[IC] Hooked on a Feeling

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Guin read the text message from Lance. There were several things she figured that could reply to it with - but the first one was that Banner loved him. And after that, it was that there were tons of things she wished her father had kept from her. Namely, her mother - her life would've been so much better without Maddie in it. Her problems with addiction and drug abuse could be partially traced back to her relationship with her mother. Or at this moment in time, lack thereof. Her mother was a monster and Guin was happy to have her as far away from her as was possible.

She eventually decided on her reply and sent a text back - You never know. From the file, he sounded like he really cares about you.

Back in the main area, Banner noticed the glowing light from his son's hands. He bit his lip, wondering what he could have done to set him off already. Or maybe, a small hopeful voice in the back of his mind thought, it was just him being scared about Sterns. "Hey buddy...It'll be alright..." he whispered softly, walking over to Lance and sitting down next to him. There was then the sound of a crash outside, as Thor returned from Asgard - hopefully with good news in the hunt for Sterns.

"Pointbreak's back," Widow mused.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Yeah, right, whatever... Not like it really matters. Lance responded to Guin, before he noticed his dad had come over. Of course, he didn't know what Guin had found out, and what she had just told him, so it wasn't a surprise that the laser light show had made him assume it was about Sterns. Though the truth was he was flipping out a little bit internally about him, there wasn't much he could do, and he doubted if his dad was going to even let him out of the house right now. "Okay," he muttered, saying nothing else.

"Good, maybe he's got something useful for us, otherwise we are still at the beginning and can't do much about it now can we? Hopefully he didn't accidentally break something outside or whatever," Tony said, before he went over to see if Thor knew anything. Hopefully he had something helpful, since they were all out of ideas on how to find Sterns.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

"I bring good and bitter news," Thor greeted, walking into the Malibu residence of the Starks. He looked around, with a bit of pink glitter in his hair. His daughter must have still been the equivalent of a Midgardian teenager or something, Widow mused, looking at Pointbreak's glittering flowing locks. "The good news is that Klara managed to locate Sterns - yet the bitter truth is that he is using the alignment to shield himself from detection. I believe him to be in Greenwich...When the nine realms are perfectly in alignment, the increased dimensional energy can power his contraption and allow him to become the green beast."

Banner would have been impressed with Thor's scientific knowhow, had it not been for the word beast. The Hulk had begun as his imaginary friend, protecting him in childhood, and now it labeled him as a monster. He shoved his hands into his pockets and Widow gave him a sympathetic look. She knew what it was like to be labeled as something other than human. SHIELD had sent her closest friend to kill her - only Clint was able to see that she could be much more than a killer.

"Since when did you have a PhD in astrophysics?" Natasha asked, reworking an algorithm on her computer to search just for that location.

"Well, you see, the plan is hardly original. The Dark Elves attempted something back when I was a child that was similar that hinged on the convergence... To be honest, the center point where all the nine realms come to meet should really just be constantly guarded whenever it's coming near, but the All Father - as much as I respect him - has failed to do so."

"Tony, how fast can you get us to England?" Banner muttered, looking at the ground. He wanted to kill Sterns - but didn't that just confirm that he really was a monster?

Guin put her laptop away in her room and had come back to the open area, mostly to check on Lance but she overheard talk of going to England. "England? Fun! Can I come, Dad?"

"No!" Pepper interjected instantly.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"So, we know where he is, that's great, and no way are you going anywhere Guin. You are staying here, even if you were able to travel, which you aren't, I'd tell you flat out no. You are not going, so don't even try arguing about it," Tony said, shaking his head at her. The fact that she'd even ask that question was not the smartest of things, he was pretty sure she had known what the answer would be before she had even asked. "I can get us there pretty quickly no problem. Also, nice touch there with the glitter in your hair," he said, adding the last part with a bit of a smirk directed at Thor..

Lance was perfectly fine with the idea of staying behind. He wasn't used to travelling around to other countries anyway, since when he was younger, he hadn't ever left Las Vegas until he moved to New York, let alone been out of the country. He liked the idea of just staying put, where he was, and not having to deal with all of the craziness in his life that had started happening when he moved to New York. Lance was looking down at the ground, still sort of off to the side, only listening to their plans.

