The soft feel of a hand in his hair drew Spencer out of his half-sleep and up towards wakefulness. Long fingers played through his crest, smoothing his hair down around it, and then those fingers danced down towards the feathers on his cheek. When Spencer opened his eyes, he expected to see Remy standing there, so it was a big surprise when he saw not Remy, but Tony. There was a gentleness in his look that so very few people got to see there. Fewer still would've believed him even capable of it.

Spencer smiled at his friend. "I'm all right, Tony." He murmured lowly.

The older man snorted. His hand drifted back up, cupping Spencer's head. "How many times do I have to remind you that you're not the superhero here, kitten? You try to save everyone and you're just going to get yourself killed." A hint of his usual sass flashed in his eyes and had his lips quirking up. "If that happens, who's going to help me finish my Tricorder prototype?"

A low chuckle tickled Spencer's throat. "I'm sure you'd manage just fine on your own."

"True." Tony said immediately. "But where's the fun in that? Besides, if something happened to you, the rest of the team would riot and then I'd probably have to be the sensible one and reign them in, and you know how much I hate being sensible. Don't make me be sensible, Zazu."

Lips curving up a little more, Spencer nodded. He knew well how to read between the lines of Tony's snark.

The man smiled back at him and some of the tension lines at the corners of his eyes faded away. His smile was a shade more real than the one he'd been wearing earlier. With a skill born of longtime practice, real emotion was shoved away and the ever-present humor that he hid behind was pulled back out to mask everything else. He bent in close and lowered his voice to a murmur for Spencer's ears only. "When we get settled in later, you're going to tell me all about how you managed to pick up a gorgeous Cajun boyfriend and keep it from me for so long. I want to know everything."

Color flooded Spencer's cheeks. "Tony!" He hissed, eyes darting to where Remy still stood by the tip of one of left wing. The Cajun wasn't really grooming him anymore, Spencer noticed. He was just sort of stroking his fingers along the feathers there while he talked to Hank and Logan, who were busy doing…something, to a new hospital bed that had been brought in and parked by Spencer's.

Tony chuckled and straightened back up, smirking down at him. "You're cute when you're flustered. It makes you look even younger."

This time his voice was back to a normal volume, which meant it managed to catch the attention of others. As Spencer straightened up he watched Remy turn towards them and grin. He tilted his head and flashed Spencer a wink from the side of his sunglasses. "Don't worry bout it, cher. T'ink it's cute, me."

"I feel like I should protest that." Tony said. He had a contemplative look on his face for a moment before he nodded and turned to better face Remy, moving a step away from Spencer. "Yeah, I really think I should. The kid already looks like he's twelve and that blush makes it worse. Are you usually into kids, LeBeau, or is this a new sort of – oof!" The last bit cut off on a grunt when Spencer pulled his good wing away from Remy and curled it in enough to clip Tony in the side of the head with it. "Be nice!" Spencer snapped at him, blushing even harder than before.

"I just think that's something we should know!" Tony insisted. He darted back from another swing of Spencer's wing, grinning, only to get caught when it snapped back and slapped the back of his head. The movement had Spencer flinching as well, his body not quite up to it. Passing out bent over like he had been was probably the stupidest thing he'd done so far.

Spencer finished straightening up, hands going to the little tray to brace himself. Being bent over had been relaxing at first, just the right amount of bend that it kept from hurting his stitches, but he'd been there for far too long and straightening back up was a lot more painful than he'd anticipated. The sight of him struggling had both Tony and Remy stepping forward at the same time. Tony got there first, being closer, and he reached out without hesitation to catch hold of Spencer and gently brace him up. The way he stood not-so-subtly made it clear there was no room for anyone else up here. A bit amused by it, Remy settled for moving to Spencer's back and laying hand gently on the least bruised parts he could find.

"I'm fine." Spencer breathed out, trying to reassure them both. "I'm all right. I was just bent over for too long."

"Well now's as good a time as any to try out your new bed."

That brought Spencer's attention over to the bed where Hank and Logan had been working. What he saw had him tilting his head curiously.

The new bed had some kind of rigging near the top of it. It looked almost like a sling, only there were panels missing from the back and little buckles down near the hip area. Spencer stared at it, trying to get his brain to wake up enough for him to maybe figure out how on earth it was going to work. Tony took pity on him and gave him a quick rundown. "It's a sling, just like I said before, only it's got some spots removed so that we won't have to worry about pressure on the bruises on your back. Once you're in it, it'll make a lot more sense."

"I'm sure." Spencer murmured. He looked the bed over a moment longer and then sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to see how well I can walk, then." And without giving Tony time to say anything, or for anyone else to lodge a protest, Spencer reached up and caught hold of his friend's arms. It was a bit satisfying to hear Tony's low curses as he instinctively grabbed on to Spencer as well. The things he was saying weren't all that flattering. However, it didn't stop him from carefully helping hold Spencer as the young genius pushed up onto legs that were far too shaky for his peace of mind.

