New York - Avengers Facility (May 2017)

[Hollywood Heidi]

Avengers Facility

Located in Upstate New York, this is the new Avengers Facility Tony Stark had built after the tower was destroyed.

[Hollywood Heidi]

***Hope enters from night before, New York - Tony Stark's House (May 2017)***

Hope was there, bright and early, as arranged yesterday with Tony. Of course that didn't mean Tony was going to be on time. She took the liberty of letting herself into his office. As if his tech could keep her out. Even Friday had only gave a half-hearted attempt to stop her, knowing her efforts were futile.


Friday's voice piped up one last time. "I'll have to inform Mr. Stark..."

"Oh, please do, Friday!" Hope said cheerily. "Maybe it'll get his shiny metal ass here faster. Don't forget to mention how easy it was," she added smugly, heading for his fancy coffee machine.

Hope settled comfortably into his chair and propped her feet up on his desk. She placed the file she'd brought in on her outstretched legs and passed the time flipping through it whilst sipping her coffee.

[DarkSideCookie]

After this pleasant night Tony and Pepper had shared, something that wasn't so common lately, he had hoped for some more pleasant moments between Mr. and Mrs. Stark to-be (wow, this probably would never stop sounding awesome even though admittedly a little unfamiliar to him) in the early morning. Instead of awakening to a sweet purring voice though, Tony had been confronted with yet another preaching for having done something not right or not having done something at all. And eventually, in the middle of their argument, Friday luckily had broken in with the news. News that almost have gotten him even deeper into a jam for rolling his eyes as a reaction to Hope having invited herself into the facility while it looked like he would have rolled his eyes as a reaction to Pepper's reproaches.

At some point, Tony had managed to escape the trouble, with a somewhat mollified Pepper at that (well, he had that charm she simply couldn't resist). Outside he was taking one deep breath before making his way to the appointment with Hope. He didn't want to know her alone with his stuff for too long. But then again, he rather pictured her sipping his coffee while outstretching her legs on his desk.

***

"Can I serve you with a donut to my coffee? Thanks for asking by the way.", Tony uttered in a humorless sounding way right after he had walked through the door, finding exactly the picture he had had in his mind when Friday had told him that Hope had invited herself - and that it had been an easy thing at that.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Can I serve you with a donut to my coffee?

The sarcasm was strong with him this morning. Despite the fact his tone suggested there most likely weren't really donuts, Hope looked up at him with an expression of joyful surprise. "There's donuts?" she asked with childlike glee.


Thanks for asking by the way."

"Well," she began, closing the folder and swinging her legs off the desk. "I did ask. But you weren't here on time so I had to enact the scenario on my own." She stood and came around the desk, tucking the folder under her arm. "You were very insistent that I help myself." Hope tapped her temple. "Imaginary Tony is way nicer than you," she said with a smirk.

Sobering with thoughts of the tension she'd walked in on last night, Hope turned serious. "Everything alright?" She cared about Pepper. And him, she grudgingly admitted. Part of the subject change might have also been procrastination. Hope watched him carefully, looking for any little tells in his expression. Outsiders might assume they didn't much care for each other based off their constant verbal jabs but it'd become quite the opposite. As kids, the Starks and Pyms had grown up with parents who'd not been on the best of terms and she'd had her head filled with warnings to not trust a Stark. However, the stigma that had been embedded in her young mind had quickly dissipated when she'd started to work with him. Sure, he was an arrogant, know-it-all pain in the ass, but underneath all that, he was good people. He seemed to hide it most times under a selfish exterior but out in the field, the opposite shone through. He always had everyone's backs and consistently put himself between his teammates and danger.

[DarkSideCookie]

"There's donuts?"

And that was the moment that she was getting one of Tony Stark's famous eye-rolls. Yah, this really wasn't his day. Starting the morning off with another marital quarrel where hadn't been a wedding yet in the first place was not exactly the greatest thing he could think of. Well, anyways. Private was private, business was business.

