Helloo! Well, this is the last catch-up chapter. I have the next in revisions right now but it's not a part of the mass I had to get y'all caught up with. Well, enjoy!

Shout Outs!:

CHSHiccstrid

I love doing that, terrible but true. One of the few draw backs to this medium is that lack of a visual but it was a spectacular explosion that the twins would have approved of.

Journal 2, Entry 22: "Intermezzo"

Hakon waved at Howard from across the airport pick up line. Howard beamed and embraced Hakon in a side hug, leading him to his car where a British man stood waiting. "I can't believe it's been a year already…. You barely look like you've grown. Chin's chiseled more, but…Man, you're going to be taking all the ladies away."

Hakon laughed while Tor chuffed. "I've got a girl already. In fact, we're married."

Howard's jaw fell and stared at Hakon before shaking his head. "You sly dog! How come I wasn't invited to the wedding? Am I not good enough?"

Hakon shook his head. "Sorry, it was just a local thing."

Howard waved him off before pausing at his car. "Well you'll have to bring her around sometime so I can show her this lap of luxury. And I'm sure Peggy will enjoy having another lady to talk with. Anyway, I want you to meet my butler and good friend, Jarvis. Jarvis, this is Hakon."

Hakon paled a bit and muttered. "Just what the world needs, another Astrid-Heather team up." He smiled at the man standing on the other side of Howard. "Maybe that would be a good idea, it would be funny to watch Phillips squirm at least."

Jarvis smiled and shook Hakon's hand. "So you're the infamous Hakon Sir Howard keeps speaking of. You've earned yourself quite the reputation."

Hakon laughed nervously. "All good, I hope."

Jarvis smirked. "If you count blowing up the SSR's lab, good."

Hakon glared at Howard as he entered the car. "Hey, that one was all you, buddy."

Howard snorted, eyes dilated in amusement. "Not the time you miscalculated the shield's strength—I thought Phillips was going to keel over thinking you'd blown yourself up."

Hakon huffed and stared defiantly out the window, draping an arm around Tor who cuddled into his side. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Howard smiled and relaxed but it quickly fell. "Have you… have you heard anything about Steve?"

Hakon shook his head and stared at the floorboards. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had led a few search parties of Nadders and Rumblehorns in the area the plane and Steve had crashed. He's even slipped Jörmungandr out to check around the ice, but he was no Tracker and if the plane had frozen into the ice sheets already, he wouldn't know the difference, and they had no way of tracking or finding something like that. Not even Loki. "No."

Howard sighed, solemn once again, as he so often was when he wasn't putting on a public front. "I've been looking. We found an energy signature, but it was just the Tesseract…there hasn't been any sign of Steve or the plane."

Hakon stiffened at the mention of the Tesseract. "What are you going to do with it?"

Howard's nose wrinkled in distaste. "As far as I'm concerned, it can stay locked up in the storage facility and collect dust. It's caused enough trouble."

They were silent for a while, each lost in their own minds. It wasn't until Howard was settling Hakon down in the guest room that he finally mentioned what he, Peggy, Phillips, and a few others had been working on. "Hakon, what would you say to helping found an organization to be a sort of law enforcement to fight groups like Hydra?"

Hakon frowned, running his fingers through Torbjörg's fur. "I'd need to think about it. That's, that's pretty serious."

Howard nodded, eyes downcast at his luxurious carpet. "Yeah, but after Hydra—we can't let something like that form again."

Hakon tilted his head, sharing eye contact with Tor. "Have you managed to hunt down all the remaining Hydra spies and operatives?"

Howard nodded. "Most. We still got a few left." He looked at the clock then grinned, disposition taking a one-eighty. "Enough serious talk for now. Jarvis is a killer cook and I can smell dinner—and I know how much you can eat! Then we can tinker with some new ideas, hm? That is, after all, the whole reason for your trip."

Hakon smiled but felt his cheeks warm, he really could eat a lot if he let himself—one of the curses of becoming Asgardian was the increased appetite to sustain all the magic and natural functions their advanced bodies use on a daily basis. It wasn't necessarily a necessity that he do so, but it certainly kept him from getting lethargic or drawing from his magic. "Sounds great."

*O*

Hiccup sat with Astrid and their three kids on a sea stack while their dragons chased each other around in the air. Ivana drew her knees to her chest and looked over at her father. "How long is Howard going to search for Steve?"

