Tony was baffled by what Liam had done, but then again, he had heard of a green monster before, created by the government, so he was more accepting of the facts around him. He then summoned the Hornet, which again surprised Tony, as he had never seen such a design before.
"I thought you came from NY. This is not big at all," Tony said with sarcasm.
"I live in NY, but right now, I am in LA," Liam replied as he switched on his Pilot suit again. He soon hopped into the cockpit. "By the way, the one who ordered the hit was Obadiah. Make of it what you will."
With those words, he switched on the engine, and within a minute, he was cruising past Afghanistan, far away from the military helicopters coming for Tony. Meanwhile, Tony stiffened when he heard that, but then he remembered how his supposed uncle had called him and the attack happened right after that.
It might be a coincidence, and he was skeptical of this random person who had just come and saved him, but this small doubt was enough for Tony to dig deeper.
-----
"Liam... Liam... Wake up... Wake up... They found Tony Stark... Wake up." Chris, to be frank, manhandled Liam to wake him up. It was 11 a.m., and Liam was still sleeping in his bed, thanks to the run yesterday. In the game, it was different settings. In the game world, he wouldn't have to care about food and rest. He could just exist there for ages and not feel a thing in his body.
Though the other emotions were very raw, not having the drawbacks of endurance loss was a major advantage, which Liam understood after his first mission. He was tired and had just hit the bed after he returned.
"So, he was found... What's the big deal? It's not like he's feeding us," Liam complained, irritated that he had been woken up while he was sleeping.
"Get up, you lazy ass. Bonnie has been hounding me and asking about you," Chris said.
"Didn't you tell her I was sleeping?" Liam asked.
"I did, but she wants to see you and go out with you," Chris complained. Liam could only sigh and get up. He would have to set some boundaries with this girl, or else he might be accused of stringing girls along. Though he never cared what others thought, he cared about what this girl wanted, and it was better than breaking the heart of a girl.
After Bonnie and Liam went out for a local tour, the news of Tony's return was everywhere. But it didn't bother Liam or Bonnie, as they had a good time together, and Liam finally made it clear that he wasn't looking for a relationship or anything. His ambitions were different to begin with. Bonnie seemed pretty heartbroken by this.
"I thought we had some chemistry..." Bonnie said, her eyes almost welling with tears. She was a loner to begin with and had been pretty excited when Liam stopped her from getting verbally bullied by some senior girls at school one day.
It was there that their friendship bloomed, and the friendship turned into a fascination for her with Liam. She always felt that Liam was weighed down by something and was in a state of constant pressure, and she wished she could share his burden. Well, you know, random teenage girl fantasies.
"We do... But my ambitions, my future... It's very unpredictable, and I don't know what it holds. I hope you understand," Liam said. This was the closest closure he could provide someone.
It was a bit of a sad moment, but later they had a good tour, and Liam even took her to a good food stand in the city that he had heard good reviews about. She was cheerful by the time they returned. The Science Expo had ended, and the only reason they were still there was because the lawyers of various companies had asked them to stay back and have a proper talk in person instead of over video calls for business negotiations. Liam's father had already sent the plane ticket for Liam's lawyer.
The school itself had allowed them a small vacation after learning that these young children would establish a company. Basically, money speaks.
The next day
Early in the morning, they had a meeting with the lawyers and came to some verbal agreements with some of the investors. Liam wanted some clauses that were very odd. For example, when the FBI came in this time, they finally revealed that they belonged to SHIELD, an agency responsible for world security.
When they came into the picture, Liam had specifically asked for a clause where, in any event of their organization falling apart, all the shares would revert back to Liam and his friends, divided in terms of equity in the company. This clause stumped the lawyer representing SHIELD, as it was an organization that worked globally, and there was no chance of it breaking apart—ever.
But Liam had asked for it. So, in the end, SHIELD obliged. Chris and Bonnie had no idea what was going on, so they didn't bother to ask what SHIELD was. But Liam knew. And he was sure that this small trickery wouldn't alarm Hydra because, to them, he was a nobody. For a nobody, they would never spend their resources to spy on or try to kill him.
After the meeting, the three went back home to watch Tony's interview.
"I thought you weren't interested in him," Chris teased, as he always seemed quite skeptical of this inventor.
"I'm not. I'm just curious about what he'll say since he asked for a press conference immediately after landing," Liam said.
Nonetheless, they watched the press conference together in their hotel room, where they saw Tony announcing the closure of the weapons department. Liam even spotted Yinsen standing further away.