It took Tony all of two minutes with FRIDAY's help to figure out that this guy had nothing to do with the kid.
He had a brief suspicion that his kid might've been the man's - Aaron Davis's - nephew, but it was quickly dismissed. That one was out of town on a month-long exchange program with another school's city, and he'd been under constant supervision from teachers, parents, and other students. Not exactly the prime time to get shot, have it covered up, and then fix himself.
So Tony was now extremely baffled as to why he was in this personally unknown guy's apartment. While said guy was unconscious.
Not a good look.
So, of course, Tony endeavored to rectify part of that statement, pulling up Davis's background information and a good chunk of his life story quickly enough. There - they were strangers no longer.
Aaron Davis: Single man, 32 years old, with a brother and a sister-in-law from where his nephew was derived from. Had been living in his apartment for well over three years, now, and had a steady job with a local graffiti arts business.
Possibly more relevant were the minor criminal charges against him including larceny and… huh. Attempted grand theft auto. He was also under suspicion of being a weapons dealer, but no charges had been officially pressed. All of the crimes listed were eight months or older.
It still could be at least part of why the man had reacted so… strongly to seeing Tony Stark on his doorstep. Tony imagined that Iron Man's sudden presence would give more than a criminal or two a minor heart attack, even with him out of the suit.
And speak of the devil: the man - Davis - began to stir, groggily pushing himself more upright and squinting his eyes open as he groaned and clutched at the back of his head. Then his eyes widened to the point of near popping when he finally seemed to process that Tony was crouched next to him, and he scrambled backwards on the floor for a couple of rather comedic seconds before managing to lever himself upright, listing slightly.
Tony followed the motion with ease, smoothly standing and idly brushing off his already pristine lapels.
"Uh- you're uh the - Mr. -" Davis stuttered out, backing up a couple more steps and peering anxiously over his shoulder. Whether the action was because he was hiding something or because he'd suddenly grown paranoid that another superhero had possibly circled behind him during his brief bout of unconsciousness... Tony was undecided.
Either way, Tony cut him off, jutting his chin out slightly and keeping his glasses firmly in place despite the distinct lack of light inside of the apartment. "Aaron Davis?" he checked, receiving a slow nod after a couple tense seconds of silence. Tony sniffed, giving himself a moment to consider how exactly he wanted to approach the situation. It was possible that Davis had an inkling about the issue, especially since Tony was 99. … 2% sure that he hadn't misconstrued the address from which the burner had come from. So. How to put it delicately… He tilted his head slightly. "I'm here about an… ah… certain gun incident," he said.
And then he had enough time to note the man's eyes rolling into the back of his head before Davis once more fainted dead away.
.
When Sleeping Beauty came to the next time around - only a couple minutes later, thankfully - he seemed much more aware, though likely sporting a decent sized lump on the back of his head. Maybe two of them. Probably two of them.
He jerked upright and stood once more - this time with a mildly drunken sway - and began to shift restlessly from foot to foot while eyeing the door that was placed solidly behind Tony's back after only a couple of scant seconds of consciousness.
Tony raised an eyebrow, clearly conveying just how poor of an idea anything related to what the man was likely currently contemplating could be. Davis definitely got the memo, his shoulders slumping for a moment before regaining a different sort of rigidness, posture turning defensive.
"Hey, man, I'm outta the business, alright? Have been for months - ever since Spidey got me out of that tight spot, alright?"
Well, color Tony's interest piqued, current purpose for being there shifted ever so slightly to the wayside. "Spidey?" he questioned, head ticking slightly.
Davis's eyebrows furrowed a smidge. "Yeah man-" he cut himself off, brows shooting up. "Wait, you're not here about that?" he questioned disbelievingly, though with a clear thrumming mixture of relief yet burgeoning anxiety.
Tony gave a blasé shrug. "I am now," he said flippantly, exaggeratedly looking around himself and impatiently gesturing for the man to continue.
Davis hesitated for a second before he gave a half shrug, clearly doing his best to downplay whatever he was going to say - as if any attempts of his to appear reasonable and not at all panicked would work after fainting not only once, but twice, in the span of ten minutes. "It was just some deal going," he demurred, convincing if not for his entire demeanor.
Tony gave him a suitably unimpressed look in reply. "Yeah; that's not gonna cut it," he deadpanned, giving a glance towards his watch.
