Chapter 4: "Bad Press"

It hadn't taken long at all for the press to get hold of the story — and to start up the rumors as to why, exactly, Tony Stark's only son was already engaged at seventeen. Sadie wasn't showing yet, but of course, that was the question on everyone's minds, and a few magazines had already published headlines saying that it was "rumored" Howard was going to be a teenage father.

It was pretty much exactly what they'd been hoping for out of him. After all, up until that point, he had been boring compared to his dad. He wasn't a party boy, and even though he was smart and a brilliant inventor in his own right, he wasn't genius-level like his dad. No scandals, unless you counted the fact that he was a mutant, which some people did.

Howard had kind of been hoping that the press wouldn't pick up on the marriage license for a while. Naively, maybe, but he'd hoped. But somehow, they picked it up within forty-eight hours, and he went from a relatively quiet morning at SI to chaos as soon as he stepped outside the doors.

The flashes went off and the microphones went up as Howard quickly held up his hands while the reporters mobbed him. "Woah, woah, hey," he said quickly. "I literally can't understand you when you do that. We've been over this, guys. Mobbing. Personal space?" He gestured at the reporters. "Can I walk to my car when you do this? No, no, I can't."

That at least got the mass attack to back off, and a question finally got through that Howard could understand: "How long have you been engaged?"

"Long enough to be a little bit smug that you guys didn't pick it up," Howard said, complete with a smirk. This was, after all, something he'd been dealing with his whole life, and he had been serious when he told Sadie that he could handle the man-eating press mobsters.

"Was there a reason to hide it?"

"Yeah — this," Howard said, gesturing around at the reporters. "It was kind of nice. Normal. Not a circus."

"Where is she?" another one called out. "She hasn't been seen at the theater you were frequenting."

"She's studying to test out of school early," Howard said. "So she can focus on her career and the wedding."

"Any reason why there's a rush?"

"What makes you think there's a rush?" Howard asked, blinking at the reporter who asked it. "You don't know how long we've been engaged."

"Come on," the guy said with a disbelieving scoff. "The dots are pretty easy to follow."

Howard let out a breath and shook his head at the reporters. "Look," he said, holding up his hands. "The reason we're getting married is that I honestly love her."

"Sure you don't want to shop around a little bit?"

"Why?" Howard asked with a shrug. "You don't shop around when you've got the perfect girl."

The guy narrowed his eyes and shifted his stance slightly. "Then why don't you tell us what she's like? You know, when she's not working her way up the ballet ladder."

Howard held his hands out, palms up, in an open stance. "Sorry, guys, but I literally snagged the perfect woman. She's funny, smart, and gorgeous. And she laughs at my jokes. I mean, what more can a man ask for?"

"Must be something if she's got a Stark hooked that fast."

Howard grinned even wider and leaned in. "I already told you. She's perfect. What, you think I'd have spent literally all of my free time trying to win her over if I thought any less?"

"So you had competition, then?"

Howard shrugged. "My own fault for not paying her more attention. You've seen her. She's gorgeous. I'm lucky she said yes."

"So," one of them called out, looking entirely too smug. "When's she due? You did say she was perfect. Has to be something that caught your attention. Right?"

Howard paused and turned toward the reporter in question, pointing his way. "Let's get something straight," he said. "And I want this on the record. I bought the ring before we found out. And if any of you print any different, I'll have you all for defamation."

The flashbulbs started up with rapid-fire questions, but when Howard more or less tried to sidestep anything further, of course it got nasty: "Can't be too surprised. Not even close to the kind of brain his father is, guys. Just a matter of time before someone snagged him like this."

Howard felt his fists clench before he turned back to the reporters. "What did I just say about defamation?" he said in an even tone.

The guy grinned back at him, his arms outspread. "Hey, I'm not publishing it. Freedom of speech, ya know?"

Howard narrowed his eyes at him. "She didn't trap me. I had a promise ring made up. This was always in the cards. We're just making sure this kid has stability. That's my family you're talking about."

