The next morning, Tony Stark drove Peter Parker to the clinic in a showy sports car. At the corner, they spotted Shiller, sitting by a window on the second floor, jotting sothing down. They could only assu he was engrossed in crafting papers filled with psychiatric jargon or case reports.
Peter looked ashen as he got out of the car, his arms crossed in irritation. "You're driving a multi-million dollar sports car, parading around the streets of New York with the top down!" He shot Stark a disgruntled look. "Wait till you see tomorrow morning's headlines. They won't be pretty!"
"I never cover the top, you know that." Stark shrugged nonchalantly, donned his shades, and popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth. "Don't worry. I heard that their main scoop now is whether there's anything special between Captain Arica and . You're not their target for now."
"Special... what?" Totally confused, Peter trailed after Stark, eyebrows knitted. Stark breezily hinted, "The thing you did with Gwen on her birthday."
Peter froze, mouth falling open. He didn't know whether to be astonished that Stark knew about his night with Gwen, or be shocked at the audacity of the tabloids in writing about Stark and Captain Arica.
As Shiller opened the clinic door, Peter saw Captain Arica struggling to pull a sweater over his obscured face, the scene rather comical. Tossing his bag onto a nearby couch, Peter asked, "Doctor, is breakfast ready? I'd like so scrambled eggs."
"Make it yourself." Shiller continued fussing over his laptop, seemingly replying to student emails. The Captain, having finally finished wrestling with his sweater, adjusted its sleeves, and offered, "Co on, I can whip up breakfast."
anwhile, Stark, leaning against the clinic entrance, tuned in to the sound of arguing emanating from the distant streets. Before long, "Bam!" A door slamd against the wall beside him. "Tony Stark!" Natasha stord at him. "Nick has been cursing for three and a half hours due to the ridiculous ntal health maintenance bill for The Avengers you submitted to S.H.I.E.L.D.! The whole finance departnt is in chaos. You owe an explanation!"
"Natasha! Natasha! Co back!" Hawkeye Barton trailed after her, trying to pacify the fuming Agent. Stark, unruffled, cocked his head toward Natasha and retorted, "You should be asking the person who actually received this money, not ."
"The major reason for the finance departnt's chaos is because the money recipient is not present!" Natasha spat coldly. "Nick needs him to settle the accounts. Anyway, I'm taking Dr. Shiller back with ."
"You're welco to do so." Stark shrugged, "But if his psychological assessnt hasn't passed and you're insisting that he carries on with his work at S.H.I.E.L.D., no Avenger will ever agree to a psyche evaluation. That would be utterly contradictory."
Natasha glared furiously at Stark, lips tightly pursed. After a brief pause, she dropped her voice and said vehently, "You have no idea how desperate Nick is to incorporate your astronomical bill into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s expenses to secure more funding. But this requires Dr. Shiller to confirm that all this money was indeed spent on ntal health maintenance. So, we..."
"Ahem." Stark interrupted, raising his voice, "So, you an, even if Dr. Shiller's ntal assessnt report hasn't passed, even if he's not fit to continue working, you still want him back at work to pay for Nick's greed?"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Lady!" Peter, who was tinkering with the gaming console beside the TV, jumped up, rushing to the door exclaiming, "Don't tell this is true! That's unethical! You can't hire a ntally unstable person!"
Feeling the disapproval from Steve in the kitchen, Natasha held her forehead in her hand. She grabbed Stark and pulled him outside, lowering her voice, "What the hell are you doing? You know well that Shiller is in perfect shape."
"But he might be up to sothing that will keep him unwell."
Natasha widened her eyes slightly looking at Stark, "You an, he has a new plan? But I heard no rumors from Nick."
Stark held up a finger emphatically, "They're all four of them. I'm talking about Steven, Loki, Nick, and Shiller. They're way more cunning than ntal patients hiding dicine in the infirmary. Deceiving you is a piece of cake for them."
"Nick is involved?" Natasha questioned, brows furrowed.
"Who knows."
Natasha glanced away, then pulled at Stark again, "You keep an eye on Shiller, and I'll watch Nick. Let's get Helen to watch her mom. That will be enough."
Stark raised an eyebrow, looking with a hint of surprise at Natasha, "You've decided to take my side? Instead of getting entangled in their mishmash plan?"
"My point is, they all need to rest! You should know, Nick just recently had a Skrull imitate him so he could maintain a round-the-clock presence. They are all crazies! Terrifying workaholics!"
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