Tony didn't go rest like Banner had told him to do. Instead, he made his way down to the garage. There was footage he wanted to look over.
He got down there, took a seat in a desk chair with a shoddy wheel, and sighed.
"FRIDAY, pull up the video files for the Iron Wasp and compile all the footage that took place at Evan's apartment." Tony watched as FRIDAY searched through footage and projected it in front of him.
"I've compiled all the footage from the Iron Wasp suit that took place in her apartment. What would you like to see?" FRIDAY's calm, steady voice played over the speakers, breaking through Tony's frantic energy.
"Just start from the beginning. Play them all." Tony wasn't sure what he was doing, really. He knew it was unlikely that Evan had worn the suit in front of her father, but he also knew that it was possible to leave the suit recording even if you weren't wearing it.
At the end of the week, all the footage from Peter and Evan's suit was sent to Tony. He had a program that would filter through the footage and compile a report for Tony to look over. Occasionally, he would watch the footage himself, but more times than not it sat unattended. He would like to think that if the suit caught any footage of any issues with her father it would have shown up in the report, but it was more likely that even if the suit had picked up any altercations, they wouldn't have shown up. Tony's program was only set up to report any extreme altercations that happened while the kids were wearing the suit and normally had to do with if the kids were safe from a general standpoint. So, where they've been, who they've arrested or fought, and if there were any extraneous injuries. Tony's program would have just recognized Evan's dad as another deadbeat and as long as Evan wasn't hurt too badly, it probably wouldn't have registered in Tony's program as something worth reporting.
Tony continued watching the footage. Most of it was just shots of Evan climbing through her window into her bedroom and then shortly after, the footage would cut off. Sometimes, Tony could hear yelling in the background, but there was no footage of her father.
It was like this for a couple more minutes, until Tony found a video that ran longer than the rest. It started in her bedroom, which was strange. The camera was pointed up at Evan and it was obvious she was doing something to her mask. Tony realized that this must have been when Evan had dismantled all of the protocols that Tony had in place. This was one of the loopholes Tony had been referring to. Tony leaned forward, a new interest brought on by discrepancy.
Evan continued working until a pounding came from her door. Tony saw her eyes go wide and her muscles tense; an instinctual reaction to fear. Quickly, she grabbed the mask and shoved it behind some pillows on her bed. Despite this, Tony was still able to see Evan, through just a slit on the top of the screen; a small uncovered portion of the camera that Tony felt sure would give him what he had been looking for.
Evan's dad entered the frame, just a slice of his body, but Tony could tell he was a large man. He was towering over Evan, yelling something about dinner. Evan was taking the defensive, raising her hands in the same way someone did when they were trying to calm down a wild horse. Tony heard her defend herself, giving some excuse as to why dinner wasn't ready. Before Tony could even register what was happening, Evan's father had grabbed a handful of Evan's long, dark hair and dragged her out of the room. Evan yelped and tried to break her father's grasp, bringing her hands up to grab at her father's. Tony felt his stomach flip as she was dragged out of the room. Although they were no longer in sight of the camera, the audio that Tony had installed was incredible, just like everything else he designed, and Tony could hear every blow, every yell, every cry, every sound. He felt the blood drain from his face and he could feel his heart pounding in his ears. This footage had been sitting here for months and he had ignored it. He had ignored her.
He thought it couldn't get any worse until he heard the door open. He saw her stumble to her bed, moving towards the mask. Tony watched as she grabbed the mask from behind the pillow and looked into the eyes of it; directly into the camera. Her left eye was black, her right cheek was red and swollen and it looked like her lip was cut. There were tear tracks on her cheeks and fresh ones making their way down. Her hair was a mess and she ran a trembling hand through it, pulling it back to reveal the bruises that were starting to form around her neck. Tony's eyes were glued to the screen. He couldn't look away. She sniffled and wiped under her nose. There were still tears coming out of her eyes.
Tony's eyes widened. Then Evan reached a hand inside the hood and the screen went black.
"FRIDAY, stop the videos." The projections all faded away and Tony was alone in his garage. He put his head in his hands and tried to think. He tried to think about what this all meant. What he was supposed to do next.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed that way, head in his hands, completely still. Before he even really understood what he was doing, he was taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing one of the only numbers he still knew by heart.
"Tony?" Pepper's soft voice filled Tony's head. It was late and he could hear the concern mixed with drowsiness.
"I didn't mean to wake you up." Tony sounded tired. He sounded wrong, and Pepper could hear it.
"It's almost three in the morning, Tony. What's wrong? Please tell me you're okay. Please tell me you aren't bleeding out in a ditch somewhere. Please-"
"It's not me Pepper. It's one of the kids." Tony cut her off before she could let her anxiety continue to spiral. She was always concerned about him. He didn't deserve her.
"Peter? Is he okay? What happened?" Pepper had met Peter more than a few times and even though their meetings were brief, she had grown fond of the kid. Not only that, but she could see how much Tony cared for him. She knew that was good for him.
