Hey there guys! Thanks for the reviews!
Also, someone asked in the comments how often I usually update. My updates vary. For this story it has usually been updated within a month of the latest chapter, but sometimes I'll update within a week if I'm excited about the new chapter.
I don't own Marvel. All I own are my OC's.
Friday, Day Six
No luck yesterday. I flew out yesterday night to make sure everything was functioning correctly in my suit, make sure JEEVES had his shit together, and fine Manny. The first two were great, the latter not so much. My face trace system is working perfectly, but the face I was looking for never appeared.
And I looked everywhere for this asshole. I flew through Harlem and I flew through Manhattan. I passed every bar Manny hangs out in, and I passed every corner he walks to get to them. Nada, nothing, no dice. Now, it's not like I can go into these bars and check because then people will think Tony Stark has a new look and it'll be all over the news that he was in the ghetto hitting up bars.
I'm not worried about being seen though. My suit blends in with the night and even the repulsers I use to fly glow a purple black and not white like Tony's. It's a nice suit and I would show it off to Tony, not to make him proud or anything… but to just show that it's better than his? Yea, that's got to be it.
So, as I sit in Natasha's kitchen, a cup of coffee in hand and my head on the counter, all I can think about is what I'm going to do when I find Manny. Kill him? I'd like to, but would I actually be able to? That's the real question, and I'm beginning to think coming to two master assassins for murder advice wasn't the best idea.
"I'd kill him," Natasha says as she pours herself a cup of coffee, adding milk, sugar, and what I strongly suspect is vodka.
"You would," I mutter from my spot on the stool. It was a long night and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna start having to main stream caffeine to keep up.
"I'd kill him too," Clint says as he digs through her fridge. "Preferably slowly and painfully." He pauses thoughtfully, "That's what I'd do to my dad."
"He's not my dad," I grumble, barely loud enough for them to hear. They share a look with each other that I pointedly ignore. "Speaking of dads Tony wants to go play paintball today." I try to change the subject as smoothly as possible.
Thankfully, it works, "We know. He asked us to come." Clint finally pulls out a carton of juice, smells it, and then practically shoves it back in, gagging.
I groan, "That's not fair! I want to be on your team. "
"Be with your dad and bond," Natasha stresses the word dad as she takes a seat next to me, spreading a Newspaper that isn't in English in front of her.
"And get your ass kicked," Clint says with a superior smirk on his face.
"There you are!" The door bursts open to one Thor, Tony, and Bruce all dressed in camouflage. "You ready to go? I've been looking everywhere for you." I don't respond, but all I can do is stare at them in wonder. These guys save the world on a regular basis? I think to myself incredulously.
Tony pours himself a cup of coffee as I finally find the correct words to speak, "What the hell are you wearing? Did you just finish moon shining in the mountains?"
Tony glances down at himself and lets out an over dramatic sigh, "I don't want to ruin my good clothes getting splattered with paint. Thor wanted to wear it for whatever reason. I don't know why Bruce is wearing it, to be honest, he isn't even gonna play."
"Thor, bro, why?" I ask as he practically falls onto the couch in the living room. Jane foster walks in after him, wearing jeans and a pale blue t-shirt.
"Ah, is it not Midgardian tradition to wear these garments when battling?" A look of confusion crosses over his face as he glances down at his shirt.
"It's just paintball," Natasha says as Steve wanders in, looking confused.
"Why are you wearing that?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.
Tony smacks his forehead, "That's who I forgot to invite!"
I groan, rubbing at my temples. It's going to be a long long day. I blindly reach over and grab Natasha's coffee, taking a gulp of it before she snatches it away from me, glaring venomously. It's a look that would make full grown men pee their pants, but I've seen it directed at Clint and I so many times it's lost its effect.
"Jane, you're sane. Are you playing?" I ask, leaning my head against my hand.
"Yea, I used to play all the time with my dad when I was younger." She replies as she ties her hair into a ponytail.
"Lady Jane has informed me that she shall not need my protection in this game of balls." Thor states.
"Paint ball. Paint ball. You don't want to give people the wrong idea." Tony admonishes the same clear liquid Natasha poured into her own drink into his.
I snort, "No homo, huh?"
"I'm very comfortable with my sexuality. I had you didn't I?"
"Ew, please don't. I'm uncomfortable." I slide off my stool stretching so he joints in my back pop.
