Hey everyone! So I got carried away, which means this chapter's been split in half! Part 2 coming up soon!

In which: tony stark is a soft dad for his whole team

Without further ado...


TOW the French Alps (1)

Tony was thrilled. He was really, really, really excited. He's been planning this surprise for months. It was finally happening.

That morning, as Natasha and Clint argued over who should get the final muffin, he received a call from his lead architect, proudly announcing to him that the Project Alps was finally done.

He practically jumped in place like a maniac for a full minute, which got him looks from everyone and an exasperated 'told you we should've thrown him in an asylum when we had the chance' from Romanoff. Nice, super nice, Nat.

Grumbling about how he thought they were the best team ever and how wrong he was, he sauntered down to his lab, booked his favorite private jet, cleared his schedule, and prepared himself to call Nick Fury to announce to him that he wanted to take the whole team on a much-needed vacation.

They had just finished a very difficult mission that left them with a lot of injuries. They damn well deserved a weekend off.

The Director agreed reluctantly and got invited to join them, to which he agreed less reluctantly. Maria Hill was as welcome as he was.

He admitted that he did need some rest and that Maria has been working nonstop for a few months now.

That got Tony even more excited. He gets to spoil his team and their bosses? Two birds, one stone!

He also told Pepper that their plan worked out perfectly, and she was as excited as he was. She then proceeded to pack three suitcases full of clothes. Women

During the afternoon, after working out a few things, like who would watch over New York and the world –and Natasha's cat. He had to hire a catsitter- while they were gone, he called for an Assembly in the family room.

When he walked in, he found everyone there, without fail.

Steve, Bruce, Thor, and Peter were playing Mario Kart on the Switch, Peter winning, of course. Clint was sprawled on the sofa, eating a bag of chips, and Natasha was sprawled on top of him, reading A Song of Ice and Fire.

He gave them a long look, to which Clint responded with a shrug, and Natasha with a "he didn't want to make room for me", followed by another shrug from Clint.

He cleared his throat, and his face stretched into an easy grin. He looked very relaxed and so Tony-like, except for the mischievous glint glowing in his eyes.

"I have excellent news, everyone."

The four Avengers playing Mario Kart didn't even seem to hear him, but Natasha and Clint did sit up straighter, Natasha finally getting some room to herself on the couch. She got up from atop Clint and settled comfortably in the corner of the sofa, her legs folded underneath her.

"Guys," he repeated, looking pointedly at the competing men-children.

"Give them a minute, the race is almost over," Clint laughed, cheering Peter on.

After a few seconds, a scream of victory was heard from the teenager, as his character did a little happy dance on the screen.

"HAH! Told you I was the King of Mario Kart!" He high-fived Clint and grinned at the three sulking men.

"You remain undefeated young Spider. That is truly remarkable," Thor conceded, then looked up and finally noticed Tony, who was angrily tapping his foot to the ground. "Man of Iron! It is good to see you. How long have you been watching this glorious race to victory?"

"Too long," Tony muttered, massaging his forehead. "Guys, I have awesome news to tell you."

When he was sure he had everyone's undivided attention, he grinned. "A few months ago, I had this genius idea, and it's finally happening. So, you know how we were all complaining about needing a vacation?"

At their bitter grumbles and nods, his smile brightened. "Well, I… built us a villa in the French Alps! It'll be an Avengers Vacation House! And… we're going up there tomorrow to spend the weekend! Pack your bags, Heroes! Our well-deserved vacation is finally here!"

When he saw the smiles slowly growing on their faces, and heard Peter's excited shriek, he knew that it was all worth it.

"Mr. Stark, you're awesome!" Peter screamed and hugged him tightly, then ran off to his room, yelling "I'M GONNA PACK MY BAGS!"

"Tony, you didn't have to do that," Steve pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"But I wanted to, Cap. I have the means to spoil my team if I want to. So, yeah, why the hell not?"