"Alright, let's get going then," Steve said, nodding his head, "We've got to stop Sterns, and fast."

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Guin stared at Tony, before she crossed her arms - as much as she really could without aggravating her injuries. "So what am I supposed to do then?" Guin asked her father, staring at him. "As you love to remind me, I'm not old enough to be unsupervised and I'm pretty sure that if you go to England, you can't supervise me. And I have no doubt that Lance's mother would love to hear that he's going to be unsupervised too, while you guys go play vigilantes!" Guin snapped. Pepper sighed, looking at her almost step-daughter.

"Happy and I can watch the kids," Pepper offered.

"I could ask my daughter to babysit," Thor mused, ignoring Tony's comment about the glitter. "Klara does adore children. And she is the best."

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"...I don't think my mother has really cared about where I am since I was like, 12," Lance mumbled under his breath, hearing the arguments going on around him. He was perfectly fine sticking around in California, he'd had enough excitement or whatever to last for a little while anyway, and he was not in any hurry to continue with that. Why couldn't Guin just accept the fact that they were being asked to stay behind? She definitely was in no shape to be going anywhere, despite what she kept telling herself. It was getting a little annoying for him, but he said nothing about it.

"Hey! There is no way I'm leaving Guin with some Asgardian I don't know, Pepper and Happy can watch them. And Guin is way better than your kid!" Tony snapped at Thor, kind of glaring at him slightly.

Steve let out a bit of a sigh, looking at the two of them. This was getting a bit out of hand for his liking, and they needed to shut up about whose kid was better in his mind. "Can we stop arguing over whose kid is better and actually go after Sterns?" he asked, looking at the two of them, before he grabbed his shield and headed for the plane, not waiting to see if they'd follow him.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

"Fine, try not to die on this one!" Guin snapped, pissed off at Tony. He was going to go to England in order to deal with some sort of Asgardian light beam nonsense and fight someone who wanted to become the Hulk 2.0. It all seemed too familiar to New York to her and she didn't want to think about it - about her father's near death experience that had been in her mind far too close for comfort. She didn't even know if Tony knew how she felt about all of that stuff. He was the only family that she had - she didn't count Maddie.

"Guinevere!" Pepper scolded.

"What? It's what he does, he rushes off and puts himself in danger even if it might get him killed!" Guin pointed out, tears in her eyes now.

"...I will go to the plane..." Thor mused, waving at Lance before he followed Steve out.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Well this was certainly not something that Lance had expected to happen. With Guin shouting at Tony like that, well, it made him wonder. The fact that they were having this sort of argument now was a bit weird, but apparently it was one that they needed to have for the most part. He gave a slight wave in return towards Thor as he looked from Guin to Tony and back again, he was wondering what was going to happen with this. Odds were it wasn't going to end smoothly, that much was obvious.

"Are we really going to have this conversation now Guin? It is my job to protect others, you know that. I mean really, no offense to Banner, but we do not need another Hulk or whatever running around, especially if that person is not on our side. We'll finish this conversation later, right now we need to get going," Tony said, before he grabbed his suit and headed out the door.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Banner and Black Widow headed out as well, with Pepper making an excuse to the kids that she needed to go call Happy. Happy wasn't even in California at the moment, but he could take one of the company planes to come over from New York fairly quickly. Pepper and Happy were quite close anyways, so she doubted that he'd protest coming to spend time with her in California to babysit. Guin, meanwhile, just let out a frustrated scream and threw her phone at the wall.

"No one hired him to be Iron Man!" she snapped. "No one gave him an application and an interview and said Ok, Mr. Stark, you're in! He's not even supposed to be an Avenger, Fury wanted him to consult on the project because he's too much of an asshole to work with others!" Guin then flopped down on the couch, not even caring that that motion hurt.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"...It'll be okay Guin... Just calm down, okay?" Lance said softly, coming over to sit next to her. He didn't really understand her frustration, he didn't even have the best relationship with his own father, so he didn't know what she was feeling towards Tony. Anger was generally the only emotion he felt towards Banner, so he didn't really feel anything other than that. Worry or something was a little foreign to him, had been for a while now.