Steve clears his throat, a red tinge to his cheeks. "You all ready to go, then?"
Tony rolls his eyes, "Steve Rogers the 95 year old virgin who blushes at the thought of – never mind. Yea, let's just go." He downs the rest of his coffee and drops the mug in the sink and begins walking toward the door. Everyone follows him and as we walk down the hall I absently check my phone.
Tony glances at the object, "Your mom call?"
"No, their keeping her another day. Something about her eye, I guess." A blood vessel burst when she was hit. The redness usually goes away in a couple days, but it hasn't yet. They want to do a couple of checks to make sure it won't cause permanent damage to the cornea. I offered to come, but she insisted I stay with Tony.
I guess I'll have to wait awhile longer until she's released, and then I can show her the new apartment. I hope she's just stalling so that she doesn't have to leave yet and "leech of Tony" as she puts it.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Tony pats my shoulder reassuringly, no awkwardness in the action any longer. Is this how it is? I wonder to myself. Is parenthood being able to touch your kid without feeling weird, like you don't know what to do? I've known Tony for seven days. He's my father. He's rich. He's Iron Man. He's everything I've never had, but I feel like I know nothing about him.
"What are you?" I ask as we walk to his car in the garage. Clint and Natasha go to hers, Bruce drives with Steve, and Thor and Jane walk to Jane's giant star-finding fan.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy-."
"No, like ethnicity. 'Cause I always thought I was only Mexican, but if you're my dad then I must be mixed, right."
"Right. I'm Irish, Hungarian, Scottish, Swiss-German, German, and I think my great grandfather was Jewish," He taps his chin thoughtfully as he enters the car.
"Don't tell my mom. She's straight up Catholic." I reply, I rub my temples, "That means I'm Mexican, Irish, Hungarian, Scottish, Swiss-German, German – which, by the way, are the same things – and Jewish. That's too much. One person can't be all that, they'd explode."
"First of all, yes, they are different. And second of all, that's not how anatomy works and if it did I'd be cleaning you off my ceiling." He points out as he pulls out of his parking space.
"Know it all," I huff.
"Brat," He shoots back.
"Dick."
"Asshole."
"Bitch."
"Jerk," He laughs when he says it and I can't help but laugh too.
Natasha and Clint vs. Thor and Jane vs. Tony and I vs. Steve because apparently his super serum body consists of two people according to Tony.
"We're going to die," I state dryly as I load the bright orange colored balls into the container of my gun.
"Yep. Protect your throat – Natasha thinks it's funny when she hits you there." Tony adjusts his mask.
From a table away I hear Natasha laugh and I turn to her and point, "What kind of sick people are you?" She raises her gun menacingly and I duck.
"You're an embarrassment," Tony shakes his head.
"I change my mind. I want to be with Steve. Steve! Steve-!" Tony cuts me off by pulling my mask down, catching me off guard.
"Steve's a bad shot. Trust me; Team Stark is going to win," He says confidently. "Just try hitting no one in visible areas. We still have this banquet thing and I don't want to have people think we just got back from battle."
"But we are technically coming back from battle," I point out.
"Avenger's Battle," He gives me a look and I shrug. "Your ribs protected?"
"Yea," I tap the padded vest around my abdomen. The bones are healing nice, but I don't want to irritate them again. Bruce says the process usually takes months, but because I live in Stark Tower and get access to all the toys they'll heal faster.
Speaking off Bruce, I wave at him as we enter the field full of old cars, an old rusty boat, and a bunch of tin houses. He salutes back from the sidelines, but it looks like he's wishing me good luck even though he knows I'm gonna die.
"Let's go claim the boat," Tony says, gesturing to the decrepit thing in the center of the field.
"Why not?" I ask, as I jump over the side and into it, gun slug over my shoulder. That's when I nearly jump out of my skin when the mask I'm wearing transforms into one of armor. The screen lights up, much like the inside of my own suit, and I look at Tony whose voice suddenly appears in my head.
I can almost hear the smirk in his voice as I see that he's wearing the same mask as mine. "Gotta bring you're a game when you're playing super heroes."
I smirk back at him, "I guess so. Thanks."
He nods and slides his gun off his shoulders. "It'll be easier to aim with it on. Also, there should be a tracker on their guns so you'll be able to tell where everyone is at anytime."
