|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 125• Warm Metal Hand

Minutes were turning into an hour, and the hour turned into multiple hours. Theo kept his fingers on the keyboard even when he wasn't typing anything. He has been on this for such a long time that all the letters were merging together. No matter how it hurt his eyes, and as the pain in his back grew, he did begin to admire the girl who had designed these codes. It was really starting to seem impossible. Theo found himself smirking when he tried to get in but failed yet again. He was not happy about the failure, but rather proud of what a girl who was younger than him managed to do. He was left alone for most of the time, though he could feel the tension in Toomes' eyes through the walls. If only he could tune that out. He sighed loudly and studied what was on screen. Still no luck.
"Any progress?" Adrian Toomes came into the room with two mugs in his hands. Theo inhaled deeply and smelled the scent of freshly made coffee. "I am highly considering sending her a request to become an intern. She is... damn, she's smart." He knew that his boss would not appreciate it when he said that, but it was true. Y/n Stark is a genius, just like her father. Theo looked at his boss. "I'm sorry, she is. I can't get in here. She's good." Toomes pulled up another chair to sit beside him. "Perhaps we should have expected that. Starks have big heads." He said, causing Theo to glare at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Stark is one of the big ones. He's one of those people who kick us to the curb just because they've got the money." Theo spun slightly in his chair. "You do realize that he's the person who's primarily responsible for all of this?" Without the Avengers, they wouldn't have had the Chitauri energy cores.

Toomes waved him off nonetheless and ignored his smart comment. He hated it, he hated it all – the Avengers, Tony Stark, Y/n Stark. "Shouldn't you be trying to get in instead of making your smug comments?" Theo rolled his eyes. His hands went back to the keyboard, and he started typing again. He reached out to get one of the mugs the man had brought along with him. But before he could grab it, Toomes moved it out of reach for him. Theo's eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at his boss. "No coffee until you crack that code." Theo rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. He knew why Adrien Toomes was putting him on this job; he trusted him, and he was smart. But Y/n is smarter. That's the problem. "Don't have to be so rude to me, you know. I don't see you trying anything." Theo said. "Because you know what you're doing." If that was a compliment, he should work on his tone. "Besides... I'm going back home. My wife called." That was a little unfair, wasn't it? Toomes gets to go home, and Theo can't even get a cup of coffee. "That sounds horrible. Got the flowers and chocolates in the car already? Perhaps a teddy bear?" To his surprise, Toomes sighed in defeat. His wife had called him earlier, telling him how much she missed him; she wanted him to come home. But he had a hard time leaving now, now when they were so close to being on top. This was still his family, and he couldn't turn his back on them. He has already missed so much of their lives. He shouldn't take it for granted; his wife could have left him years ago but didn't. Perhaps he should count himself lucky for that.

"Perhaps I should get those..." He mumbled, "I should get my daughter something too." Liz did not turn her back on her father. She wasn't even mad at him when he came back, she was just happy to see him. He wants to spend time with them and make up for the moments he has missed, but Toomes just can't help himself when it comes to work. It needs to be done. And when a Stark is involved, he puts in a little extra effort, no matter the cost. "How's Liz doing anyway?" Theo asked him. "Wife says she's been in her room a lot. I don't know what happened. Typical teenage girl stuff, I'm guessing." Even though Toomes knew it was partially because of Peter Parker, he couldn't be mad at the kid. He doesn't have to like him, but he did have some respect for him; boys that age are very easy and don't think with their heads. Peter did. But he didn't want to tell Theo or anyone else. "I am so happy I don't have kids." Theo chuckled. Toomes shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "She'll be fine." He set down the mug and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Her old man's gonna take care of it." Theo turned his chair to his boss again. "Wow, that didn't sound like a threat at all." He said sarcastically, "Do you realize how that sounds to other people?" "Just do your job!"