When finally Spencer was up on his feet, his legs shaky yet holding, he was almost eye to eye with Tony. He gave his friend a half-smile. "Thanks."

Tony scoffed at him and rolled his eyes. "You're annoying and ridiculous and I don't know why on earth I like you."

"Because I'm one of the few people who is not only willing to put up with you, but can also keep up with you more than most."

That had Tony grinning. "True. I suppose I should make sure you stay alive, then."

"Your kindness is touching." Spencer said dryly. He was smiling too.

Slowly, Tony began to take small steps backwards, never letting go of Spencer's arms. It drew Spencer forward step by little step and led him closer and closer to the new bed. When he got close to the bed, they turned a little so that his back was to it. "All right, Spencer." Tony said, actually using Spencer's real name for once. That was enough to catch his attention and bring his eyes up, his focus off of moving and on Tony now. "You've got your doctor and your boyfriend behind him. They're going to do some doctor-y things with your wings and get them safely against your back."

The use of the word 'boyfriend' had Spencer wanting to stammer out a protest. They weren't dating! They hadn't really done anything yet! But he didn't get a chance to talk. Remy spoke first, and he didn't seem the least bit flustered by Tony's choice of words. At least, not that word.

"Doctor-y t'ings." Remy said, snorting. "Sounds so professional dere, mec." His voice shifted a little and changed to a gentler tone that made it clear just who he was speaking to next. He came right up behind Spencer, one hand curling lightly over his wing bone. "All right, cher. We need y' to draw y'r wings in as best as y' can. Can y' do dat?"

Slowly, carefully, Spencer drew his wings in. He wasn't seated yet, so he brought them in against his back and between him and the bed.

Once they were both in, the right one starting to throb in protest at all this movement, Remy stroked a hand over his left wing. "Bon. Now, dis part might not be all dat fun. Can y' sit down without it hurting de bottoms of y'r wings?"

That was easy enough. The bottoms were mostly feathers and bended easily enough so long as he was careful. Still holding on to Tony, Spencer carefully sat himself down on the edge of the bed. Hank and Remy both took hold of him as he did, passing him off from Tony's hands to theirs, and Tony actually went down by Spencer's legs and gathered them up, lifting them up onto the bed as they all turned him. Between the three of them they got him laying down in the contraption that Tony had rigged up for him. The straps and buckles, Spencer found out, were to make it easier for his wings to go down between the new sling and the bed. Then the straps were brought back, carefully put between Spencer's wings and his back, and buckled in down near his hips.

When he laid back, he was surprised by just how big a different this sling was from the last one. Instead of all his weight being on his shoulders, it was distributed across his shoulders, shoulder blades, and some of his lower back where the bruising was less. Until that moment Spencer hadn't realized how badly the shoulder strap had been bothering him. This set up, he found himself able to relax down into it, sighing at the way it eased the pressure on the rest of his body. Even his wings were better set up, resting on the bed and a little over the edges without being squished. Spencer rolled his head to smile over at Tony. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. It took like, five minutes to figure out. Once you're out of here we'll get you something a whole lot better."

Spencer was smiling as they started to wheel his bed out of the room.


The rest of the day was a lot more relaxed than Remy had expected it to be. He only got to spend part of it in Spencer's room with him. What little he'd been in there for, it was clear he was in good company. Tony didn't once leave him alone in there. He stayed in the room and even had someone go out and get them what he called 'real food'.

Remy wasn't entirely sure what to make of Tony Stark. He seemed like someone Remy could either have a hell of a lot of fun hanging out with, or someone he'd end up punching before the night was out. It was sort of a toss-up either way. The urge to hit him had been pretty strong earlier. Watching him with Spencer had helped to chase some of that away. If Remy had been any less observant, he might've found himself a bit jealous of the relationship so obviously present between the two men. As it was, he would've had to have been blind to miss the obvious affection present between the two—an affection that held an almost familial note. Kind of like the relationship between Logan and 'his kids'. Spencer was clearly a friend to Tony, yet there was something in the way that Tony interacted with him that gave off… not a paternal vibe. More like, friendly Uncle?

Not that you could see it now. At the moment the man was sitting in a chair with his feet up on the table and his phone in his hands. He looked both bored and a bit amused, and not in the least bit bothered by the fact that he was shut away in the private waiting room with a full team of FBI profilers and a bunch of X-Men.

Scott, Jean, Hank, Remy, Derek, Aaron, Dave, Emily, and JJ were all in the room, making it a bit more crowded than usual. Logan had opted to stay down inside Spencer's room and keep an eye on the sleeping guy. After a rather relaxing afternoon spent talking and hanging out, and trying to get food into Spencer, the genius had finally given in to the exhaustion visible on his face and he'd passed out. Once they were sure he was asleep, they'd all come down here, Tony following after them.

He was the one to start the conversation. After grinning at something on his phone, he looked up at the people spread around him, eyes flickering over to Hank for only long enough to ask "So, how soon can the little birdie be moved?" Then his eyes were back on his phone.

