Yay, the next chapter is finally out! Oh my goodness, I tried to upload this sucker last night but FanFiction kept giving me error messages and I was all "Nooooooooooljkhfiyrkm...!" But it's up now and that's what matters! XD Big thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter: shine lots, kittygirl998939, Agent Ruby Red, ramen-is-my-goddess, I'm a Nerd and Proud, Silver wolf, Veuve Noir, brightsidetolife, and Black-Luna! Hopefully you like this next chapter!

Chapter 10

The next two days passed in odd fits and starts. None of them knew what to do with themselves and so everyone just ended up just trying to keep themselves busy, wandering around the mansion like ghosts. Steve and Tony, and the rest of the pack too really, were all keeping a close eye on Peter. Peter had spent most of the first day he was home sleeping after he had ate an enormous stack of pancakes Bruce made. After Peter had shuffled back into his own room and crawled into bed, Tony swore that he ended up checking on him every twenty minutes. He wasn't as afraid that Peter was ill or sick but it was the endless fear that he'd look in on Peter curled up in his bed and find his son missing. He never was though, just laying underneath the sheets with his limbs all splayed about.

Two days later and Tony was still doing it, checking in on Peter after he had fallen asleep. He had been trying not to be too obvious about it but after his fifth check of the night he returned back to his own room to find Steve propped up in bed with an expression of weary exasperation. "Tony…Come to bed. Peter will be fine. I checked the perimeter before nightfall, made sure all the security feeds were online, and Clint said he would stay up for a bit so someone is watching the house."

Tony growled and rolled his eyes. Steve had been just as paranoid as him during the first day but had spent the great majority of his time putting measures in place that would deter future home invaders. After Steve had tested them all he had relaxed a bit, putting his trust in the security systems that they would at the very least alert them of any danger before it made it to the house. Tony had been less easy to convince. He had thought he had a near perfect security system before Hammer's men came, then look what happened. "I'm not tired."

"You will be once you take your medication."

Yeah, because if there was one thing that motivated Tony to do something it was nagging. There was nothing like being nagged to take your medication that made Tony feel like they were an old married couple, neither of which were accurate descriptors of their relationship. "You don't know everything."

Steve pursed his lips. "And you do, is that right?"

"For the most part, yeah."

Letting out a fond sigh, Steve rolled his eyes. "Come to bed, Tony. You need sleep."

"Make me."

Steve arched a brow and gave him a look that told him his challenge had been accepted. But at the same time, "Since I'm not about to tackle you to the mattress in your condition, how about you just come over here and I give you a reason to stay?"

Tony pressed his lips together in mock contemplation. "You make an interesting argument." Going to bed suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Strolling forward, he sat down on the edge of the bed and raised his brows at his mate. "Well?"

Steve scoffed before he reached over and grabbed both of Tony's arms in order to gently manhandle him until he had Tony perched on top of his lap. Tony didn't mind the position but the way he was treating him had his hackles rising. He wasn't an omega and he wasn't about to be treated than anything less than the alpha he was. Growling, he leaned forward to bite at Steve's neck. "I'm not made of glass, you know."

"I know. You just suffered a major heart attack is all."

Pulling back, Tony smirked at the Wolf. "Smartass."

Steve grinned tiredly back in return then leaned forward to catch Tony's lips in a slow, lazy kiss. Tony growled again and pressed forward, quickly losing patience and licking his way into his mate's mouth, his hands moving up to grip at Steve's broad shoulders as Steve parted his lips. He heard Steve release a happy rumble and an answering hum rolled up in his own chest. Steve's muscles flexed beneath Tony's grip and Steve smoothed his own hands up Tony's legs then curved them up his thighs to grip his hips. Even after all the time they'd spent mated, Steve's touch was still enough to send little sparks dancing across Tony's skin and thank fucking god for that. Long term commitment used to scare the shit out of him—and it still did from time to time—but Steve was more of a mate than he deserved in every way he could have hoped for.

Tony came sharply back to himself as he felt Steve roll his hips forward beneath him and smiled into their kiss. Damn that felt good. It had been over two weeks since they had had sex and right now that seemed like a sin. He wasn't even going to fight Steve on who got to top this time, he just wanted it. That, and he didn't think he'd be able to give his best performance tonight—he was still recovering, no matter what he admitted to Steve—so this worked just fine for him.

"Master Stark, Master Rogers?"

Groaning, Tony leaned his head forward to bite and lick at the side of Steve's neck. "Don't be a cock block, J. Daddy's about to get some."

Steve looked up at the ceiling and when he stopped moving his hips Tony was sorely tempted to bite down hard enough to draw blood. "What is it, JARVIS?"

"You're a tease, Rogers."

Steve smirked then leaned forward just long enough to place a kiss against the corner of Tony's mouth before JARVIS was speaking again and his attention was pulled away again. "I thought you may want to be aware that Loki Laufeyson has returned."

Tony grunted. "Huh. He's alive." He hadn't really been sure how Loki had made it out when he had rescued Peter and hadn't really thought to ask. As far as he knew though, no one else really did either. Maybe it was because Thor didn't seem particularly concerned and that was enough for all of them not to worry either. Speaking of which, "Does Thor know?"

"Yes, Sir. Mr. Odinson is aware."

Alright, that saved him some trouble. "Fine. Let's go."

Steve gaped at him as Tony swung his leg over Steve's legs and rolled off of him. "What? Really?"

