Author's Note(s): Unfortunately, the finishing of this chapter and the readthrough means that my goal of posting the final chapter on my birthday is not going to happen. I'm going to be out all day tomorrow and won't be able to post until the 22nd at the earliest. Also, as a warning, Phil's an idiot, as he does tend to be off and on throughout the MCU. May will eventually sort him out (not in this fic, but later), but here? Still a full fledge SHIELD idiot.

Challenge/Competition Block:
Representation: Tony Stark; Asexuality; Military Personnel/Nurses/Heroes; Starks/Rhodes
Bonus Challenge(s): Second Verse (Wabi Sabi); Second Verse (Middle Name); Second Verse (Nightingale); Second Verse (Tomorrow's Shade); Second Verse (Unwanted Advice); Second Verse (Nontraditional); Second Verse (Found Family); Second Verse (Clio's Conclusion)
Word Count: 4158

-= LP =-
The Purpose of Aeries
Daedalus Bound
Part 04: Wax
-= LP =-
"Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior." – Abraham Maslow
-= LP =-

Virginia "Pepper" Potts was used to many things due to the course of her career. She had survived attaining an MBA while working a fulltime job under what had to be some of the sexist conditions in existence. She had clawed her way through the ranks of SI's admin departments until the day when a refused proposition and snapped quip about his signature had Tony Stark making her his personal assistant. Then she had deal with the snide comments about how she had earned and kept her position while essentially doing the admin side of CEO of a quickly growing international multibillion dollar company. While her boss had never repeated his proposition or any of the sexist commentary of her previous employers (in fact, had never expressed anything other than being impressed with her work), the highly conservative businessmen that work had forced her to interact with hadn't been so egalitarian. She had initially just accepted it as she always had; it was just another facet of being a woman moving in a quote/unquote man's world.

Then one of them had made a crack about her to Tony. The man had often made her think he was incapable of being serious, that he was just an overgrown child who needed a babysitter to make sure he didn't hide in his lab engineering his business down the drain. Yet in that moment all humor had evaporated like fog in the heat of the sun. Instead of seeing Tony Stark, billionaire genius who had a terrible habit of picking up the most annoying men and women for a single night and letting his bots run amuck in whatever workshop he was living out of, she was seeing the man that had expanded Stark Industries from just a weapons and ammunitions company to the leading technology company with employees in seventeen countries, dominating in six different fields. The man who had coolly ripped the latest good old boy trying to put the uppity girl in her place into pieces was the face that even she would have called the Merchant of Death. She had actually worried about having to cover up a murder for a moment.

Instead, she witnessed just how ruthless a Stark could be when they knew they had the high ground. Pepper had done her homework before taking the job at SI. Starks had always been very good at destroying things, iron mongers to core and for countless generations before one of them decided to make a company out of it. Tony had never been like that, had always pushed the medical and communication tech before the weapons; he collected biologists and botanists like midwestern housewives had Beanie Babies, and made the products both profitable and affordable. He had never been one of the corrupted fat cats that made her want to stab something with a fountain pen. Yet in that moment, he was absolutely terrifying.

Instead of working out a partial merger, they had walked out of that boardroom with a hostile takeover.

Only once they were back in his personal office did Tony turn his ire towards her. He wasn't upset with her exactly, though. His anger was entirely for how she had just been accepting the prejudice as the cost of doing business.

"My godmother once said something," he said, glaring out the window with his arms crossed. "Everyone in the world will try to tell you that the status quo is just the way it has to be, regardless of how wrong it is, and they will do anything to get you to move out of their way. It is your job to plant yourself like a tree in their way and tell them in uncertain terms 'no, you move.'" He had turned then, making an effort to actually look at her instead of over her shoulder like he normally did. His eyes had been bright with fury. "You may not realize your value, Ms. Potts, but I do, and lemme tell you something: you are exactly what this company needs. Taking over the world is a job for heels and a killer strut. Stop tip-toeing."

