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Chapter 2 – Velt in New York

Tony and Velt arrived in the sitting room in his high-rise penthouse in New York. The sun was just beginning to rise and the buildings reflected the orange sunrise throughout the city. Zeppelins flew in the distance.

"Jarvis, this is Velt. He's staying with us for the next few days." Tony said immediately.

Jarvis spoke. "Welcome to Stark Tower, sir."

"Who is that?"

"Jarvis. He runs the house."

"Is he a ghost?"

Tony laughed, "He's a computer program."

Tony let go of his hand and walked away from him. He turned, held out his hands as if to present the room to him. "Well, this is it. My place."

Velt looked out of the window. "It's really tall. It's in the clouds."

Tony nodded, "Penthouse. Yes. I have another place, but it's on the ocean. Kindof like John's place, but not on an island. I like cars too much to live on an island."

Velt looked back at him, "What's that? A car?"

He pointed at him. "You clearly have gaps in your education, kid."

Velt put his hands in his pockets and looked at the city. "Is this the tallest building here?"

Tony nodded as he looked at his phone. "One of the tallest, yes."

Velt nodded his head and looked back at the city. Tony watched him and slipped his phone back into his pocket. The boy looked at the window and slowly touched it with his fingertips. When it didn't do anything, he looked confused. "Tony. I think your screen is broken."

Tony smiled. He had never thought about touching the windows on the Doctor's ship. Making a mental note to try that, he nodded his head at the boy. "I'll have a look at it. Remind me if I forget."

He looked back at him. "Yes, sir."

"Velt? Do you know how to play an instrument?"

He looked back him and shook his head. "No."

He smiled, "Watch this. You will probably like it."

He sat down at the piano and Velt sat next to him. Tony played the song, "Earthbound" as Velt watched him and listened.

Tony looked back at the boy and smiled as he finished. "How's that?"

Velt smiled back at him. "That's pleasant."

"Pleasant, huh? This is her favorite. Let me think. Yeah."

Tony began to play again. This time he played, "Moonlight Sonata." Velt sat and listened. "Her, who?"

"Oh, you'll see." He told him as he continued to play.

He nodded and listened. "That's really pleasant. I like this one more than the other one."

Tony laughed, "Yeah, she does, too."

Pepper walked down the stairs. "I wasn't expecting you this early."

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Velt seated next Tony at the piano.

Tony pointed. "That's her."

Pepper, wearing her pajamas and robe, smiled, "Who is this?"

Velt stood up, "I am called Velt. Tony has allowed me to join him for the day." He bowed to her.

Pepper looked at Tony. "This could be the strangest thing you've ever done."

Tony laughed, "This is John's stray we picked up. He didn't want to stay with John and Rose, so I brought him here."

"I wanted to remain with Tony and be safe. I'm sorry if that's not appropriate."

She smiled warmly. "It's completely fine. Have you had breakfast?"

He looked back at Tony. "Breakfast?"

Tony nodded, "He has. We ate at John's." He explained, "Where John is, it's a different time of day."

Velt nodded. "Oh. Interesting."

Tony pat Velt on the shoulder. He went back over to the windows and looked at the city again. Tony walked over to the kitchen with Pepper and put his hand on her back. "He's going to stay with us for a bit. They are working to find his family. Jarvis. The lady needs coffee."

Jarvis replied, "I just finished brewing some, sir."

Pepper watched Velt as they stood in the kitchen. "He's so skinny."

Tony poured a cup of coffee for him and Pepper. "Yeah. How do you take your coffee, Pepper?"

She waved her hand, "I'll do it."

Tony groaned, "I could do that for you if you would just tell me."

Pepper stood next to him and fixed her coffee the way she liked it. "It's just easier for me to do it."

Tony groaned. "Damn it. I'll figure it out."

She giggled at him, "And John trusts you with a child?"

Tony looked up at her, "Well, why wouldn't he?"

Velt turned and added to the conversation. "Primus John and Lewis very kind, but I'm more comfortable with Tony. He was there when I woke up and he has told me he will keep me safe."

Tony grinned at Pepper. "See? The kid likes me."

Pepper sat down at the bar. "Velt? Is that short for something?"

Velt shook his head. "Short? I don't understand."

Tony sipped his coffee, "She means, is there more to your name?"

He looked confused, "No. It's just…Velt."

"No more to it. Just that?"

He looked confused, "Is there more to your name Tony?"

Tony nodded his head. "Yes. We'll get into that in a bit."

Velt looked back out of the window.

Tony sipped his coffee and looked back at Pepper. "Lance and Lewis are just that. I don't believe there is anymore to their names."