"We're hoping to be able to move him out of here by tomorrow." Hank answered him.

"Perfect." Tony quickly typed out another message. He didn't bother looking up nor stopping his typing as he told them "I should have everything set up by then. The rest of my team should be at my place by tonight and I can't imagine it'll take Bruce long to get everything set up. Most of the team likes our runt, so they'll work hard. It'll be ready for him by tomorrow morning."

More than a few people straightened up at that. Remy could see the BAU members exchanging looks, as were Scott and Jean. They all seemed surprised by it. Why, Remy didn't know. He could've predicted this from within the first half hour of watching the two interact. Apparently the others hadn't, though. "Um, excuse me?" Jean said slowly.

Aaron didn't bother being as polite. "We already have a safe house set up for him." The man said firmly.

Chuckling, Tony shook his head. "That's cute. A little safe house, set up by the very FBI that would probably like nothing more than to arrest him right now. Adorable. Tell me, were you thinking of letting local cops guard him, too, or were you planning on just leaving the door open and inviting everyone inside?" Tony looked up at them and arched an eyebrow at them, every inch of him dripping sarcasm and amusement. Then he shook his head again. "I have a place here in town I've kept for when I visit the squirt. It's already got a heavy-duty security system on it and can't be easily accessed by human means without getting past that security. He'll be safe there with me, under my security measures and with my team watching him. That'll free the group of you up to maybe, I don't know—find and stop the idiots that did this in the first place?"

"We can protect him!" JJ snapped. She looked offended by the implication that they couldn't.

"I can do it better." Tony said immediately. He snapped his phone shut and folded his hands down into his lap. "Look. We all know that putting Spencer under protection is only half the job. The other half is going to be forcing him to stay under protection. You guys are already spreading yourself thin here trying to protect him, everyone else, trying to figure out the ones that did this, dealing with the riots, and trying to prevent any further attacks. You try to split all your time back and forth between all that and guarding him? Something's gonna give. I won't let it be him. "

That goofy, snarky, playful guy that he'd been so far seemed to get pushed to the background in that moment. Tony's eyes were sharp as they traveled over the room. It made it more than clear just how serious he'd been with that last remark. He wasn't going to let Spencer suffer. Not any more than he already had. That right there made it clear to any who hadn't noticed it before just how much Spencer meant to Tony.

The serious look melted away and made room for the smile to come back, though there was still a hint of it hidden away in his eyes. "Besides, I've got plenty of toys he can play with there. I have a few new projects I can pull out and let him tinker with. That should help keep him busy enough."

"Reid won't want to just sit around and play." Derek pointed out. He sounded far less defensive than his friends had. He was watching Tony carefully, hands pushed down into his pockets and body relaxed. "He's already looked at the case files for this. These people who got hurt, they're important to him. A lot of them are his friends. He won't just sit back and let us investigate this for him."

"Yeah, well, until Doc McCoy here or Bruce clears him, the kid's benched. He can run command center but that's about as far as he's gonna get."

Remy couldn't help himself. He snorted. When Tony turned to give him a curious look, Remy flashed him a smirk. "Warn me b'fore y' tell him dat, would y'? I'd like t'be far, far away when dat conversation happens." Everything he'd learned about Spencer so far told him that that conversation wouldn't go over all that well.

"Ha!" Tony lifted a finger and jabbed it Remy's direction. "That implies that I'm going to be the one to tell him that." He spread both hands out on either side of him, palm up, and put on an innocent expression that fooled no one. "I'm just the happy Uncle in our little family. News like that, Mom and Pop get to take care of."

It was Jean who asked what all of them were thinking. "I can't believe I'm asking this," She paused and shook her head, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Who exactly are Mom and Pop, then?"

"Steve and Nat. Which means one of them get to tell the tiny one he's on house arrest. Probably Natasha. He won't win against her and he knows it."

With a clap of his hands, Tony cut off whatever else anyone might've said. "Well, all right then!" Pushing up to his feet he pointed a finger at Remy. "You – with me. You can come satisfy yourself that our boy is going to be safe and I can shamelessly grill you on your intentions."

Well hell. That didn't sound good at all. But all it took was one thought of the sleeping man down the hall and Remy was pushing himself up straight and meeting Tony's gaze without flinching. He'd been married to an assassin and had dated Rogue. There was no way he was going to be cowed by Tony freaking Stark. The man better realize that right now. With one hand Remy tipped his sunglasses down so Tony could get the full view of his devil eyes. Then he winked at him. "Remy's got de worst kind of intentions, in all de best ways, mec."

He was pleased when Tony didn't flinch or even look surprised about his eyes. As for his words, they had the older man giving a sharp grin that showed the troublemaker inside. "This is going to be fun." He moved forward and reached out to Remy, slinging an arm around his shoulders and pulling the Cajun against his side. "Come on, kid. Let me tell you about the first time I met our little birdbrain."