Chapter Text
The last few months had been anything but fun and exciting, which is why Stark was curious and slightly thrilled when he got a call from none other than Nick Fury.
"Hello?" Tony answered the phone while bringing it up to his ear
"Stark, I know this is on such short notice but we need you to come in." Fury sighed.
"What's the catch?" Tony asked weary.
"We've been keeping notice of some odd events happening some where in London but we finally were able to access cameras, and boy do we have a problem here. We'll brief you up on everything if you're in."
Stark was hesitant for a few seconds but shortly agreed. Besides, he needed something to spice things up a bit for him. "..Sure, I'll be there in about an hour."
"Make it 45." Fury said while hanging up the phone. To say Tony was excited was an understatement. For some odd reason he had this gut feeling, that he just had to be there.
Tony armored up and took the quinjet to the location Fury had texted him shortly after he hung up earlier. It was some place in a not so populated area. Once Tony landed the quinjet nearby, he was welcomed by Fury who lead him inside and in a busy room.
There were many agents there, looking at computers, walking around, chatting with each other, and some other activities Tony couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. There was table near the middle where Fury and Stark could chat. They sat down in the chairs surrounding the table as Fury brought out a file and small phone.
"During sometime in London recently, there were a few crimes that we took notice in. There were reports of dead or injured bodies in some areas with no explanation to them." Fury started.
"Two weeks ago we found another report on dead bodies and what-not in Egypt. There's no doubt that they're connected which means this is a good opportunity to catch them when they least expect it." Stark noted all this as Fury explained to him. "Alright, do we have any other visuals on them? Anything we should be looking out for?"
"As I said earlier, we've got camera footage of them in action. They will definitely be a challenge, which is why I'm pairing you with Captain Rogers." Fury stated while taking out the phone more closer to Tony.
Nick tapped the phone on and a video started playing of a man in an odd suit fighting about 4 men at once. He was awfully good considering he was fighting in literal rags, or at least that's what Tony considered his suit to be. He used a crescent shaped blade to slice the men quite easily before grabbing something and fleeing the scene. It looked as though he was in a rush.
"Hmm, he does seem like a problem.. alright, when do we start?" Tony questioned as Fury got up and handed him a file. "I'll give you a call tomorrow to come back here early in the morning." Fury said while leading Tony back out.
As Tony was heading back to his tower, he examined the video a little more closely. While enhancing the video and zooming in, he could see the stolen object the man took more clearly. It appeared to be some sort of charm. It was an odd thing to retrieve but Stark couldn't assume anything while knowing nothing about the enemy.
Once Tony got back to the tower, he decided to work on his iron suit and upgrade it a bit. He hasn't used it in a while so most of its power was drained. He decided to start fixing it up a bit so he can finish the next morning and went to bed shortly after. Although he was exhausted, he had a hard time sleeping thinking about the mysterious man he was supposed to bring in.
Stark was interested in his skill set seeing as he was able to take down multiple men at once with no problem. He was wondering if he and Cap would be enough to bring him in but that was a problem for another day as Tony dozed off to sleep.
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"Marc.. where are we?" Steven had woken up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar room. It was dark for sure but he could still make out some sorts of things that did not seem familiar. He sat up and while scanning the room to find anything reflective so he can talk to Marc.
On his left was a nightstand with a small lamp that he quickly turned on. It lit up the room which made it easier for him to see. In the room was a small table in the corner with 3 chairs around it. A tv was placed in front of the bed with a small closet to the left of the room. The closet's door had a mirror attached to it that stole Stevens attention. He immediately got up and raced to the mirror.
"Marc, are you there? Where are we?" Steven murmured at the mirror when Marc showed up. "What do you want, Steven?" Marc grumbled as he was obviously tired.
"You should know, where are we?"
"Hmmm..? We're in a hotel in Egypt."
"I'm sorry, did you just say Egypt..?!"
"Go back to bed Steven."
Steven looked around more carefully at the expensive room and then back to the mirror.
"Can I even afford all this? Why in bloody hell are we even in Egypt for?" Steven stammered waiting for a response while Marc looked like he wanted to strangle Steven so he can go to sleep.
