A/N: Awesome! *bounce and grin* Glad you guys approve so far! (I kinda wonder how many of you were directed here by Fear of Infinity, though. *grin* I'm borrowing my own followers.)

Thank you to Hi, Resident of Wonderland, neah20, karina001, IncredibleIdiosyncrasies, Katherine Sanderson, and Fjsiwbkx for reviewing!

Title: Cosmic Composite

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: Tony/Pepper, Natasha/Steve

Genre: Family/Adventure

Warnings: AU

Summary: The exorcists reincarnate into Marvel's next generation. No one can figure out how. Still, it's nice to have a family. (Also includes Agents of SHIELD. AU starting one year before CA2. Major divergence begins after Age of Ultron.)

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man, and the Avengers are but a dream that is not my own.

When Lavi slid into a pair of waiting hands, he felt more disoriented than he could ever remember having been before. His head felt fuzzy, his chest ached like he couldn't breathe, and his skin felt too small.

He opened his mouth and tried to breathe, and instead he wailed, loud and strained.

What had happened? The last thing Lavi remember was- was fire. The CROW. Bookman. Bookman! His friends! And-

And Lavi should be dead. Could still feel the burning and the pain and the grief, and the darkness and the rage-

Lavi cried, scared and confused and distressed, like- like a newborn baby. Exactly like a newborn baby, handled in hands that were terrifyingly large, with light that was painfully bright burning through his eyelids – all of which just made him cry harder.

He squirmed jerkily, with nary a break in his cries, as slime and fluid he hadn't even noticed was washed off, and then as he was wrapped in a blanket, tight and soft. It petered out as he was handed over to someone who was panting slightly, and who took him and cradled him against her chest. At that point, Lavi had worn himself out enough to be forced to stop, both physically and emotionally wrung out.

He could feel tears cooling on his face, his chest ached from the effort of crying, and he really, really needed to open his eyes and see just how deep the shit was piled.

So he did.

With a puzzling amount of effort, Lavi pried his eyes open and looked.

The first thing he saw was a smile, and then the eyes it crinkled, and messy hair framing an exhaustion-lined face.

"Hello, Lavi," the woman said softly.

Lavi blinked at her in confusion, mind grinding temporarily to a halt before picking up twice as fast.

Okay. So Lavi- Lavi had died. He was sure of that. And now he was – appeared to be – a baby. There was a word for that. Reincarnation. So it was a thing. Or at least a theory, which clearly was a thing, since-

Lavi was confused.

"Would you like me to let Mr. Stark in, Mrs. Potts?" another voice asked, sounding tired but pleased.

"Can you keep him out?" the woman teased without taking her eyes off Lavi. Lavi kept his gaze on her, still scared and breathing a little heavily.

He couldn't see colors, and almost everything was blurry; even the woman's face was a little blurry. His hearing was muffled slightly, and the cloth wrapped lightly around him rubbed his skin uncomfortably.

"Not for much longer," the other replied; Lavi could almost hear the smile in her voice, but when he turned his head to look, he couldn't focus on her at all. It niggled at him unsettlingly – Lavi hated not being able to keep track of every aspect of a situation. It was bad enough that he still felt so unsure.

A moment later, Lavi heard the ka-thunk of a door, and then a man nearly threw himself in, already talking.

"Pepper! Are you okay? You're okay, right? And Tony Junior! Right?"

"We're not calling him Tony Junior," Pepper said sternly, and then her voice softened as she smiled. "And of course we're both alright. Here."

Lavi turned his head, nearly swimming in confusion and eyes starting to fill with tears again as his tiny newborn brain took the emotion and magnified it tenfold. He was transferred then from Pepper's grip to…

'Mr. Stark' had short, dark hair and a goatee, Lavi observed hesitantly. Unlike Pepper, he wasn't smiling, but his eyes were wide and his grip bordered on overcautious. He was staring like he couldn't believe Lavi was real, and Lavi wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Then he looked up, presumably at Pepper, and, slowly, grinned, wide and genuine and bright.

"He's perfect," he said, and then, "You're amazing, Pep."

Pepper laughed. "I'm exhausted, Tony," she corrected. "I must look terrible."

"Of course you're exhausted," Tony said instantly. "And if I looked as you do after two days without sleep, I would be a beautiful, beautiful man."

Pepper laughed again, a little less tired and a little more real. "Smooth talker."

"My specialty." Tony looked back down to Lavi, who blinked up at him, somewhat calmer more no less disoriented. The man grinned. "Hey, little buddy. Welcome to the party. It might be a little overwhelming at first, but trust me…" He glanced at Pepper, smile softening slightly. "It's worth it."

Lavi stared at him for a moment longer, and then let out a scratchy, dismayed croon, the most coherent sound he could manage.

Tony chuckled, and then reached down, and Lavi felt callused fingers pick up his thin forearm. "Doc say anything about these, Pep?"

"Not a word," Pepper said wearily, and Lavi felt her softer fingers beside Tony's, tracing over… Oh. That was Lavi's stigmata. Did he still have it? That was… Interesting was not the word. "It doesn't look natural, but…"

"Right," Tony agreed, quiet, and then deliberately perked up. "Never mind! We'll deal with it. If it's something we'll need to worry about, we'll find out."

Pepper 'hm'ed in agreement, and her fingers disappeared.

At some point, the doctor had left, and Lavi started reflexively as another voice rang out suddenly.

"He looks like Pepper. Good for him."

"Hey!" Jerked out of his trance, Tony looked up, laughing. "He looks a little like me, too!"

"I'm sure he can overcome that." While Tony protested indignantly, another head emerged into view – a man with short black hair and dark skin, a smile on his lips and laughter in his eyes. "So this is the little guy?"

"This is Lavi," Pepper agreed.

"He's cute," the man said offhandedly, offering Pepper a small but warm smile.

"Lavi." Tony looked down at Lavi, smiling again, while Lavi gazed back, starting to blink tiredly as the rush of events and his earlier tears came back to bite him. "This is your rude, rude Uncle Rhodey."

"You are such a hypocrite," Rhodey informed him, chuckling quietly. He glanced at Pepper. "You really had a kid with this guy?"

"Hey!"

Lavi bubbled, the best sound of amusement he could manage, and right on cue, everyone grinned.

"I question it too sometimes," Pepper confided, laughter in her voice. Then, more sincerely, "But there's no one I'd rather have a child with. Really."

Lavi could see Tony swelling with happiness. "Not even Agent?" he teased.

"Well." Pepper made a show of considering. "Maybe Phil."

Tony grinned, fully aware that she was joking, and looked at Rhodey, who was shaking his head at both of them. "Want to hold him, bunnybear?"

"Sure, why not?"

Lavi squirmed in discomfort as the world dipped and swayed dizzyingly while he changed hands again, and then, when he was settled against Rhodey's chest, he yawned.

Rhodey grinned at him, too, adjusting his grip for a few moments after Lavi was settled.

"That's not normal," he commented, picking up Lavi's wrist, same as Tony had earlier. "Any idea what's up?"

"Not yet," Tony admitted. "We'll figure it out."

Rhodey made a noise of agreement. "Sure you will. Can't leave it alone, can you?"

He glanced up at Tony with a small smile, and Tony grinned back and shrugged, and then busied himself with Pepper, who looked to be slipping off to sleep herself. That left Rhodey still holding Lavi, and, at least for the moment, with all his attention on the newborn boy.

"Hey, Lavi," Rhodey said quietly, though not too quiet for Tony to hear, if the man's glance was anything to go by. Lavi didn't think Rhodey had noticed, though. "I hope you become as great a man as your father someday." Another, smaller grin. "You've got some big shoes to fill, but if you're anything like your parents, you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed."

Lavi crooned again and wished he could talk. Wished he had a way of taking control of his situation.

"Oh, hey!" Here came Tony, bustling over as if he hadn't heard any of that. "Lavi, stay awake for a moment longer, alright?"

Lavi blinked at him and resigned himself to staying awake forever. As dreams went, he'd had worse.

If only this were a dream.

Tony tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?"

Lavi jumped slightly and looked around the best he could for the source of the voice, but it seemed to have none. The adults laughed again.

"Say hi to Lavi," Tony prompted, still chuckling.

"Hello, Master Lavi," the disembodied voice of JARVIS said. Lavi thought he heard a hint of warmth in there, though whether it was for him or Tony, he wasn't sure.

Lavi fell asleep then, still wondering, and surrounded by soft voices full of familiarity and happiness, and Lavi wondered if… If he'd stay here a while. If he'd like that.

The fourth time Lavi woke up, he was alone.

Well, not alone, exactly, but he couldn't see Tony and Pepper seemed to be asleep, which was as alone as he was likely to get.

The first few times, he'd woken because he was hungry, and Tony had been there with a bottle full of milk. Pepper was a constant presence in the room, but mostly she slept. Tony would feed Lavi, swathed in shadows, and then hold him, talking quietly about anything and everything, until Lavi fell asleep again. And Lavi listened.

