[IC] Hooked on a Feeling

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin nodded, hugging her father back. Had it been a different scenario, she would've pointed out that rumors of drug use didn't mean she was doing drugs. Someone could easily start a rumor just with the intent of getting her in trouble for something she didn't do. Yet given that Tony wasn't sending her off to rehab or grounding her or anything, she figured she ought to just be content with the outcome she had received. Content was the wrong word, however. She felt numb and depressed at the same time, just sitting on the couch as tears welled up in her eyes and eventually became too much, spilling over the edge and falling freely.

She glanced at Lance, trying to think of some sassy remark to say but she was at her emotional limit. She frowned when she saw his black eye but she was already in tears and somehow, seeing Lance just made her cry even more. Part of her brain told her to go do drugs to calm down, but her father had just taken away her entire stash. There wasn't much she could do about that, short of going out and replenishing the supply now - and she really didn't want him to send her to rehab again. It had been a horrible experience. "Hey Lando..." she said softly, her voice shaking.

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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Lance knew that something was wrong, and he pushed all thoughts about his conversation with Hammer out of his mind. He didn't want her to worry about him at all, and something was up, even before he walked in. Something had happened to her, he just didn't know what it was. He had been planning on talking to her about Hammer, but something was definitely off about this whole thing. "Hey Guin," he said as he set his bag down and went over to her giving her a hug.

"What is wrong Guin? Are you ok?" he asked her, giving her a smile. His head was still hurting, and he could probably do with some painkillers, but right then his best and only friend needed him. He had problems, but they could wait, since he almost never saw Guin actually cry. Seeing her like this made him wonder what the hell happened to her, but all he could do was hug her and say nothing.

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin crumbled into Lance, leaning on him as she cried softly. It had been hard enough to figure out how to broach the subject with her father - and he had been the one to start the conversation. Talking to her father about her addiction was one thing - talking to Lance about it was venturing into all new territory. They hadn't really talked about what happened and how she had ended up in rehab, much less the time she spent there. She tried to dry her eyes on her sleeve but the tears kept on coming.

"I'm fine..." she told him softly. "It's just...Look, I'm not doing great, Lando. I haven't been doing great for a while. So like last night, after you went home, I was going to swallow a handful of pills and see if I could make everything a little more tolerable. I didn't do it, but Dad found my stash while I was at school...Hence why I'm crying like a little kid right now..."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"It'll be alright Guin," he said softly, just holding her. He fell silent, just looking at her, trying to think of what he could say to her. The fact that she had been thinking about taking pills again like that scared him, and he didn't want her to relapse or something. She was starting to worry him, and he thought all of his problems were bad, sure no one seemed to even notice if he wasn't even at the Tower like they thought he was, but still, this was definitely worse.

"So... Your day sounds like it has gone just as well as mine has... Glad to see that you haven't gotten in too much trouble at school with me not there... Half expected you to get into a fight or something," he said, giving her a smile, hoping to cheer her up somewhat. Even if it didn't work, maybe she'd get a laugh or something.

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin wasn't convinced that everything was going to be okay. She knew that she was at high risk for addiction, given her father's alcoholism. She wasn't aware of her mother having any substance addictions, but to be fair, Guin tried to avoid knowing anything about her mother. It was bad enough that she knew who she was. The world would've been a better place, in her opinion, if she could have pretended that her mother died in childbirth. Or maybe claim Aunt Nat or Pepper as her mother - that would have been the ideal situation. She even would have gone with the ridiculous explanation that Midichlorians had been her mother - that she was conceived by the Force and her father's intellect.

"How can you know it'll be okay?" she asked him quietly, letting him hold her. "My mother uses me to get her five seconds of fame...My dad flies around in a metal suit and nearly got himself killed at the Battle of New York...I have deep hidden insecurities that result in a need for attention...And every day, my mind goes a little faster and it feels like I'm out of sync with the world - like I'm just waiting for everyone around me to catch up, as if this is a horribly buffering movie you're streaming on Netflix...I just get so sad and overwhelmed and scared and angry, Lando..."

She did laugh slightly at his attempt to cheer her up. "Yeah...I sprayed the insides of their lockers with an amine, so they'll reek for ages...Was going to go to this party Flash is hosting tonight and cut them off on the way there, beat them black and blue in an alley or something..."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"Yeah, you do have it pretty bad, but I honestly sometimes think you are better off than me... My dad is a guy who turns into a green monster when he gets mad or stressed out, resulting in me having to watch what I say most of the time, trying not to anger him. Ever since the first time I got smacked around by the Hulk. My mom kept who my dad was hidden from me for most of my life, and when she finally did tell me, she basically sent me to live with him and I haven't seen her in years. Learned why when she accidentally let it slip, turns out she's always been afraid that I'd become a monster like him. You look for attention, and everyone tries to give it to you, even my own father doesn't notice me half the time, he didn't even realize that I hadn't listened to him and had left the tower. So you and I both have major issues that are hard to deal with, so don't think you're alone," he said, finally saying a few things that he had been thinking about for a while now.

