned forward to make firm eye contact and stress the environment he had placed himself into. “Peter, you do realize that they were leaving the country, right? If your plan, at least part of it came to fruition, then you would have been attempting to, as you say, ‘apprehend’ them in some ‘off-the-map’ port in South America?”
Dropping his head onto his knees, Peter divulged his ignorance. “I didn’t know they were mutants.”
Clint commented under his breath at a volume that everyone heard. “Honestly, I think that was the least of your problems.”
Kate sent a warning glare to her husband at his commentary. “Clint…” Looking to Peter, “But he does have a point. You were on a boat filled to the brim with top level weaponry, some stuff that hasn’t even had its user manual published yet. Very volatile and sensitive equipment. Anything could have happened, and if it did, no one would have known to even look for you there.”
Pointing to Tony in the kitchenette Peter exclaimed as if it would pardon him from his foils. “Mr. Stark knew I was there.”
Throwing his hands up in the air, Tony hollered back, “Thanks for beeping the horn before you threw me under the bus kid!”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Kate said turning her attention to Tony. “We’ll get to that.” Tony flashed a smile to his daughter as she focused on Peter. “You are lucky Tony knew, because I sure as hell didn’t. Deputy Secretary Rhodes, did you know Peter was on the boat?”
“No, I did not Madam Secretary.”
“Do we really need to be so formal?” Tony asked the room. “It’s just us. Looking for a point here Kate.”
“My point is, we, and by ‘we’ I mean Deputy Rhodes and the Department, helped the other departments and Interpol develop this operation. I added a few things here or there, but this was Rhodes’ baby.”
“A comment I have not heard in years.” Tony observed looking lost in thought.
Rhodey pointed with an extended arm to his best friend. “Hey! The man in trouble with his estranged daughter from a teenage pregnancy needs to shut it.”
Tony put his hand over his heart. “Ouch.”
“Gentlemen, really? May I continue?” Kate requested leaning back into the pillow more. “The Deputy Secretary supplied the agencies who had boots on the ground who and what was on that boat. There was the chance, very slim, but a chance of you being found. However, that would have been contingent on you being able to stay hidden until Interpol inspected the boat and stumbled across you. The people on that boat were really bad people Peter. I can’t stress that enough. If they would have found you, your best shot was that they would have used you as a hostage until they didn’t need you anymore. Again, that was your best outcome.”
“Well then he is lucky I showed up and became his new ‘best shot’.” Tony announced moving to the stool next to Rhodey.
As Tony sat down, Rhodey put out there, “Why didn’t you call me Tony?”
“Why would I?” Tony questioned shrugging his shoulders at the suggestion. “I got an alert that Peter was moving. I looked at the map and saw he was over water. Even my best upgrade to his suit doesn’t give him the ability to fly, so simple deduction told me that he was on a boat. I didn’t know who or what was on that boat, just that Peter was were he shouldn’t be. It was a school day after all.”
Clint bent forward on the counter and spoke to the back of Tony’s head. “So responsible you are Tony. What would we do without you?”
“Well, you probably wouldn’t have Vee on the way.” Tony said turning around. Clint shot him a questionable look. “Hey, I get math. I know that ‘date night’ you and Kate had eight months ago that I volunteered to watch the kids overnight for ended in that.” Tony said pointing across the room to Kate’s stomach.
Clint looked over to Kate and asked curiously. “Is that when it happened?”
“How the hell should I know?” Kate shot back to her husband and addressed her father. “Is this something we need to talk about right now, or ever?”
“Just wanted it out there what you guys would do without me.” Tony used his index finger to make circles in the air. “Please Kate, continue with traumatizing the teenager about how brutal his death could have been tonight.”
Rolling her neck to relieve the stiffness she was feeling, Kate stopped to shoot daggers at Tony. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Sure feels like it.” Peter observed.