Pepper sipped her coffee, "So. This talk we need to have."

He bit his lip and looked at Velt. "Not in front of the kid."

She smiled, "Later then?"

He nodded his head as he leaned on the cabinet and sipped his coffee.

Velt walked into the kitchen and asked, "Tony. What is all of your name?"

"Tony Stark." He told him. He sat down his coffee and made the boy a glass of water.

Velt looked at it in surprise when Tony sat it in front of him.

Pepper pointed at the chair next to her. "You can sit down if you like."

The little boy looked confused at her. "Next to you? Tony?"

Tony sipped his coffee. "It's alright. She's not going to bite you. Just, don't bite her. Alright?"

He laughed as he sat down. Pepper pointed at the glass of water. "You can have something else if you want it. There's milk in there, too."

Velt sipped the water, "This is fine. Thank you." He looked back at Tony, "And this is your princess?"

Pepper smiled and rolled her shoulders back, "Princess. I rather like that."

Tony smiled, "Yes. This is Pepper. She's my princess."

"So, you are a…. King? Prince?"

Pepper spit her coffee back in her cup and covered her mouth. "Oh, this is great."

Tony groaned, "No. I'm nothing like that."

Velt looked confused, "But, I don't understand. You have a princess, live in the clouds and are friends with Quauhtin Primuses. Do you have Quauhtin Warriors protecting you?"

Tony nodded, "Well, yes. Exton, Mortimer and Timon. Great guys."

"Only Royalty have Quauthin. Why do you deny it? Is this your kingdom? Below us?"

Tony wasn't prepared for this. "No. That's New York. I'm not-"

Pepper took control of the conversation. "Velt. Tony is the Prince of the Stark family who are an aristocratic family from….ummm.. Richford, New York. He doesn't like to talk about it, because he has put others between him and his subjects. That gives him time to work on things to better the kingdom and protects his identity from his enemies."

Velt nodded his head. "That's very wise. I've never heard of a Prince doing that. Makes sense. Does your father still rule?"

Pepper shook her head. "His father died a long time ago. He doesn't like to talk about him. Because of the sadness he feels, he never took the title of King. He remained the Prince."

Velt nodded his head, "Very honorable, Tony."

Tony looked surprised at her. "You are pretty good at this."

She smiled, "That's my job. Keeping you straight."

Tony leaned on the bar. "Velt. Pepper will have to leave us for a while. I need to work on some stuff in the workshop. Would you like to join me, or go back to the island and play with the other children?"

"I'd rather stay with you, Tony. Please?"

He smiled, "Alright. Is there anything you need? Another shirt? Something to play with? I'm not used to being around children, so you'll have to help me with this."

Velt shook his head. "I don't want to be any problem to you and make you angry."

Tony shook his head, "You're not going to make me angry. Name something you might like."

Velt ran his hand through his long hair. "Could I make my hair…..like yours?"

Pepper smiled at the look on Tony's face. "You want to trim your hair? Is that it?"

The little boy nodded, "Yes. It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Tony looked confused, "No. It doesn't hurt at all. I could use a trim myself. Have you ever had a trim?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Pepper sipped her coffee, "I'll call someone to come up here and give you guys a haircut. It won't hurt."

Tony pointed at Velt. "If it does, tell me. It's not supposed to and I'll make it stop."

Velt smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you, Tony." He jumped down from the bar and walked over to the staircase. "May I go up here?"

Tony nodded, "Yes. Just be careful of the stairs."

Velt walked slowly up the stairs and stopped once he got to the top. He looked down and walked back down them.

Tony watched him and chuckled, "I don't think he's seen stairs before. Interesting."

Pepper walked over and put her coffee cup in the sink. "Just put your cup in the sink when you're done-"

"I'll take care of it."

She turned and watched as Velt walked back up the stairs slowly. She looked at Tony who continued to watch him as he sipped his coffee. She took his hand and he met her gaze. "I'm sorry. I probably should have asked if this was okay with you-"

She shook her head, "It's fine. Actually Tony, this is very sweet."

"Phhh…John's strays." He grumbled.

She kissed his cheek.

XxxxxxXxxxxxx

The Doctor stood under the palm tree on the island, speaking on the phone. Genie and Tony ran and jumped in the surf, laughing loudly. Lance walked over to him. He held up a finger to ask him to wait a bit, and Lance nodded his head.

"Michelle, that's a brilliant idea! I love it. Yes. I'll send Legate for them as soon-"

Michelle spoke.

"Oh! Well, if you have his number, you can just let him now when they are ready. Perfect! Great idea. Cheers, Michelle. What would I do without you? I'm giving you a raise, woman."