That would teach Steve to cock block. Two could play at that game. Though this really wasn't about revenge. He liked sex too much to use it as collateral without a better reason. "Yeah. I have something to do."

Sliding to the edge of the bed to follow after him, Steve scoffed as he slipped a shirt back on. "So did I, I thought."

Tony had already been walking towards the door but froze in his steps at that and looked back at Steve with a wide, incredulous grin. "Did you just make a sex joke?"

"I wasn't joking."

Tony's grin morphed into a smug smirk as Steve rose to his feet. "You're the one who engaged JARVIS. I was ready to let you fuck me and you wanted to chat with the butler."

Steve grunted out some sort of affirmation and they both shuffled around the room to find some pants and a shirt for Tony before they tromped down the stairs. It wasn't hard to find Loki and Thor; the whole house was dark save for a soft light in the study. The brothers slash lovers were standing close together by an open window leaving Tony to suspect that the Raven had flown in. Adopting a saunter as he drew closer, Tony announced their arrival with a low drawl. "Well, look what the Cat dragged in."

Thor wrapped a protective arm around Loki's shoulders at the sound of Tony's voice and they both turned to face them as they walked into the room. "He arrived just moments ago."

"We heard."

Tony watched them both then walked up to Loki with Steve trailing curiously after him. "I'm only going to say this once, probably in my entire lifetime, so you better be paying attention." Loki and Thor both straightened up and a low, rumbling growl rolled up in Thor's chest in warning. Tony didn't pay it any attention though and addressed the Raven directly with his next words. What he was about to say was going to hurt but it was necessary for his pride to stay intact. "Thank you, Loki. You got to Peter before we could, so, thank you for getting him out."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, a pleased smile on his face before offering his own thanks. "Peter told us a bit about what happened. How did you get out of there?"

Loki flippantly brushed off their gratitude and Tony was almost glad to see it. The whole 'being sentimental' thing made him uncomfortable, especially when directly to a Shifter he still considered to be slightly insane. "Please. Do you really think a handful of humans could stop me?"

Tony smirked then shrugged. "I don't know. If they had guns, maybe."

The Raven's eyes narrowed at his response. "You would be mistaken then. I killed them and a good deal of the others before I left."

"You managed to do that all by yourself?" Steve looked impressed and Tony couldn't blame him. If what Peter had said about the facility he was being kept in was even half true then it was a bit of a feat. He was fairly certain that he, Steve, or Thor could have done it but…no, wait, Loki was probably just crazy enough to make it work.

"Yes. It is amazing what one can accomplish when one puts their mind to it. An intense distaste for one's enemy never hurts either. I showed them little mercy and it was for the best that Peter did not bear witness to it."

Thor gazed down at his brother, absentmindedly brushing back a strand of his black hair behind his ear. "Why did you not come home afterwards? You must have known I would be concerned after Peter retold his story."

"And you also should have known that I was perfectly healthy." The warm look faded from Loki's eyes as he turned away from Thor. "I attempted to track the rest of the men who I had seen coming and going from the facility while Peter was held captive but they covered their tracks well. With a few more days of searching I undoubtedly could have found them but I assumed you may have a swifter method."

Tony and Steve looked at each other before Tony let out a sigh. "Yeah, we're working on that."

O~O~O

Tony was up out of the bed again by two in the morning. He slipped from Steve's grasp and only managed to do so without waking the Wolf because of his own natural agility as a Cat. He didn't always take advantage of it but this was one of those moments where it really came in handy. Mind buzzing from all the listless hours he had spent over the last two days, he went straight down to the workshop. There was a spark of an idea that had been floating in his mind for a few days now that he wanted to get to work on.

To his surprise and gratification no one came looking for him. At all. Not even Peter. He only realized this after looking up after an uninterrupted inventing session and noticing that six hours had passed. Typically he would have celebrated his good luck by remaining exactly where he was but he recognized the fact that not only would Steve probably want him to eat something given his tenuous health but hat Peter would probably want to see him. So Tony found a good stopping point, cleaned himself off a bit, and headed upstairs.

It didn't come as a surprise to Tony that he had been exactly right. As soon as he spotted him, Peter practically latched onto Tony's side and followed him around for a few hours while Steve silently pressed a sandwich into his hands. They spent the late morning and early afternoon together just as a small nuclear family with the other pack members drifting in and out of their activities, the rest of them—even Bruce—still too on edge to stay for long. For Tony, it was a bittersweet reminder of what had almost been stolen away from him. That if Peter had been taken away it would have destroyed Steve, and honestly he didn't know if he would have been able to handle it either. And that it had almost happened because of a bad business deal Tony had made.

Eventually the rest of the pack's nerves began to rub off on Tony, dredging up his own natural restlessness all over again. Despite the fact that he knew Peter probably wanted him to stay longer and that Steve wouldn't be happy, there were too many things on his own mind for Tony to stay settled. He had spent about six hours with them though, that wasn't bad for him, considering his track record. With a quick kiss to the top of Peter's head, Tony ruffled his hair then rose to his feet, excusing himself with a half-hearted explanation. He was only able to take five steps from the room before he heard Steve murmur something to Peter then follow Tony out.

Tony let Steve catch him, knowing that he owed him that much. When Steve saw that he was waiting some of the annoyance faded from his eyes and he just looked sort of resigned instead. "Where are you going?"

