1/1 Instance: Pardon me?

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
Nightscrawlearth Character: :icey :phoenix

1/1 Instance: Pardon me?

Post by Slarti »

Timelined the day after Presidential Summons and Oversight for Everyone

<Shinobi> It wasn't possible for Obi to be more nervous than he was now, surrounded by Secret Service and SHIELD agents since they'd landed in DC. He squeezed Hope's hand as they walked, trying to keep himself in check.

<Hope> One agent had dared step toward them in order to scan the boy. One look from Hope had sent him backward. That's what I thought. Back the fuck up. She kept a firm grip on Obi as she led him toward the Oval Office.

<Shinobi> I feel like I'm going to get arrested any minute. The thing was, he probably deserved it.

<Hope> Tony wouldn't have brought me here if he was going to arrest you, Hope reasoned. Nobody wanted her to snap like that... in the capitol. Nope. She tried to shove some reassurance at him. You aren't going anywhere, she insisted as they walked, glancing back at David who was reaming the agent who had tried to scan Obi. She smirked.

<Shinobi> Unless he wanted to make a statement. He wanted her to be right, but a public arrest of the convicted terrorist who duped his daughter made for good headlines.

<Hope> Unless that statement is my child is going to kill me... I think you're good, babe. She led him through the many hallways, slowing down the closer they got to the office.

<Shinobi> He smiled to himself. Babe? I hope you're right. As this was the first time he'd been in the White House, he had no idea where they were, and looked at her curiously when they slowed.

<Hope> She swallowed as she came to a stop, looking up at him. So I might or might not be nervous.

<Shinobi> At that, he smiled down at her and turned, sliding his other arm around her. He kissed her forehead, drawing her in.

<Hope> That made her smile as her eyes fluttered closed for a moment. She breathed him in, calming herself. We can do this... together.

<Shinobi> Only if we're together, he thought, before he censored himself. Shit.

<Hope> She gave him a bit of a curious look for that thought before leaning up and kissing the tip of his nose. You're not leaving my sight.

<Shinobi> He smiled, covering his discomfort, and ducked his head to give her a quick kiss.

<TonyStark> The door swung open and Tony looked up from his scotch. Then back down again and downed it. "Did you have a good flight?" More scotch.

<Hope> Hope turned her head at the sudden question, swallowing hard. "It was fine. Why are we here?"

<TonyStark> "That would be telling," he gave a grin and waved them in, closing the file on his desk as he got up to refill his glass.

<Shinobi> Fuck. It could never be good to be caught kissing in the White House. "Mister Stark," he greeted, taking Hope's hand again to go into the office. He looked around nervously, but they seemed to be alone.

<Hope> "Yes... so would, you know, telling us before we left," Hope pointed out, following Obi, which she knew was ridiculous. He was the one who needed protecting.

<TonyStark> "I'll get around to it," he assured her, raising an eyebrow at the kid and waiting for him to correct himself.

<Shinobi> There was the eyebrow, and the stare. Shit. What was that for?

<Hope> Hope elbowed him a bit. Mister?

<Shinobi> Oh. "How was your day, mister president?" That was likely the best he could do without falling all over himself, so he gave it a try, lifting his chin and giving Tony a smirk.

<TonyStark> "President-y." He took a sip from his refreshed glass and eyed up the kid, wondering how much messing with him he could get away with.

<Hope> Hope tossed her hair back over her shoulder, giving her dad a look. She left Obi's side to cross to the scotch, pouring the two of them one drink. She was going to need it.

<Shinobi> He watched Hope for a moment, then moved closer to the desk and located a chair, standing beside it to wait for her. "President-y? That sounds... very administerial."

<Hope> Scotch in hand she crossed back to Obi. She took a sip before passing the glass to him.

<Shinobi> He smiled, thanking her quietly, and motioned for her to sit in the chair. From the corner of his eye, he watched Tony, then took a sip himself.

<TonyStark> "Oh it is, lots of papers to sign, stuff to read... it's very boring." He glanced at the papers on the desk, "Unless I'm deciding who to have disappeared."

<Hope> With a small smile, Hope took the seat. "Disappeared?" What was this, Where's Waldo?

<Shinobi> Catching Tony's drift, he bared teeth at the man over his tumbler of scotch and moved to the other chair.

<TonyStark> Tony's eyebrows went up at the expression and he had to shake himself. "Anyone ever tell you you look like someone else when you do that?"

<Shinobi> It didn't take a genius to figure that one out, and he started to wonder if the rumors were true. "Yes." He sat down with a smirk and another sip of scotch, because he needed it. Ew.

<Hope> Hope didn't quite get it, but Obi's disgust gave her a hint. She shook her head and eyed the scotch. She should have gotten two glasses.