"That's easier said than done," she had snapped. "Unless they're making cracks or asking for coffee, I'm invisible."

"Then make them to regret not paying attention."

Pepper had taken the advice to heart. She had finally noticed that not only did Tony appreciate her efforts and opinions, he would back any plan she brought to him. By the time she had sent him off to demonstrate the Jericho missile, she was CEO in everything but name and Tony didn't even read any paperwork she told him to sign. She still had to throw out his one-night stands, but it was weirdly something she enjoyed. She got a chance to evaluate them herself, which was sometimes a good thing because Tony had a habit of sleeping with extremely smart people. She wouldn't admit outside her mind that she also enjoyed the opportunity to be bitchy in a way that wouldn't jeopardize her company.

The point of the matter is that Pepper Potts was not a woman to be trifled with if one didn't want to face her wrath. She had learned ruthlessness from the best and she had learned audacity through living as a single woman in New York. Morningside Heights may not have been as rough as other neighborhoods, but it hadn't been easy. Pepper may not like violence, but she had learned certain things were necessary.

Watching Tony leading an actual child out of the plane that brought him back after his rescue, Pepper was ready to beat him with one of her Louboutin heels despite how he must have suffered as a captive the last few months. If he tried to have her toss out the kid like he did his paramours, she might just kill him. She was fairly certain that she could make a case for justifiable homicide, too, but she would have to discreetly talk to Jennifer Walters in Legal to be certain.

Then the trio from the plane got close enough that Pepper could see more of the child than simply child. She could see how his deeply green eyes had widened as he caught sight of her. She watched as his tiny hand tightened around a fistful of Tony's slacks and how Tony's hand had dropped automatically to his head to comfort him. The anger drained away. Of course, Tony wouldn't do that.

"Did you miss your long-lost boss, Ms. Potts?"

"My aim should improve now that you're back, Mr. Stark," she quipped back. Then she looked down around Tony's knees. The boy was looking at her through his lashes, a trick she knew would make it harder to see where his eyes was focus. Pepper raised a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. As expected, his eyes followed the motion even as he stilled like a mouse before a snake. Pepper snapped her gaze to Tony's carefully-blanked face. At his slight nod, the urge to take her shoe to someone returned.

Pepper Potts was going to make whoever had made that little boy afraid of moving hands regret not paying attention to basic human decency.

"Where do we need to stop after the hospital, Mr. Stark?"

"No hospitals," Tony countered, rushing on when she opened her mouth to argue and urging their entire group towards the limo with Happy waiting besides it. "I've been away too long. I need do take care a few things at SI before we can head home, but first there is something we absolutely need—"

"Oh, god, no, absolutely not—"

"We need American burgers, possibly with cheese but maybe not. I don't know what Harry is gonna want on his or if he can handle cheese—I should know that, right? That's something we'll figure out as we work our way around the world in cuisine." Tony gestured for Pepper to slide in first and for Rhodey to follow her. Only after Tony and the boy (apparently named Harry) had settled across from them did Tony continue. "But I need a general press conference for when we get to SI. We have to make that announcement ASAP. I'm not kidding. It has to be today; tomorrow may be too late."

"Hey, Tones," Rhodey interrupted, when it seemed like Tony would have spiraled into one of his moods where he ended up distracting himself. Like magic, Tony immediately stopped his babbling. Pepper flicked her gaze down to Tony's side, where Harry had curled himself into as small a space as humanly possible. She frowned when she saw that he was still watching her, only to see him flinch at the expression. "Breathe, man. What announcement? Why can't it wait?"

"The Weapons Division announcement," Pepper answered, moving her attention off the child who was apparently terrified of her. "It was our pet project. We were going to phase out the Weapons Division entirely with the Jericho and AWE being the last designs we produced. We were going to announce it as part of the purchase negotiations and then the renegotiations on our standard production contracts. Obviously, the announcement didn't proceed as planned." She turned to Tony. "You know if you push the announcement there'll be claims of PTSD, right? There will be discussion that you are only doing this as a reaction to being kidnapped."

