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It’s foolish to expect to leave the scene so quickly.
In retrospect, Stiles realizes that, but he’s obviously just exhausted to the point that he isn’t thinking clearly. It’s like the weeks and months of stress, secrets, and lies around Hydra and Nergal have become too much to control. He’s found the Boss, knows a lot of the local cell is now dead or captured, has made sure that the man responsible for Hazel’s death is dead, and it feels like the end is finally in sight.
It’s a good kind of overwhelming, in a way, but he knows today isn’t over yet.
Bucky holds him for what feels like hours but is probably less than five minutes. Stiles can feel Peter’s hand on his back, lightly stroking his spine, and Lydia’s taken his right hand in hers, squeezing gently. There are fingernails lightly scratching his scalp that he knows are Braeden’s, which means his pack is there for him.
Eventually, Bucky’s tight embrace begins to loosen. Stiles realizes that Sam and Nat are talking low beside them, which means he needs to get himself back under control. He doesn’t trust Nat, not the way he trusts Tony and Sam, so he doesn’t want to be vulnerable around her. She’s the type to see it as a weakness and take advantage of it. Of that, he has no doubt. Maybe not maliciously but he wants to avoid it all the same.
When he raises his head off Bucky’s shoulder, he’s calm and focused, his emotions tightly wrapped up once again. Bucky cups his face, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. “We’re almost finished, Doc,” he murmurs. “When this is over, we’ll go home.”
“We can order food, and we can watch old Christmas cartoons, and you can spend some time with Lydia, Peter, and Braeden,” he whispers. “It’s Christmas Eve, you know? I hadn’t even realized until Trini mentioned it. Too many other things on my mind.”
“Let’s wrap this up, and you can introduce me to old cartoons,” Bucky says, pressing his forehead against Stiles’ forehead. “If you don’t feel up to talking about it, we can just tell the others that you’re not ready yet. They can secure the scene and wait.”
“No, I don’t want Rajiv and the kids to come home from Christmas to find the house in complete disarray,” he says, squeezing Bucky’s shoulder before straightening up. He turns to find the front door still open, Sam and Nat standing just inside the entryway.
“Hey, Stiles,” Sam says, looking uncertain for the first time since they met. It’s an awkward thing that makes Stiles feel off-kilter. “You don’t need to come back inside, man. We can talk on the porch or something.”
“Nah, I’m fine, Sammy,” Stiles says, hearing Peter mutter lie from his side. “I assume you need to know what Trini told me? My pops has had to debrief before, so I get the gist of it. Just wasn’t sure if superhero squads do the same thing.”
“You can call it debriefing if that’s more familiar to you,” Nat says, eyeing him like she’s not sure if he’s going to break or not. “Did you confirm that Trini Sharma Malakar was involved with Hydra?”
“Jesus, Nat. Give the man some room,” Tony says, walking down the hallway. “The neighbors are going to start getting suspicious if everyone keeps hanging out on the lawn, so why don’t you all come inside. Other than the deceased, the house is empty.”
“Rajiv took the kids to his sister’s house for Christmas. His mom is visiting for like a month, so I figure Trini encouraged the trip because she can’t stand his mom,” he says as he steps back into the house. It’s weird to be in here knowing that Trini is lying dead in the kitchen. He can’t dwell on that right now, though. “She was supposed to be working tonight and tomorrow night.” He groans, running his hand over his face. “With Stone slash Kaminsky gone, Lucas still in a coma, and Trini gone now, they’re going to be so short staffed.”
“It’s real considerate that you’re worried about your coworkers,” Sam says, looking at Bucky then back at him. “There are some chairs in the living room. Why don’t you go ahead and sit down, Stiles?”
“Dude, don’t use your professional tone with me,” he says, rolling his eyes. Sam just arches his brow and makes that hmm noise that therapists do on TV all of the time. “I’m not your patient. I’ll go ahead and sit down, though.”
“The fact that you’ve been relatively unfazed by all of this kinda indicates you might need to be my patient,” Sam mutters, shaking his head. Peter enters the room then and deliberately bumps into him with a bit more force than necessary. “Hey! Watch it. I’m a tall black man with muscles, man. Kind of hard to miss.”
