troubled thoughts and self-esteem to match Part 2
MASTERPOST|| PART 1
Part 2
Steve laughed shakily as he blasted away from Gulmiera. It had been intense fighting the terrorists, even killing a lot of them, but the people had been grateful and that was all that mattered. He grinned behind the mask of his suit as he flew through a cloud. Suddenly, his proximity sensors went off.
“Uh, MAMO?” he asked warily.
“It seems that you have been spotted by the Air Force,” MAMO replied calmly.
“Oh shit.”
Steve saw two fighter planes come up on either side of him. He shot forward, hoping to outrun them, but they just fired missiles at him. Steve dodged the missiles and fired off his own rockets, destroying the missiles chasing him.
“Fuck, shit, god damn it,” Steve cursed as he flew upwards and then rolled behind the planes. “MAMO, call Chin!”
“Dialing now.”
While Steve waited for Chin to pick up, he glided underneath one plane and latched on. He hoped the plane didn’t roll and announce his hiding place.
“What is it, Steve? I’m busy right now,” Chin growled as he answered the phone.
“Yes I know,” Steve replied. “I’m busy too. Hanging on for dear life.”
At that moment the plane Steve was holding onto rolled to one side. He saw the pilot of the second plane look at him in shock. He let go of the first plane and fell before his boosters kicked in.
“Steve. Where are you?”
“Oh, you know. Just flying about. Didn’t know where I wanted to go.”
“Christ,” Chin muttered. “Tell me you aren’t in that suit that has two Air Force birds chasing after it.”
“I would if I could.”
“God damn it, Steve!”
“Hey! I didn’t know that I’d be chased by two planes, all right?”
“You destroyed a terrorist cell that we’ve been watching for a long time,” Chin whispered fiercely.
“Well, someone had to do something!” Steve yelled back. He was too focused on yelling at Chin, that he didn’t see the missile until it was almost too late. “Son of a-!” Steve was able to pull up in time, but the plane behind him wasn’t. The missile hit a wing and the plane began to spiral downwards. “Damn it!”
“Steve!” Chin managed to yell in a whisper.
“Not now.” Steve watched as the pilot ejected from his plane, but didn’t open his parachute. Steve shot downwards, making sure to use an extra boost to reach the man before he fell much further. Steve grabbed onto the pilot and yanked on the parachute release. Then he let go and watched as the pilot drifted to safety.
“Good job. We need to talk, Steve,” Chin said seriously.
“Not now. I need to get home before Danny and Grace get back. Later,” Steve hung up on Chin and put all the power in the suit into flying home.
****
Steve was in the middle of getting his suit taken off, when he heard his workshop door opened. He whipped his head to see Danny and Grace, who was holding onto a small package, staring at him in shock.
“This isn’t the worst thing you’ve ever caught me doing,” Steve protested.
“It might be the worst thing Grace has ever seen you do!” Danny shouted, coving Grace’s eyes.
Grace pushed her father’s hand away and stepped closer with a huge smile on her face. “You were on TV, haku hana!”
“I was?” Steve smiled back at her. He wiped it off his face as he saw Danny’s stony glare. “Uh, I mean…”
“You saved those people!” Grace continued, throwing her arms out and almost dropping the package. “Like, a superhero! Like Captain America!”
“Whoa, let’s not go that far,” Steve replied. The last piece of his suit was taken off and he dropped down next to Grace. “You can’t tell anyone, okay, keko? It’d be dangerous.”
She nodded quickly. “I won’t tell. Not even Kamekona or Mary.”
“Good job.” Steve kissed her forehead. “Now, why don’t you go upstairs so Danno and I can have a talk?”
“You mean, so Danno can yell at you?”
“Same thing.”
They laughed, while Danny scoffed behind them. Grace kissed Steve’s cheek and handed him the package. “This is for you, from me and Danno.” She then went to Danny and said, “Don’t be too hard on him, Danno.”
“I’ll try not to sweetie.”
Grace nodded again, satisfied with that answer. She left the two men alone. Danny waited until the door was firmly shut before launching into his rant.
“Are you serious?” Danny paced around the workshop, while Steve moved towards the bar. He placed the package down carefully before making himself a drink and sitting down on the couch and watching Danny. “You could be injured or killed and we wouldn’t know! Just like last time. Damn it, Steve, I need to know these things! That’s why you hired me!”
“I hired you because you wouldn’t sleep with me. And then I found out how good at your job you are,” Steve replied placidly.
“I will punch you in your fucking face if you keep talking like that.”
Steve waved a hand, indicating to Danny that he should keep going. Danny glared and he took a deep, calming breath. “I need to know what you are planning, because Jesus Christ, I can’t take it again.” Danny sat down next to Steve.
“Besides my plans usually suck and only you can make them better.”
Danny laughed. “Yes, because of that as well.”
Steve scooted closer to Danny and put an arm around the other man’s shoulders. Steve pulled Danny closer and brought their foreheads together. “We’re a great team, Daniel. I won’t leave you behind again.”
“You better not,” Danny replied, with a hitch in his voice.
