Tracking the Sun

by LoquitorLatinae

Sequel to "Chasing the Moon". Steve and Tony have everything now: a home, a pack, a purpose, a family. They've come to terms with what it means to be mates and work to keep the peace between Shifters and the human world. But when a new enemy comes after Tony Stark, "human" billionaire, will they be strong enough to endure or will they let it tear them apart? Superfamily Shifter AU.

12. Chapter 12

Ah! It's finally dooone! So sorry it took so long but it just wouldn't stop! That being said, it's about 2x longer than any other chapter for this story, so hopefully that will make up for the long wait time! You'll notice that even though this is last chapter, I didn't change the status of this story to "complete". Because this might be the conclusion, but I don't yet consider it "complete". Stay tuned. ;)

Big, huge thanks to all of those who reviewed for the last chapter: shine lots, Veuve Noir, brightsidetolife, kittygirl998939, Agent Ruby Red, I'm a Nerd and Proud, ramen-is-my-goddess, Silver wolf, and CheyRain! You and your support are what kept me fighting through this!

---

Chapter 12

---

As Tony bore down on the man with the grenade launcher, Tony saw him load up another round but didn't change course, just ran right for him. His protective instincts not just as an alpha but for a man defending his mate had switched off the logical, risk-assessing side of his brain leaving only the hot-blooded, predatory side that would do whatever was necessary to keep his loved one safe. He literally wanted to tear the human to pieces, to feel his blood and sinew between his claws and teeth, but he wasn't quite that far gone yet. But that didn't mean he was going to go easy on him.

Rushing forward at inhuman speeds, Tony grabbed for the end of the barrel of the grenade launcher. He saw the man's finger move towards the trigger and shoved the barrel up so that any shot would fly into the ceiling, not that he intended to let the human fire another volley. The thug let out a shout of surprise as Tony was suddenly across the room in his face and Tony smelled a spike of fear shoot through the human and he reveled in it.

"W-what the fuck?"

Tony snarled at the man choked the words out. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

A little voice inside his head that sounded an awful lot like Bruce told him "Don't shift. Don't shift. Don't even try to shift." It was a hard instinct to ignore but shifting had blown out his heart before; he didn't want to take that chance unless he absolutely had to. And he didn't have to for this. No, this he could handle just fine mainly in his human form.

The man's finger tightened on his trigger but by then Tony had ducked his shoulder, shifting so quickly that only his spine twisted up to allow for an inhuman agility, and then surged back up. He rammed his shoulder blade and arm right into the mercenary's ribs, lifting him up into the air about a foot off the ground before he flew back and slammed into a bulky looking machine. Tony heard the thick metal vibrate with a low thrum as the human hit it.

He seemed winded but was so well trained that he was able to keep his shit together enough to regain his footing. Tony didn't let him keep it for long though and spun around to land a solid kick right in the center of the man's already fragile ribcage. He had learned that one from Steve and it had its desired effect. A dull snap sounded and the mercenary let out a strangled scream. Still using the momentum he had built up from the kick, Tony whipped around and body-slammed the soldier back against the machine. His helmeted head banged against the steel so hard that the thick plate of metal dented and the man's eyes rolled up before he collapsed into a dead faint. Tony could tell by his scent that he wasn't dead—at the moment—but he probably would have one hell of a concussion. And he deserved it. When he woke up, Tony hoped he considered himself lucky that he hadn't literally been torn to shreds because Tony had been itching to get his claws into his skin.

That had all happened in less than a minute and when Tony turned back to look at Steve he was still blinking up at the ceiling in a daze. "Tony?"

Tony was back over at his side in a second and tugged his mate the rest of the way from the debris of the collapsed wall, little fragments of masonry and brick rolling off of Steve's body. "I'm here. I'm here, sweetheart."

Steve grunted something out and Tony felt his muscles tense as if he were about to push himself up back onto his feet. There was no way that was happening. Tony put a stop to the movement before it could even really start and moved one arm around Steve's chest to keep him pinned in his lap. "No, relax. You took a pretty good hit there." Tony didn't see blood coming out of anywhere and with any luck nothing had been damaged internally but you never could be too sure. The last thing Tony wanted was for Steve to strain some mild injury and end up with some sort of serious spinal issue or punctured lung or—

"…Where's Bucky…?"

Tony's blood ran cold. Or brain damage. Maybe that mercenary thug wasn't the only one with a concussion. Shaking his head, Tony slid his hand up to brush back Steve's bangs to check again for blood. There wasn't any but there was a small lump right next to his temple that had probably swelled up after ten dozen bricks had bounced off of his skull. "I guess you took that pretty good hit right to the head…"

"I need…to go get him…" Steve made to get up again and Tony just barely remembered to restrain him.

"Bucky's not here, Steve."

Steve tilted his head back so that he was looking up at Tony with an unfocused frown on his face. "What?...Why?"

Tisking, Tony tried to think of the right thing to say. Somehow 'he's dead' didn't seem like the right thing to say to someone who was apparently suffering from a flashback or some mild memory confusion. More than that though, if Tony was being honest with himself, this whole thing was really starting to freak him out. He didn't like seeing Steve like this. "He's not here right now. It's just me and the pack, the new pack. Bruce, Thor, Clint, Natasha, it's us." A spark of recognition seemed to light in Steve's eyes, or at least Tony liked to think so. Either way, he knew they had to find some sort of cover because he had a sneaking suspicion the momentary quiet wouldn't last for long.

"Are any bones broken? Are your neck and back okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, here we go then." Hooking his arms underneath Steve's, Tony pushed himself up and in the process began to drag his mate towards the corner where there were actually walls still standing to provide some sort of cover. Tony grunted as he tried to pick up the pace but it wasn't easy dragging Steve around. He was like one hundred and ten percent muscle mass and he was pretty much limp. "Help me out here, you weigh a ton."

Bless his huge, dazed heart, but Steve actually did try to help. He picked up his feet a bit and fought to regain some of the strength in his legs to push himself along. By the time he and Tony had fought their way into the corner Tony could tell that the Wolf was already feeling a bit better, his advanced healing abilities working in overdrive. Steve's blue eyes were clearer and when he looked at Tony as he propped his mate up against the wall his gaze was focused on Tony's face. But Tony wasn't about to take any chances. Running his hand across Steve's brow and brushing Steve's bangs back, Tony clicked the microphone on his earpiece back on with his free hand. "Bruce, I need you down here now."

There was a short pause before Bruce responded. Tony wasn't sure what the beta was up to but he sounded distracted as he finally replied. "That will be a little difficult!"

Well that was just too bad, "I need you here now. Steve got knocked out. He came to but I think he has a concussion or something." Steve winced but didn't argue with Tony's assessment, which in itself spoke volumes.

"Where are you?" Apparently difficulty didn't matter to Bruce anymore. Tony had his attention.

"In the main machinery room on the ground floor at the west end of the hall."

"I'm on my way."

Tony didn't bother to think about what sort of obstacles Bruce would be facing on his way inside. It was sure to be riddled with gun-toting men but with Thor, Clint, and Natasha running around Bruce wouldn't be completely alone as he entered the building. Instead, all of his focus narrowed in on Steve as he straightened up against the wall and managed to raise his hand up to rub at his dust-covered hair. "Tony?"

"Hey. You back with me?"

He watched as Steve grimaced and slid his hand down his face. "What happened?"

"A three-story brick wall partition fell on you."

"…Feels like it."

"I'll bet." Tony's eyes skipped over Steve's face, looking for any more signs of disorientation or momentary amnesia but the Wolf seemed to be pulling himself together. He caught the small movements in Steve's arms as he made to push himself up again and once again Tony held him down. "I don't think so; you don't get to move quite yet. Bruce is coming to check you out. Then we can go back to kicking some more ass."

A growl rolled up Steve's throat but he reluctantly lowered his butt back to the floor. "You should be going after Hammer."

"Don't worry about that. As soon as Bruce gets here I'm ditching you and hunting him down." Before Steve had his run in with a grenade, there had been little else on Tony's mind. Where was Hammer? With Steve and Natasha coming in from the service door and Thor and Clint barging in through the front, he had been sure that they would have run into Hammer somewhere in the middle. But no one had called it in yet and he hadn't been able to make anything out on the cameras outside. But somehow at the same time Tony was sure that Hammer was there. He couldn't catch the man's scent—there were too many other human males running around for his nose to be able to pick Hammer's particular odor out from among them—but something inside Tony said that he was around and he wasn't going to leave until they had torn the place apart looking for him.

"Tony…"

Steve's voice brought Tony abruptly back to the present and he looked down to find his mate's eyes on him and a serious expression on his face. "What?"

"Unless Hammer attacks you first, bring him back alive."

"What?" Tony's brows knit in confusion. Was he still on that? A fucking wall had just come down on Steve and Hammer hadn't been the one holding the grenade launcher but he had built the damn thing and hired the mercenary who had been holding it. If that plus kidnapping Peter wasn't a good enough reason to kill someone, Tony didn't know what was.

But Steve just sucked in a breath to steady himself and shook his head. "Bring him back alive so we can hand him over to the police."

Snorting, Tony shook his head. "We'll see. An 'accident' might happen when I find him."

"Don't stoop to his level, Tony. You're better than that."

"No, you're better than that."

"So are you."

Tony barely had the chance to give his mate an exasperated look before he heard an unnatural roar echo out from where he knew Clint and Thor were. Hearing heavy footfalls racing toward them, Tony instinctively jumped in front of Steve and pressed him back up against the wall and a second later there was a loud bang from the doorway into the factory floor. Tony's eyes flashed over in time to see Bruce's Wolf slam into the wooden doorframe again with an angry roar. It was most likely angry because it couldn't fit through the doorway but with a slash of his claws and one more slam against the doorframe the Wolf solved that problem as the frame and a few rows of bricks around it collapsed and crumbled to the floor.

