Tony brought Pepper to lin's ho, intending to ask why lin had pushed him into the spotlight, but instead, he encountered soone he really hadn't wanted to see.
"Hey, Tony, congratulations—you've finally grown up."
"You two weren't supposed to be traveling around the world? What are you doing here?"
Looking at the faces of Howard and Maria, who were gazing at him with satisfaction, Tony felt his molars ache. At first, he thought this was one of lin's surprises for him, but seeing his parents there made him instantly think of his kidnapping incident.
"You've stirred up such a storm, of course we had to co back and see for ourselves," Howard said with a smile, gesturing for Tony to sit down. Maria, anwhile, took Pepper into another room. Tony had indeed brought Pepper with him to introduce her to people, but that would co later—this was a discussion between n, and it wasn't suitable for won to be present.
Besides, Maria wanted a chance to chat properly with her future daughter-in-law.
"So this is another one of your sches?" Tony asked, sitting down and giving Howard a bitter look.
"How could it be a sche!? Don't you like surprises? This is official recognition from the Sanctuary—sothing many people would beg for!" Howard retorted.
"But… could you not have told in advance? Look at now—I'm surrounded by stalkers everywhere I go!" Tony complained.
Howard gave him a aningful look. "Weren't you always?"
"Uh… fair point. I have no counterargunt."
"So then, what are you complaining about? Even I, your father, a so-called hero, never received public acknowledgnt from the Sanctuary."
"lin, Uncle, are you just going to let him keep fooling around like this?" Tony turned his wounded gaze toward lin.
"This is a good thing, isn't it? Garon spoke very highly of you," lin said calmly, with a gentle smile.
"Garon? He spoke highly of ? Heh, so I'm finally not a toy anymore?" Tony laughed, sowhat self-deprecating.
"You're still a toy—but a promising one," lin replied, quoting exactly what Garon had said.
"…Alright, looks like I've got more work to do," Tony said, shrugging.
"You're still as stubborn as ever," Howard said. "Without Garon's praise, you wouldn't upgrade your armor anyway. Knowing you, even if you managed to save the whole world, you'd never stop."
No one knew Tony better than his father. Howard understood that Tony's personality was much like Fury's—he liked to have complete control over everything. The mont sothing slipped beyond his grasp, he beca anxious and uneasy.
That "sothing beyond his control" naturally included lin and the Saints.
Tony froze, a bit embarrassed—not because Howard had called out his stubbornness, but because he understood the hidden aning in his father's words, which made him feel awkward in front of lin.
"Relax, Tony. If you really have the ability to handle all that, we could retire early," lin said.
"That's not what I ant, Uncle lin, you know that… I just… um… okay, maybe that is what I ant, but you can't deny that the threat might exist, right? Even if it's negligible," Tony tried to justify himself.
"Haha, true," lin said. "Even if it's minuscule, it's not impossible. But Tony, take smaller steps—don't stretch too far, or you'll hurt yourself."
"Uh… got it," Tony said.
He knew lin wasn't scolding him for arrogance but reminding him to stay grounded. For now, aiming for the level of a Saint was too distant a goal—he needed to move step by step.
"By the way, soone from S.H.I.E.L.D. ca to see today—Nick Fury. He wanted to talk about forming a 'Super Boys Club'…"
"It's called the Avengers! And they shouldn't be called S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, but Snake Shield," Howard corrected him.
"Uh… how do you even know that?" Tony asked, surprised.
"Of course I do! Snake Shield evolved from the Strategic Scientific Reserve—the sa unit Peggy, Steve, and I served in. Fury's Avengers Initiative? Peggy and I signed off on that," Howard explained.
"So you're saying you… wait, Snake Shield? What kind of ridiculous na is that, Dad?!"
"Heh, that's because the new agency was infiltrated by every organization imaginable—Hydra included," Howard sneered.
"Hydra? Wait, wasn't that the terrorist group from World War II? Didn't Steve wipe them out?" Tony asked, his eyes wide. Today seed full of big revelations.