Lance laughed when he heard what she had done to their lockers. It made him feel a whole lot better about everything, and he smiled. The fact that she had been planning on beating them up made things even better for him, though a part of him wondered if her beating them up on his behalf would make things worse. "As I said before, not too opposed to you beating them up... Hey, Guin... There is something I wanted to talk to you about, it's kind of important..."

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin nodded a bit, hearing Lance list off his issues. There were other things that she could have told him, but she didn't think he'd understand them. She hadn't confessed those dark secrets aloud to anyone and as far as she was aware, her father didn't suspect anything as well. Guin returned Lance's hug, letting out a slight sigh as she started to calm down. Their lives were just both horrible messes. And she was certain that any counselor would say it was just part of being a teenager - but they didn't have typical cookie cutter childhoods. "I don't know if I will go beat them up tonight...Probably for the best if I stay where J.A.R.V.I.S. can see me, as Dad's probably having him monitor me constantly now..."

Of course, the real reason was she was afraid she'd relapse if she left the tower.

She nodded a bit at him, not pulling away from him or anything. She was incredibly comfortable around him, having known him since she was twelve. In many ways, he was the closest thing she'd ever have to a brother. "If it's having an intervention or suggesting I go to A.A. or whatever...Not really interested in that," Guin told him. "But if it's something else...Go for it."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"Really? You should beat them up anyway, I personally wouldn't care, and the kids deserve it. Would have been fine if they didn't leave any injuries on my head where I can't cover them up, but they didn't, so the school had to call my dad and mess everything up," he said, giving her a smile. He didn't want to mention that it had happened before to her after accidentally letting it slip with his father around, and he knew perfectly well the reasons why they beat him up, but he didn't feel comfortable saying them yet.

"Oh... Don't worry, it isn't anything like that... Just something that has kind of been bugging me since yesterday... And I don't really know what to do..." he said slowly, thinking of how best to word this. "I was approached by Justin Hammer yesterday, and he wanted me to come work for him or something. Thing is... Something was really weird about him, and I can't figure it out. He seemed like he wouldn't stop bugging me or something if I told him no, and there was just something weird about the way he spoke, I can't quite place it..."

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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"I'm not against beating them up...Just worried that if I left the tower today, I might end up relapsing," Guin admitted quietly. She never had used drugs in front of Lance before. There had been one or two occasions where he found her dealing with the aftermath of the drug abuse, but it was still hard to swallow her pride and talk to him about this. There was so much that Lance was struggling with in his life - she had to be the strong one in the friendship. She was supposed to be the one comforting him, rather than him comforting her as was happening now.

She made a face as he mentioned Hammer. She had seen some of their products before - and none of them seemed to be anything more than a glorified piece of garbage. The company was all flash with no substance. If it was possible for there to be negative substance, then it'd be a better description. But ever since her father's company stopped manufacturing weapons, Hammer Tech was the big name in weapons manufacturing. They had snapped up the military contracts that Stark Industries no longer held. "If Hammer wants anything from you, it's probably because he's trying to cut corners. He's like Lockhart - doubt he even knows what engineering is. I'd stay clear of him, if only for the sake of your brain cells as you probably killed a few just by talking with him."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"I totally get that Guin... You do know that you can talk to me about anything right? I'm always here for you, no matter what happens..." he said with a smile. It was true, he'd always be there for Guin, through thick and thin. He knew a lot about her, and he understood her in ways a lot of other people didn't. Both of them having parents who went out and risked their lives on a somewhat daily basis helped with that, and they both had major issues that they probably needed to talk with someone about.

He noticed the face she made when he told her about his conversation with Hammer. It was something to be expected considering the rivalry that generally existed between Stark and Hammer Industries, despite Stark not being in the weapons business anymore. The fact that Hammer had some crazy plans for the Stark Expo still worried him. "I figured that Guin, but there was something seriously wrong, I just know it... He also said that they were working on some project for the Expo, something that he was definitely not going to say anything about when I asked. I don't know what is going on, but something is definitely up with Hammer Industries..."