“Sorry, I must have missed you with all the hot air that was surrounding your head,” Peter says dryly, putting his hand on Stiles’ back and guiding him to the sofa. “Let’s get this over with, shall we, sweetheart?”
When they reach the sofa, he hesitates a moment. Stiles knows that the left hand side has a slope from a broken leg that was repaired with super glue two years ago. The middle cushion is the fullest because the kids always sit on either side with Snuffles, their dog, sitting between them. Thankfully, it seems that the kids took Snuffles with them, which makes sense considering the fact that Trini would mention the dog traveling with them.
Sitting in the middle, he looks up at those standing around. “Peter’s right. Let’s get this done. It’s a holiday, sort of, and I’m sure you’ve got other things to do,” he says, looking at Tony, Nat, and Sam specifically. “Can you call your agents to come take Trini’s body and make it look like she moved out? Her husband and kids will be coming home after Christmas, and they don’t need to know anything about what really happened.”
“You want us to do a body disposal on a wife and mother?” Nat asks, looking surprised before quickly concealing it. “We generally only do those for people who are less likely to be noticed if they go missing, Stiles. It’s much easier to search and then leave the body to be found by her family.”
“I promised her that I’d talk to Rajiv,” he says, knowing he’s already getting that stubborn tilt of his chin. “She wanted him to believe that she’d met someone else, that she was leaving everything behind to start new elsewhere.”
“Fuck that, she has kids ,” Tony says, not bothering to hide his disdain for the idea. “We can figure out how to cover up the suicide if that’s what worried her, but her family deserves closure.”
“Her kids aren’t Morgan,” Stiles says bluntly. “Rajiv was an arranged marriage. He’s the one who wanted kids, and Trini ended up having two because it was expected. I knew her for three years, and I know she loved her kids, but that doesn’t mean she was a great mother. Rajiv was the active parent, and he wouldn’t likely find someone else if she died. He’d be a widow who mourns her because he loved her more than she ever loved him. She wanted him to move on, to be happy, and I promised her that I’d be the one to talk to him about her leaving him.”
“Not everyone is meant to be a mother,” Nat says, catching his gaze and frowning in thought. “Why are you so adamant about respecting her wishes? She was the boss of the local Hydra cell. She had your apartment building set on fire, had your coworkers shot, and kidnapped your sister.”
“I understand that,” Stiles says. “She was an evil person driven by ambition who is responsible for horrible things. At the same time, she was my work wife and friend for three years. Being one doesn’t necessarily preclude being the other. Anyway, I’m mostly doing it for Rajiv and their children.”
“This is something that SHIELD can handle, Nat,” Bucky says, his tone firm. “I’m certain that they’ve covered up deaths for far worse people. There’s no reason to involve her family in this when she’s already dead.”
“I’ll call Agent Johnson,” Sam says, clearing his throat. “She can coordinate with Maria to clear the house and fake Malakar leaving by choice. I’ll ask her to get it done today just in case her family returns early.”
“Thanks, Sam,” Bucky says, nodding at him. He sits down on Stiles’ right, taking his hand and squeezing it. Peter remains standing as Lydia sits on the left, curling into Stiles’ side. He puts his arm around her, realizing he hasn’t had a chance to even ask her how she is yet. Before he can, Bucky asks, “Do we know what she took?”
“Cyanide,” Tony says, obviously still not pleased at the cover up. He’s sulking as he sits in a chair, unconsciously tapping his foot. “I could smell the almonds in the coffee cup. Did you know she was poisoning herself, kid?”
“I didn’t realize, at first,” Stiles says honestly. “As we talked, I began to suspect she might have done something with her coffee. I could have stopped her from drinking it, you know? But I decided not to interfere. I kinda made the choice to live with the fact that I just let it happen.” He doesn’t feel guilt or shame over it, he realizes. It’s just a choice he made. “Sam, can you let Daisy know that the body should be cremated? I can deal with the remains since no one else will know she’s gone.”
