AN James Wesley has 99 problems and Tony Stark is ALL OF THEM. But Wesley loves these problems. And he loves Tony. He is a good friend.

iii.

"Mr. Stark, I see that the Stark Tower is once again up and running," Wesley said, watching the building from his hotel window. As much as Wesley ardently hated being in New York for more than a short layover, he had to admit it was a beautiful skyline. One that would be completely changed by Stark Industries' clean power program.

"Yep, worked like a charm. Uh, I was calling for a different reason, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Agent Coulson just dropped by."

"What did he ask you about?" Wesley said, keeping the dread from his voice.

Tony had been working comfortably as a consultant for SHIELD for a few months now (he pretended to be miffed about being denied entrance to the Avengers Initiative, but Wesley knew he liked being able to help), but Agent Coulson had always stayed courteously within business hours. Appearing this late was…unusual.

"Apparently SHIELD has been staying busy. He hacked my security system to give me some homework. Well, more fieldtrip than homework."

"He hacked the—" Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose. He had liked Agent Coulson, he had liked him a lot. He wrangled Tony into working and he was delightfully efficient. Wesley wasn't sure he liked him as much now that he had started making trouble. "What has he asked you to do?"

"The Avengers Initiative is apparently back on," Tony said casually. "Some alien tech or something has disappeared. Seems dangerous."

That shouldn't have sounded so reasonable. Alien anything should not have sounded reasonable.

"What are you going to do?"

"Go check it out. From what he gave me, it doesn't seem they know just what exactly they're up against."

"Do you?" Wesley asked. The urge to run over to Stark Tower before Tony did anything dangerous was growing by the second, and Wesley let himself walk toward the door, ready to grab his wallet at any second. This was a change in how things worked, he distantly realized. Four years ago, before Iron Man, Wesley would have already been braving the New York City traffic to help his employer. Now he was waiting to be asked before he offered assistance. That was unusual for a fixer of his caliber.

"Not really." Tony's voice didn't sound glib. "But when has my input ever not been valued?"

"Alright…so you are going to help them? To consult," Wesley said, unable to resist extra emphasis on the last word. He had had enough near death scares with Tony, he couldn't handle another one.

"Yeah, sure, I'll do whatever they need help with. Who knows, if I'm not busy I might even get Captain America's autograph."

"Captain America…?" That brought Wesley up short. He frowned, playing back Tony's words to tell if he was joking. There was an edge of pointed casualness, the kind Tony only used when he was trying not to show he was bothered by something. What did he have against the old national icon?

"Yeah, you know, World War II, star-spangled man with a plan, my dad's favorite pet project," Tony said, voice returning to its usual breeziness. "Apparently they found him on ice a little while ago."

Captain America? He had died in Germany before the war ended, how had SHIELD—

"Anyway, I gotta finish reading up on this. Oh, and Pep's headed back to DC tonight, she'll probably call you in a sec, but start packing your bags. Talk at you later."

"Mr. Stark, hold on a second!"

"Yeah?"

"Please, stay safe. I don't look forward to training a new employer if there are complications."

"Yeah, sure, you know I always do. See ya later."

Wesley huffed out a sigh and shook his head. Terrorists. Secret government agencies. Aliens. Captain America. Things had only begun to amp up in the last four years. Wesley wasn't sure he wanted to see where they were in ten.

He turned back to face the window, tapping his phone against his palm.

Pepper had been with Tony that night, so undoubtedly she knew what he was up to. Wesley needed to prepare a story in case Tony was injured doing who knew what, contact someone for solid figures on Stark Tower's clean power, tell the hotel in DC about checking in a night early, call the newspaper about the successful switch over, look into Captain America, just out of curiosity…

Wesley paused, phone halfway to his palm.

Tony had called Wesley about his plans.

This was progress.

Pepper's smile was tired when Wesley let her in.

"How was Tony when you left?" Wesley asked, cutting the niceties short. He had asked her to stop by his room before turning in for the night. He needed more information about what was going on. This probably wasn't anything he could do anything about, but he at least wanted to know what kind of danger Tony was putting himself in.

"Worried. Some of the files I saw…this looks serious, Wesley."

That was exactly what he had been dreading.

"How bad?"

"Well," she sighed, running a knuckle over her eyebrow, "there was a lot of exploding."

"I thought he was a consultant."

"I think this is an emergency. A lot of what I saw were only files on the other Avenger candidates, not what the actual issue is. It's just…it looks crazy," Pepper told him as she dropped into a chair. Simply speaking about it seemed to drain her. "Everyone they're considering…it doesn't seem real."

"What are they like?"

"Well…there's Captain America, for one."

"I thought he was joking about that," Wesley sighed. He sank into a seat next to her. This was feeling far more real than it had a little while ago.

"Uhm, then there's the Hulk—"

"The guy that attacked Harlem?"

"Seems so. And then someone going by the name 'Thor', I think it was? There was a lot to process from just one glance."

"And with Mr. Stark added in…"

"I know, it sounds like a mess."