Tensing as the Wolf tumbled though, Tony watched with wary eyes as the Shifter tore its way across the room, snarling and clawing at the heavy machinery as its nose constantly and audibly scented the air. There were large patches of blood on its fur that Tony didn't think came from the Wolf but from someone who had been unfortunate enough to get in its way. It didn't take long for it to find their trail, change course, and run towards them but before Tony even had to start making a plan about what he was going to do if the Wolf didn't stop by the time it reached them, Bruce was already shifting back.

Bruce gave Tony a weary grin as he took his last few shaky steps towards them with feet that were fully human and doubled over as he reached them to try and catch his breath. The Beta panted heavily but his eyes were already on Steve, assessing his injuries. "I, I got here as quickly as I could!"

Tony let out a breath he had been holding and shook his head. "Yeah, I can see that…" He'd congratulate his friend on the control he had over his ability to shift at will back to human form later.

Steve looked equally impressed but any praise he would have given seemed to be stamped out by the pain still in his body. Tony didn't blame him; there wasn't a lot that could knock Steve out like that, he probably wasn't used to the feeling. "Do whatever you can to get me back into fighting shape, Bruce. We need to finish this up."

"I'll see what I can do but," Bruce paused as he crouched down beside Steve, checking his eyes and the injuries on his head, "Steve, I don't know if I would recommend that you get back in the fighting."

Tony felt a flare of anxiety well up in his chest but pushed it back down. Bruce's words weren't a surprise, he knew Steve had taken a bad hit, but they hadn't even found Hammer yet. Who knew what else was waiting for them? They needed Steve in the field; he was the guy with all the plans, the one who led the missions!

All three of them looked up and yet another set of footsteps raced towards them, this time barely audible, and a moment later Clint appeared in the destroyed doorway. It didn't take the Hawk long to spot them and he was at their side a second later. "There you are!" His eyes widened as they landed on Steve.

But Tony didn't want to explain why Steve was on the floor. He wanted to know something first. "How'd you get out of there?" The last Tony had heard he and Thor had still been fairly overwhelmed by men with big guns.

Clint gave them all a crooked smile. "Some big Wolf-creature just bowled through and slashed through most of the guys lined up against us."

Bruce let out a soft snort but didn't comment. Again, Tony didn't have the time to waste time talking about things that could wait. "Where's Thor?"

"Bruce might've knocked him over on his way through. He's fine, just cleaning up the mess now. Is Steve okay?"

Tony glanced down to where Bruce had gone back to examining Steve and nodded. "He'll be okay." And he appreciated Clint's concern but that didn't explain what he was doing there. "What do you need?"

That brought Clint's seriousness back. "I found where they've all been coming from. One of the thugs took off when he saw Bruce rush in. I chased him to a door and it looks like it leads down into a basement. Tasha went to help Thor up in the front but I was looking for Steve to give the go-ahead to see what's waiting for us downstairs."

That must be where they had Hammer. "Steve's temporarily out of commission so I'm giving the go-ahead. In fact, I'm coming with you. Let's go."

Now that Bruce was sitting with Steve Tony didn't feel too bad about leaving. Particularly after what Clint had just said. If it was true that there was a basement to this place and that was where the remainder of the mercenaries were holed up then there might not be too much here on the main floors anymore.

At Tony's words, Clint immediately turned and began to head back out and Tony was hot on his heels. He could feel his pulse pounding in his chest and for half a second wondered if it was healthy for him to have so much adrenaline coursing through him, then decided that it didn't matter. He had shit to do.

Clint led him back through the factory towards the entrance but about halfway there he turned right down a hall and stopped in front of a suspicious looking door. It was suspicious in that it was one of the few Tony had seen that looked like it had been replaced since the factory had closed and it had been reinforced with metal and boasted a large lock. Tony was ready to snap it off but blinked in surprise as he realized that it was already unlocked which was so unexpected that it made him actually stop and think for a minute. It could be unlocked for the obvious answer, that they were coming up out of whatever bunker they had down there so quickly that it didn't make sense for them to lock the door when they needed quick access what whatever was down there. Or it was a trap. One of the two was true. These guys were too professional to forget to fasten the lock if the door was supposed to be secured.

Reaching out, Tony poked at the door and it creaked open an inch at the slightest amount of pressure. He could already see that it would open right up into a stairwell heading down, though, which was probably what Clint had spotted before he came to alert Steve. "Okay," Tony sighed. "Here's how we're going to do this. You stay behind me, Clint, and take out anyone you see who doesn't look like Justin Hammer."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen the guy before."

"He looks like a giant douchebag. And he'll probably be the only one wearing a three-piece suit."

Clint grinned and notched an arrow in his bow. "Should be easy enough to spot."

Pushing the door the rest of the way open, Tony cautiously descended down the stairs and for once made use of every bit of stealth his Shifter form provided him. Luckily Clint could be light on his feet when he wanted to also so they were nearly silent as the crept down the stairs. Tony could sense the tautness of Clint's drawn bowstring just behind him and it served as a reminder that he was currently unarmed. Which made it seem like a really dumb decision to go down first but his alpha instincts wouldn't have allowed anything different. Besides, he could probably take a bullet better than Clint could and Clint would have an arrow through the enemy's eye before they could fire a second round. At least Tony could tell himself that.

Tony trained all of his senses on what was going on below as they crept down the stairwell. He couldn't hear anything but he could feel that there were definitely people down there which sounded ridiculous but was an instinct that had never led Tony astray. Even if he wasn't sure if it was a combination of sensory hints or some sort of instinctive knowledge he appreciated it all the same and prepared himself for an encounter with an enemy.

When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs it quickly became apparent that they weren't actually in a basement but instead in a small room with multiple doorways leading off to a series of long corridors. It was probably a set of utility tunnels that connected all the different buildings in the compound. It wasn't an uncommon find in multi-structure constructions built back then and if nothing else would have made it easier to pass through the different buildings during the freezing winter months. It was hardly lit—might not even have been that well lit when it was still in service—and it took Tony's eyes a minute to adjust to the low light levels.

There was no one immediately around them but judging by the scents in the room someone had just been there a moment ago. In fact, Tony swore he could almost feel their body heat lingering in the air.

Yup, it was definitely a trap.

Almost as soon as the thought clicked in place there was a rustle in one of the doorways and then a second doorway and a third and suddenly they were surrounded. Tony dropped back into a fighting stance with his fists up in the air but he didn't like his chances men stepped out, one in each door and each carrying a high-powered automatic rifle. In such a tight space there wouldn't be much room for them to dodge the bullets.

"Go, Tony! I've got this!"

Tony started and glanced back to see that Clint was taking aim. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with this assholes."

"He won't be alone."

Natasha seemed to materialize from the freaking shadows as she leapt from the stairwell and landed neatly beside Clint, her weapons already drawn. Clint grinned at her as the men surrounding them took an uncertain step back. Either they had heard from a buddy that she was a killing machine or she just looked the part. "Perfect timing, Nat!" Turning back around, Clint furrowed his brow and nodded his head to the side. "Get out of here, Tony!"

Tony was about to protest but then the mercenaries, having apparently fully assessed the situation, gave a nod to one another and began shooting. It all happened within a matter of seconds; one moment Tony was standing on his feet, ready to stay and fight and the next Natasha planted a firm boot to the middle of his back, making him stumble forward and nearly fall flat on his face. He let out a hiss but the bullets flying his way went right over his head and he was just barely able to keep his feet. The momentum had carried him within five feet of one of the gunman and as irritated as Tony was for having been literally kicked out of the fight he wasn't going to run without at least helping them out a bit. The man he had tumbled towards had backed up a few steps and was quickly readjusting the aim on his weapon. Before he fired though, Tony had surged forward and twisted his body so that he could slip under the long barrel on the rifle. He used the temporary protection to his advantage and clumsily mimicked a move he had seen Natasha use before by ducking into a crouch and sweeping one leg out to knock the man off of his feet. It worked due solely to Tony's ability to move swiftly and smoothly as a Cat, and the man shouted as he was roughly thrown off balance. He didn't take the time to incapacitate him any further than that though and took his chance to push by the gunman and escape down the tunnel he had been standing in front of.

Closing his eyes as he got further away from the chaos behind him, Tony focused, really focused on just the scents, and barely managed to pick out a particularly familiar odor: Hammer. He had been through here a day ago or sooner. If Steve or Bruce were here they might have been able to tell what state the man was in but Tony didn't really care. It wouldn't change his plans any.

It was dark as he walked, the way lit by an antique-looking electrical line stapled to the mortared ceiling supporting e about a dozen dim, bare lightbulbs that were barely strong enough to cast some light to the floor. Tony was mentally keeping track of where the tunnels were leading him and what might be waiting for them on the surface and when they started to get close to another one of the old buildings above ground which probably meant there were more open rooms and corridors coming up.

Tony was unsurprised to find that he was correct. It happened more often than not but luckily this was one of those cases where it actually mattered. He could tell from the smell of the air in the halls that it wasn't one that they had lived in per say, but that they probably used on occasion for…it looked like they used it mostly for storage judging by the crates and shelves stacked with a strange mix of weaponry, ammunition, and basic home supplies. But evil soldiers of fortune needed toilet paper too. No one seemed to be around but they had all probably been called in to help fight against the pack as they pushed their way inside. The room, like the halls, was poorly lit and Tony made sure to check every part of the long, winding room built into the tunnel system. And he was glad he did. As Tony snuck around a corner he caught a flash of heavy looking vertical bars and he had to do a short double-take before it clicked in his head that what he was seeing was the front few inches of an old-fashioned-esque jail cell façade. Apparently they stored their hostages down here too.