<Shinobi> Obi silently handed the glass over to her.

<Hope> Grateful, she took the glass and took a drink.

<TonyStark> Tony topped up his glass again before going to take a seat, "So, how's school?"

<Hope> "I'm graduating." That was accomplishment enough, right?

<Shinobi> "I'm...auditing." Obi knew Tony wasn't interested in his academic career, but he felt like responding.

<TonyStark> That was an achievement. "Excellent. You can have more scotch."

<Hope> Hope snickered a bit and got up to get the bottle. They'd need it for this shit.

<Shinobi> That made him snort. "I will start classes at MIT this fall, after I test out of a few of the general requirements."

<TonyStark> He frowned at the kid, "Okay. I guess you can have more scotch too."

<Hope> "I applied to Caltech."

<Shinobi> His response was silenced by her announcement, and he watched Tony closely for a response.

<TonyStark> Tony stared at Hope for a long moment, "I take it back. You get no scotch."

<Hope> She stuck her tongue out at him and downed the second glass.

<Shinobi> "Does that make me the good one?" He smirked and held out his hand for the bottle.

<Hope> She pouted at Obi, but handed it over. "What's the matter, Dad? I thought you wanted me to get a quality education."

<Shinobi> Smirking, he poured himself a drink and watched.

<TonyStark> He scoffed, "MIT is a far superior school. Did you have this conversation with Sebastian already?"

<Hope> "Nah I wanted to see the look on your face first." She grinned at him.

<TonyStark> "I'm touched." More scotch. "So touched I might have to disown you."

<Hope> "Now why would you do that? I'm the pretty one."

<TonyStark> "Because you're clearly no daughter of mine if you want to go to Caltech. Someone swapped you for a fake."

<Hope> "I didn't say I was going to Caltech. I just said I applied."

<TonyStark> "Applying implies you want to go there," he raised an eyebrow at her.

<Hope> "Maybe back in the stone age when you were in school. Nowadays you can apply with no intention of going." She shrugged and held out her glass to Obi for a refill.

<Shinobi> Obi followed her unspoken command. "She told me she was concerned MIT wouldn't want her for her own merit." He'd pay for that one later, but for now it gave Tony an outlet, he supposed.

<Hope> Oh he would so pay for that one. She let that anger seep through to his side of the link.

<TonyStark> "Oh come on, everyone knows Starks have good brains. Yours is a given.... and wouldn't that be the same everywhere?" The kids made no sense... maybe he'd had too much scotch... or not enough. Only one of those he could fix.

<Shinobi> His nose wrinkled a bit at the anger in the link. But, it had the intended effect of activating Tony's parental concern in other areas.

<Hope> "That's exactly the concern. That they see the last name on the application."

<TonyStark> "I can tell them to ignore it?" He offered, fixing the not enough scotch problem.

<Hope> "Or just not get involved at all?" Hope shrugged, taking Obi's hand.

<TonyStark> Scotch made everything better. "Okay."

<Hope> That brightened Hope. "Thanks, Dad."

<Shinobi> He watched that exchange, trying to decide what happened. Giving up, he squeezed Hope's hand. "She's made quite the remarkable artificial intelligence."

<TonyStark> "Oh yeah?" he looked between them, "Whose brain is it a replacement for?"

<Shinobi> Obi's eyebrow arched up.

<TonyStark> Tony gave the kid a grin and sipped his scotch.

<Hope> "Sebastian's."

<TonyStark> He almost inhaled his scotch. "Does he suspect?" He managed to play it cool.

<Hope> "I wouldn't be very good if he did, now would I?" She smiled sweetly.

<Shinobi> "I doubt he would notice."

<TonyStark> "Someone's bound to notice... you check with his wife?"

<Hope> "I think she'll find Jarvis an improvement."

<Shinobi> "He's certainly cleaner." Obi took a sip of scotch.

<Hope> "And smells better. Also nicer." Hope levitated another scotch glass over to her and filled it easily with the amber fluid. She needed more to deal with this.

<TonyStark> "I'm sure Sebastian would be mortified to know you felt this way about him and didn't say anything."

<Hope> "I never said we didn't tell him. On multiple occasions." Hope grinned at her dad and took a sip.

<TonyStark> He laughed, "Well then I guess he's only got himself to blame?"

<Shinobi> "He should be accustomed to that situation." He swirled the liquid in the glass and slid down in the seat, attempting to look at ease.

<Hope> Laughing, Hope nodded. "Exactly!"

<TonyStark> "Still, I'd check with his wife, if I were you... all that whining..." he pulled a face.

<Shinobi> He frowned slightly.

