Pepper was going on yet another business trip. This time, to Japan, and then Taiwan. Things had been hectic since HYDRA, but there were branches of the company she wanted to personally oversee. Tony wasn't going to ask her if she really had to go; he knew she wouldn't unless she thought it was necessary. She was doing the job she loved, she was good at it—no, she was the best, really—and Tony loved bragging about his girlfriend. At least he didn't have to worry about her safety, because Happy was going with her. Happy might not be a superhero himself, but the events with Killian had proven that he had the instincts of one, and that was enough.

Tony had decided to see them to the airport.

"I'll miss you," he said, holding her hands. He knew he had to let her go at some point, but man, it was hard.

"You won't have time to miss me, Iron Man."

In a way, she was right. The Avengers had moved into the tower, so that they could leave for a mission at a moment's notice. Maria Hill discovered a new HYDRA base almost every other day. He wondered where she was getting her intel. Either Coulson had been keeping busy, or Fury was still alive and kicking. Probably both.

"It's going to be over by the time you return, promise."

"It's not that bad. I like having your colleagues around. How many women can say that?"

They both laughed, then she let go of him and headed for the jet. He and Happy exchanged nods, then the latter followed Pepper into the jet.

Ana wasn't home by the time he returned. JARVIS said she had gone to meet Skye at a diner in Queens. Those two had some catching up to do, so Tony wasn't surprised. He poured himself a drink, and decided to use this opportunity to have a serious talk with JARVIS, before Ana came back, or Hill sent him to another mission.

"So, JARVIS," he started. "Is everything going well between you and Ana? Or, is there trouble in paradise?"

"Ana has several concerns, sir, the main one being the reaction of the Avengers, should my sentience be discovered. She also feels like our privacy has been invaded, with so many residents in the tower."

"Well, she's never been a fan of roommates…"

"Can you blame her after the boarding school experience, sir?"

"She wants to move out, doesn't she?"

"She doesn't want to leave you alone. She doesn't trust any of your teammates to watch your back, to be honest."

"And you?" Tony asked, sensing the frustration in JARVIS' voice. Perhaps he wasn't very happy about hosting the team either.

"I don't think they respect you enough, sir."

"That's mostly because I don't let them," he admitted. He was still too proud to let others see how much he cared. Let them think he was the center of his own universe.

"May I ask why?"

He shrugged, sipping his Scotch. "Makes things simpler."

"Ana is home," he announced.

"Good." He poured another glass, for her.

The elevator pinged, and she entered with that beautiful smile of hers. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kid."

"Did Pepper leave?"

"Yep."

She walked up to the bar, and kissed his cheek before taking a seat. "Let me guess, you already miss her."

"Missing is good, though. It keeps the relationship fresh."

"See, that's one of the many things I'll never be able to understand about relationships. How and why do you keep it 'fresh'? I mean, it's not a vegetable…"

Tony chuckled. The way his daughter saw things never ceased to amaze him. "I'll explain when you grow up."

Ana stuck her tongue at him, then eyed her drink suspiciously. Him giving her a drink meant he wanted to talk. About something particular.

"How's Skye?" he asked casually.

"I offered her, and the rest of the team the most generous perk package there is. They won't take it."

"Well, we can't force them."

"I know."

"How's that kid doing? Fitz was his name, right?"

Ana sighed heavily. "Not well. Simmons sent me a copy of his medical file. Poor girl. There was only one oxygen mask in the pod, and he made her take it. She's feeling so guilty for the whole thing, she can't even bring herself to be near him anymore. It's so messed up."

She brought up a hologram of Fitz's medical files for Tony to see. Ward, the HYDRA psychopath on Coulson's team, had dropped Fitz-Simmons into the ocean in a Medical Pod. The two kids had managed to make it to the surface, but like Ana said, there was only one mask available, and Fitz had been deprived of oxygen for too long. He was now having trouble speaking, using his hands, and even thinking. The poor guy was going through an engineer's worst nightmare.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ana asked. "Maybe Helen—"

"Helen's tech creates skin tissue, not neurons. But I'll keep an eye open. Maybe we can find something."

"You know, at times like these, I'm really glad I never have to worry about losing JARVIS. I wish I didn't have to worry about losing you either."

He put an arm around her shoulders, and tugged her closer. "I'm being careful, I promise."

"Are you sure? You're not doing anything reckless just to impress Cap?"

"What? Who told you that?" he asked, but he already knew. Damn you, JARVIS. To be completely honest, deep down, he was desperate to prove his worth to Steve, and sometimes, it showed.

"Come on, Dad! It's just so obvious. Your desire to save the world, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, even those dangerous trips to active war zones when you were a weapons manufacturer… It all made sense the moment I saw you around Cap. It's not your fault. It's childhood conditioning. You grew up trying to measure up to Captain America. And now he's here, in the flesh. And that better-than-you attitude of his isn't helping much, is it?"

"You and Cap have a problem?"

"How can we possibly have a problem? We must have exchanged less than 50 words since he moved into the tower. Not that I'm complaining."

