"Shannon wants a divorce."
Not for the first time, Tony was thankful that Blair Sandburg had been receptive to training him in exchange for a sizeable donation to some charity that Tony had already forgotten the name of. Without that training, Tony's anger would be bleeding all over Eddie's house - and, hell, probably the whole block.
From what Tony knew of Eddie Diaz, which wasn't much but still more than expected thanks to his guide gifts, the man wouldn't have married a woman he believed to be a harpy. Therefore, Shannon Diaz must have been - and might still be - a basically good person. But somewhere between a disabled child and an injured, newly online husband, something had clearly changed for her, and she felt she couldn't stay married any longer.
There was nothing wrong with that, per se; not everyone could handle all of those challenges at once. But how Shannon chose to leave? There was a lot wrong with that, not least of which was her abandoning her son without so much as a goodbye kiss, and her callousness sparked the white-hot anger contained only by Blair's training.
Thankfully, Tony had learned a long time ago how to channel his anger into productivity. In this case, that meant getting Eddie the best lawyer he could find to handle the divorce.
He hadn't expected Eddie to object. In hindsight, that'd been very short-sighted of him.
"We keep an entire battalion of lawyers on retainer," Tony pointed out. "Everything from patent law to family law. Why not take advantage of them?"
"Because it'd be taking advantage of you," Eddie said, "and that's not right."
"You saved my life, sentinel," Tony snapped. "I can never balance the books on that, but you can be damned sure I'll try for the rest of my life."
Eddie's surprise washed across his perceptions, and Tony hoped that, just maybe, he'd gotten through to the other man.
Pepper cleared her throat quietly, drawing both Tony's and Eddie's attention. "In most circumstances, almost any attorney you found would be enough. But you're a decorated veteran, an online sentinel, and father to a disabled latent child. There are at least three sets of laws that may apply to you - the UCMJ, the Protectorate Protocols, and Texas family law. You need someone skilled in all three. With respect, Stark Industries has two of the three, and contracting with a Texas family lawyer won't be difficult at all."
And this was why Tony had hired Pepper in the first place, let alone why she'd become effectively his right hand. Though she wasn't sensitive at all, she had a way of reading people and adapting to whatever style they needed.
As she'd calmly laid out the facts of Eddie Diaz's situation, Tony felt the other man's stubbornness - and, yes pride - fading into resolve tinged with a bit of shame.
By the time she'd finished, Eddie's expression had softened, and he looked up at Tony. "I'm sorry. I'd say pain was making me act badly, but between both of us and a few Tylenol, it's pretty much under control at this point. So I can only apologize and accept the referral to a lawyer."
"And a position with SI as a security consultant," Tony said, "while we follow that spirit animal on the psionic plane."
"…What?" At least Eddie wasn't gaping like an idiot.
"I'm asking you to upend your life-"
Eddie snorted. "Like it wasn't already?"
"I didn't know that," Tony said reasonably. "The point is, I'm asking you to give up whatever life you've got going here to help me out. It's only fair that you be compensated for it. Security consultant fits with your military background."
Eddie looked torn for a moment before he nodded. "And the position."
"Excellent," Pepper said. She pulled out a sheaf of paper from the messenger bag/purse she'd carried and put them and a pen in front of Eddie. "You might as well get started on your intake paperwork."
Eddie looked up at her, then at Tony, who chuckled. "If I didn't know differently, I'd swear her middle name is Efficiency."
Eddie shook his head and focused on the stack Pepper had given him, and Pepper returned to the stack she'd been sorting, which left Tony with nothing to do but catch up on those emails that actually got to him after thorough vetting by Pepper and JARVIS.
Tony hadn't been this idle in a long time. Even in the cave in Afghanistan, he'd been working most of the time. He'd had motivation, after all.
True, he wasn't completely idle right now, either. Responding to emails and messages took focus and energy, even if different than the focus and energy he brought to inventing and tinkering - which activities he hadn't been moved to do for…a while.
In the aftermath of the audit of Stark Industries, the discovery of Obie's treachery, and the final battle of Iron Man vs. Iron Monger, Tony had felt…empty. Betrayed, certainly, and grieving, but mostly just empty.