There were a few low chuckles from the fringes, and several of the nastier reporters were grinning as if they'd hit the lottery. Finally. "Hope you get an iron-clad prenup, Stark."

"Yeah?" Howard said, turning toward the new voice. "When we're still married in thirty years, you can write up the big anniversary bash we'll throw. From the outside."

"He'll be out of a job long before then," a more familiar voice called out as Jessica Jones pushed her way through the crowd. "Got time to give me a lift?"

Howard managed not to look too relieved as he nodded her way. "For you? Always," he said.

Jessica gave him a little smug sort of smile, then turned to flip off the gathered group of parasites before she joined him in the car. "You can't talk to them anymore," she said as soon as the doors were closed. "They know how to get to you now."

Howard dropped any semblance of not being totally furious as he pulled his hands down his face. "I know how to handle them," he muttered. "I just … I practiced my answers to all the worst questions and still lost my temper." He sounded honestly frustrated with himself. "I told Sadie I'd handle it. I'll get a handle on it. Okay?"

"You don't know how to handle them when they're targeting someone you love. You can handle them when it's you, but not her. They'll keep hitting her."

"She didn't ask for any of this," Howard said as he looked out the window.

"No," Jessica agreed. "But … she knew going into it that it wouldn't be the same as dating someone less high-profile."

"No offense, Jess, but I hate reporters," Howard said.

"I'm a private investigator. None taken."

"Yeah, but you were one for a while," Howard said. "How did you deal with them?"

"You were a baby for a while; do you still want to wear a diaper?" She shot back. "You just … do. You deal with them. You ignore them. Watch someone other than your father when it comes to the press. Not on official statements. On personal questions."

"They're going to make up stories if I don't give them anything," Howard said. "So I'm trying to give them, you know, good news. It's not like—"

"Stick to press conferences and let the battalion of lawyers your mother commands deal with the rest."

Howard leaned his head back. "Can I ask your professional opinion — as a used-to-be reporter — do you think they'll let up once we've been married for a while, or is this just going to keep happening?"

"If you don't give them any more scandals, they'll get bored."

"Good." Howard let out a breath. "It was much nicer when it was just, you know, 'oh look, Howard has a girlfriend' and speculation."

"Probably because you never loved the attention."

"Probably," Howard agreed, then smiled over at Jessica. "Thanks for the save, by the way."

"It's no problem," Jessica said. "So. Are we going to Westchester?"

"Yeah, I was going to go see Sadie, but if you want to go to the tower instead, I can drop you off," Howard said.

"No, it's fine. I needed to give Logan a heads up on a project."

"Yeah?" Howard turned her way with a gleam in his eye, glad for the subject change. "Anything interesting?"

"Not yet," Jessica said.

Howard nodded at that and lapsed into silence — and was honestly glad for the silence, too, since it gave him a chance to calm down a little from losing his temper earlier. It hadn't been horrible, but, well, it wasn't the best possible way for the press to find out about the whole thing.

He could already see the headlines now about how naive he was. The opinion pieces on young marriages and teenage pregnancy and… yeah. He was going to get dragged around for being entrapped, and it wasn't Sadie's fault, and he hated it.

When he pulled up to the mansion, he dropped Jessica off at the front door and headed back to find Sadie, eventually tracking her down to where she was curled up in her sister's room, both of them looking a little green, though obviously, Elin looked worse. They had a bowl between them with left over popcorn kernels in the bottom, and Chance was dead asleep on the couch, sprawled out and looking like he'd been going until he fell over.

"Hey, handsome," Sadie said quietly.

"Hey yourself," Howard said with a small smile as he came over to sit on the other side of Sadie and kissed her temple. "You alright?"

"Better than Elin," she said.

"Sorry, Elin," Howard said, complete with a wince.

"Definitely not your fault," Elin said. "She's doing just fine. Really."

"Really, really," Sadie agreed.

Howard smiled at that and nodded before he looked Sadie's way and let his shoulders fall. "So, the press knows now."

"Well … good for them," Sadie said. "Took the idiots long enough."