"No, not Peter. Evan. She… she…" Tony didn't know where to start. A sob was lodged in his throat. It came out with a strangled sound and a mess of tears. He didn't like to cry in front of Pepper. He didn't like to cry in front of anyone. He was aware of the persona he gave off and although it was the reason for most, if not all, of the criticism he received, he felt comfortable in it; untouchable. The vulnerable side of him didn't fit well in that persona and he rejected it for that.
Pepper, however, had never felt negatively towards Tony showing emotion, in fact, she encouraged it. Still, she knew how protective he was of his vulnerability and so she knew that when it managed to peek through, it meant things were bad.
"Tony? Calm down, okay? Tell me what's going on. Do you need me to come up there?" Pepper tried to talk in the voice she reserved specifically for calming down Tony and some particularly difficult clients. She waited for Tony to get himself under control enough to explain the situation to her.
"She was shot, Pep. I'm not even sure she's going to make it. She's just a kid for Christ's sake, fifteen." Tony took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face, listening to Pepper's level breathing on the other end of the phone.
"Jesus Tony. I'm coming up there. I'll be up there tomorrow morning." Normally, Tony would protest, saying that he was fine, that she didn't need to worry herself with things like this, but he was too tired. And to be honest, he wanted her here. He needed her here.
"Isn't Peter up there with you? Is he okay? And what about her parents? Doesn't she have a father in the city?" It was always like Pepper to start in on the details, what needed doing. She always wanted to fix everything.
"Pete's here. He's fine, just shaken up and scared. He… he feels responsible for what happened. She tried to call him after she had been shot and he ignored the call. Poor kid thinks it's all his fault." Tony already knew what Pepper was going to say before she even said it.
"And you? What do you think?" Tony could almost see her raising her eyebrows as she asked the question, guiding him toward the answer she knew Tony would give.
"She called me five times, Pepper. I didn't answer a single one of them. I hadn't talked to her in months. I basically abandoned her. The way I see it, I'm responsible." Tony gave a dry chuckle, trying to make his words sound less pathetic.
"Tony. I'm not going to lie to you. You took on a responsibility when you brought those kids to Berlin. You've upheld half of that responsibility incredibly in the past few months. But, you've let the other half slip through the cracks and for that you are responsible. What you're not responsible for is Evan being shot. That was done by the person who fired the gun at her and nothing you could have done would have stopped that." Despite himself, Tony smiled. Pepper never fell for his self-deprecation. She didn't hold back and she never lied. It was comforting. Tony trusted her judgment. If she said Evan's tragedy wasn't his fault, then it wasn't.
"So, her father? Did anyone tell him?" Pepper was back to business. This was really why Tony had called. He needed to hear what Pepper had to say. He needed her to tell him what to do next.
"I'm not calling her father." Tony wasn't sure how to go about explaining what Peter had told him, what he had seen, to Pepper. He needed Pepper to pry it out of him.
"What do you mean you're not calling her father?" Pepper knew something was wrong, instantly, just by the tone of Tony's voice.
"Pete finally filled in the blanks with Evan's old man. He's a drunk and deadbeat who beats his kid." There wasn't much more to it than that. What more was there to say? What more did Pepper need to know? She was aware of Tony's history with his own father. He knew how sensitive things like this were for him.
"Oh God, Tony." Pepper didn't know what more to say. She was starting to understand where this was going. She had known Tony so long now, she was able to see his thought processes before he was even able to get there.
"And, uh, you know how I installed cameras in the kids' suits? So I could keep an eye on them?" Tony chuckled again, a dry laugh that Pepper knew was a red flag for something bad.
"Tony…" Pepper knew this was going to take a bad turn, quickly.
"No, Pepper, you need to hear this, really. I set up those cameras so I could watch out for those kids and at first, I watched the tapes. But then, I set up a program that scanned them for me and gave me a report at the end of the week. I read them all, I really do Pepper, but nothing ever showed up." Tony took a breath trying to calm himself down.
"Tony… please don't tell me there's a video of this poor girl." Pepper already knew the answer. She opened her closet and started pulling out some clothes she could change into after the call. Clearly, this couldn't wait until tomorrow. She would call a car now, that way she could be at the compound in an hour, maybe less. Pepper had always been good about setting boundaries when it came to Tony's moods but for things like this, there were exceptions.
"From a couple of months ago. It was sitting there the whole time and I never thought to look. He dragged her by the hair, beat her worse than I've ever seen during a patrol. Then at the end of the video, she picked up the mask, looked directly into the camera, and smiled. She knew I was watching her. She knew I would be able to help her, do something for her, and I completely let her down." Another sob came from Tony's end of the line and Pepper's heart clenched. This was not good.
"On top of all that, I don't even know if she'll survive. She lost a lot of blood. And if she dies, Peter will be devastated." Tony wiped some tears off his face with the palm of his hand and took a deep breath.
"Tony, I'm coming up tonight. I'll be there in an hour. Don't do anything crazy until I get there. And keep me updated if anything changes with Evan's condition, poor girl." Pepper sighed.
"Yeah, okay. I love you, Pep." There was so much emotion in those words and Pepper knew that Tony was using it as a lifeline.
"I love you too, Tony, you know that. Please take care of yourself until I get there." Pepper let out a breath and hung up the phone. She dialed the number of her driver, shoved some clothes into an overnight bag, and began changing.
