A/N - Thank you to the two extremely helpful anon reviews! You two gave me lots of good ideas that will be put into play sooner or later. This chapter will focus mainly on the other characters, it's time to see what they know. This chapter's a little shorter because of that, but it should still be a good read. Enjoy!


Chapter Six

Interesting Discoveries

It took the young halfa another ten minutes to find Vlad. The first thing he did was check in with his parents and make sure they weren't unhappy with him for eating dinner with other people and to make sure they were planning to leave soon. If they hadn't been, he always could have flown back to the hotel, but it was easier to just go along with his parents' wishes.

Pepper was right about needing to apologize. The guilt he felt when he realized that he'd hurt the older man hadn't lessened, and even if it had, he would still have gone and been a responsible person. Even if he didn't intend to, he had hurt Vlad, and he really was sorry. It had just been another way to tease the older halfa, but he hadn't considered how it would make Vlad feel, kind of like that time where he got the Guys in White to blow up the billionaire's mansion with all of the Packers paraphernalia in it.

So, when he stumbled upon the suave billionaire, he gently tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he could spare a minute from his conversation. Vlad was mildly surprised, since he had to seek Danny out each time they had spoken that evening.

"Of course, Daniel," he responded, and excused himself from the group of socialites. "What is it you want?" He looked the teen up and down, taking in his somber, tired expression and fidgeting hands.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier," Danny blurted suddenly. "When you showed up, and obviously didn't like Tony, it seemed like a great chance for me to taunt you, but I didn't stop to think about whether or not I'd hurt your feelings."

Vlad went wide-eyed with surprised. "Really?" he asked.

The teen nodded sadly. "We're not enemies anymore. We haven't been for over a year now, and I just wanted to tease you a little, maybe annoy you some. Truth is, I've been kind of scared of agreeing to be your apprentice, even though I want to, because I'm still going to be a hero, and I'm still going to do my own thing. I'd really appreciate some extra training, maybe even a sparring match or two, but you've always been so dead-set on me being your evil son or whatever, and I can't do that. I can't let myself do that."

Vlad gripped his shoulder, a pained expression on his face. "I understand, little badger. You're not the only one who's done a bit of growing up over the past few years. When I struck an alliance with you, I accepted that you'd never be my son, or turn evil. I still see you as a son, but I know that oaf of a father you have will always take that place in your heart."

"Yeah," Danny muttered. He looked Vlad square in the eyes, entirely serious. "I am sorry, though, and I really would like it if we could train together, no strings attached, no conditions. You could stop trying to be 'Vlad the father' and accept the 'honorary uncle' title my dad has always wanted you to have."

The older man smiled gently. "I'd like that, Daniel. Thank you."


Tony arrived back at the tower only to find Steve waiting for him in the parking garage, tuning up his bike to keep busy. The blond super soldier looked up as the sleek Ferrari pulled into its empty spot and watched as Tony turned it off and hopped out.

"Tony," he said, face grim, "we need to have a talk."

The billionaire looked at the folder in his hands, no doubt info printed by JARVIS for the technologically-handicapped Cap. He furrowed his brows, and muttered, "About Danny?"

When Steve nodded, he motioned for the soldier to follow, leading the way to the elevator and up to the common floor. JARVIS had already begun to look for more information, prompted by a text Tony sent earlier. They had to piece it all together now.

When they were both seated at the counter separating the kitchen from the living room, Steve opened the folder and spread out the papers. Tony noticed that he had made notes whenever something seemed particularly important.

Steve glanced at the other man. Tony's face was pensive, eyes unseeing. "You spent the evening with him, did he give anything away that might be a hint to all... this?" he asked, waving his arm in a sweeping gesture at the papers.

The genius frowned. "A bit. He knew Vlad Masters, a business rival of mine, and apparently Masters wants Danny to be his apprentice, or something. They also have a mutual friend who's a history buff, and a camp counselor, too, but I think that part was a lie."

Shaking his head, the super soldier let out a barking laugh. "This isn't getting any more simple as we learn more. Are you sure there isn't anything else?"

"Let's recap," Tony drawled. "The kid is the son of two scientists who specialize in ghosts, which have managed to overrun the town he lives in several times in the past three years, one of which got the entire town transported to an alternate dimension. Let's not forget that he's used to being kidnapped, which is not normal, his parents are apparently unobservant enough to almost never notice he's missed curfew, and his attendance at school is spotty at best. Danny Fenton is one giant mystery."