Now that Lavi was alone, though, he could think.

He was dead. Lavi wasn't sure how to feel about that, since clearly, he wasn't dead, just in a completely screwball situation that he also wasn't sure how he felt about (though he was becoming less averse to the idea by the hour).

His friends were also dead, and no matter how much Lavi wasn't supposed to care, the thought made him miserable. Allen, warm-hearted and kind, was dead. Kanda, gruff and secretly caring, was dead. Lenalee, defiant and loving, was dead. All of them were dead.

And Bookman. God, Bookman – his friends meant a lot to him, but Bookman had raised him, had taken him from his first not-home and opened up a whole new path, let him be something he'd dreamed of before he'd even known there was a name for it. More, Bookman, he was sure, had cared for Lavi just as much as Lavi had for him, and Bookman had always been more strict about the rules than Lavi had.

Despite that, still, he had cared.

And now he was dead, too.

Then there was Lavi himself, stranded in an infant's body, in a place he couldn't begin to guess, among people he didn't know, who he'd now have to depend on for… everything. Survival and stability and comfort and… everything.

Before Lavi knew it, he was crying again.

It was too much. It was just too much, and Lavi usually had better control of himself than this but he just couldn't deal. He couldn't. He didn't even know where to start to try.

He hadn't been crying for a minute before a lullaby started to play, and Pepper, just visible in the blurry darkness, started to stir, even as Lavi's cries slowed slightly.

"Tony," she mumbled. "Lavi…"

The door opened, and Tony's voice came fast and soft.

"JARVIS, did I-?"

"You fed Lavi half an hour ago, Sir," JARVIS informed him, voice pitched low. Tony scooped Lavi up, and his cries quieted to hitching breaths and sniffles, though the misery didn't fade. "I believe he is in distress."

"Oh." Tony's voice softened slightly, and Pepper turned over.

"Everything okay, Tony?" she asked, exhaustion still dragging at her voice.

"Yep," Tony assured her. "I got this, don't worry 'bout it. Go back to sleep or the dream monsters'll eat you up."

"Do you make sense even to yourself?" Pepper mumbled, but she sounded amused. Lavi tipped his head into Tony's chest, feeling the warmth radiating from it, and let himself take what comfort that offered.

"Always," Tony swore, and Lavi felt him start to bounce and sway, probably urging Lavi back to sleep. (It was working.) "Night, Pep."

"Goodnight, Tony."

And then Pepper slumped back down, probably fading just as fast as she'd woken, and Lavi was left again with Tony.

The threat of tears lurked in the back of Lavi's mind, but Tony started to speak again, and he felt Tony's warmth and let himself be soothed.

"Have I told you about my other friends yet? You know what, I don't think I have. Bruce, see, he's the best science bro anyone could ask for, and he does this thing where he explodes into a giant green rage monster – makes him every little boy's favorite hero-"

When Lavi finally opened his eyes to the light of day, it was Pepper who picked him up out of the crib he laid in. She was smiling softly, eye alight with fondness, and she was gentle as she handled him. She still looked worn, but not as much as the day before, he decided, despite the slight lines of pain in her face.

"Good morning, Lavi," Pepper greeted, lifting him to rest against her chest. (She was warm, too.) "Time to face the day."

Lavi crooned and turned his head slightly as Pepper carried him out, down a hall and into another set of rooms. He was hungry, he noticed with some frustration. Again.

"Pepper!"

Ah, there Tony was. Lavi had been wondering.

"Tony," Pepper returned, smiling. She crossed the room, and- that was a kitchen, Lavi decided, but it wasn't any kitchen he'd ever seen before. Too much metal that was too shiny.

Lavi wondered, suddenly, if his location was a little more fucked up than he'd realized.

"Pepper." That was Rhodey, sounding wry and amused. "Good, you can help me keep your husband from catching the entire Tower on fire."

"Tony," Pepper repeated, now scolding.

"I didn't do anything!" Tony defended, and then, "How's Lavi? He's okay, right?"

"He's fine," Pepper assured him, sounding exasperated.

"And you?" Tony was looking at her intently now, brow furrowed. "You slept okay, right? I mean, that one time in the middle didn't mess everything up, right?"

"I'm fine," Pepper chuckled quietly, sitting down, still holding onto Lavi securely. "Plenty sore, and the less said about the cramps, the better, but fine. Settle down before you explode or set something on fire."