Getting the confirmation he needed with one more deep inhale, Tony cautiously reached up and clicked his microphone on, whispering into it as he slunk closer to the cell. "I've got Hammer. From now on, use codenames, except for me." He might overhear and Hammer couldn't find out that Tony was seriously involved with their group's activities with SHIELD. But more than that, Tony didn't want him finding out any more than he had to about the rest of the Pack. Tony might make fun of him every chance he got, but Hammer had resources and was smart enough to be dangerous.

Tony silently slunk closer with a predatory look in eyes. The adrenaline that had been feeding into his system for the past hour or so had faded into a sense of calm he didn't know he could obtain during the heat of a mission. It had been a long time since he had felt such an animalistic feeling run through him, like he was bearing down on cornered prey after a long hunt, and it made his blood sing. Even before he was able to get inside, the scent in the air only grew more concentrated as he moved forward and told him all he needed to know. And as the cell's occupant came into view it was confirmed.

Smirking as he walked up to the bars, Tony knew he had an ugly look in his eyes as he sneered at Justin Hammer who was resting on a large foam pallet pushed up against the back corner of the cell. "Well isn't this a nice turn of events. Look who's in a cage now?" At least this cage was built for a human. From what Peter had told him and Steve about his experience in Hammer's custody, he had stuck their son in something that more closely resembled a dog crate. Which still would have been inhumane but might have at least been a bit more comfortable if Peter had actually been able to shift but as it was…As it was, Tony definitely still wanted to claw Hammer's face off.

The way Hammer jumped when Tony spoke was satisfying in its own way. He started up from the pallet, the suit dirty and rumpled like he had lived in it and slept in it for four days, and blinked at him with eyes so wide it was as if he had just seen a ghost. "Tony Stark? Is that you?"

Yeah, Tony supposed that Hammer would be surprised to see him. As far as the asshole knew Tony was just the owner of Stark Industries. "The one and only."

"What are you doing here?"

He looked at Hammer as he paced in front of his cell. It would be so easily to kill him. He was trapped like a rat in a cage and all Tony would have to do is break off the lock on the cell door and rush inside. Hammer would have nowhere to run and Tony could eviscerate him in a matter of seconds. The predator part of his mind was hungry for it but his human side…there were certain things Tony's human side couldn't allow. If he couldn't hold back for himself he was sure as hell going to do it for Steve. And once he got Hammer out he was going to spend every dollar he needed to in order to make sure Hammer spent the rest of his natural life behind an even bigger set of bars. "I'm here to get you home."

Hammer sat up straighter and raised his eyebrows in shock. "Really? Wow, how unexpected."

"Don't think that you're off the hook yet. By 'home' I meant jail, you son of a bitch."

Hammer deflated a bit and rolled his eyes. "Right. I guess jail would be better than this. I'm pretty sure they're going to kill me."

Snorting, Tony crossed his arms over his chest. "What did they lock you in here for?" If Tony had been in the gang, he definitely would've killed Hammer by now. Leave him alive and you had to feed him and transport him. And, worse, you had to keep listening to him.

"They sent a ransom to my manager to try and get some money out of him to get me back."

Tony shrugged. If they thought Hammer owed them money, it made sense. Plus, what was he going to do, go to the cops afterwards? And say what, that the mercenaries he hired to murder Tony had turned against him?

It took Tony longer than it should have to get the lock off but he couldn't just break it off with Hammer watching. So he had to pick the lock. It was a good thing for Hammer that Tony could actually do that but it was a mechanical thing so it didn't take Tony long to figure out how it worked and then how to get it open. Hammer slipped out as soon as he was able like the slimy little thing he was. "So how are we going to get out of here? I assume you have some sort of plan?"

Tony was already walking him back out and was already tired of his shit. Snarling, he stalked back the way they came. Sure, that was back toward the bad guys but it was also back toward the rest of the pack. "Don't worry, we'll get you out. I didn't come alone. But a little appreciation wouldn't be out of place. Look at the mess you and your company made! And you still didn't learn a damn thing from all of this did you?"

"It was just business, Tony!"

Tony hissed at Hammer's nonchalant response. "That's bullshit! 'Businesses' do not require hiring armed thugs to take out their competition. They do it by being better! Something Hammer Industries never was able to do!"

"I did whatever I had to do to keep my company running."

"You killed people! For money!"

"You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet."

"See? You still don't get it! You can't treat people like they're expendable."

"That's rich, coming from you. You treat the entire world like it's your toy box. Besides, it's hardly like you're really a saint yourself, and your company's made some enemies too."

"Yeah, you!"

On second thought, Tony probably shouldn't have shouted that last bit. Not his most brilliant moment but it was either get his anger out by yelling or by clawing a hole in Hammer's chest so he figured he chose well between the two options. The world seemed to hold its breath before the inevitable happened and Tony's ears caught the sound of boots racing towards them. Sounded like it was time to get back down to business.

He heard Hammer let out a shout of surprise as two soldiers raced down the hall at them. They had already left the room Hammer had been kept in and the mercenaries cut off their path going forward. Tony spun around and grimaced as another armed man appeared at the other end of the tunnel, effectively trapping them. With Hammer right next to him, he wasn't going to be able to use his Shifter abilities. He really didn't give a shit what his competitor thought of him but he knew that Hammer was enough of a snake to turn around and start spouting off to every newscaster who offered to pay him a nickel that Tony Stark was Cat Shifter.

Tony growled and pushed Hammer behind him as three men ran at them. He kept his movements as controlled as possible when he slammed his fist into one of their faces. Hammer screamed, actually screamed, as the man went down, instantly knocked out. Diving down, Tony grabbed the fallen man's gun out of its holster and threw himself into a roll. He ended up crouched down on his knees and brought the gun up, aimed it at one of the two men left standing, and shot him right above his collarbone, the bullet hitting just above his Kevlar vest. Clint and Natasha would have been proud.

As he was admiring his work, Hammer, who at this point had been cowering against the wall, let out a shout and pointed to something behind Tony. That was all the warning Tony got before a thick cord was thrown around his neck. Shocked that someone had managed to get the jump on him, Tony gasped as the man behind him tightened the cord, the force of it yanking him back. He reached up with his free hand and clawed at it. The man was clearly putting all of his strength in trying to choke him but as soon as Tony slipped his fingers around the cord he was able to regain control. With one hard pull, Tony tugged the cord away from his neck and bent over at the same time, causing the man behind him to go flying over Tony's shoulders and land hard on his back on the ground in front of Tony. Tony didn't give him the chance to recover and used the gun he was still holding onto and shot two rounds at the killer. The first missed its mark but the second landed solidly near the man's collarbone, causing him to fall to his knees in agony.

"Jesus Christ, Tony!" Tony twitched as Hammer's voice burst out behind him where he had hidden against the wall through the entire fight. "Where the hell did that come from? No wonder you were so hard to kill."

"I work out." Tony switched on the safety on the gun and slipped it into his waistband. It still had a few rounds in it and if he was going to be stuck with Hammer for a little while longer he wanted a way to fight that didn't involve teeth and claws.

"No kidding." Hammer stood over the man Tony had shot in the head with his hands on his hips. His expression was far too fascinated for Tony's liking. "That must be one hell of an exercise routine."

"It is. Now how about you shut up and start walking? We don't have time for this." Turning the mic on his headset back on, Tony growled into it, breaking his own rule and using Steve's name since he figured Hammer would recognize him from all the media coverage they had received over the years. "Steve. I've got Hammer and I need to put him somewhere before I kill him."

Hammer released an indignant huff. "Hey!"

"Shut up!"

Tony couldn't tell if Steve was amused, exasperated, or relieved as he replied. "Bring him to the main entrance. Hulk and I moved to that location and have it locked down." Well at least Steve was keeping up with the code names. And it sounded like he had been a bit busy himself.

"Let's just hope we get there before they bring out the big guns."

Hammer's offhand comment made a cold spark run up Tony's spine and he glared back over his shoulder as they continued their way down the hall. "You are either going to explain what you mean by that or you're going to shut up. Otherwise I'm shooting you in the foot."

"Relax, Tony." It was unbelievable how the man could be so dismissive after Tony had just taken out three trained enemy combatants in front of him. "And I mean if anyone is still alive then they haven't brought out the good stuff yet. This is s a tunnel system that was used to transport raw materials running beneath the buildings and they're all full. This is their main North American base of operations; they've got like thirty more men down there with some pretty impressive firepower. You should have seen everything they took. They got into the vault with my access code. I'll tell you what, when I get out of here I'm definitely looking into a more secure facility."

Shit. For once, Tony hated it that his hunch turned out to be correct. The mercenary group did have a lot of weapons down here and they hadn't even seen the worst of it yet. Choking back another curse, Tony flipped his mic back on. "We've got a problem. What we've seen is just the tip of the iceburg. It sounds like the only reason they haven't used any of the bombs against us yet is because they don't think we're worth it yet."

"Understood." There was no mistaking the tension that had now settled in Steve's voice. "But I don't intend to stick around long enough for them to use those bombs on us. As soon as you get here, we're leaving."

As they continued to walk through the tunnel, Tony's body was drawn up tense as Clint's bow string. He didn't like not knowing how many more mercenaries were out there and exactly what sort of weapons they'd be dealing with. And he didn't like having Hammer at his back as he walked. The guy had tried to kill him, who said he wouldn't take this opportunity to give it one more shot? But he didn't trust Hammer to be out in front of him either so he would just have to hope that the man didn't have any weapons on him.

They had almost reached the room where Tony had last seen Clint and Natasha when things got even worse: the already shitty lighting overhead blinked out, dropping Tony and Hammer into near complete darkness. Hammer let out a shout of surprise and Tony's hands went straight to his headset. "We lost light. Someone talk to me, what happened?"

It was almost completely pitch black, the kind of darkness Tony had only ever experienced in caves. If he were the type who believed in ghosts, this would be when someone would come out of the walls and grab him. There was a long moment of silence before Clint picked up. "Sounds like they cut the generator. I'm moving in to get a better look."

