Chapter 36:Tony's Big Idea
When Pepper got back that night she found Tony in his office (not his lab.) Friday was projecting holograms in front of him. Tony was pulling some up then shrinking thme again. Several were thrown into his virtual trash can. Pepper walked in and swiped it all aside then sat down.
"Pepper that was important."
"It didn't look like a project for SI. It definitley wasn't a suit either. Are you building something new with Bruce?"
"It's not that type of project. What did you need?"
"I wanted to ask how the mission was."
"Fine. We didn't fine anything but we spent hours surveying. Friday kept picking up the signals and I couldn't find any glitches. How was your meeting? Peter told us that's why you called him in."
"It was the same as always. Is Peter still here?" Pepper asked.
"Yeah. He's in his room. We have a few other people staying the night as well."
"Who?" Pepper asked curiously.
"Thor, Jane and Darcy are back. They had a lot to say. I really reccomend you talk to Jane in the morning."
"When did they get back?" Pepper asked.
"A bit before we did."
"Is Vision still on their floor? It's probably getting pretty crowded there."
"This whole tower is. It was built for the Avengers and Harley with a few extra rooms. Stark Industries is still running well but I'm not sure this is the best base anymore. We have more people then we used to and I think even more might be on the way. We need more space to train and better amenities. Quinjets, labs and training space."
"So what are you thinking?"
"I was actually drafting ideas when you walked in. Looking at some properties, thinking about building more onto the tower, or anything I can think of."
"Let me see." Pepper pulled the holograms back up and started looking through them. She contemplated for a few minutes as Tony drummed a pen on the table. Pepper glared at him and he stopped only to start tapping his feet. He looked up as blankly as she dragged through the files. Then suddenly his eyes widened and a smile grew on his face.
"That's it!"
"What is?" Pepper asked confused.
Tony reached forward and pulled up a hologram. "This is a storage facility that belonged to my dad. With a little renovation it would be perfect. It's in upstate New York and no one would know we are there. Everyone would still think the tower is our base of operations but we would be there. I could go all out. This building could be all labs and a medbay. This one could be the training area. This whole area there can be made into living spaces. You, Harley and I would get our own space. Kate, Clint and Nat another. The twins, Vision and Darcy in a third. Then Bruce should probably get his own. Steve with Bucky. Sam with Rhodey. We could even have one for Peter and May!"
"Tony this is kind of insane. You'd relocate all of us? Clint and Natasha just got Kate comfortable. Harley can't leave school and neither could Peter. How would you be able to pull this off?"
"I'll figure it out. I think it would be better for everyone. We'd all have more space (though they had lots now). If we need to You, Harley and I could stay here so he can continue at school and you work. The Romanoff-Bartons might do the same. Peter would probably be here too, he has to patrol, this is his city after all. I think for weekends we could all be at the Facility. I really think this is the best thing for us."
"That might work out but you'd really need to discuss it with the team. That includes Darcy, Jane, Peter and May. You might even have to have a seperate conversation with Harley and Kate. It'll take a lot of work and discussion. You'll have a hard time keeping this from the public as well."
"It'll work Pep. I'll call May and Peter tomorrow and we'll have a meeting when it works for them. Get to bed I'm going to work on this for a while."
"Tony have the nightmares been coming back? You haven't been sleeping again."
"I'm fine Pep. I'll be in soon."
"Tony, how long?"
"Since Ultron."
"To bed now. F.R.I.D.A.Y, make sure this can't be opened up until at least 6 A.M.?"
"No, Pep!" Tony whined as she dragged him out of the room.
"I'm so happy you don't act like that in front of Harley or Peter. Bed, now!"
"Fine," Tony pouted before submitting to being dragged away to bed.
He woke up early the next morning not used to sleeping for that long. Pepper was still asleep and Tony slid out of bed carefully so as not to alert her. He headed to his office and started drafting plans until Harley came in to drag him out for lunch (because he had missed breakfast.) They sat down silently and snacked on something.
"Dad, why are you so quiet?"
"I'm thinking. I'm working on something big."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you soon. I need to straighten somethings out first."
Harley pouted and pulled out his puppy dog eyes. It didn't work. Tony had started to become immune between the amount of times that Peter and Harley used them added up together. Harley sighed and decided he would try to hack into his Dad's account later.
"I'm going back to my office. Can you do my favor kiddo?"
"I guess."
"Good. We're having a meeting later. I need you to keep Kate occupied. I'll reward you for babysitting."
"Why can't Peter do it?"
"Peter will be in the meeting too."
"That's not fair!"
"It is. Peter is older and May will be there too. She won't want to be there without Peter."
"Fine," Harley stomped away with his plate.
Tony sighed, he walked back to his office and pulled out his papers. "F.R.I.D.A.Y?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Check what time everyone in the tower is good for a meeting."
He looked through his papers for a good half hour before F.R.I.D.A.Y spoke again. Asking and scheduling with everyone in the tower took a while after all. "Sir? Everyone said that they would be fine to do it after dinner."
"Good. Have HR open the dining hall. Team Dinner tonight at 6:30, alert everyone. Tell Pepper to work out a menu and have Darcy help her get it organized."
"Very well sir. Would you like anything else?"
"Yes. What day of the week is it?" Tony asked.
"It's Saturday sir."
"Perfect. Call the Parker home phone."
A dial tone rang through out the office. "Hello?" answered a female voice.
"Mrs. Parker, it's Tony Stark."
"It's May, Mr. Stark. I'll go get Peter."
"Actually it's just Tony. I'd actually like to talk to both you and Peter."
