In this chapter the Leopard meets the Avengers, these are the scents of each character:
Blood-Love-Secrets - Natasha Romanoff
Calm-Angry-Willow - Bruce Banner
Olddust-Blueberry-Paint - Captain America
Magic-Thunder-Alcohol - Thor Odinson
Special-Smokey-Brother - Clint Barton
Vanilla-Sunshine-Gold - Pepper Stark
Soft-Creampuff - Dr. Storms
Sunset-Lightning-Stark - Tony Stark
Chapter 9 Weres and Questions
A week after the revelation of my family to the Avengers finds me sitting in the common room reading a story to Yinsen and Miracle, hoping they'll fall asleep. It's 7:30 pm and I couldn't get them to go to sleep in their rooms so I brought them in here to read them a story that helps them to fall asleep. The older twins are listening as well as it's a rare occurrence for me to read to them since I'm always so busy. Even Clint's listening which is a surprise, in fact as I look up briefly from the book I can see all of the Avengers sat close to me around the room listening, I have no idea whether that's a good thing or not. By the time I get to the end of the story Yinsen, Miracle, Howard, Daniel, Maria, and TJ have all fallen asleep.
I carefully place the book down on the armrest as I try not to disturb Yinsen and Miracle before picking them both up and taking them to their room with Cap and Clint bringing the other twins. Once I put them in bed I head back to the common room where the other Avengers are still sitting, watching me as I come in.
"What?" It's unnerving the fact that they're watching me so intently and appearing to be half asleep, it's actually starting to get a little creepy. "What guys? Why are you staring at me like that?" I ask as I sit down and pick up my laptop to finish some work for the company.
"They're intrigues by your reading Tony, I'm surprised you could read a story as boring as that one was and make it sound like an adventure!" Clint exclaims, as he and Cap come into the room. We'd agreed to keep the fact that we're brothers a secret until we thought it was the best time, having too many-practically life changing-revelations on the same day or week is a bit much.
"I agree with the Eye of Hawk, you seem to have a miraculous power at reading, I myself almost fell asleep a number of times." Thor states as he attempts to wake himself up.
"How exactly are you so good at it? You're not the type of person that would strike me as a reader." Natasha states, she's still suspicious about Clint and I but so far hasn't discovered anything. She's still mad at me for the joke I made about her and Bruce and has been inflicting more strength into her strikes during our sparring than she usually does.
I just look at them all and grin widely before answering their queries. "I've been married for 9 years and have 6 children with another two on the way, don't you think I'd have had some practice in making them fall asleep just by reading?" I raise an eyebrow at them before getting back to my work. I'm working on a new type of cochlear implant that doesn't require a proper implantation for the public to use, so far it's going well, but one part of it doesn't seem to work. I know where it is that it isn't working, but it's too small for me to see properly.
Sighing I reach into my trouser pocket and pull out a small tub of mints that you can buy from the store. I tip one out and press a miniscule button and I'm suddenly holding a pair of white glasses. Putting the tub back in my pocket, I put on my glasses and relax a bit as I can see the problem more clearly and begin working on it. It then occurs to me that it's too quiet in the room, worried that something's wrong, I look up and see the Avengers staring at me with wide eyes again, even Clint. I look at them in confusion, trying to figure out what they're staring at. That's when Bruce practically tells me.
"Tony, where on Earth did those glasses come from?" He's staring at my glasses in astonishment and the confusion leaves my face as I understand why they're all confused. I pull out the tub of mints and hold them up in answer before getting back to my work. I hear someone clear their throat to gain my attention and I look up again slightly annoyed.
"What?" I ask, fully vocalising my annoyance and irritation that's starting to arrive. Bruce looks taken aback along with the other Avengers, which is entirely understandable. I'm not usually like this, but Pepper is at a meeting for Stark Industries in California, as that was the easiest place for her to go to since she's pregnant and won't be able to fly far distances for much longer, and we've had a pretty bad day dealing with arrogant politicians that won't leave me alone and business men that claim to be doing something for the 'good of the community' for me to invest in when in reality it won't do any good at all.
Then I had a doctor's appointment to go to, Doctor Storms wanted to have a check up with the Leopard and my overall health, which despite the fact that I have a good doctor I still hate hospitals. Then there was a call to assemble because some idiots thought it'd be a good idea to shoot litres of highly acidic liquid all over the city and the police couldn't contain them. I ended up with a busted suit that barely managed to function due to the acid getting into some of the wires in the suit and with quite a few burns that had to be treated.