"And you said he was a very talented engineer," Steve added. "He seems like a really smart kid, but his grades certainly don't show it. Both his parents and sister are geniuses, it's hard to believe that the intelligence gene skipped him."

The billionaire nodded slowly, processing that in addition to the other things they'd learned over the course of the day. He had wondered about Danny's grades in passing, because the teen was so obviously smarter than what they indicated, but it hadn't really stuck out compared to the number of times he had been missing for over a day, or the fact that he hadn't been to the hospital for even a routine checkup in three years.

That fact, the lack of yearly checkups, had been the most suspicious and giving. Tony had heard of many cases where a mutant or someone with inborn powers had emphatically avoided physicals, checkups, blood work, anything that could possibly give them away.

Quietly, he slid the sheet with Danny's medical records over to the blond. He watched as Steve's eyes widened in realization, and sighed. If they were right, and Danny had some kind of power, this could be a lot more complicated than they thought.

"Do you really think...?" Steve asked hesitantly. He didn't want to assume.

Tony grimaced. "Yeah. It's the best explanation that we have. It doesn't really explain why he misses school so often, or why he just vanishes for days at a time, but it's the best we've got. He hinted that I wouldn't be able to find all of the information on him, anyway."

"That you know of..." That comment was persistent. It didn't want to be ignored. Tony wanted to figure it out. He wasn't bored, for once, and he was growing more concerned about the state of his new friend.

"How about introducing him to some of the other Avengers?" Tony pondered.

Shrugging, the super soldier replied, "That could prove interesting. He's here for a week, isn't he? I think Bruce would like him, and Thor likes everybody. If the big guy drops in, that is. He's due for a visit, isn't he?"

"What, Thor?" the billionaire asked, for confirmation. "Yeah. In the next few weeks, at least. Y'know, Clint would probably appreciate Danny's sarcasm. And puns. How does he even make that many puns? It's like he's had training for it. And I thought I was good at making puns. Danny's got me beat by a mile. Do you think Natasha would hit him if she met him?"

"Why would she hit him?" Steve asked, confused by the hyperactive babble suddenly falling from the billionaire's mouth.

"I'm not sure. I think Pepper almost hit him, he did nearly cause a fistfight, though let's ignore the fact that I would've been one of the participants," Tony continued, pacing. "He's really nice, most of the time, kind of polite and shy, but that dry wit he showed when we were gaming this afternoon? That was impressive. I was impressed. Were you impressed? 'Cause I was. I didn't expect a quiet seventeen-year-old to be nearly that snarky."

Steve groaned. "Alright, alright, I'm going to bed now. You're too chatty. Are you planning on picking up Danny tomorrow?" he responded, pressing a hand to his forehead, trying to rid himself of the budding headache.

Tony smirked. "Of course. I still have to show him my workshop, and that," he stated, still pacing, "is better than anything he could find at my expo. I may or may not just send Happy to wait at his hotel room tomorrow morning, too. Do you think he'd mind being kidnapped again?"

"Good night, Tony," Steve called, already at the stairwell.

He heard an amused chuckle before Tony started muttering to himself again, occasionally addressing JARVIS. With any luck, those two would find out something else that could answer their near-infinite list of questions.


"Agent Romanov," a deep voice growled. Natasha picked up the file that was pushed across the table, face impassive. "This person of interest has been seen around Stark since around noon earlier today. I want you to investigate him, and what he's doing around Stark and Rogers. He should be relatively passive, we have no indication of any hostility."

She nodded. "Yes, sir. Do you want me to start immediately, or wait until he shows up around one of the Avengers again?" she asked, waiting for clarification.

Director Fury massaged his temples. It had been a long day. "Wait until he appears near one of the Avengers again. It seems he and Stark exchanged phone numbers..."

Natasha grimaced. A friend of Tony's was likely to be just as annoying as the genius himself, in her experience. Pepper and Rhodey were the only apparent exceptions to the rule, seeing as she didn't really consider any of the other Avengers to be Tony's friends.

"Thank you, sir. I'll report back to you when I know more," she stated.

As she was headed out the door, Fury called out for her to wait.

"You might want to take up residence in Stark Tower. It would make your job easier, and Clint will be returning there tomorrow. He likes the luxury of it better than the barracks here at the base," he commented. "And Agent Romanov? There is a possibility that the target is Phantom."

She grimaced, shaking red hair back from her face. This mission would prove interesting, that was for sure.