"They only took out the headquarters and its leader. Hydra had already infiltrated every corner of society decades ago. You can't just erase them. When we first found traces of Hydra, we wanted to round them all up—but most were low-level operatives, brainwashed nobodies. Capturing them was pointless. So the three of us decided to watch them closely, to trace the real core mbers. Once we root those out, Hydra will truly fall."
Howard continued, "After decades of tracking, we've identified two leaders so far. One is Baron Teslaq—he's elusive and still being tracked. The other is Dr. Zola, who digitized his own consciousness. He's even harder to catch. And based on intel, Hydra still has at least two unidentified leaders. Until we find them, we can't risk alarming the rest."
"Wow, you guys are playing one long, big ga. Impressive! But why didn't you ever tell ? I could've helped!" Tony said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"I was afraid you'd blab while lying on so woman's lap," Howard said, glaring. How had his son turned out like this?
Selective mory, perhaps—Howard himself used to live the exact sa way.
"I! You! I—" Tony turned red with anger. He still hated Howard—no reason, he just did.
lin quietly watched the father and son's silent standoff with mild amusent. He didn't intervene; if things turned into a father-son brawl, that would've been even more entertaining.
Unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed.
After about three minutes, both n turned away at the sa ti.
"By the way, Uncle lin, where's Garon?" Tony asked.
"He went to San Francisco."
"San Francisco? To do what—wait, don't tell he went to see Hank Pym?" Tony smirked. He rembered that Pym Technologies was based there, and from what he knew, Hank wasn't too fond of Garon. Their eting would be quite a show—Tony wished he could record it.
"That's right," lin said, smiling.
"Wow, I hope he cos back alive," Tony chuckled.
"I'm thinking the sa thing," lin replied.
"Gentlen, would anyone like so cookies?"
As the serious conversation wound down, Maria appeared with Pepper at her side.
"I'll have so, honey," Howard said.
" too! And a cheeseburger would be perfect," Tony added.
Howard and Tony—true father and son—raised their hands like schoolkids answering a question.
"Alright," Maria said with a laugh.
The pleasant afternoon passed quickly. Soon, Tony and Pepper were preparing to leave. Before they did, Howard tossed Tony a small storage device.
"What's this?" Tony asked, puzzled.
"The key to the future—and to mystery," Howard said with a mysterious smile.
Tony rolled his eyes. Seriously? How old was his father? Still playing gas like this?
But he still pocketed the device carefully.
…
anwhile, back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury returned to headquarters and called Coulson and Black Widow—Natasha—into his office.
"Another mission?" Natasha asked casually, lounging on the sofa like she owned the place, her posture radiating effortless allure.
"This person—I want you to get close to her by any ans necessary," Fury said, handing her a file.
Natasha took one look and imdiately raised an eyebrow.
"Sir, I should remind you—that's illegal," she teased.
"Damn it, Natasha, it's not what you think! This mission is critical—it could determine the fate of the Earth and humanity itself. So take it seriously," Fury said, face dark but tinged with red, trying to keep a straight expression.
"You're kidding , right? This little girl?" Natasha pointed at the photo.
"Yes. You heard right. Your task is to gain her trust at all costs. And if necessary…"
"Kill her?" Natasha guessed.
Her assumption nearly scared Fury and Coulson half to death. They quickly waved their hands.
"No, no, no! If it cos to that—you die, and she lives!" Fury barked.
"Uh…" Natasha blinked, muttering sothing under her breath. This was the strangest mission she'd ever been assigned.
From the file, the girl seed completely ordinary—just a rich family's daughter. Maybe the agency had so important partnership with her family?
"Fine. I'll get it done perfectly," Natasha said at last.
"You always do, Natasha."
"Of course. No one doubts that."
After she left, Fury and Coulson both wiped sweat from their foreheads.
"Sir, are we sure this is the right call?" Coulson asked nervously.
"What's wrong with it? We're just assigning protection detail," Fury replied as he flipped through another file—identical to Natasha's, except with a few extra pages.
And those extra pages were the most critical part.
"Alright, but I still think—"
"You don't need to think, Phil. I'll do the thinking," Fury interrupted, handing him the file. "File this. Classification level: 11."
"Uh… sir, when did we start having Level 11 clearance?" Coulson asked.
"Starting now," Fury said flatly.
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