Star Dust (A Paladin Adventure)

"Ok, Pete, first of all, I don't want you pursuing this guy on your own. And no, it's not because you're a kid," Tony said sternly as Peter opened his mouth to protest. "Nobody should be tackling this guy single-handed. He's the head of a criminal organization, the Maggia, that makes the Mafia look like a bunch of Masons. I'm not sure whether the three of us will be enough, actually." He started flicking through the presentation. "This is SIlvermane, Silvio Manfreidi, before his accident and after." The first photo showed a frail old man of about eighty; the second had the head of that man on a powerful cyborg body.

"He was a normal human, although pretty fit and strong when he was younger. Big fan of guns, likes handguns for everyday use and a Thompson submachine gun for special. Who carries a Tommy gun these days?" he sniffed.

"Because it's a big-ass gun," I mumble. Tony ignored me.

"The people in his organization--and it's women as well as men, he's an equal-opportunity criminal--are the scum of the criminal underworld. They have screws loose, most of them, and if there's a vile, brutish way to accomplish their work, that's the way they'll do it. They're involved in protection schemes, drugs, illegal weapons, police corruption, prostitution--men, women, and children--politics. He's always battled Kingpin for control of New York, and it looks like he's making another push.

"My best guess is that if he's after you--and I'm not saying he isn't, just that I can't prove right now that he is--it would be because he wants something from you. Maybe just to eliminate you from the scene, maybe something like discovering the source of your powers, maybe try to get them for himself." Peter winced. Tony slid a small box down the table to him. "This is a tracker. I want you to start wearing it at all times in both identities. It's passive unless it's activated, which I will do if you don't check in regularly. Twice a day, when you get to school and at night. And don't go out until we have a better idea of what the old guy is plotting, ok?"

"But--"

"There are a lot of street-level heroes here these days," I observed, cutting him off as Tony put the tracker on Pete. "Which ones do you know, personally?"

"Well, Daredevil and Dr Strange, you know about them, and I've also met the Punisher, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Black Cat. And the Night Nurse, once, when I couldn't get here for treatment."

"Who's the Night Nurse?" I asked calmly.

"A nurse, Daredevil introduced me. Really nice. She patches up superheroes."

"I'd like to meet her," I mentioned.

"Ok, Pete, take Emma out and introduce her to the nightlife around here," Tony directed . I got up and went down the hall to assume my costume. On my way back, I heard Tony telling Pete not to call Steve "Mr Rogers" anymore. "He doesn't want to stick his hand up the butts of puppets," Tony asserted.

"Actually, I think he's allergic to cardigans," I said, coming back into the room. Tony snorted.

"That's kind of like the uniform of senior citizens."

"Yeah, but he looks younger," I said. "He won't even join AARP yet." Peter choked on his laugh. "Get some rest, Tony."

"Have her back before dawn," Tony told Pete, ignoring me. "You have school tomorrow and she's got to start herding all you interns."

We took the elevator down to the lowest garage level and out the secret door; Pete had changed into his suit too. It was kind of weird to take an elevator before going to do superhero stuff, for some reason. Not being a powered superhero or with a suit or wings, I kind of cramped Pete's style until we got to an older part of the city where I could go from rooftop to rooftop. Our first stop was at the Night Nurse; she was stitching up a pale woman Pete identified as Jessica; they chatted after Pete introduced me and the Night Nurse pulled me aside.

"You're an adult, can't you get him out of this?" the Night Nurse asked me in a low tone.

I shook my head. "I've tried, he won't listen. It's really frustrating." She grimaced in sympathy. "But listen, I appreciate that you're willing to patch him up, along with, I understand, the other masked people in the city. Can't be cheap. Would you accept a contribution?"

"Not if there are strings attached," she said bluntly.

"Not one. My ulterior motive is that I like Spidey having a place off the books to get some help. He can go to the clinic in Stark Tower if there's something serious, but I think he doesn't want to trouble anybody. I just appreciate what you're doing and I bet it's coming out of your own pocket. That's got to be tough, given the sheer number of stitches these guys need anyway. I feel better knowing that he has somebody to help him. He won't always call me when he needs help, and I'm not always in the city anyway." She agreed hesitantly and we agreed that I would come by the next night with my contribution.

While we were out, I met the Punisher and Iron Fist. We eyed each other's costumes in appreciation. He's got a really neat mask/scarf and what looks like tough silk pants. Not much else, though. I would be more appreciative if I didn't have Steve to compare him to. We teamed up to help a couple of waitresses getting offshift who were being menaced by a street gang.

"Silvermane's bunch," Iron Fist says wearily. "They're becoming bolder."

"Silvermane might be after Spidey here," I took the opportunity of saying. "That's why I'm here, to see if we can't find out what's going on, cripple him if possible. I don't know if we can take him down completely."

