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Chapter 34: You'll Get Used To The Sound Of Alarms

Summary:

The calm before the storm.

Notes:

Chapter-specific warnings: the usual for this fit [unreliable narrator, miscommunication, dubious morality, unhealthy relationships, not Avengers friendly, comic book science, etc.], with a special focus on legal drama and technical jargon being bullshitted by a broke college student whose main experience is tv show. Also, JARVIS' Skynet is showing again, there's that, too.

Sorry not sorry for the minor cliffhanger.

The image in this has fanart[?!?!*still low-key flailing, here], and once I've figured out how to link it it'll go here.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Tony couldn't help the tendril of dark satisfaction that came with seeing the Ross' face as he stormed out, already barking orders over the phone. No doubt he was going to try and call in a few favors, but a glance with his legal team meant he didn't have to worry about the man in the short term.

That particular battle could wait, they had a bigger mess to contend with.

One that made part of Tony's head throb just thinking about it, because the entire Winter Soldier scenario was an unholy conglomeration of international law and politics and PR and how was this his problem?!

Oh, right. Privatized world peace, contracts about Iron Man's jurisdiction, and of course this was literally part of the job description, even if the idea of Captain America being wanted for aiding and abetting a suspected terrorist felt like something ripped from a pulp novel. And that was without everything else…

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed.

Well, better him than Ross' hit squad. Even if that meant a lot of fast talking, once Ross was gone, because the JCTC's facilitators were pushing for something very, very similar that Tony understood from an intellectual standpoint, but dispatching a hit squad'd just send the wrong message, and really, couldn't they let him give it a shot?

Sure, combative Enhanced weren't something they were well-equipped to deal with, yet, but surely Tony could bring them in and clear this up, right? And yes, he absolutely needed the footage of the breakout, he could put some of his people on it to make sure this didn't happen again. [Sure, he could just hack it himself, but…at this point, he needed to pick his battles, and that wasn't one he was feeling up to.]

Hopefully—hopefully, this might even end up being some sort of giant misunderstanding, because even if Tony didn't trust the team as far as he could throw them without the suit, they weren't bad people. Hopefully, Rogers just did a stupid and forgot his number again. Hopefully, the paperwork for this mess wouldn't be longer than his arm, and they'd set the record straight and Tony wouldn't have to end up keeping his fingers crossed that nobody'd invade until JOCASTA was up and running, because damn it he needed the team available, just for a little while longer.

Hopefully. [Sure, they were long odds, but a man could hope, couldn't he?]

…suffice it was to say, there was quite a bit of fast talking, during the aftermath of the JCTC breakout. A new record may or may not have been set, for part of it, simply because of the number of phone calls made to make sure there weren't even more fires to put out.

By the end of it, an agreement was hammered out, and even if Tony didn't necessarily enjoy all the politicking he'd done in the past, he couldn't help but admit it'd paid off. He hung up on the last call—the Council didn't blow up his phone for once, what a pleasant surprise—ran a hand through his hair tiredly, then turned to Romanov.

"So, we got clearance to be the ones to bring them in. You interested?"

"Just the two of us, for the entire team? That's…optimistic. Tell me we're at least bringing Rhodes in as well. Unless…" She raised an eyebrow, and gave a wary look towards the group he'd brought with him.

"You think we're understaffed." Tony couldn't help but deadpan, before he snorted. "We have the Iron Legion, and Vision, and you think we're understaffed."

Romanov looked at him oddly, frowning slightly in concern. "I thought we were going for a friendly approach."

"Well, that's Plan A, obviously. But if needs must, and all that." He shrugged. "I just want to make sure we all get out of it alive, anything beyond that can be fixed as time goes on."

"That's a bit different to your usual approach." She blinked.

"Desperate times, desperate measures." He said sardonically with a lazy wave of his hand. "You missed the phone call with the guy who wanted to send in three death squads, or the thing with the snipers, I'm just doing what I can."

"Don't be modest, Tony. Still. Doesn't the Legion send the wrong message too?" Romanov tried to tease, and if his guard hadn't been sky-high since the start of the debacle, he would've been amused by her attempt at building a rapport.

