Chapter Six

The flight back to New York seemed stressful and long to Tony, he was only grateful for the fact that Natasha and Wanda managed to keep Ivy entertained for the journey home. It hadn't been easy, but Tony had managed to convinced Ross to let the Avengers go free.

General Ross hadn't been happy with the situation, but as it had turned out there were not many people that were happy with Ross at the moment because the Avengers had left any way by their own free will, so it was clear that Ross hadn't had much power to begin with.

Apparently, the Avengers had gotten scotch free and thanks to T'Challa's help they had managed to get an undercover HYDRA agent and sent him off to prison. They only had to pay for the damages which Tony was happy to do if it meant that he would be left alone.

Now the Avengers seemed to be more calm about the situation and less angry with him for the moment. Thankfully, they weren't the kind to dish out apologies or hugs, Tony guessed they accepted his apologies when he offered a place back at the Tower and they had accepted.

Scott had returned back home and Clint had stayed with his family. Currently, on board the Quintjet were Natasha, Steve, Wanda, Vision, and Sam and were on route back to New York. Ivy had fallen asleep and was currently curled up in Wanda's arms and Wanda was whispering to Natasha and Vision short stories about her and Pietro's' childhood.

Meanwhile, Tony had turned on the TV and had been greeted with chaos. He rolled his eyes at the tiny television screen in front of him where a red headed reporter was giving out the biggest news in celebrity scandal. "Yes, you heard right," the perky red head said on screen. "Billionaire Tony Stark otherwise known as Iron Man has been known to have love affairs with many different women from around the world. But it seems the world class billionaire is hearing baby rattles instead of wedding bells. Many people thought that Tony Stark would end up marrying former CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Potts. But when Potts and Stark broke up many doubted that Tony Stark would ever marry. Our sources tell us that Tony Stark has just known that he has an illegitimate baby who is five months under the name of Ivy Colette Stark. No word of the mother yet, but Tony Stark despite popular beliefs is not shirking down on his responsibilities. He has taken in the baby while her mother has left him and is currently spending the weekend with family friends. Meanwhile in the music industry of the world- "

Tony shut down the TV and rubbed his temples. Well, it looked like the media had caught wind of the fact that he had Ivy. Who knew how they had gotten private information, but when he found out who did it, he was going to sue everyone.

"Bad news?" Steve said as he sat in the seat besides Tony. Things were still a little awkward between them, but it seemed that they had a mutual agreement, that neither of them were going to talk about what had happen a few months prior.

"No worse than usual," Tony said flatly. "But it seems the vultures are ready to start picking things apart and adding lies. This is the main reason why I didn't want to have a kid in the first place."

"Well, you have a kid now." Steve said looking at the empty television screen. "An Ivy is just a baby. I'm sure the media will leave her alone."

Tony snorted and said not unkindly. "That is now how the media works, Rogers. They love to pick and take things, they don't care who gets hurt in the process."

Steve looked back at him with pity. "Any word from the mother?"

"None, it's like Lina disappeared from thin air. I told Fury about her and he told me that he was going to call back if he found anything, but from what he sees, Carolina it's probably one of those hippie travelers that sing naked under the stars."

"Well, you should enjoy being with her while you look for her mother," Steve said as he looked back at her. "She's a sweet baby and she seems to be a calming pill on all of us. I know it's scary, but you're going to be good father, Tony."

Tony snorted. "You and my dad, obviously didn't spent enough time together Rogers, he wouldn't have won any father awards any time soon. But my mother. . .my mother was great. She was a wonderful woman. She taught me to play the piano."

"I didn't know that. Do you still play?"

"No. I haven't played the piano for a long time."

Tony was relieved that when the limo dropped them off Ivy was still asleep and she was currently curled up against his neck still smelling fresh of baby powder. "It's nice to be home isn't it." Vision said looking slightly at Wanda.

Wanda smiled. "It really is."

They stepped in and Friday greeted them. "Good evening sir, fellow Avengers. Welcome home, Sir, you have a visitor. Dr. Bruce Banner is waiting for you in the living room. He is most anxious to see you."

The avengers exchanged looks and practically raced towards the living room. They saw a tired looking Bruce Banner waiting for them. "Tony, finally- "he looked back stunned when he saw the rest of the Avengers. "Hi, guys wow, I wasn't expecting you."

"Neither were we," Steve said. "So you decided to come out of hiding."

Bruce hesitated. "I wasn't hiding, ok maybe I was. But can you blame me after the whole Ultron mess and then I find out you guys are fighting for the stupidest reasons and if that wasn't enough I find out that Tony has been hiding a baby."

Tony looked up at him. "In my defense I didn't even know Ivy existed. Where were you Banner?"

"We can talk later," Natasha said. "Come on, Bruce. I'll led you to your room. You must be exhausted."

Tony patted his hand on his shoulder. "It's good to have you back, buddy."

"Ivy, come on be a sport and stop squirming everywhere," Tony said as he sighed back in disappointed at the squirming baby that was currently on his bed. He had managed to clean her right and was now trying to put the diaper on like Laura had told him, but he was having the worse luck. "Ivy- "

"Need help?" Wanda said as she looked from the corner of the room.

"If you wouldn't mind, she likes moving around everywhere." Wanda didn't answer as she rapidly placed the diaper on Ivy.

"Wow, you're a natural."

"Just instinct. A lot of my neighbors had babies, so practice I guess."

Tony hesitated remembering how Wanda had basically been tied up and tortured by Ross and his gang. "Wanda, about what happened at the-the place where Ross took you."

"Don't," Wanda said sharply. "It happened, I don't want to talk about it."

Tony nodded, awkwardly not sure how to continue. "Well, just know it won't happened again."

Wanda nodded. "Good. Tomorrow let go to Ikea or something to get furniture for Ivy."

-End of Chapter Six-