Tony opened his mouth and he really wished he could tell Steve the truth. But he knew if he did the Wolf would never let him out the front door. "I'm just going out for a drive around the hills to blow off some steam." That actually sounded plausible, like something he would do. Probably because he'd done it before. He kept his cars serviced and gassed up for a reason.

Steve still seemed unsure, his eyes flitting across Tony's face undoubtedly looking for a tell. But Tony was a much better liar than his mate. He'd had a lot of practice in his life. Steve saw through him better than most and Tony was sure that he knew something was up but just couldn't quite pin it down. "I don't know…"

Tony waved his hands up and gestured around at the walls. "I'm not going to stay cooped up in here just waiting for something to happen."

"But with your heart condition—"

It was a given that Steve was going to bring that up. Tony hadn't really operated any heavy machinery since his surgery but he knew that he was good to drive. "Relax. I haven't shown any sign of any sort of relapse and, yes, before you ask, I took my medication today. But if all that fails and I feel something coming on I will pull over and call you. Alright? Satisfied?"

Steve sighed but knew which battles were worth fighting and which were best to walk away from. Especially when it came to Tony. "Fine. How long will you be out for?"

Tony shrugged. He honestly didn't know that one. "Depends how much gas is in my tank."

"At least make sure you're back for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I mean it. Peter will want you there."

Tony snorted and rolled his eyes. He would have glared but he couldn't quite muster it when he knew how right Steve was. "Don't pull that card on me. You already know I'll be back."

"Alright."

Thankfully, Steve took him at his word on that one. And he should. When it came to Peter, Tony really did try to say what he meant.

After quickly gathering up his wallet, keys, and a jacket, Tony hustled his way outside before anyone else spotted and questioned him. He knew Bruce in particular wouldn't be thrilled by him going out driving alone but, then again, he might just come to terms, like Steve did, with the fact that it was necessary for Tony not to completely lose his shit. He made short work of getting to the garage and made his way straight over to a silver coupe convertible. It was admittedly one of his less flashy cars and that wouldn't be such a bad thing considering what he had in mind to do.

Slipping his sunglasses on, Tony jumped over the door and slipped into the coupe's driver's seat. It had been a while since he'd been able to drive it and just feeling the dark leather and the steering wheel in his hands was like getting to see an old friend. But he had no intentions of driving her around the country. No, he had a more proactive errand in mind.

O~O

When he pulled into the parking lot of Hammer Industries an hour later Tony was immediately suspicious to find the lot nearly empty, only two other cars parked there. It was the middle of the week and there weren't any major holidays so the place should have been packed full of engineers and managers who had lowered their standards so far as to be willing to work for Hammer. Tony had expected a full audience when he ripped into Hammer. Luckily one of the two cars was Hammer's so the man himself wasn't going to get away so easily.

Parking in a spot that would allow him an easy and fast exit, Tony slammed his car door, made sure it was locked and that he had his phone on him in case he needed to call for help, then sauntered over to the entrance of Hammer's headquarters. There was no easier way to get into somewhere you weren't supposed to than by acting like you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

But it turned out he didn't need to put that much thought into it. He had been staring at the front doors for a good two minutes trying to figure out if it was on an alarm system before he noticed through the thin crack between the double doors that the lock wasn't fastened. And okay, what the hell? Narrowing his eyes behind his sunglasses, Tony reached forward and gave the door a light push and, sure enough, the damn thing swung open about three inches. He still waited a few seconds to double-check that there was no alarm before shoving the door all the way open and peeking his head in.

What he saw only made him more curious.

Stepping in, he closed the doors behind him to leave them as he found them and began to saunter down the long hall that led further into Hammer's facilities. It was cold inside and felt as empty as it had appeared from the outside, almost like a mausoleum that had just been sealed up. The sound of Tony's shoes on the tiled floor reverberated down the hall and the silence seemed to hang in the air like a fog. The feeling was only amplified by the fact that all the lights were off and he couldn't make out that soft, ever-present hum of electronics. The place was dead.

Slipping his sunglasses off, Tony narrowed his eyes and scanned the hall. "Hammer? Hammer, you in here?" He might not have a Wolf's nose but even he caught the scent of human male lingering here in the lobby. Someone had been through recently, probably within the last hour.

Something definitely wasn't right and Tony tried to determine how bad things really were as he walked further into the building. If it was something he could handle himself or if he should give Steve a call. His intuition said he should probably call Steve but his sense of pride and lack of desire to admit to what he was actually up to won out so his phone stayed in his pocket.

Tony had been here before on a factory tour, back when Hammer had just gotten started and Tony thought he might actually amount to something. It had been a few years ago but Tony was blessed with a fairly decent memory. That, and the whole building had obviously been designed by Hammer. Not only was it terribly inefficient and lacked any sort of aesthetic, but Hammer's office was not difficult to find. He had built it so that the staircase up to it was glaringly obvious it went somewhere important and at the other end he had huge glass windows that looked out over his factory floor. Between that, the layout, and the decor inside, it was in every way and by far the douchiest office Tony had ever seen and that was saying something, considering what his own office looked like.

Luckily, while Hammer had oversized windows facing the laboratory floor, there were no windows facing the lobby, probably to leave the "grandeur" of his office as a surprise for any visitors. For all the nonchalance Tony had shown up to this point, he knew better than to rush in to this without being at least a little careful.

