Chapter 17

Tony's repulsors flashed and sparked as power slowly cut in and out. He maneuvered his way carefully back towards the factory as he quickly lost altitude before crash landing on the roof. He had to admit, it wasn't his worst landing ever, but definitely not his best.

"Tony," came JC's voice, but it sounded much closer than the through the comm. system. He looked over to see JC kneeling beside him. He removed one gauntlet knowing he needed to get out of the suit and lifted his faceplate.

"JC?" he breathed, still not believing what he saw. How could she have been here and still been aware of what was going on in the battle? Then he saw the glasses on her head. "What are you doing here?" he asked, finally pulling himself from his stupor. "I told you to stay away."

"Yeah, because I always listen to you," she sarcastically as she helped him to a standing position.

"You said you would."

"Actually, no I didn't," she countered.

He was about to argue further when he heard a loud thud and turned to see Stane's massive form as he laughed, "Nice try."

Tony's faceplate clunked back down as he put one arm instinctively in front of JC to protect her and lifted his other hand to fire at Stane. A bare hand came up, and Tony realized belatedly that his gauntlet was already gone. Without a second's hesitation he pushed JC out of the way as Stane landed a hit, sending him back several feet.

JC pulled out the M-16 that she had been holding and fired several rounds at Stane, distracting him for a moment. Every shot ricocheted off his armor, but it drew his attention long enough for Tony to run up and land a punch. It had little effect except to increase Stane's anger. Stane wrapped both hulking arms around Tony's middle and began to squeeze, crushing his armor around him. Sparks flew and fluids were squirting out as he felt the force on his body, his breath rushing from his lungs as he gasped for dear life.

"Weapons status," he groaned, trying to think of something. Jarvis listed off each weapon as offline as JC shot off several more rounds at him. He heard her grunt and saw from what was left of his peripheral as she backed off clutching her left shoulder. With little time left and nothing to speak of for weapons, he had only one option.

"Flares!" he ordered. Sparks went flying everywhere causing Stane to drop him, blinding him momentarily.

"Very clever, Tony," Stane mused as he went looking for his missing prey.

"JC, are you okay?" he whispered in the comm.

"I'm fine. Just grazed by that damn ricochet," she moaned. "Tony, I can't take out his hydraulics with what I've got, and your suit is toast. We need a new plan."

"Potts."

"She's gone with Darren."

"Not exactly," came Pepper's voice over the comm.

"What?" JC ground out, trying to keep her voice down to avoid Stane's attention.

"Argue later," Tony said quickly. "Potts, we've got to overload the reactor, blast the roof."

"How are you going to do that?" she asked.

"You're gonna do it," he said, feeling nothing but sympathy for having to put her in that position. "Go to the central console, open up all the circuits. When we're clear of the roof, you're gonna hit the master bypass button. It's gonna fry everything up here," he explained quickly as he looked out for Stane. The behemoth was still lost in the smoke created by the flares, but it wouldn't last for long.

"Tony, Darren is still inside somewhere. What about him?" she asked.

"Inside?" JC exclaimed. "What the hell were you two thinking?"

"Focus!" Tony commanded. Darren would be fine for the moment.

"Ok, I'm going in now," she said nervously.

"Make sure you wait until we've cleared the roof. I'll buy you some time."

"And if you see Darren in there, make sure to tell him his ass is mine when this is over," JC growled.

Stane moved closer to Tony as the smoke from the flares began to clear. Tony moved quickly around the vent he had been hiding behind until he had Stane's back to him. "JC, get off now."

"We're in this together. I go when you go," she argued. "Now, since we can't immobilize the suit, he's practically invincible in that thing. What do you say we crack that hard shell around him, expose his gooey insides?"

"Now is not the time to be thinking with your girly brain. He's a psycho, not a piece of chocolate."

"I was thinking more along the lines of bug for squishing, but chocolate works, too. Find a way for him to open up his suit."

That was something he might actually be able to do. In one fell swoop he hopped on to Stane's back and latched on. As Stane thrashed about trying to reach him, the H.U.D. scanned the numerous wires that protruded from Stane's neck and found the most likely candidates for the targeting system and visual sensors. He couldn't stay in the suit, if he couldn't see.

"This looks important," he said and yanked at the cables. Now Stane was furious. He reached back and grabbed Tony by the head and jerked him off, sending him flying toward the skylight that sat over the Arc Reactor, his helmet firmly grasped in Stane's iron fist. Stane's suit opened up, revealing the smirking man.