“How about you let us deal with the remains, sweetheart?” Peter asks, exchanging a look with Bucky that Stiles almost misses. “We can ensure her ashes are spread appropriate to her religion. You’ve mentioned before that she was part of the Hinduism faith, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, she wasn’t super religious or anything, but she had certain beliefs that she’d talk about. She told me today that death is not an end, but it’s liberation,” he says, looking at them. “You know, I might be exhausted, but I’m not about to break over this. I’m tougher than I look, so can we move on and get this done?”
“Being betrayed by someone you trusted doesn’t mean you’re fragile, but it can take time to process and accept,” Nat says, sounding like she’s speaking from experience. “We’ll proceed with our questioning, though. Tell us what happened when you arrived at Mrs. Malakar’s home.”
“We exchanged idle chit chat, and she offered me coffee. I didn’t want any, but I followed her to the kitchen so we could talk. She made me a cup anyway, and got her own, adding sugar and cream and apparently cyanide,” Stiles says with a wry smile.
“What exactly was the idle chit chat, Stiles?” Sam asks, giving him an apologetic look. “We need to be as thorough as we can in case she said something important about Hydra.”
“She told me that her husband had taken their children and his mother to Connecticut to spend the holidays with his sister because she was supposed to work through them this year,” he says, wishing that he’d just recorded it so he wouldn’t have to try to remember everything. “She also mentioned that work has been crazy. Dr. Stone did a no call-no show last night, and there are guards at Lucas’ room that are monitoring him 24/7.”
“We won’t interrupt unless we need clarification,” Nat says. “But did she mention how she knew about the guards?”
“She said that she’d gone upstairs to check on him and had seen the guards,” Stiles says. “Based on later conversation, I suspect she was going to his room to ensure that he didn’t wake up from the coma.”
“But she didn’t say that outright, did she?” Bucky asks, squeezing his hand gently. “So you talked about work and she poured coffee. I assume neither of you had admitted what you were really doing there yet.”
“No, I didn’t bring it up then, but I did question her about going to see Lucas when she’s never really liked him,” he says. “When we walked to the kitchen, we talked about a photo of her parents that’s on the wall. I used that conversation to ask her what her specialty had been in Kolkata. She changed the subject by bringing up Jay, saying he seemed like a keeper, and I circled back to her time as a doctor.”
“Wait, she’s a doctor?” Tony asks, leaning forward. “I thought she was one of the nurses that you worked with. If she’s a doctor, why wasn’t she on our radar?”
“She was a doctor in India, but she couldn’t transfer her license here,” Stiles says. “She hasn’t practiced in over a decade because she decided to do nursing when they immigrated. It isn’t something that comes to mind because it’s the past, but I think I subconsciously had suspicions of her when all this started. When Stone was talking about the boss and after Lydia was taken, I immediately thought about Trini. She and Rajiv left before the final bar when they usually stay until the end. And, unfortunately, things started to fall into place.”
“She’d reached out to me about doing some last minute holiday shopping,” Lydia says. “I thought it was a little odd, but she’s always been nice, so I agreed to meet her. It was an ambush, which I found out when I arrived. My hands were tied, and I was taken to the warehouse by the river. She told me that she didn’t intend for me or Stiles to be hurt, but she needed the documents back.”
“When we were talking, I brought Hydra up by telling her that she was wrong about Wash giving me anything. She assumed the police were waiting outside for her, that I’d been sent in to get her to surrender peacefully, and I didn’t deny it,” Stiles says. “I brought up Kaminsky, and she said he’d been a weak link. Then she said she’d always had a soft spot for me, which I guess is why I was still alive.”
“Did she, at any point, mention her specific role within the local Hydra cell? Did she tell you why she joined them?” Sam asks. “I’m not really seeing the typical signs that point to being a Hydra agent. She’s got a husband and family, religious based beliefs, obviously wasn’t a Nazi or you wouldn’t have been friends with her.”
