Chapter Text
Tony Stark didn’t know much about the new hero—vigilante—that had appeared in New York City, but there was no doubt about the man’s ability.
He’d tried to chase the man down before, following the glint of the red metal helmet and reaching out to grab for the leather jacket that flew so effortlessly in the wind as the man hopped from rooftop to rooftop, but to no avail. Even with his damn suit, the man seemed to disappear into thin air. How a bright red helmet faded into the shadows was beyond him.
“He’s not doing anything to us,” Clint reasoned one day, slumped against the office chair in their Avengers meeting room. “We should just let him do his own thing.”
“Terrible idea,” Tony immediately cut in, glaring at the other man as he simply gave an uncaring shrug of the shoulders. “You’re going to let some guy wander around our city when not even Natasha can catch him?”
The other Avengers’ gaze swung to the woman, who gave a sheepish smile. “He’s good,” she said in some halfhearted attempt to explain herself.
“Yeah, which is why we need to catch him.” Tony jabbed angrily at the desk as if to solidify his point.
“It sounds like you’re mad he got away from your thermal vision,” Steve replied, trying and failing to hide a smile at Tony’s frustration. It wasn’t as if he did not have any concerns about this new, red-helmeted figure in their city, but seeing Tony so worked up was utterly amusing.
Tony groaned. “I don’t understand,” he muttered, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. “There was no thermal trail at all! Nothing! Humans leave trails!”
Bruce quirked an eyebrow at that. “So, alien?”
“It’s not too crazy,” Clint snorted. “But he’s just helping around. Stopping muggings, assault, the likes.”
“A good alien, then,” Steve said with a laugh.
Tony let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’ll handle it,” he insisted. “I have the best chance, anyway.”
The others shared glances with each other but ultimately nodded, not wanting to blow up Tony’s frustration even more than it already had.
-
And so he began to survey the city even closer than before. He opted to use his regular visor, since thermal vision clearly did nothing, and it wasn’t long until he spotted a flash of red metal under the moon.
He immediately set out after the man—alien?—who showed no signs of stopping.
“I want to talk,” Tony shouted after him, speeding up. This time, the man was actually staying in his view, and a gnawing feeling in his stomach told him that the only reason he was keeping up with him was because the man wanted him to follow.
Just as he was about to catch up, the other man suddenly stopped, almost startling Tony.
“What do you want?” It was the first time Tony had heard the man’s voice. There was a mechanical rasp to the tone, modulated through the helmet.
Probably not an alien, then.
“Who are you?” Tony asked immediately. “And what are you doing here?”
The helmet turned to look at him, and despite the expressionless metal mask, Tony felt as if he had just earned an exasperated look. “You can call me Red Hood,” the man said. “And I’m here to help around the city.” Tony’s disbelief must have shown somehow because the man let out a pained sigh, a distorted sound under the helmet. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me, sparky. Just keep doing you, and I’ll do me, ‘kay?”
Tony shook his head, not sure if his incredulousness was from the man’s words or the nickname. “No, not okay. You’re running around my city and none of us know who you are. You got anyone to vouch for you?”
Red Hood seemed to pause at that. “Not anyone you’d know,” he replied finally.
“I doubt that,” Tony replied testily, rolling his eyes beneath his helmet.
Red Hood made a noise, and after a moment Tony realized it must’ve been a snort of amusement. “There’s a lot you don’t know, sparky.”
“Sparky?” Tony couldn’t help but bring attention to it this time.
“Don’t like it?” Came Red Hood’s equally unimpressed voice.
“Why don’t you come with me to the Avengers Tower?” Tony suggested, taking a step forward.
The man took a step back. “So you can stick me with needles?” he snorted. “No way.” The Red Hood toed the edge of the building with his boots and Tony wondered how the man had moved so fast without him noticing. “This was a nice chat, Sparky. See you.”
And before Tony could even protest, he hopped over the edge of the building.
Tony hurried after him, peering over the edge and half-expecting a splattered body below, but came up empty. He flipped on his thermal vision and peered down just for good measure and found nothing but the lights of the city staring back.
“Well fuck.”
-
“I still think we should leave him alone,” Clint said, staring quizically at the tablet in front of him. “He’s really not doing anything.”
Tony shot him a scathing look and Clint, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
“It is strange that he doesn’t show up on thermal, though,” Bruce mused aloud.
“Thank you!” Tony shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.
Bruce raised an eyebrow at him before continuing. “Has anyone caught a glimpse under that helmet?”
“His armor doesn’t completely cover his forearms,” Natasha pointed out, zooming into one frame of the video. Sure enough, human skin peeked through between the sleeve of his armor and his gloves.
