A/N Sorry about the wait on this. Had to think it through – and I've been busy with work and Jack, also.
OOOOOO
"Critical power buildup detected."
Tony frowned. He knew that Pepper, Natasha and Stephen had all heard the warning from Friday, even though it came over his watch.
"What? Where?"
"The Milano."
They all knew what that was, of course. All four went to their feet, immediately – and alarms went up all over the compound as Friday started the protocol that would evacuate all personnel in the compound immediately to the reinforced rooms that served as shelters against any kind of emergencies. Mainly explosions – but usually ones that were the result of something Tony or one of the others was working on in the workroom.
"Pepper, get to the shelter. Natasha, you too."
The room right next to the lounge was one of them, and both Romanoff and Pepper were vulnerable. An explosion – especially if it was really the spaceship that was threatening to explode – would almost certainly devastate the compound. Unless it could be stopped, of course. Tony was already activating his Ironman suit – and Strange had his arms up, looking at the billionaire to see what he needed from him.
Pepper didn't argue – and neither did Natasha. There was a time to be annoyed at being summarily excused, and a time to understand that griping about it would only be a waste of time that they didn't have.
"Get Peter," Pepper ordered, already heading for the door – with Natasha and a couple of the lounge workers joining them.
"I will."
OOOOOO
"Shit."
"I am groot."
"No!" Rocket snapped, looking at the tree. "Go find a place to shelter – just in case."
"It's not going to blow up," Quill said, hurrying toward the danger rather than away from it. The Milano was his baby, after all. He wasn't going to allow her to be destroyed. "We just need to siphon off some of the energy and get rid of the blockage. Clear that pipe, Rocket."
"Yeah."
The racoon grabbed one of the diagnostic tools that he'd been using and scurried up the ladder to reach for the panel that covered the pressure valve he needed, just as the alarm's urgency increased, the sound making the others wince – although they continued to work on the ship; Gamora staying as well, and handing tools up to Rocket, who otherwise would have had to run up and down the ladder to get them.
Groot followed Peter toward the front of the ship joining him just as another form ran up as well; this one much slimmer and holding a small – and very annoyed-looking kitten in his hands.
"What's going on?" Peter asked Quill."
"Plasma buildup," was the terse answer, as the older Peter slapped the hatch control, opening the door. "You need to get out of here before it blows-"
Peter raised the hand that wasn't holding Nutmeg.
"I can help. Just-"
Before Peter could say anything else, the alarm stopped – just as the Ironman suit came to a sudden landing beside – and a little in front of – him.
"Got it!" Rocket said, triumphantly, holding up the shut off valve and waving it at the others. The racoon shook his head as he climbed down off the ladder, the open panel a gaping wound on the side of the spaceship, but the buildup now gone. "Man, that could have been messy."
"What happened?" Tony asked Quill, the suit disengaging as Friday confirmed that there was no longer any danger of explosion.
At least not at the moment.
"Plasma buildup in the generator," was the immediate reply. "The system is designed to bleed itself when that happens, but every now and then we get a hiccup and have to do it manually."
"This has happened before?" Peter asked.
"Every now and then." He gave Tony an apologetic look, not missing that the compound was brightly lit up, now, and had only half an hour before been dark with the impending night. "Sorry about that."
Tony affected a nonchalance that he didn't feel, and he shrugged.
"It's all good. I wasn't worried." He looked at Peter. "What are you doing out here?"
"I thought I'd see if I could help."
He started to say something, but Strange was suddenly beside him – although none of them had seen him coming.
"At least he activated his suit, this time, Tony," the sorcerer told him.
"Good point." Ignoring the way his heart was hammering at the thought of Peter running to the danger to see if he could do anything rather than heading for one of the shelters, Tony tapped the vibranium clad shoulder. "That's a start."
Peter shrugged.
"They had it under control, though."
"Go find mom before she comes looking for you. Let her know you're safe."
He didn't bother to tell Peter where she was; Peter could ask Karen and intercept Pepper before she could start worrying about their son.
"Okay."
Still carrying the kitten, Peter headed for the main building at a trot, and Quill shook his head as Rocket and Gamora walked over.
"I don't know what he thought he was going to do, but that kid has a lot of guts, running toward the alarm like that."
"I'd rather he kept them inside his skin," Tony said, shaking his head, ruefully. He looked up at the spaceship, and then back at the guardians. "We're good here?"
"Yeah. Just a little glitch, is all."
"Good. Need anything?"
"Not tonight," Rocket said. "I think we'll wait until morning to finish bleeding the systems."
"Agreed," Quill told him. "We'll finish this and call it a night."
"Alright. We'll see you at breakfast, then."
He turned and walked back toward the building, as well, and Strange fell into step beside him.
"You handled that a lot better than I expected you to," the magician said.
He'd been expecting an explosion of a completely different type – once the danger was passed.
Tony shrugged.
"I've had a few close calls with tech of my own," the billionaire admitted. "Friday says the system is safe, now, so it's good. The initial alarm is genius, really; it went off a lot earlier than my own would have and gave them plenty of time to fix the problem."
"So what you're saying is that if it had been your project, it would have leveled the compound?"
"Of course not. Friday watches me fairly closely when I'm working. She'd have caught the problem long before she needed to give an alarm."
Now.
Before, however…? Yeah. The place would have been leveled. He didn't admit it, though. But Strange didn't need him to. The other man chuckled, relieved that nothing had happened. He wasn't in the mood to play surgeon, just then – no matter how healed his fingers and hands were.
OOOOOO
They'd barely ushered the others into the saferoom shelter (joining a few who were already there) when the door sealed behind them, advising silently that no one else was in the vicinity and seeking shelter. There was a moment of absolute darkness, and then the lights went on, as did a display on the wall that was relaying information. Before Natasha could do more than go stand in front of it, the alarm they were all still able to hear in the distance suddenly went silent.
"What does that mean?" one of the others asked.
"It's-" Romanoff was interrupted by a different chime. "That's the stand down," she told them all, unnecessarily. "We're good to go as soon as the lock cycles."
They didn't need to be told that it wasn't going to be more than a few minutes, but they were all impatient while they stood at the door and waited. When it finally clicked, opening, Peter was the one who opened the door from the other side. The boy was looking a little excited, and was holding his kitten, Pepper saw.
"Are you alright?" she asked, checking him, carefully, for any sign of injury.
"Yeah. You guys?"
He was looking her and Natasha over for the same reason.
"We're fine," Romanoff answered. "What happened?"
"It was the Milano," he told her. Then he looked at Pepper, and shrugged. "I didn't touch it, I swear."
Pepper chuckled, despite the worry that she'd been feeling.
"I believe you."
But she wanted to go to the lounge, knowing that that was where Tony would be – and that was where she'd get her answers. Peter and Natasha walked with her.s