Hiccup shook his head, holding Astrid close—making up for all the lost time during the war. "He's fixated because it's the loss of a close friend—he doesn't really know how to cope. I'm not sure."

Zephyr stretched and leaned back. "So, what are you going to do about Howard's offer?"

Hiccup sighed, threading his fingers into Astrid's and watched as Toothless chased his offspring around in the blue sky. "It has its merits, but it could also go so wrong…but they're going to form it with or without me being there to help."

Astrid nodded grimly, leaning against Hiccup a bit stiffly with the serious conversation. "The Berserkers are going to have a field day with this. They were already pushing for an official spy division."

Hiccup smiled wryly. "Do they have a name for it?"

Nuffink laughed and eyed his father. "The Changewing Guild."

Hiccup looked up in thought then nodded. "A bit on the nose, but it works."

Astrid scoffed. "You have no say in how on the nose a name is."

Hiccup lightly glared at her. "Hey, I have come up with some perfectly good names over the years."

Astrid rolled her eyes but kissed his cheek. "That have been totally eclipsed by your bad ones."

Hiccup gasped and looked over at Ivana who was giggling. He snagged Astrid around her waist and started tickling her. "I object! Ivana eclipses all bad name decisions I ever made."

Astrid laughed, but slipped out of his grip and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him and holding it there until he admitted defeat.

"Are you mad!?" Hakon screeched at Phillips, mainly, but also at Peggy and Howard. The other founders of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. "Look, it's one thing to interrogate the guy then give him a nice cell in Switzerland—however much I argue that that was far too good for him. It's an entire 'nother to have him become a member of any capacity of this organization. He could compromise it far too easily!"

Phillips frowned at Hakon. In general, he was impressed with how much the boy had become a man. He was a bit miffed that he didn't often show up outside of his stays with Howard and visits with Peggy. He was even more angered that after the end of the war, his amazing inventions seemed to stop appearing despite him talking often about his ideas. Oh, he and Howard had corroborated on many projects, but nothing like what Hakon had turned out during the war—even ideas like the flying car were only tinkered with, but nothing actually progressed to be weaponizable. And there was apparently some unspoken pact between Hakon and Howard to never weaponize whatever it was Hakon helped with unless previously discussed first.

He took a calming breath and tried arguing again, like they had been for the last hour. "Yes, it's crazy, but it's a calculated risk we're willing to take."

"You're willing to take," Hakon snapped back, arms crossed.

Howard sighed and tried to placate his friend. "We're not going to let him run willy-nilly around a top secret organization, but he has some value to offer."

Hakon huffed and stared at his friend incredulously. "And I can't believe you're going along with it!"

Peggy glared at the other two men, standing the closest to Hakon and mirroring his anger. "I must agree with Hakon. This is beyond stupid. Steve fought against this man just as much as he did Schmidt. If we bring him into our ranks, we dishonor everything Steve fought to end. It isn't like Zola worked with Hydra on pain of death or kidnapping—he was one of their heads!"

Howard did look at the ground in some shame but Phillips remained unswayed. "And several pockets of Hydra are still at large. Beyond that, the man is a genius and has knowledge and information that is invaluable."

Hakon's face twisted into a fury they'd never seen but his voice was no louder than normal. "Fine. You want to condemn this organization before it's even truly formed, be my guest. But you will regret it one day. A snake doesn't change its scales to turn over a new leaf but to strike more amply at its prey. And I want the Tesseract as far out of his control as it can possibly get—like on another continent!"

Hakon stormed out of the conference room, down the hallway, to the labs. He entered the largest lab that he and Howard had last used, forgetting that neither he nor Howard were using it currently, and started pacing large circles with Tor worriedly following at his heels and nudging his hand. He finally slowed and stopped, allowing Tor to jump up and rest his front paws on Hakon's shoulders and lick his face before snuggling his head into Hakon's neck. Hakon hugged him gratefully and they stood like that for another minute while he decompressed.

A cough broke their moment and Torbjörg jumped down and glared at the intruder while Hakon whirled around then blushed at the mousy-haired scientists watching them. Hakon fought down the burning feeling in his cheeks as he stepped forward. "Uh, sorry about that…I forgot this lab had been reassigned. I'm Hakon."