"Well,""I did ask. But you weren't here on time so I had to enact the scenario on my own." His eyes were following each of her moves around his desk, tucking a folder (probably his folder as well) under her arm. "You were very insistent that I help myself.""Imaginary Tony is way nicer than you,"

"Mi casa es su casa.", Tony snapped back with another wave of sarcasm and almost another eye-roll when she suddenly turned serious and actually asking after his wellbeing.

"Everything alright?"

Well, he would have lied, if he said that, lately, he wasn't missing to just talk to someone. There was Pepper of course but there was something in the air between them, and that not only for days. He might be ignorant at times, but he was no fool. And with Banner, probably the only friend he actually ever had really entrusted himself to, not being around for quite a while already, Tony was feeling lonelier than he would admit to himself.

Anyways. Okay, this will be the first time anyone would hear him say so, but the next words might be the biggest proof that something was definitely not alright with him.

"This is not about me. So, why are we actually meeting here? I suppose coffee and donuts are not the reason."

[Hollywood Heidi]

Her eyebrows raised at his first comment but also being one who didn't like to talk about feelings and emotions, she didn't press it and grudgingly went right to business. She reminded herself that the sooner she figured this all out, the sooner she could put an end to whatever Andro was trying to drag her into.

"Coffee and donuts always make things better," she said, placing her folder on his desk and opening it. She shuffled a couple pages over then turned sideways to allow him to come take a look. "I wanted to look into this symbol." Hope tapped the image of the head of three dogs, one facing left, one forward, and one facing right. "The information I'm looking for wasn't on the standard internet search. I wanted to see what the Facility's access to government files might pull up on it." Hope remained casual and calm giving no hint of the personal connection, especially after last night's unusual circumstances regarding her phone that may have raised some red flags. At least in Happy. Luckily he wasn't here right now to be pinning her with that pointed, knowing look he'd been giving her during dinner and on the drive to her place.

[DarkSideCookie]

"I wanted to look into this symbol." Tony followed her pointer on one familiar symbol indeed. He wasn't able to recognize its source right away but it would mean little effort to find out very quickly. The only thing he knew for sure already now was that he didn't like Hope had come into contact with this. Hopefully just for reasons of theoretical research because even though they both never said so, they cared a lot for each other. "The information I'm looking for wasn't on the standard internet search. I wanted to see what the Facility's access to government files might pull up on it."

"It's definitely not standard.", Tony stated rather casually but at the same time slightly worried as he scanned the page with his phone to transport the symbol into his database which was making it easier to coordinate with the already existing data in the government files he had access to.

"You're gonna tell me where you tripped over this or wanna separate private from business as we usually do?", he asked with an absent sounding voice while his fingers drew the data over to one of the big screens above his desk.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Hope watched the image appear in a computerized version in the air as if on an invisible monitor. Information starting to scroll and collect around it. "Careful, Tony," she said, sparing him a sidelong glance. "I might think you care." That was another thing they had in common; using sarcasm as a shield. Of course they both actually did care, but neither would be the first to say it. They both knew it and that was enough.

"Someone is interested in doing business with me again," she explained, giving the uncomfortably personal affair stemming from bad decisions in her vindictive younger days a spin into a much more detached business form. "Our first transaction didn't go well. Shady stuff started to surface. I ended up terminating the contract." That certainly sounded much better than 'I dated a guy in college who turned out to be a sociopath and broke up with him while he was in prison.' Hope started to scan lines of information here and there, looking for things that stood out. She continued distractedly, putting a casual, almost bored-like tone to it. "Didn't think I'd hear from them again but they came back and are annoyingly persistent. Were annoyingly persistent," she corrected, pretending the problem was already dealt with. "Just curious what I was dealing with in case they ever make contact again." As if he'd stopped, even for just one damned handful of hours. Hope felt her phone vibrate in her pocket with another message. Or a reminder of one she hadn't checked yet. She wasn't sure anymore at this point. She casually placed her hands in her pockets and powered off her phone as she continued to scan the information.

