"Hammer, time's up. You need to get back to your cell." A security guard said.
"Fine," The man, Justin Hammer, stood from his seat in the cafeteria.
The guard quickly led him back to his cell.
Hammer fiddled with the cuffs on his wrists. He just couldn't stay still. Ever since he'd come to this wretched prison years ago, he'd been waiting for an opportunity like this. The right deal.
A lot of the offers he'd gotten thus far included handing over technology or money, and that's something he wasn't willing to sacrifice. This one was different, though. He was being offered tech, and all he had to do in exchange was put a few thousand dollars and his professional insight into it.
Normally, he was a patient man, but just then, he couldn't wait to be free.
Laynie and Carter were greeted with a swear and a tool flying across the room as Tony's lab doors opened with a swish.
"C'mon you hunk of scrap metal!" he shouted, kicking Mark VII.
He turned around mid-swear and saw his daughters, wide-eyed and slightly amused.
"Hey girls," he said, pushing tools away with his feet. "What's up?"
"Should we ask Bruce instead?" Laynie asked, holding up a sheet of math homework. It was the last weekend before the end of the school year and they weren't about to spend it doing math homework when half their family could knock it out in minutes.
"Nope, I got it." He plucked the sheets of work away from the girls and swept his arm across one of his counters, making room. He pulled a pencil out of a dirty coffee mug and set to work, writing out equations faster than the girls could read them.
"Benefit number seven hundred and two of having Tony Stark as a dad," Laynie muttered.
Tony smiled to himself.
"Sir, there's a call on line one for you," JARVIS announced.
"Patch it through."
"Hello Tony," a sickly sweet voice drawled.
The pencil hit the floor.
"Miss me, Tony?" The voice asked.
Tony ground his teeth together, "Hammer, why are you calling me? How are you calling me? You're in prison!"
"Oh, not anymore. Actually, I just got out."
"Hammer? You mean-?"
Tony put a hand on Laynie's arm, effectively silencing her.
"Ooh, hello Pepper darling! Did you miss my voice?"
Laynie put a hand on her hip, staring up at the ceiling. "Not Pepper."
Tony clasped his hands together, silently pleading with his daughter to stop talking.
"Oh," Hammer exclaimed. "A new one? Really, Tony, I expected more of you. Thought you really had something with Potts."
Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "Hammer, what do you want?"
"What, I can't get in touch with an old friend?" Hammer asked innocently.
JARVIS pulled up a screen, and Tony tapped a few buttons to track Hammer's location. "I would rather strangle you with my bare hands than talk on the phone with you. And I swear," Tony shouted, "if you hurt my family I'll make that happen!"
Hammer laughed, and it sent a shiver down each girl's spine. "Family? How touching! Tony Stark, are you going soft on me? Because that's really no fun."
Tony took a deep breath. "If you don't explain in three seconds I'm hanging up on you." The computer zeroed in on a location somewhere in Rhode Island. They were close, but there was no street address.
"Oh no, I think I'll leave you to ponder what my plans are." Hammer answered smugly. "I must be going now, I've got things to do. I'm sure you understand. Until next time." And with that, the connection was lost.
Tony mumbled a string of curses as he zoomed in on the map. He wasn't able to pinpoint his location to less than a ten mile area. "JARVIS, activate security protocol alpha."
He turned to the girls, putting a hand on each of them. "Go find Steve and do not leave him, you understand? Use the stairs. Do not leave his side. Tell him to get Pepper too."
"Wait!" Laynie cried, latching onto Tony's arm. "Was that Justin Hammer, the guy that tried to-"
"Kill both Pepper and I a few times? Yes, it was. And he wants revenge. Go now."
"Laynie, come on." Carter dragged her downstairs in search of Steve.
"Steve!" Laynie shouted, when they reached the living room. "Steve!"
Steve came running in from the kitchen. "What's wrong?"
"Tony told us to find you. There's some guy called Hammer that just called him, apparently out for revenge on Tony. Tony told us to stay with you and to find Pepper." Carter explained quickly.
Steve looked toward the living room, where floor to ceiling windows were covered in thick layers of steel. "That explains why Tony activated the alpha security protocol. Come on, I think Pepper's in her office."
On the way to Pepper's office, they stopped by what looked to be a normal alarm system. Of course it wasn't, though.
Steve punched in a long code, and the wall opened up to reveal an empty space. Within seconds, his shield dropped down into that place.
Systems like these had been built into all the floors of the house, so that Steve could access his shield at all times, and same for Clint and his bow, Natasha and a gun of choice, so on so forth. As for Tony's armor, there was another, bigger, system for that. Steve slid his arm into the shield and walked confidently forward through the halls.
They went a few floors up, and ended up at the door of Pepper's office.
"Pepper," Steve said, rapping on the door. "Tony's asked that I keep you and the girls close."
"Pepper?" Steve knocked again when she didn't answer. "Pepper, is everything okay?" He opened the door and peeked inside.
Pepper wasn't in her office.
"No," Steve shook his head, "she's gotta be somewhere in the Tower." Turning back to the girls, "Come on, you two."
He led them back down the hallway and back to the living room.
He pressed a small button on another alarm system and spoke into a microphone. "Tony, Pepper isn't in her office."
"What?" Tony shouted, panicked.
"What should I do?" Steve asked, remaining calm. Even then, the girls could hear the anxious edge in his voice.
Tony mumbled something, then there was a clatter, then he came through loud and clear. "Protect the girls. I'm going after Hammer."
"Dad!" Laynie shouted.
"What?" he asked, sounding concerned.
"Just... Be careful," Laynie spluttered, embarrassed. She knew he was doing the right thing by going.
"... I will. Don't worry, okay?" Tony said, though he didn't wait for a reply before disconnecting.
Carter looked over at her anxious friend. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." She squeezed Laynie's hand. "Tony and Pepper will be fine."
"I can't lose more parents," she said, barely audible.
Clint and Natasha came in, both brandishing a handgun. Clint almost never used his bow for close combat. He didn't like shooting people at point blank.
"What's going on?" Clint asked, holstering his weapon and standing beside the girls.
"Hammer called Tony and he got a location on him so he went to find him," Laynie rushed.
"And we can't find Pepper!" Carter added.
"Pepper's safe," Natasha stated, being less relaxed than her partner. She was there the first time Hammer tried to kill Tony and Pepper, she knew him well enough not to let her guard down.
Laynie let out a sigh of relief. "Where is she?"
"With Happy, downstairs."
While the upper floors of Stark Tower had been remodeled into Avengers Tower, the living space for the big family, the lower levels had remained office space. Pepper sometimes went to supervise workers, or take interviews for new employees. Happy never failed to watch her every move.
"Good," Steve said. "Clint, go get her and Happy."
Clint nodded once and headed downstairs.
"Natasha-"
Steve was stopped by Natasha's hand, held up to signal his silence. "There's something wrong. Carter, Laynie-"
This time, it was a small explosion that interrupted them. It came from the kitchen, sending shrapnel flying everywhere. Steve and Natasha took the brunt of the force, but the girls were smaller. It didn't take as much to knock them over, giving both of them a one-way ticket to unconsciousness.