The man smiled and offered a hand. "Hank Pym. Battle with the politicians?"

Hakon snorted. "Close enough." He looked over at the microscopes and an array of other laboratory equipment. "Whatcha workin' on? If ya don't mind me asking."

Pym waved him off. "If you're fighting the political battles then you'll probably learn soon. I'm studying atomic space and how we might be able to utilize it."

"Huh," Hakon breathed and looked back at the fellow scientist. "Mind if I take a look?"

Pym smiled. "If you're the Hakon Hyse neither Stark nor any other mad scientist in this place won't stop talking about, I wouldn't mind." He led Hakon to one of the work stations. "Maybe you could help me out on a small issue…"

Hiccup laughed as Toothless burrowed through the snow like a gopher, then popped up and rained snow upon him. A very deep rumble resonated across the frozen ocean before a stream of frosted wind blew across them and coated the Familiar pair in a thin sheet of frost. Hiccup shouted a taunt at the Dýrsvell and lept onto Toothless' back, soaring around Jör's head while he tried shooting them with tiny puffs of icy breath.

Loki laughed as he watched his Chosen and bonded Dýrsvell. Twin pairs of guttural chuckles echoed from behind him but he dutifully ignored his older Jötunn brothers and contentedly rested in the bonds of his children.

Býleistr observed the young Dýrsvell, the first ever to be born outside of Jötunheim, play with the equally impossible Midgardian Chosen with magic. The three Jötunnar could sense the presence of three other Dýrsvells but they rested and minded the young ones under the ice.

Helblindi chuckled as Toothless dove and wound around Jörmungandr's tail. Jör spun to chase after them but froze when only Toothless flew away. Helblindi had never known a Dýrsvell to yelp like a small Midgardian dog but Jörmungandr did so as Hiccup soared up the side of his face, slinging a slew of icicles at his tough skin—just enough for Jör to feel it.

He shook his head and turned to Loki. "So where is the expecting?"

Loki smiled wryly. "Somewhere in Antarctica. Turns out nesting Bewilderbeasts are not fond of laying their eggs near other dragons. I suppose that explains Berserker Island all those years ago."

Býleistr nodded, eyes thoughtful. "Yes, I do think I recall that…but it was so long ago, I was but a young child myself. That was the only time a Dýrsvell would disobey their Commanders."

Helblindi turned to Loki who remained solely focused on Jör and Hiccup, smiling lightly. "Do you have any plans to give the new Dýrsvell a Commander?"

Loki shook his head, half turning to his brothers. "I never planned on it for Jör—he just sort of weaseled in."

Býleistr laughed and laid his large hand on his youngest brother's shoulder. "The young tend to do that."

Helblindi's mirth fell a bit and looked down at Loki. "How comes the plan?"

Loki took a breath and tore his eyes away from the happy group, a bit irritated that this needed to be brought up again but it was crucial they have everything well planned out. "Logistically, it is sound, but the time is not yet right. Odin has spent many years without the Odin-Sleep. That will be the best time to enact it but he will not yet rest. Thor is still ludicrously not ready for Odin to attempt it yet—not that he'll be ready for it when Odin does try."

Helblindi grinned. "Thus the beauty of your plan."

Loki nodded somberly. "And your half?"

Býleistr smiled mirthlessly. "A bit slow, but well. I believe that whenever you decide is the time to enact the plan, we will have our council gathered and Laufey's properly aggravated without the Asgardians knowing otherwise."

Loki nodded once, then turned to watch his Chosen again, heart a little heavier.

Hakon shook his head at the designs Howard was tinkering with. "I can't believe you wanted to try and replicate the Tesseract. It's too much trouble and too easy to turn into a weapon of mass destruction."

Howard huffed and tilted his head at his longtime friend. "Anything can be weaponized with enough time and thought put into it—I'm pretty sure Peggy could kill with a spoon!"

Hakon laughed dryly and shook his head, setting down the designs for the 'Arc Reactor'. "It's a nice idea, rentable energy—guess it can't be worse than all those nuclear power plants they're building. If something goes wrong with them, and it's all too likely to happen at some point with what they're playing with…" He shivered.

Howard nodded understandingly. "I've seen the designs. They're pretty good so long as everything works properly."