He approached the staircase slowly and climbed it one step at a time. He moved slow so that he was able to stretch out his senses as far as they would go. And it was a good thing he did.

There was a shuffling noise in Hammer's office and a shadow passed over the small sliver of light slipping out from underneath the door. Tony narrowed his eyes. It had been impossible to miss; it was the only light he had seen since he'd gotten there. There was someone inside. Striding up the remaining steps, Tony growled and called out towards the office. He was done playing around. "Hey, Hammer! Do you think I would just let you take my son without a fight? Come out here and face me man to man!"

He stopped two feet in front of the door, his hands clenched into fists at his side. For a moment his challenge was met with silence but he heard footsteps walking up to the door and it swung open. Tony had been mentally readying himself to punch Hammer right in his smug face and almost stumbled back in surprise when he was instead face-to-face with a stranger. A large, burly stranger with a ridiculously thick neck, meaty hands, and a deep voice. "Sorry, I'm afraid you have the wrong person."

Yeah, no kidding. Tony did take a step back now, reassessing the situation. "Who are you? Where's Hammer?"

"I'm a colleague."

Scoffing, Tony narrowed his eyes. "You don't look like a technology developer to me."

"That's because I'm not."

Tony laughed and was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when the man reached behind him and pulled out a gun that he must have had tucked into the waistband of his pants. Great. "Oh. One of those colleagues."

The man's eyes narrowed and Tony saw him thumb off the safety. "We were planning on leaving you alone, Mr. Stark, but it seems like Hammer is going to get his way after all."

The thug raised the pistol up but Tony didn't give him the chance to use it as he suddenly rushed forward, straight for the human. The man yelled out in surprise but before he could pull the trigger Tony grabbed the man's arm that was holding the gun and wrenched it to the side. Then, in the same motion, Tony whipped around and slammed his fist into the thug's jaw. Tony wasn't holding back and heard a dull crack as a bone—or several—in the man's face broke under the blow. He screamed in pain then wrenched his arm back and swung back around to aim the gun at Tony's face.

Again, Tony was too fast for him. Grabbing onto his wrist, Tony twisted it back until he heard a crack and another scream. The man's hand went limp and dropped the gun and Tony caught it mid-air, spun it around, aimed it at the man's head, and pulled the trigger. The man's screams stopped and he slumped to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead.

Tony stared at him for a long minute then down at the gun and swore. Using his t-shirt he wiped any fingerprints off of the gun and threw it to the floor next to the dead man's boot.

Well, that wasn't the best way to end the day. But he wouldn't let himself feel guilty about it. He knew that in that man's line of business only one of them was going to walk away from Hammer's office alive. But what had he been doing there in the first place? Tony doubted that even Hammer would send a thug like that in here by himself. He liked his stuff way too much to have a guy like that rooting through it.

Stepping over the body, Tony made his way into Hammer's office to investigate, making a careful search of the room looking for anything out of place. He scented the air as he went and between his nose and his eyes it didn't take him long to notice that a filing cabinet behind Hammer's desk had been left slightly open with the corner of a file sticking out. It was one of those types of cabinets that could be locked and a quick check of all the other drawers in the stack showed that they were in fact locked, so there was a good chance that the open one had been at some point too. The man must have been searching for something but what? Anything really important had to be digital. Tony was surprised that Hammer even had physical files.

"Let's see what you were after…"

Tony grabbed a couple of tissues from a box on Hammer's desk and used them to open up the cabinet so he wouldn't have to worry about wiping his fingerprints off of anything again. The folder that had been sticking out was labeled "Project X". Well, it seemed like Hammer's ability to come up with catchy names hadn't improved. Snorting to himself, Tony flipped it open but paused when all that was left was an indent in the manila folder where a small, rectangular object had been sitting.

Straightening up in sudden realization, Tony wanted to smack himself. Of course there wasn't anything in there, the man had clearly already grabbed it. Setting the file down, Tony walked back over to the dead man and began to rifle through his pockets. "Sorry about disturbing you, but you have something I need…"

It took a moment to find what he was looking for. For a man in such a simple outfit, he definitely had more than his fair share of pockets and of course it was in one of the last ones Tony looked in. But finally his fingers closed around a small, squared-off piece of plastic and he grinned. "There it is." He quickly slipped it out of the dead man's pocket only to for the grand reveal to be terribly anti-climactic.

All this trouble for a flash drive… There must have been something important on it.

Walking back across the room, Tony took a seat at Hammer's desk and plugged the flash drive into his computer. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to type with a tissue over all of his fingers so he just settled on the fact that he was going to have to wipe it down afterwards and got to work. Hammer's private computer was password protected and had an encryption embedded within it to even log on but after a few minutes of fiddling with it, Tony was pretty sure that Hammer had programmed it himself. Because it was predictable and full of holes. Once he was able to access the computer it took him a few more minutes to break into the information; it was also encrypted but used such a similar base as the one securing Hammer's computer that it took even less time for Tony to hack into it. To be fair, anyone else probably would have had a really difficult time. Tony just knew computers and—more than that—he knew how Hammer worked.

Once he was in, Tony quickly skimmed through the data that streamed onto the monitor. And what Tony saw surprised even him. It was file after file of weapons deals and emails between Hammer and with each email was starting to look more and more like not just a group of thugs but some sort of terrorist organization. Each email was pretty revealing but it was the last few that really caught Tony's attention.