"Perfect." At least Natasha and Steve were carrying night-vision binoculars; they could use those to a certain degree to get by. Of course it was probably a little easier to see in the upper levels where they would hopefully be getting a little light from the outside coming in.

Tony's eyes had instantly began to adjust themselves but it seemed like Hammer wasn't having as much luck as he crashed into Tony's back. "Ow! Damn it—How can you see anything? Am I going blind? Do I need cataract surgery, what's happening here?"

"Calm down, my eyes just adjusted faster than yours. Just, here, grab on to the back of my shirt or something." Letting Hammer get himself lost wouldn't do him any good.

Tony was just able to make out the forms of the bodies left behind in the room Clint and Natasha had fought in. Tony looked at each face just long enough to ensure that it wasn't anyone he knew before guiding Hammer to the staircase and up to the main floor. Once they were out of the tunnels there was enough light coming in from the dirt-covered windows that Tony was able to see fairly well and even Hammer was stumbling less. It took a minute for Tony to remember which way the main entrance was from where he was standing but he managed to catch a whiff of Steve and Bruce's scent that took him straight there.

When they finally got there, Tony was relieved to see that Bruce and Steve both had flashlights and were keeping a careful eye on the shadows around them. As Wolves, their night vision was still far better than humans but much better adapted to dusk or dawn conditions than full darkness. But Tony was even more relieved to see that Steve was sitting up straight against the wall instead of slouched over and he definitely looked more alert. Tony instantly moved toward him. "Steve! You look better."

Steve hardly looked at Tony; his eyes had locked onto Hammer as soon as they had stepped into their flashlight beams. "I'm getting there." He made to push himself up to his feet and Tony knew better than to stop him, hovering near-by instead in case Steve looked unsteady on his feet.

Hammer, the idiot, walked right over to them, looking far too confident for the situation even though Tony could smell the fear wafting off of him and he knew Steve would be able to as well. Hammer walked up to Steve and held his hand out in greeting. "Oh, hey, look. Isn't this great, I get to meet the boyfriend. Steve Rogers, Justin Hammer. Let me just say it's a real pleasure and let me apologize for that little misunderstanding with your son."

Steve stared coldly down at him and let him squirm for a moment before speaking. "Turn around."

"Turn around?" Hammer raised his brow but did as Steve said and turned his back to him. "Okay, I'm not sure where this is going but, oh—" Steve had reached into his belt, pulled out a pair of handcuffs, yanked Hammer's arms behind his back, and efficiently fastened the cuffs around Hammer's wrists. "There we go, okay. Are the restraints really necessary?"

"Yes. Sit down."

"You are a very serious individual."

Steve stared down at Hammer again then moved. Quicker than the human eye, Steve slammed his hand against the wall right next to Hammer's face hard enough so that the tile under his palm cracked. The man went pale and whatever smart remark he had ready to fall off his tongue died on his lips. Steve narrowed his eyes and Tony was pretty sure Hammer pissed his pants when Steve finally spoke, his voice dropped low into a dangerous snarl. "I don't know what you've heard about me or what my reputation is among humans but let's get one thing very clear. If you try to escape, try to harm me, Tony, or any member of my pack in any way, or otherwise attempt to sabotage our mission, I will take very real pleasure in tearing your throat out with my teeth. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes. That's pretty clear."

"Alright."

Tony couldn't help the grim smile that spread across his face watching Steve intimidate Hammer. It brought a special sort of joy to his life to see it. Moving forward, he grabbed a hold of Steve's arm and pulled him a few feet away so they could talk without being overheard. "Just bringing Hammer up here has pretty much depleted by store of patience for the month. Can't we just kill him?"

Steve let out a huff that might have been a laugh then shook his head. "I want him dead as bad as you do, Tony, but we need to take him to the police and have him properly charged with his crimes."

"That's ridiculous! What if he gets off at the trial?" Tony brain knew it wasn't ridiculous but his crappy, damaged heart didn't.

"He won't. We have more than enough evidence to convict him with. Now Thor needs help. I was about to go but—"

"No, you stay here to help B—Hulk with Hammer." That was a close slip-up. He was going to have to start watching what he said. "And I'm not about to leave when you're recovering from a semi-serious head injury."

Steve sighed but nodded before leaning forward and bumping their forehead together. He pressed a quick kiss to Tony's lips and then he was pulling away. "Fine. Go, help Thor and then we're out of here."

"I'll do my best. Have someone get the car and pull it around up front, will you? I doubt I'll feel much like walking after this."

Steve smirked dryly and gently pushed Tony away. "I'll see what I can do."

O~O

Steve took a moment to reassess the situation after Tony reluctantly run off. He was just as reluctant to let his mate go off on his own but he didn't have too much of a choice in the matter right now, not with the condition he was in. At least he had something to do now, even if it was just guarding the likes of Justin Hammer.

Bruce had Tony's laptop open and was trying to access the security systems he had abandoned, clearly having no desire to risk going back outside by himself to return to the guard booth. Steve was happy to have him there if for no other reason than to help keep him sane. He could still make calls about how to handle the mission but it was killing him that he wouldn't be able to get back into the middle of the fray when he knew that the others were out their fighting. Speaking of which…Steve let out a breath before addressing his headset. Tony hadn't been polite about asking for it, but now that the enemy knew they were here one of the easiest options for them to escape would be to pull the car right up to the front door. Otherwise, they would all have to go running back through the woods and it would increase each of their chances of getting shot down. Especially Hammer's chances. And whoever would end up having to carry him after he couldn't keep up.

But by having someone go out to get the car would be putting that single person at risk, so the smartest thing to do was to send a person who quick, able to keep out of view, and who worked the well alone. Clint was an option but there was really only one choice in Steve's mind. "Widow, are you free?"

There was a short pause before Natasha answered him, her voice drawn tight. "That depends on your definition. What do you need?"

"We need you to go get the car and drive it up to the front of the building. We got what we need, now we need to get out."

She heaved a sigh into her microphone but Steve could almost see her nod. "Understood!"

O~O

Finishing off the last of the men who had corned her in one of the side rooms, Natasha snatched up one of their rifles and slung it over her shoulder. She had used up all of her own ammo but luckily she had her pick of theirs now that they were all unconscious or dead. Knowing that she didn't have any time to waste, Natasha went up. She clamored up into the rafters, wishing as she did so that she was able to climb as well as Peter could in her human form, then efficiently kicked out one of the rusted windows and climbed through. From there it was easy to run across the roofline and jump to the ground, the abilities granted to her as a Shifter allowing her to easily absorb the impact from the three-story drop.

She lingered in a crouch for a moment to give her eyes the chance to adjust. It was actually brighter outside thanks to the light provided by the lingering sunset on the western horizon and the glow coming off of the moon. As she did so, she listened. Her hearing wasn't as good as Steve or Bruce's and paled in comparison to Clint's but if she really stretched out her senses it was as if she could feel when others were around. Slight changes in heat, small movements in the air, when she focused she was able to feel them all. It made her very, very good at her job. And it was a blessing now because she could immediately tell that the woods were no longer as empty as before.

Natasha couldn't see them, hear them, or smell them but she knew they were there. Just behind the trees, behind the other buildings, watching her. It was an unsettling feeling but what they didn't know is that she was just as aware of them as they were of her. But she wasn't so stupid that she was willing to engage them in an open fire-fight. So she headed for the part of the forest that seemed the least crowded as fast as her feet could carry her.

She made it to the tree-line without them firing off a single shot but that wasn't too unexpected if they thought they still had the element of surprise on their side. So much the better for her. She could hear them now as they began to give chase. They were human so they weren't able to keep up but they were smart and were almost tag-teaming her and attempting to flank her. They got close a few times and she finally started to run as bullets began to whiz by her but they were never quite close enough to hit her.

Natasha frowned and glanced back over her shoulder as she darted in between tree trunks and cleanly swung herself over large rocks and bushes. But as quickly as she was moving, the men behind her now were doing an impressive job of almost keeping up. Swearing under her breath in Russian, Natasha tapped her earpiece to turn her mic on. "I think I've found where the rest of those mercenaries are: in the woods. They must have come up from the tunnels through the other buildings. And I've got a pretty persistent tail!"

Steve immediately answered back. "Do what it takes to lose them. If you can't get to the car, try and swing back around and get back into the building."

"Understood." And she understood what Steve hadn't said. He couldn't afford to send anyone out to help her right now. While she knew Steve himself would probably come limping out to her rescue if she pressed the matter she reminded herself to keep that in mind and only ask for back-up if she was sure that she needed it.

Natasha had made a mental note of where they had parked their SUV but didn't make a bee-line for it, choosing to snake her way to it instead so that the mercenaries couldn't anticipate her end goal and beat her to it. Because that's exactly what she would do if she were in their shoes.

But as she got closer to their parking space she realized that it might be too late for that.

O~O

Steve straightened up as he heard the soft crackle of his earpiece about to sound off. "We have a problem!"

It was Natasha. Looking at Bruce, Steve walked over to the front door as quickly as his still-strained muscles would allow. He hadn't sat back down since Tony had deposited Hammer into his custody. His body wasn't thanking him for it but his pride wouldn't let him do anything different. "What happened?"

"Our ride's been disintegrated. It looks like someone hit it with an RPG about five minutes ago. I hope Tony had a good insurance policy on it."

Steve's heart sank and Bruce's gaze flashed up and met his. They had no way out. Were they being played for fools the whole time? By Hammer? A quick check of his face told him that, no, Hammer was looking and smelling genuinely anxious. But that didn't mean the mercenaries couldn't use him as an unwitting pawn. From what Tony had told him, Steve was certain they intended to ransom Hammer back off to his company but there was no reason they wouldn't be taking advantage of the arrival of the Pack. They weren't just another Shifter pack. This wasn't even Hydra, half scientists, half science experiments. These were professional killers and they knew what they were doing. Something in Steve's mind switched at that moment and he knew this was no longer about making sure the mission ran smoothly; this was about survival.