[DarkSideCookie]

"Someone is interested in doing business with me again," Tony was actually listening to her words although he looked like he wasn't as his eyes narrowed in concentration on the invisible screen in front of them. "Our first transaction didn't go well. Shady stuff started to surface. I ended up terminating the contract."

At that last statement, Tony's attention suddenly drew away from the scroll of information, giving her a skeptical side glance, while Hope's attention actually was changing over to just that.

"Didn't think I'd hear from them again but they came back and are annoyingly persistent. Were annoyingly persistent,""Just curious what I was dealing with in case they ever make contact again."

When suddenly her phone went off with another round of vibrating alert, Tony closed their little research with just a wiping of his hands, almost annoyed by it already himself.

"They?", he suddenly asked in a way that left no room for accepting any more white lies. He had already read enough to be able to tell that the tricephalic hound was nothing less than the logo of a branch of Hydra. "Ever heard of the line cut off one head, two more will take its place? Kinda poetic, but that's not exactly Hamlet."

[Hollywood Heidi]

Hope saw an article that put Andro's tattoo directly next to the Hydra symbol. She suddenly felt sick. Guilt ate at her for ever having encouraged him to branch out, despite the fact that this went far beyond any of the branches on the tree she'd envisioned. Hell, he was in an entirely different forest. What had he gotten himself into? She started to read, trying to absorb all she could when the air before her went blank.

"Hey, what--" Tony cut her off.


"They?"

Hope faced him, crossing her arms and replying with a silent, unreadable expression. It was odd for Tony to take notice of something that didn't revolve around him. Why did he have to start now? He generally cared about a handful of people in his life in his own way but he wasn't usually observant when he wasn't directly involved in a situation.


"Ever heard of the line cut off one head, two more will take its place? Kinda poetic, but that's not exactly Hamlet."

"Then you go for the heart," she said. "It's why I'm here, to find out what I can about them. Now I know I have to figure out what makes them tick." She tapped a finger to her heart then gestured to the empty air where all the information had been displayed moments before. "So if you please?" she said, making the assumption that that would be enough to get him returning to his usual self-absorbed state of mind.

[DarkSideCookie]

"It's why I'm here, to find out what I can about them. Now I know I have to figure out what makes them tick."

"Oh, I can tell you.", Tony suddenly broke into her words in his usual smart-alecky manner as he started to adduce motives. "A skewed ideology, a messed up mind and general greed for power."

Hope looked like she wasn't even listening, like so often when Tony raised a word, and instead deep into her own thoughts.

"So if you please?"

It was true that he normally wasn't too absorbed with other's problems but this was something different, or maybe that was what he was telling himself to not admit that he actually cared. Anyways, if Hydra was involved, this couldn't turn out all right without his help. Tony knew a lot more about this cult than she did.

"You think you can get rid of them all on your own? Well, then you're wrong.", he stated rather self-opinionated than caring although deep down it was care indeed that was actuating him to kind of offer his help. "Tell me what happened."

[Hollywood Heidi]

This was not going as she'd planned, thanks to Tony's annoyingly timed foray into the foreign territory of regions outside his own little world. Her frustration over this and her own growing guilt skewed his care into just another attempt of him being a difficult smartass. Hope couldn't see that she'd get any further information without appeasing his nosiness so she resigned herself to working with what she'd been able to glean from her short perusal.

As Tony spoke, Hope's own mind played her guilt on a loop alongside his words. Andro got himself linked up with Hydra. This was her fault. If she hadn't come along and encouraged him to step up his fight for change, he might still be simply voicing his grievances in private, secret meeting halls in front of the same, small group of people each time, going nowhere. No spiral into a stint in jail then somewhere after his release, a plunge into Hydra territory.