Hakon raised an eyebrow pointedly to which Howard gestures to his plans. "Which is why I've been studying the Tesseract. I know using the Tesseract itself is a step away from stupid but that doesn't mean its fundamentals aren't genius."

Hakon scribbled a note down on Howard's blueprints of the Arc Reactor. "Wish you wouldn't work with that Vanko guy. He has Johann sleaze-ball written all over him."

Howard smiled knowingly. "I know. Recently, well, let's just say I've been keeping a close eye on him."

"Good," Hakon said firmly before turning to face Howard fully. "So, is this what you wanted to talk to me about, or was there something else?"

Howard grinned. "Well, yes, but I also have another query—favor really." Hakon looked at him silently. "Would you be my best man?"

Hakon's eyes widened before smiling. "You're finally marrying her? Maria isn't it?"

Howard nodded with a wide grin. "Yup! Already asked, even have the date, a beautiful summer wedding in June."

"I'd be honored."

"Perfect! Uh, would your dog have to be in attendance?" Howard asked a bit warily, looking over the table at the dog bed in the corner he'd finally brought in after many of Hakon's visits and the mutt constantly stealing his jackets and blankets to make a nest.

Hakon chuckled. "Yeah, he does not like it when I leave his sight for long—especially so far away from home."

Howard sighed but accepted the answer. "How is he even still alive? It's been like, twenty years since we met—and he was a good few years older than that. No, wait, don't tell me—you know the breeder and get a look alike every time and name every single one Torbjörg."

Hakon grinned mischievously. "Sure, let's go with that."

Howard nodded self pleasingly before it fell into contemplation, staring at Tor's toxic green eyes—an extremely odd color for a dog. Eh, maybe it's something special the breed is known for, heavens know I still can't place it. "It is frightening, how alike every one of their personalities are."

Hakon happily looked over at his other half who tilted his head and mirrored the look. "Strange, isn't it?"

*O*

"How was the honeymoon?" Hakon asked on his next visit after the wedding.

Howard beamed. "Great. You know, I had a different idea of how we can try to find Steve…"

Howard continued rambling on about his idea and Hakon's shoulders fell. He crossed the expansive living room and grabbed his friend's arm, expression firm but remorseful. "Howard, you have to stop-"

Howard reeled back, jerking his arm away. "Hakon, how could you say that? He's our friend! You know even better than I that with the serum in his veins that he's most likely not dead!"

Hakon's face pinched, he dearly wanted to believe that—he hoped it every time he remembered his lost friend. "Yes, I do. But you can't keep on like this anymore. You're married now. I've already overheard Maria talking about starting a family. You're brilliant Howard but, with Stark Industries, inventing, SHIELD, having a wife and now starting a family-"

"SHIELD?" Howard asked, forehead wrinkling.

Hakon rolled his eyes. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Seriously, how did you come up with that name and not a way to say it without exhausting your lungs?"

Howard's eyes lit up. "That's brilliant! I really can't believe we didn't think of it before."

Hakon looked up and shook his head. "Anyway—you're going to be pushing yourself too far. I don't want to give up on Steve but, Howard, those seas and ice plates are always shifting. Where the plane landed is almost certainly not where it's at now. Steve will turn up, one day. I have to believe he will—but you can't keep looking for him like all you have is Stark Industries with some inventing on the side anymore."

Howard tried not to glare at Hakon but he didn't entirely succeed. "Sounds like you know from experience. Have you been searching for him?"

"Yes," He said simply. "I haven't stopped. My people know what to keep an eye out for, and occasionally, when things shift more drastically, teams go out to see if they can find anything. But I know that you're trying to cope, I did it when my dad was murdered. If it wasn't for the rest of my family, I would have run myself into the ground trying to do right by him just to cope."

Howard snorted and Hakon sighed, turning away towards his room and brushing his fingers through Tor's fur. Howard didn't watch him leave, but turned towards the liquor cabinet. He didn't want to admit Hakon was right. It felt like betraying Steve, but he also hated arguing with him because he was one of the few people he trusted implicitly and called friend—who also knew m he'd gone through. For tonight, though, he didn't want to think about it.