His usual coping mechanism of escaping into designing and tinkering didn't seem to be working this time, and he could only suppose that was because it was his own inventions and weapons that were at the core of the situation. Then the dreams had started, and those had ultimately led him here to Eddie Diaz.
He was looking forward to wherever the dreams would lead him next.
Half an hour later, emails sorted, he shoved his phone into his pocket and rose. "Bathroom?"
"Down the hall, first door on the left."
Tony followed Eddie's succinct directions and shortly was unzipping his trousers to begin relieving himself of the coffee he'd drunk earlier.
He'd barely begun when a new arrival pinged at his awareness. The newcomer was…prickly, for lack of a better word. She - and the presence definitely felt female - wasn't overtly projecting her presence psionically, but even the passive bleed felt like sandpaper to his empathic senses.
The flash of irritation from Eddie confirmed his own feelings. Quickly, he finished what he was doing, flushed, and washed his hands before opening the bathroom door to start back to the dining room. He didn't know if Eddie needed support, but he'd be ready if so.
"Where's Christopher?"
The speaker was a woman possibly a few years older than Tony himself, dressed better than most of the people he'd seen in Texas, with a scowl on her face.
"Why do you want to know?" Eddie countered. He'd straightened in his seat and turned slightly toward her, the stance not overtly aggressive, but certainly not one that suggested he was comfortable with the woman.
"I'm taking him home with me," the woman said. "Your wife's gone, and you can't take care of him, so we will."
Anger burst through Eddie's shielding, but he kept his tone even when he said, "What do you mean, my wife's gone?"
"She left you! Surely you've noticed," the woman snapped.
"I haven't told anyone in the family," Eddie said, his tone low and dangerous. "So how do you know?"
The woman waved it away. "She called me when she landed in California. Now, where's Christopher? In his room?"
Internally, Tony grinned. He now had two pieces of information that he could use to find Shannon Diaz and make her regret her most recent life choices.
The woman strode across the room without waiting for an answer, stopping just short of plowing into Tony where he stood at the mouth of the hallway.
"Who are you?" the woman demanded, and Tony blinked. It wasn't often that he wasn't recognized.
Eddie spoke before Tony could answer. "Christopher's not here."
The woman whirled to face Eddie again. "Where is he? Did you let him go outside by himself? Just how irresponsible can you be?"
"Mother."
Eddie's tone was still mild, but the word cracked through the house like a whip, and Tony felt her emotional flinch.
"Christopher isn't here," Eddie repeated. "He's with someone I trust."
"Then I'm taking him when he gets home," Eddie's mother - Helena, if Tony remembered the file correctly - said. "I'll pack his things."
"You. Will. Not."
Even Tony flinched at the steel in Eddie's tone this time.
"Well, you can't take care of him," Helena Diaz sniffed. "And these two…friends of yours don't look like they'd be any better at it than you. Of course I'm taking him."
As entertaining as this might be under other circumstances, Tony needed to head off the explosion that Eddie was keeping back by sheer force of will.
"If you even try to take Christopher Diaz anywhere without his father's permission," he said, "you'll be arrested."
"As if anyone would doubt he'd be better off with us." Helena scoffed and turned back to Tony, her intent to push past him clear in her expression and her emotional tone. He shifted his stance so that he fully blocked the hallway.
Tony blew out a breath as, over her shoulder, he saw Pepper with her phone out and aimed at them, presumably recording the encounter.
"Are you aware that your son came online?" Tony asked.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Eddie." Tony flicked a glance Eddie's way, saw that the sentinel had slipped to the edge of his seat and looked like a snake ready to strike. "How much effort is it taking for you to stay in your chair right now?"
Eddie's gaze never left his mother. "It wouldn't take much more to get me out of it."
Tony winced at the flat tone. He'd never heard it before, but Blair had described the lack of emotional affect sentinels often displayed before snapping into a combat drive. Eddie really was on the brink.
They weren't compatible, much less bonded, but still Tony reached out to Eddie psionically to try to soothe the sentinel's instincts. Touching Eddie would be better, but Tony figured if he moved, Helena would be down the hall, and that would be enough to send Eddie over the edge. Reaching out psionically was the only choice he could make in the moment, and he hoped it was enough.