They wouldn't last alone. They needed to regroup.

Swallowing, Steve turned away from Hammer and Bruce and rumbled into his microphone. "Widow, do what you have to in order to get back here. Everyone else, hold your ground until we find a new exit route." Before he even received an acknowledgment, Steve had already spun around and was looking back at Bruce. He heard a dull boom in the distance and it just made what he was about to say that much more important. "Do you have any access to the security systems yet?"

Bruce let out a long breath and nodded. "Yeah, I just got back into their network remotely. "

That was one point in their favor. "Then do whatever you can to lock this place down as soon as Widow gets back. The tunnel system will be a wild card but I want to know as soon as one of them breaches our perimeter." He didn't know what the security system was capable of, how it matched up to what Steve had grown accustomed to after living with Tony for so long, and it was possible he was asking a lot of Bruce, but he needed all the help his Beta could give him. And judging by the look in Bruce's eyes, he understood that.

"Steve?"

It was Natasha. Steve's focus automatically snapped back to what she was saying. She wasn't talkative during their missions after she received her orders so he knew whatever she was about to say wasn't going to be good. "Go for Steve."

"I could use a little help out here. They've cut off my return path to the factory and they just fired another one of their RPGs at me that got uncomfortably close." Damn, that was what that 'boom' was a few seconds ago.

Before Steve could respond someone had already jumped on the line. Clint. "Hold on, Widow! I'm coming!" Steve wanted to shake his head. Strategically, sending Thor or risking sending Bruce out would be a better choice and make up for some of the weaknesses Natasha had but he knew that Clint would do whatever was necessary to keep Natasha safe.

"Watch your back, Hawkeye. You and Widow take out as many of them as you can but don't put yourself in unnecessary risk. And I want the both of you back in here as soon as possible. Tony, Thor, you get back here as quickly as you can too and we can all assemble by the main entrance. We'll have to figure out a new way out of here."

As Steve was expecting, the new command got a response from Tony. "They've got to have some sort of vehicle around here. If I can get to it, I'm sure I'd be able to hotwire it!" As tense as he sounded, Steve was glad to hear his mate's voice. It helped to calm and center him and convince him that, at least for now, Tony was alright. It didn't hurt that he also made a good suggestion.

"You're right, but without a known destination though we'd be wandering all over the compound looking for a car or truck. That could open us up to new attacks. There's something I want to try before we reach that point."

"Whatever you say. You're the man with the plan, big dog."

Shaking his head at the nickname, Steve looked back up to redirect his attention to Bruce. "Can you get me a radio signal out?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I should be able to do that. I'll have to direct some of my focus to from the security system but Tony's computer should be capable of that…"As he spoke, Bruce's fingers were already flying across the keyboard as he pulled a new window up onto the screen.

"Good. Make it happen. And that's fine. We can't do anything about trying to lock the building down until we get Widow and Hawkeye back in."

Hammer, who until that point had been silently watching the whole exchange, chose then to speak up. "Who are you calling?"

Given their situation, Steve saw no point in lying about this particular matter but he didn't so much as look at the man as he answered his question. "I'm going to use SHEILD's frequency to reach anyone who can hear me." It was a long shot but there was a chance that it would work.

Bruce didn't seem to share his optimism and reached up to nervously adjust his glasses before pushing his fingers back through his hair. "There's no way anyone would be out here, Steve. The signal won't reach far enough to even reach the local police station or park ranger with just this laptop, even if it is Tony's."

"Maybe. We'll see."

"What does that mean?"

Sighing, Steve gave a little shrug as he turned his flashlight back towards the dark spaces that were pressing in around them. He liked setting up their meeting point at the main entrance. They already knew the layout, there were highpoints for Clint and Natasha to position themselves in, there was an exterior door that they would be able to control, and it formed a natural bottleneck so they wouldn't be ambushed by a horde of over-armed soldiers. But more than that, it was noticeable and if anyone came for them, this would be the first place they would look. If the back-up plan Steve had established worked, this is where things would happen. "Before we left, I sent out a coded message to Phil in case we had an emergency. Hopefully he received it and has his ears on." If he had learned nothing else from all the years he had spent leading the Pack and—prior to that—the Howling Commandoes, it was that you should always have a Plan "B".

O~O

Tony scowled, Steve's words ringing in his ears. Sometimes he made too much sense for his own good. As soon as Tony had heard Natasha come on the line and say that their ride had been destroyed, he had been ready to race around the whole facility and look for one of theirs. They hadn't just appeared out of thin air, they had to have some sort of transportation around. But then Steve had gone and made a logical argument for why that was a stupid idea. He probably still would've done it but he had heard the real concern in his mate's voice. The situation hadn't gotten bad enough where the alpha Wolf had allowed fear to creep into his tone, but Tony had lived with him long enough to know that they were getting uncomfortably close to that point.

By that point, Tony had run to nearly the other end of the building. He had been following the Lion's scent but he knew he was getting close when he heard Thor let out an impressive battle cry as he undoubtedly beat someone's face in with his fist. There was one door left in between him and Thor and after speeding up he used his shoulder to make short work of it. Tony realized the thing was probably unlocked as he heard the wood splinter but that was fine because getting the door open wasn't the only reason he wanted to make a dramatic entrance.

Just as Tony intended the two men left standing around Thor instantly looked over as Tony burst into the room. That gave Thor the chance he needed to take out one of them and Tony charged the other. A bullet grazed Tony's shoulder as he rushed forward but ignored the sharp sting of pain and snarled as he leapt at the man, jumping straight at the soldier's center mass. He bowled him over and landed on top of him with a grunt then, as quick as he could, rolled over and wrapped the soldier up in a choke-hold. The man fought back and if Tony were human he probably would have been able to throw him off but as it was Tony managed to keep pressure on the man's neck until he finally fell limp in Tony's arms and lost consciousness.

The room fell silent and Tony rolled off of the mercenary to look around for Thor. The Lion was lowering the body of the soldier he had gone toe to toe with to the ground. Tony saw some blood coming out of the man's nose and wondered what Thor had done to him but didn't even think to ask. He probably didn't want to know. Thor let out a sigh and moved across the room to stand over Tony where he was still sprawled out on the floor. Now that he was closer, Tony could see that there was a cut across the Lion's cheek and a long bruise around his neck, like someone had tried to asphyxiate him. Tony shook his head and grinned tiredly up at him. "So I'm here to rescue you. You're welcome."

Thor smirked wryly. "I suppose I owe you thanks then. It is only right, I suppose, as your arrival provided me with a much needed distraction. Though there were only two of them remaining, they were tiring me out and I had feared that they might catch me off guard." He looked down at Tony for a moment longer before reaching a hand out. "Do you need assistance?"

"No, I'm not an old man…" But he was getting there. Tony bit back a moan as he refused Thor's hand and instead pushed himself up onto his feet. It took a second longer than it should have but he got there. "Now…" Straightening up, Tony wiped at a bit of blood that had seeped out onto his shirt from the cut left by the bullet grazed him. "All we have to do is make it back to the main entrance, which is on the opposite side of the building, without getting anymore bullets in us. Easy."

"It need not be overly difficult," Thor argued back. "I had cleared the other rooms as I pushed my way through and forced the remaining combatants into here. It is true they nearly overwhelmed me but there are benefits of working as part of a group!"

Tony smirked. "So you didn't hear about that whole tunnel thing?"

Thor tilted his head to the side. "I believed you, Natasha, and Clint had dealt with that. Is that not what kept you from assisting me sooner?"

"That was a number of different things." Dealing with Hammer, taking a moment with Steve…Yeah, he probably could have gotten there sooner but Thor was alive so that's all that mattered. "But I have no idea how far those tunnels go or who—or what—is down there. Hammer seemed to think that we haven't even seen the half of it yet."

A serious, hard glint settled in Thor's eyes and his lips drew into a thin line. "Then we had best follow Steve's advice and regroup at the main entrance."

"Which takes us back to the problem of how we're going to get there."

"I can only see one answer to your problem."

Tony was pretty sure he knew which answer Thor was referring to. "We just run out there and deal with whatever we find?"

"Precisely. Do you disagree?"

"Mn, nope. Let's do it." Tony didn't really see another way around it. He had already taken a look at the security system and knew that there essentially weren't any cameras inside the building and there definitely hadn't been any in the tunnels. Tony only had the equipment he was carrying with him and that didn't include any thermo-vision binoculars or other gadgets. There was no way Thor had any on him. Tony had a small case of tools but there was nothing for him to hack into.

So they went with Thor's plan.

Tony's eyesight was slightly better than Thor's in the low light levels so he led the way. He had said that they would "run" through but he was a bit more cautious than that as they padded through the now eerily empty factory floor. For once Thor's footsteps were nearly silent, as were Tony's, the two acting like the Cat's they both were. Tony was trying to look everywhere at once and stretched out his senses to try and check the spaces he couldn't see.

They made it to the main factory floor, the one where Steve had gotten injured, before Tony heard the slightest hint of a sound. At first he thought it was just loose debris and brick fragments still falling loose from the wall that had collapsed on Steve but after a moment of silence he realized that those noises may have been part of what he was listening to but that wasn't all. There was a rhythmic undertone to it. One that didn't sound like falling bricks.

Stopping behind one of the old pieces of steel machinery, Tony help up his hand and whispered as quietly as he could, "Shh…You hear that?"

Thor narrowed his eyes and moved to stand closer to him. Tony could tell that he was listening and after a moment understanding lit his eyes and he nodded. "There are multiple men approaching, and they are carrying something heavy. But where did they come from? This direction leads only to the front entrance."