Steve pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s hairline before pulling away and finishing his drink. He made another, not looking at Danny. “I need to know what Pat is up too,” he said.
“Mary and I can find out tomorrow. I’m working for her now too.”
Steve turned just in time to see Danny leaving the workshop. He snarled before setting his drink down and opening the package Grace gave him. It was his old arc reactor inside a glass case. Around the arc reactor were the words, Proof Steve McGarrett has a heart. He picked up his drink again and took a long gulp.
“Great. Just great,” he muttered into his glass.
Dummy let out a sharp whistle and rolled up next to him. Steve stroked the robots head for a while before going back to work on his suit. There were a few things he needed to upgrade.
****
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Danny hissed as he and Mary walked towards Pat’s office.
“Do you have a better one?” Mary hissed back. “Pat’s supposed to be gone for lunch and her secretary has a dentist appointment, so we need to get in, get the information, and get out.”
“I don’t want to know how you know all this.”
“Probably for the best.”
The stopped short when they saw Pat’s secretary at her desk. Danny glared at Mary, who shrugged.
“I can keep her occupied until she leaves, but you’ll have to get inside,” Mary whispered as they approached. Mary plastered on a fake smile and cried, “Linda! So good to see you! How are you?”
Danny snuck past Linda and Mary and made his way inside Pat’s office. He looked around; double-checking to make sure no one was inside. Then he hurriedly made his way to her desk. He checked all of Pat’s desk drawers, finding nothing. Finally, he fished out the flash drive Mary had shoved at him when that had met outside McGarrett Industries and stuck it in the computer. Danny quickly went through Pat’s files, ignoring unimportant ones and saving the suspicious looking ones onto the flash drive. Then he went through her email, occasionally glancing up at the door. He found one from an unknown source and opened it. There was a video attached that he played.
Danny gasped as he saw Steve, tied up and obviously tortured with the group who kidnapped him standing around him. To Danny, the worst thing was the large bandage that swathed Steve’s chest. It must have been white at some time, but in the video it was dirty and bloody. The men were yelling something he didn’t understand. He closed the video and saved that on the flash drive as well. He could have MAMO translate it for him later. There was a ping, indicating the download was complete.
Suddenly, he heard the door open. He covered the flash drive with a large stack of folders and looked up. “Hello Pat,” he smiled.
“Danny,” she replied with a wry grin. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Oh, Steve thought you had some files he wanted and here they are,” he said, tapping the folders. He reached down to take them, his fingers finding the flash drive and pulled as subtly as he could. Before the folders could leave the desk, Pat’s hand came down on them.
“What would Steve need with progress reports? He hasn’t read any for a very long time,” Pat asked harshly.
Danny shrugged and kept his smile friendly. “Oh, you know Steve. He always has his reasons, but he never tells me.”
Pat laughed and removed her hand from the folder. Danny kept smiling as he left her office and raced downstairs. He met Mary at the entrance and they practically ran to Mary’s car.
“Good job keeping watch,” Danny groused as they jumped into her car.
“Shut up. Linda wanted to keep talking.”
“Whatever. Just hurry up.” He grabbed Mary’s laptop from the back and stuck the flash drive in it.
“What’s on there?” Mary asked as she drove. Danny didn’t respond right away. She looked over at him. “Danny?”
“Eyes on the road!” Danny said, while scowling at the laptop. “The both of you have no sense of preservation.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “What’s on the flash drive?”
“Nothing good,” Danny sighed. He pulled out his cell phone and a card. “We have to go back Mary.”
“Where?”
“The building where Steve keeps that huge arc reactor.”
Mary made a face, but turned the car around. “Are you calling Steve?”
“Oh, god no. I’m calling someone far more helpful.” He held up his hand, so Mary wouldn’t ask any more questions while he talked. “Hello? Agent Fryer? It’s Daniel Williams. I need some help.”
****
Steve sighed as he ascended from his workshop into the living room. Grace had been down earlier to say good night and Danny and Mary were nowhere to be found. Steve scowled and sat down on his couch. He didn’t like that they were hanging out so much, but he didn’t really have much say in Danny’s sex life, no matter how much he wanted too.
“Maybe I should just ask him out,” Steve muttered to himself. “But, I’m me and he’s Danny, so it probably wouldn’t work and now I’m just babbling to myself. Good job.”
“You know you need better security,” Pat said from the doorway.
Steve glared at her. “Why are you even here?”
“To see if I could change your mind.”
“You won’t. Now get out, before I throw you out.”
Pat laughed. “You would never assault a lady.” She walked to the windows, behind the couch.
“I don’t really see you as a lady,” Steve snapped. He turned to look at her, but felt a prick in his neck before he could turn around. “Wha-?” he asked as his body locked up.
“Oh, it’s a light paralytic and an anesthetic,” Pat said lightly as she pulled up Steve’s shirt. “You won’t even fell me taking your arc reactor out. By the time Danny and Mary get home, you’ll be dead.”
Steve could only watch in growing horror as Pat removed the technology keeping him alive. Oh god, Grace. he thought as Pat finished and walked out of the house. Grace can’t find me here. Not like this. Steve made himself fall off the couch.
“Sir?” asked MAMO.