He ended the call and smiled at Lance. "Peducko, tonight? I was thinking about putting together a game."

Lance grinned, "I'm still on my winning streak. Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Someone has to knock you down at some point."

Lance smiled, "And you believe you are the man for that job, huh?"

"Well, if I don't who will?"

Lance laughed. "Okay. Tonight. Let's try to get a big group. I feel lucky."

"Okay. A big group." He turned and shouted at the children. "Children, we were walking. Come on then!"

Genie and Tony ran out of the ocean and ran ahead of them, laughing as Zeus ran with them.

Lance and the Doctor began to walk on the beach together, following the children. "Rose tells me you have been, in her words, 'amazing' in my absence."

He smiled. "Just doing what I would think you would want."

"She has no idea just how good you have been, does she?"

Lance put his hands on his hips and looked at him. "I'm sorry. Summus explained that your connection with her wasn't like that. I wasn't certain. That's the reason I didn't notify you."

"I'm not cross about that. It's complicated, and you did the right thing by telling Summus to inform me the way he did."

Lance nodded. "Good. I was worried about that. I've now seen the effects of the Bad Wolf and will be able to recognize it. It was…. Odd."

He nodded. "Yeah, and she doesn't like to talk about that part of it at all. You haven't mentioned any of this to her?"

"Nothing. Summus advised me not to. Poltious told me to let you inform her, if you thought it necessary."

He shook his head, "I don't feel it is. It's over. Done. She's safe. It will only upset her at this point."

Lance nodded, "That was my assessment as well."

They continued to walk together.

"And then there is the situation with Jake." Lance started.

"Jake is not aware of the position he is in. How dangerous these things he's playing with are. The lives of this family are not something I'm comfortable with him treating like this."

"What are you prepared to do?" Lance asked.

"A solution is in the works. As much as I would prefer not to do it, it will have to be done. In the meantime. Keep a man on him. I need to know what's going on in his tiny little, ape brain."

He nodded, "Certainly. So, you are still on holiday?"

"For today, I am. No one knows we're back. I've had a chat with Summus. A lengthy chat about your training. He says you have made your decision. What if I told you that you would be able to stay here with Arles and Lewis, and train?"

"I have a long way to go still. Years before I'm able to begin the Trials to Primus. But, as long as I can stay, I would love to try to advance. Yes."

"Good. That's settled then. Have you seen Arles since we returned?"

He laughed, "Of course. He has grown so much in the few days you were gone. It's amazing. And your son is crawling like mad."

He laughed and nodded his head. "That truly surprised me. I wasn't expecting that at all."

"The first of many surprises from your son, I'm certain. You picked the perfect name. Sam was always surprising us."

He nodded and bit his lip. "Indeed."

They watched the children run and laugh in front of them. It made them smile. Lance turned and asked the Doctor, "Lewis has his telepathic abilities back. Do you think he will regain his ability to phase?"

The Doctor didn't look at him, "I'm not sure. That organ that controls that was damaged. It's such an odd thing. Sometimes it recovers without any problem from injuries much worse. Then, other times, the smallest thing prevents it from ever working again."

The wind blew in Lance's hair. "I've often wondered. When we were children, I was injured badly. We rode these tiny speeders. I ended up wrapping one around a tree."

The Doctor turned and looked at Lance, "Really?"

Lance nodded, "Lewis gave me part of his liver, otherwise I wouldn't have made it. I had just begun to phase and the doctors told me that was the only reason it recovered as well as it did."

The Doctor nodded, "Yes. That makes sense. How old were you?"

"Like those two." He pointed at Genie and Tony. "You know, just around the age when you start to do that."

The nodded, "Right. I can't tell you that Lewis will recover fully. But, he is headed in the right direction."

He nodded, "Yeah? He looks like a broken, sad man at the moment."

"When we were orbiting Andromeda, a group of Jeclaonides got aboard and attacked us. Lewis came to our rescue. You would have never known anything was wrong with him."

Lance smiled, "He did?"

"He did. And I don't think I've seen him that happy in a while."

Lance chuckled and looked back at the children playing in the ocean. "That makes me feel better. He seems in good spirits."

"It's Lewis. He's always in good spirits. If he ever gets down, or upset…we know things are really bad."

Lance nodded his head and smiled, "That's very true. He got all of the optimism out of the quad. I got all of the worry."

The Doctor laughed, "There are worse things."

Lance nodded his head, "I suppose."

"Talk to me about Jake. Summus and I have discussed it."

