Duo knew he should be sleeping. Any time after 2 a.m. officially qualified as "stupid o'clock," and he passed that mark about two hours back. Instead he was curled up in a window seat, watching the storm pelt the window from one of WinStar's New York penthouse suites. Duo was used to popping in and availing himself of open rooms at WinStar hotels and resorts—the pilots were on a very short list of people other than Winner direct family members who were to be granted a room upon request, but it wasn't usually anything special. Frankly, any room in a WinStar hotel was nicer than any ship Duo had lived on as a kid, even the supposedly low-rent rooms.

Because Quatre was a worrywart and tended overgift when stressed, he had set aside this premier suite indefinitely while Duo was in New York. Refusing it would have made Quatre try to overcompensate even more, so Duo sucked it up. The view from the 50th floor was pretty spectacular, he had to admit, even if the suite itself was over the top for Duo's preference.

Which meant that Quatre was probably losing quite a bit of money by letting Duo have his suite, but then again, he was Quatre Winner. Duo had finally learned to just not argue when Quatre wanted to give people things. After effectively refusing to let Quat buy him anything for the better part of three years, Duo figured he was allowed to be a little over the top.

The suite had nothing to do with why he wasn't sleeping anyway, just something to think about that wasn't…

Cooling blood seeping into the knees of his pants. The dead weight of Jesus's head on his lap. Dead eyes staring where once there had been so much life.

Duo curled in tighter, trying to focus on the storm outside the window even as he spun Jesus's wedding ring around his thumb. He told himself the tightness of the still-new scar across his abdomen was just in his mind.

Thunder crashed distantly, almost lost among the rain pounding on the window.

I should have been there. I should have known. I should have been there.

Shini thrummed under his skin, echoing the thunder and rain but helpless. It did not mourn. It did not know sorrow. It could make Duo's emotions go away if he let it rise up, but there was nothing to point it at, no targets to give it rein against. If he called upon Shini, it demanded a price. Duo had paid that price before—paid it over and over again in the months after losing Heero. Turning to Shinigami, letting it control him, letting it clear out everything but the now for months had led to Une taking him out of the field. He didn't know how many he killed on missions during those months, he just knew it was a lot.

Part of him longed to go back to that time—when the only time between missions was time spent sleeping and Shini rode him for days without break.

I couldn't keep him. I couldn't keep them. I can't keep anyone.

He knew it wasn't a solution. Using Shini like that was no better than using a drug and infinitely more destructive. A normal drug mostly harmed the one who used it, possibly spilling over to their loved ones. Duo's form actually killed people.

He was so fucked up. Maybe if he told Stark he was a mass murderer who'd rather kill people than deal with his own emotions, he'd go away?

Knowing his luck, it would just make Stark want to fix him.

He folded his arms over his knees and laid his head on it, concentrating on the sound and sight of the rain to try and take him out of his own head. He'd been able to avoid all this nonsense in Brussels by either being busy as fuck with first the security systems upgrade, then the personnel files and the training course, or being distracted by Une or Mei. Back in New York, until he went back into the precinct, he had nothing left to distract him from his own thoughts, and they'd been spinning between memories of Jesus and Heero since he had set foot in the hotel room.

He took a deep breath and focused. He could do this. The trick wasn't not to think about whatever he was avoiding, it was to focus on what was immediately in front of him. The music of the rain on the window, watching the drops that held on the edges, watching them swell and leave tear tracks on the glass.

Thoughts finally quiet, Duo began to nod off when Shini surged up through him. What little color there was in the night bled away. Someone was in his hotel room. He concentrated and sensed five souls, souls that knew Death, had dealt it.

Duo grinned, wide, and full of teeth and threat.

How kind of someone to give him an excuse to let Shinigami ride.

. o . o . o .

"Stark," Fury said, not letting Tony get anything snarky out, but honestly, there would never be a good reason for Fury to call at 4 a.m. "Do you know where your son is?"

"Should be back in New York as of yesterday, but I haven't talked to him yet," he said in reply, though he was more than a little suspicious about Fury calling him to ask about his son. He'd been on something of a media lockdown since news that he had a son leaked. He supposed he should be grateful he managed to keep it under wraps as long as he had, but it still irked him that it leaked. The only thing on his side was the fact that if he couldn't find out much about Duo, neither could the news outlets.

"Hydra apparently found out about your son and sent agents to his location."

"Why are telling me this instead of intercepting?" he demanded, hitting reactor on his chest to activate his suit. "Where is he?"