“Not now,” Steve gasped as he began the slow crawl towards the stairs.
“Haku hana?” Grace asked sleepily from the upper staircase. She let out a shriek when she saw him on the floor. “Steve!” She ran towards him. “What happened? I thought I heard Ms. Jameson.”
“Keko, honey, go back to bed,” Steve struggled to say.
“No,” she frowned at him, looking very much like her father at that moment. “I can help. MAMO! Make sure all the doors are open.”
“Downstairs, Gracie. I need-”
“Okay,” she nodded. She took one of Steve’s arms and tried to pull him downstairs. “You are heavy, Steve.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t talk.”
As more of the paralytic wore off, Steve was able to stand, and more able to aid Grace in getting him down to the workshop. Halfway there, he leaned against a wall.
“Steve?” Grace asked worriedly.
“Go call Chin. I can m-make it.”
“Are you sure?”
Steve nodded carefully. He waited until Grace ran back upstairs before sliding down the wall.
“Sir?” MAMO asked once again, more gently this time.
“I ca-an. For Gra-ace.” Steve grabbed the handrail and pulled himself up. He could feel things moving in his chest that should not be moving. He had to hurry. He made his way shakily down into his workshop. Once there, he stumbled inside and collapsed by one of his worktables. He closed his eyes in resignation. Suddenly he felt something thump on his chest. He looked up and saw Dummy above him. On Steve’s chest was the present from Grace and Danny. He looked back up at Dummy and said, “Good boy.” Dummy chattered at him in happiness before rolling away.
Steve fumbled with the glass casing before finally smashing it on the ground next to him. He hiked his shirt up and slotted the old arc reactor back into his chest. He sighed as it started working again.
“It’s a good thing Danno didn’t throw that out like you asked, huh?” Grace asked from next to him.
He blinked. “When did you get here?”
She shrugged before hugging him carefully, but tightly. They were laying like that when Chin skidded into the workshop, panting.
“You all right?” he asked.
“I am now. Help me up. I need to go stop Pat.”
Grace let go of Steve and stood to the side as Chin levered Steve up. Steve walked slowly towards the middle of his shop, calling out instructions for MAMO. Grace curled up on the couch, watching everything.
“What did they call this?” Chin asked as he walked past old versions of the suit. He tapped one and gave it a fond look.
“Iron Man,” Grace piped up.
“Can I get one?” Chin joked.
“Next time,” Steve said as finished putting his suit on. “Just watch Grace for me.”
“Sure thing buddy.” Grace and Chin watched as Steve flew out of his garage and into the night.
****
Steve raced through the skies towards McGarrett Industries, where Danny had called him from. He pushed his suit and old arc reactor to the limits.
“85% stability,” MAMO reported.
“Yes. Thanks. Got it.”
Steve pulled up short as he saw his old suit, the one that got him out of the terrorist camp, smashing cars and nearing Danny.
“Damn it, Pat. What have you done?” He dive-bombed Pat and fired off his hand rockets. She flew backwards, crashing into a wall. Steve scooped Danny up.
“I hate flying, Steven!” Danny yelled.
“Shut up!” Steve yelled back.
“Put me down!”
“Where?”
“There!” Danny pointed to the building where the large arc reactor was kept.
“Are you serious?”
“Just do it you Neanderthal.”
Steve made a face, which Danny thankfully couldn’t see, and set his assistant down gently. He stepped away to say something, only to have Pat barrel into him. Danny jumped back and ran inside the building.
Steve, figuring Danny was mostly safe, flew away from the building. However, Pat was right behind him.
“80% stability.”
“Thank you, MAMO.” Turning mid-flight, Steve yelled, “It doesn’t have to be like this, Pat.”
“Oh but it does,” she replied, her voice muffled by the helmet. “If you won’t make weapons, I will.”
“Mary won’t let you.”
“Mary will be too busy grieving for her dead brother!”
Steve grit his teeth and fired his hand blasters. Pat’s suit was too large to dodge the blast, so she was pushed back. However, her suit was able to lift more, so she grabbed a car and swung it at him. Steve was unable to get out of the way fully, so he was knocked back and into another building.
“70% stability.”
“Just, shut up MAMO! I’m trying to think.” Steve shot a few more rounds off at Pat, but she was able to deflect or absorb most of them. “Shit.” He hesitated, trying to think of something.
Pat took advantage of that hesitation and grabbed his foot. She spun in a circle and flung him back to the building where Danny was. Steve landed on the roof and fell through the glass ceiling to the bottom floor. Danny rushed towards him.
“65% stability. Faceplate damaged.”
Steve ripped his faceplate off and looked up to the roof. Pat landed, lifted her own faceplate and looked down.
“This arc reactor is wonderful,” she gestured to the light coming from the middle of her suit. “It’s so powerful.”
“I won’t let you have it,” Steve yelled.
“You won’t have much of a choice.” She started firing her own weapons down at them. Steve grabbed Danny and shielded them both.
“Danny,” he said into his assistant’s ear.
“What?”
“I need you to overload this thing okay? Just throw all the switches, but only when I tell you.”
