Tony's Dinner Guest

Tony had been sitting, twisting on his stool, reading over the enormous list of charges against this so-called friend of Vic's named Wade, trying to understand why she even knew this man. There was nothing linking them that he could find, other than they had lived in the same town for a while, many years ago, when Vic would have been very young. And he'd to pull their tax records just to find that. Pepper finally came into the workshop, wrapping her arms around his neck as she started to look over his shoulder at what he was working on, reading the file herself.

"Being a bit nosy, aren't we?" she asked him, as she reached over to scroll through more of the charges. They both noticed that the pattern was mostly for fights emanating from places listed in his files as where he worked as a bouncer.

"Me? Nosy? I resent that remark," he told her finally getting to the last pages, the more recent incidents.

"No, you resemble that remark," she informed him.

Everything that was there seemed to indicate that the people he dealt with didn't like how they were handled and brought up assault charges against him. Every single one of them were either dropped or he was found to be not guilty. Not a bad record overall, considering. Even the military records that he accessed showed the man had numerous medals for combat missions in different area of the world. The only troubling part was the small screen to the left that Pepper was now focusing in on.

It was the personal history of Juliette Garrett, listed as his deceased wife, as well as a daughter Kayla, also deceased. What had drawn his attention were the dates listed for both of them. On the same day, which made him have FRIDAY pull up the medical file. She had died in childbirth.

"How awful," he heard Pepper say as she read what he had discovered. "Tony, tonight you had better be on your best behavior or I will hurt you. Do you understand?"

"That's a lot to ask," he said turning his head to kiss her cheek, but then as he thought about losing Pepper in the same way, he turned to wrap his arms around her. "But nobody deserves to have that happen to them."

Not long after on the party floor, Tony was getting himself a drink when the elevator dinged to announce the arrival of the three musketeers and this strange guest. He was a bit surprised to see Vic walking next to this stranger in his house, with Steve and Barnes following behind.

The man was looking around at the large gathering room, taking in the layout, the way he had noticed Barnes doing the first few times he had been here. More of a looking for strategic locations than admiring the architecture look. Walking from behind the bar, he made his way to the top of the steps.

"Thank you very much, I know, isn't it just wonderful?" Tony said taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Who that hell is that pipsqueak?" he heard the man say as he jerked a finger at him. Didn't everyone know him?

"Wade Garrett, Tony Stark. Tony, Wade." Victoria stood her ground as the man then walked up the stairs straight at him, starting to make him a bit uncomfortable. Looking at a picture versus having him sauntering directly for him was a bit different. He actually found himself taking a step back as the man reached the top, standing right before him, with a glare that was nerve-racking.

"So, are you the arrogant piece of shit like everyone says you are?" Wade bluntly asked him.

"I can only hope so, Sir," he instantly answered before realizing how he had addressed Wade. He did remind him of a very scary fatherly figure though, the kind that would keep the shotgun loaded behind the front door. Their exchange seemed to somehow lighten the mood as Wade grinned.

"Good, I like a man with some balls," he said nodding. "Too many useless sniveling weasels running things nowadays."

Tony couldn't help but smile and agree with Wade's assessment.

"Oh, I like him," Tony said holding out his hand to shake Wade's hand, which the man took, a grip not unlike the one Steve was used to dishing out. Looking around Wade towards Vic, he asked, "Can I keep him?"

"Sorry, he mine," Vic said from where Steve and Barnes had her pinned between them now that she was available. "But both you of you, play nice."

Pepper got up from her seat, stopping at his side as she offered her hand and introduced herself.

"Ma'am," Wade greeted her with a smile and nod, very politely.

But when Natasha stood up to be introduced, that was when Tony saw a change in the man, a bit of a swagger as Wade stepped towards her.

"Well, hello there, Red," he heard the man say with that deep voice becoming incredibly smooth in a way he could never do, that could almost make his own knees go weak. Wade's hand was sweeping the mop of hair away from his face, which was all smiles.

"Oh, no! Don't you dare flirt with Natasha!" Vic commanded as the three of them joined him on the landing, but Wade either didn't hear or care as he took Nat's offered hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. "She could easily take you down."