I'm still sore from the burns and the treatment and my check-up with Dr. Storms. So overall I am crabby and exhausted from dealing with a heap of work and looking after 6 children and trying not to show my frustration in front of them and then I discovered I had work to do. This work in fact, so right now the Leopard is mostly in control since I'm too exhausted to force him back.
"Are you okay?" Bruce asks, generally worried about me now yet still curious about the glasses, but ignoring that as he takes in my expression-both physical and vocal. A deep growl builds in my chest in frustration at myself for losing control of my emotions and the Leopard, who really wants to appear at the moment.
"No." I growl out, trying to calm down and hide the growls in my chest. I glare at my computer screen, blaming it for the trouble of the day. I turn it off and leave it on the sofa before standing up, taking off my glasses and putting them away in the process, and start to head to the hallway when I sense a hand coming towards my shoulder. In my frustration I whip around and stop the hand in midair before it even reaches my shoulder, and I stare directly into the blue eyes of Captain America who's staring back in complete shock at my sudden speed and expression.
I can feel my irises changing and in the back of my mind I hear a voice of warning calling out. Suddenly Clint's between us and pulls Cap's wrist out of my grip and I notice the bruises forming on Cap's wrist as do the others. Clint pushes Cap behind him using his body to protect his, because he know's that if I shift he's the only one that can prevent me from doing any harm. As I realise this, I push harder against the Leopard, but the fight between myself and my shift is a vain battle as I can already feel the shift starting. I look Clint straight in the eye and he immediately starts warning everyone to get back, leaving everyone with worried and slightly fearful looks on their faces as they watch me shift.
It starts off slowly since I'm still trying to fight it, but I cave into the inevitable and land on all fours as a larger than average Amur Leopard. I feel myself growling at them deeply as I take in their scents. Blood-Love-Secrets is staring at me in shock as she takes in what she missed while working for me. Two-legged me recognises her as Natasha but instinctively I don't trust her. Calm-Angry-Willow stares at me his eyes dilated through his glasses. Human me knows him as Science-Bro and I instinctively take a liking to him. Then there's Olddust-Blueberry-Paint, Cap human me supplies, but I'm wary about him. Magic-Thunder-Alcohol, is apparently Thor who I'm sure I can trust. Then I spot Special-Smokey-Brother and I freeze. I growl at him in shock and hurt. Clint.
I hear the safety taken off of six guns and see Blood-Love-Secrets pointing one at me along with four others. When did they arrive? That's when I notice Blood-Death-Dark pointing one at me and a roar loud enough to be heard from the bedrooms rips through my throat at him in anger and I ready myself to pounce, baring my teeth at him. Before I can pounce one shoots at me and I jump quickly out of the way and roar even louder at them.
"STOP! You're going to make it worse!" Special-Smokey-Brother yells at them and I relax a bit when I notice some of them hesitate. Only Blood-Love-Secrets and Blood-Death-Dark are pointing weapons at me. Blood-Death-Dark stares at me briefly before glaring at Special-Smokey-Brother and speaking with anger in his voice.
"You don't know what that is Barton! That thing almost attacked me 9 years ago! It was made by Howard Stark himself along with another! We need to take it to see if we can control it, if we can't it'll have to be destroyed!" An even louder roar escapes from my mouth and I see them all flinch back in response which causes me to feel some pleasure.
"You can't take him! Tony's-" Special-Smokey-Brother is interrupted by Blood-Death-Dark again and I get ready to pounce again in my anger towards him.
"We'll take it and if we can't control it then we'll have Stark come in! Not before Barton now move aside!" He doesn't move and Blood-Death-Dark pushes him out of the way in his anger, causing him to land on the floor and give me a direct chance to pounce on Blood-Death-Dark. I leap at him before he even has the chance to raise his gun and he lands squarely on his back on the floor with me roaring in his face. I hear Special-Smokey-Brother yell something and I feel something pierce my side and I yelp in shock before falling onto my side next to Blood-Death-Dark. It takes a while for him to get over his shock at what happened-from what I can see of his face that is-and I feel agony rip through my body at the bullet in my side. Everything seems to go swimming and I hear screaming from in front of me and see the Cubs staring at me and crying. That's the last I see before everything collides with a loud crash and I turn off.