“Won’t you get killed too?” Danny asked frantically. He turned to look into Steve’s face.
“My suit is better, plus,” Steve wavered for a second, before plowing on. “I love you. I have something to come back too.”
“You-what?”
Steve kissed Danny fiercely and then pulled away. “We can talk about it later. Remember, only when I say!” With that said, he flew up towards Pat, firing more missiles at her.
“We’ll talk about it later. Stupid bastard,” Danny muttered as he ran towards the control panel.
Steve grinned and shot a rocket at Pat.
“What’s the grin for Steve?” she asked maliciously.
“Just thinking of all the fun I’ll have once your gone.”
Pat laughed hysterically.
“How did I not see your evilness before?” Steve asked with an arched eyebrow.
“You didn’t want to,” she hissed.
They both ran out of weapons at the same time and had to settle for punching each other. It seemed like an even match, but then Steve was pushing Pat back. Once he had her where she needed to be, he yelled, “Now Danny!”
“What?”
Steve smiled widely and pointed downwards. They both looked down and saw Danny overloading the system.
“No!” Pat cried. She tried to shove Steve backwards, so she could have more room to maneuver, but she couldn’t. The electrical current ran upwards, hitting both Steve and Pat. Steve was able to fly backwards and avoid a lot of damage. He just hoped Danny got out in time. Steve collapsed to the ground and looked over at Pat. She wasn’t moving.
“3% stability.”
“At least I told Danny I loved him,” Steve breathed out and then closed his eyes.
****
Steve awoke in a white room and in a lot of pain. “Ow,” he said. He reached a hand out for the nurse button or the morphine button or something, when another hand stopped him. “Let go,” he slurred.
“Shut up, you asshole. I am so mad at you right now. I can’t even,” Danny said harshly.
“Daniel. Danny. Danno. It hurts, give me relief,” Steve whined. He looked at Danny and saw that his usually perfectly coifed hair was a mess. “Your hair.”
“Shut up, shut up.” Danny leaned forward and kissed Steve. When he pulled away, he panted, “I love you too. If you ever do that again, I will kill you myself.”
“Right. No almost dying. Good. Yes. I can do that. Kiss me again, it makes the pain go away.”
Danny did as Steve asked, the only time he did, Steve noted distantly. They kissed until the doctors came in.
****
“Are you sure a press conference is a good idea, bro?” Mary asked.
Her, Grace, Steve, Danny, Kamekona, and Chin were all situated in a room off the main hall. This new press conference, held in the same place as the last one, was to discuss how Pat went crazy and how Steve was not Iron Man.
“Don’t have choice,” Steve said as he read the paper. “They can’t get anything right. The suit is gold-titanium alloy, not iron.”
“Iron Man sounds better,” Mary replied.
Steve made a face at her behind his paper. “Ow,” he complained to Danny, who was dabbing at a cut that had opened up.
“Stop being a baby, Jesus.” Danny pulled the paper out of Steve’s grasp and stood him up. “How does his tie look, monkey?”
“Crooked,” Grace stated after some seconds of contemplation.
Danny stepped closer to Steve and straightened his tie. “There.” He looked up at Steve with a smirk. “When this is over, I want some time off.”
“I can take you and Grace anywhere,” Steve offered.
“I’m staying with Aunt Mary while you two honeymoon,” Grace replied. Mary smiled at her brother, when he turned to glare at her.
“I’ll watch out for them, boss,” Kamekona spoke up.
“That does not fill me with confidence,” Danny groaned.
Chin slapped him on the back. “No worries, brah. I can watch them too.”
Danny was about to reply when Agent Fryer stuck his head into the room. “Ready?”
“Yep,” Steve said, patting his pockets. “Got all my cards right here.”
“Good, just follow them and everything will go perfectly.” Fryer turned to leave, but Danny stopped him.
“You said you had a new card for me?” he asked.
“Oh yes.” Fryer fished into a coat pocket and pulled out a card and handed it to Danny.
Danny looked at it and then back to Fryer. “It still says ‘Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division’.”
“Yes, but now we have an acronym. S.H.I.E.L.D. Much easier to say,” he smiled. “This way, Mr. McGarrett.”
Steve squeezed Danny’s hand before walking out to meet the reporters, with Chin right behind him. As they ascended to the podium, Chin caught his elbow and whispered, “Remember, follow the cards.”
Steve nodded, pulling out the cards that had all his answers on them. He walked to the microphone and looked out into the sea of reporters. Behind them, he saw Mary, Danny, and Grace watching him intently. He looked down at the first card and then looked at Danny. His boyfriend already seemed resigned to what Steve was about to do. He smiled at Danny, who smiled back, basically giving Steve permission to mess with everybody.
“I am Iron Man,” Steve said loudly and clearly.
THE END
****
Steve glared at the man in front of him. “Can you hurry? My boyfriend and I are about to go New Jersey to see his family.”
“Of course, Steve. I’ve come here to talk to you about something I’d like to put together,” the man replied.
“Who are you again?” Steve asked rudely, hoping to throw the man off.
It didn’t work. “I’m Joe White and I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.”
“The what?”
“Don’t worry,” Joe smirked. “I’ll explain it all.”