Lance took a deep breath, "Well, I told you about the professor that we pulled out of the lecture-"

"Oh, let him fucking sue. I would love to have a go at him." The Doctor grumbled.

Lance smiled, "Indeed. Jake was furious I had done that. His reaction was not….what I would have expected."

"Hmmmm."

"I reminded him that we are working together on this, but he continued to state his opposition. I also might have led him to believe that Quauhtin are empathic."

The Doctor laughed and shook his head. "Ah, the less these people know, the better. We can use that to our advantage. Good idea."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I said it. It just….rolled out of my mouth as an explanation to something I had said. I also have information that says he wants to put Rose as the Head of Security at Torchwood."

He was already shaking his head. "No. I'm not comfortable with that. But…"

"But?"

He looked back at Lance, "It's not up to me. It's up to her."

Lance sighed, "I was afraid you would say that."

He looked at the children playing. "He hasn't asked her, as far as she's told me."

"What do you think she would say to the position?"

"I honestly, don't know. I would hope it would be something she would talk to me about. But, in the end, she's going to do what she wants to. And there's no way to stop her."

"You are her husband-"

"Yes. I am. Not her master. She is her own person. I can't make….demands of her. That's not how this works."

Lance sighed. "Is there a way we could make it less inviting for her?"

"If she knew the full story, I don't feel she would be so quick to take it on. But, it would involve telling her things. Exposing the fact that I've kept so much from her."

Lance nodded his head. "Hmmmm…. I see your point."

He pat him on the shoulder. "This is my problem, Lance. Not for you to worry about. You worry about too much already."

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Tony Stark sat down at a table in his workshop. He opened a drawer and pulled out some wires.

Velt, with a fresh haircut, kept feeling of the short hair on the back of his head. "This feels so strange."

Tony chuckled at the boy as he pulled out some circuits and things on his desk. He snapped his fingers, "Hey, Hey…. Daddy's home. Why aren't these computers on, Jarvis?"

Jarvis spoke, "Terribly sorry, sir. Everything is booting up, now."

Tony looked down at the wires he held. "You'll get used to it, kid."

"Does your hair feel like this, too?"

Tony leaned down, "The really short parts? Probably. Feel it and see."

Velt touched Tony's hair and smiled, "It does. It's just like mine."

Tony nodded his head as he sat back up. "A trim was a good idea. I'm glad you thought of that."

Jarvis asked, "What project are we working on?"

Tony opened a drawer and pulled out some more small parts. "I need a new bracelet with a phase, and something that will make a really loud bang."

Jarvis spoke. "The files are coming up now, sir."

Tony turned and looked at the screens behind him. "That's a good idea. Let's make the bang first. Jarvis, move the files over here." Tony turned around on his stool as the files were transferred to the monitor on the desk.

Velt put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Tony. "May I help with anything?"

Tony pointed at the stool next to him. "Have a seat. Tell me. How do you scare a Quauhtin?"

The boy sat down, "You can't. They don't get scared."

Tony sat back, "Of course they do. Everyone gets frightened at something."

"Not a Quauhtin."

"Especially a Primus, huh? Like Lewis."

Velt watched him as he started to work on whatever he was making. "Especially, Lewis the Primus. He saved over one hundred children who had been taken from their families. We talk about him all the time."

Tony nodded, "We huh?"

The little boy nodded, "Yes. Me and the other children with me. We've heard of him from the older children. They told us that one day he'll come to get us. I can't believe I've finally met him."

"Other children, huh?" Tony tried to not act surprised. "Tell me, how many?"

"I don't know."

"Can you count?"

Velt shook his head. "Not really well."

Tony nodded, "I can help with that. Tell me their names, and I'll count them."

Velt rubbed his face, "Well, they might be sold by now. I'm not sure how long I've been gone."

Tony closed his eyes and tried not to make his reaction obvious on his face. "Sold, huh?"

"Yes. But, I was never for sale. My father insisted I remain on the ship. He said that he had been offered a lot for me, but, wouldn't take it."

Tony nodded. "So, you children spoke a lot about Lewis. Tell me about that."

"Yes. Him and Poltious."

Tony laughed under his breath. "Poltious. He's a crazier pilot than I would probably be."

"You know Poltious?"

Tony nodded, "Yes, he was at John's this morning. I should have introduced you. Next time, I will."

Velt nodded, "Okay."

"Poltious and these dune buggies we have back on John's island…..well….just trust me, kid. You don't want to ride with that guy. He's crazy."

Velt laughed in disbelief. "I can't believe you know him. Wow. And do you know of Lenox?"

"Yes. Lenox."