"I wouldn't mind seeing the two of them in a fight," Barnes muttered a bit low so that only the four of them could hear. Tony remembered seeing the different training records for Wade so he actually agreed with Barnes.

"That would be interesting," Steve admitted quietly, surprising Tony enough that he had to turn and make sure it really was Capsicle. "Wade's the one who taught Victoria that trick from last night."

"So we have him to thank for that little show? I knew it all couldn't be natural talent," he smirked at Vic taking another sip of his drink.

That was when Bruce finally made an appearance. When Bruce was close enough, he saw that Natasha was talking with Wade, her own flirting side being put on display, but Tony did notice that Bruce flinched as she rested her hand on Wade's arm.

"Looks like someone might be turning green for a different reason," Tony offered as he looked down at where Bruce was standing, seeming a bit hesitant to join them.

"What do you mean?" Vic asked.

"Although Bruce has had a bit of a crush on Nat for a while now, even with her flirting with him and actually meaning it, he has never acted on it," Steve told her in a bit of a softer voice so that only they could hear.

"Great, leave it to Wade to piss off the Hulk," Vic huffed out, leaning back somehow onto the two of them. "Should we separate them before Wade actually tries to hit on Nat?"

"That's not hitting on her?" Tony asked watching Nat and Wade together. You would think they were old friends.

"Nope, that's just for fun...to test the waters," Vic told him, as Barnes kissed her cheek before heading over to the bar.

"Let's see how far ole' Brucie will let them go," Tony smiled taking a drink, wondering if tonight might be when Bruce finally steps up and takes a chance. Maybe seeing Wade with Nat would be the push he needed. Thinking of all the sexual innuendo jokes he could do out on missions then brought a smile to his face.

"Tony, you can't," Steve informed him in that stern voice of his, letting Tony know that a scolding could be on the way.

"Fine, then you go break them up," deciding to put it onto Steve's shoulders as he took the seat next to Pepper. "Or better yet…So Wade, how do you know Vic?"

Tony instantly perked up at the sound of Vic groaning in annoyance. A smile crossed his face as he considered his options.

"I would say that you would be a bit too old for her...robbing the cradle and all that...but then her boyfriends are almost one-hundred each, so it's not exactly outside the range of possibilities," Tony smirked as Pepper jabbed him in the side with her elbow, whispering 'play nice' in his ear. Vic and Steve took a larger area of a couch, leaving enough room for Barnes to join them. He then watched as Nat sat back down and Wade took the spot next to her, leaving Bruce to sit in a chair by himself.

Tonight was definitely going to be fun.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, and not like the nosy little prick I thought you were going to be, I found Vic living in the woods homeless when she was nineteen," Wade told him with a straight face, not a single expression telling him he was lying.

"Are you being serious?" Tony asked looking over at Vic, who had put one of her hands over her face at the beginning of the exchange.

"I'll be at the bar," Vic said before moving away from Steve, patting his knee, her face was slightly red.

"Yep, I'm sure you've at least heard of it. It's when somebody doesn't have all this metal surrounding them at night," Wade said.

"I've heard of the concept, and I'll have you know that my Malibu house was blown up a few years ago, and I was homeless for a time. But believe it or not, I actually want to hear about Vic, not myself," Tony told him, getting an overly dramatic gasp from Pepper and Nat. "Ha, ha, peanut gallery."

He watched as Wade then looked over to where Vic was behind the bar inspecting the mini-fridge for something to drink. When she looked up and saw Wade staring at her, she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Since when have you cared what you told people," she said pulling out an apple juice bottle and popping it open. "See what you've done? You've driven me to drinking!"

"Figured I'd at least seem to care, darlin'," he grinned at her before looking back at him. "She was working in an all-night truck stop and sleeping in the woods behind it. I wasn't about to leave her there where anything could happen to her, so I got Vic to come stay at my place, in my spare room."

"Vic, how long were you homeless?" Natasha asked her. Vic walked around the bar to stand next to Barnes.

"A year and a half. I traveled..." "Walked" Wade chimed in, "...I walked the coast from Charleston down to Key West and back up to Mobile and then headed north towards Nashville where I met Wade."