<TonyStark> He rolled his head to look at his desk. It seemed so far away... He could manage without. "So... I was reading your file."

<Hope> "I have a file?" Hope questioned, peering over at the desk.

<TonyStark> Tony blinked at her. "You've had enough scotch."

<Shinobi> Fuck. He knew which of them had a file, and it wasn't Hope. Obi swallowed hard and sat up slightly, his grip on the glass increasing.

<Hope> "I've never had enough scotch," she muttered, tightening her grip on Shinobi's hand in response to his grip on the glass tightening.

<TonyStark> Oooh traction. He took a triumphant sip of scotch. "Makes for interesting reading... I'd consider selling movie rights but that wouldn't mesh well with the whole classified part..."

<Hope> "What if I like, set it on fire? It'd be a... big hit." She grinned at her own pun.

<Shinobi> "Which part is classified? Since I was actually convicted of the domestic terrorism charge in that kangaroo court Kelly staged, that's public record."

<TonyStark> "All of it will be classified very soon," his glass was empty. Sadness.

<Hope> Hope was unable to stop the color from draining from her face. "Why?"

<Shinobi> "What? How?" Then he felt Hope's panic and swallowed, shooting her a nervous glance.

<TonyStark> "How? I'm the president! I can make things happen!" He topped up his glass.

<Hope> "But still... why?" Hope wanted to know why this was happening. What was he up to?

<Shinobi> He blurted: "Such as sending me to Guantanamo Bay via executive order?"

<TonyStark> "Why would I want to do that?" He raised an eyebrow, "Most of that file will be all about a person that doesn't exist by the end of the week."

<Shinobi> Doesn't exist. Those words sent a chill up his spine and he swallowed.

<Hope> "I don't understand," Hope was quick to say, her knuckles turning white as she clung to Obi's hand.

<Shinobi> He very nearly phased. Ow!

<Hope> I'm sorry! she loosened her grip, but her hand shook instead.

<TonyStark> "By the end of the week, that file will be all about some unidentified shapeshifter with poor aim and a bad choice in friends," he eyed the kid, "And you will have a piece of paper from yours truly telling everyone you're not the assassin they're looking for."

<Shinobi> That took some time to process. "Not the assassin they're looking for," he repeated, his tone questioning. Obi looked at Hope, but she looked pale and distressed.

<Hope> "So..." Hope blinked and took a long drink of scotch. "He's not the assassin."

<TonyStark> Tony shook his head slowly, waiting for that to filter down.

<Shinobi> "So," he started, glancing at Hope again. "Who... is?"

<Hope> "An unidentified shapeshifter? So.... just a generic someone else?" Hope questioned, not getting too excited just yet.

<Shinobi> "Raven? Are you trying to blame this on her?"

<TonyStark> "No one's naming any names," he hedged. "The point is it's not you."

<Hope> That caught Hope's attention. She gave Obi a curious look. Raven?

<Shinobi> Internally, he winced at Hope's observational skills. "It's not me," he echoed again, still surprised by this turn of events. Despite the promise made in Boston months ago, he'd never truly expected...

<Hope> "So... I'm not dating a terrorist anymore?" Hope asked, hopeful.

<TonyStark> "Nope... well, as of tomorrow. But don't let this go to your head, you're not the only thing on the agenda this week."

<Shinobi> Tony was really going to give him a pardon. Obi blinked into his scotch glass, trying to absorb that.

<Hope> Hope got to her feet and moved around the desk to her dad, wrapping him in a hug.

<TonyStark> He almost spilled his scotch! Setting the glass down, he patted Hope. "You're welcome?"

<Shinobi> Blinking again, he watched them. A pardon. "So..." he said, frowning slightly. "How does this work? Exactly."

<Hope> Hope gave Tony a big kiss on the cheek, grinning before she moved back to Obi. "It means you're free!" She slid onto the edge of his chair carefully, smiling down at him.

<TonyStark> "What? A nice piece of paper isn't enough for you?" He rolled his eyes, "Some people are just so hard to please."

<Shinobi> Free was a large concept to grasp.

<Hope> "So.. a piece of paper is going to make everything go away?" Hope crossed her legs as she perched, watching Tony carefully.

<TonyStark> "Well... several pieces of paper but he only gets to keep one." He picked up his glass again, "The file now says that this unidentified shapeshitfter stole your identity and used it to climb the ranks with the crazy horseman guy and then to try and fail to kill me and we have the DNA evidence to prove it...” He smiled. “And then we're going to distract the press with something shinier."

<Shinobi> "Shinier?" Even he was distracted by this ruse and sat up, looking at Hope and snaking his arm around her waist.