Part 2
Steve laughed shakily as he blasted away from Gulmiera. It had been intense fighting the terrorists, even killing a lot of them, but the people had been grateful and that was all that mattered. He grinned behind the mask of his suit as he flew through a cloud. Suddenly, his proximity sensors went off.
“Uh, MAMO?” he asked warily.
“It seems that you have been spotted by the Air Force,” MAMO replied calmly.
“Oh shit.”
Steve saw two fighter planes come up on either side of him. He shot forward, hoping to outrun them, but they just fired missiles at him. Steve dodged the missiles and fired off his own rockets, destroying the missiles chasing him.
“Fuck, shit, god damn it,” Steve cursed as he flew upwards and then rolled behind the planes. “MAMO, call Chin!”
“Dialing now.”
While Steve waited for Chin to pick up, he glided underneath one plane and latched on. He hoped the plane didn’t roll and announce his hiding place.
“What is it, Steve? I’m busy right now,” Chin growled as he answered the phone.
“Yes I know,” Steve replied. “I’m busy too. Hanging on for dear life.”
At that moment the plane Steve was holding onto rolled to one side. He saw the pilot of the second plane look at him in shock. He let go of the first plane and fell before his boosters kicked in.
“Steve. Where are you?”
“Oh, you know. Just flying about. Didn’t know where I wanted to go.”
“Christ,” Chin muttered. “Tell me you aren’t in that suit that has two Air Force birds chasing after it.”
“I would if I could.”
“God damn it, Steve!”
“Hey! I didn’t know that I’d be chased by two planes, all right?”
“You destroyed a terrorist cell that we’ve been watching for a long time,” Chin whispered fiercely.
“Well, someone had to do something!” Steve yelled back. He was too focused on yelling at Chin, that he didn’t see the missile until it was almost too late. “Son of a-!” Steve was able to pull up in time, but the plane behind him wasn’t. The missile hit a wing and the plane began to spiral downwards. “Damn it!”
“Steve!” Chin managed to yell in a whisper.
“Not now.” Steve watched as the pilot ejected from his plane, but didn’t open his parachute. Steve shot downwards, making sure to use an extra boost to reach the man before he fell much further. Steve grabbed onto the pilot and yanked on the parachute release. Then he let go and watched as the pilot drifted to safety.
“Good job. We need to talk, Steve,” Chin said seriously.
“Not now. I need to get home before Danny and Grace get back. Later,” Steve hung up on Chin and put all the power in the suit into flying home.
****
Steve was in the middle of getting his suit taken off, when he heard his workshop door opened. He whipped his head to see Danny and Grace, who was holding onto a small package, staring at him in shock.
“This isn’t the worst thing you’ve ever caught me doing,” Steve protested.
“It might be the worst thing Grace has ever seen you do!” Danny shouted, coving Grace’s eyes.
Grace pushed her father’s hand away and stepped closer with a huge smile on her face. “You were on TV, haku hana!”
“I was?” Steve smiled back at her. He wiped it off his face as he saw Danny’s stony glare. “Uh, I mean…”
“You saved those people!” Grace continued, throwing her arms out and almost dropping the package. “Like, a superhero! Like Captain America!”
“Whoa, let’s not go that far,” Steve replied. The last piece of his suit was taken off and he dropped down next to Grace. “You can’t tell anyone, okay, keko? It’d be dangerous.”
She nodded quickly. “I won’t tell. Not even Kamekona or Mary.”
“Good job.” Steve kissed her forehead. “Now, why don’t you go upstairs so Danno and I can have a talk?”
“You mean, so Danno can yell at you?”
“Same thing.”
They laughed, while Danny scoffed behind them. Grace kissed Steve’s cheek and handed him the package. “This is for you, from me and Danno.” She then went to Danny and said, “Don’t be too hard on him, Danno.”
“I’ll try not to sweetie.”
Grace nodded again, satisfied with that answer. She left the two men alone. Danny waited until the door was firmly shut before launching into his rant.
“Are you serious?” Danny paced around the workshop, while Steve moved towards the bar. He placed the package down carefully before making himself a drink and sitting down on the couch and watching Danny. “You could be injured or killed and we wouldn’t know! Just like last time. Damn it, Steve, I need to know these things! That’s why you hired me!”
“I hired you because you wouldn’t sleep with me. And then I found out how good at your job you are,” Steve replied placidly.
“I will punch you in your fucking face if you keep talking like that.”
Steve waved a hand, indicating to Danny that he should keep going. Danny glared and he took a deep, calming breath. “I need to know what you are planning, because Jesus Christ, I can’t take it again.” Danny sat down next to Steve.
“Besides my plans usually suck and only you can make them better.”
Danny laughed. “Yes, because of that as well.”
Steve scooted closer to Danny and put an arm around the other man’s shoulders. Steve pulled Danny closer and brought their foreheads together. “We’re a great team, Daniel. I won’t leave you behind again.”
“You better not,” Danny replied, with a hitch in his voice.
Steve pressed a soft kiss to Danny’s hairline before pulling away and finishing his drink. He made another, not looking at Danny. “I need to know what Pat is up too,” he said.