"Huh." Iron Fist thought about this. "Kingpin hasn't managed to do it, so I don't think that a masked bunch of heroes can. But you may be on to something with the idea of crippling him. That new body he's got is tough, but it can't be invincible."

"Maybe just crippling his business activities, getting other people to pressure him," Peter said tentatively, and I smiled.

"That opens up other possibilities," I said. "I'm going to be around for a few days," I tell Iron Fist. "If you have any other ideas, I'm interested in hearing them. I can stop by the Night Nurse, she might be willing to pass on a message." Iron Fist nodded, then took off.

I dropped Peter off at his building and took a cab back to Stark Tower. Driver didn't bat an eye. Who knows, maybe costumed heroes/vigilantes were commonplace for him. I ran into Tony in the elevator but didn't comment on the lateness of the hour. "I met the Punisher and Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones, the PI," I told him. "We foiled...something, Silvermane's goons harassing a couple of waitresses."

"Just another pleasant evening," Tony quipped. "Meeting new people, exerting influence..." I snorted and told him about how we'd discussed crippling Silvermane. He sighed. "I'd prefer to take him out, but realistically, diverting his attention might be the best we can do right now. I wonder if there's some way of getting Kingpin to do our dirty work for us."

"I'm wary about trying to play the bad guys," I say, and Tony nods.

"Bites you on the ass too often," he agreed. "And my butt is too perfect for bite marks." I started to laugh. When we got on the residence floor, we parted and I went straight to bed. Forget Steve getting old; I was feeling more and more like fighting crime in daylight hours only.

The next morning I felt rather dissatisfied; sure, I could take up the middle of the bed, but I was missing my radiant heat source and the dogs and the kitten. I texted Steve that I missed him and went to the coffee shop on the main floor of the tower to get coffee for Eliza and me. The way she looked at the cup, you'd have thought nobody ever brought her coffee before. We went over the schedule for the day, and I added an off-site meeting in a hole in the afternoon. When I went into my office, I had a bowl of fruit on my desk (which I'd requested) and a tray of doughnuts (which I had not.) I turned on the computer and the IM program came up.

EH: I'm blaming you if I can't get into my suits.

EN: You'll be too busy running after the interns. Plus that will burn a lot of calories.

I smirked.

EH: If I'm going to herd interns, I want Eliza Nelson in charge of my lassos.

TS: I will make it so.

EH: Great. She gets me doughnuts.

TS: I may rethink that assignment.

EH: I will resist all attempts to reassign my PA/doughnut enabler. Just FYI.

TS: You're getting pretty territorial. Are you going to pee on her next?

EH: Certainly not. Gotta keep things looking good for the interns. I shall surround her with a moat and barbed wire. Possibly a tank as backup.

TS: You need to get in here and clean my screen. I just spit coffee on it.

EH: Still not sharing the doughnuts.

That's when Eliza let me know that Pete was here. He came in, and after the door closed behind Eliza, I gave him a hug and walked him over to the desk. I nudged the bowl of fruit toward him. "You should probably have something with fiber," I told him, and took a chocolate-glazed doughnut for myself. He smirked and picked up a cruller.

"Ok, so I talked to Tony briefly last night, brought him up to date. He'll work on a strategy for Silvermane, which we then can discuss," I brought Peter up to speed. "Meanwhile, pretend you're a normal high school student." He looked rebellious. "You don't want him to trace you to your home and aunt, do you?"

"No," he muttered, the rebelliousness dropping off his face. I nodded.

"It sucks," I said sympathetically. "But hopefully we can get this resolved soon. I enjoyed meeting your group of fellow professionals," I changed the subject. He smiled. Then I picked up a file. "Ok, let's talk about your internship." Pete looked confused.

"I thought that was just a cover," he said.

"It can serve two purposes," I shrugged. "And if I'm on the books as being in charge, I'm going to take care of that too. I'll be popping in once or twice a month to check up on you guys. So it looks like you're in a rotation in plastics. How's that going for you?" We discussed the rotations he'd had and what else he was interested in, I took notes, and soon Pete had to go back to school. I gave him a kiss on the cheek goodbye, then had to wipe off the lipstick as he fussed.