Davis flinched at the movement, hands immediately shooting up in a 'I'm completely defenseless please don't shoot' gesture that had Tony raising an eyebrow. If anything, that twitch seemed to further spur on Davis's anxiety, the man treading back a handful of steps and giving a quick glance around himself as if he was once more looking for gained company. "Look, man, it - I know I shouldn'ta gotten involved with that shit, but I'm out, alright? I don't want no trouble," he asserted strongly.
"I got it the first time, Ronester," Tony brushed off, ignoring the other's complete befuddlement at the out of pocket nickname. "I'm just here to ask some questions," he reasserted. Which he really was.
Davis did not look very convinced of this matter, however, but seemed to purposefully settle himself down somewhat anyways. "So I just gotta answer your questions, and you're not gonna arrest me or anything?" he checked, quickly continuing forward at the look Tony gave him. "Okay - yeah, got it. So, my dude Spider-Man got in there when the deal started headin' south; thought I was gonna get shot for a straight second there before he swooped in, yeah?" He apparently winced at the memory. "That's about it - he chased after the other guys and I went home," he shrugged, then straightened back up. "I mean - I did see him again a couple days later - asked me if I knew anything an' I told him about this deal happening," he recalled.
"And how long ago was this?" Tony asked.
"A few months, now," Davis admitted.
Tony pursed his lips. "And no contact since then?" he verified. Davis shook his head.
"No, man, I've been steering clear of any sorta stuff either side could get involved in, you know? Had enough of that shit."
Tony made a vaguely affirming noise. "What deal was it?" he asked.
Davis winced, rubbing at the back of his neck. "You heard about the ferry incident?" he questioned instead.
Tony's eyebrows shot up. Of course he'd heard about it: Spider-Man had both saved the day and caused something of a disaster, even if it was self-mitigated: The vigilante had caught some big dealers in the weapons industry - only the, what was it, Raptor? no, Vulture - guy getting away. That wasn't mentioning how the entire ferry the fight had happened on got sliced clean through the middle, Spider-Man's webbings being the only things that kept it all together long enough for the Coast Guard to arrive and safely remove the passengers.
Interesting tangent, but still more or less a dead end. Didn't sound to Tony like he'd be getting much else out of the sidetrack he'd taken them on.
"Have any burners?" he instead asked flippantly.
Davis blinked at him, understandably blindsided. "Do I have any - no - not anymore," he clarified, scratching at his head and then wincing as he likely accidentally touched against a bruised part of his scalp.
"What happened to them?" Tony questioned, exhaling sharply through his nose as he barely withheld a snort. This guy.
Davis shrugged loosely. "Sold 'em," he said, bemused.
Well, shit. Back to square one.
Tony really thought he was onto something here. Mostly due to the fact that he was almost always onto something when he thought he was, well, onto something. It wasn't like he was a technological genius for nothing, so he was feeling a bit miffed now that he was confronted by a lack of results on his part.
He sighed, turning on his heel and heading right back out the front door with nary a word or glance behind him.
"Um?" Davis sounded from the entrance, no doubt now utterly lost. It must've been quite a ride for him - what, with being met with the Tony Stark, passing out twice in a short enough time frame that it was slightly concerning, possibly receiving a very mild concussion from the successive blows to the head, and then receiving exactly zero explanation as to what the whole situation was all about in the first place. "Thank … you…?" Davis tried, and Tony flicked his hand up in a two fingered salute, stride unfaltering as he entered the stairwell and began his trek back down the stairs.
That entire interaction had been pretty fruitless, and Tony could admit that he probably - definitely - would've realized as much beforehand if he had bothered to actually do some research instead of going straight to the possible source.
At least now he knew why the burner location didn't match; he'd have to switch to tracking its direct, outgoing signal instead, which would take more time. Fantastic. Now he had to figure out how to not only get the kid on call again but also how to keep him on the line for long enough to be able to trace.
The only benefit he saw from the whole meeting he just had - besides being mildly, if slightly guiltily, entertained - was the reminder of Spider-Man.
Tony could admit that he'd put thoughts of the vigilante on the backburner as of recent, with side projects and SI work piling up along with his new interest in his enigma child.
Now, though, maybe it was time to also start delving back into it all again. Maybe the Spider-Guy could give Tony some answers to a different set of questions than what he was currently looking for.