"Apparently he's in a suite at WinStar in New York—50th floor."

So, a two-minute flight for Tony. He didn't wait for Fury to say anything else, hanging up the floor, activating his suit, and flying up the stairwell so he could get to an exit.

Because FRIDAY was amazing, she got him Duo's exact room—listed under Gemelo Reyes—and where it was in the building. As soon as he identified two figures in the room, he blasted into it, only to be brought up short when he found Duo crouched over a fallen man, pointing a gun in Tony's direction automatically even though a simple gun couldn't harm the armor.

As FRIDAY identified additional bodies—and they were definitely bodies—he was brought up short.

"You here for me or the idiots who thought attacking me was a good idea?" Duo asked instead of greeting him.

While Tony searched for something to say—because a Hydra team had attacked him and only one was even alive, he knew Duo had to be good, but there's good and then there's good—the Hydra goon at Duo's feet spoke up. "Stark. Iron Man—please save me." Blood spilled over his lips, but he wasn't coughing or having difficulty breathing.

Tony blinked at him behind the faceplate. Hydra goons asking for help was new.

"Know each other?" Duo stood up, lowering the gun, sounding droll. Tony mentally course corrected, because, yes, Duo was good.

"No. Random Hydra lackey," Tony said, though when he looked, the guy looked like more than a random lackey—and he looked genuinely frightened.

"Iron Man—"

Duo's foot came down and pressed threateningly on his throat. "Stop begging. It's embarrassing," he said, then focused on Tony. "If you wanna take him, you save me the headache of calling whoever I need to instead of SHIELD."

"There might be more on the way," Tony said, scanning the room.

"I doubt it," Duo said as Tony's sensors started searching. Duo looked down at the agent and asked, "Your people won't come after me again, will they?" The question was laced with a menacing purr and the Hydra agent began to cry.

Tony kind of wanted to learn that trick.

"No, no, no. I swear. I'll tell them."

Duo snorted, unimpressed, and stepped back, putting the safety on the gun and slipping it into the back of his pants. He bent back down to yank the agent up, and shoved him at Tony, who caught him on reflex. "Get him out of here."

Tony wasn't sure what Duo thought he was going to do with the mumbling and whimpering goon. "We need to talk," he started.

"Probably," Duo said, turning his back on him, stepping behind an island and pulling out his phone—not a StarkPhone, he noticed absently.

"I can call the local PD and coroner for the bodies unless there's someone else you'd rather I call for clean up? They should be on their way anyway. I can't imagine shots weren't reported. Though since it's Hydra, it technically falls under Preventers purview."

"FRI, call Fury. Ask him if he wants anyone to take charge of the Hydra agent," he said.

"Yes, Boss," she replied in his ear.

"I've got contacts at NYPD. They're not going to be happy about the bodies, but they're not going to arrest me for them either. It's a pretty cut and clear case of self-defense, especially if I have to tell them about you."

The goon's simpering was getting on Tony's nerves. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked the goon.

Duo answered, "He's upset that I removed his suicide tooth. It seems being a living failure is much scarier than being dead.". He reached over, grabbed a plastic bag, then pitched it at Tony, who caught the thing on reflex. Inside the bag was a large adult tooth. As Tony looked at it more closely, he realized that it wasn't that the tooth was particularly large, it was surrounded by bone.

"Did you cut out part of his jaw?" Tony asked, wondering how the hell he had managed it, and was rewarded with another bored look.

"It's a suicide tooth. If I broke it while getting it out, it would have killed him and possibly me. And if I didn't remove it, he'd have killed himself at the first chance. So yes, I removed part of the jaw to make sure I didn't compromise the tooth."

That logic was pretty rock solid, even if it wasn't the way Tony would have done it.

There was a banging on the door. Duo made a motion to Tony to silence him and moved to it before Tony could respond.

"NYPD."

The tension that Tony hadn't even noticed eased from Duo's shoulders as he opened the door. "Long time no see," he said.

"Fucking hell—weren't you in Europe?" the detective who came in grumbled. He paused in the doorway, a couple of uniforms behind him, and gave Duo a very thorough once-over. "How are you doing?" There was something oddly low and intimate about the question.

"I've had better days." Duo sighed. "Come on in. Stark has the leftover—the bodies are over there," he pointed vaguely in their general direction.

"Five weeks, Gemelo. You couldn't go five weeks without dropping bodies on my doorstep?"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Duo said, but there was no heat behind it.

"Iron Man," the detective nodded at Tony. "Detective Reese Anderson. With all due respect, why are you even here?"