JC, you better have a good plan, Tony thought as he stared up at Stane.

Several shots rang out from her pistol, sparks from ricochets at Stane's feet. Stane looked down half surprised that she was shooting his feet. What was she doing? She had a clear shot of his body, and she shot his feet!

"Give up, Stane," JC growled from Stane's shoulders, pistol pointed at his head.

Tony smirked. That was his girl. He had to hand it to her. Her plans tended to work out better than his.

"What's to stop me from killing him?" Stane threatened. He attempted to raise his arm to take aim with one of the rockets attached to it.

"Which do you think is faster: your arm or my finger?" she challenged driving the muzzle into his temple.

"You won't do it. You want me alive," Stane challenged.

She removed the pistol from his temple and drove it into his right shoulder before firing off one shot. Stane cried in pain, his body visibly slumping over. She placed the now warm muzzle back to his temple, proving her point.

"Normally, I'd agree; but you've tried to kill both of us twice now. I'm not feeling generous at the moment. Last chance. Power down, or the next bullet goes through your brain," she hissed.

"I'd rather die, bitch," he cursed, turning his head to her.

She gave him a glare of hatred as she pulled the trigger on him, ready to end his life. The hammer cocked back and struck nothing, an audible click uttered from its empty barrel. JC stared in horror. She had misjudged her shots. Before Tony could even think to get to her, Stane smirked up at her as he dropped Tony's helmet and grabbed her arm, wrenching her off him and tossed her like a rag doll. Her body flew through the air before colliding with the wall at the edge of the roof, her body lying limp, her limbs skewed about in unnatural positions.

Tony stared at her prone form, anger and fear welling up inside him. His limbs refused to move. He wanted to be at her side, make sure she was even alive, but he was frozen, paralyzed once more, by fear now instead of technology. She couldn't be alive. There was no possible way she could have survived. Tony felt his own bruises from the multiple times Stane had tossed him around, and he was in a suit. Unprotected flesh could never withstand a hit like that.

"I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit," Stane said as he moved toward Tony, crushing the discarded helmet beneath his foot. Tony averted his gaze from JC to him, detestation in his eyes.

"You know, I thought you just wanted another pretty face to hang around, but it would seem she did have a few talents," he taunted. "Not very smart, unlike Pepper, but I'm sure she was better suited to the bedroom than being a bodyguard."

Tony got to his knees, hatred his only fuel. He dared to kill her in that desert, treated her like crap in his own home, violated her, took her life source away, and now he had broken her, destroyed everything of her that was good. How dare he have the gall to even insinuate she would sleep with him. Tony wanted to rip him apart piece by piece with his bare hands, wanted him to feel every ounce of his hatred.

"You finally outdid yourself, Tony. You made your father proud."

My father would only be proud with your death, Stane, he thought.

With his injured arm, Stane raised his machine gun and fired. Tony raised his only gloved hand and spread out the flaps trying to protect his face as the glass around him began to shatter into pieces, sending him through the hole in the middle of the web design. He wrapped his arms around the edge holding on for dear life as he heard the buzz of the reactor below.

"Tony!" Pepper screamed from below. He glanced down at her, dizziness coming over him for a moment from the height. He could see her form clearly and that of Darren who was clutching something glowing in his hand: JC's reactor.

Smart kid, he thought, Too bad it it's useless now.

"How ironic, Tony," Stane applauded. "Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever."

"Pepper," he called down to her, hoping to God she could hear him.

"And now, I'm gonna kill you with it," Stane said and aimed his other arm, which was equipped with missiles. He fired, the shot missing by several yards. "You knocked out my targeting system," Stane scolded lightly, as if talking to a child.

"Time to hit the button," Tony ordered, getting one last look at JC's prone body.

"You told me not to," she yelled up.

Of all the times she chose to question him, this was not the time or place.

"Hold still you little prick," Stane said and fired again. Again he missed.

"Just do it!" he yelled, wishing she would just get it over with.

"You'll die!" she screamed desperately.

Stane's next hit landed closer, causing Tony to lose his grip with one hand.

"Push it!" he yelled. He knew he was going to die. He might as well be dead. JC was gone. There was nothing left for him. The only reason he had gotten this far was with her help. Without it, there was no point. His only consolation was that if he was going down like this, he was going to take the Devil with him. Tony watched as she pressed the button, and Darren rushed her out of the way of the flaring reactor. Bolts of electricity flew in every direction as the reactor erupted in an explosion of white light, the force of it tossing Tony into the air, landing several feet away from the blast.