"I'm still the majority shareholder—"

"They will push to lock you out," she interrupted, earning a glare from Tony. She rolled her eyes in response. "Idiots. I'm surrounded by idiots. If they lock you out, you jeopardize the energy initiative and you know that the medical tech would be next. The board has always hated the at-cost policy, especially when they see companies like Pym Tech and Rand marking up their products for fifteen times that."

"They had my weapons, Pep. I can't, can't—I can't—"

"Audit the department," Rhodey commanded as Tony struggled to breathe around the idea. "Shut down the Weapons Division for a complete audit, which will buy you time to do the negotiations on the new contracts. An audit will probably cause less of a panic among the shareholders and the illusion of maintaining the status quo will keep the brass off our backs long enough to get through the review."

Pepper swallowed around the tears that threatened to overtake her again like they had when JARVIS had announced that Tony had been found and was officially on his way home. She had a feeling that the feeling wasn't going to go away for a while. She buried all of it under the need to strategize as she sent out the necessary announcement to gather the press before they got to the LA headquarters.

Through it all, she made an effort to ignore the child in their midst. It didn't work and she knew it. It was had to miss how he watched her while unobtrusively clinging to Tony. It was hard to miss how he flinched every time she snapped or frowned. All of it made the quivery ball of worry and doubt in her gut solidify into something with teeth.

By the time, they were pulling up to the back of the main building to drop off Harry and Rhodey, it wouldn't have taken much to prompt her to bite.

Pepper Potts slid out of the limo after Tony who was being pulled away by Obadiah's propriety hold. She followed the pair of businessmen with a killer strut. Her heels were sensible even if they were high enough that she was walking on the balls of her feet more than the rest of her foot.

She did not tip-toe into the building.

-= LP =-

Phil Coulson knew a dismissal when he heard one. He also knew when to push and when a nudge would suffice. From the way Stark's assistant had politely smiled while taking his card but not even looking at it, he knew that he would have to come back at a later time. He already had an appointment with Stark's CFO for the next day. He could afford to be patient in debriefing Stark for now.

It was just the first day since Stark's suspiciously miraculous escape.

Phil slipped away from the crowded press hall. Intel on the building had a small breakroom located a short distance away, meant for SI executives to prepare. If he was lucky either that was where Rhodes was waiting for Stark and he could get a third party debrief. If he was really lucky, it would be empty and Phil could plant a few bugs for future use.

Instead, he found a small child sitting at a café-style table. The boy appeared to be three, maybe an exceptionally dainty four, and was kicking his feet idly as he devoured a hamburger. He didn't seem to be chewing more than a few times before swallowing. He was also half-hunched over the meal like he was worried that someone would take it from him. Phil had seen that behavior before, but it had been in long-term PoWs who had survived food torture. Seeing the behavior in a child was mildly disturbing, even with the comfort that there was no reason to do that to a child.

"What are you doing here?" Phil asked, unintentionally aloud.

The boy looked up immediately. His green eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. Then he was scrabbling off the high chair with a dexterity belaying his apparent age. With near inhuman speed, the boy had his back to the far wall. He had his hands pressed against the wall behind him.

"Sorry, sir," the boy said, looking on the verge of panicking. He glanced once at the abandoned burger. "You can have it, sir."

"Are you sure?" Phil asked, making his way to the table. In addition to the half-eaten burger, there were thick fries that were perfectly golden. He plucked one from the container and made a show of eating it. It was still hot enough to burn his mouth, probably ordered using the no salt trick. "Mm. You sure that you don't want these? They're delicious."

"No, sir," the boy answered immediately. His voice sounded flat. His eyes shimmered with what might have actually been tears. "You can have them, sir."