"You walked that entire way? Are you a big Forest Gump fan or something?" Tony asked.

"No, I just didn't have any transportation and all my stuff fit on my back," Vic said opening the bottle and taking a drink. Barnes then reached over and pulled her around in front of him so that she was standing between his legs, his arms wrapped around her waist, the two of them watching everyone else. "I've been on the move for years. I still did travel up until a few days ago too."

"So what happened then?" Tony asked taking a drink of his scotch.

"I made her come work at the titty bar," Wade bluntly said, causing him to start choking on the burning liquid going down the wrong pipe. Coughing his head off, he put the glass on the table as Pepper started to pat his back, trying to help.

"Damn, I planned that just right," Wade smiled at Natasha as he could only stare at the man. "I gave her a bit of training, and then she worked the door with me as a bouncer."

He could feel Pepper, who had stiffened moments before, start to relax next to him. He could imagine the PR nightmare their original assumption would have made.

"A bouncer?" Pepper asked.

"A bit of training?" Bruce chimed in for the first time since arriving.

"Yep, a bit of boxing, a bit of hand-to-hand moves, that sort of stuff. I realized right away that she could pick up anything I showed her, if she wanted to," Wade beamed.

Tony looked over at Vic and Barnes. He was whispering something in her ear, but she only shook her head and whispered something back, getting a chuckle out of the assassin.

"So you know about her talents?" Pepper politely asked.

"Yep, and I made her use them. The best was when I took her to a cattle auction and she learned how to imitate the auctioneer and his fast-talking spiel," Wade chuckled.

"Really?" he then turned to Vic with a wide grin. "Oh, Vic, how about a party trick?"

"Nope, not happening. I hate that one. Wade thinks it hilarious but I sound like a hipster on crack after inhaling helium," Vic told the group shaking her head. He may not win this one. She had never refused a party trick so far.

"So what made you stop by?" Natasha asked Wade.

"I didn't just stop by, Sweetness. I left Memphis yesterday morning on my hog to come and check on her," Wade told them.

"You rode a motorcycle in wintertime from Memphis to here? How long did that take?" Bruce asked.

"Just under fourteen hours on the road. I eventually stopped last night to sleep."

"Why didn't you just call Vic?" Tony asked not believing his story. Why would someone do that for another person?

"I didn't like what I had seen and wanted to see for myself that she was ok," he told them. "Besides, it would give me a chance to meet her runts."

"I'm pretty sure you are the only person to call them runts," Natasha supplied.

"Actually, Steve used to get called that all the time," Barnes told the group with a smile, his chin resting on Vic's shoulder. Tony noticed that he actually looked happy, something he hadn't seen the past eleven months since he came to live here.

"You just had to go there, didn't you?" Steve then sighed.

"What kind of pal would I be if I didn't?" Barnes rhetorically asked with a grin. Tony noticed that he seemed more at ease today than he had ever been.

Steve then explained with more detail the events of what happened with her call from Wade unexpectedly showing up in the lobby, the phone tracking, and explaining the code phrases. He could see Natasha being impressed by the use of such tactics, even if they were a bit unnecessary. Vic was perfectly safe living in his Tower.

"Sounds like you are in competition with Barnes over there for Vic's number one stalker," Tony told him after listening to the strange story. Never had he known someone who would go through the steps that he had for someone he was not related to. Then he wondered aloud, "Why worry about her like that?"

"Vic over there would be the same age as my daughter if she had lived for more than three minutes. I never got a chance to protect her, but I'll make damn sure I protect Vic the best that she'll let me," Wade told him with a deadly serious straight face. The entire atmosphere in the room had dropped to foreboding, waiting to see the outcome of this conversation.

"Wade, you'll have to forgive Tony and his rude mouth. I've been trying to get him to keep it closed, or at least civil, for years," Pepper apologized for him, like she usually did when he had stuck his foot in his mouth.

"I'm not worried about him. It's the ones who don't speak their mind that you have to worry about. They're the ones who will stab you in the back at the first chance they get," Wade told them sounding unusually calm considering how he had just attacked him. "Besides, I have a feeling that if he had someone to protect, that he would understand."