As it was, he played along. Strange bedfellows, and all that. "Don't worry, Natasha. We'll bring them in safe and sound. Somehow."

"Any ideas?"

"Oh, just a few."

"Time to make some calls then. See who we can bring in."

"Don't I know it." Tony said wryly, even as he noticed the way his [wait, no SWORD puns, not the time, nope] Security detail in the other room had stiffened as their conversation went on. [Hmm…would some of them mind giving him a hand? Desperate times, desperate measures, after all…hey, there's an idea.]

"See you later, then. Keep me posted, I'll see if I can't get someone else on our side." Romanov said, and Tony did his best to tamp down his alarm because hello, possible complications. Just the Black Widow was pushing it as is, outside of anyone affiliated with SI, what was she planning?

"Whoa, wait, hey." He waved his hands. "That little faith? You wound me."

"Prince T'Challa looks like someone we could use on our team."

Huh. Tony blinked. That, he could actually see, but didn't the guy hate Barnes' guts?

"You—I thought we wanted to bring them in alive? I can get that you're aiming to improve relations with Wakanda, but…"

She waved him off. "He seemed like a reasonable man when I met him. I'm confident we can come to an agreement, one that'll mean we have one less country out for their blood."

Well then. Tony may not trust Romanov personally, [not again, never again], but he could count on her dedication to keeping her team safe. With any luck, they'd be able to salvage the situation and Tony wouldn't have to—well.

"Good luck, then." Tony said, and tried not to tense when she gave him a light clap to the arm as she left the room.

The moment the door closed behind her, he stood up and quickly made his way to where his legal/security attaché were waiting.

"I presume JARVIS and FRIDAY've kept you updated on what's going on. What's the situation?" Tony asked, eyes sharp even as he scrolled through his own tablet to see what he'd missed while putting out the latest fires.

"Locations as yet unknown, but between INTERPOL's facial recognition, and our own guys on it, shouldn't take too long. You've been officially declared to be on the case, by the way." Palamas rattled off, before leaning in and scowling slightly. "Not sure who leaked it, but it's already hit the press, so be ready. By the way, who else is on the case?"

"War Machine's been tapped, Vision's probably got a memo to gear up by now, and Romanov is Romanov. Oh—that reminds me. Guys, if you're going to eavesdrop, can you do me a favor and be more subtle about it? Wouldn't be surprised if she noticed too."

Some of the newer hires looked sheepish, at the admonishment, while the legal team looked slightly amused. However, Rivera simply scoffed.

"Boss, like hell we're leaving you alone with her. Legendary spy-assassin much? Plus she stabbed you in the neck that one time, can't forget that. Besides, technically we didn't eavesdrop. Not my fault I can read lips."

Oh, boy. Tony…probably shouldn't have felt as flattered as he did, at the thought. But he had a job to to, so he shoved it away, as well as the tendril of grim amusement at the confirmation of Legal's grudge against Romanov.

"You do realize she did it to save my life?" He raised an eyebrow. "Not that I trust her—I don't, but for unrelated reasons—but still. Cut her some slack."

This time, it wasn't just Rivera who was eyeing him dubiously, and he slumped slightly and sighed.

"Can you at least play nice while we're in the same space? Infighting just makes it harder to get the job done."

Suddenly, everyone's all smiles, and Rivera straightened up in mock-offense. "Like we're anything other than professional when it comes to the team."

What went unsaid was something Tony did not feel inclined to poke at, no way no how. He hastily cast about for something to change the subject, and—wait, right, backup. He sobered, as he thought about it. What he had in mind was a lot to ask, after all. Especially when they were so pressed for time.

"So, I'm assuming you've got an idea of the backup situation. There's something I was meaning to ask—" Tony paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to phrase it. "I'm aiming to talk them down. Plan B, however, is something that I want to discuss with you guys. Well, you and Legal, since this is new territory here, but…Would it be possible to ask if you guys would mind helping provide backup, along with the Iron Legion?"

The entire group shared a few unreadable glances, and smiled.