The little boy's eyes lit up. "You've met Lenox the Primus?"

"I have. He has about twenty children he takes care of who are looking for a home."

"Why are they looking? Where they taken from their parents?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so. I believe they were just, left behind when their parents died or something."

Velt nodded, "Yeah. There are some children like that. I wasn't."

Tony continued to work, "No? Then, explain it to me."

The little boy shook his head. "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

He nodded his head. "Alright."

Velt got off of the chair and walked around the shop looking around.

Tony continued to work, "Tell me. Have you ever heard of the Cybermen?"

"Of course, Tony. They are terrifying creatures. Have they been to this planet?"

Thankful he had all of his suits hidden in the floor, he nodded his head. "Yes. They came here to Earth a few years ago. Killed a lot of people."

"Well, they don't really kill. They, just make you into what they are."

Tony pulled wires out and lined them up next to one another on the table. "Well, tell me. Is there really a difference?"

Velt sat down on the other side of the table on a stool. "Well, yeah. You still live."

"But you're not you. It's the same thing."

Velt thought, "You might be right. I've never thought about it."

Timon opened the glass door and walked in. "And, Poltious is completely barking mad."

Tony didn't look up and smiled, "What is he angry about?"

"Mad. Crazy. Not cross."

Tony looked back at Velt. "See, didn't we just cover this?"

Velt laughed.

Timon walked over to the table and pointed at Velt. "Who's this?"

Velt smiled, "I'm Velt. Tony has agreed to let me stay with him for the day."

Tony added, "This is the boy John took from the hospital on Andromeda."

Timon nodded, "Oh. Right. Well. It is nice to meet you."

He shook Velt's hand. Tony pointed at him, "This is Timon. He's a Quauhtin, and not frightened of anything."

Timon grinned, "There's more to that, isn't there?"

Velt's eyes lit up. "Are you really? Are you a Primus like Lewis?"

Timon laughed, "Oh no. Nowhere near that highly ranked."

Tony smiled as he continued to work on something at the table. "Timon is an interesting Quauhtin. He can talk to electronics."

Velt shrugged his shoulders, "I can do that."

"Not really talk to electronics, I can hold something and tell you what's wrong with it."

Velt nodded, "And then you can repair it?"

Timon sat down in front of Velt. "Most of the time. What do you mean you can talk to electronics?"

Velt looked at a screen on the wall. "That screen. Just there."

Tony and Timon watched as Velt held his hand up and light blue electricity pulled from the screen. He rolled the light in his hands and held it up for them to see. "It's a friendly power. Feels…..natural. It's happy, but really young."

Tony raised his eyebrow at Timon. "Errr. Yeah. It's from a ….alright kid…. How did you do that?"

Velt held his hands out and the light went back into the screens behind Tony. "I thought that is what you were talking about. I'm sorry. Have I done something wrong?"

Tony quickly held his hands out. "No. You are fine. Ummm. I just wasn't expecting that. It's alright."

Velt looked frightened.

Tony smiled at him. "Buddy. It is completely alright. You are not in trouble. You are safe."

Velt nodded and crossed his arms. It was obvious he was uncomfortable.

Timon looked at Tony and cleared his throat. "Velt. Have you seen that over there?" Timon pointed at the basketball goal that sat in the corner, "Tony? What is that called?"

He smiled, "It's a basketball goal. It's a game. There's a ball just over there. You throw the ball through the hoop. See if you can do it."

Velt jumped off of the stool and went over to the goal. Timon leaned on the table and asked Tony quietly. "And you didn't know he could do that?"

Tony shook his head. "No. Is that normal?"

"I've never seen anyone do it."

"Really? An alien you have never seen?"

"I haven't seen them all! It's a big universe, Stark."

Tony laughed under his breath at Timon's grumbling.

"Where is he from?"

"He said, ummm…. Arion."

Timon shook his head, "The people of Arion don't look like him. He looks…."

"Human." Tony told him.

"He's not human. He's something else."

"What is John doing?"

"Do you want me to summon him?"

He nodded his head, "He said this kid was struck by lightning. What if he did that to himself?"

Timon rolled his eyes. "Alright. He's busy. He can't come at the moment. But, he says for you to bring him back this evening."

"Phhhh…. Hundred bucks says he's busy doing the wife."

Timon held his hands out, "I don't need to know. I'm not asking."

Tony continued to work on the wires and laughed.

"There is apparently a celebration and a card game."

Tony watched Velt throw the ball into the hoop. "That's it. Good job, kid."

Timon looked back at the boy. "Do you want me to tell him it's an emergency?"

"Nah. Let's see what else we can find out."

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