"I got the question about the baby," he told her.

"They already had it figured out," Sadie said, shaking her head at him. "You just confirmed."

"As long as they weren't overly nasty, it'll be fine," Elin added. "But … they tend to go nasty with the Xavier's crew. Just so you know."

"Well, the way they tell it, I'm an idiot who's been ensnared by the pregnancy trap who needs a solid pre-nup," Howard said, rolling his eyes. "Like I wasn't the one begging to get married in the first place. Come on. Sadie's the one who got entrapped."

"Charming," Elin said dryly. "And no creativity at all."

"The magazines they represent aren't known for creativity," Howard said, making a face. "But I thought I'd warn you, Sadie. I tried to tell them how amazing you are and that I had the ring made before we knew about Maria, but they're deaf as well as stupid."

"You were playing defense," Sadie said.

"Always play offense," Elin added. "Family rule."

"So, what, press conference where I list the way I love thee?" Howard couldn't help but tease.

"No," Sadie said, smirking as she shook her head. "Ignore them. You're too good to deal with their idiocy."

"Yeah, but I don't want them saying those things about my future wife, Sadie. Come on. You don't deserve that hanging over your head for the rest of our lives."

"They'll say it anyhow," Sadie said. "And … you know what? Go ahead and let them say it. It'll bite them."

"Or she will," Elin snickered.

Howard couldn't help but laugh at that. "Now that I'd like to see."

"Seriously," Elin said, nodding. "But … if it airs and is too bad, you can bet they'll get a lesson in manners sooner than later."

Howard nodded at that and then tipped his head to where Chance was still passed out. "Since you girls seem to have exhausted one manservant… you need a replacement?" he teased.

"We tear through them," Sadie said seriously. "It's a curse."

"It's the stamina thing," Elin added, nodding sagely.

"We'll take it in shifts," Howard chuckled. "What can I get you, m'lady queen and her beautiful sister?"

"We're fine, Howard," Sadie promised. "Pull up a chair and chill out."

"I'm perfectly fine with that too," Howard said, contentedly making himself at home and even stealing a kiss before he leaned back in his seat and listened to the Howlett girls chatting back and forth.

It was the morning of Logan's birthday when he finally had a solid reason to head into the tower. And he'd been waiting for one. All of the missions he'd been running had been no place for press to appear — at least not close enough to talk to him — and though the reporters had mostly cut the crap they'd said about Sadie … Jessica Jones had been sure to show him what she'd managed to catch on her cell phone. And since he'd seen it, he had no outlet for that particular rage but to let it stew.

He kept his trademarked glare in place as he headed up the street toward the tower, working on his cigar the whole way and honestly just waiting to hear the right voice.

Of course, when they spotted him, he did as he always did when they asked personal questions and feigned deafness as he pushed through them. Until he heard the loudest little jerk that had called Sadie a golddigger.

Logan's outward reaction at first was so mild that the guy honestly had no idea it was coming when Logan took the cigar out of his mouth, tossed it to the ground, and in one quick, seamlessly smooth move grabbed the guy by the throat and slammed him into a light post. "You always talk about teenage girls like that? Or do you just have a death wish?"

"Woah, hey!" A few of the other reporters were obviously startled, a few even smart enough to back off, as the guy himself seemed too petrified to do anything but shake his head.

"Let him go, man," called out another.

"If you're smart, you'll mind your own damn business," Logan said, not taking his gaze off of the guy as he let his tone drop low. "I know you're used to taking pot shots at Stark, but I'll take a shot right back. You won't ever say a word about my daughter again. Got it?"

The reporter in his grasp nodded wordlessly as he tried to get distance, not that he could when the light post was at his back.

Logan kept a hold of him for a moment longer before he finally let him go and then turned to meet the gaze of the guy that had called for Logan to let go — and that reporter took a step back. With a little huff, Logan rolled his shoulders and simply headed back toward the tower, sparking up a fresh cigar as he passed the 'no smoking' sign posted at the entrance.