So...it's been a while. A long while. And I'm sorry about that. I actually kept forgetting to post this on this platform - AO3 is caught up. (Find me here.)

So, yeah. This turned into a series. I have eight more plotty ideas (not counting the two I've posted), which will eventually, hopefully, get written. This will start to really become AU. Really become AU. So if that's not what you're looking for, feel free to vacate the premises.

Anyway, without further ado, let me finally reveal to you the next one-shot in this series ...

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Stark Industries did not flounder when the last Stark left the seat of power. Instead, its stock burgeoned (after a slight drop), all thanks to the efficient leadership and, business smarts of Pepper Potts. She hadn't renamed the company, but she might as well have. Unlike the previous CEO, she watched every transaction and made absolutely certain that nothing like Obadiah could happen again.

(Rumors occasionally circulated: Ms. Potts fired someone for embezzlement, noticing the discrepancies when even the financial department didn't. Ms. Potts has eyes in the back of her head and ears everywhere, and if you even hint that you're doing something illegal she'll drag you in front of her so fast you'll get whiplash. Ms. Potts has no mercy, unless it's about family or your home life, and she won't fall for puppy eyes. She knows when you lie, as soon as it comes out your mouth.)

She had help, of course. JARVIS, omniscient as ever, kept a careful eye on things as well. (He, too, would never forgive himself for missing Obadiah the first time.) Tony had wired him into as many factories as he could before he left, and gave Pepper instructions to finish the job.

And it's not like Tony left JARVIS to his own devices. Even though he never really went to his main mansions anymore, he usually had a laptop, or a phone, or some other kind of device on him with a connection. Sometimes he even sent in blueprints of designs for smartphones or tablets or some off-the-wall gadget that R&D wouldn't have come up with in a million years.

So Tony did keep in touch. He, well, he just didn't run the company. He knew that Pepper, wonderful woman that she was, had more ability as CEO than he ever did. He just sent in designs every so often, maybe flew up to New York for things like Christmas and Thanksgiving. When he was on the job in Weatherford, he kept an open connection to JARVIS nearby, in case he had something that even his expertise couldn't fix.

In hindsight, with that in mind, it made sense that JARVIS would have heard the names "Sam" and "Dean" being bandied about, and started running their images through databases. He was overprotective like that.

But Tony, for once in his life, almost wished that he'd lightened up on the overprotectiveness in JARVIS's coding. Because here he was, staring two FBI files on the screen of his tablet in the face, with extremely familiar names in bold print in the header.

"Jay," he sighed, "JARVIS. C'mon, buddy, stalker tendencies. We've talked about this."

JARVIS sounded almost chiding when he responded, "Sir, I only try to look out for you."

Tony dragged a hand over his face. "Yeah, yeah, okay. I get it. Sam and Dean are wanted fugitives from the law. So what?"

"If you would, Sir, they are charged with multiple murders. I am not comfortable with you associating yourself with them."

"And you need to stop freaking out and look deeper, Jay," Tony asserted.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"Look," Tony stated, "Just … take another look over these files, and then pull up background on each one. Hell, if you can find it, pull up when they actually rolled into each of these towns. I'm talking credit card trails, sightings of Valkyrie…"

"Valkyrie, Sir?"

"Their car. Big, black '67 Chevy Impala. Hard to miss, even if you're not looking for her. But seriously, Jay. Look for when they got into whatever town they supposed terrorized, then look at the actual cases. I will bet you every dollar of my considerable fortune that the murders or mutilations or what-the-fuck-ever started before they got there and ended right before they left."

JARVIS was quiet for some time, and Tony bent back over the hood of the Chevy he was tuning. Why the owner wanted it to sound like a lawnmower, Tony had no idea. But lawnmower (well, badass is what he asked for, but with this muffler system he'd be getting lawnmower and not much else) he would receive.

When JARVIS spoke up again, Tony turned away from the car's underbelly. "Sir, I am noticing the pattern that you have described. So these brothers are stopping something from occurring?"

Tony grinned. "That's right, buddy. Now, trust me for a bit here. You'll probably think I need a psychiatrist, and I'd like to stave off that conversation."

"Sir?"

Tony sighed, sat down. "Okay, Jay. Here's how it is. Looking over those cases, you probably saw that most of them had no logical explanation readily apparent, right? Bodies found in locked, alarmed houses, people disappearing and never being found, bodies mutilated in ways that even a serial killer would find sick, things that look like animal attacks being too something to be real?"

JARVIS hummed an affirmative.

Tony soldiered on. "Okay. So. Trust me here, right?"

"You know I do, Sir."

"Good. So there's these … things out there, things that no one but a few people believe in. Like … werewolves and vengeful spirits and vampires and demons. Hell, apparently wendigos and chupacabras are a thing, too. And the Winchesters – Sam and Dean – hunt these things. They kill whatever's killing people and get the hell out of dodge, because all law enforcement sees is these two men with guns or knives or fucking wooden stakes and a dead body. And hunting's not exactly a paid profession, so they get by on – you guessed it – credit card fraud, with a little pool hustling on the side."

Silence hung heavy in the garage. Tony sighed. "So … I'm guessing you're searching for the nearest nuthouse?"

JARVIS responded immediately. "Not at all, Sir. However, any information I am able to find on what you have claimed is obviously a hoax, or simply hysteria. Do you have proof?"

Tony nodded, then said, "Yeah, here. I'm plugging this USB in, it's got footage and blood sample data on it. Actually got this data from my house. It broke in – you remember that? You freaked the hell out when I got back because I'd been MIA for a whole day? Me and the Winchesters hunted the thing down, killed it."

JARVIS was silent. "You are certain that these results are accurate."

"Completely. Ran them myself."

"There are no white blood cells. Or platelets. And the hemoglobin count seems to be incredibly low, or rather, non-existent. What is the fifth column in this graph?"

Tony peered at the screen, where JARVIS had pulled it up. White blood cells count, red blood cell count, platelet count, hemoglobin count … right, that was the weird one. "Yeah, Jay, that's the count for whatever replaced the hemoglobin. I still have no clue what it was. Something weird. Couldn't even pin down its makeup – kept shifting or some shit. Pretty sure that's where the magic part of the Fae thing comes in."

JARVIS sounded rather disgruntled when he huffed, "I'm sure." He paused. "Is this footage untampered-with as well?"

"Yep." Tony grimaced. "Pretty creepy, right buddy?"

"Yes, sir. I cannot match its build with that of any known species. It also seems to be … for lack of a better term … glowing, sir."

Tony grinned. "I know! Freaky magic Fae crap again. Sam said something about it 'absorbing the traces of energy' from my reactor, but I dunno. I think it's just a glowy bastard."

"… Quite, Sir."

Tony laughed. "So, what d'you think, Jay? Enough evidence to convince you, you skeptic, you?"

"I believe so, Sir. Although I am glad that you did not encounter this … Fae. Its claws seem formidable, from the footage, and I am worried about what it could have done to you."

Tony's grin softened. "Aw, Jay, ya big softie. Don't worry. I won't hunt full-time, like Sam and Dean."

JARVIS started to say something.

Tony shrugged. "Probably."

A buzz of static, JARVIS's sigh, emitted from the speakers. Tony grinned.

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Comments are great. Feel free to poke me about the next part; it's half-written. (School is picking up again, though, so...yeah.)