/I no longer have the funds to support you and your work. You failed to deliver on any of your promises and as far as I'm concerned you will never see another dime from me. –JH

/You still owe us money and weapons.

/We don't owe you anything. You didn't kill Stark and you couldn't even keep track of one kid. Consider yourself lucky that I'm not demanding the rest of my money back and ratting you out to the feds. –JH

/We are coming to take what is owed to us. Out of your flesh if need be.

That's where they stopped. The last message had arrived in Hammer's inbox two days ago in the early morning hours.

It sounded a lot like Hammer had bit off more than he could chew. But that's what happened when you apparently hire an internationally renowned terrorist group to do your dirty work for you. That explained why the people coming after Tony and then Peter had so many resources. The sniper Steve caught might've been part of the group or he may have been a consultant they hired on. They sounded pretty intelligent for killers.

Tony leaned back in Hammer's ridiculously plush desk chair and took a look around his office. If you ignored the dead guy, it didn't look like anyone had been in there for, say, two days. Tony couldn't smell Hammer's disgustingly distinctive scent lingering anywhere either which meant it had at least been twenty-four to thirty-six hours since he had come around. If Steve or Bruce had been with him they probably would've been able to be a little more specific.

That meant one of two things had happened: either Hammer had taken their threat seriously and gone into hiding or they had caught up with him. Hammer was a coward when it came down to it so Tony would have probably gone with that first one if not for the fact that he had seen Hammer's car outside in the parking lot. Hammer loved his supped-up cars even more than Tony loved his and there was no way that he would have left it unattended in the lot overnight.

If they had gotten Hammer then there was no reason to assume they hadn't also picked up some fairly high-powered weaponry along the way, since that was apparently part of the price on Peter's kidnapping. Tony knew that Hammer always kept a small stock of his products on site to show off to potential customers, and that "small stock" alone would easily be enough to decimate a city if they fell into the wrong hands…

"Interesting…"

After quickly wiping everything down, Tony left everything exactly where it was, stood up, walked out of the room, then straight out of the building. Now that he had what he needed, he had no reason to stick around. The quicker he could get out the better; Tony was pretty sure just being inside the walls of Hammer Industries was slowly making him stupider.

Not so stupid that he didn't realize it was probably time to call someone though. This terrorist group could throw Hammer off a cliff for all Tony cared but it was the principle of the thing. This was one of those times when Tony realized how much Steve had rubbed off on him.

Hustling back into his car, Tony climbed inside then closed and locked the door behind him. When he pulled his phone out it took him a while to decide exactly which someone would be best to call. The first thought that came to mind was Steve of course. But he knew that wasn't exactly right. He would tell Steve soon but he should probably call a certain someone else first.

Tony sighed then dialed and started the car, his phone's audio automatically switching over to the car's speakers.

"Agent Coulson speaking. Who is this?"

There was nothing like blocking your phone number to make calls interesting. Slipping his sunglasses back on, he reversed out of his parking space with a smirk. "Couslon. How are you doing? And, uh, that whole gouging you thing was a misunderstanding. I was aiming for Fury."

"Stark." Coulson let out a soft sigh. "I'm doing much better; I've even been cleared for activity duty by medical. And I accept your apology."

Tony's smirk tightened. "I don't remember giving one." While he was sorry Coulson had to get caught in the crossfire, he wasn't going to apologize for going after Fury. The bastard had it coming as far as Tony was concerned.

"Right." Tony growled at the speaker; he could hear the smile on the man's face."Were you calling simply to catch up or did you have another reason?"

"I thought you should know that I just went to see Hammer."

"That wasn't a good idea."

Uh, yeah. "Probably not. But don't worry, he wasn't home. In fact," Tony glanced at Hammer Industries in his rear-view mirror as he pulled out of the lot, "it might be a good idea for you to send some people over to Hammer Industries because something weird is definitely going on."

"How weird?"

It never failed to impress Tony how well Coulson took unexpected news. "It's deserted, Hammer probably got snatched by terrorists, and there may or may not be a dead body in his office."

"Stark…"

"I claim self-defense, and I actually mean it this time. There also may be a flash drive still in the computer that details Hammer Industries relations with said terrorist group which could put Hammer away for a very long time. If he's still alive."

"I'll send a team out to investigate. Anything else I should know about before they arrive?"

Tony pressed his lips together in thought. "No." Wait. "Oh, yes. The terrorists might also have acquired a healthy arsenal of some heavy-duty, military grade weaponry. But don't worry, its Hammer tech so probably only half of it works anyway."

There was a pause on the other of the line before he heard Coulson sigh. "We'll have to call in other agencies on this one. But first I need to know that you will not involve yourself any further in this mess."

"Sorry, can't do that."

"Stark—"

There was no way in hell. "Nope. This has gone on for too long. We can end this now before a whole lot of people get hurt and I'm not going to sit around on my ass any longer. SHIELD can either be a part of it or not but either way it's happening." At this point Tony really didn't give a shit either way. Which was good, because he had a suspicion of what Coulson would say before the words actually left the man's mouth.

Tony heard another sigh, this one a little longer and a lot more regretful. "SHIELD has no jurisdiction on this. No one directly involved in a Shifter, save for you and Peter but you didn't want that publicized so no one else knows about it. We wouldn't be able to support you or protect you if any other agency comes down on you for vigilantism."

"I didn't expect you to."

He heard Coulson start to say something then stopped, thought about it, and spoke again. "And do the rest of your pack members feel this way?"