Hiccup sat in his hut with stacks of papers he brought with him from SHIELD. Most of it was inconsequential, just official documents saying that he was the keeper of the Tesseract and requests of how to arrange security and deeper storage for it, some steps he thought were good ideas, but others that he'd ignore in favor of more secure magical solutions. He also looked over a list of new hires for the ever growing organization and frowned at a few names. He picked up the papers, made his way to the branch, jumped to Berserker Island, and sauntered into the offices for the department dedicated to watching and infiltrating SHIELD.

At first, he hadn't been overly bothered to keep such close and internal tabs on the newly forming organization, but after their decision to bring on Zola, all of the Archipelago agreed, which was good, as shortly thereafter they started finding plants. They had continued after the war to take out the silent and unmapped bases only found by the bugs Zephyr had invented back during the war, and tap into their transmissions to ping random bases and trace their locations. But for as many as they took down, another cropped up. A hydra indeed.

They had also upgraded their old communications so the bug no longer worked, but by then, the Archipelago had enough of an in to know Hydra was nowhere near as dead as the rest of the world thought. Except the only problem was, the New Archipelago was supposed to be an even more covert and hushed up secret than Hydra so they couldn't just out them then and there. That left them to fight Hydra alone…and from within SHIELD at that.

Hiccup was sickened that the idea was corrupted so easily so early on, but he'd always known, especially when they brought on Zola. It practically became a race of who could fill SHIELD with the most and the most important plants before the other. Thankfully it was a game Hydra knew nothing about, but it still proved hard competition.

He slapped down the newest hire list in front of the Changewing Guild commander. He took one look at it and sighed. "Wonderful. I'll see if anyone is in their general field or command."

Hiccup nodded. "Thanks. Oh, I'm changing the Tesseract's storage location. I'm going to give Phillips the details soon, but he's basically going to hire a new security force for it. I want the entire thing to be our people."

The commander smirked at the challenge. "Will do."

Hiccup smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Hakon stood in the nursery with the tiny, black tufted baby in his arms. "Howard, Maria, he's beautiful. Congratulations."

Howard held Maria around the waist, both looking proud. "Our little Anthony is already showing his genius Stark genes. Can't wait to see what he becomes."

Hakon beamed at Howard before cooing at Anthony who blew a bubble and grabbed his finger, sticking it into his mouth and trying to babble around it. "Hello kiddo, I'm Hiccup, your godfather. I know you don't understand anything yet but your father is right, you're going to grow up to do some amazing things."

Anthony giggled and kicked his little legs as Hakon spoke and Howard and Maria smiled happily.

Howard turned Maria away, smirking over her shoulder. "Since you're keeping Anthony well occupied, I'm going to take Maria on a date."

Hakon scoffed and rolled his eyes good naturedly. "You'd do it anyway and just leave him with Jarvis."

Howard shrugged. "He loves the kid. Besides, bonding time for the two of you!"

He and Maria left and after a little while Jarvis entered with some finger sandwiches and a stack of cards. "Up for a game of poker?"

Hakon beamed at him and sat, shifting Antony in his arms while smirking at Jarvis. "Bring it."

Peggy and Astrid conversed with each other, sharing similar smiles as they traded 'Hakon doing stupid things' stories while sitting on the veranda of Howard's home while he was out on another search for Steve and Maria was out hosting some charity gala.

Hakon glowered at them briefly before looking down in dismay at three year old Anthony—Tony—as he cutely insisted on being called—bouncing on his lap. "Tony, listen to me—never get into a relationship. It is way more trouble than it's worth."

Astrid scowled at him and punched the arm not holding Tony before smiling sweetly to the tike. "Don't listen to him. As long as you're not an idiot its fine—but your godfather loves to have his moments."

Hakon huffed. "I'm not that bad."

Peggy's eyebrows rose and she fought not to snort into her tea—while she struggled to speak even a few words of Hakon's native language, she had managed to pick up a good deal and at least understand it as Hakon taught Tony, who soaked it up like a sponge. "I'm sorry, joining us on the raid of the largest Hydra base just after you were captured?"

Tony giggled and looked up and back before twisting around and hugging Hakon's neck. "Unca H silly!"

Hakon sighed and ruffled Tony's hair. "So, what have you been working on, kiddo?"

Tony bounced on his lap, eyes bright with excitement. "Daddy's been teach-in me ab'out com-pute-rs."

Hakon nodded, a little surprised but also not. "And do you understand it?"