“She wasn’t in it for the Hydra part. In her words, Kaminsky was weak for buying into the propaganda, and she didn’t see herself that way. A means to an end is how she phrased it,” he says, trying to remember details of their conversation. He understands why they do this immediately because there’s no way that he’d remember random specifics days from now. “She joined them when she was at university because she wanted to use them to achieve her goals. She actually moved to the city with the intention of building the local Nergal cell and creating the plague. That bit was all her idea.”
“She was always so friendly and polite,” Lydia murmurs. “It’s hard to believe that she was planning mass murder and recruiting people to join a fascist organization who want to rule the world. I mean, she gave me brownies the first time I met her because you’d mentioned they were one of my favorites.”
“Evil people aren’t always crazy and obvious,” Stiles says. “This whole Hydra mess has truly made that clear. She wasn’t insane—her ideas were. She was as sane and rational as any of us, though. She said the world is overpopulated, and that our resources are being depleted, so she was doing the world a favor by creating a virus to wipe out millions and millions of people.”
“I’m having some doubts about your whole ‘sane and rational’ opinion, kid,” Tony says. “I died briefly helping fight a nutjob from outer space who wanted to randomly kill one in two of our population, and I never once thought he was sane for wanting to do that.”
“I said her ideas were crazy,” Stiles reminds him. “And I called her out on them. It was still about having the power and making money because she’d have a vaccine under her control. You know, she told me that Hydra didn’t trust her. That’s why Stasia came to the city and recruited Wash, who allegedly didn’t know what his work was going to be used for. When he did, he became disposable.”
“So, let me see if I understand this,” Braeden says. “Hydra is the international Nazi world domination focused group of bastards, and there are local groups that fall under their umbrella. The dead lady in the kitchen is the head of one of those local groups. And the Nazi loving bastards didn’t trust her? So whatever she was doing didn’t fit into their plans or she was running her own game with their resources?”
“I think it was both,” Stiles says. “She seemed to have had these goals as far back as her college days, before she joined up with Hydra, and she used their name and money to set up the local cell. But she didn’t call it Hydra, she called it Nergal, because she was obsessed with achieving this goal of creating a new plague.” He frowns. “And, okay, saying it like that does make it sound pretty crazy. But I still say that she was completely sane when talking to me.”
“Hydra doesn’t like being upstaged,” Nat says thoughtfully. “If she told you they didn’t trust her, she was planning something that would have made her Nergal group a household name, which Hydra wouldn’t like.”
“Hydra also wants to have total control over the world,” Bucky points out. “If she’s talking about a plague that indiscriminately kills a large part of the population, there wouldn't be many people left for Hydra to rule over. I can see why they would possibly want her research and to have her create the virus but they would want to control how it was dispensed. They could use it to kill people they wanted to instead of letting it out internationally. If she fought that and recruited her own people, too, it could have become very messy.”
“I don’t know about all of that,” Stiles says honestly. “I just know that Wash apparently stole files from them, and others in the group believe that he’d given them to me, which is how I got pulled into it. She said that she had to act on their belief or risk losing their support. Did you find anything at the warehouse?”
“Yeah, there was a lab and various samples of different substances,” Bucky says. “Stark and Bruce are going to isolate the samples and do some research. We managed to capture nearly a dozen people overall, so they’ll be questioned and incarcerated. Did you learn anything else that might be useful, Doc?”
He runs his fingers through his hair, thinking back to his conversation with her not even an hour ago. “They went after Lucas because he overheard Kaminsky talking about killing me. They knew I’d be suspicious if he told me about it, so she gave the order for him to die because she never liked him that much anyway,” he says, making a face. “She also said that she was just one head of many. That Nergal’s plans might end, but that Hydra won’t stop. She asked me to make sure that Rajiv and the kids don’t become casualties in their war.”
Tony sighs, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “That’s why you promised to tell them that she ran off. If she isn’t found dead, her husband won’t start asking questions or trying to figure out why, which would put him at risk from Hydra,” Tony says, looking almost constipated. “If he thinks she ran off with another man, he’ll hurt but move on, and he won’t ask questions “
“She told me to tell him that she’d left him,” Stiles says, “because he’s the type of man that will accept that without anger. If he finds out she died, whether by suicide or not, he’s likely going to search for answers to help understand and for it to make sense. I know Rajiv, we’ve had meals together and I’ve heard about him from Trini, and I know what he’s like. With how often she’s been working and likely distracted by Nergal stuff, he’s going to accept that she found someone else without much difficulty.”
