americas_son | Sunnydale AU: redux

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Sunnydale AU: redux

The day after Sherlock's phone call, Cal gets up early to stop by the Stark residence as promised.

He pulls into the driveway in the car Tony gave him - the only car he drives now - and sits there for a moment after he kills the engine. He takes a slow, steadying breath, hands still on the wheel.

He willingly volunteered for this, but he's not looking forward to it.

(Behind him, a security vehicle pulls into place. Peter doesn't usually send bodyguards with Cal to the Stark residence, but this morning he's sending a message, discreet but clear, that Cal is under protection at all times.)

After a couple moments, he gets out and heads for the door.

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"Oh, I've still got a trick or two up my sleeve," he says, as though they are talking about something entirely innocent.

The look Cal shoots him is laden with amusement.

"Such as?"

Obadiah chuckles.

"An old man like me needs to keep a few secrets."

Cal shrugs.

"Doesn't matter."

He takes a drag from his cigarette.

"I'm ten steps ahead of you, anyway."

That's the drawback of the game Stane decided to play with him - once Cal stops playing, not only is he out of the game, he can twist it into whatever shape he wants. Instead of being prey, he's an enemy. And Stane has given him too much information.

The threat doesn't seem to put a dent in his fake friendliness. "We'll see about that," he jokes, turning to step back inside. "You have a nice day, now."

"Obadiah." Cal raises his voice just a little, but his tone is still even.

"Take me seriously."

Or you'll wish you had.

With no better options, he is reduced to pretending he didn't hear as the door swings shut behind him.

Cal finishes off his cigarette, then counts to ten before he goes back inside.

"Hi," says a completely innocent Tony from the kitchen doorway. Obie is nowhere in sight. "We good to go?"

Cal gives him a cheerful and genuine smile.

"Yep, all set. The kitchen look okay?"

Tony grins back. "It'll do."

Cal laughs.

"You can hire people for that kind of thing, you know."

"Waste of money. Besides, Sherry loves that kitchen like I love my cars. He'd be pissed if I let somebody fuck around with it."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that."

That's only half a joke. Sherlock is not on the list Cal has recently been developing of people who can be safely and manageably provoked.

"Okay, let's go."

"Have you ever even seen him pissed off?" Tony asks idly as they head for the door a second time.

Cal thinks about this.

"Not seen. Heard, maybe? I dunno, we were on the phone and I was pretty drunk."

He knows Sherlock was not happy during that conversation, though now that he thinks about it, he probably waited until after the initial anger had passed before he called Cal.

(There may be other occasions, but it's only natural for that particular instance to come readily to mind right now.)

"Yeah, he's a pretty laid-back guy most of the time."

Now that Tony thinks about it, in fact—

"Except when Obie's around."

Cal gets to the door first and pulls it open for them.

"Some people just don't get along," he remarks casually.

"They've been like that since forever."

"They just get under each others' skin," Cal says.

Like Sherlock said once: Stane lies to Tony, and Sherlock notices. And, as Cal just proved, people like Stane don't like when their bullshit gets noticed.

"Wanna take my car? I can bring you back after school."

"Sure," Tony agrees.

If Cal knew him a little better, he might be surprised. There are very few people that Tony is willing to be driven around by.

"Cool. Hang on, I gotta let Connolly know we're going to Marcy's first."

He unlocks the car so Tony can get in, then goes over to do so.

Into the passenger seat he goes.

The conversation is brief. Cal also quietly mentions the chat he had with Stane, because he needs for Peter to be prepared if Stane decides that Cal is not to be taken seriously.

"Tell him to fill Sherlock in, too, I'm not gonna have a chance to call him for a little while."

Then he goes back and swings into the driver's seat.

"Man, I love this car."