The first scent that reaches me as I begin to wake is the one of Vanilla-Sunshine-Gold and I can sense her near me, then I smell Special-Smokey-Brother next to her. I flip my tail up and down and a loud purr escapes my throat. I still haven't opened my eyes but I know they're both above me now whispering to me in a form of comfort without words. I continue purring and get louder as they start stroking my fur gently, avoiding the bandages that I can feel wrapped around me. I hear Vanilla-Sunshine-Gold whisper something to Special-Smokey-Brother and I hear him leave. In response to this I let a long cry escape my throat and whimper when I hear Vanilla-Sunshine-Gold continue comforting me which eases my crying somewhat, but not enough that it stops.
I hear the door open again and Special-Smokey-Brother comes in with Soft-Creampuff behind him. He places a hand next to the bandages and places a stethoscope next to it as he listens to my heartbeat. I immediately go quiet, knowing he'll need silence to know if I'm okay or not. After a few minutes of medical doohikies being used he quietly gives his approval for the Avengers to come in which immediately has my heart racing. I know the Avengers as friends or Human me does anyway, but I'm afraid of what they'll do to me. Vanilla senses me panicking and quickly whispers next to my ear: "They won't hurt you Sunset-Lightning-Stark, they promised, they just want to know you're okay." I relax a little, but tense up again when I hear them come in and I finally open my eyes.
The first I see is Vanilla, smiling down at me but clearly hasn't slept-that's a point how long was I asleep?-then Spokey-Brother guarding me and glaring at Blood-Love-Secrets-that's too long, many Blove-Secrets?-and I feel a small wave of pleasure at that which quickly fades when I see her expression towards me: anger, judgement, hate. I look away from her and see Olddust-Blueberry-Paint (maybe Olddust-Berrypaint?) watching me in concern, but wary to come too close, the others are expressing the same thing, standing close to the door in case I react badly.
I turn back to Vanilla and look down at myself then the curtain and then the Avengers. She nods in understanding and places clothes next to me before closing the curtains around the bed I'm laid on. I begin the shift and when I'm done I have to hold back a cry of pain and I see the bandages stretch to fit my torso better whilst still covering the wound. From what I can tell the bullet didn't go very far but even with my fast healing it'll still take a few hours for it to be completely healed.
Gingerly, I place my feet on the floor and hold onto the bed before putting my full weight on them, I gasp slightly in pain as my right leg flares in pain and I notice the bandage around my ankle-how had I missed that? I lean most of my weight on my left leg before carefully pulling on the underwear and trousers Pepper left me then I attempt to put on the shirt she left, but it rips when I put my arms through the sleeves so I rip them off. The shirt is still tight on my chest, but I'd rather wear some kind of shirt than let the Avengers see most of the scars on my chest, I'll have to deal with them asking about the ones on my arms though. I feel exhausted even though I only put clothes on, which must mean that I was out for a few days.
Now that I'm ready I carefully sit back down on the bed with my back against the pillows so that I can sit up properly since I can't seem to stand. I notice Pepper peak in and pull the curtains open when she sees that I'm dressed. The Avengers are closer now and more spread out instead of grouped together and I guess that they want to make sure I won't try anything by having them all stationed in different places. They gasp when they see the scars going up my arms-even Natasha did-and look back at me. I shrug indifferently though I'm really quite bothered about the fact that they can see them, and I feel very self-conscious since the shirt I'm wearing is rather tight on my chest and the Arc Reactor making it more noticeable and brighter since it's a stark white shirt.
I wait for them to ask a question since I don't want to be the first to speak, it takes a while but then Cap clears his throat, taking half of my attention, the other half is on the others in the room in case they try anything, and speaks. "How long have you been a Were Tony?" His voice is quiet and gentle, trying not to unnerve me I guess.
"Since I was 12." I state simply, being careful not to show any emotion.
"Since you were 12?! But I thought that Were's only shifted when they started their mid-twenties?" Bruce exclaims, I'm actually surprised that he knew anything about the Weres. Clearly I'm not the only one surprised.
"How did you know about Weres Bruce?" Cap asks bewildered.
"I met some in India, they told me a bit about Weres, they'd been persecuted by their people and left to try and find what they call 'The Council' that apparently takes care of the Weres and deals with the government from time to time doing business with them." They stare at him for a few seconds before turning back to me for clarification. I simply nod, not wanting to say much to them after what had happened, feeling a bit anti-social.