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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She laughed weakly. "Lando, there are somethings that if I told you, I don't think you'd be able to look at me the same way again...I have a hard time thinking of myself in a positive light whenever they come to mind," she admitted cryptically. She wasn't going to say anything else on that subject matter, however. If she gave Lance more details, she knew he'd eventually guess what was wrong - and at the moment, she felt like that was a fate worse than death for someone to learn those secrets. The discussion of Hammer and what his company was up to was something she was far more inclined to speak with Lance about.

"Well...There is one way we can find out what he's up to, but it's illegal," Guin mused. "I could write a program that would hack his files - but you'd need to put it on a flash drive and plug that drive into a computer on the Hammer Industries network. I doubt they're the sort of company that's easy to hack remotely..." She twitched her fingers a bit, trying to come up with a way for them to get onto a Hammer Industries computer. At the same time, she remembered Pepper wishing that she'd attend some sort of public event, in order to generate some positive press after the damage Maddie had done with the rehab story.

"Hammer Industries is hosting a charity ball soon - all the major tech companies are pitching in, but it'll be on their campus...You could come as my date and we can see about getting information off of the computers..." Guin suggested.

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"Well, you've always have got me to talk to..." he said with a smile, not sure what went through her mind, and sometimes he wondered if he really did want to know the answer to that question. "You do realize that if we went as a date your dad would probably not shut up about it..." he said with a laugh. Though he was pretty sure that all of the Avengers knew about his crush on Guin, which would have just made things even worse when he thought about it.

Getting to Hammer's computer was not going to be easy, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know about Hammer's computer, but there was something that told him that whatever it was, it wasn't good. "If I pretended to accept the offer, I might be able to get the info a lot quicker, but that would not be the best thing ever for me... I honestly don't know what we should do to deal with this, but that party might be our best option..."

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin shrugged a bit, letting go of Lance but not moving away, so that way he was still holding her. "Honestly, if my dad thinks we're a couple, it's whatever. Besides, I doubt he'd get that impression - he'd understand that we'd really just be going as friends. Just a formality that you'd be down as my date for the event purposes," Guin explained with a shrug. It was hard to justify bringing a friend with her to a charity ball. But if Lance was her date, then it was easier to get him inside. She was more worried about the potential that Maddie might find out about it and turn Lance's life into a national spectacle.

"And I wouldn't accept that offer...Hammer smells like crazy, y'know?" Guin cautioned Lance. "Besides, my dad might get pissed if he finds out you went to work for Hammer Industries," she pointed out with a bit of a laugh. "The ball itself is in two weeks - plenty of time before the Expo. It also gives us time to figure out exactly what we're doing, for me to write the code and whatnot... And for us to convince my dad that you should be added as my plus-one to the guest list. He's kinda scrutinizing everything I do since...well, you know."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"You think your dad would be mad? My dad wouldn't be too thrilled about it either, especially since you are currently the only person, who knows that I had this conversation with Hammer at all. There isn't much I could do there anyway, and I'd probably kick myself if I went over there," he said, as he let go of Guin. They needed to figure out what was going on with Hammer Industries, and there wasn't much that they could do about it until they figured out what it was.

"I actually feel like your dad would be more likely to let us go, if I'm with you, call it a hunch. Anyway, we need to come up with a plan for what we should do when we get there. This whole thing needs to have some sort of plan, since it requires us to get in there, and to a computer without getting caught at all.," he said, still looking at her. This was not going to end well if they were caught, but they had to do something otherwise who knew what could happen.

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin raised an eyebrow as Lance let go of her, before grabbing a blanket from MIT and snuggling up with it. She wished Lance hadn't let go of her, as it had actually been relatively calming - not that she'd ever tell him that. It was just another thing that she'd never tell a soul - that she actually enjoyed being held. As much as she was fiercely independent and had a mouth on her, it was just a nice and calming feeling. "Why do you think that?" Guin asked him. "Hunches always have some sort of basis - unless you agreed to spy on me for him or something, can't think of an explanation."

She nodded, thinking it through. She tended to fixate on the smaller details of things, rather than pay attention to the big picture. Case in point, she was still trying to think through the basis of Lance's hunch, even though it was hardly important for the overall mission. "There shouldn't be any problem for me to code the virus that'll be placed on their machines and upload their information to the Stark Secure Server - only Dad and me have access to that, so it'll be fine. Pepper might have access to actually, not too sure...But anyways, it's extremely private and you are now one of the few people in the world who knows it exists."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"Since when were you an expert on hunches or whatever?" Lance said with a laugh as he watched her wrap herself up in the blanket. He didn't feel really comfortable holding her for long periods of time, especially since she was clearly clueless to his feelings towards her, which still made his life even more difficult. Especially since everyone else seemed to know it. "We have a little unspoken agreement about you, that I'm not allowed to discuss. Though it wasn't me spying on you or anything, so it doesn't matter."

