Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Note: This is my first story so any constructive criticism would be really appreciated.
To Be Normal
Tony Stark knew from a young age that he wasn't normal, and growing up as a genius he liked to believe that he had a good understanding of what was normal. So one day when he accidentally set fire to the desk he was working on he knew it was defiantly not a normal occurrence.
If such a thing had happened to anyone else he assumed that they would just pass it off as a coincidence, after all it's defiantly not normal to assume that a fire was caused by oneself, most choosing to believe that there must have been some kind of spark or something. But Tony Stark, even at the tender age of eight was a genius, and he knew that there wasn't anything in the area of his desk that could have caused the fire.
The fire itself hadn't lasted long, put out quickly by a few maids that worked the Stark mansion. Overall the event was passed off as a freak accident and quickly forgotten buy everyone. Well, everyone except Tony.
Tony, having realized that they fire must have been caused by himself, and also knowing that it wasn't something normal people were able to do, decided to figure out how the fire worked in secret, never telling anyone what he was practicing.
As Tony grew older his control over his flames grew. He was not only able to start fires, but also put them out. It just required a little effort. Tony also learned that fire didn't burn him, in fact he quite enjoyed the sensation of having flames dance against his skin.
Tony's personality also seemed to match the fire, always full of passion and jumping from one thing to the next. He has a fiery temper that burned both hot and cold, but always burning.
In fact as once Tony turned sixteen he started going through girls just as fast as fire seems to eat through logs. Never finding anyone who could provide enough fuel to keep him interested enough to keep them in his bed. Give him everything he need to burn.
There were, however, those that could come close. Rhody had been the first. He was the first friend Tony had ever made that was quick enough to keep up with him as he jumped around from project to project, from hobby to hobby. He couldn't keep up with everything however, entering into the military, Rhody never could understand, or agree with Tony's complete lack of respect towards authority.
Pepper, beautiful, strong Pepper, had come so close to matching him in everything. How easy it seemed for her to slip in and take control of his life, letting him burn though everything as always, but restraining him enough that nothing ever fell apart. He thought she was exactly what he need in his life. But as time went by he realized that although he loved her, it was more in the way of a sister then a lover. Pepper understood when he told her this, just as she always seemed to get everything about him, she was expecting it almost.
Tony never told them about his fire though. He always explained away the fact that dummy always had a fire extinguisher on hand in case his emotions got out of control as it being just in case one of his experiments exploded. He let people blame the fact that none of his housed had pools or baths on PTSD from being water boarded in Afghanistan, when really it was because being in so much water made him feel as if he was being suffocated, the water threatening to put out his fire.
Even when the Avengers came into the picture he kept his flames a secret, after all, even though he worked with a group of super humans (or gods), Tony himself was still considered normal underneath his suit.
How would the team react to finding out that really he was actually abnormal?
To Tony it wasn't worth the risk, after all keeping his power a secret had never caused him problems in the past (the party where he blew up his house didn't count because his suit and Rhody had helped and, hello, he was dying at the time).
Tony would have continued keeping it a secret too, if it hadn't been for that one mission.
The Avengers had been called to deal with a mass breakout of a local zoo that had been experimenting with mutations on animals on the side. The place was complete pandemonium, mutant animals with more heads that needed ran everywhere, and civilians who had been enjoying the zoo were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, just another easy clean up mission. But when one of the buildings caught fire, things pretty much went the hell. The fire was spreading uncontrolled and the avengers were getting worn out.
When the tree Clint had placed himself in caught fire Tony finally decided enough was enough. Quickly shedding the suit (because for some reason his control was never as good in the suit as out) he called to the flames, slowly gathering them together. Finally when all the fire had be brought into a huge ball Tony clapped his hands together and put it all out at once.
Tony then quickly got back into his suit and resumed capturing the animals, as if he was trying to pretend he didn't just out himself to his team and anyone else who happened to be in the area.
Steve, getting the hint subtly motions the rest of the avengers to leave off questioning Tony until later.
When tony finally came up from his lab later that day he was expecting questions, and maybe even accusations of holding himself back from the team.
What he wasn't expecting was for them to leave the issue alone. He wasn't expecting the understanding looks, the 'explain if want to' gestures. He definitely wasn't expecting the first thing out of Natasha's mouth to be "Should we watch Jurassic Park or Batman tonight?"
But really, Tony realized, controlling fire isn't too weird for us. With all the different powers the Avengers deal with everyday controlling fire is practically… normal.