“Mary and I can find out tomorrow. I’m working for her now too.”
Steve turned just in time to see Danny leaving the workshop. He snarled before setting his drink down and opening the package Grace gave him. It was his old arc reactor inside a glass case. Around the arc reactor were the words, Proof Steve McGarrett has a heart. He picked up his drink again and took a long gulp.
“Great. Just great,” he muttered into his glass.
Dummy let out a sharp whistle and rolled up next to him. Steve stroked the robots head for a while before going back to work on his suit. There were a few things he needed to upgrade.
****
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Danny hissed as he and Mary walked towards Pat’s office.
“Do you have a better one?” Mary hissed back. “Pat’s supposed to be gone for lunch and her secretary has a dentist appointment, so we need to get in, get the information, and get out.”
“I don’t want to know how you know all this.”
“Probably for the best.”
The stopped short when they saw Pat’s secretary at her desk. Danny glared at Mary, who shrugged.
“I can keep her occupied until she leaves, but you’ll have to get inside,” Mary whispered as they approached. Mary plastered on a fake smile and cried, “Linda! So good to see you! How are you?”
Danny snuck past Linda and Mary and made his way inside Pat’s office. He looked around; double-checking to make sure no one was inside. Then he hurriedly made his way to her desk. He checked all of Pat’s desk drawers, finding nothing. Finally, he fished out the flash drive Mary had shoved at him when that had met outside McGarrett Industries and stuck it in the computer. Danny quickly went through Pat’s files, ignoring unimportant ones and saving the suspicious looking ones onto the flash drive. Then he went through her email, occasionally glancing up at the door. He found one from an unknown source and opened it. There was a video attached that he played.
Danny gasped as he saw Steve, tied up and obviously tortured with the group who kidnapped him standing around him. To Danny, the worst thing was the large bandage that swathed Steve’s chest. It must have been white at some time, but in the video it was dirty and bloody. The men were yelling something he didn’t understand. He closed the video and saved that on the flash drive as well. He could have MAMO translate it for him later. There was a ping, indicating the download was complete.
Suddenly, he heard the door open. He covered the flash drive with a large stack of folders and looked up. “Hello Pat,” he smiled.
“Danny,” she replied with a wry grin. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Oh, Steve thought you had some files he wanted and here they are,” he said, tapping the folders. He reached down to take them, his fingers finding the flash drive and pulled as subtly as he could. Before the folders could leave the desk, Pat’s hand came down on them.
“What would Steve need with progress reports? He hasn’t read any for a very long time,” Pat asked harshly.
Danny shrugged and kept his smile friendly. “Oh, you know Steve. He always has his reasons, but he never tells me.”
Pat laughed and removed her hand from the folder. Danny kept smiling as he left her office and raced downstairs. He met Mary at the entrance and they practically ran to Mary’s car.
“Good job keeping watch,” Danny groused as they jumped into her car.
“Shut up. Linda wanted to keep talking.”
“Whatever. Just hurry up.” He grabbed Mary’s laptop from the back and stuck the flash drive in it.
“What’s on there?” Mary asked as she drove. Danny didn’t respond right away. She looked over at him. “Danny?”
“Eyes on the road!” Danny said, while scowling at the laptop. “The both of you have no sense of preservation.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “What’s on the flash drive?”
“Nothing good,” Danny sighed. He pulled out his cell phone and a card. “We have to go back Mary.”
“Where?”
“The building where Steve keeps that huge arc reactor.”
Mary made a face, but turned the car around. “Are you calling Steve?”
“Oh, god no. I’m calling someone far more helpful.” He held up his hand, so Mary wouldn’t ask any more questions while he talked. “Hello? Agent Fryer? It’s Daniel Williams. I need some help.”
****
Steve sighed as he ascended from his workshop into the living room. Grace had been down earlier to say good night and Danny and Mary were nowhere to be found. Steve scowled and sat down on his couch. He didn’t like that they were hanging out so much, but he didn’t really have much say in Danny’s sex life, no matter how much he wanted too.
“Maybe I should just ask him out,” Steve muttered to himself. “But, I’m me and he’s Danny, so it probably wouldn’t work and now I’m just babbling to myself. Good job.”
“You know you need better security,” Pat said from the doorway.
Steve glared at her. “Why are you even here?”
“To see if I could change your mind.”
“You won’t. Now get out, before I throw you out.”
Pat laughed. “You would never assault a lady.” She walked to the windows, behind the couch.
“I don’t really see you as a lady,” Steve snapped. He turned to look at her, but felt a prick in his neck before he could turn around. “Wha-?” he asked as his body locked up.
“Oh, it’s a light paralytic and an anesthetic,” Pat said lightly as she pulled up Steve’s shirt. “You won’t even fell me taking your arc reactor out. By the time Danny and Mary get home, you’ll be dead.”
Steve could only watch in growing horror as Pat removed the technology keeping him alive. Oh god, Grace. he thought as Pat finished and walked out of the house. Grace can’t find me here. Not like this. Steve made himself fall off the couch.
“Sir?” asked MAMO.