He listened as she spoke about the computer virus she would make for the job. Nodding, he thought of how best they could do this in general. "Alright, so we've got a plan, now to convince your dad to let us go, and unlike you, I have never been to any sort of event like this, preferring to stay away from large crowds," he said with a small laugh, not knowing too much of what you would do at this sort of thing.

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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"Oh hell no, Lando. If you have some sort of agreement with my dad about me, then you have to tell me," Guin insisted. Even if her father had forbidden Lance from talking to her about it, she still wanted to know. In fact, it just made her all the more curious. What could it have been about? Her initial hypothesis that it was monitoring her in order to keep her sober had been rejected from Lance and he was a horrible liar, so she figured he was telling the truth about that not being it.

"And we're still so talking about that, but as for these events...You wear something nice, take a few photos, eat food that they likely spent at least 20% of the donations on, and pretend to like other rich people when all you want to do is go home, listen to Tainted Love and play Pac-Man for a few hours," Guin explained with a shrug. She then grimaced slightly. She was always forced to wear dresses to these sort of things. She mostly just went to the Stark Expo, as well as Stark Industries hosted events. Each year, she wanted to wear a power suit - and each year, Pepper would pick out some sort of dress for her to wear instead. "As for convincing my dad...You go talk to him. I don't know if he wants to talk to me at the moment..."

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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"Nope, I am not telling you, it is my little secret," he said with a laugh. He was not planning on telling her any sort of thing about his crush on her, since she was still super oblivious to it. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll go ask Tony about it right now..." he said, before he headed off to have that sort of conversation with Tony, and he knew that odds were that both Tony and his dad would think it was an actual date.

The two weeks leading up to the party went by pretty quickly. At school, Lance stayed away from just about everyone else, and no one tried to beat him up, but that didn't stop people using their words against him. He had managed to convince Tony to let him and Guin go to the party, on the condition that he kept a close eye on Guin. He was fine with agreeing to it, and he had been right, Tony did think that it was an actual date, and he was perfectly fine letting him think that, since otherwise he'd have to admit what they were really doing.

Lance went with Guin to the party, and he felt strangely out of place with the crowd. He was not used to this sort of crowd.

[Morose]

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Guinevere Stark

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Guin felt a bit ridiculous, given the outfit Pepper had selected for her. She was on thin ice with her father and she figured that arguing with Pepper about clothing wasn't going to help that at all. As far as school had gone, it was more or less just as she expected. She had gotten into six additional arguments with teachers, with a few of those resulting in detentions. She was beginning to be on a first name basis with the detention monitor, tending to use the time to just listen to music by herself. The detention hall was a surprisingly peaceful place around the school.

"Shit, she's here..." Guin muttered as Happy pulled the limo up to the curb. She was used to these sort of crowds, but she despite popular belief, she didn't enjoy this type of attention. It wasn't the attention she craved. It was just meaningless - photographers obsessing over her just because of who her father was and not because of her own accomplishments. She spotted Maddie going into the party on the arm of some wealthy bachelor. It didn't really matter to Guin who it was, but she recognized Aldrich Killian.

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Guin grimaced at Lance, before she got out of the limo, taking her purse with her. It contained the all important flash drive. There was a second flash drive that she had given to Lance as well. Then it wouldn't matter who got to a computer first - as long as one of them could pull it off. "Okay, take my arm and smile with me for the cameras," she whispered to him. She'd never done one of these things with a date before, but she had seen her father enter them with Pepper tons of times. She was hoping that during the dinner, one of them would be able to make a break for the computers - and maybe the other could play interference if necessary.

Meanwhile, Hammer had already arrived, sipping his drink as he smiled at his associate - Kilgrave.

[BlueSky44]

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Lance Banner

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Lance recognized Guin's mom, and made a slight face before he slowly got out of the limo. He looked rather pale, and was starting to panic a little bit. He hated large crowds, and he was definitely well outside his comfort zone here. Following Guin's instructions, despite his heart pounding out of his chest, he took her arm, and put on a smile, somehow managing to pull it off as he walked with her.

This entire situation was crazy for him, and he started to wonder if Hammer was already here somewhere. They could end up in so much trouble if they were caught, which made it even more clear that they needed to make sure that they weren't. "How long do you think it will take for us to run into your mother? Or how long do you think it would take for us to get the info off of the computers?" he whispered to her, before looking back towards the cameras.