Stane stayed anchored to his position as the blinding light came up, the electricity frying every system of the suit, burning his body from the sheer amount of power. The blast continued until it reached the sky in a pillar of light and energy, charging the sky like a wild storm and blacking out half of the city in its wake.

Stane's heavy form fell forward in a heap of iron and cords, breaking everything in its path as he landed on the Arc reactor, causing an explosion as the suit ruptured the reactor's casing.

Tony rolled away as a mushroom of smoke and fire erupted from the hole in the building, feeling the last of his power drained. He lay there silently, feeling as his little reactor slowly flittered and eventually died down to little more than a spark. She was gone. His guard, his girl, his life was gone. He wished the blast had killed him as it had Stane, but alas, Fate favored the life of the most powerful. For once, why couldn't he have the one thing he desired?

The small reactor in his chest slowly came back to life, glowing stronger with each passing second. Tony just wanted to cry. Why did he once again have to be perfectly fine while she was dead or dying? He wanted to force every tear to fall from his eyes, but they would not come. All those years of forcing himself not to cry had finally turned on him and held them back.

Moments later he could hear the voices of Pepper, Darren and even Phil Coulson as they approached the roof.

"Tony? Tony, are you all right?" Pepper asked, her voice distraught.

"I'm fine," Tony said, steeling his voice. It hurt him to hold back the emotion, but for Pepper's sake, he would hold it in. He knew that she relied on him for what little support he could give her. He couldn't afford to cave in now. Perhaps later, in his room, when he was alone. With some help from Pepper and Darren, Tony got up into a sitting position and started to peel off the armor piece by piece. Phil was busy surveying the damage and speaking into a radio calling for clean-up crews and medical assistance as he found JC's body.

"Stark," Darren demanded, facing him, "where is she? Where is my mother?"

Tony looked back to JC's body, his fists clenched. He couldn't bear the sight and looked away. Darren saw where he had looked and rushed to her side. Tony's hands shook as he removed the rest of the armor from his chest and tossed it aside. As he worked on the rest of the armor that encased his legs, he watched from his peripheral as Phil started checking her vitals for the life Tony knew would not be there.

"She's alive!" he called out.

Tony felt his heart jump and his body go numb as he looked to her, his eyes wide. He could hardly believe what he had heard. She had lived, but for how long had yet to be seen. He forced his legs to pick him up and carry him towards her. Pepper tried to urge him not to move so quickly, but he did not listen. He was not about to leave her there, not again.

"How bad is it?" Tony asked, his voice nearly caught in his throat as he knelt beside her.

"There's a chopper on its way with a med crew," Phil said. "Dislocated shoulder, possible rib fractures, and judging by the bruising, head trauma. We'll do what we can for her, Stark, but you're going to need to come with us."

"Like hell," Tony growled. "Darren, give me the reactor," he ordered, holding out his hand for the device. Darren handed it over and Tony went to work switching the pieces out. He wasn't sure if she would even survive the helicopter ride to whatever government medical facility they were bound to cart her off to, but he was going to be sure that she had one less problem to deal with. As the new reactor made contact with the baseplate, Tony heard the telltale zapping sound, but she made no reaction. He thought that if anything would a get a response from her now, it would be that.

"Mr. Stark, there's nothing more you can do for her. We'll handle it from here." More agents started to appear on the roof and he could hear the sounds of more vehicles arriving at the factory. Overhead, the helicopter was starting to make its approach.

"I don't give a damn about your protocols. I'm not leaving her."

The helicopter managed to touchdown on the far end of the roof, and the paramedics rushed over with their gear. Tony did his best to stay out of their way as they applied a neck brace and gently manipulated her body onto a backboard, but he refused to be pulled away from her.

"They need room to work. There's no room on the chopper," Coulson reasoned. "I promise we'll get you to her, but we need to secure you off the premises. It won't be long before we have the press and local authorities swarming the area, and you need to be gone. All of you," he said, looking to Darren and Pepper.

"Stark, please," Darren pleaded. Tony looked at him, saw the fear that he was trying to suppress. JC was being tended to, which meant Darren had to be the priority now. She would want him far away from the storm of paparazzi and local cops that would soon be upon them. Based on his observations, JC had no love for Coulson, but he was their only option at the moment.

Reluctantly Tony accepted and limped along with Darren's help off the roof and toward one of the government issued SUVs waiting in what was left of the parking lot. All the seats had to be laid flat to accommodate Tony in what was left of his suit. Darren climbed in beside him as Phil took the front passenger seat.