"Sweet," I say as I see different colored dots spread across the screen, each team moving to their own location. I make sure the communicator is off for a minute before asking, "JEEVES, my man, you awake?"
"Yes, sir." He responds in his usual deep voice.
"Great, please tell me when anything is flying toward me, like paint balls, bullets, etc., got it?"
"Yes, Luis."
"You're a lifesaver," I reply, turning the communicator back on before Tony notices it's off. Don't want him to hear me talking to JEEVES now. "Do we have a strategy?"
"Don't get shot?" He offers lamely.
"How are you an Avenger?"I shake my head, but as soon as a whistle rings through the court I jump and immediately duck behind the side of the boat with Tony.
"No plan is a bad plan."
"Then make one up."
"I'm gonna have to do all the work aren't I?" I ask as a paintball hits the side of the boat causing me to jump again.
"This sucks," I state as I look around. The masks target jumps around as my head turns, looking for a target to lock onto. When it finds one all I can focus on is the big shield with a star in the middle.
"That's cheating," I yell at Steve as I stand. I raise my gun and aim, firing two shots at him, both shots he easily blocks. I must say, though, the mask does help to improve accuracy. At the sight of my mask he raises an eyebrow and ducks into a house.
A loud beeping sounds in my left ear and immediately I lunge to the right, barely missing the paintball aimed for me. I'm assuming beeping means move. "Let's separate!" I call, running off into the direction of one of the tin houses and ducking inside, three thuds echoing on the side.
I look at the dots on my tracker and see that Clint and Nat are on the other side of the field, Tony's in the middle, Steve's running in a circle around the field, and Thor and Jane are the closest to me. I take a deep breath. It's not like he has a hammer or anything. Just a big gun that he'll probably break.
I move quickly and quietly as Tony's voice sounds through my mask, "What are you doing, kid?"
"Going for the big guy, and I'm not talking about Bruce."
"Ha, good luck."
Two houses down I creep before I come beside the one Thor and Jane are in.
"Jane, how do you use one of these guns of paint?"
"That's the trigger, and ah-!" She let's out a screech as I run past the door firing two shots and directly hitting Thor in the chest. Jane ducked behind him at the last minute, saving herself. Thor's light fades off my screen and I grin with satisfaction before a beeping sound in my right ear and I roll to the left. Five shots splatter behind me and I look up to see Jane, gun aimed for my mask.
"Damn it!" I yell getting to my feet and running, dodging one more paint ball before it can hit my back. "JEEVES! SOS!" I call as Jane approaches. I hear a click in my helmet and all of the sudden a small paint ball flies out and seemingly floats out quickly and a splatter is soon followed, signifying impact. Her dot fades off the screen.
"What was that?" I ask, leaning against the hut.
"Heat-seeking paint ball. Mr. Stark installed only two into the helmet." JEEVES replies cooly.
"Awesome," I remark, getting into a crouch. As soon as I make my way out of the house a dot fades off of the screen. "Tony, that better not have been you." I warn, freezing.
"…Funny story, so apparently Cap is better with a gun then previously suspected."
"I hate you a little bit."
"Yea, well have fun with the big dogs." He says finally before the line goes dead. I suck in a deep breath. Damn, it's really going to hurt when I get shot. I hear a twig snap outside the house I was about to leave and I scurry back inside as I hear Natasha and Clint's talk in low tones.
"-Seen him run in here." Clint says, and as soon as the words leave his mouth I forget about grace and stealth and jump out of the small window, running across the field. Beeping sounds on both sides and from behind and I hit the ground to avoid being shot. Another beep from behind me causing me to jump to my feet and begin running again. I jump behind an old car and breathe deep before I see that I'm right by Steve.
He's crouching by the boat, reloading his gun. I raise my own gun and aim; about to pull the trigger before two paint balls hit him right in the mask. Paint splashes over the eye holes, blinding him temporarily, and I barely register getting to my feet and jumping over his body. I grab the shield from the ground where he dropped it and use it to block two shots.
I run to several stacks of tires and crouch behind them, hiding. Only three dots are left on the screen. Clint, Natasha, and Myself. I begin to go over strategies in my head before both of their dots freeze on the screen. I glance around and see that they must be in a house pretty close to me.