To: All SWORD Members [All Branches]

From: Hill, M. Head Intel Officer, Director of SWORD [Communications, Security, New York branch]

Subject: RED ALERT—Volunteers Needed

In light of recent events, Dr. Stark has been tasked to apprehend the fugitives from the JCTC breakout. Also on the case are War Machine, the Vision, and the Black Widow, and there is some speculation that Wakanda's Black Panther might also be in attendance.

Dr. Stark hopes to have this situation resolved as peacefully as possible, but contingency plans exist for a reason. The Iron Legion in the area have been primarily tasked with dealing with the fallout of the UN bombing, and as such are relatively reduced in number. In addition, the Legion is geared towards disaster relief, rather than combat capabilities. Which leads us to this:

If you are interested, have military or paramilitary combat experience, and can get to Germany within the next 36 hours, please contact us immediately. Those who volunteer will be reimbursed for their time, and will be equipped with non-lethal munitions and protective gear by R&D to help assist apprehending the fugitives.

A word of warning: as we have previously seen with our threat assessments, the fugitives should be considered armed and highly dangerous. They have shown a marked disregard for collateral damage, and have already grievously harmed law enforcement personnel. While volunteers will be provided with top-of-the-line equipment made by our own, and will be operating alongside the Iron Legion only if Dr. Stark does not succeed to bring them in himself, there is still a high risk of injury. If you sign on, you are ascertaining you are aware of the dangers.

Further details available upon request

—Hill

———————

To: Beckett, M. Technician [Security, New York branch]

From: Lopez, K. Secretary [R&D, Security, Los Angeles branch]

Subject: Is This For Real?

A sanctioned chance at punching Rogers in the face? That, I would've done for free.

What do you think?

—Lopez

———————

To: Lopez, K. Secretary [R&D, Security, Los Angeles branch]

From: Beckett, M. Technician [Security, New York branch]

Subject: I Know

Even if Hill's PSA was probably supposed to scare off the probies, I can still think of a dozen people who wouldn't give a damn. Palamas' crew is probably having a field day right now, aren't they.

…not sure if I feel happy or disappointed that the Legion can't just take care of it, though. I mean, on the one hand, scary robot army before Phase 3's ready so PR'd probably have kittens, but on the other, that means we get a crack at the A-Team. Still. Oh well, something to note for the future.

Also: how's your R&D crew, and are you scared yet? Because I don't know where the hell they got some of those *very* shiny-looking guns on such short notice, considering SI's been out of the game for years now.

Thoughts?

—Beckett

———————

To: Beckett, M. Technician [Security, New York branch]

From: Lopez, K. Secretary [R&D, Security, Los Angeles branch]

Subject: Not In The Slightest

All I'm saying is, hell to the yes. Btw, apparently what they did was bust out the stuff they'd been toying with just prior to Afghanistan? And between that and all the breakthroughs in science they've had since, well…even if it's nonlethal, it's going to pack a hell of a punch. I approve. Greatly.

And yes, rumor has it Palamas' crew booked plane tickets the same hour Hill's FAO went out.

This should be good.

—Lopez

Virginia "Pepper" Potts was currently on a very, very short temper.

She was the CEO of Stark Industries, had been for years now, and yet some media outlets still seemed to be under the impression that she was Tony's keeper, somehow. Fortunately, PR was pretty good at weeding out the really annoying ones so she didn't have to deal with them, but every so often there'd be a question cropping up that had her giving them the same smile she'd mastered a year into her career as the right-hand (wo)man to the Merchant of Death.

That same smile was making a reappearance, now, in an interview with someone who clearly hadn't done their research.

Someone who'd been talking far too much about character assessments, when they should have been discussing the current situation with Stark Industries' involvement with the aftermath of the JCTC breakout.

Of course, since Tony was the face of the company, the conversation inevitably shifted to him, and where Pepper had been irritated before, it was only the latest question that crossed the line.

"—re you sure that he is the best man for the job?"

She didn't react visibly. Didn't stiffen, didn't lean back, didn't do anything other than pause for a moment to reassess the situation because this was clearly someone who'd bought into the image of Tony as an irresponsible womanizer trying to arrest Captain America, which…no.

No, instead, she simply took a deep breath. Then, she let it out carefully, ignoring the way it felt just a tad bit warmer than it should have coming back out.

