Hooligans
This is before Ultron. Sorry this took a while to write as I am suffering from burnt out atm. Sorry about the word count. I tried to make this chapter bigger.
Chapter 3: When Tony Meets Garion
The Stark Tower party/fund-raiser was in full swing. Garion Williams had found the perfect spot to observe the gala and, of course, his beautiful mother, Sarah Williams. Sitting on the far corner of the glass and chrome bar where the lighting and shadows meet, he could see the whole sunken penthouse floor. Above Garion, perched in the steel rafters was another watcher with a bow and quiver surveying the party guests.
Garion sighed as his fingers plucked a simple tune. He really didn't want to be here. He had better things to do with his time. This gala just happened to be one of his mother's projects – raising money for children's education programs – a needy cause for certain. Of course, his mother could not be unaccompanied, so decreed his father, The Goblin King.
He had been tagged to attend as Father had back-to-back business Underground, as well as a meeting with a few of his subjects. 'Meaning the Goblins had done something to irritate him to the point he was ready to bog the lot and the fact that he may also have to deal with a runner,' Garion mused as he picked another tune.
A vivacious red-head stood behind the LED-lighted bar, flirting with everyone that stopped by for a drink or refill. She had tried to flirt with him; however, Garion, a master bard as well as a master flirt, turned the tables back on her by quoting Shakespeare or other play lines and song lyrics. She was good, but he was better. When he learned she was of Russian descent, well, he upped the stakes by flirting in Russian. The perched watcher could be heard chuckling at their banter, amused by the pair as their quips got outrageous.
She more or less left him alone as she had to deal with other party guests. When she was free, she would resume their tit for tat flirting.
A few hours later, Garion's flirting came to an end. Tony Stark, Hermione's bane, started to play with fire.
Tony Stark, self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist* and drunk, moved towards Sarah Williams, the wife of a powerful and very jealous Goblin King.
'Oh boy,' Garion sighed, hopping off his perch on the bar, 'If isn't one thing, it's another.'
"Sorry, my 'kotehok*'," Garion gave the vivacious barista a grin and bow, "but I must rescue a fool from a fiery dragon." He shook his head as he watched Stark trying to make a fool of himself and muttered, "Lord, what fools these mortals be.^"
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Both the Black Widow and Hawkeye exchanged a knowing look as their target's son moved with ease through the crowd of guests to get to his mother. Both agents could see why Fury was so desperate to enlisted this young linguist into S.H.I.E.L.D.
If he could keep up with Natasha's seductive info gathering without giving away any secrets, then he was perfect for spying. He just needed more physical training.
0o0o0o0o0o
Sarah was bored and disappointed. Jareth had promised he would come with her and she had been looking forward to it. They didn't really get out much. Jareth was always on call for runners and dealing with goblins was a never-ending chore.
Tonight was supposed to be a fun night of dancing and networking. Then it happened: Some goblins had decided to prank the Junkyard of Lost Child-hood and pushed down all the mountains made up of old toys and other junk on top of the denizens that lived there. The mess would take months of restoring orderly chaos and finding all the denizens that lived there.
On top of all that, there was a Wish-Away. A pre-teen Wished Away her baby sister, not quite like what Sarah had done to Toby. The pre-teen had been abused by her step-father and wanted to get both her and her baby sister away from him before he turned his attention to the one-year old.
Sarah was all for the girl not running the Labyrinth and turning her into a goblin and adopting out the baby. However, it was Jareth's call. Goblin business came first. This wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last.
'Wish Aways will come when they will,' she thought, and like Garion, she knew that Jareth would bog those goblins involved in the mess in the Junkyard.
Turning back to the throng of guests, she mused on all the rumors about Tony Stark's playboy life, and she just knew he would try something with her. Her adoptive son Garion tried his best to be a good little escort, but he didn't have Jareth's level of snark.
"What's a lovely lady like you doing standing alone? Shouldn't you be dancing?" came a debonair voice beside her.
Not looking around to who the voice belonged to, she already knew – Tony Stark. "Maybe I don't feel like dancing?" she quipped, hoping that he would go away.
"I don't believe that for one moment," Tony scoffed. "Come and dance with me?"
"I'm fine where I am, thank you, good sir."
"Nyahhh. Come and dance."
"Mom? You alright?"
"Mom?" Tony whipped his head around to face a concerned Garion.
"I'm fine, Garion. Just missing your father. He promised to be here, however two emergencies came up," Sarah answered her son with a touch or relief in her voice.
"He can't be your son. He'ssss too old," Tony scoffed as a tall, blond, muscled gentleman came up beside them.