"Yeah, the tunnels are between there and here." Which was exactly what Tony had been worried about. He thought about getting Steve on the line but what good would that do? That would just make his mate come out to help him and he was in no shape to do that. He and Thor could make a break for it but it sounded like whoever was coming at them was nearly on the factory floor. They wouldn't be able to get around them without getting caught in whatever mess the soldiers were planning. "Okay. Okay, we're going to have to face them head on but we'll wait for them to show their hand first. But they give us the chance we're going to sneak around them and get back to Steve."

Thor tilted his head, probably not understanding one of the idioms Tony had just used but he seemed to have gotten the gist. "We are running then?"

"I prefer the term strategic retreat."

Thor growled but nodded. They stood together and Tony held his breath as they waited. As they drew closer Tony was able to tell that there were four of him and he wanted to scoff. There were only four of them, what were they thinking? Thor had taken out nearly six men by himself just a few minutes ago.

Tony realized what exactly they were thinking as they stepped into the room and the dull light in the room was just strong enough to glint off of a long, wide-mouth barrel each of them were carrying. He wasn't able to get a clear look at it but he didn't need to. He knew what they were because he was there when Hammer had done a big press release last August to reveal the damn things. He had thought it was a stupid idea then but now that he was facing it down he had to admit that it had some intimidation behind it. It was essentially a hand-held missile launcher complete with heat-seeking ammunition and smart technology options. It was just about impossible to get close enough to take the gun away. Even if they were able to, the guns were developed to send out an electric pulse to stun the person who had taken the gun away from its original owner through a biorhythm scanner in the gun itself unless the owner properly deactivated it. They were entirely over-designed and not at all feasible to mass-produce for the military or law-enforcement, which is why they hadn't caught on but apparently Hammer had manufactured at least four of them. That son of a bitch.

Tony tensed as one of the men stepped forward and shouted into the darkness. He doubted the mercenary could see them but it didn't matter much. Their ammunition would be able to see for them. "I don't know where the fuck you were trained, but no more of our men are dying because of you! Step out and take what's coming to you!"

Time seemed to freeze as Tony considered his options. This didn't look good for them. There was no way that either he or Thor would be able to survive the volley and he wouldn't be fast enough to avoid all of the slugs in his human form. A Cat might be able to do it though. That being said, there was no way to cover up or hide his shifting from the men but given the choice between shifting and dying Tony knew which one he was going to pick. He just hoped that his heart was healed enough for this.

One quick glance at Thor was all it took for Tony to know that he had come to the same conclusion. The Lion took one step away and seemly shifted into his Lion form and, after drawing in one last deep breath, Tony followed suit. He felt his heart give one, then two frightening stutters but then he finishing the transformation and the strain was taken off of his heart as Tony's body settled into its Cat form. He had an uncomfortable feeling that he had come dangerously close to another heart attack but shook it off, not having the time to deal with that. There were other, more immediate life-threatening issues to focus on.

O~O

Steve paced in front of Hammer and Bruce as his Beta finished sending his emergency signal out. He didn't know if it would even work but until then they would have to hold down the fort and come up with a plan "C". He couldn't risk the safety of everyone in his Pack on the chance that someone within SHIELD had received his first signal and was now within close enough range to get the second. The plan Tony had come up with was the only one that made sense to Steve right now. He hadn't seen any vehicles around the grounds when they had entered the facility and had a sinking sensation that they had rigged up some form of underground garage. They seemed to rely heavily on the tunnels; it would make sense that they were store their transportation down there too if they were able.

Speaking of Tony, where was he? There was no reason going to get Thor was taking so long. Unless something had gone wrong.

"I think I should go after Tony."

Bruce shook his head without even looking up from his screen. "I would advise against it. If anyone goes out, it should be me. But Tony just went out a few minutes ago. We'll give him and Thor a little bit longer before we start to worry."

Steve knew that Bruce was right, that he was just being oversensitive because this was Tony and he was already on edge. But that didn't make the feeling any easier to sit with.

He kept pacing and Bruce did glance up this time and had barely gotten his mouth open to talk—probably to tell Steve to sit back down before he fell down—but was cut off not by a 'boom' like before but definitely some sort of high-powered weapon firing off. It was louder this time, like it had come from inside the building, and it made both Bruce and Hammer scramble up onto their feet.

Steve looked back and saw the blood ran from Hammer's face. "Oh shit." The man took a step back to put Steve and Bruce between him and the door to the rest of the factory. "I know what that was."

"What was it?"

"Well, I called it the Homewrecker."

O~O

As soon as Tony and Thor had shifted the mercenaries fired off their first round. Tony turned to the left while Thor bounded off to the right so that they could try and flank the men and Tony narrowly able to avoid being hit by any of the blasts as the ammunition exploded against a wall where he had been running just a second before. The wall shuddered and for a moment Tony thought it was going to come down too and scrambled to get away from the brick edifice, his dark tail whipping out behind him as he dove for cover.

He didn't have much time to think of anything else besides continuing to move when one of the soldiers launched a different-sounding munition from their gun. It sounded weird, more like a deep thud than a regular round being fired, and a heartbeat later Tony knew why as the projectile hit the ground in the center of the large room. It hadn't landed anywhere near either Tony or Thor but as soon as it made impact with the ground there was a hollow-sounding explosion and a cloud of grey and black smoke immediately started to billow out of it and filling the air.

The room had been dark before but thanks to the smoke bomb even Tony with his advanced vision couldn't see more than two feet in front of his nose. It was a major blow because the mercenaries didn't need to see to kill them. Meanwhile, Tony was suddenly completely dependent on his sense of smell and sound and he hated it. The only thing he was able to see were quick flashes of shadow and the clouds of dust and smoke still rolling through the air in front of him. He was just glad he was able to sense the walls as he drew close to them because otherwise he was sure he'd be banging his head on everything.

With all the changing shadows, it felt like they were everywhere at once. He didn't know where Thor was and—damn it, this wasn't good! Hearing another one of the miniature missiles fire off, Tony scrambled to move but wasn't quite quick enough to avoid the blast. A yowl burst from his mouth as the room momentarily lit up with a blinding light that threw him into the air, the room falling back into darkness by the time he slammed back into the ground.

He rolled over once due to the momentum from the impact then lingered on the ground for a second to make sure nothing was broken. Once running down a mental checklist and coming to the conclusion that nothing was broken, Tony shakily forced himself back up onto his four paws and shook himself off. He couldn't afford to stay in the same place for long. He scented the air for Thor but all he got was smoke, metal, and oil. Shoving down his panic, Tony desperately thought of a plan. He had no idea where Thor was or if he had even made it through that last barrage.

The mercenaries were still firing on him and Tony had been running the whole time, dodging between the large machines built into the factory floor to try and get the ammunition to hit the steel mechanics instead of him. He knew there was no way he was going to survive at this rate so Tony skidded towards the wall, searching out a door that would get him out. He was entirely turned around at this point and had no idea if he was even near an entrance—he wouldn't have even known up from down if gravity hadn't been around—but he knew he had to try. There was at least one other door in the room besides the one the soldiers were blocking and he had to find it.

It took Tony what felt like a solid half an hour but was probably more like five minutes but his strategy of running in the opposite direction of the missile fire finally worked. As soon as he ducked through the open doorway he knew it wasn't the one he and Thor had just come through but right then it didn't matter to him. Feeling his heartbeat speed up, Tony forced himself to shift back into his human form as soon as he thought he was temporarily out of the line of fire of even the smart rounds they were firing off.

He shivered as the cold air hit his skin and he suddenly felt very exposed in his human form, tired, nervous, and naked. Reaching up, he shakily felt for his earpiece. "Steve…Steve, I could really use some back-up…"

"Where are you? Thor just got back and said you were supposed to be following him! What happened?" Steve sounded worried. Because he was a highly intelligent person. He knew that Tony was in trouble. But at least Thor had been able to get through. Tony would have been upset but that was what he told the Lion to do and was what he was supposed to have done too. He just hadn't been able to.

"Main factory floor. That's as much detail as I got for you right now. I got a little turned around. Fuck. Steve, I don't think we're getting out of here…" Once they had finished him off they were probably going to make their way towards the front and none of them were in any shape to take those guns on. Even if Bruce shifted and did manage to take them out, they were still evidentially surrounded. He had no idea where Natasha and Clint were or if they were still alive—neither of them had checked in since Natasha's distress call had come through—and even Thor was starting to get worn down. They were screwed. They never should have come out here. Tony should have just let things lie and let Hammer get whatever was coming to him but now the whole Pack was going to die because he couldn't let things go. Peter was going to be an orphan because Tony couldn't let things go.

"Don't talk like that. Just, stay where you are, I'm going to come get you."

"What? No, that's a stupid idea. That's a very stupid idea, Steve. We'd both be lost then." And as defenseless as fish in a barrel.

"I'm not going to leave you out there, Tony!"

"I'm going to make it back to where you are. Don't come after me, Steve!" The first part wasn't something Tony could promise but he did intend to try. He wasn't exactly keen on the idea of just waiting around here to die on his own either. But the last thing he wanted was for Steve to rush in to the fray to try and save him. Tony shook his head at the thought. He just needed to think of a way through! He just needed a plan!

Growling in fear and frustration, Tony dug his nails into his palms and was about to just run back out into the main room when his thoughts were disrupted as blaring white lights pierced through the grime on the exterior windows above him. It took him half a second to realize how lights could reach that far up but when he did all of the uncertainty rushed out of him. He heard the sound of a loud engine in the next moment and a broad smile spread across his face. "Oh, there we go! Steve, you're a fucking miracle worker, big dog."

The bright light hovered where they were for a moment then roared down the length of the building and a second later one of the best sounds Tony had ever heard echoed out through his earpiece: it was Natasha and she had never had better news. "Steve, Tony, SHIELD is here! The soldiers out here are scattering, probably to whatever holes they came out of."

Tony was still smiling as he straightened and reached back to grab at the frame of the doorway he had clawed his way through. "What the hell is SHIELD doing here? I thought they weren't coming."

