Notes:
Waaa! Chapter 1 is complete! Woo Hoo! I had so much fun writing this. So many new characters to write about. It's been fun.
I switched perspectives and scenery with line breaks. I hope it's not confusing.
But new book is finally up! Yay! This is great, I feel consistent.
Oh yeah I'm gonna skip some plot points because I don't really need to rehash all the Iron Man movies. So it might times-skip sometimes in the story. But not by more then a few months at a time. I wanna focus on the moments were the two universes mesh not rewrite the movies in their entirety, you know.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts :)
3 months ago, The Bunker
"Tony, look at this book." Charlie says lifting a book she's been reading for the past 20 minutes.
They'd been in the bunker alone for a few days as the rest went on a hunt and Charlie and Tony volunteered to start cataloging some of the books into digital form. Or even just coupling some of the books together so if you were looking for a specific topic you needed to search around all the shelf's for all the books on one topic.
Sam thought it was a good time considering it took awhile for them to find the spell to control James but thought it'd be easier if they had a filing system. Sam originally started this project but Charlie and Tony who were interested in the supernatural took to it like fish to water. Especially because they were both much better than Sam when it came to Dean and Sam. Well, Sam was good at it, Dean had something left to be desired.
"What is it?" Tony asked leaning over the table to get a better look since he'd been currently cataloging data into the computer and had been.
He was sitting opposite of Charlie this whole time since the both needed a lot of room to work, each using their half of the table to do what they needed to.
"This is a book of spells. Didn't Dean say witches used spells and therefore magic was generally not good?" Charlie stated and asked at the same time.
"I guess. I mean there must be instances where magic can be good. Right? Ah as a man of science it hurts to think magic is actually real." Tony lamented, he'd denied the existence of monsters and magic for a long time till Castiel disappeared right in front of him, not before showing him the light show to show his wings.
That spooked Tony; and then when Dean took him and James on a hunt and he got face to face with a ghost, yeah that sent him over the edge. He had a few panic attacks and a few nightmares since that whole debacle.
"You think we should test one out then?" Charlie said feeling rather reckless in her excitement.
Tony wasn't any better throwing caution to the wind.
"Yeah we should. Which one?" He asked as Charlie flipped through the book's pages.
"Hmmm, something harmless. Maybe...Oooo. How about this one?" Charlie said, pointing to one spell.
"It's a tracking spell. I could place it on you and then you can hide somewhere in the bunker and I'll use the spell to find you." Charlie suggested.
"Sounds simple, how do we do it?" Tony said getting up ready to do some magic.
And the rest of the afternoon was filled with Tony and Charlie casting spells on each other and playing a game of hide and seek.
Present, California
"Ms Potts!" A voice shouted, followed by a red haired woman a bit out of breath.
Pepper turned around.
"Yes?" She asked, waiting for the lady to catch her breath.
The lady was clad in a multicolored plaid button up, which wasn't buttoned. With dark blue jeans and a sci-fi t-shit that was poking through. And with her beat up converse; she looked like a college student/intern. She had a stack of papers in her hands and a laptop bag at her waist.
Pepper thought, this was not what she needed right now. Tony was declared missing or kidnapped yesterday and S.I. has been losing their minds. The shareholders were panicking and Mr. Stane had been acting weird. An intern was not what she needed right now. She would've turned around right on the spot if not to at least appear like she was handling herself well and to not be rude.
"Sorry to bother you, oh god, let me catch my breath." Charlie said still dying as she'd seen Pepper five minutes ago and been chasing after her since only to finally catch up.
"Listen if you've come to ask about a job or internship, I don't handle that. I'm very busy, I'm sure you've seen the news." Pepper said feeling bad but she had bigger issues right now.
"No, I don't want a job. Eh, well, I mean, a job at Stark Industries would be so cool, but, ah, no that's not why I wanted to speak with you. It's about Tony." Charlie said standing straight trying to clear the misunderstanding.
Pepper paused.
People who didn't know Mr. Stark, rarely called him Tony. It was always Mr. Stark. But this girl was young and Tony's type.
Pepper sighed deeply.
"Listen if you are here to claim you are carrying Mr. Stark's child, then you'll be willing to have a paternity test and speak with the legal team." Pepper said having to deal with it too often.
"Paternity test? WHAT! I'm not pregnant with Tony's kid. Oh god. Stop jumping to conclusions please. I have some information about Tony that could help find him. I just came to pass over the information that's all. Tony and I are strictly friends. FRIENDS, got it." Charlie reiterated.
"Friends." Pepper whispered skeptical, but her visceral reaction to being pregnant with Mr. Stark's kid made it a little believable.
Charlie was a bit grossed out. Tony was a fine person, but definitely not her type, probably one of the farthest things from her type. Coincidentally her and Tony's types are very similar, but that was because they both liked women but besides that, that was the end of those sort of similarities.
"What information then?" Pepper asked as her curiosity was peaked.