Tony was positive he knew what Coulson had really wanted to ask. "If you're asking what Steve thinks then I'll tell you it won't take much to convince him that my plan is the right one."

"I have some trouble believing that. Your plan would require him to essentially go rogue."

"You didn't see his face when Hammer called for a ransom for Peter." And Tony would never be able to forget it. "And you know if there is any chance that he could save people from terrorists with too much fire-power on their hands that he would take it."

"Alright." Coulson almost seemed resigned now. "SHEILD received an anonymous tip about a break in at Hammer Industries. There were rumors that a Shifter could have been related so we are going to send in a unit to investigate. Once we take control over the scene and ensure that no Shifters are involved, we will allow the City police access for them to begin a formal investigation. Does that sound about right to you?"

Tony smiled. Coulson always seemed to have a stick wedged up his ass but he was a good guy. Almost made Tony actually apologize for scratching him. Not quite though. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just out for a drive in the hills."

"I'm glad we understand each other. Now I don't want to hear about you, Peter, Steve, or your pack for the next week. If you recall, you and Steve are both on temporary leave from service."

"I'll see what I can do." With that, Tony hung up and pulled his car back onto the highway. He wasn't about to make any promises to the SHIELD agent because he had no plans of following their rules. All he needed to do was convince Steve that his plan was the right one.

O~O

Tony's eyebrows shot up to his hairline in surprise. "You're not mad?"

He had just gotten back and had found Steve sitting with Bruce and the rest of the pack, including Peter. They had all been waiting for him to get home so they could start dinner but Tony had decided that it was a better time to spill the beans about what he had been up to all afternoon. Steve had taken the news surprisingly well, considering.

Steve heaved a sigh and rested his hands on his hips. "I am mad. But there's no point in me arguing with you about what happened. What's done is done. Now we need to focus on how we deal with it."

Bruce frowned and glanced over at where Peter was playing on his smartphone before looking back up at Steve. "You can't seriously be considering going after Hammer?"

Tony had thought about asking Peter to leave the room but he thought he deserved to hear what they were planning. There was no way Tony was going to let Peter participate but even though he was a kid, he had something invested in this too. "This isn't just about him anymore. I don't know how long it will take the police or federal agencies to track these people down but if we can get there even a minute sooner we might save lives."

Thor frowned his head from where he was leaning back against the wall. "And you truly believe we will discover Hammer's location before the authorities are able to?"

Steve was the one to answer this time. By now Peter was watching the conversation bounce from person to person with wide, hopeful eyes. "I do. We have the best after all. Tony," Tony straightened up as Steve addressed him, "would you be able to track those emails back to their source?"

He smirked happily at his mate. "I'm impressed you knew that was even possible."

"I didn't. But I figure if anyone could do it, you could."

"You would be correct. I'll need to work on it for a bit but if I can steal Bruce I could probably make it happen."

Steve looked at Bruce who nodded just like Tony knew he would. If both him and Steve agreed on something, it was going to happen. Steve nodded back at his Beta then turned to look at the others. "Good. And Natasha, Clint, do you have any connections with people who could fill you in on local terrorist activity?"

Clint shrugged casually from atop his perch on the armchair Natasha was sitting in. "We know some guys."

Natasha tilted her head then nodded her agreement. "I can call in a few favors and see if anyone has heard anything about someone getting a new load of weapons in." Tony didn't want to know what sort of favors those were for or who she was calling. Sometimes it was just better not to ask questions.

Thor perked up, already looking invigorated just from the idea of an upcoming confrontation. It didn't take much to get the big guy riled up. "What help may I provide in preparations of this fight?"

Steve gave him a grim smile "Start prepping the gear. Bring everything you think will make a good impression."

The Lion grinned broadly at the order. "And impress them we shall! Our enemies will not know what hit them when we arrive!"

After devouring a hastily thrown together dinner, they each split up to work on their various tasks which meant that Tony headed down to the basement with Bruce in tow. They immediately got to work and the first thing that Tony did was break back into SHIELD's server. Bruce had been a bit confused at that but it didn't take him long to come to the same realization that Tony had when he had been sitting back in Hammer's office. If he called SHIELD they were sure to swoop in fast and download every bit of information before anyone else got the chance to check it over. Tony was counting on the fact that they'd be thorough—especially since Tony had done all the hard work for them when he broke through Hammer's digital security systems then told Coulson what to look for. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that by now, SHIELD should have already arrived and processed their digital evidence which meant that the emails were already uploaded onto their server. Which is precisely why Tony hadn't bothered to copy them in the first place. Why waste megabytes on his own computer when he knew that SHIELD was going to do that for him?

Sure enough, there the emails were, freshly uploaded aside the rest of Hammer's hard drive. Tony would have felt bad for the guy now that all of his personal and business information was SHIELD property but he couldn't bring himself to care nearly enough to muster up any shred of sympathy. Served the dick right.

Bruce wasn't nearly as accomplished with all of this tech stuff as Tony was but he made for a great assistant and once Tony got him going he was more than able to sift through his own set of data. A few more clicks and Tony had his own processing automatically, freeing him up for other projects.

Bruce tossed the Cat a look over his shoulder as Tony wheeled his chair to a table twenty feet away covered in a half-finished invention, the one Tony had been working on that morning and was eager to finish now more than ever. "Tony, aren't we supposed to be tracing those emails?"