O~O

Steve grinned as he heard the smile in Tony's voice. "I sent them a message. I guess they decided to answer."

He watched as a white light streamed into the room then ran over to the main door and threw it open. Steve felt Bruce, Thor, and Hammer crowd behind him and the four of them watched as a large black jet with the SHIELD logo emblazoned on its belly landed right in the open space in front of the factory, its headlight lighting up the building like the noon-day sun. The rotating turbine system kicked up a small storm of dust and bits of concrete and as Steve blocked his eyes he almost missed it as the back cargo bay door swung down and none other than Agent Phil Coulson himself stepped out. He could have collapsed from the amount of relief he was feeling but managed to keep his feet.

Phil walked down the ramp and seemed to let out a large sigh as his eyes met Steve's but there was a smile on his face too. "Need a lift?"

"As it happens…yeah. We could also use some mission support." As Steve spoke, a figure emerged from behind Phil and Steve's eyes widened then narrowed as he managed to place who it was. It had taken him a second because this seemed so out of context. It was Erik Lensherr, the alpha Wolf who had been tangled up in Hydra's experimentation and who, along with his mate, had adopted most of the other children who had been experimented on as well. His eyes bounced back to Phil and he raised his brow. "What's he doing here?"

Phil glanced back at Erik who was dressed in tactical gear and clearly there to fight. "I thought we might need a little extra muscle."

"So you called him?"

"He called us."

Erik chose then to interrupt and walked down the ramp to stand next to Phil. "I had heard about Stark's troubles with the bombing and shooting on the news but when rumors reached me that his actions had put your son in danger I knew it was time for me to act. Peter Parker has been through enough in his life and should never have been treated as a bargaining chip by humans." An indignant grunt burst from Steve at the implication that he or Tony willingly allowed that to happen or that Tony had an active role in causing Peter to be kidnapped but Erik continued to speak. "I contacted Assistant Director Carter who transferred my concerns to Agent's Coulson. By that time the boy had been recovered but I insisted that I be involved so the whole matter could be put to rest before any more harm came to him."

Steve growled at the other alpha Wolf's voice but Phil quickly stepped between them. "He'll be able to help, Steve. That's why I brought him along. Now let's get this cleaned up so we can get on our way."

"Right." If Phil thought this was a good idea, Steve wasn't going to let his dislike of the other man's attitude keep him from offering aid. Stepping forward out of the doorway, secure in the idea that he wouldn't be shot down as soon as he did so after Natasha's warning that the mercenaries in the woods were retreating, Steve grabbed Hammer and dragged him out after him. "You should take him before something unfortunate happens."

Phil's smile returned in grim amusement and he walked out to meet Steve halfway. Hammer let out a short protest but Phil cut him off as he reached around Hammer and grabbed onto the handcuffs that were still attached around his wrist. "Justin Hammer, I am temporarily placing you into SHIELD custody to be transferred to the FBI's care as soon as we get back to the city. They've been looking forward to having a word with you about your weapons deals with possible enemies of the state, as well as the contracted murder of local businessmen."

"I'm sure the accommodations will be first-class." And Steve hoped that he next time he had saw him was in court.

He watched as Phil escorted Hammer back into the jet then turned his attention towards Erik and his expression immediately sobered. "If you are really here to help we need to move, now. Two of my pack members are out in the trees and Tony is further into the building under heavy fire. I believe the two pack members in the woods will be able to make it back on their own," at least, Steve did now that he had heard from Natasha, "but I need your help to go after Tony."

Erik gave him a condescending look but nodded. "I am here to help. Lead the way."

"Okay." Turning back around to face Bruce and Thor, Steve nodded at each of them. Now that Hammer wasn't around, he switched back to using their proper names. "Bruce, you use the security equipment to scan the woods for Clint and Natasha. Hopefully they're on their way back, but if you see any more mercenaries out there, I need for you, Clint, and Natasha to take care of them." He wasn't going to have anyone trying to sabotage this escape plan. "Thor, you're going back in with me and Erik." Thor had been starring uncertainly at Erik, probably not liking him in the same way that Tony instantly had. But he too knew enough not to reject the plan simply because Erik rubbed him the wrong way.

"Very well. Let us retrieve Tony and then leave this place."

"That's the plan."

O~O

The mercenaries who had Tony cornered had fallen silent for a moment after seeing the jet pass by but now Tony could hear them walking slowly across the factory floor, searching for him. "I don't know who the hell you called in, but they won't make it in time to save you, you shifting freak! I know we nicked you, so crawl out here and let us finish the job!"

Rolling his eyes, Tony tried to still the tremors in his tired muscles. They hadn't said much that would actually make him want to come out of hiding. And he knew that they had a point. Even if SHIELD had arrived, there was still time for one of these four guys to find him. When the lights from the jet had shone in through the windows and smoke, Tony had been able to see for the first time that the room he was in wasn't very large. More like a walk-in storage room. If one of them launched a missile into the room he'd have no way to escape the blast and it would definitely kill him.

"Dammit, I hear someone coming. Go secure the door!"

Tony realized that they were talking to each other and perked up.

"I don't see anyone…Wait…I think…Shit, three shifters coming in fast!"

"Take them out! You, follow me! We're hunting this other son of a bitch down!"

Another volley of high-powered ammunition split the air but this time it wasn't directed at him and Tony took this as a chance to shift back, despite his unsteady heart palpitations, and slide around the corner back onto the main factory floor. The smoke was finally beginning to disperse and he could see the forms of the four men. Two of them were facing the door that led back out towards the main entrance, firing wildly into the hallway, and two of them were within one hundred feet of where Tony was. Having black fur in a dark room had its advantages though and he crept out. Now that they were in the middle of the room there was a chance he might be able to sneak up from behind them and take them out. Before he could though, a loud roar echoed out over the sound of gunfire and Thor rushed out of the hallway, miraculously intact, and tackled one of the men firing on him to the ground. The gun never left the soldiers hand so Thor didn't get a shock and let his teeth and claws dig into the man's skin.

The attack and the screams of their comrade caused the other three mercenaries to spin around and look which was just the chance Tony was waiting for. And was the chance others were apparently waiting for too. As Tony leapt at the man closest to him he saw a gold and dark brown blur out of the corner of his eye. He immediately recognized the gold color but he didn't like that he couldn't place the other. Soon Tony didn't care as he landed on one of the mercenaries with an angry cry and tore into the man's body armor. His buddy stumbled back and turned his weapon on both Tony and the soldier Tony was attacking but before he pulled the trigger a gold Wolf was on top of him.

Tony's claws finally pierced through the armor of the man he was attacking and he focused on tearing through the exposed patch of skin. The man had been flailing the whole time but wasn't able to dislodge him and Tony bit down and tasted blood. The mercenary screamed then had enough adrenaline and fear running through him that he was actually able to throw Tony for a minute. But instead of turning around and taking aim, the soldier took off and ran from the room with blood spilling from his side.

Tony let him go. He didn't have the energy to hunt him down—barely had he energy to stand—and he doubted that the soldier could be coming back for them. Tony instead took a moment to try and catch his breath but then he heard a loud yelp. The man Steve had been attacking hadn't been able to get a good shot at Steve when the Wolf was so close so he had instead unstrapped his weapon and thrown it at him. As soon as the gun had hit Steve it had done exactly what it was designed to do and let out an electric pulse strong enough to knock the alpha Shifter to the ground. Then Tony saw a silver glint and watched as the man pulled a long knife from his belt. The dark brown Wolf who had come in with Steve had seen it too but instead of running over, he turned away and ran after the man Tony had let escape.

Cursing in his head, Tony used every last bit of strength he had left in his body and charged forward, literally ramming into the mercenary just as he was about to plunge the knife into Steve's side. The soldier swore and swung around wildly as he was knocked to the ground and the blade caught along Tony's rib cage, slicing a long cut into Tony's skin. Yowling in pain, Tony returned the favor but with more force behind his blows and pretty soon the mercenary stopped moving altogether.

Once he was sure the man was down for the count, Tony forced himself back up onto all four feet and limped over to where Steve was struggling to get himself upright. Tony quickly shifted back into his human form and Steve did the same. "Hey, hey, take it easy, big dog. You alright?"

Steve grimaced and let Tony pull him up into a seated position. "Ugh…Yeah…"

"You're a terrible liar."

Steve sent him a shaky smile but before he could come up with a decent response they heard footsteps coming into the room and Tony looked up to see a face he surprisingly recognized. Resentment welled up hot in his chest as Erik Lensherr walked back into the room and he realized who the other Wolf had been. "Lensherr!"

Lensherr 's eyes widened a bit in surprise as his eyes connected with Tony's. It took a moment for Tony to think of what he would have been surprised about before he remembered that the other Wolf didn't know that he was a Shifter. Lensherr's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at Tony before he let out a soft hum. "Interesting."

Tony snarled at him and pulled Steve up a bit more. "Look, if you have a problem with me let's just take care of it right now." Bloodlust was still swarming through his veins and if Erik wanted to fight Tony was only too happy to take the Wolf on.

"I don't have any interest in fighting you, Stark."

"If you tell anyone—!"

"You're secret is safe enough with me."

"It better be! And what the hell was that?! You just let Steve open for attack!"

Lensherr had the balls to roll his eyes and walked over to stand over them, looking entirely unscathed with a spatter of human blood across his chest. "I expected him to fend for himself, he should be perfectly capable of it."

Steve waved a hand to try and quiet Tony but Tony wasn't having any of it. "He was injured, you dick!"

"If he's healthy enough to walk, I'll assume he's healthy enough to fight. If that's not true, he should speak up."

"Hey! Enough!" Steve pushed against his hand with a soft growl and Tony got the message and helped him to his feet. "Tony, I'm fine. Let's focus on getting out of here."