This is it, I might actually beat them. I mean, I know it's only paintball, but still, they are spies/ assassins. I creep over to the house as silently and hopefully stealthily as possible. I aim my gun in a cranny in the wall and peek through the window. Empty. The house is empty except for to open guns on the floor.
"Son of a – ow!" I get cut off as two hands slam into my shoulders. Paint splatters under both assassins palms and I cringe, falling to the ground and groaning. They both have superior smirks on their faces.
"Evil," I croak, pointing at both of them, "Pure evil!"
"Bet you and Tony thought you were real smart with those trackers, huh?" Natasha asks as I flinch, popping my mask off.
"Yea, actually." I take the hand Clint offers and pull myself up, patting my pants to remove the dirt.
"You did pretty well," He comments as we walk off of the field.
"Thanks," I say as we approach the rest of the team, each member looking uncomfortable as they try to get paint off their clothes. Bruce looks happy as he laughs at Tony who tries to get it out of his hair. How did he get it there in the first place?
"The final three," Bruce greets, "Who won?"
"They did," I jerk my chin in their direction to see them both sitting at the table across from us. Clint leans back, slinging an arm behind Natasha's shoulders. I glance at Tony and we both share a knowing look.
"You did well. Can't believe you outlived me." Tony says as I laugh at the way his hair is now almost completely orange from paint and sticking straight up.
"How do you function without Pepper?" I ask, leaning on my head on my hand.
"Easy, he doesn't," Bruce replies, running a hand through his hair as he laughs at Tony's misfortune.
"This better come out in time for the banquet," He grumbles.
"Ah, son of Stark! You were very clever back there! You must be very skilled in battle!" Thor claps a heavy hand on my shoulder causing me to swear loudly.
"Why me?" I groan, slouching forward and trying to ignore the throbbing in my shoulders. I'm trying even harder to ignore the odd sense of family.
When we got back Pepper nearly fainted at the sight of us. Rumbled, dirty, and in some cases still covered in paint. She ushered each of us off to our respective bathrooms to clean up and get ready for the ball that's in two hours. I look into my mirror of my bathroom, brushing the condensation off with my hand.
I stare at myself for awhile. Before all I seen was a skinny Mexican kid from the ghetto. Now? I see someone who can do important stuff. I'm not an idiot as my grades would lead one to believe. I can hack into a billionaires system and make my own Iron Man suit; I'm not the fuck-up Manny once had me believe I was. So, if I have this new self-confidence why do I feel so guilty?
Tony is letting me live in his house. He's being good to me. He's trying his best to be the dad I've never had. He's paying my mom's hospital bills and getting her a nicer, newer place to live. He's given me a sense of family I haven't felt in awhile. I repay him back with stealing secrets and sneaking around behind his back.
I'm acting ungrateful. I'm acting like he thought I would in the very beginning; like I'm only out to get his money. I turn my face away from my reflection in disgust and exit my bathroom to my room. I'm a bad person, aren't I? Not only did I hack his system and make my own Iron Man suit without his knowing, but I also dragged Clint and Natasha into it by asking them for help.
I carefully look at the tuxedo Pepper laid out for me and run a finger over the material. It's navy blue with a black trim and bowtie. I dress quickly and rush to dry my hair and gel it just like how Pepper showed me to. I almost rush out of my door before walking back in and putting on my shoes and, with some hesitation, the cuffs for my suit. Just in case.
I walk across the hall and knock once to have Pepper answer the door. She wears a light lavender gown that accentuates her 11 week old belly. Strawberry blonde hair falls in waves down her shoulders and she carefully clips the finally pearl into her ear as she speaks, "I knew that suit would look good on you."
I smile at her, "Thanks. You look great." I compliment as I she allows me to enter the room.
Tony stands by the window, putting on his cufflinks, "Back off, she's too old for you." He jokes as he focuses on sliding one end through the hole while keeping the sleeve in place. I roll my eyes as Pepper sighs and walks over to help him, easily putting them on for him.
"I love you!" He calls to her as she returns to the bathroom to get ready. I stand awkwardly in the doorway, looking at my own sleeves and plucking invisible fuzz of them.
"What do you need, Boy Wonder?" Tony asks as he sits on the bed.
"Please, please, please never call me that again." I say as I sit down carefully next to him. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Oh God, you do like Pepper, well-."
I cut him off before he can ramble, "It's actually kind of serious."