"We're going to take you all to a secure facility," Phil said as the vehicle started off. "Once you've been cleared medically, we'll need to debrief you on this evening's events. Time is a critical factor in–"

"Coulson, I've had a heart attack, been literally blown up, and just about got fried by my Arc reactor. Right now, I could honestly care less about what your agenda is."

"People are going to have questions, Mr. Stark," Coulson said calmly, unperturbed by Tony's outburst. "If we don't give the right answers, getting blown up will feel like a cake walk in comparison. In case you hadn't noticed, your life is no longer what it used to be. You're going to have to start getting used to your new reality."

Tony had tuned out Coulson around the word 'questions' and focused on Darren. He was staring blankly out the window as city lights flashed by, his thumbnail methodically being gnawed off.

"Hey," Tony said, touching the boy's arm to get his attention before he made himself bleed. "She's a fighter. She's gonna pull through this." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Darren or himself. Maybe both.

"I said all those terrible things to her…" His voice was shaky, his eyes starting to mist over.

"She knows you didn't mean it, Darren. You already told her that. Remember?"

"Then why does it feel like I didn't? Like it didn't matter? She might be dying, and she thinks I hate her!" Tears were falling freely now as he stared at him.

This was something that was definitely outside of Tony's wheelhouse, but he had to do something. "Look, kid, parenting and offering consolation aren't exactly things that I know very well, but there are a few things I do know for certain. First, we are men, and as men we are going to say stupid things that we don't mean all the time. That's just a fact that you are going to have to learn to accept, because it's not something we will ever be able to change." Darren looked at him with a confused expression that was very nearly turning to anger. At least that had gotten his attention.

"Stark, that is–"

"Not finished yet. Something else I know for certain is that your mother loves you unconditionally. And she knows that no matter what dumbass remarks you might make, you love her, too."

"I should have told her that. I don't know why I didn't."

"You'll get the chance, when she wakes up." He had gone back to staring out the window, lost in his thoughts. "You're also going to have the chance to explain why you went back to the factory while there was a crazy guy in a killer robot suit."

That got a snort of laughter out of him. "Yeah," he said, rubbing his neck nervously. "How much trouble do you think I'm gonna be in?"

"Let's put it this way. Optimistically, I wouldn't make any plans until you're at least, say, thirty. She sounded pretty pissed."

That got them both laughing. "You're probably right. I don't regret it though. If I hadn't gone back, her reactor would have been destroyed. What I did protected her."

"You know, not telling you about your dad, your mom was just trying to protect you, too."

The laughter was gone as Darren glared him. "How is lying protecting me?"

"Growing up without a dad is one of the worst things that can happen to you. What's worse than that is growing up resenting him. That is something I do know very well. That kind of hate does nothing but twist you up inside."

"So it's better that I grew up with a lie? He was a coward, Stark. Do you even know what he did?"

"Your mother told me what happened. I also saw the nightmares she's experienced, how much it tears her up thinking she could have done something more. Is it so terrible that she wanted you to have someone to look up to? That she didn't want you resenting her any more than she resented herself? Or worse, worrying about her? She wanted you to grow up having as normal a childhood as you could get."

"She told you all that?" He didn't look angry any more. Confused still, but more understanding.

"You have a one-of-a-kind mom, kid. She would do anything for you, even give up something she loved. You're her number one priority. Don't ever forget that."

The rest of the ride was spent in relative silence until they reached the Homeland facility. There they got Tony out of the rest of his armor and spent at least an hour giving him a full exam with some quack doctor. When he was finally cleared they stuck him in some windowless interview room until Coulson finally came back to him.

"How is JC?" he demanded as soon as Coulson sat down.

"She's got a team of doctors looking at her as we speak," Coulson said as he pulled out a folder and started shuffling papers around.

"Not good enough. Where's Darren?"

"Down the hall telling another agent exactly what happened tonight, which is what I would like to know. But first, let's start with your captivity in–"

"I'm pretty sure it's illegal to interrogate a minor without his parent or legal guardian present."

"It's not an interrogation, and he's not under arrest. Those laws don't apply, Mr. Stark."

"You are at least decently familiar with his mother. You really think she would see it that way?"

Coulson clicked the pen he was holding several times as he stared down Tony. It was odd that he seemed to be smiling without actually smiling, and it was starting to unnerve Tony, but he held his ground.