“Then heed the cautionary tale.” Scanning the room Kate then glanced at her watch, it was almost two o’clock. She looked to her second in command and asked, “Are we secure?”
“Yes ma’am we are. There are personnel on duty, but none with clearance to the Avengers’ residential area. Well, the janitorial staff does, but they have an exit time stamp of eleven forty-two.”
“Any reservations about who is in attendance?” She followed up with.
Rhodes looked around the room. The only person he didn’t fully trust with information was May Parker and that was because he didn’t know her. She had kept her nephew’s identity a secret, so odds were that she was trustworthy. “I don’t have any concerns with anyone here. The information will be all over the news in a matter of hours anyway. A lock down can be instated if you prefer to do this here.”
“I think everyone is tired, and there isn’t a need to prolong this more than need be. If no one has any objections?” When no one said anything, Kate pushed on with the agenda. “Deputy Secretary, if you please.”
“Yes.” Rhodey already knew what she wanted him to do. They were planning on questioning Peter and Tony separately and in another room, but it looked like that had changed. With a tablet in hand, he swiped a few times then placed the screen in front of Peter. “Is this the person you saw? The man that became the blue woman?”
Peter moved up in his seat to get a better look at the picture he had been presented with. The image was a woman with blue skin, yellow eyes, and vibrant red hair. “Yes, that’s her. Who is she?”
“Never you mind about that.” Kate waved her hand at the question. “Thank you for identifying her. Now Peter, and or Tony, was she there when the boat exploded?”
The Spiderman took a second to think about it and seemed as surprised as anyone with is response. “No, I didn’t see her on the boat. Just the two guys. I saw her go to the boat, but I don’t think she ever got on.”
Everyone looked to Tony for his input on the topic. “I didn’t see a blue woman on the boat, but honestly, I wasn’t looking for one either. I landed, grabbed Peter and got out.”
Kate’s expression was a doubtful one regarding Tony’s timeline matching the events she was told about. “I feel that there are certain parts omitted from that story Tony.”
“Kate, why would I lie?” Tony looked to be heart broken at his daughter’s accusation against him that he would be anything but truthful with her. They had a deal, Tony would always be the one to tell her the truth, no matter what.
“I never said you lied.” Kate spoke calmly knowing that she had offended him. “I said you omitted. When you landed, was Peter right there waiting for you or did you have to look for him?”
“I looked for him, but it was only for about a minute or so. I had a tracker, so it was just a game of ‘follow the blinking red dot’ on my helmet’s HUD, you know, heads up display.”
“Did you encounter any hostiles?” Steve inquired. Kate and Rhodey needed to know all the mutant political information, while Steve needed to know what fight had gone down.
“Not until we came up.” Tony replied casually. “I went down to get Peter. I didn’t think anyone saw me board. Apparently they did because when we were ascending the stairs to get back on deck, we were attacked.”
Steve immediately asked, “How many?”
“Just two.” Peter answered, happy that they had moved on from the ‘ripping Peter a new one’ part of the interrogation.
Clint spoke up and probed, “Did you engage?”
“No, it happened really quick. One of the guys suddenly had fire.” Tony took a fast survey of the room and saw that everyone was looking at him peculiarly. “I know that sounds strange but come on. In our line of work, what isn’t possible. He had a palm full of fire and I knew that wouldn’t end well. We were on a boat with no where to go if the thing caught on fire. I was clueless there were any weapons on board. I just grabbed Peter and got the hell out of there. The explosion caught up with us and the force played with my systems. While I still had control over my suit, I landed on the nearest spot, which unfortunately, was an Interpol ship.” Clasping his hands together, Tony concluded, “And here we are.”
Rhodes swiped a few more times at his tablet and showed Tony a picture. “Is this the guy that had the fire?”
Tony just glanced at the electronic device. “Yup.”
Rhodes moved back to Peter and showed him the picture for verification. The boy nodded, and Rhodes took back the item and swiped again. “By chance was this the other guy?”
