XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 5 – Co-pilot

Samuel popped back inside of Tony Stark's penthouse. Exton and Arcite were sitting at the bar. Exton was eating a pizza. Arcite sipped a bottle of water. They both turned around when Samuel appeared.

"Oh, hey." Exton smiled. "Sam, right?"

Samuel nodded, "Yes. Where is everyone?"

"Well, Pepper went to the school with Soli to help Genie there. Tony is down in the shop." Arcite told him.

Samuel crossed his arms. "Shop, huh? How long as he been down there?"

Exton shook his head. "I'm not sure. He was there when I got back. I've been with Pepper all day."

"Who is with her now?"

"Aemilius and Bassanio." Exton told him as he tossed the crust into the box.

Sam looked at them, "So, Arcite has been with Tony all day. Right?"

"That's correct." Arcite sipped his water. "He has told me that he needs a minimum of four hours of thinking time."

"Thinking time?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Yes. He says it's a human trait that's necessary. I was not to bother him." Arcite looked back at Exton. "I don't remember that in the briefing on the way here."

Exton shrugged his shoulders. "They miss a lot of stuff."

Sam groaned and went to the shop. Tony having four hours to himself? That just sounded like trouble.

Just as he walked into the shop, he heard a loud pop. Tony, wearing his metal suit, had appeared.

The mask flipped up and Tony looked at Sam in surprise. "What are you doing here, man?"

Sam put his hands on his hips. "Let's start with what you're doing."

Tony pulled off the helmet and grinned. "Oh yeah. Redirection. I know how that works." The suit opened up and Tony stepped out of it. He was covered in sweat, but looked more relaxed than he had in all of the time that Sam had been back during this time. He walked over to the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water. "Pepper back?"

Sam shook his head. "Not yet. Desert?"

Tony sat down at his desk and drank the water. "Yeah. They got a big shipment of weapons today. I've known it was going to get there for weeks."

"From you?"

"No way. I'm not the only guy selling things that go boom." Tony insisted.

"So, they also got….you?" Sam asked.

Tony finished the bottle of water and tossed it in the rubbish bin. "It's a terrible thing when you don't even have time to open up the crates to use the weapons to defend yourself against some….rogue….Cyberman."

Sam walked over to the suit and looked at it. He saw bullet holes that had dented the metal across the back. He looked back up at Tony, who was watching him. "Got your cooling system."

"Metal suit in the desert heat. I got them back for that. But, yeah. It needs a back-up."

Sam grinned and looked closer at the suit. "How's your back?"

"It's good. That's thick metal." Tony opened another bottle of water and continued to watch Samuel.

"It's not that it's thick, that helps, it's where you were hit. See, here, where the flight stabilizers come up, there is this little area where the metal becomes very thin. You should probably think about putting a personal force field around the entire thing. It will help with all of those little areas. Then, you could make the suit lighter. Faster."

Tony propped his feet up on the seat next to him. "So, this is your way of telling me that I'm going to get my ass shot?"

Samuel shook his head as he continued to look at the suit. "No."

"The personal force field from the bracelet is active during the suit's use."

"But, it can fail." Sam insisted.

"Stuff I make, doesn't fail. Well, unless some dickhead gets a lucky shot."

"Stuff you make, sometimes gets….improved."

Tony became frustrated. "Alright. Enough of this. Just, spit it out. Where is this coming from?"

Sam ran his hand through his hair and grinned. Tony realized how much he reminded him of John in that moment.

Sam pointed at the suit. "This. This is amazing to see this old suit."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Old. But, I imagine to you, it is."

"How fast have you had this one up to?"

"I'm not sure on that one, but I have one that's gotten up to Mach 2."

"In that?"

Tony smiled. "Yes. Too fast?"

"Too slow. I know someone who's had one up to Mach 5. Well, a little under that. But, I'm rounding."

Tony laughed. "Rounding. Yeah. Who did that? The way you talk it's not me."

Sam looked back at him and put his hands in his pockets. "Someone you know. He flies a lot with you."

"Soli?"

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no way. He can't get into a suit. He's claustrophobic. You probably haven't figured that out yet."

"You're flying with me. You're the one that was shot."

Sam nodded his head. "Yeah. Just in the back. I put it back together, and it's fine. But, it left a hell of a scar."

"John didn't-"

Sam shook his head. "I told Dad that I didn't want to fix it. Well, after he found out. Reminds me that I'm mortal. Mum finding out was bad enough. I thought she was going to kill you. Honestly, blood and everything."

Tony laughed, "Ah. Rose is a teddy bear."

"Right." Sam mocked. "Rose Tyler? My Mum?"

Tony grinned, "So, Mach 5?"

"Oh wow. And it's amazing." Sam insisted as he sat down across from Tony at the desk. "There's nothing like….just….lighting one up and hauling ass someplace. You hear that boom, and your heart just leaps."

"Just not straight up-"

"Oh, you sorted out that icing problem long ago. The best place to fly has to be at Lenox's. Although, you have to do it away from the village. All of the openness. Just, wow. It's….the best."