It had been two months already and the U.S government was doing an abysmal job of locating him. The only information they got was from the freaking people who kidnapped him by way of video asking for demands. And the government wasn't making any haste in completing those demands for Stark's safe return. That was already driving Pepper and Rhodey up the wall.
Charlie smiled.
"Well you see, I met Tony a few months back. We connected with computers and whatnot. Anyway, I was fiddling with his phone and I may or may not have put a tracker in it." Charlie said, looking away.
This was the only lie she could come up with that made any bit of sense. How is she supposed to tell Pepper that the reason she knew where Tony Stark was was because they were playing around with magic and accidentally put a tracking spell on Tony Stark, and didn't realize that the tracking spell was still taking affect and that she couldn't locate the general location of Tony Stark without Sounding like a fucking nut job.
"But that's besides the point, anyway, I was tracking the phone after seeing the ransom demands on the news and I thought I might as well try because it wouldn't hurt and Tony's my friend. And I got a ping for his location. The ping didn't last very long, but I did get a positive reading somewhere in the middle of the Afghan desert. I brought papers and marked the correct coordinates down. I just wanted to bring this to someone who could actually use this information. Because I think if I go to the US government, nobody will believe a thing I say. But I'm sure you have connections and stuff and even if you don't believe me, it's not like it will hurt just to be careful and go check this place out." Charlie said quickly, handing Pepper the papers.
"See if you look here." Charlie said pointing to a photo of a map from some of her printouts.
"See the little blip. That's where I got a connection from the tracker. But since it disappeared quickly I don't have a more accurate reading." Charlie lamented, because once she used the tracking spell, she couldn't use it again.
"However, I did track it two days ago, so unless the terrorists packed up all their shit and moved in the last two days, I would say he's still in that immediate area. And after doing some digging, I also found out that there was a town in this vicinity. So it could be a base of operations or maybe some shelter they're using. The possibilities are endless, but it's a lead in the right direction. Right!" Charlie said enthusiastically.
Pepper didn't know what to make of this information. The fact that this random women just came up to her and had basically Tony's location on a silver platter. It made her a little bit suspicious for sure. But her enthusiasm made Pepper want to believe her that this was all for good intentions and if Mr. Stark was actually her friend, then this could be ground breaking. Also, like the girl said it wouldn't hurt to try, especially, if she asked Rhodey to do a quick little look.
"Thank you for getting this to me. I'll see that it gets to someone who can help." Pepper said believing the women in front of her because she wanted her boss to be rescued and to be safe.
Charlie smiled,
"Sure! I'm glad I got a hold of you. This is good. Okay when you rescue Tony, tell him Charlie said hi and that he should call cause I think we should go hunting together, screw what Dean said." Charlie said laughing.
"Anyway I gotta go, I have other stuff to do. But I hope you guys find Tony soon." Charlie said, waving to Pepper as she walked backwards.
Pepper watched the eccentric young woman walk away into the distance. Her deep red hair, quite the contrast to her own waving in the wind as she got onto the back of a bike. Before zooming off.
"Did you see Tony?" A gruff voice said slightly muffled by the helmet he was wearing.
"James, I thought I told you. Tony's been kidnapped. I went to give some information about his location so that they can go save him. Tony's not in California. But I'm pretty confident with the coordinates I got from the tracking spell so it'll be a matter of time before he's back safe and sound." Charlie said her own helmet muffled her voice, as well.
"Anyway I showed you the signs of the vampire nest in the paper earlier right. Let's go hunt, just the two of us, it'll be fun." Charlie said having no fear because James was a beast with weapons and she felt protected.
James sighed but nodded agreeing.
Since being taken in by Sam and Dean, his handlers, who were so much different than his old ones. They've made it a priority to teach him about hunting and about the life of a hunter and how important it was. Charlie wasn't a handler for him, but it was someone that his handlers trusted and if she said that they should go hunt then it was probably the best idea to go hunt.
And even though this work is still focused around killing things, he felt better about it than his past work. Well, the past work that he could remember and what Charlie found out from snooping through SHIELD's databases.
Killing monsters who attacked other people felt like he was doing something good, finally. Something he could be proud of if he were to look back on his life rather than assassination after assassination. It felt like there was finally a use for his abilities that didn't negatively impact the world.
"Let's go." James said in a way of confirmation.
"Wooo! This is gonna be so fun!" Charlie said excitedly.
Sam and Dean never let her go on hunts alone. She's only been on a few hunts by herself, but Sam and Dean don't know about it and if they did, they would probably be really upset.
But what they didn't know couldn't hurt them. Or at least Charlie thought so.
Plus, Sam and Dean were so busy nowadays that they barely had time to hunt themselves so she was doing a service to the world, actually. Or at least that's what she told herself.
S.I. California Branch, Pepper's Office
"Hey Rhodey, any luck yet?" Pepper asked as she called Rhodey as soon as she got in her office and locked the door as this was a private conversation.
"No, sorry Pepper. Trust me, I'm scouring every single inch of this desert. I'll find him. I promise." Rhodey said to Pepper but he was saying it to reassure himself as well.
"Uh hmm, I think I can help." Pepper said unsure how to bring this up.
