If They Knew All About You

Separation of Powers

The lab was quiet. A few of the machines he had set up were buzzing, but it was a monotone sound, easily ignored. The voices in his head screamed louder than that. Regrets and guilt, above all fear. Uncertainty.

He had caught up Helen Cho and Maria Hill on some of the details of what was going on. Possibly Barton as well, who might have been somewhat hazy on a few details. His kidnapped son. That he had found him only to realize how he had been on the target list of the Winter Soldier. How Obadiah Stane's betrayal had run so much deeper than Tony had realized. No mention of the boy's abilities though. Too many people were already in the loop on that. He would have to keep it from whoever he reasonably could and Maria Hill with her ties to Fury was petty high up on that list.

When she had left while on the phone to Pepper to help out with whatever ties the had to get some legal leverage, Tony had laid open his plan to Doctor Cho and Barton. They had to outflank the authorities on any DNA testing they would order to confirm the boy's true identity.

"It's definitely possible." Helen had sat down, running both hands across her face. "I just have to think about what I have to work off of. It'll be a matter of whether we'll be fast enough. But yeah, if I synthesize a neutral carrier and then work off from the data we have on file— No. Actually. If I work back from the boy's current DNA structure..." She bit her lip, nodding to herself. "Yeah, it can't be identical. DNA changes over time are the norm, just not as drastic as what your boy experienced."

Tony nodded along, a tiny spark of hope flickering in his heart. "What can I do? How do I help?"

She'd given him his task and he had set up everything in his lab, staring at the machines as they worked. Helpless to do anything but wait for the process to run its course.

"Boss, Agent Barton is asking to access the lab."

Tony froze, then gave a sharp nod. The doors buzzed open and Barton's heavy steps drowned out the low purr of the centrifuge on the workbench that Tony's eyes were still fixed on. Silence fell once more when Barton came to a hold. A swift glance up confirmed that the man had planted himself on the other side of the table, hands buried deep in his pockets. His gaze was lingering somewhere between the ground and the top on the table.

"So, Downtown Hospital is confirmed. All of them."

Tony frowned. "Rogers as well?"

"Seems that way. I guess they'll check him out, then transfer him to headquarters. It's only two blocks."

"Right."

Tony had watched the video, had forced himself to. He'd never get those images out of his head. The blood dripping of the kid, the way he shook. He had tried to enhance the audio to hear what they had said but could only extract a few sentences, mostly Peter's side of the conversation. While he was dying to know as much as he could so he could prepare, those videos were public and if FRIDAY couldn't do it at least the press wouldn't be able to pick up on anything in that conversation that could prove dangerous to the kid either.

"Listen, man, I didn't mean..." Barton slowly blew out a breath. "Earlier. I was an ass. I'm sorry."

"Right, I..." Tony nodded. "Me too."

"I tried to stop him. The boy, but he... it was like he didn't even hear me."

"Yeah, I... I saw the recording. I know you tried." The video had shown Barton arrive just as Peter had collected that gun. The boy had moved in almost a trance-like state, single minded determination that seemed blind to everything else. It had to be about his senses. They must have acted up. He'd only ever seen Peter equally out of it during one of his episodes. The way the muscles in his arm were shaking as he held that gun. "Where did he even get that gun?" His voice was low, almost a whisper.