"These are Hydra goons—I mean agents," Tony said, figuring it was best to follow Duo's lead and not disclose their relationship unless it was necessary, even if Duo and the detective knew each other.

Anderson whistled in appreciation. "You just don't do shit by halves, do you? What the fuck have you done in the last couple months that put you in Hydra's crosshairs?"

"I haven't done anything."

"Bull."

"Honestly, this one isn't on me."

The detective looked skeptical. "Fiftieth floor, huh?"

"I have connections, asshole. Don't worry about misbegotten money funding this."

"This isn't—?"

"No. Which reminds me—Stark, you owe WEI a new window."

He would have paid for it anyway but felt compelled to point out, "I thought I was saving your life."

"How did you get notification that Hydra was after Mr. Maxwell?" Anderson asked him.

"I got a tip," Tony said dryly, because that should be obvious.

"Hydra are over my paygrade," the detective said, sounding put out. "You got somewhere else to stay, Maxwell?"

It was a perfect chance to jump in. "You can stay at the Tower. We've got plenty of room."

"Hard pass," Duo said, not even pretending to be polite about it. "Gimme your phone," he said to the detective instead. The detective looked confused but unlocked it and did as asked. Duo navigated it with ease. "If you need me, use this number, at least for now." He handed the phone back to the detective.

Tony was about at his threshold for being ignored. "Hey, hold on here. One, Hydra came looking for you. I don't care if you put the fear of God into this guy." Tony shook the still simpering goon pointedly. "But they're not just going to give up. Anywhere you go, you'll be at risk of bringing them with you. The safest place to be is at the Tower with the rest of the Avengers."

Duo folded his arms across his chest, clearly unimpressed. "Noted. And two?"

Tony blinked at him, though Duo couldn't see it through the faceplate. "Two?"

"You said 'one,' so I'm assuming you have another reason?"

Okay, fuck this circumspect shit. It was going to get out sooner than later anyway. "Two, you're my son, dammit! It's not unreasonable to want you safe!"

"You're Tony Stark's son?" the detective blurted, looking gobsmacked.

Duo winced. "Recent revelation."

"I've had it run and verified," Tony snapped. "There's no mistake."

Duo rolled his eyes like the teenager he almost was, then slipped around everyone into a back room. He came out less than a minute later with a good-sized black duffel and a black leather jacket. He looked at the detective.

"Let me know if you need anything." He began to walk to the door, but Tony moved into his path.

"Wait," Tony began, feeling silly holding the goon and the baggie with the goon's tooth. "If Hydra was—"

Duo's spine visibly stiffened. "Get the hell out of my way."

"Hydra isn't—" Tony tried again.

"If they want to come at me, let them come."

Getting irritated, Tony blurted, "Just because you got the better of some flunkies—"

"Fuck this," Duo interrupted, spinning on his heel, a long braid whipping out behind him. He made a beeline to the window Tony had broken in through.

"Gemelo," Anderson's voice brought him up short. Duo turned and looked at him. "No one else got hurt this time, but you're Tony Stark's son. Hydra's not likely to give up. I know how good you are," he said, and something about the way he said it held weight. He'd seen Duo fight before, hadn't been at all surprised that Duo had taken down a Hydra team single-handed. He knew what Duo was capable of. "But you're in New York City. What are the chances that next time there won't be collateral?"

Duo glared at him for a long moment, then threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "Fuck you, so much." But Tony could tell from the tone, he was giving in.

"Next time," Anderson quipped back. "And I need your gun." He pulled out an evidence bag.

"You really don't love me anymore," Duo complained, just shy of stomping over to him. He pulled his gun back out, ejected the cartridge and the round, and dropped them all in the bag. "I want that back."

"And—"

"You can have my knives when you pry them from my cold, dead body and not one second before."

Anderson sighed. "You know that's not normally how this works, right?"

"It is unless you want to see if Hydra is willing to attack me while I'm in holding," Duo replied sweetly.

"Putting you in holding is just going to end up with more bodies," Anderson said with a sigh.

"Not my fault."

"Totally would be."

"I do not start fights."

"You sure as hell finish them though," Anderson said, looking pointedly at the Hydra goon.

Duo crossed his arms, then hissed. About half of the room moved toward him automatically, but Duo straightened and waved them off. "I'm fine. Bruised, probably." He held his ribs in a way that Tony was painfully familiar with. One of the other cops came to Tony and held out an evidence bag, which Tony dutifully dropped the tooth baggie into.

"Suicide tooth," he warned the cop, who nodded.