"All right, Mr. Stark. You know what I want. Why don't we make an agreement? Give me what I need, and I will get you what you need. Sound fair?"

Too good to be true was more like it. "Give me what I want, and then I'll consider your, what did you call it before…debriefing, was it? Doesn't sound very professional to me, but who am I to judge?"

That got a smirk out of the agent. "And what is it that you want, Mr. Stark?"

"The kid doesn't know anything, so questioning him is pointless; leave him alone. He's been through enough. Now that we've cleared that up, unless you can give me an actual report of JC's condition, we have nothing more to talk about."

Coulson gave him one last assessing look before moving to a phone on the wall. He pressed several buttons before a voice came on over the speaker. "Yes?"

"This is Coulson. The kid is free to go. Make sure he gets home safely."

"Yes, sir."

Coulson disconnected the line before pressing different buttons. "ER one," a new voice said.

"I need a report on Lieutenant Alwin's current condition," Coulson said.

"One moment," the voice said as the audible sound of a keyboard came over the intercom. "Here's the preliminary surgeon's report. Six fractured ribs, still in the process of repairing; dislocated right shoulder with successful reduction, will need MRI scan for…wait a second…those idiots. I'm gonna have to make this quick before some moron gets her near a magnet. Spinal x-rays show no fractures, still requires further CT assessment; hairline fractures to the right pelvis, no surgical intervention necessary at this time; cranial x-rays and CT scan shows comminuted fracture of the temporal and parietal bones with evidence of epidural hematoma, still in process of repairing, will need additional CT assessment post-surgery. Current estimated surgery time is a minimum of five hours. Last reported vitals show patient as stable under anesthesia at this time. Anything else?"

Tony couldn't even look at Coulson. He didn't understand all of the medical jargon, but he understood enough. Every other broken bone he knew she could heal from, but the head trauma they described sounded much worse than what had happened in Japan. Tony felt like he had been punched in the chest, like he could barely breathe.

"That'll be all," Coulson said. "Inform me immediately if there are any changes."

Tony was barely aware as Coulson took his seat again across the table. "She has the best doctors working on her right now, Mr. Stark. She's in good hands." That was hardly consoling. "I realize this is a difficult time for you. I wish the circumstances right now were different, I do; however, the situation being what it is, it's better we get ahead of this before it spirals out of control."

Tony looked up ready to lash out at Coulson's annoying, smiling face, but instead saw a solemn expression.

"Ask your damn questions."


Tony lost track of time as he recounted everything to Agent Coulson. He told him about Yinsen and the escape, but he refused to go into any more detail than necessary about the arc reactors or armor specs. He wasn't about to just give a top secret government agencies one of the most dangerous weapons ever created. When Coulson was finally satisfied with his answers, it was well past midnight and Tony was more than ready to get some rest before the impending press conference later in the morning. A second update at the end of his interrogation said that JC was still going to be in surgery for several more hours, and while he might have wanted to stay and wait for her to get out of surgery, he still needed to check on Darren. He owed her that much.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, he was greeted by Darren.

"Tony, what's going on? They won't tell me anything."

"What the…why are you still here? Why is he still here?" Tony demanded as he turned on Coulson.

"It's not their fault," Darren said quickly. "Did you really think I was just gonna leave without my mom? Or with you in custody?"

"I'm going to arrange for someone to take you two home," Phil said and quickly vacated the area.

"Will you please tell me what's going on now?"

This was not a conversation he had expected to have, at least not right now. How did you delicately tell a kid that his mother was in critical condition? No, he couldn't be delicate about it. Darren was too smart for that and would just get angry if he beat about the bush. Motioning to one of the benches in the hallway, Tony sat down and waited for Darren to join him before he started.

"Your mom is still in surgery and is going to be there for a couple more hours still. She was hurt pretty bad: broken ribs, cracked pelvis, and dislocated shoulder. They fixed her shoulder and are still working on her ribs right now, but that's not the part they're concerned about." He paused and took a steadying breath before continuing. "She hit her head pretty hard. Her skull was fractured and she has what they said was an epidural hematoma. It means–"

"I know what it means," Darren said quietly as he looked away. "There's blood pooling between her skull and the lining of her brain, and it's putting pressure on her brain. It means she'll most likely have brain damage, and with her age and history, it'll be permanent; and even if it's not, it can take up to two years to fully recover and she'll be at higher risk for developing seizures. And all of that is if she even survives it." His eyes started to mist over as he balled his hands into fists.