"And we are."

"No, I am. You're fiddling with something on your workbench."

Tony smirked as he slipped on a pair of goggles waiting for him at his workstation. "I'm just finishing something up. Trust me, you'll like it. Besides, I built a program fifteen years ago that will trace the addresses in half the time, so it's almost like I'm doing all the work for the both of us."

Bruce stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head and turning back around to look at the screen. "I'm going to keep going and see if I can find anything your computers miss..."

"Go for it. I, however, have something much more productive in mind…"

O~O

It took about two hours between Bruce and Tony's computer for them to track down the location of the original sender of the terrorists' emails. It was really a testament to their apparent obsession with staying in the shadows but it was inevitable that they'd crack through it eventually.

When Tony and Bruce emerged from the basement they found Steve and Thor in the dining room strategizing. They seemed to be in the middle of a fairly serious conversation so of course Tony walked forward and butted right in, leaning heavily on the back of Steve's chair and interrupting Thor mid-sentence. "What's got you two lugs looking so sad?"

Steve rolled his eyes but seemed too occupied with his current predicament to react more than that. "We're talking about what sort of supplies we have."

Thor growled at Tony's disruption. "As I was attempting to inform Steve, our artillery, while impressive for a force of our size, is not as expansive as I had hoped. It would seem that all of the most powerful weapons we utilize during our missions are provided by SHIELD."

Motioning for Tony to take the chair next to him, Steve continued. "If we go without SHIELD's consent, we won't be able to access any of their resources. We all have our own personal gear but there are a few pieces of gear that we won't have that we've become reliant upon. For example, we'll have to go back the cell phone method of communication."

What a perfect segue. Tony smiled smugly as he took the seat Steve had indicted, but not before putting out a small, irregularly shaped device from his pocket and setting it on the table in front of Steve. "Not this time. As of now, SHIELD communications are officially outdated."

Steve raised a brow but didn't look too impressed yet. "What is this?"

"The same sort of earpieces SHIELD developed. Except better. They'll allow constant communication and adjust with us as we Shift, even Natasha, which was always sort of touch-and-go with those SHIELD pieces of junk. Not only that but they also double as tracking devices, are essentially invisible to the naked eye, and are flat out more aesthetic and comfortable to wear. That one in front of you is one of six I made."

Now Steve looked impressed. So did Bruce and Thor and they both leaned in to get a better look as Steve delicately picked up the one in front of him. "How did you make this?"

Pff. How could he not make it? Tony snorted as he leaned his chair back. "I can do anything those hacks at SHIELD can do with a little bit of thought. It took me longer than it should to figure the shrinking aspect out but I knew if they could work it out almost a decade ago it would only be a matter of time before I did."

"How long have you had these?"

Tony shrugged. "Since an hour ago but I made most of it this morning." He wondered how long it had taken SHIELD to come up with it and whose nose he had to rub it in that it had taken him less than a day.

"Is that what you were doing down in your workshop?"

"Among other things."

"Ok, well," Steve passed the earpiece back to Tony, "I suppose we have a few more points in our favor then."

Tony's smile grew. "Damn right. And the sooner we get moving the better. From what Bruce and I found, the emails originated from an industrial complex in Connecticut that was supposed to have been abandoned back over thirty years ago. It looks like the right place though; far enough away from anything else that no one would get curious but decent access to the interstate to ship in supplies. Bruce pulled up some satellite images and we also saw a surprisingly modern-looking truck for a place that was closed down more than a quarter of a century ago. If they're as smart as they seem they won't stay there long though once they realize SHIELD is on their trail."

Steve frowned at Tony's words and a new sense of urgency lit in his eyes. "You're right. But we still have some things to figure out. One thing in particular." Tony motioned for him to go on. "Peter, Tony. I don't think anyone will be coming after him but I don't feel at all comfortable leaving him here by himself, and we sure aren't taking him with us."

"Right…" Damn. How could he forget the obvious. Bruce wouldn't even be able to watch him again. They would need the older beta with them when they went after Hammer. But Steve was right; after everything Peter had been through, there was no way they were risking his safety again so quickly by taking him with them. Tony didn't want to involve Coulson any more than they already had. Pepper was an option but—Tony's thoughts trailed off as his eyes caught on Thor. Huh…Now that was an idea he didn't think would ever cross his mind. But there was no reason it wouldn't work now that Tony knew where things stood. "…Loki can watch him."

Steve and Bruce's gaze snapped over to him and Thor straightened up and blinked in surprise. "What?"

Tony looked over to meet Steve's eyes and a message passed between their eyes before Steve nodded as if to confirm it for himself. After learning about what Loki had done for Peter neither of them felt that the Raven was a threat to their boy anymore. Tony still wouldn't put it past Loki to take a swing at one of them, but he seemed to have a soft spot for Peter. And they had both seen how ruthless the Raven could be. He could be a formidable opponent and would be more than enough to keep Peter safe if he chose to. "Your brother, he can stay here while we're out, right?"

Thor nodded. "Yes, only…I had not thought that you would trust him alone with Peter."

Shrugging, Tony waved at the other Cat. "Go get him."