She didn't want to get the girl in trouble if it really did help find Tony.
"Help? How?" Rhodey asked urgently.
"Well I got some information from someone who said they were able to pinpoint Mr. Stark's approximate location. I sent two photos and a set of coordinates. Listen I don't know if this will lead to anything or how accurate this information is, but I thought I might as well pass it along since you said you were going to scour every inch of the desert anyway it might as well check a little closely at this area and the surroundings, I was also told that there was a village nearby and that might be where Tony's being kept but it's all circumstantial evidence. I don't really know if it's true or not but if it is, it wouldn't hurt to check." Pepper told Rhodey.
Rhodey went silent for a bit, probably looking the information over.
"Hmmm, okay, I'll check it out since we are passing by near these coordinates in the next coming week. Thanks Pepper. Let me go now, I'll be busy preparing, since If we find Tony in their base then we might end up in a firefight and I have to brief the others..." Rhodes' voice tapered off and Pepper smiled.
"I'll let you get to it, be safe." Pepper said before hanging up.
KNOCK KNOCK
Pepper's head shot up.
"Yes?" She asked confused as she was not aware of having any appointments.
The door knob just shook.
Pepper stood and walked to the door unlocking it.
"Oh! Mr. Stane." Pepper said surprised.
"Ms. Potts, how are you?" Stane said with an odd demeanor.
"I'm holding up. Did you need something?" She asked, plastering a fake business smile.
"Oh I was just curious as to what you were currently working on and if you were busy?" Mr. Stane asks, walking his way into her office.
Pepper left the door ajar and walked behind him.
"I have been busy dealing with the media and the shareholders in Mr. Stark's absence." Pepper said watching Mr. Stane walked behind her desk to look out the window.
"Hmm, yes everyone is still in a frenzy. How tedious." He said staring out the window with hands clasped behind his back.
He abruptly spinned around.
"Anyway, what did you lock your door for?" He asked, being extra nosy, while also looking at the papers on her desk.
Pepper felt a weird prickle on her skin, and moved to shuffle papers on her desk in lue of tidying up but purposely hiding the maps and coordinates, the young women gave her.
"Oh I made a no work related call. My mother called so I locked the door for a little privacy, that's all." Pepper said, giving a fake chuckle as she was uncomfortable.
"Oh I see. You're free to call your mother. Sorry for getting on your case. I must be more bothered by Tony's missing presence than I let on. I just wanted to see how you were feeling and to make sure everything was good. It is good, right?" Mr. Stane asks.
"Oh yes, I'm doing fine. I appreciate the concern." Pepper said and watched her other boss smile and then leave.
"Well, that was weird." Pepper said quietly to herself.
2 Weeks Later
"Tony!" Pepper shouted running to his side the moment he stepped out of the helicopter.
"Hey Pep." He said, looking horrible.
Compared to his usual lavishly dressed self he was a bit sunburned, sweaty, and all of his clothes were ripped and disheveled, and a little bloody. He was looking pretty terrible. Though the fact that he just got rescued from two months of being captured by terrorists, Pepper was just glad he was alive.
Rhodey was supporting Tony as he was still a little shaky on his feet.
"You can never do that again." Pepper admonished lightly following them to the car.
"Trust me, I don't plan on it. Anyone else starving? I could totally go for a cheese burger." Tony said as he was helped into the car.
"Tony, we are going to the hospital first." Rhodey said instructing Happy to ignore Tony and go straight to the hospital.
"But hospital food sucks. Happy. I need a cheeseburger stat." Tony exclaimed.
Rhodey and Pepper sighed.
And Happy made a quick stop through the drive through.
"By the way, how'd you guys find me?" Tony asked half way through a cheeseburger.
Rhodey pointed to Pepper.
"Pep?" Tony questioned.
Pepper sighed,
"Well, this girl gave me some information and said you might be there and I passed the information to Rhodey." Pepper explained.
"Who?" Tony asked confused who would know where he was.
"Well I didn't catch her name but she told me to tell you something. She said; that Charlie said hi and that you two should go hunting or something and to screw Dean. It's not verbatim, but something similar to that effect. Do you know who that is?" Pepper asked after delivering the message.
Tony looked surprised but laughed.
"Hunting? You hunt?" Rhodey said not believing it for a second.
"Haha, no not like that. But huh, Charlie did it. Huh. I wonder how she tracked me?" Tony questioned his thoughts out loud.
"Eh well, she said she tracked your phone," Pepper said.
"My phone? That doesn't make any-oh..my phone." Tony said, remembering the tracking spell.
"Oh, I see. Huh, I gotta send a fruit basket." Tony said as an afterthought.
"Where's my fruit basket?" Rhodey asked only to get a burger thrown at him.
"Enjoy!" Tony said laughing, only to cough and hold his chest.
Rhodey stopped smiling and turned to Happy telling him to hurry.
Notes:
Well, chapter one is done!
How was it? I hope y'all are liking this series so far. I really enjoy writing it and I hope y'all enjoy it too.