“Did Wash give you any indication at all about where he might have hidden those files?” Sam asks. “We’ve searched his entire condo and his office, even got his wife to check the safety deposit box. Nothing.”
“We only spoke a handful of times, and he just mentioned having insurance. I assume he meant the files, but that didn’t keep Kaminsky from killing him,” Stiles says. “He never said anything out of the norm, considering our topic of conversation.” He thinks back and tries to remember anything out of the ordinary. “Okay, so, one odd thing that probably doesn’t mean anything. The last time I saw him, he handed me this old paper chart, like from our hospital archives. He said it was a cover to talk to me since who knows who might be watching, but that’s the only thing that was unusual during any of our talks.”
“The hospital has an archive?” Nat asks. “Do you think he might have hidden the files there amongst the other charts? Would that even be possible?”
“He was in Admin, so there isn’t much that wouldn’t have been possible for him, but I don’t know what kind of archive is left since they’ve been scanning charts into our EMR. I’ve never had to go in there myself since I’m in Emergency Med, and we don’t have recurring patients in that sense.”
“It’s somewhere we haven’t looked,” Sam says. “We can check it out after Christmas. I’d rather follow that lead to find nothing than ignore it and the files be there all this time.”
“Before we leave, can I have Trini’s phone?” Stiles asks, tapping his fingers against his thigh. One, two, three, four, and thumb is five. “It will be very suspicious if she does a no call-no show for her shift tonight. I want to call out for her and also send Alicia a text so our story starts getting out there.”
“It’s locked, kid,” Tony says, pulling the phone out of his coat pocket. He tosses it to Stiles, who catches it. “I’m planning to have Jarvis open it so we can see if there’s anything useful to locate anyone else involved with Nergal.”
“I was her work husband for three years, Tony,” Stiles says, typing in the passcode with his thumb. “She’d throw her phone to me and have me answer Rajiv sometimes, so I know her code. She wasn’t foolish enough to use her primary phone for Hydra business, but you can confirm that. I’d look for a second phone somewhere in the house that she uses for that kind of business.”
After following the steps that are in place for the nurses to call in, he opens the message thread that Trini has with Alicia. He doesn’t read any of it, but he does take a moment to figure out what Trini would say. He knows that they’ve been close friends for years, and Alicia is probably the only person who would know much about the bad parts of Trini’s personal life.
Leesh—I am grateful for the treasure of your friendship all of these years. You are aware that I am not in love with Rajiv anymore even if I will always care for him. I have found someone who makes my heartbeat fast, and I am taking a leap of faith. I am leaving Rajiv and this city. I know it might not make sense to you, but I am now free. Be there for Rajiv and the children, Alicia. He will need your support during this.
When he finishes, he reads it again and again, making sure that it reads like Trini texts. He hates the idea of lying to Alicia, but it’s necessary. No one can have doubts about Trini’s disappearance being anything other than what she requested. Not for her sake so much as for Rajiv and the kids. After he hits send, he turns the phone off. “Here you go, Tony. The cover story of her meeting someone and running off with them has been put into motion.”
“Okay, we’re leaving now,” Bucky decides, getting to his feet. “There’s nothing else that can possibly be said, and we’re all exhausted. We can regroup after Christmas to make sure we haven’t missed anything important.”
“You’re sexy when you’re being bossy to other people,” Stiles murmurs, feeling Lydia pinch his side at the comment. “Hey, it’s my defense mechanism.”
“Come on, Doc,” Bucky says, tugging him off the sofa. “It’s finally time to go home. I think you said something about food and cartoons, didn’t you?”
“Happy can drive you home. We’re going to be here a while longer, so he can come back for us,” Tony says before turning to Nat and Sam. “Let's search the house before we call in the cavalry. I don’t want a bunch of junior agents getting in our way.”