Finally, Pepper leaned forward, and with a quiet calm that would have had Tony ducking for cover if he'd heard it, replied, "Iron Man has been operating under the banner of Stark Industries International and working to privatize world peace for the better part of a decade. Do you think he's not the best man for the job? If you continue to make any remarks to the effect of insinuating Dr. Stark is in the same category of fugitives suspected of international terrorism, we will be suing for libel."

Had it happened under better circumstances, maybe Pepper would have been more lenient. Prior to Extremis, she would have just demurred politely and changed the subject while internalizing her annoyance, but—well, things had changed.

So if she took an inordinate amount of satisfaction from the way the reporter had paled before hastily changing the subject, well, chalk that up to the stress of running a Fortune 500 company when it was constantly under attack. She had enough issues with Ross trying to get at Tony through said company, she had absolutely no time for two-bit reporters. At all.

Sure, that also meant being a bit more litigation-happy than she'd used to be, but between Legal's vindictive glee once they were on the case, and the strain of her workload, well…

She had better things to do, a friend who was too altruistic for his own good, and the power of a living weapon lying only mostly dormant under her skin—at this point, Pepper Potts had a limited number of fucks to give.

"—and if that happens, we'll deploy from here, and here, Gutierrez covering from an axial vantage point, Allen and Kim've got ventral." Palamas finished, outlining yet another possible strategy they could do if push came to shove on the plane's monitors. "Optimizes range, compensates for this type of terrain, minimizes risks."

Tony, personally, would've preferred not risking his employees at all, but…he had to admit, it sure seemed like they had things well in hand. If he wasn't so wary of the team's downright scary disregard for collateral damage, he might not have even been worried at all—or, rather, he would've been more worried about how fast SWORD had mobilized, instead.

Seriously, though—JARVIS had been helping keep him up to date on things, and the size of the volunteer list, even after he'd asked Hill to give the best warning she could, was actually slightly alarming if he thought about too much.

He'd known, intellectually, that he had a good chunk of ex-SHIELD personnel on his payroll; heck, SWORD calling itself that wasn't even as much of a surprise, in retrospect…but. It was one thing to know, and another to see the long, long list of volunteers boasting of long-range sniper training, airborne training, and urban combat and counterterrorism skills.

If he didn't have so much on his plate, Tony would have probably reacted more appropriately to the discovery. As it was, he was running on almost more caffeine than sleep, with the possibility of a fight looming in the future, and cleanup after that. Great. [He could deal with it…later.]

They worked hard to stay updated on the situation; needless to say, there a lot of cursing when FRIDAY reported of Maximoff's explosive exit from the Compound, and scrambling to readjust battle plans.

Tony's halfway New York, still on the plane and collaborating with SWORD and part of his legal team, when the idea takes root.

It may not be the best, but…it had merit. The way things were lining up, his dealing with the fugitives would end in one of two ways: either he cleared the air with Steve and brought in the team without a single punch being thrown, or his [surprisingly, if not alarmingly] large backup plan would take them in. Between the Iron Legion, and what was shaping up to be a full-blown tac team, it shouldn't be too dangerous—even if he didn't trust the team personally, he knew they weren't bad people…hmm.

It'd be a great learning experience, should be pretty safe and the circumstances were actually fairly controlled compared the the bullshit he saw sometimes—and he'd done far riskier stuff when he was Peter's age, shouldn't be too bad, right?

"Hey, Palamas, quick question." Tony asked, as they continued brainstorming ideas and possible tactics for if engagement were to occur.

"Shoot."

"Scale of one to ten, how much of a bad idea would it be to bring in an mentee into this? Just to observe, not engage."

"Is this the Parker kid I've been hearing so much about?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tony did not flush, nope. Not at all. So what if he rambled a little about him? "I will neither confirm nor deny, but he's fifteen, and wants to be a hero but doesn't have much field experience. I can promise he wouldn't get in the way."

She furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "…he's strong, right? Can handle himself?"

"We've been mostly focusing on tactics but he said something about self-defense lessons, yes. If things go south, he won't be as in danger as we will."

"Good, good. Then sure, I don't see why not." Palamas shrugged, then smirked at him. "Extreme job-shadowing. Just wait until I tell the crew, they'll get a kick out of it."