Wesley gave a thin smile to keep from wholeheartedly agreeing. That many big personalities in one room...Wesley hoped this problem would be sorted out fast, if only to avoid their heroes having a falling out.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

"I don't know, Wesley," Pepper told him. "I get so nervous just thinking about it. I mean, all of the stuff they've been handling by themselves seems huge. Tony with Obadiah and the Ten Rings, then Vanko and Hammer, that's insane. Then it gets even crazier with the stuff about the Hulk, monsters and scientific mutations, and Captain America? He was fighting Nazis when he was alive, or at least the last time he was seen because I guess he's still around, and I—"

Pepper put her head in her hands. When she spoke her words were muffled.

"I'm scared, Wesley. I'm really scared Tony's bitten off more than he can chew."

"Well, he's not fighting this…" Alien technology. Pepper clearly had no idea he was fighting alien technology, and Wesley was going to keep it that way, "…by himself. All of those people are his allies, Captain America, the Hulk, and everything else SHIELD has at its disposal. It'll be okay."

"And you're sure? You can tell me that you're certain he's going to be alright."

Wesley couldn't promise that. He couldn't promise anything. Pepper had put a fine point on something he had been grappling with for the last hour; this, like so much these days, was far, far beyond Wesley's realm of control. He could help from his end, but Tony again was fighting forces no normal man could face alone.

"Mr. Stark has faced more than virtually any man I know."

"Yeah but—"

"Pepper," Wesley said, raising his hands. "Do you know what I was doing before I began working for Mr. Stark?"

"You were in Hong Kong, right? Working with some big corporation, for the CEO or something? Weren't that in oil?"

"They were in everything," he chuckled. "And my position before that was...closer to organized crime than is advisable."

Pepper straightened, blinking in surprise. "I, uh, I...I had no idea."

"It's not something I advertise. But...I saw a lot while in the more...unsavory side of business. A lot of bad things. Tony has managed more than any of that."

"That's not a fair scale," Pepper said, shaking her head. "That...whatever that bad stuff was, that's not like terrorists and mad scientists and...whatever this is. This is bigger than Tony, Wesley, and I'm afraid for him."

"He's pulled through before. And we don't even know if he'll be fighting this time. Don't give yourself reasons to worry before anything happens."

"Yeah," she said, forcing out another smile. Clearly neither one of them believed his advice.

They sat in silence for a moment before Wesley forced himself to smile at her. "Would you like a drink or anything before you turn in?"

Pepper rubbed her face and stood. "No, I'm good. I honestly need to get to bed. I was going to fly to DC tonight, but I'm just so exhausted I can't even focus well enough to finish packing my bags—"

"We don't have to leave tonight," Wesley said, walking with her to the door. "I wanted to speak to you before we changed any of the travel information. We can still leave tomorrow. Get some rest. This is going to be a long couple of days."

"No, you're right. Tony's already left, so I don't need to worry about him putting things off…okay, well, then, we'll leave same time as planned. I'll tell Happy, and we'll…make it through as usual."

Wesley smiled at her and waved Pepper off. That's what they did, the three of them. They waited out the chaos that was Tony Stark, and then they fixed everything up when he was done. And even though he hadn't caused this particular nightmare, they would still wait it out. They always did.

"Who all has been recruited for this initiative?" Wesley asked, lip only slightly wrinkled as he buttoned up his shirt.

Tony sighed, sending static through the speaker. "Well, there's me, the dear captain like I mentioned—and I really don't get the preoccupation with this guy, he's got the American dream shoved so far up his ass he can barely relax, what kind of hero is that—our Ms. 'Rushman', but I think she's just there to make us play nice, Dr. Bruce Banner, and then some guy who is apparently Thor."

"That's a little pretentious. But I suppose if you're working with Captain America, it's alright to name yourself after the god," Wesley said, belting up his pants.

"No, he's it. He is the Thor."

Wesley actually stopped belting up his pants to shoot his phone a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, I know. Not entirely certain what he is, I guess he's an alien or something. Kinda sends the whole world view into a tailspin, you know? Is there a 'God', is there not a 'God', if there is, is He this god…either way, this guy's tougher than sin and can shoot lightning with his hammer. Found that out the fun way, though it only charged up the suit—"

"He shot you with lightning?"

"Only a little bit. But apparently it's his brother Loki causing all of this drama, being the god of mischief and all. We've got him under lock and key now, but it just feels too...easy. This guy is a whack job to rule all whack jobs, and he wants to. Someone that powerful...I dunno, I can't wrap my head around him. Just the fact that he exists is throwing me off. I mean, I can handle secret government sects, advanced weaponry, hell, even aliens! But this Norse god guy leading a swarm of aliens to take over Earth…that's pushing me a little too far."

Wesley stood still for a moment, hands hovering midway through tying a full Windsor. Gods were leading aliens to take over the planet? It was a ridiculous idea, utterly and completely ridiculous, a conspiracy theorist's dream. But...Wesley heard the exhaustion in Tony's voice, meaning his genius brain had tested the facts in every way he could think of. And still they remained true.