"Wait, what about our job?" Natasha, ever the voice of reason, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I talked to Fury, and he said that we all deserve a vacation and that he wanted to come along because he damn well deserves one too. I also invited Hill."

"Holy shit," Clint whispered, then looked at Natasha in the eyes. "A vacation."

"A vacation."

"Fuck yes."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"… What about now?"

"No."

"… And now?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, will you shut up Clinton Francis Barton?!"

Natasha had finally had enough. That was it. That was as much as she could take. Clint has always been a very patient man- he was a sniper, after all, but the excitement of their first vacation in about ten years was making him an unbearable, annoying bubble of energy.

They were in charge of manning the jet since they were too proud to let a civilian pilot do it for them. In retrospect, Natasha should've swallowed her pride, took a couple of Xanax pills, and slept through the whole flight. Anything to avoid Clint's incessant nagging.

"Here, why don't you fly it for a while, I want to stretch my legs," Natasha suggested with a bit of desperation in her voice, which totally went over Clint's head.

"Anything you want, Tasha!" He exclaimed with a smile, and Natasha returned it tiredly.

She got up from her seat and stretched, letting Clint take over the commands.

She sighed happily when he finally shut up. Clint loved flying, and he always took it very seriously when he's given command of a Quinjet. Natasha didn't know why she didn't let him fly it sooner.

'Finally some fucking peace and quiet,' she thought, settling in the co-pilot's chair, folding her legs underneath her. If she could catch a few minutes of sleep, it would be just grand. And with Clint silent and focused beside her, she could finally do just that.

As soon as she closed her eyes though, a knock sounded at the cockpit's door.

It opened a second later, and Peter poked his head inside the control room.

Natasha groaned and turned to look at the sheepish boy.

"What is it, Spidey?"

"Are we there yet?"

Oh for fuck's sake.

After six more hours of flying, they finally landed on French soil. The Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport was big, not as big as Charles de Gaulle, but still pretty impressive.

A sleek black limo was waiting for them outside, and after 10+ hours of flying and approximately 2 and a half hours of driving, they were standing in front of a gigantic villa, with the Avengers' A plastered on its front.

"That's… Wow. Tony, you really shouldn't have-" Bruce started, but was immediately interrupted by a confident billionaire.

"Nonsense. Now, let's go in! It's fucking freezing out here."

They went inside, taking in the modern, chic decor, the huge, brick fireplace, the glistening kitchen that was open to the living room, and the spiral stairwell that led to a second, and third floor.

"Everyone has their own room, of course," Tony rambled on, gesturing towards the stairs, "your names are written on your doors. Each room's been fitted to serve your needs. For example, Bruce, your anti-anxiety meds are in the cabinet above the sink in your bathroom. Nat, you'll find a library full of Russian books in yours. I'll let the rest of you figure out your surprises. Also, the skiing gear is in the garage, along with Ski-doos, of course, and snowboards for those who prefer those."

Everyone stood speechless in front of the very proud billionaire.

"Mr. Stark, I'm gonna hug you now," Peter announced and threw himself in Tony's arms.

"GROUP HUG!" Clint screamed and joined in, soon followed by Thor, Steve, Bruce, Pepper, and a reluctant and disgusted Maria Hill.

"Come on, Tasha," Clint gestured for her to approach, but she shook her head, a nervous expression on her face.

"I'll just- uh, change," she stuttered and bolted upstairs.

The atmosphere darkened a bit, and the group detangled themselves from each other's arms to look at the now deserted staircase.

"Damn it, Tasha, when will you learn to let us in," Clint muttered, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"She's a spy, Agent Barton. It's never easy for us to let people in," THE spy himself, Nick Fury, who was rummaging through the fridge, replied in a soft voice.

He found what he was looking for, which was apparently a carton of milk, and poured himself a glass.

"CAN WE GO SKIING?!" Peter suddenly screeched, positively breaking the comfortable silence that settled for a while. The Avengers were all sitting in the kitchen with the Director and his right hand, drinking milk and eating cookies like children.