Tony grinned at Samuel's excitement. He was sure it mirrored his own. "I know what you mean."

"And you're still going to the desert." Sam realized. "Keeping the watch, for…."

"Rhodey. Yeah. As long as there are soldiers there, I feel like I need to help them."

"What does Pepper say about this?"

"She doesn't know." Tony admitted. "She believes I've stopped."

"Yeah?"

"I run all sorts of programs down here to track the moments of our guys. When they get too close to something…dangerous, I go in. Or, when I hear of a shipment of weapons going over there…"

"You go destroy it."

Tony nodded his head. "Yeah. What happened to me, won't happen to anyone else. But, what happened to Rhodes…." He shook his head.

"I hear you." Sam nodded. "And the panic attacks. PTSD?"

"You know about that, too?"

"I've known you a very long time, Tony. You're my Uncle. And in all honestly, this is the longest conversation we've ever had about this."

Tony sighed and leaned on the desk. "What do you know about that?"

Sam shook his head. "No. That's not how that works. The question I have for you is, how bad are they? I remember they got worse for a while-"

"I think I'm there." Tony agreed.

"And you refused to tell Dad about it."

"He has to look in my head. He'll know I'm married."

"Oh, that a shit excuse, and you know it."

Tony sat back and crossed his arms. "Yeah, it is."

Sam looked back at the suit. "Well, Dad and I don't completely see eye to eye on everything. He tells me I'm too much like my Mum for that to ever happen."

Tony nodded.

Sam pointed at the suit and smiled, "That. Is your therapy. That, is the way you began to gain control over that small part of your life that you feel is completely out of your hands. That, is the only thing that really ever works."

Tony looked back at the suit and grinned. "I can see that."

"Just being able to get it in and fly away. No Quauhtin. No damn press. No one knows who you are. And if you manage to help someone while you're in it, that's just…"

"Gravy." Tony agreed. "Although, that's not me. That's you."

Sam smiled and leaned on the desk. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

"Growing up with Quauthin all around. How are you even able to date with those guys? By the time I was your age…." Tony rose his eyebrows, "Well, that's probably for the best."

Sam laughed, "They have always been rather good about that. But, it still brings complications to anything."

"Like being the son of Rose Tyler doesn't?"

Sam smiled. "We have a lot of talks about that."

Tony smiled proudly. "I get it. I'm the son of Howard Stark. Everyone is still in my business. Like, I don't know…"

"You belong to all of them."

Tony nodded. "Exactly. I'm a newlywed. This should be the happiest time of my life. I can't announce that because my wife isn't comfortable with everyone knowing. You are probably one of the few that gets what that would feel like."

Sam sighed and nodded his head. "Oh, I do. There was a girl. Back home. We dated for about a year. Managed to keep it quiet. Beautiful woman."

"And the press found out."

"She told me that she couldn't deal with it. Always on the telly. Always, people looking at her. 'Oh, look. That's the girl who's dating Sam Smith.' You know. That sort of thing."

"I understand. I've been there. Hell, I'm there now."

Sam groaned and crossed his arms. "Ah, it's probably for the best. She is from here."

"Earth?"

"New York."

"Oh. Yeah, they are a different breed." Tony grinned.

"I never told her anything about…space. The family. Who the Quauhtin really are. It's a rule for us not to disclose that."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah."

Tony drank the rest of this water. "How long as it been since you've been in a suit?"

Sam thought as he blew air from between his lips. "Two weeks? No. Fifteen days."

"Rounding." Tony laughed. "Rounding, son."

Sam laughed and ran his hand through his hair just as Pepper walked into the shop with Soli.

"There you are, Samuel!" Soli exclaimed when he saw him.

Sam smiled at the little boy. "Looking for me?"

"I've not seen you all day! Arles, Legate and Genie were all at the school. We had a great snowball fight!"

"Hey, that sounds like fun."

"You don't even say hi to me?" Tony fussed at the little boy.

Soli smiled at him. "Hi, Tony."

Pepper walked over to Tony and kissed his lips quickly. "Ew. Why are you so wet?"

"Ummm. Well-" Tony began.

"He was working out." Sam told Pepper.

"Working out?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah. He told me about the panic attacks, and the trouble he is having sleeping."

Tony looked back at Pepper and tried not to look surprised. "Well, yeah. He's a Doctor."

Sam smiled, "Yeah. So, we're going to try this for a while. Tony wants to avoid having Dad look in his head for a bit."

Pepper pointed at the metal suit. "Why is that out?"

Tony was at a loss for words, "Well…."

"I was showing him something on the back of it. Near the flight stabilizers." Sam told her.

Pepper rose her shoulders and shivered. As her back was turned to Tony, he quickly mouthed, "Thank you" to Sam.

Sam nodded at Tony and grinned.

Tony cleared his throat, "Pepper doesn't like the suits."

She looked back at Tony. "Well, why would I? They are….."

"Awesome?" Sam asked.

"Really neat!" Soler smiled.

"Creepy." Pepper decided. "Where's the head?"