Hope squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose, willing her guilt to ease up for the time being. "Nothing happened," she said, heading back to his desk to start gathering her paperwork back into the folder as she continued to speak. "You're blowing things out of proportion. My contact is an old college friend. Hydra wasn't in the picture then." Hope closed the folder and tapped it on the desk with finality. Tucking her folder under her arm, she turned and looked at Tony pointedly, all her stubborn pride in full force. "This is my mess. I can clean it up." Hope headed for the door. "Thanks for your help," she called over her shoulder, managing to push aside enough of her inner turmoil to mix some sincerity into her direct tone.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, she opened the latest of his e-mails asking to meet and sent a simple reply. ‘When and where?’


***Hope exits to New York - Pym Tech Company House***

[DarkSideCookie]

"Nothing happened," Tony knew when it was time to give up talking and instead just switch into action; once Hope would have left the office that was. And so, with his chin rested on one hand while the other was supporting his elbow, he silently watched her gathering all that paperwork from his desk back into her folder. "You're blowing things out of proportion. My contact is an old college friend. Hydra wasn't in the picture then."

Tony was still saying nothing, not even when she turned towards him and looked at him in her usual pointedly way. "This is my mess. I can clean it up.""Thanks for your help,"

"Good luck with your mess!", after all, Tony couldn't help cat-calling at her before she finally left the office. He really wasn't the type to be overly caring towards anyone but Hope seemed to be naive enough to believe a connection with Hydra was just a little mess to clean up. Anyways, Tony thought it was a wise thing to have an eye or two on her for a while. Blessed be the technological possibilities of the 21st century... and to be Tony Stark.


***

[DarkSideCookie]

It hadn't been long after Hope had left the building that Tony had decided that it definitely was the best to have a protective eye on her himself. Not literally his eye, but he wouldn't be Tony Stark if he wasn't able to allow himself to get access to Pym Tech's security system. There was nothing wrong about that if he was doing it for somebody's good only.

Also, it was not that he would be watching her while she changed her clothes or something, he was no pervert. He was only having a look at the monitors every once in a while, addressing himself with his own business at the same time. It seemed to be no one there anyway.

But then suddenly a movement in one corner of the monitor set him on alarm. There was someone inside her rooms, standing by the window and looking outside, not knowing that he wasn't just looking outside but also right into one of the cameras hidden there. Tony had never seen his face before but that psycho look on the man's face didn't bode well.

Tony immediately grabbed at his phone to give Hope a call, about to tell her not to go there, wherever she was right now, when he suddenly saw her figure in another corner of the same monitor. She was already there, obviously not knowing that she wasn't alone.

"C'mon, pick up the phone..."

[Hollywood Heidi]

*via camera and phone*

Hope angled toward the camera hits 'Send to VM' then drops her phone back into her pocket.


Message: "You've reached Hope Van Dyne. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."


Hope is seen pausing to fish her phone out of her pocket for a second call and hits 'Send to VM' again, then is seen powering off her phone and discarding it on the kitchen counter.


Message: "You've reached Hope Van Dyne..."


Hope's back is now to the camera.

[DarkSideCookie]

-You've reached Hope Van Dyne. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.-

Tony exhaled a sigh of annoyance about getting no more attention from her than a sending to her voice mail, then gave it a second try. This was important and calling her twice in a row should...

"Oh no, you don't...", he uttered in disbelief as he not only watched Hope sending him to her voice mail again but also powering off her phone.

-You've reached Hope Van Dyne. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.-

"Oh c'mon! You must be kidding!" With another sigh, Tony tucked his phone back into his pocket. It couldn't be helped. So, it looked like he had to take matters in hand himself.

He was just going to shut the monitor off when suddenly a slow movement in the other corner of it made him pause. The man had turned his back around and now the camera's eye was directly aimed at something in his neck. Was that kind of a... tattoo? Tony quickly zoomed into the picture to get a better look at it. It was a matter of fact. Not only any tattoo but the image of three dog's heads...

"Damn." Tony grabbed his equipment and quickly headed towards the door. He had no time to spare.


*** Tony exits to New York - Pym Tech Company House ***