"I do," he told him, putting his hand onto Pepper's.

"Then the answer should have been obvious, you damn idiot," Wade said as Vic appeared with a beer in her hand for him. Wade smiled up at her like he really was looking at his own child.

"And by the way, this is Wade playing nice," Vic then looked over at him and Pepper.

"Vic, would you know how to yodel by chance?" he then asked with a grin.

"Nope, not learning that one," she said moving to sit by Steve on the other couch again.

"All right then, how about anything embarrassing that I can use against Vic?" he asked Wade sipping his drink.

"Not really. I learned the hard way that she doesn't really give a shit about most stuff other people would be embarrassed about," Wade chuckled out.

"What do you mean, the hard way?" Natasha asked before he could.

"Don't you do it, Wade!" Vic admonished him drawing everyone's curiosity. She had to know what he was about to let spill. He gave her a shit-eating grin, the only way to describe that look.

"Right after coming to live with me, Vic needed some new clothing necessities, so we rode my hog to the nearby mall," Wade started as he noticed Vic turning her head and burying it into Steve's shoulder. "Well, turns out she had never seen an escalator. So, after getting on it to head up, Vic decides that she needs to play on it about four or five more times. I thought that was bad...until we had to leave."

Tony heard a groan from Vic as Steve listened intently to Wade, patting her back gently with the largest smile on his face.

"When we were leaving, there was a revolving door. So, of course, she had to play with it too. Dumping her shopping bag on me, she began to spin with the damn thing as people were coming and going. Vic wasn't paying attention and the damn button up shirt she was wearing got caught by the door. A second later, she was standing there with nothing but her bra on. Laughing. She thought it was hilarious. I had to pick up her shirt, grabbed onto her, and drag her away from all the guys gawking at her. Then I had to make her put her damn shirt back on. She saw nothing wrong with wearing nothing but a bra, riding home on the back of my bike holding onto me like that."

Now practically everyone was laughing at the tale, all expect Vic who was mumbling into Steve's shoulder.

"You should have seen the looks we got riding home. She had wrapped that shirt around her, pulled it tight so it exposed her midriff, and knotted the damn thing right under her breasts since all the buttons had popped off. I was waiting for someone to call the cops on me for thinking I was with a minor," Wade said. "It was right after that incident that I told her to start saving for her own bike."

"How was it that you grew up never having been on an escalator or in a revolving door?" Pepper politely asked making him curious about that too.

"I grew up with a sheltered life on a farm," Vic carefully said. As Wade opened his mouth to say something, Vic snapped her fingers and shook her head 'no' at him. He then closed his mouth and remained silent. There was definitely something there she didn't want exposed. He'd store that information away for later when he needed a project. "Even traveling on my own for a year, there was a lot of stuff I'd never done."

"So, you left Wade with Riddick?" Barnes asked coming over from the bar to sit on the couch next to the other two, changing the topic of conversation. Since neither he nor Steve seemed curious about it, they must already know what Vic was hiding. He noticed how easily they seemed to fit together, the simple touches and nudges. Tony noticed that as he looked at them tonight, that it didn't bother him as much as it had last week when Vic had confronted him.

"Riddick?" Bruce asked knowing the reference just as he did.

"That's my bike's name," Vic proudly said. "I've already been over the name with the two of them, and yes, it's named for the movie character."

"After she had enough saved up, I took Vic to the bike shop I took mine to for work and we had them help to find Vic her own hog," Wade said.

"Once I could take it apart and put it back together again all on my own, the owner was so impressed, I ended up working there for three months," Vic told them finishing off her drink.

"Is that where you learned about cars?" Tony asked her.

"No, they only did bikes, Harleys mostly. I worked as a car mechanic in Santa Fe and Grand Junction," she told them. He then took his phone from his coat pocket and pulled up a map. So far from listening to her story, she had traveled almost all the way across the country by herself. "Yes, Tony. I've traveled a lot."

"So where did you live before coming to New York?" Natasha asked.