His pack follows him and Bucky out of the house. Happy gets out of the front and looks at them. “Seems like Tony’s having me drive a lot more in recent weeks,” he says. “Means he’s getting mixed up in stuff that could be dangerous. Is it over now?”
“Is anything ever really over?” Stiles asks. “Death can be seen as an end, but others consider it a cycle. I think you’ll probably be able to spend more time in your fancy Head of Security office now, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Can I tell Richie that the threat has been taken care of yet? Or is there still a risk?” Happy asks curiously. “He and Wendy are safe, and we don’t have any intention of forcing them back onto the street, but I know the threat weighs on them both.”
Stiles looks at him and becomes serious. “You can tell them that Hazel has been avenged,” he says. “There’s still too much risk for them to be out on their own right now. We haven’t had a chance to find any additional members, and I’d feel better knowing they’re safe until we are certain that we’ve finished.”
“Got it. I’ll tell them that the person responsible for Hazel’s death is gone,” Happy says. “That’ll be good news for them, I’m sure.”
Braeden and Lydia get into the car first, and Stiles follows them. He sits on the right hand side, resting his head against the window while Bucky and Peter get inside. Everyone shifts around until they’re comfortable, which means Bucky is opposite him, his boot resting against Stiles’ shoe. Lydia is beside him, winning that debate since he didn’t choose the middle this time. Peter is on her other side with Braeden sitting beside Bucky.
It’s quiet as the car begins to move. Too quiet. He opens his eyes and sees Bucky staring at him. “Always staring, Buck,” he teases, his lips quirking slightly. “I’m going to be okay. I’ve dealt with a lot of terrible things in the past, and this is just something else to add to that list.”
“If you say no, I’ll drop it, but I think it might be a really good idea for you to find a therapist, Doc,” Bucky says. “You’re incredibly strong, and you have a supportive pack, but you have dealt with a lot of awful shit in your life. I don’t want this betrayal to be, like, the breaking point for you.”
“I think James has a point,” Lydia says. “I mean, I barely knew Trini, and I’m having difficulty with this. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you. I don’t mean just you seeing someone, either. I think it might be beneficial for me, too. Someone aware of the supernatural, of course, who can listen to us and help us accept everything in a healthy way.”
“I dunno,” he says, thinking about Morrell, who was yet another liar playing a part. “I’ve got some major trust issues when it comes to guidance counselors and therapists. I’m not saying no. I’m just saying to give me a bit of time to figure out what would be best for me.”
“I won’t mention it again unless you do,” Bucky says, nudging his foot. “I just know it surprisingly ended up helping me, and I don’t want to lose you to trauma from the past that can’t be changed.”
“You won’t lose me, Buck. I’d even talk to Sam before that ever happens,” he says firmly. “Speaking of Sammy, did he say anything about the dead guys lying around Lydia’s chair? Or the scream?”
“He didn’t mention it, but he isn’t a stupid man,” Lydia says. “I could tell that he noticed something was up, so I expect that he’ll be trying to figure it out.”
“Three options then,” Peter says, clapping his hands together once. “We either kill him, make up a really damn good story, or we tell him the truth. It isn’t something we have to decide right now, sweetheart.”
“Well, if we don’t want him to know anything about the supernatural world, we could tell him that she’s got a mutant gene,” Stiles says, rubbing his thumb over the top of Lydia’s hand. “It isn’t too much of a lie, and it keeps him out of the supernatural world.”
“We aren’t killing Sam,” Bucky says dryly. “That’s not a bad idea, Doc. We can worry about it later, though. He isn’t going to tell Nat about it, and that’s my only real concern.”
“Why don’t you trust Nat?” Braeden asks. “From what I could see, she’s on your side, and I know she’s a member of the Avengers. I’ve seen the t-shirts and news footage. Sure, she’s a prickly bitch, but she’s got good taste in knives.”
“I wouldn’t say that I don’t trust her,” Stiles says thoughtfully. “I think she’s hard to get to know, which, ha. Pot meet kettle. I’m the same way. But, yeah, mostly it’s because she’s super observant, and I don’t want her to find out about my magic. It’s just better to keep her at arms length.”
