Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Dinner at My Place

  Eventually, school ended without incident so I took Cassie with me to my car. As my car slipped into the rather large garage, I peered over at Cassie in my passenger's seat. As soon as I stopped, her eyes widened. I could tell that she was pretty nervous already. I understood why she would be nervous because there was a possibility that she could meet someone that was pretty famous and had a real impact on the world.
  Although, I smiled to reassure her, "Don't worry about it. You realize they're normal people, right?"
  With a deep breath, Cassie nodded and mumbled, "Yeah." Before she followed my lead and unbuckled her seatbelt. I slipped out of my car and led the way to the elevator. As soon as we stepped in and the doors closed, Cassie really started to become nervous. "Uh, Sam...? I don't know... What if I freak out or something? Or say something stupid?"
  Not lowering my grin, I noted, "Don't worry, Tony says stupid things all of the time."
  This got her to stare at me with wide eyes as she shook her head, "I don't understand how you can be so calm."
  My eyes softened a little as I reassured her, "Tony's title makes it seem like he's-... more uptight than he actually is. Believe it or not, he's probably the coolest, most laid-back person-"
  Alas, I was interrupted when the elevator doors opened. At first, it wasn't a big deal but then my eyes connected with the man that we were just talking about. The only problem was that his arms were crossed and his scowl was clearly directed at me.
  "Okay, well... Most of the time he's laid-back," I corrected my sentence by mumbling it over to Cassie.
  "Sam," Tony started, ignoring my statement.
  So I responded back, "Tony."
  "Do you know how hard it is to stay calm right now?" Tony's voice was low and I could tell how careful each word was.
  "Maybe you should take advice from Bruce," I suggested, keeping my voice as calm as his.
  Except that quickly changed when he snapped, "This is not a joke, Sam! You deliberately disobeyed me."
  After clearing my throat in an exaggerated way because Tony clearly hadn't noticed my friend yet, I turned to Cassie and asked, "Do you think you could give me a moment? That room in there has a pinball machine." Once I motioned which room to go to with a calm smile, Cassie scurried away to the room and closed the door behind her. Since we were alone now, I crossed my arms and turned my gaze into a glare, "I had to, Tony!"
  However, he didn't believe me as he continued his rant, "Are we completely forgetting about last week?!"
  A growl slipped from my throat as I shouted, "Look who's holding me captive now!"
  At first, Tony's expression still showed that he was pissed but when he processed my words, his eyes softened. He allowed a pause in the conversation so he could choose his words carefully, "I didn't tell you to stay home because of what the doctor said. It was safe at home. Something could've happened to you."
  Even though I was still pretty upset, my glare eased then lowered to the floor while a frown melted my lips. My arms were still crossed as I pointed out, "They would've been stupid to try the same thing twice..."
  "Next time they might not want to take you. What if they want to hurt you?" Tony made a case. Except, before I could reply, he continued, "I'm just-... I'm trying to protect you. How is that so hard?"
  The words shattered my heart because I knew he was blaming himself now. None of it was Tony's fault, it was Terrain's. Immediately feeling guilty, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Tony's torso while answering, "Because I don't ever listen to you."
  Finally, Stark's body relaxed as one arm wrapped around me while his hand pressed my head into his chest. I realized that Tony was right. It was dangerous to go to school, especially since he didn't even know about it. Maybe all of it was my fault. The first day, I should've activated the suit when the guy barged into the school, I should've used the suit or fought back when Walter got a hold of me, maybe I even should've let Tony handle the escape instead of me, but - most of all - I should listen to him now. He was only trying to keep me safe after all.
  "Tony, I'm-," I started.
  "I'm glad you two are hugging it out. I could hear you from the other room," the two of us turned our heads to notice Pepper standing in the room with her hands on her hips.
  In response, Tony's body shook slightly when he chuckled softly, "Yeah, me too."
  So Pepper smiled but changed the subject, "Well, you two play nice. I'm going to get dinner started." Then she disappeared from the living room that we were in and into the kitchen that was out of our sight.
  Even though I wanted to go back to the earlier topic, I decided to drop it for now because Cassie was here and I really didn't want to fight with Tony in front of her. Besides, most of it would probably be confidential. So, instead, I was playful as I shot forward and thumped my fist against Tony's bicep. When he narrowed his eyebrows and muttered out an 'ow', I explained, "That's for scaring my guest! May I go get her now?"
  At first, Stark's eyes flickered with confusion as if he had forgotten - or hadn't even noticed - that I had brought someone with me. Fortunately, he was easygoing as he nodded, "Even though you didn't ask, sure, I would love to meet your friend."
  With an excited smirk, I jogged over to the door and opened the room that Cassie was hanging out in. Then I noticed that she hadn't even touched the pinball machine but was just standing awkwardly by the door. She must've been pretty nervous. It was even more obvious when I pulled her back into the room and in front of Tony about how she felt. When my uncle looked at her, her face went pale and she stood like a deer in headlights. 