Tony laughed, "Pepper. It has a helmet. Not a head. It's not a robot." Then he was struck with a thought. "Oh, damn that's a great idea."

"What's a great idea?" Pepper asked him.

He looked back at her and shook his head. "Never mind, Sweet One."

She rolled her neck back and crossed her arms. "Sweet One?"

He shook his head. "That doesn't quite work, either. Does it?"

She shook her head. "No. But, keep at it. I'm sure you'll find something that sounds natural."

Tony pointed at Sam. "Help me out here, man. What do I call her?"

Sam looked at Pepper and chuckled. "Well it was 'mon lapin'."

Pepper smiled, "That sounds nice-"

"Until she found out what it was."

Tony laughed. "My rabbit."

"What?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I shouldn't tell you what it is. I think that's better you discover that on your own."

Pepper pointed at Tony. "You just look like you're up to something."

Tony rose his eyebrows and teased her, "Really, mon coeur?"

Sam pointed at Tony. "That's it!"

She crossed her arms. "What does that mean, Sam?"

Tony pointed at himself. "You don't ask me?"

"No. I'm asking Sam."

Tony groaned. "Alright."

Sam looked back at her and smiled. "It means, 'my heart.' It's lovely. Go with that."

Tony grinned at her. "Yeah. I'm down here, drinking water with Sam. Are you even old enough to drink?"

"Depends where I am." Sam laughed.

Pepper threw up her hands. "I'm not getting into that with you. Sam, whatever you think that might help him. That one last night was rather bad."

Tony threw the empty bottle in the rubbish bin. "I'm fine."

Soli stood on the side of the chair where Sam sat. "Sam. I need to talk to you."

"Uh oh." Sam insisted.

"Genie, Arles and you are all here. Even Tony Tyler! Why didn't you bring me? Am I not with Tony anymore?"

Tony smiled proudly, "And he's figured it out. Smart guy."

Sam smiled at the little boy. "You are still with them. Yes. You were on Plentitude with them when we left. You were their bodyguard."

"Why did you leave without me?"

"We hadn't planned to leave."

"Then, why are you here?"

Sam sighed. "Did you ask Genie about this?"

"No. I wanted to ask you."

Sam looked back at Tony and Pepper.

Pepper smiled, "He likes you."

"Everyone likes me. I make them smile." Sam told her.

"You always make me feel better, Sammy. So, I wanted to ask you in case something had happened."

"Nothing happened." Sam told the small boy as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"Then why are you here?"

Sam sighed. "I can't really tell you why."

"Will you be here long?"

Sam nodded. "Dad feels we'll be here for a very long time. But, you can't tell our other versions who we really are. That's important."

Soli nodded. "Okay. Hey! We're going to watch Star Battle-"

"Wars." Tony corrected him. "Star Wars."

The small boy smiled at Tony. "Yes. That was it. Would you like to watch it with us?"

Sam smiled. "I'm a firm 'maybe'."

Soli jumped off the side of the chair and ran upstairs.

Tony threw out his hands. "And now he doesn't even say bye. What's with him?"

"He's hoarse, too. He sounds so strange. I'm worried he might be getting sick." Pepper told them.

Tony smiled. "He's speaking English. John copied it in his head before they left."

Pepper covered her mouth in surprise. "He's speaking English?"

Tony laughed. "Yes. I was looking forward to teaching him English, but I suppose I'll just teach him French instead. How's that, mon Coeur?"

Pepper smiled. "Then you two can speak to yourselves without me knowing what you are saying."

Tony grinned and said something else to her in French.

Sam closed his eyes and groaned. "Please. I'm sitting just here."

Tony laughed.

Pepper grinned. "Translate that later."

"And I'm still here." Sam insisted.

Pepper laughed, "Sorry, Sam. The rest of the kids are upstairs. We're ordering dinner. Any word from John?"

Sam shook his head. "No."

"What did he do-"

"Don't. Seriously." Sam insisted. "It's between them."

Pepper put her hands on her hips. "That's what the others said. Well, Tony. Take a shower. I'll order you both something."

"Okay. We'll be up in a minute."

Pepper walked out of the room and closed the glass door behind her.

"Was she wearing shoes?" Tony asked.

Sam grinned and shook his head. "I didn't notice."

"Umm…" Tony grunted and stood up. "Jarvis. Give Sam full access to everything in here."

Jarvis replied, "Super User, sir?"

Tony looked at Sam as he thought. "Umm… no. Just let him in the suits and such."

"Of course, sir. What was I thinking?" Jarvis agreed.

Sam rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Oh yes!"

Tony pointed at Sam's chest. "You know the climate here-"

"Yes."

"Don't do something stupid-"

Sam shook his head. "Wouldn't dream of it-"

"And, don't break your neck. I can always make more suits."

Sam laughed. "Yes, sir."

Tony pat his shoulder. "Good talk. I'm off to the shower."

Sam bounced on his feet and looked around the room. "Oh yes!"

"Put up my suit, kid." Tony told him has he walked out of the room.

Sam chuckled. "Right."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX