CHAPTER SEVEN- April 2038
"Missy, can you unmute the TV?" Pictures of Tony Stark and other Avengers tracked across the screen.
—at the UN are still conducting inquiries into the stolen shipment of research materials headed to the Avengers facility in New York. Maria Hill, spokeswoman for the organization, said today that the investigation had several promising leads, none of which will be discussed with the public so far. While insisting no materials being transported were immediately dangerous, such as chemical weapons or volatile compounds, Avengers Corps also added that recovery of the contents is top priority. Critics are concerned that after twenty-three days, the trail might be growing cold, and an offensive approach to the public's protection is in order. To respond to these and other criticism, Tony Stark will be with us here in the studio at the top of the hour. We now go to our panel to talk about the 2038 midterm elections and their picks for winning candidates. Joining us today is former—
"Mute." Sam turned away from the TV. "Archive footage. Suit mach one. Play from beginning."
"Are you sure that's a good use of time, Ms. Stark?"
"Missy," Sam insisted playfully.
"Accessing footage for the third time this month."
"Get a life, Missy."
"After you, Ms. Stark," but the video window popped up in her top right monitor all the same.
—Ok, let's do this right. Start mark half a meter back to center—
Every time she watched Sam studied his face. He was methodical, relentless, and willing to suffer for his innovations. She watched the way he walked, watched his movement in the suit become second nature, watched his stance, his concentration.
—Day 11: test 37, configuration 2.0—
"…starting off at one percent thrust capacity," Sam mumbled before the audio did. Although comforting, each viewing made her feel more intimidated by Anthony Stark. That man had confidence and an endless supply of energy. His mind was a national treasure. The ground he walked on was sacred.
Watching his news interviews made it worse. Tony had dark features but such an easy air. He was social, talkative, always joking, and even when serious, irreverent. Sam had none of those things. It would take her decades to learn all of the little references that he slipped into conversations. She needed to do something interesting, worthwhile, to make him want to talk to her. What she was currently doing probably wouldn't cut it; all she ever did at school was recreate someone else's project.
Boarding school hadn't happened, but Harvard had. Well, she lived at Harvard and used the Stark Medical Building, established 2030, as her own personal chemistry set. It had been an easy sell, since Cooper had invited her to "test the waters" there two and half years before, after he came home for a particularly rough summer visit. As long as they could name-drop, any Stark was welcome at Harvard. Standard curriculums, however, were not a Stark 'thing.'
Sam rarely used her full name except to get past security on campus at odd hours, and even then preferred to sneak around without questions. Luckily, the press never cared about the girl who did nothing and was never mentioned for anything beyond existing, so Sam was also safe from followers and paparazzi. Papa Stark kept them flush with stories on his own. Instead, Sam lived in the top floor of the three-story townhouse rented within walking distance of campus, an office, bedroom, and bathroom all to herself. Cooper lived downstairs with his fiancé, Ann Margaret Haller, known as Annie, getting a Masters in English, who hoped to teach someday. They rarely bothered Sam.
Except that day when Annie called up. "Sam, will you join us for a minute? We have something to discuss."
"Ok, coming," Sam yelled downstairs. "Missy, go dark."
As Sam hustled down the wooden stairs, she saw three sets of feet. Company.
"Sam, I don't think you've officially met," Annie bubbled, "this is Lucas."
"Yeah, I've seen him around. Nice to meet you," Sam replied, extending a hand.
"You're the youngest, Coop's younger sister, right?" Lucas took her hand quickly and released.
Time to play the 'people' game, Sam thought while saying, "Yes, much younger, as he loves to remind me."
Cooper chuckled.
"Well, to be fair," Lucas added, "Coop is much older than the average med student here."
Annie seemed too excited to let anyone continue. "Cooper," she burst, "would you and Lucas go get some coffee for us all?" Her beaming smile did not match her request, leaving Sam suspicious. "We'll be in the living room."
Sam happily walked over to an armchair to watch the news.
—Still no word on the stolen container from an Avengers shipment three weeks ago. Avengers representative Maria Hill did not offer any further description of the items in the missing container—
Different channel; same news.
"So, Sam, I have a big question for you," Annie chirped, lowering the volume.
Her suspicion grew. "Alright…"
"Will you," she looked at Sam with glassy eyes, "be one of my bridesmaids?" Annie squealed even before the answer.
Sam smiled instinctively, hollowly. "Are you sure?"
"What? Do you not want to? It'll be so fun," Annie jumped in. "You're practically family!"
Sam couldn't take time to think of the incorrect or depressing assumptions of those statements, so instead, she jumped too. "Of course, so fun!"
Annie bought it. "And Lila will be the Matron of Honor, so you'll have other friends there. The colors will be very flattering and the cut of—"
Sam stopped listening, sensing the bride-to-be diving off the deep end of insignificant detail. Her eyes flicked back to the news which now showed a footage of Avengers members overseeing deliveries, signing paperwork, testing security features.
"Sam?" Annie interrupted. "Do you think they'll come if we invite them? I mean, some of them at least?"
"Them?" Sam pointed at the TV. "Sure, baring a global invasion—"
"He said yes," Cooper burst in, carrying the coffee. "I have a best man!"
Annie clapped, giddy again. "Wonderful!"
Lucas stayed hovering behind the couch, distracted by the news as well. "This is such a mess. Have you been following this? What if they lost chemical weapons or nukes or something? We deserve to know."
Annie sat silently. Cooper handed out coffee, shaking his head, whispering, "don't start, dude."
"And that guy," Lucas waved his hand at Tony Stark walking up to the UN in purple-tinted sunglasses, "he's the worst. Stark wants us to just follow blindly like sheep. It's been twenty-five years of 'do as I say, not as I do' because he's our savior, obviously. What a tool."
Annie and Cooper had a sixth sense for whom to reveal Sam's name, and it didn't disappoint today. Sam couldn't be offended because Lucas wasn't wrong, but she could roll her eyes and focus on her coffee. The bloom of the cream in the dark pool was more interesting than 95% of what people had to say. She made vague indications that she was listening, and when Annie seemed to boil over with excitement, Sam put he free hand to her heart and smiled wider. It was her personal challenge to fake this well enough to keep it as short as possible. Just when Sam could feel the strained smile crack like dried plaster, Lucas caught an opportunity.
"Coop, you're coming to the lectures Monday, right?"
Annie deflated, robbed of her indulgent girl-talk, but Cooper put his hand on his fiancé's. "We are actually going to visit Annie's parent in Pennsylvania for a few days, so I can't make it. Great lineup this term though."
"Well then you should come, Sam," Lucas shifted to the edge of the couch, apparently anxious to keep the subject off weddings.
"Oh, I'm not technically part of the Med schoo—
"They are meant to be cross-disciplinary. I'm sure there will be something of interest to you." The black-haired boy gave a sparkling smile that felt almost aggressive.
"Great," Sam forced out, "these two always tell me to get out more. Why not?"
###
Sam should have stayed home. She had to endure ridicule for having brought a large purse (to get supplies from the med lab later) only to be asked to store Lucas's notebook inside said purse. He asked for it back to make notes every so often and comment repeatedly about the bag's size. They saw four lectures ranging from transitioning methods of payment and medical business coverage to the separate health concerns of space travel and varying research needed to match alien technologies for stasis. There was only standing room left inside their last hall due to a 'surprise guest.'
Sam stood elbow to elbow with strangers at an awkwardly sharp angle to view the stage. She was glad to have her back as a buffer on one side at least. Lucas stood behind her with his arms crossed and an elbow grazing Sam's back. Nothing started until almost 10:30pm. The lights were lowered for the introduction, and then the night took a terrible turn.
The audience lost their minds in excitement as Mr. Tony Stark himself came out to be interviewed. A ringing started in Sam's ears. She only caught blips of his answers in between panicked moments of trying to plan an inconspicuous escape.
"What are the three main areas of development opportunities within Avengers Corp for students looking to get a foot in the door?" Dean Alice Lautier asked.
"Obviously we fight bad guys, but aside from armor and weaponry," Tony adjusted his suit jacket, "we rely heavily on tech innovations, data storage and security, intelligence gathering, etc. and—" Tony paused for dramatic effect, continuing with "spoiler alert to why I'm here today, medical innovations that help us and many others recover from attacks as well as cure diseases and increase quality of life."
Sam didn't hear the third piece. She was lost in thinking of all the things her father had invented and all the inventions that had saved him. It was all a web of support, intricate and flexible, but it felt like she was the creature just small enough to fall right through the strands. This group of hundreds of strangers laughed with him; Tony had them engrossed, wrapped around his finger within minutes. He was a magnet for attention. Not even Lucas whispered a word against him while the lecture ran.
Sam refocused.
"And you have family here at the university now?" Dean Lautier coached.
Shit.
"Yes," Tony started, the slightest tightening in his voice, "a long history actually. My father worked here for a short while back in the '50s, and I distinctly remember…drinking here at least—" the crowd laughed again "—well I was told multiple times that this is where I partied, so thank you, Harvard. As far as I remember… I was never here to take classes."
"And now.." the dean pressed.
"But now, my daughter studies here as well," Tony obliged.
The reaction in the room was mixed. Several people in the front openly looked around to scan the room. There were a few gasps, at least one audible 'what,' and one excruciating cat-call. Sam would have loved to rip that guys throat out. Tony peered over the top of his glasses.
"That's a bold move, buddy," he said, "or was that for me?" Tony preened easily, smoothing his vest and relaxed, spread-armed into the chair. Another laugh.
Sam felt herself start to sweat, uncomfortable that she had to stand with her arms tightly pressed against her. She would have to move past four people to get to a double door with a squeaky press-bar and noisy latch. She'd have to wait it out.
"You know the phrase: you are what you eat?" Tony went on a few questions later. "Well, you consume data and information and experience, so you are made up only of what you have already learned. What you've already been exposed to, that's what you're made of. As the world gets more and more complex, the universe opens up to us, we humans and inhumans need to experience more, and be exposed to more, to keep up. The rewards to research nowadays almost always outweigh the risks, but we still need people to ask the right questions and to push the right boundaries. You, students, are that next step to understanding for everyone—"
The surrounding people leaned and shifted forward, enamored by his words of encouragement, lifted by his praise, and emboldened by his faith in them. Sam counted at least seven more laughs, three more applause, and two long lines at the microphones on each aisle. She shifted from foot to foot, unused to physical activity or proximity. It all went on for an eternity, someone even asked her father out, but then Tony Stark abruptly stood up and declared he wouldn't overstay his welcome. He existed the stage at Sam's side. Exit stage left.
"We know this ran later than expected, but it's certainly been worth it. As we mentioned," the Dean finished, "we will be posting the Stark Internship application on our website. Thank you all for coming out for the Spring Semester Lecture Series. As always, topics and guests you'd like to present can also be submitted online, and I hope to see you all at Summer Series." The audience clapped, a few cheers, which muffled the sound of the stage door opening a few feet away. Sam went to look at her watch when the stranger beside her pushed in his attempt to get out of the walkway. She nearly tripped, falling backwards into Lucas. When Sam got back on her feet, there he was.
"Hey, kid," Tony startled, shifting back on his heel before he passed her completely. He came up to her and without any prompt pulled her into a hug, adding "How are ya? Did you like the show?"
She couldn't think to answer. He released her but kept his hands on her arms. "Do you know this guy? Who's this?"
"Patrick, sir, huge fan" the guy who pushed her started to say. Sam managed to shake her head.
So Tony said, "not you, although, great" and turned himself and Sam towards Lucas.
Sam tried to shrug and stare her version of an apology at Lucas. "Dad, this is Lucas. He's gonna be in Coop's wedding."
"Nice to meet you, Luke."
"It's Lucas," her 'date' for the evening corrected with saucer-sized eyes.
"That's great. Am I going to that thing? Anyway, kid, I've gotta run. We'll talk soon." Immediately, three guys in all black and earpieces encircled him and led him out. Sam no longer recognized any of his security; she hadn't seen Happy in years. Tony didn't even make eye contact with her, at least not that she could see through the sunglasses, assuming that was the point. Of all the things Sam expected from interactions with her father, this was pretty low on the list. In front of hundreds of people who didn't need to know who she was, Tony Stark had announced her presence and made it abundantly clear that they were not close. Or at least that's how it felt to Sam.
"What the hell!" Lucas leaned in towards her. "You're…"
"Here's your notebook. I've got to go." Sam shoved the book into Lucas's outstretched hands and weaved her way as fast as possible to outside and around the back of the building. Her watch said it was almost 12:30am. Tony Stark could certainly talk, but Sam needed to get moving to stock up on supplies before her window closed.