  His demeanor changed, as he smiled politely and held his hand out, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Tony Stark."
  "Yeah, I know," Cassie's voice was barely above a whisper as if she was saying for herself rather than for Tony to hear. After staring at the man for a moment, she finally snapped out of her thoughts as she took Tony's hand to shake while she introduced herself, "Hi... I'm- uh... C-Cassie." It seemed like she had almost forgotten her own name but she eventually managed to compose herself a bit more, "It's so awesome to meet you, Mr. Stark. I mean, you're a legend." Then she turned to me in shock and repeated in a hushed voice, "A legend."
  "You can just call me Tony," a smirk formed on the man's face. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Tony appreciated being so highly regarded by the teenager. He was probably used to it by now but - still - the reaction was probably inflating his ego.
  After rolling my eyes, I stayed on the subject by asking, "Do you think she could stay for dinner?"
  Tony peered back over at me before shrugging, "It's up to Pepper, she's the one cooking."
  "Think you could ask her for me?" I requested. When Tony nodded and admitted that he'll ask her later, I turned back to Cassie before replying, "Good. Now, to my room! We have a lot of stuff to talk about..." So I grabbed her hand and led her past the living room to the stairs. Up the stairs were the bedrooms that the elevator didn't reach.
  It wasn't a far walk until my bedroom door came into view. After entering my room, I closed the door behind Cassie and started to wonder where to even begin with explaining. There was a lot of stuff that I hadn't told her and I thought she should know.
  With a deep breath, I sat down on my bed and patted the spot beside me. Getting the hint, Cassie sauntered over to my bed and sat down beside me. When it was quiet in the room, Cassie stared at me expectantly but she seemed just as nervous as I felt.
  After clearing my throat to fill the silence, I wondered, "So... where do you want to start?"
  "How long?" Cassie questioned, crossing her arms.
  Silence filled the room once again as I hesitated but admitted, "Well, I've known him since last summer."
  "What happened in the beginning of the school year?" Cassie pondered as a flicker of remembrance flashed in her eyes.
  "Long story..." I muttered but she didn't seem content with the answer so I decided that I should probably explain. "Okay... where do I start?... Probably the beginning." I sucked in a large breath than began, "I met him this summer because the adoption was out of room and there were no other foster homes open so they sent me to my aunt's. Well, Pepper had to go on a business trip so I was left with Tony. Great summer, things happened, I got a suit like Iron Man's. After that, the adoption center put me with Mrs. Tracy for the rest of the summer.
  "Then school started and I hadn't seen Tony in months. Up until that incident where the principal said that it was just a car crash but Iron Man came blasting through the window. Yeah, it wasn't a car crash... Turns out that there was a missile going to blow the whole school up for a distraction in hopes that the Avengers would be too focused on what happened rather than some other plan that this guy - named Lesser - was trying to pull.
  "Also, I'm pretty sure he was trying to kill me.
  "However, his plan didn't work because then Tony stopped the missile but I guess we were still distracted because we were still trying to figure out who was behind it. We-."
  Except Cassie jumped in, "Who's 'we'?"
  My eyebrow lifted as I confessed, "The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D."
  This caused Cassie's eyes to widen as she stared at me with her jaw dropped, "You know the Avengers?"
  "Mm-hm," I hummed with a nod. "Yeah, they're the ones who helped me take down Lesser's little group."
  "Continue your story, I'm still confused," Cassie ordered.
  After taking another deep breath, I went on, "They figured out that whoever had sent the missile had to have had an inside man so that's where I came in. I was a spy for the Avengers and S.H.I.E.l.D. to figure out who was working with Lesser."
  "And who was it?" Cassie inquired.
  Although, a frown melted on my face as my gaze lowered. It was hard to admit out loud and I didn't know if I really wanted to talk about it. At the same time, I promised her that I would explain everything so I divulged, "It was Ian... He was using me to find out more about the Avengers..."
  Her eyes softened but - fortunately - the sympathetic look didn't last long because she soon crossed her arms and turned her expression into a glare as she muttered, "That jerk..." After a split pause, she mumbled, "I'm sorry, Sam. I had no idea..."
  However, I just shrugged my shoulders and admitted, "Doesn't matter anymore. I guess we all have to make sacrifices."
  Then Cassie decided to change the subject which I would've been fine with but she went back to last week, "Well, if you stopped Lesser then who took you?"
  Realizing I had forgotten that part of the story, I explained, "We had stopped his earlier plan but that was just his way of keeping him off of the Avenger's radar for now while he built some sort of world-ending device."
  "And now you guys are trying to stop that from happening?" Cassie guessed.
  With a dip of my head, I agreed, "Yeah, we just have to find him first."