Well, both Ana and Steve were loners who didn't have much in common, so it was normal that they were just amiably indifferent to each other. Still, Tony wished he hadn't told her what had happened on the helicarrier when he and Cap had first met. He sometimes forgot how vindictive she could be. She had become a lot better at hiding that part of hers.

"If this is about what happened on the helicarrier, he was under the influence of the Scepter."

"It's not just him. Barton and Romanoff might be the only ex-spies around here, but the rest of the team isn't exactly built on trust either."

"Just to be clear, are we talking about a specific Avenger?"

"Yes," she said nervously.

If they weren't talking about Cap, Romanoff, or Barton… It was either Banner or Thor. "Banner?" he guessed. "Come on, he's never lost control since Loki."

"It's not him."

"Thor?" he asked, taken aback. "What the hell is wrong with Thor?" When he wasn't in a fight, Thor was the goofiest person ever. And because of her connection to Sigyn, he considered Ana to be his niece. He was the cool uncle. What could he possibly have done that would bother Ana?

"Well, in Asgard, they have a gatekeeper. Heimdall. He can see everything that happens in the Nine Realms. That includes the Earth."

He was beginning to understand. "Oh. Are you saying Thor knew about HYDRA?"

"I think his whole family did. After the Battle of New York, when Sigyn came to the tower, why do you think she told Alexander Pierce that he gave up the Tesseract without hesitation?"

She might be right. Tony recalled something he had seen in Loki's eyes, a glimmer of recognition, when Sigyn had taken the cube from Pierce. "Let's ask Thor himself and get this matter cleared up for once and for all."

He was getting off the stool when Ana placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Dad, let's not be too confrontational about it. We have our secrets, too."

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Nothing. I didn't tell you this only because you deserve to know. I also did it to protect our own secrets. Remember what I said about Heimdall? He can see everything."

The realization of what she was doing dawned on him, and sent a shiver of concern down his spine. He had always thought he could read her like a book. But now, he had failed to see that she had an ulterior motive, and he would have had no clue had she chosen not to reveal it to him. There was something unnerving in her ability to conceal her intentions.

"This wasn't a private father-daughter talk. This was a message… to that Heimdall guy."

She shrugged innocently. "How else am I supposed to have leverage against an all-seeing Asgardian? The team doesn't know about Heimdall. Telling them that Asgard knew about HYDRA all along will open a new can of worms. I know he cares about Thor, so he wouldn't want the happiness he's found here to be ruined, right? So, he keeps his mouth shut about our projects, for his friend's sake, and we do the same."

He couldn't believe his little girl was emotionally blackmailing an alien—a rather benevolent one at that, but still… damn—right in front of him. "Well, you better hope this won't backfire."

"It won't. I know what I'm doing."

"You're playing a very dangerous chess game."

She smiled. "Funny, JARVIS said something similar."

"Speaking of, did he…"

"I had no idea she was going to do this, sir," JARVIS said. The frustrated tone convinced Tony that he was telling the truth.

Another thought occurred to him. He asked them, "Do you think Sigyn… told my mom and dad?"

"About HYDRA?" Ana asked.

"Yeah."

"Sigyn says she wasn't allowed to, but who knows? If it weren't for our secrets, I'd say we question Thor, but…"

Well, being a "rags to riches" type of guy, his dad was no stranger to making deals with the devil, Tony assumed. But knowing about HYDRA and turning a blind eye to it, letting it grow under SHIELD's shadow... That was a bit too much. The Howard Stark he remembered would have burnt SHIELD to the ground the day he found out. Maybe it was best Tony left some questions unanswered.

"Dad, I know this can't be easy for you, but..."

"But we need a bargaining chip. You're right." Thor was cool and all, but Ana was right to be worried. Every time Tony asked him questions about how Asgardian stuff worked, he always gave elusive answers like "This is too advanced for you," or "That is not meant for mortal men." It was kind of annoying. Perhaps it wasn't his fault; he had been raised by people who wanted to keep the "pathetic mortals" in the dark. It was simply habit. Still, Thor couldn't know about Project Sneak Peek. None of the Avengers—maybe except for Bruce, but Ana didn't want to take that risk—could, or the Starks would have to kiss their time-travel dreams goodbye.

He hadn't even realized how deeply he had sighed until Ana asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just… I wish I, too, had the guts to defy aliens, instead of, you know, having panic attacks"

"Dad, you've been fine since the surgery. Stop beating yourself up. You're the bravest man I've ever known. But you're just one man. So, it's a good thing we're a team, right? Let me do whatever I can to help."

"Alright. If you're sure you want to step into a bigger league, you now have one more reason not to skip tonight's training session."

She groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yep."

They went out to the terrace to don their armors. Tony was so glad that his daughter was no longer afraid of heights. Training in the suit was a whole new kind of bonding experience. A bit like teaching her how to swim, or ride a bike all over again. He had missed that part of fatherhood.

This was even better. There was something uniquely empowering about being airborne, especially if your species wasn't made to fly and yet you had found a way to give yourself the ability. It was proof that they didn't have to settle for what nature had given them, that they could be a lot more. And yes, there were those who would call it blasphemy, who would say humanity should remain… human. But if humans didn't look out for themselves, no one else would.