Peter looked for the third time and nodded. Rhodes walked to Tony and repeated the action and in return received another confirmation on who the Department of Mutant Affairs suspected was involved. “Madam Secretary, the witnesses have officially verified the two suspects as Wyngarde and Allerdyce.” He told Kate as he handed her the tablet.
Taking the tablet from him, Kate looked down at it. “Thank you Deputy Secretary.”
Peter sat in silence waiting for either Kate or Rhodey to continue with the suspects’ identification. Sensing that they were done, he probed. “What about the woman?”
Kate glanced up with a confused appearance on her face. “What woman?”
“The blue one.” The teenager answered wondering where the breakdown in communication occurred.
Rhodey fielded this question with a simple, “There was never a blue woman.”
Peter’s eyes darted back and forth, scanning the people in the room. Slowly he disputed, “Yes there was.”
“Tony never saw her.” Kate pointed out, then showed a warm and maternal smile to the boy. “You have to admit that it sounds a little strange. A man who morphs into a woman, and blue?”
“But I did.” Peter protested then pointed to Rhodes. “You showed me a picture and I said that was her.”
“No, you didn’t.” Kate replied in a very matter of fact manner, dropping the smile.
“Oh, I see what is happening here.” Tony resolved standing up to address the entire group. “Since no one but Peter saw it, it didn’t happen.”
“The Department would appreciate it.” Kate verbalized about the indictment without admittance.
Tony emptied his mug and put it on the counter. “Kate, if you don’t want anyone to say anything that’s cool. But please don’t play with the kid’s head like that.”
May harmonized with Tony’s concern. “I agree, he doesn’t need any more problems.”
“Aunt May?” Peter called out at the insult.
“The least you can do right now is to keep your mouth shut.” May shot back at her nephew then asked the officials in the room, “Will anyone else be asking him questions? Can he go back to school tomorrow?”
“Can I not?” Peter requested about attending school in the morning. “I sort of didn’t finish my report that is due tomorrow. It’s a major part of our quarter grade.”
“I think we can handle that. No one will bother him as long as we pass along the intel to our counterparts that we gathered here tonight.” Rhodey said to prevent the aunt from not worrying. Always the cautious one, he added, “If they do, please notify us immediately. For the most part, if he remains quiet and hangs up the suit for a little bit, everything should be fine.”
Kate had been listening to everything but was obsessing on one tiny piece of information Peter had given. “Excuse me, if I may ask one more question. That paper that is due tomorrow, did you just learn you had to do it today? If it was a quarter paper, then wouldn’t you have had the quarter, like nine weeks, to complete it?” Everyone just stared at Kate following her observation of Peter’s procrastinating. “Sorry, used to be a teacher and have four kids myself. I didn’t mean to insert myself into your domestic affairs.”
“No, you are a hundred percent correct.” May said turning to Peter.” Well?”
“Well what?” Peter had no idea what they were talking about or why he was involved.
“Well is the Secretary correct, you had a project for the entire quarter to do that is due tomorrow that you haven’t even started?”
“I think we are done here.” Kate said as she didn’t even try to hide her smile. “Like the Deputy Secretary said, if anyone gives you any problems, don’t hesitate to call us. Rhodes will take you two up to my office to sign some paper work. It’s no big deal, just that the DMA is releasing Peter into your custody and you will stay within the area in case we have any more questions.”
Peter questioned in bewilderment of the dismissal, “That’s it?”
Rhodey was directing May out of the room to take her upstairs to the floor that Tony had designated for the Department of Mutant Affairs. Calling over his shoulder to the confused boy, he said, “Unless you want to be arrested for interfering in a federal investigation, yeah, paperwork and that’s it.”
May stopped her progress with Rhodes to bid a proper farewell to Kate. “Thank you Kate for what you did tonight. Please let us know if we can do anything for you.”
