Stark Industries [all day Friday]

[momslilassassin]

There was no point in trying to hide from his father--Luke would be able to find him anywhere on a planet, let alone an island as small as this one--so Ben decided to go to work for the day instead of heading for the afternoon picnic.

He'd head there later to run interference for Ender when Peter arrived, but right now, the fewer people Vestara had the chance to interact with, the happier Ben would be.

He was currently slightly grease-covered as he poked at a refrigerator for Warren's van, but he'd be happy to be of assistance!

If you weren't Sith, of course.

Comments

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

Peggy had spent time at the picnic, but Howard hadn't been there - and after half an hour, she supposed she should have expected that. It took her some time to find the building in question, despite the address she'd gotten.

Now, she was standing outside of it. It was empty - whoever was staffing it was not there right now - but it didn't stop her from walking up to the door and knocking.

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

It wasn't long at all before a rather robust gentleman in a bowler hat stepped up behind Peggy, looking rather okay with life in general. Which... seemed to more or less be the default state of affairs with Dum Dum, these days.

"This is where Howard has holed himself up these days?" He reached up and straightened his hat, nodding toward the door. "Seems a little more quaint than his usual fare, I'd say."

But then, the whole island did, didn't it?

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

Really, they were just lucky that he'd run out of coffee in the downstairs lab and was forced to scrounge for more.

Otherwise, he'd never have noticed people at the door to the shop.

"Agent Carter. Dugan," he said upon opening the door to stare. "What a surprise."

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

"Stark," Peggy replied, chin held high and shoulders straight. "We've come to check on you."

And not to be hit on. Just in case he was wondering.

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"Somebody needs to make certain that you're not getting yourself into too much trouble while you're here," Dum Dum added, helpfully.

And then, a moment later...?

"You're not getting yourself into too much trouble while you're here, are you, Stark?"

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

"No more than usual." Which meant nothing at all. Really. "Come in," he decided.

Before some spaceman picked that moment to run by.

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

"How much trouble are you in?" Peggy asked. That... was probably the right question to ask.

She also entered first, taking note of the strange interior.

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

Dum Dum sauntered in on Peggy's heels, raising an eyebrow as he looked around at the assorted oddities inside the shop. Yeah, none of this looked like anything he particuarly wanted to poke at. Probably.

Which was exactly why he was reaching out to prod curiously at a nearby piece of machinery, leaning in to get a closer look.

"And how much help are you going to need to get out of it again?"

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

Well, they didn't make anything explode. ...maybe. He was still working on that part.

"Well, I suppose that would depend on how much you've had to drink before I explain this place."

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

Peggy shot him a look. No, she was not going out drinking with him. Howard.

Not unless she had a good reason and several more men around. "Do try and tell us all you can manage on a sober stomach," she said.

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"Yes, we're all ears," Dum Dum agreed, straightening up and smiling just a little, something that he recognized as a screw held gingerly between his fingers.

See? That was something in this place that actually made sense.

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

"Dugan would drink with me," Howard replied with a sigh. And that wouldn't end badly at all. "It's about seventy years into the future here."

Somehow that never quite made it into any potential reports.

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. You'd actually made Peggy blink. "And how much have you been drinking?"

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"And do you have any handy to share?"

... What? Anything that would make Howard start babbling nonsense about time travel clearly had to be good.

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

Hey now! He only drank the good stuff now that he was back from the front or some tiny government lab.

"Not nearly enough to have this conversation," Howard replied with all the kindness in his heart. "All of those machines HYDRA made? Are nothing compared to what they have for everyday use here."

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

Peggy frowned, though she wasn't nearly stupid enough to simply dismiss all of this out of hand.

She began to pace through the room, examining the machines with a lot more care than Dougan had shown. "You're not lying, are you."

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"Which leaves honesty or insanity as our remaining options," Dum Dum volunteered, making a round of the room himself, setting the screw that he was holding down next to some sort of ... it was a... the thing...

Coffee machine?

Whatever.

"Welcome to the twenty-first century?"

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

"Cheers," Howard replied with something that was somewhere between a smile and baring of teeth. "Oh, and I have a son as well."

HE WAS WORKING UP TO THE STEVE ROGERS THING.

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

"...What?"

Of all the curve balls in the world...

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"Mazeltov. So, you really came here in an attempt to dodge the mother, hm?"

All class, that Dugan.

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

"I'd have to have had him when I was ten." Still possible in some bizarro universe of early puberty. "Which brings us to alternate versions of our universe that seems terribly common here."

LIKE JUST NOW.

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

"...Ten? No, Stark, how old is this son of yours?" She was not going to get distracted now.

All right, so he might have had a point about that drink.

[dat-stache.livejournal.com]

"Maybe he's adopted." Yes. That cleared up all possibilities nicely, right there. "You haven't decided to start a collection or something since coming here, have you?"

Of kids. It could happen.

... Hah.

[doyoufondue.livejournal.com]

"Not if I can help it." Kid in his 50s. Oh yeah! "There's another thing."

Why yes, he was going for the scotch on this one.

[doesnotfondue.livejournal.com]

"I'm almost hesitant to ask how many things I can expect, Stark."

Poor Peggy's brain.