Tony frowned, his little face wrinkling too cutely for the girls not to fawn over him. "No' all of it. But it's fa-fastinting."

Hakon bit back a laugh and said neutrally. "Fascinating?" Tony nodded eagerly. "Good. Maybe in a few years we can work on some experiments together."

Tony lit up. "Can we?!"

Hakon beamed. "Of course!"

Astrid sighed and shook her head at Peggy. "Hammer down the hatches."

Peggy laughed wryly, having seen a few of Hakon and Howard's experiments gone awry.

Tony spotted Torbjörg bounding up the steps and wiggled in Hakon's lap. "Can I go pway with Tor, pwease?"

Hakon grinned and chuckled, setting Tony down on the stones so he could run over to his familiar. Tor sent a wave of annoyance over their bond and Hakon shook his head as his friend started trotting after the ball Tony threw a few feet.

An idea came to Hakon and he took off his communicator and knelt next to Tony. "Here, this gets him every time."

He caught the light on the metal and Tor took off after the illusive beam. Tony giggled loudly then took it from Hakon and copied his movements and sent Tor running all around the yard.

Hakon glared at his friend as his son sniffled in the other room. "Howard, you are an utter jerk! How could you say that to Tony?"

"Well it's true!" Howard defended angrily, gesturing to the photo sitting on his desk.

Hakon visibly shook with rage with his friend. "Well, yes, because he's your offspring—not Steve's. He's brilliant and an inventing genius already—like you. Of course he's not going to be Steve. And even if he was Steve's, it still wouldn't matter because he's not Steve"

Howard huffed and turned away with a deep set scowl. "He doesn't even have any of his characteristics! How hard is it that I ask him to emulate Steve! He's the best role model any kid could have!"

Hakon sighed in exasperation. "What does he have to be loyal to? Jarvis? Me? His tutors? It's not exactly like you let him out to public school or any gathering of kids his own age unless there's a party you need to drag him to. Honestly? Right now he's a kid, and testing limits—and half the time when he is, you blow up on him."

Howard growled at Hakon. "Then he needs to learn and grow up."

"He's seven!" Hakon yelled then took a breath to control his magics that were raging dangerously just under his skin—thankfully, Howard was also too worked up to notice the small temperature drop. "And he's your son, not a replacement for Steve. You're the one who needs to grow up, Howard, and learn how to face the loss—even if he isn't dead. Shunting it onto Tony isn't the way to fix it for yourself."

"Why would that be so bad? Steve was a great man!" Howard shouted back, face turning puce and Hakon was mildly worried he was about to give himself a heart attack.

Hakon kept his voice calm but his eye continued to twitch. "Howard, don't make the mistake my father did. He tried making me something I wasn't, something I could never be, and it nearly destroyed our relationship. It took me almost dying for him to realize his image of a perfect son was nothing without that son, and even then we were still strained for years after that. Our relationship was still rocky up until he was killed. Don't do that to Tony, please."

Howard glowered at Hakon. "He's my son. I'll raise him as I see fit. Pushing him to be like Steve is not the worst thing for him—it's the best."

Hakon shook his head but knew Howard was far too gone on the point. "I hope one day you realize what a mistake this is and you can fix it before you or him have irreparably burned that bridge. Encouraging him to be like Steve is one thing—demanding he be the next Captain America is another."

Howard's lips curled and he started to yell at Hakon but he'd already left the room. He whirled around to his cabinet and stared at the shot glass before ignoring it and grabbing the bottle of whiskey. Logically, he knew Hakon was right, but today was the anniversary and emotions all too often won out against logic, especially when he didn't know how to deal with them.

Hakon was tempted to slam the door to Howard's office shut but refrained from doing so for Tony. He found him in the far corner of the living room curled into Tor with Jarvis sitting next to them, whispering words of comfort while rubbing Tony's back. He sighed and knelt next to Tor and Tony.

Tony peeked out of Tor's fur with wet eyes then latched onto Hakon, gripping him tightly and burying his face into Hakon's shirt. Hakon sighed and turned to Jarvis. "I'm going to take him out for a while…possibly a few days."

Jarvis nodded and glared sadly at the office. "I believe that would be for the best. The Misses is not due back for several days. Thank you, Hakon."