"Why were you so young when you became a Were Man of Iron?" Thor asks quietly, which is a surprise as he's usually deafening even to normal people.
"It happens with stress. Usually we're in our late teens when we shift or mid-twenties like Bruce said, but if we feel a strong emotion of any kind usually stress or anxiety, we can end up shifting early. I was mad at my Dad when it happened and I hadn't had a good day at school. I actually attacked him which really scared him and Mum. Things were much different after that." They look a me their faces somewhat akin to horror.
"You attacked Howard?!" Of course Cap would be the one to me mad about that, he doesn't know what he was like after the war though.
"I was exhausted from work, school, and my parents arguing. I didn't harm him in any way. He just ended up flat on his back on a sofa with me on top of him looking very angry at him. It was late as well, and I hadn't been able to sleep which is how I walked in on my parents arguing." I refrain from looking at him and the others as the memory begins to haunt my mind. I feel Pepper take my hand and squeeze it in comfort to help ease the memory away. The first memory of a shift is always the worst.
"What happened after that?" Bruce asks, wanting to keep arguments to a minimum since I am still injured.
"Well, they called a Were doctor who'd saved my life once before when one of Dad's experiments went wrong. He'd thought my parents knew I was a Were and that I'd already shifted despite my age. He then started teaching how to control myself when I'm the Leopard as he's a WereCat himself though a different species of one. I graduated from my lessons when I was sixteen not long before I proposed and married Pepper." They take this in before asking any more questions which takes a while, but soon Bruce had another question for me.
"How could your doctor tell that you were a Were before you even shifted?" I sighed, this is not the easiest question to answer and generally freaks other Weres out, so I have no idea how it'll affect them.
"There are... certain Weres who are 'blessed', if you want to call it that, with the ability of being able to see another person's true nature no matter who it is. You could describe it as a ball of light with different colours. There are only three colours. White, for purity, gold, for righteousness, and black for sin or evil. Weres with the ability to see a person's true nature or light are tasked by The Council to search for Weres and train them in and out of their Were form depending on what species they can turn into. They are also Hunters. There are different ranks in Were status. There are the Graduated, Searchers/Hunters (Hunters being the higher rank in that part), Commanders, Elders, and then The Council leaders." I pause taking a breath as my side begins to hurt because I'm fidgeting too much.
"What does each rank do?" Cap asks, I figured he'd ask that since he was in the army and always seems to put everything to ranks.
"The Graduated is just those Weres who have graduated from their training and wish to get on with their lives and not go into the business of finding other Weres as it takes up a lot of time and a lot of effort is put into it. Also, with each species there are Commanders, ones who take care of the Weres of there species. Such as the WereCats, WereWolves, WereFouls/Birds and you get the gist. There will be three Commanders and the highest ranking Elder in that species acting as caretakers and representers to any government meetings or quarrels with Were's. The Searchers go looking for Weres who are either going to shift or have. The Hunters go looking for Weres who have gone rogue or against the system that is in place, they then either bring them back to the Council or report to a Commander who reports to the Elders who have to deal with them." I decide to stop there, thinking that's enough information for them and that they'll leave me alone, but unfortunately my luck isn't that good.
"What do the Elders do with the ones who have gone rogue?" Natasha asks, surprising me since she'd only been observing for the past half hour and not speaking to me just glaring at me. She's not glaring at me now but I can tell she's suspicious about the Weres.
"That I cannot tell you." I state, I've given them enough information and I can't give them anymore information as it would be breaking an oath.
"Why not?" She demands, her face going a bit red in her anger.
"Because I would be breaking an oath to tell you. Also the information is sacred and can only be spoken about to those who can also 'see the light'. I am not permitted to share this with you and even if I could I wouldn't, you would tell SHIELD directly and that cannot be allowed and I don't trust you either Romanoff, and the Leopard certainly doesn't either so you better watch what you do around me or bad things could happen to you." I glare at her in my anger for a moment before turning away and looking back at Pepper at Clint, they were both wary and neither seemed quite sure what to do.
I gave them a small smile to help them with their nerves and they smiled back ever so slightly. They knew what the Elders would do as they had both witnessed it and cannot say a word or they will literally die, like myself. I watch them for a while before letting my exhaustion seep over my body but before I let it completely take me, I take a look at everyone in the room and I can clearly see their hidden lights.