"You should at least try them before making a decision," Phil argued. He pulled another fry out to wave it in the kid's direction. The boy looked tempted but stayed pressed against the wall. Phil gave the fry another wave. "Are you here with Stark? He doesn't seem the type to randomly pick up a kid. Are you waiting for CPS to pick you up?"

The boy looked frozen. He stared at Phil for a long moment. Then he was blinking rapidly as he stared at the ground instead. He shook his head, the inky curls tousling with the motion. He also seemed to be mouthing something to himself, but the angle made it impossible for Phil to read his lips. His hands clenched into fists in the loose fabric of his pants.

"Were you with Stark wherever he was being held?" If the boy had been with Stark, then the man's escape made a bit more sense. People tended to act atypically when children were involved. Even an egocentric playboy might be driven to withstand whatever torture if he thought he was protecting a child. That didn't explain why he had brought the child back with him, but then again, the boy had been here alone while Stark held a press conference to announce his return. "How did you escape?"

"What are you doing here?"

Phil turned to see a black man in the doorway. The man wore the dress blues of the US Air Force. Across his breast was an impressive array of ribbons for a lieutenant colonel. In his hands were a couple of bottles of tea. Phil idly noted that it was the same brand that May preferred if she was forced to get tea premade.

"Col. Rhodes?" Phil waited until the man gave him a single nod of acknowledgement. Phil gave him his blandest smile, only to receive a blank look in return. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. I need to debrief you on your rescue of Mr. Stark and the boy."

"You can request my report through my superiors," Rhodes said coldly. His eyes flicked to the boy before settling back on Phil's face. "It still doesn't explain why you are here or why you are mauling a child's fries. Especially since Dr. Stark was fully debriefed before arriving back Stateside. You can request that report as well."

"I have seen both those reports, but we're a separate division with a more specific focus—"

"I bet you are," Rhodes interrupted. Phil barely managed to stop the frown from crossing his face at the rudeness. "Since your suit says you're Intelligence, I'm sure that you'll understand this: go through the proper channels to request a separate debrief like you were supposed to and just this once, I'll pretend that I didn't catch you trying to steal food from a child."

"I wasn't—"

"You're holding his fry and he's across the room," Rhodes interrupted again. Phil couldn't stop the frown this time. Military officers were usually more polite than this, at least until they got high enough in the food chain that they only had to answer to generals and the President. "Take one look at the kid and tell me who they're gonna believe? More importantly, that's Tony Stark's ward and we're in a Stark Industry building. Do you really think that you aren't being recorded?"

"It's not admissible in court."

"It's security footage," Rhodes countered. He grinned, showing off way too many teeth to be anything except threatening. "I think you'll find that it's completely admissible. And since this will probably be your next defense, I don't care if he told you it was alright. You're an adult and he is a child who is clearly afraid of you. Anything he said or indicated can be considered done under duress. Now this is your last warning before security is called: get out."

"Col. Rhodes, I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation."

"I don't think you understand the legal definition of harassment, Agent Coulson."

"I'm not harassing anyone. I'm just doing my job."

"We both know that you aren't. Nowhere in your job description includes interrogating a child without their guardian present."

"That's a very strong accusation to make, Col. Rhodes."

"Yet accurate," Rhodes replied as he crossed his arms, "because it's exactly what you were doing when I walked in. You can claim that you have read the reports all you want, but your questions say differently."

"You were also informed that we would see about setting up an appointment for a later date, Mr. Coulson," Potts said as she strode into the room. Without breaking stride, she marched right up to Phil and placed her leather folder on the table next to the hamburger and fries. Then she grabbed his wrist and took the fry from him. "Thank you for your interest, but I feel that Mr. Stark does not have any appointments available for the foreseeable future. If your organization still wishes for information of Mr. Stark's escape, I politely suggest that you follow proper channels. As a matter of politeness, I am officially informing you that any mechanical designs used in the process are the propriety of Tony Stark and we will persecute to the fullest extent any attempt to steal them."