"Hi Tony? It's Peter. I'm putting you on speaker so we can both hear you," Peter spoke.
"Can you both hear me?" Tony asked.
"It's working."
"Good," Tony replied. "I was wondering if you two could come to the Tower for dinner at 6:30. I'd like both of you to stay for a team meeting afterwards. It'd be pertinent to have you there as Peter's guardian May."
"Is he in trouble?"
"No, nothing like that. Just be here."
"See you Tony," Peter said and hung up.
Tony sighed and opened up the files again. The most important was the land deed. He also was looking at reports on the property to see what needed to be done. Before he knew it F.R.I.D.A.Y was telling him it was time for dinner.
Dinner was the same as any large team dinner. There was incessant amounts of chatter and laughter. Teasing all aroung. Natasha, May and Pepper were talking and discussing being parents. Peter was fooling around with Harley and Pietro. Wanda was talking happily to Clint who kept glancing everyfew minutes to look at Kate. Kate was on Steve's lap. He sat in between Sam and Thor whose hair Kate was braiding. Sam was talking to Darcy and getting jealous glances Bucky every few minutes as he Steve butted amicably in the conversation with Darcy and Sam. Jane engaged Bruce and Tony in conversation so they were distracted as well.
The food was gone with in a half hour and they stayed there for another hour just talking. Finally Tony spoke up. "I think it's time we start that meeting. If you guys want to clean this up while I get the papers and files, that would be fine."
"Gives me enough time to put her in bed too," Natasha took a sleeping Kate from sleeps arms.
"Yeah, Harley follow me. You'll stay on the same floor as Kate. No lab but you can use the TV or tablets," Tony said looking at the pouting Harley until he got up.
"I'm not babysitting them again?" Peter asked confused.
"No, I need you to be in this meeting. You all have 15 minutes! Go!" Tony yelled and chased Harley out. Natasha sighed and followed carrying Kate out too. The others exchanged looks and started cleaning up.
Finally they were all sitting around the empty table again. It was quiet until Steve spoke. "What exactly did you call this meeting for?"
"I realized when Thor came back that the Tower is getting a bit crowded. There's still room but the Avenger's need more. I have a feeling that the teams going to keep expanding. We're more than a team now, with six people who can just live in a tower. We're a family, a community, who need a town."
"Tony what exactly are you proposing?" Natasha asked.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y pull up the specs of the facility. This is an old SI property. It's in Northern New York. There's enough space here to be a small town."
"So we'd move away from the tower just like that?" Bruce asked.
"We'll still be here publicly but right now we're in a huge target. This building here would be the training facility, the lab, dining hall/commons and medbay. Jane and Bruce should get their own personal labs."
"That sounds nice," Jane mused.
"The surrounding buildings/area would be homes. People will have to share but it work well," Tony finished.
"So why am I here? I'm obviously not moving to the facility," Peter said.
"No, you're not. You have school and so does Harley. Pepper is still in charge of SI so she needs to be here too. Therefore we'll be living here during the week and during the week you can join us and Harley by coming up to the facility. If Clint and Natasha want to do the same so Kate can continue with her plan to attend Midtown with Harley and Peter."
"That doesn't sound bad. Clint?" Natasha said.
"I think it could work. Three homes though?" Clint asked.
"I don't think the apartment is necessary anymore. We can sell it. We can lease Kate's penthouse too," Natasha said.
"Great! Peter? May? Thoughts?" Tony asked.
"I guess it could work. I'd be staying home and finishing school but I'll get to train with the Avenger's and learn more about science at the facility."
"If it'll make you happy. I'm just hesistant about letting you go anymore than I have too," May said.
"I doubt it'll be every weekend," Peter said. "I'll be home all week too."
"Yes," Pepper agreed. "You aren't excluded from this May. If Peter comes to the facility you would too. You two could probably have your own place there."
"Thank you Ms. Potts, I'm just not sure I could leave my home. It'll be good for Peter though. I trust his decisions and I know that you all want the best for him just as much as I do," May Parker said.
"Of course Ms. Parker," Steve said. "This team would not be the same without Peter. We'd miss him a lot if this didn't work out."
"What did you mean by expanding?" Thor asked.
"I think it's already started happening," Bruce answered. "It was just the six of us. Then Rhodey and Sam joined. Then Peter. Then Vision, Wanda and Pietro. Finally we got Bucky. I have a feeling we're due for some new members soon."
"It would be in upstate New York?" Pietro asked.
"Yes. Why?" Pepper replied.
"No reason," Wanda said glaring at her brother. She knew he missed those he was still friends with at the School for Youngsters but the others need not know.
"Thanks for the offer Tony. I'll have to check what my next assignment is. You're not getting rid of me," Rhodey said.
"We wouldn't want to Platypus. Vision, Bucky I haven't heard anything from you any thoughts?"
"I do not require things. I shall go where the other Avengers do," Vision said looking at Wanda. The witch blushed and her brother glared at him.
Bucky shrugged. "It's okay with Steve, it's okay with me."
"I'll expect roommate requests from all of you soon. Darcy I want you to organize that and make sure no one is unhappy," Tony demanded.
"I'm the expert Avenger Wrangler. It'll be easy," Darcy oozed confidence on the matter.
"I'll start the work as soon as possible for the actual construction. Natasha, Clint? We're going to explain to Harley soon and you might want to do the same."
"We'll discuss it," Natasha said. "Do you have any ideas for these new recruits?"
"I'm looking into some reports from Hell's Kitchen but until then we'll wait for them to announce themselves like we did." Tony smiled brightly, "All of you get ready for your last few months in the tower!"