"What that means, Mrs. Diaz," Tony said while he kept half his attention on Eddie's emotional landscape, "is that if you keep presenting yourself as a threat to Sentinel Diaz's son, his imperative to protect the tribe - especially the most vulnerable members of the tribe - will take over, and he will act to protect his son."
Helena scoffed. "I'm not a threat! I only want what's best for Christopher!"
Tony didn't even try not to snort. "Like hell you do. If you did," he continued over her spluttering protest, "you'd be asking his father how you could help, not threatening to kidnap a child. It's in your own best interest to leave now and not come back until or unless Eddie invites you back."
"You don't get to order me around," she snapped.
"But I do." Eddie had risen from his chair and stood straight and tall. Tony didn't want to think what was costing him to do so. "Understand this, Mother - I'm a sentinel, and you are very close to being a threat to my son, and me. Leave before you cross that line, because if you do, I'll kill you."
Helena Diaz stared at her son. "But - I'm your mother!"
"Get out. Do not come back until or unless I invite you." Eddie's tone was still flat, and it made his words all the more chilling.
Still, she hesitated, and Tony gestured her toward the door, careful not to touch her. "The longer you stay, the bigger a threat you become."
Finally, she seemed to realize that her life could actually be in danger and she started for the door, pointing angrily at Eddie as she did. "This isn't over!"
Eddie snarled and lunged forward, only to stumble on his bad leg.
"Jesus, woman - do you want to die?" Tony bolted past her and clapped a hand around Eddie's arm below the sleeve of the U.S. Army T-shirt he wore, physically steadying Eddie while sending as much calming energy to the other man as he could.
The door slammed, and Pepper lowered her phone, her features tight with anger.
"Thanks for recording that," Eddie said, his tone still mostly flat. He'd straightened again, though he hadn't shaken off Tony's hand.
"Sit before you fall," Tony told him as an engine started up outside. "And let me bring you the rest of the way back. Lock the door, Pep."
Eddie didn't move to sit down, his attention still focused on the door or, more likely, the sound of the engine getting further away. "She has a key."
"Not for long," Pepper murmured as she moved toward the door and locked it. "I'll call a locksmith."
Now that the engine noise had passed beyond Tony's hearing, he tried again to guide Eddie to sit down. This time, he was successful, and he dropped to one knee beside the other man, cupping Eddie's face in his hands.
"Sentinel. Come back to me - the threat is over." Tony repeated those words as he sought Eddie's presence through the psionic plane.
The process would have been almost insultingly easy if they'd been bonded, or even somewhat more psionically compatible, but because they weren't, it was nearly ten minutes before Eddie relaxed – which turned into a wince, and he rubbed his leg.
"Held it back too long," Tony observed, not moving from where he crouched beside Eddie.
While most of Tony's attention had been on Eddie, a part of him had remained aware of Pepper's quiet voice as she spoke on the phone, though he had no idea what she'd said or whom she'd said it to. Confident that Pepper would tell him eventually, Tony stayed focused on Eddie.
Eddie sagged a little. "I - had to. She was a threat - my mother was a threat - and I had to be ready to deal with it."
Eddie's psionic profile had stabilized, so Tony straightened and took the chair next to him.
Eddie blew out a slow breath. "Thank you."
"I'm surprised your wolf didn't show up," Tony said. "And kind of disappointed, too. I mean, her reaction would've been priceless."
That startled a laugh from Eddie and drew a frown from Pepper. Tony would put up with the frown since he had the laugh.
"He's with Christopher," Eddie said. "Since we got back, he's always with Christopher when I'm not."
Pepper appeared with glasses of ice water for each of them. "The locksmith's on his way, and our team's already contacted a local lawyer for both the divorce and a restraining order against your mother."
Eddie paused with his hand halfway to his glass. "Are you managing me?"
Her immediate, "No," had Tony raising an eyebrow just as high as Eddie did.
"I'm managing Tony," Pepper said, "which at the moment means that I get everything ready for you to help him find whatever he's looking for."
"Not a what," Eddie said abruptly.
Pepper's eyebrows came together in puzzlement. "Sorry?"
"He's not looking for a what," Eddie said and turned to focus on Tony. "You're looking for a who."
And Tony Stark, the genius, felt like an idiot for not realizing who he was looking for before now.
"My sentinel."