After Pepper had left the room, he looked at her. "...I get it... But Guin... You can't keep worrying about him like that... We can't really stop him... We aren't like that... Unless you want to steal a plane and fly us to England, there isn't much we can do," he said, joking slightly with that last part. There was no way they could go after their parents, especially not with their injuries.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

"...You don't get it though," Guin pointed out, turning to look at him. Lance hated his father - something Guin knew very well - and had basically a non-existent relationship with his mother. While Guin detested Maddie, Tony was her hero - a fact that she wouldn't admit to, at least not yet. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost him and sometimes, she was worried that she'd also inherit the company too young, just like he did. Except for instead of a car accident, it might be aliens or a superhuman civil war or something equally horrible that would take her family away from her. "You hate your parents on good days," she muttered.

However, Lance gave her an idea as he mentioned stealing a plane. There was the private jet not too far from the Malibu house that they had flown in on. Happy would be taking a separate one to come meet them there - and Tony had gone off with the others in the Avengers quinjet. "That's exactly what we're going to do," Guin said, getting up and heading down the spiral staircase to the garage.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

He let out a sigh, "You are right, I don't get it. I hate my dad and my mom hasn't wanted anything to do with me ever since I moved to New York. I totally don't have the best relationship with either of them, but whatever, like it even matters," he responded, shaking his head at her. His family issues were not the best, and he tended to try and avoid them, but it didn't even really matter too much for him. It was her next statement that had him a bit worried.

"Uh... Guin? Do you really think that is a good idea? I was just joking you know..." he said, following after her, freaking out a little bit. "Look, this is a bad idea... What are we supposed to do to help out? Guin... This is a really bad idea, and we aren't exactly in the best shape to be doing something like this... And you do realize that Pepper will wonder where we are and likely alert our parents to the fact that we aren't here."

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

"You need to learn how to strut, Lando," Guin said simply, as she walked up to her favorite cherry red ferrari in the garage. She took the keys from the windshield where Tony had stashed them and got in, firing up the engine. She kept one hand on the wheel, her other arm in a cast that she just let rest in her lap. She then reached into the glovebox a moment later, taking her hand off the wheel, and she pulled out a pair of shades. Putting them on, Guin gave Lance a smile, waiting for him to get into the car as she turned the engine on.

"First, do you really think our parents are going to be able to stop us?" Guin pointed out. "Legend of Zelda and the rest are too focused on Sterns. Second, they don't know what they're getting into. And third, Dad freaking left me behind to go and get himself killed - so I'm going to England, whether or not you want to come along. So get in or go upstairs and tell Pepper, I don't care," Guin said. Her impulsive nature was guiding her towards this choice. As well as to a certain extent, teenage rebellion.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"Guin... I still really think that this is a bad idea... Not to mention you shouldn't even be driving right now!" Lance said, looking over at her as he followed. This was going to end badly, he just knew it, considering the fact that they weren't really in any condition to actually do any sort of fighting. He personally was perfectly fine leaving this to their parents, to the rest of the Avengers, since they were just kids after all.

"...Fine though, as long as you don't get us killed... I mean really, you might cause us to crash and die since you shouldn't even be driving... Or doing much of anything right now... But hey, not going to let you get yourself killed, someone needs to make sure you aren't too reckless," he said as he got into the car.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Guin rolled her eyes at Lance, opening up the garage door and speeding out of the house. She didn't care if Pepper heard them go or not, roaring the engine and enjoying the speed. Her hair was blown back from how fast she was going and Guin couldn't help but laugh slightly, glancing over at her friend. She knew the route to the hanger where her father's private jet was kept easily. "Lance, take my phone and do your best impression of my dad. You need to convince the pilot to get the jet ready for us, since I assume you'd rather a professional flew us."

There was probably a self flying plane that they had, but Guin wasn't certain how to operate it. She did, however, know how to most likely get the flight crew to let them use the family jet. Her phone number with a male voice? They'd have little reason to doubt that Tony was the one giving the order.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"...Still don't think this is going to end well..." Lance mumbled as Guin took off. He was a little worried about the whole, she's driver way too fast thing, but he was also pretty sure she'd ignore him if he made a comment about it. The speed that they were driving at did not make him feel any better about this plan of theirs, well, more of Guin's. Not to mention they didn't even really have a plan, they were just sort of winging it and calling it good.