“I didn’t want her to know about the screaming because of the banshee thing,” Bucky says. “I do trust her, she’s saved my ass just like I’ve saved hers. But I also know that she’s likely to do whatever she feels is best in a situation regardless of how it might affect other people.”
“She was in favor of the Slovakia Accords,” Lydia says. Seeing his confusion, she sighs. “You really should do some research now that you’re mingling with superheroes, babe. There was an attack in Lagos, Nigeria, that left many civilians dead. The UN wanted to create a process to force superheroes to register and have consequences for their actions. There was a big fuss over it, lots of debate, and some of the well-known superheroes had public positions on it. In the end, the concern over human rights violations prevented the Accords from being put into action. Black Widow was a supporter as was Iron Man. Captain America was not.”
“I was brainwashed during that time, but Sam told me about it,” Bucky says. “Apparently, there were in-depth prediction models run, and they predominantly showed the damage that the Accords could do. Most said they wouldn’t even last a decade before being repealed. I don’t really understand all of it, but that’s the part I remember.”
“Huh. That’s interesting,” Stiles says, tucking it away to think about later. “I trust Tony. I don’t think Nat would turn on any of us, but she’s just not particularly friendly, so I don’t know her that well. But I’ve worked with her on this Hydra stuff, and she’s been fine.”
“Did you let James know that Stark is aware of werewolves now?” Peter asks. Lydia makes a curious noise, and he nods. “That’s right. You don’t know about that, do you? Stark decided that breaking and entering was somehow a smarter choice than sending a text that he was coming to visit.”
“His welcoming committee consisted of fangs, claws, and my gun,” Braeden says. “He almost cut Peter’s arm off with his laser. It was all very exciting. I was curious how long it would take him to grow it back but alas. His reflexes were much too fast.”
“You’re morbid, dear,” Peter drawls, kicking her foot with his fancy leather loafer. “The laser would have certainly stung, but it wouldn’t have cut through my bone that easily. However, I love this shirt, so I’m glad that it didn’t get ruined.”
“Do we need to be concerned about him? I’d rather not have to kill him—killing my new boss seems a poor choice for future job advancement—but we also don’t need him to hold a damn press conference announcing to the world that werewolves are real. He has a proven track record of not understanding what ‘secret’ actually means.”
“He won’t tell anyone except Pepper,” Stiles says confidently. “I might have added some bribery by calling him Tony now. For some ridiculous reason, that seems to make him happy. We’ll have to talk to him about it later, but it can go in the pile of other conversations that I need to have with people. Poor Alicia and Susie still have no idea what the hell happened during our Christmas bar crawl, after all.”
“Was that just three days ago?” Bucky asks, dragging his hand down his face. “No wonder we’re so tired. In those few days, we’ve dealt with the ambush, Kaminsky pretending to be Stone, Lydia’s kidnapping, taking Nergal’s HQ, and identifying the boss.” He looks at Stiles. “And maybe a half dozen hours of sleep during all of that time.”
“If that,” Stiles says, squeezing Lydia’s hand. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping tonight. Once I get a full stomach, I probably won’t even be able to keep my eyes open. A decade ago, I could handle all this with a few Red Bulls, a bag of Reese’s, and no sleep at all.”
Lydia snorts. “A decade ago, you were seventeen, and the only thing you had to worry about besides the monster of the week was school. If you’d have been dealing with the supernatural chaos when you were twenty-seven, you’d have been just as tired as you are now.”
“Stop being logical when I want to whine,” he says, ducking his head to yawn. “Speaking of being tired. I feel like I could sleep for a week. I won’t, of course, because tomorrow’s Christmas. And we don’t even know what we’re going to be doing yet.”
“Don’t worry about that right now, Doc,” Bucky says. He catches his gaze and smiles slightly. “As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter what we do. We know the plan for tonight, and Lydia can sleep over in her usual room. I’ve also got a second spare room on my floor that either Peter or Braeden can use. The other can have the guest room on the fourth floor. As for Christmas Day, we’ll figure it out in the morning.”