Apparently, Tony had someone come over the day before, to clean the house and load the fridge with junk food and all the ingredients they would need to cook themselves something good.

The nearest town was 30 minutes by car, so going there every time they needed to eat was certainly not convenient.

"You don't even know how to ski," Steve reasoned, making Peter frown.

"But-"

"I can teach you," Natasha's voice rang from atop the staircase. She had changed into her snow gear. It was obvious that she was ready for some action. "I'm going out there for a few hours anyway."

Peter whispered a "yes!", raising his fist in the air, and hopped from where he was sitting, practically flying through the living room and up the stairs.

Natasha chuckled -she found him too damn cute- and made her way down.

Clint handed her a cookie, relieved to see that she wasn't as uncomfortable as she appeared to be when they first arrived.

"I thought snowboards were more your thing?" He asked teasingly, which got him a laugh in response.

He was glad he could elicit that kind of reaction from her.

"They are, so that's what I'm teaching him. I can't imagine anyone else doing it. No offense guys, but nobody's spent as much time in the snow as I have," she explained, sitting down beside the archer, and giving him a small smile that the team knew was only reserved for him.

Sometimes they were downright fucking jealous. She was their Natasha too. They deserved cute smiles and hugs.

It took Peter 2 minutes to gear up -he chose a snowboard partly because he thought it was cool, but mainly because Natasha preferred it over skis, and he wanted to be like his spider mom- and an extra minute to say goodbye to each individual member of the team, before he headed out in the snow with Natasha.

Tony built this house far away from civilization, that much was obvious, Natasha thought while looking around her. Everything she could see was white- white hills, white slopes, white trees.

"Where do we start?" Peter asked excitedly, jumping in place.

Natasha smiled at his enthusiasm. She's never seen someone so happy to be with her and learn something from her- Clint's an exception, of course. He's always her exception.

"Why don't you just watch and learn?" Natasha suggested with a smirk, as she got into position, and slid down the hill closest to their house.

Peter watched her in amazement as she dodged a couple of tree stumps and actually jumped over a rock. She was moving gracefully like she was always meant to be in the snow. Like she was a part of it and it was a part of her. Seeing her somersault in the air and dodge a final log of wood made him feel a fraction of the exhilaration Nat was feeling at the moment.

It's been a while since she felt that free. A long, long while. Her job was always occupying her, her missions were always stressing her, and her trainees always seemed to want to fuck with her. She felt trapped in her own life, and even if momentary, this felt like a much-needed escape.

Natasha came to a skidding stop at the foot of the hill, making Peter snap out of his reverie. He looked at his board, then at her and nodded. Yeah, that seemed easy enough.

She looked up at Peter with a beam.

"You liked that?"

"Are you kidding?! I loved it! Wait for me!"

He ran down the hill like the devil was on his heels, and arrived in front of Nat breathless, but still smiling.

"Okay, how do I do that?"

Natasha smiled at him and gestured to his board. "Start by not hugging it and actually getting on it."

The lesson went on for a few hours. They unconsciously drifted away from the mansion in their excitement and ended up a few miles into the wild of the Alps. Neither noticed until the horizon started coloring itself with orange and pink hues.

Natasha looked up at the sky in alarm. Damn, she didn't even feel the time fly by.

Peter noticed her stop and looked up as well, paling considerably.

"Nat… Do you remember where the house is?" He asked cautiously, his eyes darting around him in fear. "Something isn't right," he muttered under his breath, feeling goosebumps appear on his arms.

Something was making his Spidey-senses go haywire.

Natasha was about to answer him that he shouldn't worry, even though she, in fact, didn't remember where the house was, when a loud howling echoed from the depth of the forest a few feet to their right.

"We got them where we want them, now what?"

"If the wolves don't do the job, then the bears will."


Oof, cliffhanger. Not even gonna give you a "Next up".

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