Chapter 15 – Housekeeping
The girliest screech Tony has ever heard has him banging his head on the bottom of the boiler the next morning.
'What the hell was that?' he demands.
'Clint,' Natasha sighs, bending down to check on him where he's rubbing the spot on his head that connected with the boiler. 'I guess he didn't get the memo this morning.'
'Or did someone forget to tell him?' he raises a challenging eyebrow. She doesn't respond, just wears her most innocent expression as footsteps sound at the top of the stairs to the basement.
'Tony! The hot water isn't working!' Clint shouts.
'Really, bird brain? I hadn't noticed,' he grumbles as he wheels himself out from underneath. 'Do you think maybe the reason that I'm currently up to my elbows in an antique boiler is because I already know the hot water isn't working?'
'Why didn't anyone tell me?' the archer asks.
'Take it up with, Nat,' he waves in the red-head's direction, 'and let me get back to my fixing. Is Scott here yet? Scott's actually helpful in these situations.'
'Sam literally just left to go pick him and Hope up from the facility,' Natasha replies, 'you know there's no way he'll be back yet.'
'I can be useful!' Clint protests.
'So go put some pants on and come help then! Or go help clean the kitchen or start going through the stuff FRIDAY collated on Zemo,' Tony counters as he gets back to his mission. 'God, I hate this house, and it's taking revenge on me.'
By the end of the morning the boiler is working again and they've all been able to have hot showers, they've also managed to clean the kitchen to the point where no one is risking any diseases from the food they prepare in it, and the table is thankfully big enough for them to eat at for now. Rhodes and Bruce were also able to start going through all the information FRIDAY had compiled for them on Zemo and the information Shuri and Nakia had been able to send over from their own investigations.
Scott and Hope had arrived with Sam just in time for lunch and the team were now all chipping in to getting lunch prepared and the table set while they made plans for the afternoon.
'If we're going to be based here we need to keep working on getting it cleaned up,' Hope points out, as she sets a platter of sandwiches on the table, 'and we need to know if any of it is going to fall down on our heads.'
'Why don't I focus on that?' Sam suggests. 'There's other people here who are better suited to the investigation stage at the moment.'
'I'll help,' Peter offers, then grins, 'I can start at the top and you can start at the bottom of each room.'
'Let's take it in turns to go through information and clean,' Steve suggests, 'that way everyone gets a break and can come back with fresh eyes at different points.'
'The old dining room would be a good place to set up,' Tony says, steadily making his way through a packet of blueberries. 'If we can get the table cleaned we can set everything up on there while we start on the rest of the room.'
'Then the bedrooms?' Natasha suggests. 'I don't know about you guys but I felt like I'd made a clone out of dust by the end of last night.'
'How about you all clean your own rooms?' Tony suggests. 'Or are you prepared for Wade potentially going through your unmentionables, Widow?'
Everyone laughs. And they continue to work out their plan of action as the food steadily disappears. After lunch Rhodes heads over to the facility to see if anything has come up there that might be of use while everyone else starts setting up the house.
Tony has to admit, as he works getting the different screens set up with Hope, that the house is starting to feel more like a home than it ever has before.
The end of the day, however, is bringing fraying tempers. With no leads, and everyone tired from a day of cleaning, there's more than one face showing a frown.
Tony, running on minimal sleep, lacking in full strength coffee, and trying to push back all the memories and feelings being back in the old house is bringing back, is not in a peacekeeping mood.
'I swear this house breeds dust clouds,' Sam splutters as he pulls a dust sheet off of one of the chairs as the team tries to find somewhere more comfortable to sit after dinner.
'Why didn't you just get someone in every so often to clean up or something?' Scott asks as another sheet is pulled off and another cloud of dust sets off another round of coughing.
Tony opens his mouth, but genuinely can't get his brain to function enough to form words.
It's Rhodes who saves him. 'Because he had every intention of getting rid of it. This house isn't exactly filled with happy memories for Tony. Haven't you noticed how everywhere he's lived since has been the exact opposite of this place?'
'It wasn't all bad,' Tony says into the quiet that follows, walking half in a trance through the room towards the piano. The last time he'd seen his mother she'd been playing it. 'It was just…' he struggles to find the right word. 'It was lonely.' He sees the framed photos laying on the piano lid where they'd fallen since his exodus.
'Are these your parents?' Peter asks, coming to stand next to him.
'Them on their wedding day,' he huffs a laugh and turns to Steve, 'bet Dad looks more how you remember him here.' He offers the photo to Steve.
'Where are the photos of you?' Peter asks.
Tony tries to keep his muscles from freezing up. 'You'd have to look in Mom's areas for those, Pete. Dad didn't have many of me out. Not towards the end anyway.'
'You take after your Mom then.' Peter states, looking at one of the other pictures. One of Howard receiving a medal for his service during the war.
'What makes you say that?'
'Well, you've got pictures of everyone all over the workshop,' the teenager shrugs, putting the picture down and reaching for another one. One of Maria at one of her first charity functions.
Tony smiles a little. 'I never thought of that.'
Steve comes next to him, putting an arm around his waist and replacing the picture on the piano. 'Why was it so lonely here?' he asks. 'I thought you and Rhodey grew up together?'
'I wasn't here all the time,' Rhodes responds, 'and before me there weren't really many friends around for him.'
'My parents were away a lot as well. Mom had her social calendar and Dad…well Dad was away for a lot of different reasons. So it was just me here with Ana and with Jarvis if he hadn't gone with Howard.'
'So why didn't you sell it?' Bruce asks.
'I don't know,' he replies, feeling Steve's arm tighten around him. 'Anyway, we've got more than enough to be getting on with, let's stop this morbid trip down memory lane. We've not got any leads yet on Zemo, so what other options do we have?'
'What about if we stop looking at what he's been up to recently?' Peter suggests. 'He'll have been covering his tracks too much right? What about from a few months ago when he would have been starting to get in contact with HYDRA?'
'That,' Natasha says, 'might be a good idea. Maybe we can find out who he made contact with and that'll give us another lead.'
'Have we put anything out looking for Francis?' Wade asks. 'We know he's linked with HYDRA too, so it might be worth trying that avenue as well.'
'We hadn't thought about Francis,' Steve nods, 'we've been focussed so much on what's happening now we've lost sight of what we already know.'
'What about other organisations as well?' Peter asks.
'What do you mean?' Natasha asks him.
'We know there are other groups out there, right?' the teenager asks. 'What if some of them also have links to HYDRA? We know Hammer does as well as Ross, and Francis' organisation is linked to them. Maybe others have links even if they aren't being sucked into it.'
'You're thinking of Daredevil,' Wade frowns at him.
'Well he has a lot of experience with the Hand,' Peter points out, 'and they were getting bolder around the same time as HYDRA. Why not see if he's heard anything from the Hand?'
'It wouldn't hurt,' Natasha nods.
As they all head towards bed they are a little lighter than they were before. Now they've got a few more avenues to investigate it feels as though there's a little more hope.
A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry this is a bit of a 'holding' chapter, next one will be a little more exciting.
Thank you so much to everyone who has been leaving reviews. Please do let me know what you think of the story so far.
Love always,
L x
As always here's your sneak peek:
Peter nods, apparently satisfied when FRIDAY interrupts them. 'Boss? Miss Maximoff has just arrived at the facility. She says she's escaped HYDRA.'
Tony isn't sure what he feels at those words and he and Peter scramble for the door. 'Get her inside FRI!' he shouts as he runs. 'Get Steve and Sam. Go through every single camera she's passed in the last forty-eight hours and make sure she hasn't been followed.'