“Not now,” Steve gasped as he began the slow crawl towards the stairs.
“Haku hana?” Grace asked sleepily from the upper staircase. She let out a shriek when she saw him on the floor. “Steve!” She ran towards him. “What happened? I thought I heard Ms. Jameson.”
“Keko, honey, go back to bed,” Steve struggled to say.
“No,” she frowned at him, looking very much like her father at that moment. “I can help. MAMO! Make sure all the doors are open.”
“Downstairs, Gracie. I need-”
“Okay,” she nodded. She took one of Steve’s arms and tried to pull him downstairs. “You are heavy, Steve.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t talk.”
As more of the paralytic wore off, Steve was able to stand, and more able to aid Grace in getting him down to the workshop. Halfway there, he leaned against a wall.
“Steve?” Grace asked worriedly.
“Go call Chin. I can m-make it.”
“Are you sure?”
Steve nodded carefully. He waited until Grace ran back upstairs before sliding down the wall.
“Sir?” MAMO asked once again, more gently this time.
“I ca-an. For Gra-ace.” Steve grabbed the handrail and pulled himself up. He could feel things moving in his chest that should not be moving. He had to hurry. He made his way shakily down into his workshop. Once there, he stumbled inside and collapsed by one of his worktables. He closed his eyes in resignation. Suddenly he felt something thump on his chest. He looked up and saw Dummy above him. On Steve’s chest was the present from Grace and Danny. He looked back up at Dummy and said, “Good boy.” Dummy chattered at him in happiness before rolling away.
Steve fumbled with the glass casing before finally smashing it on the ground next to him. He hiked his shirt up and slotted the old arc reactor back into his chest. He sighed as it started working again.
“It’s a good thing Danno didn’t throw that out like you asked, huh?” Grace asked from next to him.
He blinked. “When did you get here?”
She shrugged before hugging him carefully, but tightly. They were laying like that when Chin skidded into the workshop, panting.
“You all right?” he asked.
“I am now. Help me up. I need to go stop Pat.”
Grace let go of Steve and stood to the side as Chin levered Steve up. Steve walked slowly towards the middle of his shop, calling out instructions for MAMO. Grace curled up on the couch, watching everything.
“What did they call this?” Chin asked as he walked past old versions of the suit. He tapped one and gave it a fond look.
“Iron Man,” Grace piped up.
“Can I get one?” Chin joked.
“Next time,” Steve said as finished putting his suit on. “Just watch Grace for me.”
“Sure thing buddy.” Grace and Chin watched as Steve flew out of his garage and into the night.
****
Steve raced through the skies towards McGarrett Industries, where Danny had called him from. He pushed his suit and old arc reactor to the limits.
“85% stability,” MAMO reported.
“Yes. Thanks. Got it.”
Steve pulled up short as he saw his old suit, the one that got him out of the terrorist camp, smashing cars and nearing Danny.
“Damn it, Pat. What have you done?” He dive-bombed Pat and fired off his hand rockets. She flew backwards, crashing into a wall. Steve scooped Danny up.
“I hate flying, Steven!” Danny yelled.
“Shut up!” Steve yelled back.
“Put me down!”
“Where?”
“There!” Danny pointed to the building where the large arc reactor was kept.
“Are you serious?”
“Just do it you Neanderthal.”
Steve made a face, which Danny thankfully couldn’t see, and set his assistant down gently. He stepped away to say something, only to have Pat barrel into him. Danny jumped back and ran inside the building.
Steve, figuring Danny was mostly safe, flew away from the building. However, Pat was right behind him.
“80% stability.”
“Thank you, MAMO.” Turning mid-flight, Steve yelled, “It doesn’t have to be like this, Pat.”
“Oh but it does,” she replied, her voice muffled by the helmet. “If you won’t make weapons, I will.”
“Mary won’t let you.”
“Mary will be too busy grieving for her dead brother!”
Steve grit his teeth and fired his hand blasters. Pat’s suit was too large to dodge the blast, so she was pushed back. However, her suit was able to lift more, so she grabbed a car and swung it at him. Steve was unable to get out of the way fully, so he was knocked back and into another building.
“70% stability.”
“Just, shut up MAMO! I’m trying to think.” Steve shot a few more rounds off at Pat, but she was able to deflect or absorb most of them. “Shit.” He hesitated, trying to think of something.
Pat took advantage of that hesitation and grabbed his foot. She spun in a circle and flung him back to the building where Danny was. Steve landed on the roof and fell through the glass ceiling to the bottom floor. Danny rushed towards him.
“65% stability. Faceplate damaged.”
Steve ripped his faceplate off and looked up to the roof. Pat landed, lifted her own faceplate and looked down.
“This arc reactor is wonderful,” she gestured to the light coming from the middle of her suit. “It’s so powerful.”
“I won’t let you have it,” Steve yelled.
“You won’t have much of a choice.” She started firing her own weapons down at them. Steve grabbed Danny and shielded them both.
“Danny,” he said into his assistant’s ear.
“What?”
“I need you to overload this thing okay? Just throw all the switches, but only when I tell you.”
“Won’t you get killed too?” Danny asked frantically. He turned to look into Steve’s face.