“Looks real enough,” Clint said, squinting.
“You’re unbothered by this,” Bruce said, amused.
“I mean, he exists, doesn’t he?” Clint gestured pointedly at Bucky, who was leaning against a wall and half-submerged in the shadows.
Steve frowned at that but Thor barked out a laugh and clapped Clint along the shoulders so hard that he felt his bones shift.
“And you’re telling me that someone who is probably just as strong as the god-damn Winter Soldier is roaming around the city, scot-free, and you’re all not concerned in the slightest?” Tony sounded incredulous.
“Shall I bring him in?” Thor asked, swinging Mjolnir far too casually for anyone’s liking.
“After this mission,” Natasha reprimanded, glaring at Tony. “As fun as it is to see Tony lose his cool, we should focus on the task at hand.”
Tony grumbled something under his breath but agreed. He swiped on his tablet and opened a document instead. “I’ll brief the case, then.”
-
“The hell are you doing?”
Tony blinked blearily up at the blurry red figure above him. Was he looking at himself? Had someone stolen his suit?
“For a genius, you sure are fucking stupid.” The words are forced out, slightly muffled by a robotic voice modulator.
“Fuck you,” Tony managed in a daze, earning a huff of robotic laughter from above him. He immediately regretted bothering to speak, though, as a sudden wave of pain and nausea rushed through him. A gasp wrenched itself out of his dry throat and his vision blurred. Holy shit, what happened?
“Calm down, Sparky. Let’s get you some medical care. You got your comms?”
“Broken,” Tony managed. He could hear the static in his ears. Damn, what the hell hit him?
“Alright, give me a minute. Take off your helmet while I do this.”
Tony tried his best to nod and reached over to press the button that removed his helmet. As the air hissed and the helmet became loose, he suddenly wondered why the hell he was listening to this voice. It wasn’t any of his teammates, that was for sure, but it still did sound strangely familiar. He racked his memory and finally found it. Sparky. He had called him Sparky.
And when he finally pulled off his cracked helmet, he found himself face-to-face with the Red Hood. “You,” he managed lamely. Emotionless white eyes stared back at him.
“Nice to see you awake,” came the robotic yet strangely sarcastic response. “Look up.”
Tony followed the command and was met with a bright light in his eyes as a reward. He flinched but held himself steady until the light disappeared. “Fucking hell,” he groaned.
“No concussion,” Red Hood reported, tucking the flashlight into one of the multitude of pockets that were etched into his leather jacket. In any other circumstance, Tony would be fascinated by the seemingly infinite amount of pockets. But now, he simply frowned.
“What happened?”
“You dove under a falling building,” Red Hood replied dryly. When Tony only blinked confusedly up at him, he let out a heavy sigh. “You saved a kid.”
Kid? Tony frowned and the memories of a young, crying girl shadowed by falling debris returned to his mind. “Is she okay?” Tony asked immediately, lurching forward.
A strong hand against his chest pushed him back down. “She’s fine,” Red Hood promised. “I got her out. Now stay still so I can hack into your comms.”
“Okay,” Tony relented. He then bolted up again. “ What?! ”
He did not get far before the hand returned to his chest and pushed him back down again. Red Hood toyed with a small piece of machinery before letting out a satisfied “aha!”. He turned around, concealing his face as he removed his own helmet with a hiss of gas. He messed around with the machinery and his helmet for a few more moments, ignoring Tony’s weak and blatant attempts to see his face, then pulled it back on.
“Yo, Avengers?” Red Hood said aloud, “I got Stark here. Building fell on him. Sending the coords now.” There was a pause and Red Hood tilted his head as if he was listening to the other side. He then exhaled sharply, and Tony could practically feel the annoyance in the sound. “He’s fine. A few bruised ribs and some cuts. Needs to fix his suit, that’s for sure. Now hurry the fuck up.” Red Hood clicked a part of his helmet and turned his attention back on Tony. “Didja hear that, Sparky?”
“Crystal,” Tony managed. “If it’s only a few bruised ribs, then why do I feel like shit?”
“A building fell on you, dipshit.” Red Hood adjusted Tony’s position and it suddenly felt easier to breathe. He then stood up and dusted himself off. “Now sit there and look pretty while your teammates come fetch you, ‘kay?”
“You’re leaving?” Tony couldn’t help the incredulousness that bled into his voice. “You’re a shit hero, you know that?”
Red Hood barked out a laugh. “I don’t want to be around when your team gets here,” he replied. He tilted his head again, silent, and then turned back to Tony. “They’ll be here in a minute. See ya.” Without another word, the man shot his grappling hook into the air, gave him a mocking two-fingered salute, and disappeared into the night.