Tony moved toward Duo, but not before Anderson got there, looking stricken. "We can get an—"

"I'm not going to a damn hospital. The adrenaline's just worn off so I'm feeling it," Duo said. "I'll live."

Anderson put a gentle hand on Duo's shoulder. "If you won't go to the hospital, please, for my peace of mind, go with the Avengers. That's where you'll be safest." Duo straightened, though he still held his side, looking defiant, when Anderson added, "Please, Gemelo."

Tony wanted the story behind these two so badly, it was all he could do to keep silent. He just knew if he opened his mouth, Duo would be gone.

"Please." Then he added something soft in Spanish. Because FRIDAY was really a bright girl, she translated it and played it back for him. "Jesus would have wanted you to be safe, and he would have trusted your father to keep you safe."

Duo deflated, the fight going out of him. "Fuck you," he said, but it was a concession.

Anderson took another liberty and pulled the bag off Duo's shoulder, looking away only long enough to all but shove it at Tony, who had to rearrange the goon to catch it. "He shouldn't be carrying this if his ribs are bruised," he said, then turned his attention back to Duo. "You know, I was supposed to be on light duty and minor assignments. This isn't that," he said, but it wasn't chiding or even really complaining, more teasing.

"What can I say?" Duo gave him a small smile in return. "You answered a shots fired call at a WEI penthouse suite. What did you expect?"

Walking over to take the goon from Tony, Anderson muttered, "Guess I should be glad you left a survivor."

"Dead men don't talk. This one will." He turned back to focus on the Hydra goon, who had somewhat gathered himself as Tony held him. Duo walked over and stood just outside of the man's personal space. He met the man's eyes, not saying anything, just grinned at him. The man started struggling, trying to get away, nearly panicked, and Tony didn't wholly blame him. That grin wasn't directed at him, and even in the armor, some primal part of Tony wanted to get away.

"P—please. Please, please," the goon begged, there was no other word for it. It reminded him of watching Natasha terrify goons who was easily twice her size. It was almost funny watching the goon all but falling over himself trying to get away from a visibly injured Duo.

"You're going to answer all of these nice detectives' questions to the best of your ability, fully, won't you?" Duo asked in a would-be sweet voice if not for a chilling undercurrent of absolute threat. "And you're not going to try to run, because if you run, I'm going to have to come looking for you, and you don't want that, do you?"

"N-n-no! No, sir. Please, please, I'll do whatever you want." The man began to bawl again.

"Just answer all the nice agents' questions and be good, and you'll never have to see me again."

"Y-yes, sir!"

Duo stepped back. "You can should be good now," he said to Anderson. "Neither you nor the Preventers will have any problems with him."

Anderson, who had been wrangling the near-panicked goon, was looking nervous. "What the everloving fuck did you do? You can't torture people—"

"I didn't," Duo said.

Tony hated to contradict him but pointed to the evidence bag with the tooth. "You did cut out part of his jaw," he said.

Duo rolled his eyes. "While he was unconscious. He didn't wake up till after I was done. Removing the suicide tooth was necessary to save his damn life. He freaked out the minute he saw me. I tried restraining the one in the bedroom, but he used his suicide tooth, which is why I knew this guy probably had one. I knocked him out while he was blubbering, before he could get his head back together enough to suicide, removed the tooth—yes, with some of the surrounding bone—and tied him up. I didn't do anything to him."

"But you know why he's afraid of you," Anderson said, and he sounded weary.

He started to shrug, then winced as he remembered his side. "Some people just are. I'd think you would remember why."

Definitely history there; Tony could feel it, but Anderson just shook his head and sounded tired when he said, "Just… get out of here, Gemelo."

"Gladly," Duo said, echoing Anderson's tone. He met Tony's eyes and nodded for him to lead the way.

"Boss, I had Mr. Hogan come by. I didn't think you'd want to fly back in this storm with Duo," FRIDAY told him.

"Thanks, FRI," Tony told her, leading the way.

Duo hesitated before leaving the suite.

"Hydra falls under Preventer jurisdiction, so at least it should be off your hands soon?" he offered.

"Just…" Anderson bit off something and ended with a simple, "go." Just before they left, Anderson called, "Take care, okay? And stay in touch?"

Duo nodded, then followed Tony into the hall, where Tony retracted his suit in the hopes of not drawing additional attention.

"Happy's waiting for us," Tony told him. "Let's head straight down to the garage."

. o . o . o .

AN: I love this scene and I have really looked forward to getting us this far. Let me know if you're enjoying!