Oh, boy. He'd created a monster, hadn't he. [Oops?]

"I—go ahead, be my guest." No, Tony didn't flee, nope, he just…walked away a bit faster than usual, that's all. No, he wasn't nervous because of the glee on her face, nope, that's just a coincidence. Right.

Well, on the plus side, now he didn't have to worry about SWORD's reaction. [Other than the inevitable teasing, but that was something for another day.]

Once he was a safe distance away, Tony turned and tapped his headset. "Hey, J, ask the kid if he wants in. Also, look into optimizing fabrication speeds while you're at it, we're losing Legionnaires almost faster than we're making them."

"On it, sir. Do you wish to send Mr. Parker a message now?"

"…you know what, sure. How about this: 'Subject: Invite. Hey, kid, headed out to Germany with a team from SWORD, want in? Don't forget to grab your passport when you pack your gear.' Done."

"Confirmed, and…sent."

"Thanks, J."

"May I suggest you get some sleep, sir? You are still several hours out and—"

"Already on it, J. Set an alarm, will you? About an hour or so—and have coffee ready for me when we get to the tower. I'm going to need it to keep from running on fumes."

"Consider it done."

To: Parker, P. Intern [R&D, Security, New York branch]

From: Stark, A. E. You Know Who I Am; Department Head [R&D, New York branch]

Subject: [UNREAD] Invite

Hey, kid. Headed out to Germany with a team from SWORD, want in? Don't forget to grab your passport when you pack your gear.

—Stark

Tony looked at the gear he was signing off on. Then he looked back at Hill, and back at the gear.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"That was my reaction when I saw it." Hill said dryly.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope."

He found himself flailing a little, now. "This—okay, the name, I was starting to get, but this?! You've to to be kidding me."

"PR signed off on it, boss. And Marketing, and Legal. That's the official SWORD insignia." Hill said, with a respectable amount of chagrin in her voice.

"They—this is a joke? Please tell me this is a joke. We're literally going to send our guys in with—with that." He gestured desperately at the damning blue circle lying innocently where a normal organization's insignia would go on a uniform.

"Hey, don't look at me, it Decker and King who were the ones who came up with it." Hill defended. "SWORD liked it, it got approved by the powers that be, and here we are. Frankly, I'm surprised this is the first time you've seen it."

"You're telling me everyone seriously thought this was a good idea. The sword, I get. The arc reactor, I'm incredibly flattered by if not slightly embarrassed. The Skynet insignia, though? That's…" He pinched the bridge of his nose, then sighed. "JARVIS, what do you think?"

"If I may, sir, I found it very amusing. Less than 2% of the population thus far have picked up on its placement in the insignia without prior knowledge, and that they have chosen to represent me in such a manner is something I take great pleasure in."

"Great. My AI's a secret troll." Tony deadpanned. Then, he sighed. Well…it wasn't hurting anyone, and pick your battles and all that…"Fine. My life is a cosmic joke, but fine, let's do this."

He signed off where necessary, and made sure the gear and munitions were what he'd requested before they packed them off.

"Live ammo?" Hill raised an eyebrow, seeing one of the boxes.

Tony shook his head. "Not exactly. We've got Hulk-caliber tranqs by the bucket here, but…I doubt we'll need armor-piercing rounds, really. But I like to be prepared, and since I designed their armor I know the weaknesses—theoretically, these armor-piercing rounds should make a dent."

At Hill's sharp glance, he quirked a smile that felt ever-so-slightly brittle, and continued. "Still nonlethals. They're prototypes I was playing with, before Afghanistan—shit at doing damage and they're hollow, so we can use them with tranqs if necessary. Worst comes to worst, enough of these should be able to take down Captain America himself…unless Maximoff steps in, anyway, and now we're going to have to figure out a workaround for that because energy fields've thus far been explored in our labs mostly for—"

Tony cut himself off once he realized he was starting to ramble. Then, he rubbed his temples and ignored Hill's concerned glance as he refocused on the subject at hand. Damn, he needed more coffee.

"Anyway. Right. Anything else? JARVIS, how're we doing on the caffeine powder?"

"Your backup stash is currently located in the workshop, sir."