"Look, I needed to do some important business and I told Jake assuming he would tell you." Marc defended while Steven stared at him before realizing something.
"Oh my god, who's there feeding fake Gus. You can't kill another fish!" Steven was very much on the verge of tears just thinking about having to replace fake Gus #4. "That's already taken care of, I called Layla to take the stupid fish to feed it. Now go to bed, Steven." Marc was just about to leave when Steven blurted out another question.
"When are we able to go back home? I'm getting a bit nervous already just thinking about how much this hotel is gonna cost." Steven fiddled with his hands as Marc was just about done with him.
"Maybe later this week? I don't know but we won't stay too long. I promise." After that Marc left before Steven could say another word. He didn't like being at new places. It would throw off his daily routine that he worked hard to perfect. He also did not like the idea of being away from fake Gus but it's not like he had much of a choice. Steven climbed back into bed and soon fell back asleep.
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As soon as Stark woke up, he checked the time and got out of bed. It was just about 5:30AM so he started by making breakfast to pass the time. He was starved as he finished making bacon and eggs and devoured it in just a few minutes. He knew he would be expecting a call from Fury in a few minutes so he finished the suit until the phone started ringing.
"Y'ello." Tony spoke into the phone while bringing it into his ear.
"Stark, glad you're awake. We have Cap over here already as well as a private jet that will be taking you to Egypt. We'll be waiting for you." Fury remarked as Tony hung up the phone and left his tower.
Half an hour passes by and Tony shows up at the same place he met Fury yesterday. He was greeted by a few agents who led Tony and Steve to the jet. As they were getting on, Fury had stopped them abruptly.
"Before you boys leave, there's some more information we found of him." Fury stated as he handed Steve more files. Steve nodded and he and Tony got on and sat in their seats. Only a few minutes later did the plane finally take off.
It was a long 9 hour flight but Tony and Steve passed the time by chatting and discussing things about mission. Stark wanted to go over the files about off-brand Batman. They caught him again on cameras taking off his mask. Tony had Jarvis deep scan the internet and private files until they found 3 close matches to the picture Fury had given them.
"Got anything ?" Steve asked Tony.
"Jarvis picked up 3 close matches with the same picture but different information. First one is Steven Grant. Files show he used to work at a museum in London but got fired for... vandalizing a bathroom...?" Tony was slightly taken aback from what he was reading but whatever.
"Next is Marc Spectorrr... yikes, this guys' a handful. He's an international fugitive, charged for a bunch of things. He was part of a team of mercenaries that hit a dig site in Egypt. Did a couple of unpleasant things to the archaeologists. Last one is Jake Lockley. Mostly just random boring stuff but he's a cab driver. Plausibly just the same guy using different IDs to get through things. Looks like our Joker is a cab driver mercenary who hates bathrooms." Tony finished as Steve sat there to think. "...So he's a ghost story?" Steve gave a funny look at Tony. "Pretty much." Tony said while sitting back and putting the files away.
The hours go by and as they land they're given a car and a hotel room they can stay at. They weren't given a private hotel or place to stay as it wasn't speculated it would interfere with the mission. They were dropped off at a private area so they wouldn't be bombarded at a normal airport. Tony and Steve got in the car they were offered and headed towards the address they gave of the hotel. They were equally as exhausted but Tony offered to drive.
Once they were a few minutes away from the hotel, Steve had already fallen asleep but was woken up by a sudden jerk from the car. He looked around to see that they were not at the hotel but rather a gas station. He gave Stark a questioning look as he got out the car.
"Tony, where you going?" Steve got out the car and ran towards him.
"Just getting some snacks." Steve always knew Tony to have such a sweet tooth that it wasn't exactly unexpected he wanted sugar of some sort. A small tune rang as they walked through the door and scanned the isles. Steve thought that he might as well get something and rushed to find something interesting.
Before all of this was happening, Steven woke up forgetting he was even in the hotel room and had the smallest panic attack until Marc reminded him. "Blimey, I have the memory of a gold fish, I swear.." Steven sighed at himself.