  After a long pause, Cassie's eyes softened again at the touchy subject, "So what happened when you were-... taken?"
  Although I just shrugged and pretended like it wasn't a big deal, "I just lived in a cell. That's it, really."
  "That sounds terrible," Cassie mumbled.
  Which got a laugh out of me as I answered since it was apparent, "It was."
  Then a frown melted her expression as her gaze lowered to the floor, "When I saw you walk into school, I-... I was surprised. Not only because I thought you wouldn't come, but you looked-... like a mess."
  With a forced smile, I muttered, "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Then I shrugged and admitted, "Could be worse. If I'm being honest, I'm surprised that I came out intact at all."
  "Was it really that bad?" Cassie asked but the look on her face suggested that she didn't want to know the answer.
  "It was like a prison, Cassie. Of course it was bad. But - like I've been saying - it could be much worse," I promised.
  The pause returned as Cassie seemed to be processing everything in her head. After the long moments of silence, my friend finally spoke and luckily changed the subject, "What are you guys going to do about him?"
  To tease her, I crossed my arms and turned my expression serious, "That's classified."
  This reaction took her by surprise as her eyebrows lifted and she gave me a questioning glance.
  So I smiled and reassured her, "I'm kidding. But, actually, I haven't been to SHIELD with Tony in a while so I don't know what they're planning..."
  "I hope you guys figure something out," Cassie admitted.
  "Me too," I stated with a sigh.
  Then came a knock on my bedroom door and a familiar voice called, "Hey, Sam. Pepper's finished with dinner, your friend can come too."
  So I glanced over at Cassie and dipped my head toward the closed door, "We should probably go."
  When Cassie dipped her head, I lead the way out of my bedroom and through the hall. After passing the casual living room, the two of us stepped into the dining room. The table was already set up with glasses, silverware, plates, and other essential things to eat dinner. Cassie and I sat down at the table - beside each other at one end of the table - while Tony sat down at the other end of the table and left a seat open for Pepper.
  Eventually, Pepper came to the table with a pot of spaghetti. The meal was simplistic but delicious all the same. After setting a pile of the food on each of our plates, Pepper sat down in the empty seat beside Tony.
  Fortunately, the table wasn't completely awkward as Stark began a conversation, "So Cassie, how long have you known Sam for?"
  The teenager tried to hide how intimidated and nervous she was talking to Tony but it didn't work when she began to babble, "Well, since the beginning of this school year. But we're just such good friends that it feels like I've known her forever. I mean she's a great person. Although, now that I think about it, I didn't know her as well as I thought I did. But that doesn't really matter. Did I mention she's a great person?"
  "Cassie," I finally cut in, "You're rambling."
  "Me? I never ramble! I-..." then she paused and took a deep breath, "Um... I'll just stay quiet now..."
  Honestly, I felt a little bad that she felt so awkward and uncomfortable in this situation. Hopefully, one of these days, she might get used to Tony. This made me wonder if he was used to this kind of behavior around him. Then I got my answer when I glanced over at Tony to see his raised eyebrow and perplexed expression. He genuinely seemed confused about why she was so anxious at the table.
  Except he moved on to ask me, "How was school, Sam?"
  This wasn't really something I wanted to discuss but I didn't want to show how bummed it made me. Alas, my face involuntarily melted into a frown before I could stop it. I guess there was no point in hiding it.
  With a shrug of my shoulders, I assured, "I guess it could've been worse..."
  "I kinda forgot no one knew..." Tony admitted while he stared down at his plate and twirled his fork in the sauce-covered pasta. "Did it really go that bad?"
  "People are just ignorant. It'll be better tomorrow," I promised.
  "I'm sorry, Sam... I didn't even consider how other people would react," he confessed. "Maybe we shouldn't have gone public..."
  Although, I pointed out, "People would've found out anyway. You shouldn't worry about it, I'll deal with it."
  Which got a sigh from him as he disagreed, "But you shouldn't have to 'deal with it'."
  "Teens can be jerks. I promise it's something that every kid goes through," I reminded.
  "Right, because every teen lives with a famous billionaire superhero that everyone apparently hates," Tony sassed.
  A smile tugged at my lips as I argued, "No one hates you, Tony. They're just jealous."
  Finally, he let out a slow sigh before ending the conversation with, "Just tell me if things get worse."
  As I dipped my head, I promised, "I will."
  The table got quiet for a few minutes but it picked back up in slight conversation here and there. Even though the evening started off rocky and Cassie was a bit nervous, the night went pretty well. By the end of it, Cassie was smiling while Tony got to inflate his ego a bit by bragging about whatever - I had tuned out most of it - and Pepper had a good time since she got to meet a close friend of mine. It was a win-win for everyone. Honestly, it felt normal and that put a smile on my face. This was something I could get used to.