"Good luck, boss. I get the feeling you're going to need it."

JARVIS was very grateful for FRIDAY's assistance with their facial recognition program. While he was capable of it himself, the truth of the matter was that she was far more efficient at it than he was, thanks to her optimization for dataset management. Not that he begrudged her for that; between his own personal dislike, and the fugitives' skill at evading cameras, it was shaping up to be a long, arduous task. As such, while she spearheaded SI's official search for the Avengers, he was able to use the processing power instead for…other matters.

For instance, his research on the situation, as the sheer speed with which recent events had occurred meant that things were falling through the gaps, and some of it might prove useful to Sir at a later date.

Such as the footage of the UN bombing—the footage he'd had to carefully route through requests and both public and encrypted servers, to make sure it was above-board for Sir's peace of mind—was actually revealing several inconsistencies that had JARVIS suspecting of something afoot, but it was only now that he could start to compile a case for it being doctored. Nothing concrete, as of yet, nothing to point fingers with—but. It was something, and might give them leverage later on down the road.

…not to mention his own, personal backup plan.

JARVIS idly checked to make sure things were fully functional. If he were human, he would have smirked as his ping got the expected results. It was a pity that Mr. Barton had retired prior to his initiating it, but mobile network data was able to supplement where his own initiative had failed in that regard.

If Sir wanted to bring the Enhanced fugitives in alive, then JARVIS would help, even if that meant dragging them in kicking and screaming.

Things were mostly packed up and ready to go, there was an abnormally large swarm of Security members milling around in R&D and testing out their gear in a controlled environment to get acclimated to it…and his mentee hadn't replied yet.

They were about to head out, and not so much as a peep. Great. Just great.

"J, has Peter replied yet?"

"No, sir."

Tony leaned back for a moment, then looked at his watch. Then at the chaos that was Security and R&D getting along like a house on fire, and sighed.

Oh, screw it.

"J, tell the rest of the guys I'll be back soon, looks like it's time to make a house call."

Notes:

Unreliable narrator instances this round:

—Tony's self-awareness was sighted! [Wait, no, that was a smudge on the camera lens, oops.] He's aware of Legal and SWORD having a grudge against the team, and Natasha in particular, but he has yet to be aware of the extent of it. Any time he starts to get a hint, something else comes up and distracts him, with the most notable instances this round being Peter's role in all this, and the insignia. Speaking of which: Tony didn't see it before because he's been pretty damn busy for the entire time. Even when doing the press conference, he was hyperfocused on 'please don't make any comments about SHIELD becoming a SWORD, nope, please, irony's too much here', plus the design wasn't finalized until later [this comes up in Chapter 4 of FtOS, btw, including the same image made by me with a pen and my phone's camera. Pardon the image quality.]

—For the record, while their eavesdropping on Tony and Natasha's conversation might be seen invasive by some, it's because mentally I was picturing it as a case of 'okay, we're strangers but you're looking pretty uncomfortable talking to that guy, is there anything I can do to help?' because SI hadn't liked her before [they take corporate espionage very seriously, so guess how pissed off they were when learning about Natalie Rusman's true resumé?], but now...this should end well, probably.

—Pepper's got a lot on her plate, too, plus her being one of Tony's closest friends, and a woman, means that there's a wealth of assumptions going on, along the lines of 'he's your boyfriend, why can't you rein him in?' which she doesn't have the time for. Not anymore, especially given everything.

—gee, I wonder what JARVIS has been up to? [hint: it's been a gradual thing, especially over this last arc]

Also, bit of a meta sidenote, but here, part of why Tony went 'hey, let's bring in a fifteen-year-old to this, seems legit' is because he legitimately thinks it is, thanks to his own childhood. His reasoning being, 'hey, I designed my first bomb before puberty, and some of the few memories I have of Howard are of him bringing me to work, this is actually safer than some of the shit I got up to at his age!' so...yeah. There's more to it than that, but cutting it off here.

—————

Next chapter: nothing major, just a house call and a trip to an airport...

Erratic updates because school and life in general, as per usual.

Edited only to add: This fic is not abandoned, I just I have Things Going Down In My Life. Please don't demand I update, as that won't help. At all.