"I am a tad bit hungry, why don't we go get some food? Definitely not from here though, not sure my wallet can handle that." Steven half joked towards Marc as they decided to just get Stevens favorite chocolate from a gas station nearby. Marc (well, Steven) didn't have a car so he just had to walk down there which absolutely sucked.
As he finally arrived, he rushed in to find his favorite chocolates. Racing to the isle, he's dazzled by all the selections not noticing Captain America browsing the same isle. Rogers was caught a little off guard, but he's not one to judge. Not until he got a closer look at the chocolate obsessed man when he realized just exactly who it was.
He couldn't pass this opportunity and obviously couldn't scare him away if he yelled for Stark so he just watched him. Steven grabbed 5 bars of chocolate before leaving the isle to go pay. After hearing the price he dug his hands in his pockets only to realize he must have forgotten his wallet.
"What a bummer, Sorry mate, I forgot my wallet and I don't really have any other way to pay so, cheers!" Steven said as he walked away but was quickly stopped by Rogers as he offered to pay for his chocolate.
"I can pay for him." Rogers handed the cashier the money and gave the snacks to Steven. He was a little stunned but grabbed the snacks with great gratitude.
"Thanks, mate! Honestly you just made my day. Anyways, laters gators!" Steven thanked as he left the gas station. Rogers felt a tap on his shoulders from Tony and turned around.
"You know I'm not paying for you, right? Steve rolled his eyes playfully as Tony payed for his things and they went back to the car. Tony totally enjoyed every second of his snacks knowing Steve didn't buy any.
"You know, that guy over there.." Steve started. "Maybe I am a little sleep deprived and imagining things, but he really looked like our guy for our little man hunt." Tony gave Steve a slight glance and said "You know, I thought that was just me who thought that. Maybe we can go home early after all." Tony shrugged as he started the car.
"You remember which way he went?" Tony asked.
"He went left. Sort of the same way as the hotel." Steve faltered.
"Just our luck."
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Steven arrived back into his hotel room and placed the bag of chocolates on the bed. He glanced at the mirror when Marc appeared. "Was it just me or did that guy seem very familiar?" Marc questioned.
"I thought so too.. it's probably nothing. Just a lad helping me out a bit." Steven shrugged.
"I still can't believe you forgot your wallet."
"I thought I had it, alright! Maybe I mistook it for my phone." Steven said while pulling his phone out and placing it on the night stand next to him. He ignored Marc teasing him about the wallet and ate his chocolate.
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As Tony and Steve arrived at the hotel, they parked near the entrance while Tony had Jarvis hack into the front desk computer to see the names of people checked in. Just to his surprise Steven Grant appeared as a checked in guest.
"Bingo." Tony cheered to mainly himself as he and Steve got out the car and walked inside the hotel. They checked in and went to the elevator. Jarvis had told Tony exactly what room number Steven was in, all he has to do was find it.
Took a few minutes to find the room but when they did, they waited outside. "How exactly do you wanna go about this, make a mess or do this professionally?" Tony turned towards Rogers.
"Technically they're both the same." Rogers got his shield out as Tony knocked on the door.
"Room service!" Stark yelled from the other side of the door as Rogers scoffed at him.
Steven was a bit startled and sat up from the bed. He looked at the mirror giving Marc a questioning look. "Did you order room service? Seriously." Steven complained.
"Why would we need room service? Just let me take care of it." Marc told Steven calmly.
"Wha- no, I can handle this myself thank you very much." Steven got up and walked towards the door. He looked out the peephole and was extremely unsettled. Oh. My. God. IS THAT TONY STARK? BILLIONAIRE TONY STARK? AND STEVE ROGERS? CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN? IN THIS VERY HOTEL?
"Marc.." Steven whispered while stepping back towards to mirror to face Marc.
"Steven just left me front. I can take care of this for us."
"By 'taking care of this' do you mean beating the crap out of the avengers? I don't think so!"
"Steven, you don't understand what's at stake here. Just let me front."
Tony could hear someone talking from inside the room which made his patience wear very thin. He got tired of waiting and shot the lock off the door which opened it. He and Rogers walked in on the british man arguing with a mirror. They stopped dead in their tracks and then looked at each other, wondering if it was a mercenary or an unstable man they were after. Probably both.