“My suit is better, plus,” Steve wavered for a second, before plowing on. “I love you. I have something to come back too.”
“You-what?”
Steve kissed Danny fiercely and then pulled away. “We can talk about it later. Remember, only when I say!” With that said, he flew up towards Pat, firing more missiles at her.
“We’ll talk about it later. Stupid bastard,” Danny muttered as he ran towards the control panel.
Steve grinned and shot a rocket at Pat.
“What’s the grin for Steve?” she asked maliciously.
“Just thinking of all the fun I’ll have once your gone.”
Pat laughed hysterically.
“How did I not see your evilness before?” Steve asked with an arched eyebrow.
“You didn’t want to,” she hissed.
They both ran out of weapons at the same time and had to settle for punching each other. It seemed like an even match, but then Steve was pushing Pat back. Once he had her where she needed to be, he yelled, “Now Danny!”
“What?”
Steve smiled widely and pointed downwards. They both looked down and saw Danny overloading the system.
“No!” Pat cried. She tried to shove Steve backwards, so she could have more room to maneuver, but she couldn’t. The electrical current ran upwards, hitting both Steve and Pat. Steve was able to fly backwards and avoid a lot of damage. He just hoped Danny got out in time. Steve collapsed to the ground and looked over at Pat. She wasn’t moving.
“3% stability.”
“At least I told Danny I loved him,” Steve breathed out and then closed his eyes.
****
Steve awoke in a white room and in a lot of pain. “Ow,” he said. He reached a hand out for the nurse button or the morphine button or something, when another hand stopped him. “Let go,” he slurred.
“Shut up, you asshole. I am so mad at you right now. I can’t even,” Danny said harshly.
“Daniel. Danny. Danno. It hurts, give me relief,” Steve whined. He looked at Danny and saw that his usually perfectly coifed hair was a mess. “Your hair.”
“Shut up, shut up.” Danny leaned forward and kissed Steve. When he pulled away, he panted, “I love you too. If you ever do that again, I will kill you myself.”
“Right. No almost dying. Good. Yes. I can do that. Kiss me again, it makes the pain go away.”
Danny did as Steve asked, the only time he did, Steve noted distantly. They kissed until the doctors came in.
****
“Are you sure a press conference is a good idea, bro?” Mary asked.
Her, Grace, Steve, Danny, Kamekona, and Chin were all situated in a room off the main hall. This new press conference, held in the same place as the last one, was to discuss how Pat went crazy and how Steve was not Iron Man.
“Don’t have choice,” Steve said as he read the paper. “They can’t get anything right. The suit is gold-titanium alloy, not iron.”
“Iron Man sounds better,” Mary replied.
Steve made a face at her behind his paper. “Ow,” he complained to Danny, who was dabbing at a cut that had opened up.
“Stop being a baby, Jesus.” Danny pulled the paper out of Steve’s grasp and stood him up. “How does his tie look, monkey?”
“Crooked,” Grace stated after some seconds of contemplation.
Danny stepped closer to Steve and straightened his tie. “There.” He looked up at Steve with a smirk. “When this is over, I want some time off.”
“I can take you and Grace anywhere,” Steve offered.
“I’m staying with Aunt Mary while you two honeymoon,” Grace replied. Mary smiled at her brother, when he turned to glare at her.
“I’ll watch out for them, boss,” Kamekona spoke up.
“That does not fill me with confidence,” Danny groaned.
Chin slapped him on the back. “No worries, brah. I can watch them too.”
Danny was about to reply when Agent Fryer stuck his head into the room. “Ready?”
“Yep,” Steve said, patting his pockets. “Got all my cards right here.”
“Good, just follow them and everything will go perfectly.” Fryer turned to leave, but Danny stopped him.
“You said you had a new card for me?” he asked.
“Oh yes.” Fryer fished into a coat pocket and pulled out a card and handed it to Danny.
Danny looked at it and then back to Fryer. “It still says ‘Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division’.”
“Yes, but now we have an acronym. S.H.I.E.L.D. Much easier to say,” he smiled. “This way, Mr. McGarrett.”
Steve squeezed Danny’s hand before walking out to meet the reporters, with Chin right behind him. As they ascended to the podium, Chin caught his elbow and whispered, “Remember, follow the cards.”
Steve nodded, pulling out the cards that had all his answers on them. He walked to the microphone and looked out into the sea of reporters. Behind them, he saw Mary, Danny, and Grace watching him intently. He looked down at the first card and then looked at Danny. His boyfriend already seemed resigned to what Steve was about to do. He smiled at Danny, who smiled back, basically giving Steve permission to mess with everybody.
“I am Iron Man,” Steve said loudly and clearly.
THE END
****
Steve glared at the man in front of him. “Can you hurry? My boyfriend and I are about to go New Jersey to see his family.”
“Of course, Steve. I’ve come here to talk to you about something I’d like to put together,” the man replied.
“Who are you again?” Steve asked rudely, hoping to throw the man off.
It didn’t work. “I’m Joe White and I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.”
“The what?”
“Don’t worry,” Joe smirked. “I’ll explain it all.”