I had meetings with more of our interns, then at the end of the morning went down to find the scientist who'd been tracking the kids to make sure I wasn't stepping on any toes. The guy had a PhD in physics and was torn between being glad to focus on his research and a little resentment about having a responsibility, even one he didn't really want, taken away from him. I tried to smooth over the ruffled feelings by saying that someone with his credentials was more valuable working on his projects and asking if we could meet so I could get his thoughts and opinions on the interns and their performance. Works like a charm; everybody likes to feel important sometimes, and I asked if he'd mentor one of the kids who had the most promise and interest in physics. For a lot of people there is joy in sharing one's passion with others and helping to nurture someone else's interest in that passion, but you can't assume everybody feels that way. This guy was our leading physicist, though, and I wanted to give him first crack at the kid. He seemed gratified, and we parted on pretty good terms. My next move would be to match up our interns with an expert in the field they were most interested in pursuing, once they figured out what that was. On my way out, I sent Eliza an email asking her to send an email to all the New York staff announcing this new plan and asking for mentor volunteers and also to schedule a meeting with the physicist at his convenience.

Then I went to my appointment with Con. Over bento boxes, I told her what had happened in the Grandmaster's arena and Asgard, and then, holding out to the end, showed her my ring. She whooped and gave me a hug, wanting to know the details. I left feeling a lot better; she'd give me good perspective and helped me over the emotional rough spots. I had a couple of errands to run before going back.

When I got back to the tower, I ran into Maria Hill and accompanied her to her office where we chatted. She loved my ring and said she'd enjoy taking care of the venue rental for us. I couldn't be more grateful, and promised to let her know what date we were aiming for. Then it was back to the interns. Tony and I got sandwiches at the deli on the next block, then I related some information about Daredevil that I'd found when I dropped in on Foggy after visiting Con.

"Kingpin is squeezing Daredevil somehow" Foggy hadn't known how, and it was making him nuts "so he's lying low. We can't count on him for help."

"Ok," Tony said. "It might be most beneficial to see if we can artfully provoke a war between Kingpin and Silvermane. Maybe you could ask around, see where their empires intersect. We could find a weakness." I nodded.

Suddenly the door opened and an older (than me) man strode in. Tony looked irritated. "Kellan. I'm in a meeting. Knock first."

This guy--I was guessing it was Kellan Johnston, the president of the board--smirked and looked me up and down. As much as he could, any way; I'd stayed seated. "I bet," he said with a smirk. I looked at him coolly. It seemed that Thor wasn't the only one who could benefit from a visit from HR.

"I'm in a meeting," Tony repeated. "What do you want?"

Nettled, apparently by the lack of a response he expected, James said something about the board meeting the next day, and Tony nodded impatiently. "Watch yourself," James said in a faux-fatherly tone of voice. "We don't need a sexual harassment lawsuit." Tony rolled his eyes and James left.

"What's his damage?" I asked after the door closed.

"Likes being in charge of the company," he said in exasperation.

"It's your name on the building," I reminded him. He shrugged.

"I'm a little short of the majority shareholder," he said. "I mean, I need somebody on the board, somebody who will take up some of the slack. But as soon as he got the job, he started to act like he owned the place."

"And you're worried about being forced out."

"It's my company," he said after awhile. I dropped the topic, we chatted a bit more, and I went upstairs. I called Steve, we updated and chatted for awhile, then I spent some time going through the company handbook before Peter arrived. We did a patrol, didn't see much beyond a drug deal or two; Spidey webbed them and we called the cops. We ended up at the Night Nurse, where I handed her an envelope containing $20 000 in cash.

"Tell Spidey that you need to talk to me when it starts to run low," I said quietly as Peter brought in a box at her request. "Pay yourself a salary. You deserve it," I urged, then we departed before she could say anything.

Peter and I shared a cab for part of the ride. "I don't want to be nosy," he said under the blare of music from the cab's speakers, "But is there a reason you're not setting a date for your wedding?"

I looked at him in surprise. "I don't really want a wedding," I said slowly. "I just want to be married. Everybody seems to go psycho over weddings. I asked Steve to elope, but he didn't seem wild about it."

"I think Mr R-- Steve," he corrected himself, almost sweating with the effort of informality "is kind of worried that you're having second thoughts." I stared at him, aghast. Oh, shit. "He wants to have a day, a special day with you." Oh, geeze. It was a Steve-like thing to do.

"Do you have anything like a test or something tomorrow afternoon?" I asked slowly.

"No...?" he said cautiously.

"Come by the tower tomorrow afternoon," I said after checking my calendar. I'd fix it with his school.

I dragged him with me the next day when I went shopping for a dress. He seemed to have a good understanding of Steve's brain and I wanted his opinion. We found a dress without much fuss, long and floaty, with a beaded lace applique back, pretty but not too much. "He'll like that," Pete predicted confidently, and the saleswoman beamed at us.

"Your son has great taste," she said to me and winked at Peter; he blushed and didn't seem upset at her assumption. I paid for it and got him back to school in time for the last two classes; he'd only missed physics and calculus and assured me that his teachers would be ok. I went into the principal's office and made it right anyway. Then I went to the tower and called my fiance.

Can't have a wedding without a date.