Tony had to admit he didn't know all of that, and at first he was surprised that Darren did. Then he thought about the last time she had suffered a head injury. If he was inquisitive enough, and he obviously was, Darren would have done plenty of research on various types of head injuries if only to give himself a better idea of what he could look forward to. Tony had his suspicions of what could happen, but hearing it out loud from someone so young seemed to make it cut even deeper than if it had come from some doctor.

When Darren lowered his head and started crying, Tony felt a piece of himself breaking. He wasn't sure why he did it, but it was done before he could think to stop himself. Tony reached out and wrapped an arm around Darren and held him close. Darren resisted at first–like mother, like son–but Tony held firm. He eventually gave up and leaned into him, crying into his chest.

"She's going to die, and it's my fault," Darren muttered.

Tony pulled away quickly, forcing the boy to look at him. "Don't say that. Why would you even think that?"

"It was my fault she was there. I took her there, even insisted on it. If I hadn't done it, if I had said something to stop her, she might have been okay."

Tony shook his head. "If she was determined enough to be there, she would have gone with or without your help or agreement. None of this was your fault, Darren. If anyone is to blame for this, it's me." He had created every weapon Stane had stolen. He had created his own enemy and had dragged JC into his world. Everything, intentional or not, had all been caused by his own actions. Darren didn't even offer up an argument.

"Listen, kid, I know you don't want to leave her here. I don't like the idea either, but neither of us has a choice. We both need to get some rest. They want me to do some press conference in the morning, and you have school."

"School? You've got to be kidding me."

"Believe me, no one's more shocked to hear me say that than me," Tony admitted. "But when your mom wakes up, she'll kill me when she finds out I let you ditch school to sit in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility all day; and she would find out."

"You mean if she wakes up."

"No. Your mom is a fighter. She's going to wake up. What happens after that…You're not going to be alone, Darren. Okay?"

Darren nodded as Coulson came back. "There's a vehicle downstairs ready to take you home, Mr. Stark; and we've called the Becks, so they know to expect you."

"The Becks?" JC had never mentioned any friends by that name.

"They're the family that runs the group home I stayed in," Darren explained.

Oh, no. That was not gonna happen. "A word," Tony said to Coulson and pulled him away. "Is that really necessary? You put him back in that home, you might as well tell him his mother is dead already."

"Like it or not, he is still a minor," Coulson said, "and we can't just send him off and leave him to his own devices."

"You're sending him home to pass out in his own bed and then let him go to school. I hardly call that leaving him to his own devices."

"And who's going to make sure he actually does any of that? You?"

He hadn't really considered it before, but now that it had been brought up, it didn't sound like such a terrible idea. It wasn't like he was trying to become the kid's parent figure overnight. It would be for just a night or two, long enough to know if JC would pull through or not. He hated to think like that, and while he had insisted that she would all right, he knew deep down that there was more than a slim chance that she might not. But he could never say that to Darren. He needed some kind of hope right now. They both did. He had told Darren that he wouldn't be alone, and he was going to make good on that promise, if he would allow it.

He stepped back to Darren. "Okay, you've got two options here. You can go with the feds to the group home if that's what you really want. Or you can stay with me."

"Stay with you? What, like your ward or something?"

Well, when he put it like that it just sounded creepy. "More like a houseguest. Just until your mom is out of surgery and recovered enough to go home. I know it's not the same as a house full of other kids, but it's got all the tech toys every young, budding hacker might want. It's your choice, though. I know I'm not exactly–"

"When do we leave?" Darren said.

"Seriously?" He had figured it would take a lot more than that to convince him. Then again, few things spoke to the tech savvy than a chance to play with new toys. "Well, okay then. You heard him, Coulson. He's going with me."

There was a smirk in his eyes as Coulson lead them down to the parking garage that made Tony wonder if this wasn't what he had planned from the beginning. Not that it really mattered. He knew he had a long way to go to be able to earn Darren's trust and respect. He wanted a future with JC and Darren was a big part of that.

"There any chance I can get out of school by agreeing to all of this?" Darren muttered as the followed Coulson.

"Not a chance, kid."

Darren shrugged. "Worth a shot. Unrestricted access to the garage?"

"Tech, yes. Suit, no. Cars, debatable. I saw your mom's SUV after you rammed through the security barricade."

"It was just a scratch."

"The bumper is trashed and there's a dent in the hood."

"Think you can fix it before she sees it?"

Tony smirked. Maybe he had a chance after all. "No problem."


AN: Hope you guys are enjoying the story. Don't forget to leave a review :)