"Garion Williams, adoptive son, at your service. As mom said, Father was detained at the last minute and drafted me into being mom's plus one," Garion introduced himself. "And it's impolite to question a lady about her age, good sir."
"Steve Rogers," the blond introduced himself. "Tony! Natasha needs you at the bar."
"Barrrrr, sssshamarrr, I was trying to get this lady to dance with me," Tony shook his head and waved off Rogers.
Garion mentally went over the songs he could use to defuse the situation and went with simple:
". . . Look what he has done for us he's filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer, beer, beer. . ."^
As Garion hummed the song and weaved his magic, Tony straightened as if struck by lightning and blinked.
"Ms. Williams? I'm sorry for my assumptions. Are you enjoying yourself?"
Sarah smiled. "I wasn't, at first. I had hoped my husband could join us. Now then, what were we talking about?"
Garion grinned and stopped his humming. "We were discussing why you have a grown-up son as an escort. Mom and Father adopted me when I was only 15 months old. I'm a year older than their twin sons."
Tony ohh'ed softly as Steve shrugged, with a slight frown.
Sarah gave a mental sigh of relief and thanked the gods for as magical a son as Garion.
Not to be daunted, Tony came back with a quip all womanizers used when they discover children in the mix, "You are much too young to be the mother of three teen-agers."
Garion, as well as Sarah, raised an eyebrow at the quip. That line was so old.
"Seriously, dude," Garion piped in. "Can't you do a better pick-up line than that?"
"Oh hush, you," Sarah ordered as she gave her son a slap on the arm.
Steve covered a quiet chuckle with his hand, watching the famed Tony Stark being shot down.
"I was just saying. . ." Garion grinned, then he quoted, "Dear mother, you will never age for me, nor fade, nor die."^ For you are the most beautiful person in my life."
"Oh, he's good," Tony snarked as Sarah smiled at her son.
"I should be. I can quote all of Shakespeare's plays by memory."
Suddenly, behind them came a British accented voice: ". . .She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is a woman, therefore to be won.^"
Everyone turned to see a tall man with wild blond hair and mixed matched eyes.
"I am to be won, good sir?" Sarah asked, with a practiced lilt to her voice. "Pray, tell me how so?" She stepped past Tony and company, taking the offered hand.
Jareth swirled his lady around as he led her out to the dance floor, softly singing an old familiar song:
"There's such a sad love
Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel
Open and closed
Within your eyes
I'll place the sky
Within your eyes. . .^"
"Damn, he has style! How did he do that? Who is he anyways?" Tony asked, confused as the last of the alcohol-induced buzz cleared up.
"That, my friend," Garion chuckled, looking at the confused and befuddled men, moving to return the bar area, "is Jareth T.G. King, head of Tuatha Enterprise and my mother's husband."
"Jarvis? Are you getting this?" the now sober genius asked.
A voice came out of nowhere stated: "Barely Sir. Something is blurring my sensors."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Fury slammed down the report from his spies at the Williams-Stark fund-raiser gala in frustration. That Williams was able to go head to head with Natasha and not give anything away was astounding and made Fury want him more.
What was more frustrating was they finally had positive identification of the elusive Jareth King and the images all came up blurry, fuzzy, and completely unusable. What tech was he using? They now knew that King was tall, had untamed blond hair and with mismatched eyes, looking more like that British rock singer.
Rogers was very impressed with the fact that Garion Williams could handle someone as childish as Stark with poise and elegance that Stark lacked.
Fury wanted to throw a huge temper-tantrum to relieved his frustration, but he had an image to uphold.
Couldn't Williams see he was needed? The Greater Good of earth needs him!
0o0o0o0o0o0
Garion Williams gave a shudder as he sat in his favorite hiding place high in the rafters of the theatre, bringing to mind something Sarah's step-mother would say, 'someone just walked over my grave.'
So far in the game between him and the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the score was 2 to 0, in Garion's favor. He wondered what was next. It was far from over.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"So Fury is trying to recruit this Garion Williams? Send me what you have. Maybe he'll might be a better asset for us instead."
"Yes sir. Long Live HYDRA!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sorry this took so long. As I said, I am suffering from a bit of burn out from not only writing but from sewing. However, I finally finished this chapter, as short as it is.
Thanks for all the reviews and support. And a very special thanks to Miriam, my editor. She helped me with Tony.
Until next time. - GF and Miriam
*Kotehok – Russian for Kitten
*philanthropist – a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.
^Midsummer's Night Dream Act 3, scene 2
"Charlie Mops" is an Irish drinking song, author unknown
Shakespeare In Love
Henry VI, part 1, act 5, scene 3
"As the World Falls Down," David Bowie, the Labrynith