Part of it was terrifying because it grossly redefined Wesley's understanding the world. But part of it was terrifying because Tony was in the middle of it. They had already captured Loki, so Wesley imagined there had been some sort of brawl between them (Wesley fully planned on scanning the internet for video of the showdown Tony had mentioned in Germany. He told himself it was to cover all his bases. He had a feeling it was because he was a masochist.). Clearly this consulting job was far more interactive than Wesley had been led to believe.

He drew in a breath and kept the shake out of his voice when he asked, "I don't recognize one of people you mentioned. Dr. Banner…he's familiar, was he a colleague of yours?"

"Oh, yeah. He's the Hulk."

"Of course he is. I'm assuming that he's a little less than incredible?"

"Yeah, been trying to figure that out. Mostly he's about as threatening as a substitute math teacher, but he's damn smart. Can't wait until we get this whole thing sorted and I get him over to Stark Tower, he'd love it."

Wesley sighed and mentally added upping the insurance on everything (a lot) to his to-do list.

"Anyway, just wanted to check in. We're doing top secret science-y stuff, so I'll spare you the exact details."

"I appreciate it," Wesley smiled, holding his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he put on his shoes.

After Wesley had been officially brought into Tony's inner sanctum, Tony had chattered on endlessly about virtually everything 'science-y' that he found interesting. It had taken an hour long excited ramble about the possible mechanics of space colonization for Wesley to finally put his foot down and ask Tony to please, please spare him the details. Tony had looked surprised, but the passionate tirades about science had stopped.

"Everything okay on your end?"

"Yes, I've made the arrangements for the clean energy project, and I have…adjusted some factors now that you're off consulting."

Tony snorted, and Wesley could just imagine him shaking his head. "Wesley, I love how you phrase things. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Wesley smiled, stowing the compliment away for later. Tony heaved another sigh, the bone weariness bleeding through yet again.

"I'll let you know if anything else comes up. Kiss Pepper for me."

"That's outside of my job description."

"Sure, sure. Keep yourself safe, Wes."

"You as well, Mr. Stark," Wesley said, breath catching yet again at the thought of the nightmare they were teetering toward.

"Will do. Talk at you later," Tony said, then hung up.

"God help us all," Wesley whispered. He stowed his phone in his pocket, slipped on his suit jacket, picked up his bag, then left the hotel.

The alien army had come. Death and destruction fell from the sky. Tony was in the middle of it. Wesley watched in horror from a plane as the news footage played out, showing every hideous detail.

He had seen alien movies, had heard the twisted conspiracy theories, had considered contingencies for worst case scenarios. Nothing helped prepare him for what he was seeing now.

It was worse than Tony being kidnapped by terrorists. It was worse than 9/11. It was worse than Katrina. Humanity was suddenly put on a scale so hilariously beyond their understanding, and all he could do was watch. All anyone could do was watch. Except for six small people, fighting and fighting to keep the world safe.

Buildings were destroyed. Bridges collapsed. Manhattan was bit by bit being ground into the dust.

"Wesley," Pepper whispered, the words barely making it past her fingers. She couldn't drag her eyes from the screen. "Wesley, what's happening?"

Everyone in the cabin turned to him. Pepper, her executive assistant, the two other lawyers on the plane, everyone. He swallowed, struggling between the things he did and didn't know. He was supposed to make things better. Telling her of gods and the abrupt, infinitesimal nature of humanity would do nothing to help. Saying he had no idea if they would be able to win would do nothing to help. So he put a hand on Pepper's arm, looked her in the eye, and lied.

"I don't know what's going on. But it's going to be okay. And Tony's going to be okay, too."

She held his hand with both of hers. He didn't comment on how much they shook.

"Tony," Wesley sighed, almost weak from relief.

He had been calling every fifteen minutes for at least the last hour, needing to know that Tony was alright. He'd seen the unsettling newsreel of what looked like the Iron Man suit falling from the sky, and he hadn't been able to breathe freely until he heard Tony's voice.

Pepper's eyes widened and she stepped toward him impulsively, hands half raised to take the phone from him. Wesley raised a hand to gesture that Tony was safe and that he would pass the phone over in a moment.

"Wesley, good to hear you. You and Pepper okay?"

"Yes, we're fine, we're in the hotel in DC. We saw your missed call from the middle of the battle and then some news footage showed you falling—"

"I'm okay now."

When was he ever okay?

"Me and the team are rewarding ourselves with shwarma now after the big win. We're headed over right now."

"I expect a full review when you get back," Wesley said, already marshaling himself. Now that he knew Tony was safe he could focus on clean up. New York was in ruins, and it would take millions to get it back on its feet again.

"No prob. Just wanted to check in, though, let you guys know I've got all my fingers and toes and vital organs."

Wesley smiled and leaned against a table. "That's certainly a miracle."

"You have no idea," Tony sighed. "Here, pass the phone to Pepper, I wanna hear her voice."

"Of course," he said.

Wesley handed Pepper his cellphone, and the two of them couldn't help but share a smile of relief.