Kate probably should have stood for the parting, it would be both polite and professional, but she really didn’t want to. Instead she just smiled and bobbed her head to the woman and called over to Tony. “Do you mind giving them a ride back to Queens?”
Steve offered his assistance, “Actually, I’m heading back into the city. I can give them a lift.” With the travel arrangements sorted, Rhodes ushered the Parkers to the office.
Letting out a loud and dramatic sigh as she stood up and moved to the couch to lay down Kate said, “Thank you so much for everything Steve. I really do appreciate it.” Clint left the kitchen area to also move to the couch. Kate lifted her legs for Clint to sit down. Once he did she rested her legs across his lap.
Taking Kate’s empty seat, Tony challenged, “What the hell did he do?”
“Well,” She started as she moved her head to look at Tony, “he thought it would be a benefit to have him at my side as I met with the other department leaders. Not a united front per se, but an alliance against the claims that you and Peter were acting with the Avengers, Department of Mutant Affairs, and United Nations Accord committee’s blessing.”
Tony didn’t think of that. He knew that Peter and him being involved in the operation would somehow get twisted to be a violation of the Accords, no matter how innocent their motives were. However, he didn’t think his actions of the evening would cause problems for the Avengers or the Department. “Oh, that was nice of you Steve.”
“Tomorrow you and I need to talk. If you want this kid on the team, we need to set up some rules.” Tony only nodded to that, Steve was right, he just didn’t want to admit it, and absolutely not in a room full of witnesses.
Steve pushed himself up and out of the chair. “I’m going to go up to the office and escort them out. Kate, call me if you need anything. Clint you call me if Kate needs anything and won’t call me. Tony, see you tomorrow.”
“You got it. Thanks man.” Clint thanked as he let his head fall back against the couch and closed his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah it’s a date.” Tony answered dryly. Once Steve rounded the corner to take the stairs up, he instructed Kate and Clint, “Ok, go ahead, no witnesses around, lay into me.”
Kate shook her head at the invitation. “Not going to do it. I was going to. Even told Clint where to hide the body, but not going to anymore.”
“Which was insulting.” Clint added, still behind closed eyelids. “Like I need to be told where to hide a body.”
“What changed.” He had been mentally preparing himself since the Interpol interrogation room for this altercation.
“Now I have all the information. Before when it was just the President and other agencies talking to me, I had a jumble of miscellaneous facts that added up to you and that boy going rogue. Now I understand. You were just helping him when he got in over his head.”
Slowly, not believing that this conversation had gone this way, he agreed with his daughter’s interpretation of the evening’s events. “That was exactly what I was doing.”
Clint opened his eyes, “Tony, you got to get him under control. Like Kate said, this could have been bad.”
“I know.”
“That kid idolizes you.” Clint observed. “You need to do right by him.”
Kate sat up, swinging her legs off Clint and placing them on the floor she looked Tony directly in the eyes. “Peter is what? Two, three years older than Cooper?”
“Something like that.” Tony said doing the math in his head of the age difference.
Hitting below the belt, Kate asked, “Would you allow your grandson to do half the shit that Parker has?”
“Hell no, I would kick his ass for even thinking about it.” Tony declared.
Kate responded immediately, “So why is it ok for Peter to?”
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Tony exhaustedly replied, “I don’t have an answer for that one darlin’. Maybe because Peter has enhanced abilities?”
“Cooper has the X-gene.”
“Don’t even go there Kate.” Tony demanded in a harsh tone. “Stop! You know I would never… I would never!”
Kate knew she was pushing the line here, but she did have a point to make. “Calm down. I never said you would. What if Cooper was triggered today? He would be the exact same age of when it happened to Peter. Would you get him a nice suit and teach him how to fight the bad guys?”
While Clint did support Kate’s attempt of talking Tony into taking more care regarding Peter, her last comment was meant to hurt. “Kate that isn’t fair.”