The Lion was too excited to be annoyed at being ordered about and was on his feet. A second later they heard him bounding up the stairs, shouting out his brother's name as he went. This time Tony, Steve, and Bruce all shared a look and Bruce surrendered to the fact that he was going to be there for a while and sat down in a chair across the table from the alphas as the three of them waited for Thor to return. Even with Tony's thick floors, they could hear Thor stomp around the second floor as he searched for the Raven. Then Thor thundered back down the stairs, straight past them, and out the backdoor into the yard. If it weren't such a serious situation it would have been funny but as things were, Tony was just starting to get impatient. The worst part was that he knew he wouldn't be able to help Thor even if he wanted to hurry things alone. Tony had no idea how anyone was supposed to find the Raven, especially if he didn't want to be found.

Tony was able to grab his phone and dial Pepper when the backdoor slammed back open and Thor strutted back inside with Loki close on his heels. The pale Shifter eyed the three of them sitting at the table the raised a condescending brow. "You requested my presence?"

Tony snarled but Steve refused to buy into it and got right to the point. "Loki, can you watch Peter while we go after Hammer?"

For once, the Bird seemed well and truly caught off guard. His eyes flickered back to Thor as if to check if this was some elaborate joke but the blinding smile on Thor's face seemed him to convince him that explanation at least wasn't true. So he turned back to Steve and cocked his head to the side. "Pardon?"

Tony smirked and rocked his chair back up so that all four chair legs were on the floor. The soft bang caught Loki's attention and as his dark eyes flickered over, Tony answered back. "Can you watch Peter? Keep him safe? He's old enough to feed himself but we need someone here who can protect him if anyone comes for him again."

This time Loki seemed to take them seriously and, after one more check back to Thor, let a smile slowly curl onto his lips. "How desperate must you be to ask me?"

Tony snorted. "Fairly desperate."

Before another smart remark slipped passed his lips, Steve cut Tony off, making sure to make solid eye contact with Loki. "Can we trust you with Peter?"

A long moment assed between them before Loki gave a hesitant nod. "Whether you trust me or not is up to you…But I can watch the boy."

"Alright." Steve reached his hand out and Loki hesitated again before reaching his own out and Steve confirmed the arrangement with a brief handshake. "Thank you."

As soon as Steve released his hand, Loki hovered for a moment, as if unsure what to do with himself, then disappeared from the room. Thor followed after him and while Steve and Bruce launched right into a conversation about how much food, water, and medical supplies they should pack, Tony tilted his head and listened in as his ears caught the sound of Thor speaking to Loki in hushed tones just around the corner.

"Loki, thank you for agreeing to watch Peter. It meant a great deal to Steve and Tony."

"I did not agree to do it for them."

"For Peter then?"

"For you, you oaf."

"...You will keep Peter safe?"

"As far as is within my power, which is quite considerable."

"As humble as ever."

"As if you are one to comment."

Tony smirked then made a face as he heard the soft noise of them kissing and a final soft murmur from Thor. "Thank you."

Having a feeling the conversation was over and not wanting to hear anymore sounds he wouldn't be able to wipe from his mind and rejoined Steve and Bruce's talk. Thor returned about five minutes later and between the four of them they wrote up a list of everything that would need to be packed into the car, then scattered to make sure that they actually grabbed everything.

Twenty minutes later Tony, Steve, and Bruce were in the garage with Tony's largest SUV packed completely full of hopefully everything they could possibly need. Natasha and Clint met them there, both of them dressed up in full mission gear with their weapons slung over their shoulders and Tony's new communication devices already tucked into their ears.

Somehow finding space in the trunk to slip in a long-barreled rifle, Natasha flicked her hair back and turned to Steve and Tony with a raised brow. "Hey, boys. Finally ready to go?"

Tony tilted his head. "Just waiting on Thor."

"Men always take so long to get ready." She glanced back at Clint and he gave her an affronted look.

Before the Hawk could come up with a come-back, a loud voice boomed into the open garage from the driveway. "I am mere steps behind you, friends!" He had been checking one final time with both Loki and Peter to make sure that they would both be alright. After Tony and Steve named Loki his new babysitter, Thor seemed to consider it his personal mission to ensure that everything went well while they were away.

As soon as the Lion was close enough, Steve motioned them all to step in closer. He had a serious expression on his face and it quickly spread to the rest of their faces as the seriousness of the situation again presented itself. It wasn't just the fact that they were going after Hammer. That in itself wouldn't warrant all this stress. It was the fact that they were going it not only lacking in supplies but also in support. Everything they'd done this point had been SHIELD sanctioned to some degree. This would be the first time they would only have themselves to rely upon.

Steve let out a long breath then crossed his arms over his chest. "Just so everyone knows. I'm not sure what we're going to find when we get there but there's a chance there may be one hell of a fight and it won't be with Hammer. I also want to make it very clear that this will also be unsanctioned by SHIELD. If any of you are uncomfortable with that I would understand if you'd rather sit this one out."

Everyone stayed silent for a moment before Natasha raised her hand. Steve nodded to her and she pursed her lips. "I do actually have a question."

"Yes?"

"Are we walking into a rescue operation or is this going to be a strike?"

Steve thought the question over for a moment before he shrugged and answered in typical Steve fashion: with honesty. "I don't know. It's possible it will be both. We don't know what happened to Hammer or what the men he hired are capable of if he wasn't able to talk them down."

"Fair enough."

Beside her, Clint adjusted his box then gave Steve a mock salute. "You lead, we'll follow."

A look of relief then pride flashed over Steve's face and Tony knew how he felt. They had a fucking great pack. "Thank you. Now, let's get going. We have unfinished business to see to."