"Uh, what?" he asked, confused as she handed him her phone. Do an impression of Tony? Him of all people? She had to know that it wasn't the best idea, there was no way he could pull that off, but he decided to roll with it. Taking a deep breath, Lance dialed the number, and explained to the person who answered that they needed to get ready for take off now. He had managed to get rid of any slight stutter to his words that he sometimes had, and did the best that he could to sound somewhat convincing as Tony.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

Despite her reckless driving, Guin managed to get them there in one piece. She made pretty good time as well and she parked the car, throwing the keys in her bag after shutting it off. She figured her dad would rather she kept the keys on her than just abandon them in the vehicle. He had gone through a lot of work to assemble his car collection. "Maybe I should race cars when I grow up," Guin mused. She then ran into the jet, dragging Lance along with her. Once she was inside, one of the stewardesses gave her a smile.

"Oh, Ms. Stark - will anyone else be joining us?" she asked.

"Oh, no, my dad wanted to send me ahead to England with my friend here - he's got some business to take care of here in California for a few more hours. Had to borrow my phone to get the jet ready, actually, since his was on the fritz. Figure he's honestly just working on another new suit...You know how he gets."

The stewardess nodded, going to get some sodas for the kids. Twenty minutes later, everything was prepped and the jet took off, on course for England at the point where the nine realms would converge - Greenwich. Guin sat down in a seat next to a window, taking her Dr. Pepper. She thought for a moment, glancing at Lance. She then couldn't help but smile at him. "No one else would do this for me, you know..." she said softly. "Drop everything and go to Europe with me...Thank you, Lance. I don't know what I'd do without you."

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Lance was still a little surprised that his voice had been convincing enough so that they weren't asking any questions when they reached the plane. Definitely a bit on the strange side, but that didn't matter so much. His brain was still telling him that this was a really bad idea, that they should not be doing this. However his mind couldn't help it, and then there was the little voice in the back of his head telling him that he couldn't leave Guin alone for long, that she shouldn't be going off to England by herself. That little voice was the thing he was listening to at the moment.

He nodded and gave the stewardess a slight smile as he followed Guin onto the plane. He still wasn't too used to this sort of thing, the idea of a private jet of any sort was strange, but he dealt with it. "...Well Guin... Not like I could leave you to go off and do this by yourself..." Lance said with a slight smile in return. This was still a really bad idea, but for once he ignored that crazy nagging feeling in the back of his head and just went with it.

[Morose]

---

---

Guin Stark

---

---

"Yeah, I might break Europe or something if I go by myself," Guin joked. She took her friend's hand and held it once he sat down. There was nothing romantic about it to her - it just made things a little bit less scary. The pilot and the crew were decent. She knew that they'd be fine. She was just worried about her dad - Sterns was clearly insane and the type of tech that had created the Hulk...It could wipe out anyone who went near it. "Do you want to watch a movie on the plane? We could watch Wreck-It Ralph?"

Her first thought had been Hercules, but she got the feeling that Lance would shoot that one down. Besides, she knew for a fact that the plane's movie system did have Wreck-It Ralph on it. It had been the only birthday present Maddie had gotten Guin that hadn't been a psychological ploy - meaning that Guin largely suspected that Maddie hadn't sent one and that Pepper had done so instead, just putting her biological mother's name on it.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"...Pretty sure if anyone broke Europe, it'd be me or something..." Lance said softly, looking at her. "I don't care really what movie we watch...I'm tired and still not feeling the best from what happened a few days ago...Put something on and odds are I'll just fall asleep or something, could probably use some sleep..."

He fell silent after that, and what he had said was true. He wasn't feeling all that great, and he probably should see about getting some sleep or something if they were going to go after Sterns. Not to mention he was pretty sure after all of this his father would likely give him a whole lecture on what they were doing is being reckless or something. Or just plain dumb. There wasn't much else that Lance could do though, it was definitely too late to back out now.