"I came here from Atlanta, but I was only there for a few months while I waited for the snow here to melt," she explained. Looking at both Steve and Barnes she then said, "I came north on the Blue Ridge."

"Wade, if you just got into town today, where are you staying?" Pepper asked.

"Whatever place is closest? Figured I worry about that after dinner," Wade said, as he saw a look pass between Nat, who subtly nodded, and Pepper.

"Well, then you are in luck. The closest place is right downstairs in the guest quarters," Pepper announced, shocking him with the offer. They really didn't know anything about this man and she was giving him access to the Tower? He looked over at Pepper, who just sweetly smiled at him and he knew that it was pointless to argue with that look. And if Nat was giving her approval also...

Looking back at Wade, he said, "Me Tower, su Tower."

Nat walked with Wade over to the bar after dinner, her arm wrapped around his. He was definitely an interesting one. So far they had both had fun flirting, but after learning where Wade worked most of the time, she figured that's where he got his smooth moves.

Right after dinner, Tony had decided he wanted to test Victoria's abilities, so he had already chosen a song for her to play, thinking that he was going to be able to stump her. Vic had just smiled as she and Steve headed over to the piano, without her even listening to the song. Tony had already had the piano rotated so that the bench was not as close to the window anymore, but Steve sat with her anyways while Bucky talked with Bruce.

Victoria had then played the song perfectly, having already learned it a long time ago she told Tony afterwards. It was always fun to watch Tony's ego get a little deflated, if only for a short time. Vic then started another song, which turns out was one of Wade's favorites. He had stood up from the stool, offered her his hand, and led her out to the open floor space where they began to dance. It was not a song that she recognized, but it had a country sound to it.

When they were done, Nat saw Steve whisper something in Vic's ear, and she nodded, starting to play an old 1940's song that she recognized but didn't know the name of. She noticed Bucky's attention pulled away from his conversation with Bruce as he began to stare at Vic playing, an easing charming smile crossing his face. Nat felt a flutter from inside as she saw him looking at Vic like that. That was the Bucky Barnes that Steve had constantly told them about, the carefree friend who was always there to help him, even when he hadn't wanted it.

"So Natasha," Wade started as they now sat back at the bar, "How are they really doing?"

"Really doing?" she asked curious, not understanding his question.

"Are they really getting along? Any problems or concerns that you've noticed?" he asked taking a drink from his beer.

"Turn around and look at Bucky," she said carefully, which Wade slowly did, looking very casual doing the move, very practiced probably due to his job. She could understand his concern for his surrogate daughter. Leaning a bit towards his ear and speaking low as to not draw attention to them, "He has lived here with us for eleven months and I've never seen him look happy like that the entire time. In fact, until last week, I could count the number of times I heard him chuckle, and he never laughed. Since Vic got here, he is like a changed man."

"Anything to worry about when it comes to there being two of them?" he asked looking back at her.

"I don't think so. Vic seems to be able to move with both of them, and I haven't seen a bit of real jealously at all. She thinks it fun to tease Bucky about the 'stalking' they did when they found her at the club working. And she seems to like making Steve turn red by bringing up sexual topics," Nat said refilling her own drink. "Overall, she's fitting in around here very nicely. We spent Tuesday shopping together and she wore me out. That's usually my job around here."

"Yeah, I've dealt with that before," he snickered.

Looking over his shoulder, Nat caught Bruce's head turning away from where he had been trying to nonchalantly watch the two of them. She had tried for over a year to get him to step up but he kept letting his own demons hold him back. Maybe she was just going to have to stop hoping and move on.

"How far away is Mike's Gym where Vic goes?" Wade asked.

"Across town. Why?" she asked sipping her drink.

"I wanted to put her through some old routines in the morning," Wade answered.

"We have a gym downstairs that you can use for that. All you have to do is ask FRIDAY to send the elevator there," she informed him.

"That sounds like a plan. How about we get Vic to play us another song?" Wade charmingly smiled at her.

Finishing of the last of her martini, Nat answered, "Why not?"

Author's Note: As karina001 pointed out, yes...with Wade around, the guys will be learning a lot about Vic. Also, Arkytior's Song...ready for Stalker Steve to finally return!?