Steve was definitely not fine, none of them were, but leaving was all Tony wanted to do so he didn't disagree. Thor finally made his way over to them and Tony let him take some of Steve's weight and together they made their way back through the factory towards the main entrance with Erik leading the way. Tony hadn't been one hundred percent sure that they were going to make it in one piece of somehow they did and when he saw Agent Coulson standing outside in front of his jet Tony didn't think the man had ever looked more amazing.

According to Coulson, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce had just returned themselves after taking a minute to calm Bruce back down to his human form. Apparently he had taken Steve's orders to heart and when he had seen a few mercenaries sneaking around on the perimeter had taken it upon himself to deal with them. Or at least his Wolf had.

Tony grinned at the SHIELD agent after he had helped him get Steve on board and get him settled in one of the seats. "You couldn't have brought more help with you?"

Coulson tilted his head as they slowly walked towards the jet's cockpit. "This wasn't exactly an authorized SHIELD mission."

"So, what, you just flew out on your own? How'd you get this jet?" Sure, Tony had access to this sort of transportation but he knew most regular people didn't.

"The Assistant Director happened to leave the newest access code to the SHEILD hanger at our airport out on her desk in plain sight and I have a good memory."

Tony scoffed. For not being an authorized SHIELD mission it sure sounded like there was a lot of authoritative SHIELD agents involved in it. "Do you even know how to fly it?" He knew Coulson had a surprising array of hidden talents but this jet had an advanced operation system and given it's martial capabilities there was a very high probability of doing a lot of damage if you pressed the wrong button.

Coulson just gave a little shrug. "I had to make a call but she was able to walk me through it. I was hoping that you might be able to take us back."

"What, you think I know how to fly this thing?"

"You did help us design it three years ago. I thought you might know how to work the controls."

"Well you're not wrong." Tony didn't know if he was up for flying back the whole way since he felt like he was about to pass out on his feet but he could at least get the jet off the ground and program the auto-pilot to take them to a safe location.

Tony practically collapsed down into the pilot's seat and Coulson sat down beside him as co-pilot. As he began to get the jet revved up, he jerked his head back towards where Erik was. He had taken a seat behind Steve, who already looked half asleep, and beside Clint who was giving him confused side-glances out of the corner of his eye when he thought Erik wasn't looking. "What's with Lensherr's suit?" Erik had redressed and was wearing an advanced tactical suit, clearly SHIELD issue by the eagle logo on one of the arms. But on the other arm was a patch with an "X" on it. Bruce had said it was the same one he had been wearing when the alpha Wolf arrived.

Coulson looked back too. "SHIELD is issuing new gear for our teams. Yours should be arriving to your team shortly. We would have gotten them to you sooner but you've been a little…difficult lately."

Snorting, Tony delicately pulled back on the controls that would turn the turbine engines so that they could lift-off straight up into the air like a helicopter. It was one of his better ideas, which was saying a lot. "What's the 'X' for?"

"It's to designate to our field agents what team he's a part of." Tony gave him a look and Coulson continued to explain. "Because of the high rate of success we've experienced with your team, SHIELD has decided to take on a second Shifter response team and therefore found it necessary to start different designations."

"So assuming SHIELD is going to take us back, we're what? Team Rogers? Or, sorry, Team Captain? Because I'm going to tell you right now, that sounds ridiculous."

"It does. And you're not. You're Team 'A'."

"Original. And so they're…what? Team 'X'?"

"Exactly."

"Please don't tell me you dredged up a team 'B' through 'W' too." It was bad enough to imagine that they might have to have increased contact with that Lensherr asshole through missions. Tony didn't even want to guess at what dealing with twenty-two other team leaders would be like.

A smile slipped back onto Coulson's lips. "No. The 'X' stands for 'Xavier' since, despite being an omega, he was the leading proponent of the idea. The older children he's been raising are slated to join them as soon as they pass through basic SHIELD training."

"So why are we Team 'A'?" None of their names started with A.

"Because you were the first."

"Works for me. By the way though, we're going to need to re-negotiate the terms under which we work for SHIELD."

Coulson didn't seem at all surprised by the request. "Understood. I thought you might. I'll set up a meeting with Director Fury."

O~O~O~O

The ride home was blissfully uneventful with nearly all of them passing out in their seats within the first twenty minutes. Tony stayed awake that long just to make sure all the systems were running properly before taking the seat next to Steve and quickly drowsing off. Phil and the jet's auto-pilot managed to get them to the private airport Tony stored his own planes at safely and as soon as they touched ground there were three SHIELD vehicles and five cop cars on site to take Hammer away. When he saw them, Tony had a bad feeling that they were there for the Pack too but the SHIELD agents ignored them as if they weren't even there and the police clearly didn't have any interest in who they were or what they were doing there. Erik quickly disappeared without so much as a good-bye but neither Tony nor Steve were too broken up about that.

Happy was also there with a limo of all things. When Tony had raised a brow, his driver had just shrugged and said it was the first car he had been able to find in the garage with enough space for everyone. Natasha had located a bottle of scotch Tony didn't remember leaving in there and she, Tony, Clint, and Thor each took a healthy serving of it after making a silent toast to getting Hammer, uncovering a terrorist nest, and surviving the night.

When they got back home Peter was waiting for them in the foyer and immediately attached himself to Tony and Steve's sides. As everyone else wandered upstairs to get cleaned up, the Steve guided the three of them into the media room. Steve slowly lowered himself down onto the couch beside Peter and Tony flopped down on top of him. He really shouldn't be lying all over the couch like this. It was white and all the blood and sweat and grime was really going to stain. He would probably need to get it reupholstered. Oh well.

Peter, who had been silent up till then, spoke up. "Did you get him?"

Tony grunted out an affirmative noise then clarified. "Pop made us turn him over to the authorities. But based on the charges the police listed out, he's getting a minimum of fifty years in prison."

"What if he gets lawyers?"

"I'll get better ones."

That seemed to settle the matter and for a long moment no one said anything else, all three of them just appreciating the others' company. Steve was the first one to break the stillness and his question was so normal it surprised a burst of laughter from Tony. "So, how was school?"

Peter sighed then grinned up at Steve. "Good."

"Yeah? Is everything going alright with your classmates?"

"Yeah. Everything seems a lot easier after you get kidnapped."

Snorting, Tony shook his head. "Huh…That's one way to look at it…" And it showed how strong of a kid Peter was. But there was no way that he should have even been able to make the comparison. Rolling over a bit, Tony looked up at Steve. "I want back in."

"What?"

"On the missions. I want back in. I want to be Ironman again." He missed the stupid nickname. But more than that, he had realized that if his family was going to be in danger anyway, he wanted to be a more integral part in keeping them safe. And not just his family, but keeping the world safe from people like Hammer and the mercenaries who had nearly gotten the better of them. Tony would need to get retrained, sure, but he knew that he could make a real difference if he put more of his time and energy into the Pack's activities.

Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Pete doesn't need me here all the time anymore, do you?"

Peter shook his head. "Not unless someone tries to kidnap me again."

Steve closed his eyes. "That's not funny."

"I didn't say it was."

Tony sighed and shook his head. He wasn't going to let that happen again anytime soon. "Well, with Hammer behind bars those chances are slim now. Besides, you need me out there with you, Captain."

Tilting his head to the side, Peter looked from Tony to Steve as Steve smirked. "What's 'Ironman' and 'Captain'?"

Right. They had kept Peter so separated from the Pack's missions that he didn't even know what they were talking about now. "Those are the codenames SHIELD gave us for our missions."

"Oh…Hey, could I come with you next time?"

The question came so out of left field that Tony couldn't even process it and he just blinked back at his son. "Huh?"

"Can I come out with you on your mission?"

"No way."

Peter opened his mouth to defend himself but Steve was quick to back Tony up. "Not yet. You're still too young."

"Someday?"

"No."

Steve sighed at both of them. "We'll see. But for now you should focus on your studies."

Peter wanted to protest but he knew when a topic of conversation was closed and didn't argue. Neither of his parents looked like they were in the mood for it and the last thing he wanted to do was get in a fight right after they got home. "Okay."

Another bout of silence fell between them and Peter perked back up as a thought struck him. "Hey Dad, Pop?" When he didn't get an immediate response, he sat up and realized that they had both fallen asleep beside him. "Hmm…"

O~O

Bruce had been listening for Steve, Tony, and Peter to come upstairs but when half an hour had passed by and he didn't hear anything, he tiredly made his way back downstairs to investigate. He found all three of them sprawled out on the couch in the media room with Tony's head resting on Steve's chest and Peter writing something on a stack of papers in front of him. As soon as he heard Bruce coming in, Peter put his pen down and smiled up at Bruce as the older beta let out a soft laugh. "Ha, it looks like they tired themselves out."

"Yeah."

"I think it's time for everyone to get to bed. Why don't you go upstairs and get changed while I get your Dads up?"

Usually Peter would whine a bit about being told to go to sleep but even he seemed happy for an excuse to get some rest. The last few days couldn't have been easy for him and Bruce was sure that he was almost as tired as the rest of them were. "Sure."

Walking around the couch, Bruce was about to lean over to shake Steve and Tony awake when Peter's homework caught his attention. It was a doodle on the bottom half of a graded worksheet of three figures. Pete wasn't the best artist but even Bruce knew that it was Steve, Tony, and Peter dressed in the sort of gear they wore out on missions. Over Steve he wrote "Captain", over Tony "Ironman", and over the little drawing of himself there was a cloud of eraser marks and the word "Spiderman".

Bruce's eyebrows lifted in surprise and a small smile flickered onto his face. "'Spiderman', huh?"

His voice woken Tony a bit and the Cat's brow pinched before he let out a soft grunt. "Hmm…What's a Spiderman?"

"Nothing. Yet anyway." Reaching down, Bruce covered up the drawing under some other papers. "Now, let's get you and Steve upstairs. I'm sure we'll have a full day tomorrow."