Hakon held Tony tightly as he stood, Tor stood as well and shook himself, and glanced at the office. "Keep an eye on him? He's the biggest jerk in the world but…he's hurting and I don't want him to do anything, stupid. Well, stupider."

Jarvis nodded with a resigned sigh. "Was already planning on it."

With one more grateful nod, Hakon walked out of the mansion with Tony in his arms and Tor by his side. "Hey, kiddo, want to go camping?"

Tony sniffled and scrunched his nose. "I don't like outdoorsy stuff too much…can we go to your home? Can I see your lab?"

Hakon laughed but it tapered off with a slight frown as he deposited Tony in the front seat in one of Howard's Buick after snagging the keys off the rack. "Well, I can't take you to my home. Howard won't mind if I snag you for a few days, but he probably draws the line with cross Atlantic travel."

Tony looked down at his dangling feet as Hakon started the car, oblivious to his godfather's thoughtful expression.

"You know, I do have access to some of your father's labs. I can take you on a tour of them, show you our most recent experiment as it's not in its volatile stages yet."

Tony looked up, eyes shining and only a little bit from his previously shed tears. "Do they blow up a lot?"

Hakon chuckled but it died a bit guiltily and he focused determinedly on the road, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles were white—he still hated these things. "More often than either of us would care to admit—even when we think it's something that shouldn't have that capability at all. We still seem to make it go boom!"

Tony giggled and held his hands over his mouth before he regained control and turned to Hakon, sitting on his knees. "We? Dad says it's your fault seventy-six point forty-nine percent of the time."

Hakon huffed dramatically and shook his head. "I see how it is, gang up on the little guy."

Tony's mouth fell open. "You're not little, you're huge! You tower over my dad."

Hakon grunted a small laugh. "Maybe, but you've never seen the people from my home—I'm a runt compared to them."

Tony turned thoughtful as he settled back into his seat and watched the trees whiz past. "Will I ever be able to visit your home?"

Hakon's happy look fell and he slowly exhaled, glancing over at Tony. "That's… complicated, kiddo. My people separated from the world a long time ago because of people like Schmidt and are very wary of outsiders."

"Why?" Tony asked, eyes wide with childish innocence.

Hakon felt his heart twist, he felt like he was denying his own children something despite Tony not actually being his—more and more recently, it felt like he and Jarvis were doing more of the raising than Howard or Maria, despite her trying, and it pained him greatly. Whereas before Tony, or even during his first couple of years—he only visited about twice a year and stayed for about a month—he'd been coming so frequently he thought about buying a house and building a new branch to it.

He'd hoped that by having a child, Howard would finally move on or at least let this new life sooth his aching heart. He regretted that hope now as it only seemed to make his friend hurt more and he couldn't seem to move on which was only hurting Tony.

He finally answered Tony solemnly. "They had to hide something, something that people had been abusing for years, and it was continuing to escalate. You know those stories I tell you at bed time?"

Tony nodded eagerly with a wide grin. "Yeah! With the Strike dragon that breaks the sound barrier and the Boulder who creates the funky metal that the Norse gods use to make weapons."

Hakon nodded with a small smile—Ivana and Nuffink had had far too much fun writing that book of 'stories' for Tony for his fourth birthday. "Well, myths have to come from somewhere, right?"

Tony nodded with a new gleam in his eyes, almost lost in thought before Hakon caught his attention again.

"Hey, can we keep that little bit a secret between us? Just us—not with your father or Jarvis or anyone else?"

Tony adopted a mischievous smirk. "Yeah—just like Tor's sweet spot!"

Hakon chuckled and nodded and briefly ruffled his hair before quickly re-gripping the steering wheel with a death grip. "Yup, just like that. Thanks, Tony."

Tony beamed up at him. It wasn't like he had many people to tell these secrets too, but since they were his and Hakon's, he would keep them to his grave.

Tor yipped from the backseat and stuck his head up between the two seats. Tony reached over and scratched the furred chin, just under the chin and Tor collapsed into a mound of fluff and happy growls. Hakon laughed and Tony smiled at his godfather's mirth before snuggling into his seat and enjoying the crazy ride to the labs. He practically bounced in his seat at the thought. He'd only briefly seen his father's makeshift lab at the house before being kicked out—he couldn't wait to see an actual lab!

Well, it was cute and then sad...sorry. See y'all soon and hope you have a great day!