Secret Santa

Part 3

_+~+_

Tony looked at the two lunatics in front of him. After three minutes of explanation and a long pause, he was less sure of inviting two potentially dangerous strangers to talk to him alone.

"No, are you crazy? Now please leave before I call security to escort you out," Tony said half-heartedly.

The two exchanged a glance and the girl pursed her lips before nodding, as if Tony hadn't just declined their vague proposition.

"Are we alone?" Percy asked, gesturing to the ceiling. Friday, of course. They don't want her listening in.

Now, this was interesting. What would happen if he shut her out of this room? Would he be in danger? It could be argued that he has been in danger this entire time, but Tony was curious now. Pepper always said if curiosity killed the cat, Tony was on his last life. Maybe there was some truth to her gibes.

Tony pulled out a wrist computer and typed in a few commands, keeping Friday active in the rest of the building and available if there was a threat. Like inviting sketchy strangers in to talk about Christmas? He thought to himself.

"Okay, shoot," Tony said, folding his hands and sitting back in his chair to look at Percy and Annabeth. "Not literally, please," he added, only half joking.

Percy sat forward, "Our friend Leo, who we mentioned before, is an engineer and kind of a freaky genius. My point is, anything I could ever get him for Christmas that he would like, he's either planning to, could, or has already built it himself. And this is an important Christmas for him. Which is why we need your help."

"What do you want me to do? Fly in and give him a high five?" Tony asked, skeptical of how much truth the words freaky-genius held.

Annabeth spoke up, "More like, you give us one of your old suits for him to mess around with for a few hours. It doesn't even have to leave this building, Leo can come here."

"I don't know..." Tony said truthfully. He knew he shouldn't even be talking to these people, who may use his suit design to create weapons or use access to the tower to memorize floor plans.

"He'll put the suit back together just as he found it, although I'm sure you have the designs saved somewhere and could rebuild it easily. Please, Mr. Stark." Percy said, so sincerely that it gave Tony pause.

A few minutes later, as Tony watched the elevator close, he wondered if trusting his gut was the wrong move here. He hoped it would be worth it, and reassured himself that Friday would be monitoring them the whole time.

He'd tell Pepper about it and she'd help him get it organized. Plus, it was Christmas for crying out loud! Tony was no Scrooge.

_+~+_