<Hope> "Do we get to know what this is?" she questioned him, sliding her hand over Obi's.

<TonyStark> "Yes, shiny metal mutant-hating machines in fact. And mutant kind will breathe a collective sigh of relief." He smiled and sipped his scotch. "Finally have enough evidence to put those things out of production."

<Hope> "So... you finally outlawed the things that nearly killed me. Twice?" Hope asked, grinning.

<TonyStark> "Yep." He grinned.

<Hope> It was almost like Christmas had come early. She leaned over to kiss Obi's temple. You're free... and now the robots won't kill us either.

<TonyStark> "Might want to save any hugging on that one for your other bodyguard," he added, "She did all the hard work - I just read some files... so many files."

<Shinobi> He smiled up at Hope. Not that I'm not relieved... Obi looked at the president. "So... what evidence do you have? What files?"

<Hope> It was something else that distracted Hope's thoughts though. Obi... we can get married now.

<TonyStark> "For the Sentinels? Lots of files... they're around... somewhere..." he poked around in drawers, "Statements, interviews.... files she got from somewhere probably illegally..."

<Shinobi> "And by she I'm guessing you mean Carol?" He looked up at Hope. She was right... this was it. Every half dream he'd had... We can...

<TonyStark> "Do you know any other girl bodyguards of Hopes?"

<Hope> "Does Bobby count?"

<TonyStark> Tony laughed, "In this case, no."

<Shinobi> Laughing, he shook his head. "So Carol got files. That means you can outlaw the sentinels?”

<Hope> Carol needed special scotch, that was for sure. Hope laced her fingers with Obi's and grinned. "So... Sentinels outlawed... you're no longer a terrorist... we need ice cream to celebrate."

<TonyStark> "Not just files, evidence that they've been used against people - humans, not just mutants. Like OsCorp's personal goon squad." He shook his head, those reports made for uncomfortable reading. He took a large gulp of scotch.

<Hope> "I'm still convinced they were targeting me," she muttered.

<TonyStark> "Well... if the evidence presented is anything to go by, they could have been. Hence..." he made a vague gesture.

<Shinobi> He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "So if they try again, we'll stop them, and then I'm guessing Osborn gets arrested?"

<Hope> "Can I punch him in the face?!" Hope asked, gleefully.

<TonyStark> "Let's lay off on the assault for a while, okay? I can only handle one press scandal at a time."

<Hope> She leaned back slightly, sulking.

<TonyStark> "As for arresting Osborn... there's no evidence to link him directly to the misconduct.... but we're looking."

<Hope> "How about the evidence that's he a slimy jerkball?" she offered.

<TonyStark> "Sadly, that's not enough to arrest someone these days. They like you to have evidence of an actual crime."

<Shinobi> "So when are you doing all... this?" The sentinels were good news, but he wouldn't believe in his pardon until he actually saw it.

<TonyStark> "I didn't mention that part?" he was sure he had. "Tomorrow!" he grinned.

<Shinobi> His eyebrows rose. "Tomorrow?"

<TonyStark> He raised an eyebrow at the kid then looked at Hope. Was he defective? "Yes," he nodded slowly, "Tomorrow."

<Shinobi> Surprised, he blew out a breath. Tomorrow he was free. He could have a new life, he could marry Hope.

<Hope> Hope just smiled and kissed Obi's temple again. "Yes. Tomorrow."

<TonyStark> Uuuuugh. He hid the disgusted expression behind a sip of scotch and carefully placed the glass back on his desk, "So... You kids do... whatever it is kids do... I have another appointment with people in suits..." he looked at the clock. "Ten minutes ago! Awesome."

<Shinobi> He shook himself back to reality and looked at Tony, still more than a little stunned.

<Hope> With a hop to her feet, Hope held out her hands to Shinobi. "Then let me show you the rest of the White House!"

<TonyStark> "If you see an angry looking guy with an eye patch on your travels... avoid." He got up from his desk.

<Shinobi> He didn't need to be told that twice. No Fury. Never ever again. "Sounds good, Hope."

<Hope> "Yeah sure thing," or make David handle him. David handled everything.

<Shinobi> He pulled Hope in closer by her hands and then slid one arm around her waist. Then, he looked over at her father. "President Stark?"

<TonyStark> Tony was halfway to the door but he stopped and turned his head, "Yeah?"

<Shinobi> "Thank you." He watched the man's profile.

<TonyStark> He gave a half smile then continued to the door, "Don't screw it up."

<Hope> She immediately slid her arms around Obi, snuggling into his chest. She smiled at his thanks. For once... everything was okay. And then Tony spoke. Well. It was still a win.

<Shinobi> Don't screw it up. Yeah, he'd have to work on that one.
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