"I don't catch things on fire unless I'm trying to," Tony muttered sulkily, sitting down nonetheless. And then, at Pepper's look, he amended, "Usually."

Pepper rolled her eyes, and Lavi bubbled, which made both of them smile.

"Glad to see you up," Rhodey told Pepper, still out of Lavi's sight. "It'll get Tony's fool ass out of my way. How'd last night go?"

Pepper smiled ruefully. "Fine, for the most part. I still feel too tired to have had a full night's sleep, but Lavi's okay." She glanced down and bounced him slightly, and Lavi squeaked. She laughed, and Tony grinned, but rather quickly, her smile faded. "Tony- we're parents now."

"Yeah," Tony agreed eagerly, and then he caught her serious look, paused, and his grin faded, too. "…Oh."

"Oh," Rhodey repeated, sounding entirely too amused. He appeared then, and sat on Pepper's other side, sliding some food over to each of them. "You're just now realizing this?"

"Oh," Tony repeated emphatically, and there was a thunk. Lavi assumed that it was the sound of his head hitting the table. "We're parents. We have a baby. We're going to be taking care of a baby."

…Lavi was kind of agreeing with Rhodey here.

Rhodey's voice softened sympathetically. "Look, Tony, I know you're not that great about responsibility, and I know you haven't had the greatest role model – but I know you. You and Pepper, you'll do fine. Better than fine."

Tony made an agonized noise.

Pepper took a deep breath that Lavi could feel from his shoulders to his toes. "We can do this," she said, sounding not at all certain. "We can absolutely do this. If we can take care of a company and a city and a planet, we can take care of a child."

Lavi was not feeling real reassured, here.

"First step." And now Rhodey sounded like he was trying not to laugh again, even as he tried to sound confident and comforting. "It's been a few hours, right? JARVIS, does Tony have to feed the kid again?"

"Yes, Mr. Rhodes," JARVIS affirmed, and he sounded amused, too.

"Right!" Tony leapt to his feet with a sound Lavi could make out without even looking at him. "I'll get right on that. Right now. Pronto."

Above Lavi, Pepper sighed, and he felt her fingers in his hair.

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" Pepper wondered, sounding in equal parts fond and worried.

Lavi had no idea, but he hoped they worked something out. He was kind of counting on it.

Still, despite everything, despite Tony and Pepper's uncertainty – Lavi thought that this… might be okay.

A week after Lavi was born, Rhodey – who had been a constant presence from day one, keeping both Tony and Pepper on track and calm, and once or twice taking a 'shift' with Lavi – left.

"Thank you so much," Pepper told him sincerely, holding Lavi with much more confidence than she had the first day. "I don't know how we could have managed without you."

"No problem," Rhodey assured her. "I could hardly have left the two of you alone, now, could I? Tony would've been going a mile a minute, and even you couldn't have reined him in."

Tony made a disgruntled noise. "Hey, now," he complained halfheartedly. "Your words, honeybear, they hurt me."

"You'll get over it," Rhodey told him.

Pepper laughed. "Stay safe out there," she added. "We'll keep you updated, I promise."

"Thanks," Rhodey said, pleased. "I'd appreciate it."

"And really, Rhodey-" Tony put in, sounding suddenly more serious. "Thanks. Pepper's right, we couldn't have done this without you."

Rhodey's voice softened slightly, pitching a little lower. "Anytime."

Lavi would miss Rhodey, Lavi decided.

This place – the Tower, with its foreign and futuristic environment and its magnitude and its halls full of laughter and teasing – wasn't home, not by a long shot. But Lavi felt welcome, despite not being able to do much besides lay there and listen.

Rhodey had been as big a part of that as Tony and Pepper had, and Lavi was… grateful.

Now, Lavi supposed, it would be just them, him and Tony and Pepper and bodiless JARVIS in the tower, and this- this would be his future. Their future.

Silently, Lavi tested the titles 'Mom' and 'Dad' in his mind, and then decided, Not yet.

Still, not yet was not never, and Lavi was acutely aware of the difference.

Not yet.

And Lavi is born! Promised it'll be happening soon. By the way, I swear I haven't forgotten that the Avengers have issues too. But they (except for Bucky's) won't come up for quite some time. And I'm not very good at keeping them in mind anyway. *sigh* Oh, and I have reasoning for how this is happening, but it won't come up for forever, which is why I changed the summary. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!

Edited: 6/27/16

NOTICE: Major changes have been made during this round of revisions. Inconsistencies may appear in the future; most notably, several characters will not appear until these changes are made. This notice will be removed when all revisions are complete.