He sobers, "Okay."
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, prolonging it so that I can prolong my words. "I hacked into Jarvis and made my own suit." I say it simply, like I'm telling him who won the football game.
He's silent a moment, and I look over to him to find a serious expression on his face, "How?" His voice carries a hint of anger, but betrays no other emotions.
I swallow, "I just figured out some codes to get in. I made a virus that acted as my own JARVIS and had it override his systems. Then I got the Iron Man blueprints and made my own suit that could help me track down Manny. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it thought you wouldn't let me and I thought it was a good idea, but now I realize it was just stupid.
And I want you to know that I didn't come here just to make my own suit. It's just I know my mom won't press charges against him and I don't want to live with him anymore and I don't want her to love with him. He took my sister and-."
"Luis."
"-I understand if you want me to leave. I really do because it was a shitty thing to do, and you've treated me so well you don't deserve it." I say it quickly, like its all one sentence. I purposefully leave out the part about Clint and Natasha helping me. I don't want to get them into trouble.
"Luis," Tony says again, but this time he's not looking at me. I feel bile rise in my throat and I look down. If he turns around and looks at me with disappointment I might lose it. I'm not really sure why.
"I'm pissed that you didn't tell me, I'm not going to lie. That was sneaky and deceiving and I don't want you lying to me about these kinds of things. That's a sign of immaturity that you can't have if you want to use the suit, got it?"
"Yes, sir," This is weird.
He lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair, "But I'm also kind of impressed that you pulled something like this off without me knowing. You designed your own program that overpowers JARVIS and made your own suit." He turns to me, the corner of his lip quirked up.
"His name is JEEVES," I reply hopefully, but I don't know what I'm hopeful about. "Watch, JEEVES make yourself known."
"Is there anything I can help you with, Luis?" His voice rings out through the room and Tony is fighting off a grin, I can tell.
"Sir, there is another system present. Shall I delete it?" JARVIS sounds irritated that he has to share.
"No, leave it." Tony turns to me, "Show me the suit." He's smirking, but it's a proud sort of smirk, like he's proud of me.
"Really? You're not angry?" I ask skeptically.
"I am, but if you lied to me and went behind my back to make this thing. I at least want to see if it was worth it."
We enter his workshop in a hurry, only having half an hour left before Pepper is ushering us into the car.
"JEEVES, bring it up." Out of the floor rises my suit. The one I designed.
"Machine gun on the shoulder?"
"Yea and all guns come with silencers."
"Suit is built for speed, huh? Did you hand craft the mask?"
I nod eagerly, "Yea, took me like an hour. Plus, all repulsers are black lights, making it hard to see them at night. Suit's also equipped with face trace tech and a tracker."
He studies it, running a hand down the metal before turning to me, a genuine smile on his face. "This is good work, Luis. I'm proud of you."
I laugh, "Really?"
"Really. Don't let this go to your head, though. I'm gonna ground you or something later." He points out as he places a light hand on the back of my neck and begins to guide me to the elevator once more. He has to reach up a bit since I'm an inch or two taller.
"Now let's go before Pepper kicks our asses. We can talk extra modifications on the way, what do you think about electro-magnet…" He talks, and I eagerly listen. For the first time in my life I've found someone to look up to.
Before I found it hard to believe because it didn't sound true. Didn't look true. Didn't feel true. This is the first time I've actually believed the words: He's your father. For the first time these words feel right.
I don't know how I feel about that.
Bam, what a quick update, huh? Had to add a bit of a filler bonding chapter before the action packed next chapter is released. As you can tell Luis is confused about what he's feeling. He's never had a man in his life care about him before; he's never had a father figure. His mothers never home and he takes care of his sisters. So now, he has a bunch of people watching over him and caring about him and he doesn't really know what to do.
Anyway, I just did the outline for the Epilogue Part 1 (Yes, there will be two parts.) And it's fucking awesome. I'm so excited to write it because there will be some 20 year old shirtless Luis and 20 year old Luis is pretty cut let me tell you.
Finally, I'm thinking about doing an Ask Luis at the end of next chapter. It'll basically be ask questions in the reviews and I'll make Luis Answer them. They can be "what's your favorite color?" to "How did you feel when (Insert event here) happened?" Completely random or deep questions and if it gets popular I'll keep doing it.
So, review review review! Ask Questions and Review!