Chapter 1416: Return of the Old Days (15)_1

The next morning, Tony Stark drove Peter Parker to the clinic in a showy sports car. At the corner, they spotted Shiller, sitting by a window on the second floor, jotting something down. They could only assume he was engrossed in crafting papers filled with psychiatric jargon or case reports.

Peter looked ashen as he got out of the car, his arms crossed in irritation. "You're driving a multi-million dollar sports car, parading me around the streets of New York with the top down!" He shot Stark a disgruntled look. "Wait till you see tomorrow morning's headlines. They won't be pretty!"

"I never cover the top, you know that." Stark shrugged nonchalantly, donned his shades, and popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth. "Don't worry. I heard that their main scoop now is whether there's anything special between Captain America and me. You're not their target for now."

"Special… what?" Totally confused, Peter trailed after Stark, eyebrows knitted. Stark breezily hinted, "The thing you did with Gwen on her birthday."

Peter froze, mouth falling open. He didn't know whether to be astonished that Stark knew about his night with Gwen, or be shocked at the audacity of the tabloids in writing about Stark and Captain America.

As Shiller opened the clinic door, Peter saw Captain America struggling to pull a sweater over his obscured face, the scene rather comical. Tossing his bag onto a nearby couch, Peter asked, "Doctor, is breakfast ready? I'd like some scrambled eggs."

"Make it yourself." Shiller continued fussing over his laptop, seemingly replying to student emails. The Captain, having finally finished wrestling with his sweater, adjusted its sleeves, and offered, "Come on, I can whip up breakfast."

Meanwhile, Stark, leaning against the clinic entrance, tuned in to the sound of arguing emanating from the distant streets. Before long, "Bam!" A door slammed against the wall beside him. "Tony Stark!" Natasha stormed at him. "Nick has been cursing for three and a half hours due to the ridiculous mental health maintenance bill for The Avengers you submitted to S.H.I.E.L.D.! The whole finance department is in chaos. You owe me an explanation!"

"Natasha! Natasha! Come back!" Hawkeye Barton trailed after her, trying to pacify the fuming Agent. Stark, unruffled, cocked his head toward Natasha and retorted, "You should be asking the person who actually received this money, not me."

"The major reason for the finance department's chaos is because the money recipient is not present!" Natasha spat coldly. "Nick needs him to settle the accounts. Anyway, I'm taking Dr. Shiller back with me."

"You're welcome to do so." Stark shrugged, "But if his psychological assessment hasn't passed and you're insisting that he carries on with his work at S.H.I.E.L.D., no Avenger will ever agree to a psyche evaluation. That would be utterly contradictory."

Natasha glared furiously at Stark, lips tightly pursed. After a brief pause, she dropped her voice and said vehemently, "You have no idea how desperate Nick is to incorporate your astronomical bill into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s expenses to secure more funding. But this requires Dr. Shiller to confirm that all this money was indeed spent on mental health maintenance. So, we…"

"Ahem." Stark interrupted, raising his voice, "So, you mean, even if Dr. Shiller's mental assessment report hasn't passed, even if he's not fit to continue working, you still want him back at work to pay for Nick's greed?"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Lady!" Peter, who was tinkering with the gaming console beside the TV, jumped up, rushing to the door exclaiming, "Don't tell me this is true! That's unethical! You can't hire a mentally unstable person!"

Feeling the disapproval from Steve in the kitchen, Natasha held her forehead in her hand. She grabbed Stark and pulled him outside, lowering her voice, "What the hell are you doing? You know well that Shiller is in perfect shape."

"But he might be up to something that will keep him unwell."

Natasha widened her eyes slightly looking at Stark, "You mean, he has a new plan? But I heard no rumors from Nick."

Stark held up a finger emphatically, "They're all four of them. I'm talking about Steven, Loki, Nick, and Shiller. They're way more cunning than mental patients hiding medicine in the infirmary. Deceiving you is a piece of cake for them."

"Nick is involved?" Natasha questioned, brows furrowed.

"Who knows."

Natasha glanced away, then pulled at Stark again, "You keep an eye on Shiller, and I'll watch Nick. Let's get Helen to watch her mom. That will be enough."

Stark raised an eyebrow, looking with a hint of surprise at Natasha, "You've decided to take my side? Instead of getting entangled in their mishmash plan?"

"My point is, they all need to rest! You should know, Nick just recently had a Skrull imitate him so he could maintain a round-the-clock presence. They are all crazies! Terrifying workaholics!"