Tony’s face was stone-cold to hide how much that question hurt him. “No it is not.”
“Fine, maybe I went too far with that one.” Kate relented. “But Clint is right, you need to do right by him. When you are with that boy, I want you to see Cooper. Do for him what you would do for your own grandson.”
“You’re right. You are absolutely right. I’ll talk to Steve tomorrow and go from there. I just don’t want you upset about this. Are you doing alright?”
Kate put a hand on her stomach. “I’m fine. Tired with swollen feet and a back ache that would put Sisyphus to shame, but I’ll live.”
“Vee?” The grandfather next questioned about the wellbeing of.
Kate rolled her eyes at the stupid nickname. “Why is everyone calling the baby that?”
“Because we have nothing else to go by and calling it ‘it’ sounds demeaning.” The man proclaimed. Not knowing was killing him slowly. It was probably the one and only thing he and Clint had agreed on in recent months. “I know your OB knows the gender, you just won’t let him tell anyone.”
“I’m sure Dr. Honeycutt does, but I am requesting not to know the sex until he or she enters this world.”
Clint knew this argument. He had also wanted to know the gender of the baby, but surrendered a while ago to Kate’s wishes and hadn’t pursued it again. “Tony, I fought this battle and lost.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but you even put a firewall around your medical files that the Pentagon would envy.” Shaking his head in disbelief over what he thought was the impossible. Tony hated to admit, “I can’t crack it.”
Kate pointed to herself, “Apple.” Then pointed to Tony, “Tree. Did you really think I didn’t consider you hacking into my OBGYN file? Which by the way, gross.”
“Did you hack her lady-doctor records?” Clint inquired with a disgusted expression. “Man, that’s…like she said – gross. There are certain things a father should not know about his daughter.”
“Not my proudest moment granted.” Tony acknowledged. “But come on Kate, this isn’t fair.”
“One more month Tony, that’s it.”
“I don’t want to wait one more month. I want to plan! I want a name!” Tony wined impersonating throwing a childlike tantrum, complete with fists banging on his knees.
Laughing at Tony’s antics, Clint offered, “Cooper was two weeks early, so there’s that.”
“And Charlie was over a month early.” Kate contributed.
Any enjoyment Clint was having was dashed by that statement. “Too soon to joke about that one Kate. Too soon.”
“Sorry. My point is, patience is a virtue.”
“Does it look like it has ever been one of mine?” Tony asked. “Ok, I concede, but only because its like two thirty in the morning and Vee must be pissed. Can’t have them coming out already hating grandpapa.”
Refusing to use the nickname, Kate disregarded the concern. “The baby is fine. Been sleeping for most of the night, only made their presence known when they didn’t like a position I was in and even that was quickly remedied.”
Tony had never really been interested in pregnancy and that kind of stuff until Kate announced Vee’s impending arrival. Now he couldn’t get enough information about gestation. “You can tell that?”
“Yup, I know when the kid is awake and when they are asleep, for the most part. It woke up a bit during the conference call, but I was walking around, so the baby went right back to sleep. Walking is soothing to them, it’s like being rocked.”
“That is so cool.” Tony commented with a dorky smile on his face.
“Isn’t it?” Clint said. “The miracle of life.”
“So,” Tony began as he stood up. It was late, everyone needed to go home and go to bed, especially Kate and Vee. “I need to make some stuff up to you both for tonight. How about I take car pool for the kids in the morning, or in a few hours? You guys would just have to get them ready to go then you can go right back to bed. Wanda takes Charlie, right?” Clint nodded. “So, I can take Cooper and Lila to school and drive by my place and hand Nate over to Pepper to take to preschool. Would that smooth things over a bit?”
The very idea of being able to not have to do school drop off in a matter of hours was very appealing to Kate, but she wanted to see just how much she could profit from her father’s guilt. “You add french fries afterwards and we are squared.”
Without hesitation, Tony agreed to the terms. “Deal.”