"It's a matter of national security—"

"Which is why we are working closely with our official military liaisons," Potts interrupted. Phil gritted his teeth. He had not been interrupted this much in rapid succession since he had tried to argue with May's decision to retire from the field. "Now, I believe that Col. Rhodes has asked you to leave. The security guards outside the door will escort you off the premises. You are barred from all Stark Industries properties, including Mr. Stark's personal residency. Am I clear?"

"Miss Potts—"

"Am I clear, Agent Coulson?"

"Crystal, Miss Potts," Phil said. Fury wasn't going to appreciate having to assign a different agent to the case. At least the presence of the boy meant that there may be a way of placing an agent in Stark's house when the man inevitably got bored of taking care of him and started looking for a nanny of some sort. It still stung a little to be summarily kicked out within the first half hour of the mission.

But If there was one that Phil Coulson knew it was when to beat a strategic retreat.

-= LP =-

James watched Coulson carefully as he left. He even ducked his head out to make certain that the agent was going to give the security guards any gruff. Only when the annoying little suit was completely out of sight did James turn towards Harry who was swaying slightly besides the far wall. The kid had wrapped his arms around his middle. James could see bright red lines where he had started scratching at the exposed skin below his sleeves.

"Aw, shit," James muttered rushing over to the table to drop the bottles of tea before continuing on to scoop Harry into his arms. He immediately sank to the ground, half expecting the kid to start trying to claw his face and screaming like Tony would have. It had been years since James had to execute the maneuver but it still came naturally to gather Harry's tiny wrists in one of his hands as he moved the kid into his lap. Harry laid limply against his chest, staring out into the room blindly.

No, blindly would have been better.

James found himself watching flashing scenes, hundreds of them, of the same three individuals. The angry horse-faced woman that James had seen back in Afghanistan was particularly vicious about things. A man who might generously be called a walrus was more violent, but the woman was outright cruel. The third individual was another boy, a copy of the man in miniature, and probably no more than a handful of months older than Harry. James watched as all of them, even the kid, mocked and berated the little boy and each cutting remark repeated the same phrase over and over again.

Freak, they called him when he struggled to understand things like expressions or their arbitrary rules that wouldn't have been excusable for prisoners on death row, let alone a child. Freak, they called when he demonstrated how absolutely brilliant he was, possibly even smarter than Tony and definitely light-years beyond what that other boy was capable of. Freak, they called him when they bothered to touch him skin to skin and got memories or his hair grew back overnight. He didn't understand that it wasn't really his name, so he ignored the teacher calling him Harry instead and the other children snickered before repeating that word.

All of it broke James' heart as much as the feeling laced throughout the memories that this was all just another setup for the same situation or for another version of the cave, because the man who had taken him from those people had been nice at first, too. James closed his eyes and pressed his nose into Harry's hair to breathe in the scent of generic medical soap. He took a deep breath and started concentrating as hard as he could on the way his own mind went smooth and blank whenever he went into a battle.

It took a few moments but eventually, Harry started trembling in James' hold. His breath was shuddering with odd hitches in it. Immediately, James shifted him around so that Harry's ear was pressed against his chest and his free hand could comb through Harry's curls.

"Rhodey," Harry said, sounding close to tears. His fingers twitched weakly against James' ribbons and lapel. "Rhodey."

"Yeah, little man, I've got you," James whispered, no less vehement for being soft. He added a slight rocking motion to the hold. "It's over now. You're safe. I've got you, and we'll get through the rest."

Feeling someone watching, James opened his eyes to see Tony crouched in front of them. His brown eyes looked as wet as James' felt. Trusting that Harry wasn't going to turn into a snarling cat, James released his wrists to beckon Tony closer. Without a care for the Tom Ford he was wearing, Tony instantly moved into the offered side-hold. James scratched at both their scalps, earning quiet hums of appreciation from both of his koala-cats.

Like father, like son.

James wanted to sigh at how not surprised he was.

-= LP =-
To be continued in Part 05: Heights
-= LP =-