A/N: Chapter the next. Hi :)
As Pepper's due date approached, the nurseries in both the Tower and the facility were finished. All the members of the team were happy to paint the walls, arrange the furniture, put up the decorations, stock the cabinets with millions of diapers...
"All right, I'm here, what's up?" Tony demanded, swaggering into the common room at the Tower.
Clint, Diana, Pepper, and surprisingly, a roly-poly Nate were waiting for him on the couch. Diana had the toddler in her lap and she was making faces at him as he giggled.
Tony paused uncertainly. "Is this an intervention?" he asked cautiously.
Pepper rolled her eyes. "Not everything is an intervention. Why, Tony, do you need one?"
"No, no," he said hastily. "What's up?" He sat next to Diana, and cringed away from Nate's slightly slobbery hands.
"That. Right there." Clint pointed at Tony.
"What?" the billionaire asked, bewildered.
"You've got to hold the baby, when it's born, Stark," Clint said patiently. "Parent-child bonds start mainly with touch. And you're going to have to deal with diapers, and spit-up, and slobber, and boogers, and anything else that comes out of a tiny ball of human."
Tony looked slightly green. "I don't know if I can do this."
Diana held out Nate. "Just hold him."
"I don't like being handed things," he retorted, inching back on the couch. But he caught sight of Pepper's expression, and realized that he couldn't, he could not, do this with his own child. It wasn't fair to Pepper, or the baby, or even himself, and he was just going to have to suck it up. "Okay," he said, closing his eyes and holding his arms out stiffly, "give it."
Diana laughed, and plopped the child into his lap.
His arms clasped around Nate frantically. "Um..."
"You're fine, Tony," Clint said calmly.
Nate squirmed and turned around to pull at Tony's shirt. "Bah," he said plaintively.
Tony glanced at the other adults. "I don't understand what he wants," he said, equally plaintively.
Pepper merely smiled. "You'll figure it out, Tony." She levered herself to her feet with Clint's help, and shuffled out. "I'm going back to bed."
Clint checked his watch. "I've got a thing with Natasha. Diana, you got this?"
"Yep." Diana waved her soulmate out the door, and stood up.
Tony grabbed at her shirt hem. "Diana wait. Where are you going?! Don't leave me alone with a child! Do you know what could happen!"
She rolled her eyes. "Tony, I'm going to go make Nate a snack. You and him are going to stay here, in the living room, twenty feet away. If you want, sit on the floor with him. That way you won't drop him. I'll be two seconds away, and you'll be fine. Just relax. You're not going to break him." She ruffled Nate's little mop of hair, handed him an action figure of Iron Man, ruffled Tony's hair, and walked into the kitchen.
Nate promptly put the Iron Man figurine into his mouth.
"No no," Tony said, gently pulling the helmet from his mouth. "This is for playing, not eating."
Nate frowned up at him.
"Like this," Tony said, making the action figure fly. "Whoosh. See? Too bad there's no repulsors in this thing. That'd be cool. Although not safe. Very not safe. Don't play with repulsors." He made the little superhero whoosh back through the air.
Nate was amused by this, and scrabbled for the figure. "Whoooooosh," he said, in imitation.
Tony smiled. "Just like that, bud."
Nate whooshed the Iron Man figure back into his mouth.
Tony face-palmed. "I really hope this is a phase," he said. "If you grow up sticking your dad's arrows into your mouth, you're going to have a problem."
Diana, coming back from the kitchen, laughed at Tony's comment. "It's just a phase," she assured him, replacing the Iron Man figure with a piece of banana. "Your kid's going to be just the same."
Tony sighed.
"All right, put him on the floor and he can have his Cheerios," Diana instructed.
Tony gingerly settled him on the floor and watched interestedly as Nate demolished the Cheerios with the single-mindedness of the Hulk. "That's awesome," he said.
Nate held up a grubby fistful of Cheerios, offering them to Tony with a gap-toothed smile. "Um?" he asked.
Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, no thanks. I'm okay."
Nate pouted. He pulled out the puppy eyes and the sad face and even a couple tears in the corner of his eyes.
Tony's resistance melted and he took one of the grubby Cheerios. "Yum," he said enthusiastically.
Diana smiled, and accepted her own Cheerio offering. "Thank you Nate," she said solemnly.
Nate leaned against Tony's thigh, and started to line the Cheerios on his leg, humming and muttering to himself contentedly.
Tony watched him curiously for a while, and brought a gentle hand down to rest on Nate's soft hair. He carded his fingers through his hair and smiled when Nate cooed at him.
Diana took a picture of them and sent it to Pepper and Clint. "So far so good," she said.
Clint came by to get Nate an hour or so later, and he found Tony laying on the floor, Nate sitting on his stomach, and they were looking at holographic schematics in the air. Diana was sitting off to the side with a tablet and an earpiece, talking in slightly accented French. She waved at Clint and gave him a thumbs-up.
Clint sat down next to Tony on the floor. "How's it going, Nate? You keeping an eye on this guy?"
Nate smiled and pointed at the holograms. "Da. Maf."
"Did he just say math?" Clint asked, astonished.
Tony smirked smugly. "Your kid inherited your genius with vectors, Clint. I just taught him the words."
Clint smiled. "Well, it's time for this little guy to have a nap, so..."
Tony sat up and let Nate go to his father. "It was fun, little man. Maybe when my baby's born the two of you will be friends."
Clint smiled. "Say bye-bye to Tony, Nate."
Nate waved a hand. "Bye Ony." He waved all the way out of the living room.
Diana finished up her call to the French government and told Tony, "You're going to be a great dad."
Tony ran his fingers through his hair and came away with a piece of Cheerio. "You think so?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Diana smiled. "I know so." She came to sit next to him. "When you and Pepper have the baby, it's going to be fine."
"But newborns are so small," Tony fretted.
She leaned against his shoulder. "Tony. Everything's going to be fine. you've gone to the classes with Pepper, you survived a toddler, you survived the bodily fluids, everything's going to be fine." She smiled. "Only a couple more weeks, and you can see for yourself."
Tony groaned and put his hands on his face. "Two weeks," he said. "D-day is in two weeks."
"You can't call it D-Day," she said patiently.
"Yes I can."
The next two weeks were strange. Diana spent more time with Pepper than her office, and Darcy spent more time herding Tony in and out of his office. "I want hazard pay," Darcy grouched, on the phone with Diana even though they were only three floors apart. She was with Tony in the lab, and her boss was with Pepper in the penthouse. "Tony just tried to explode us so he wouldn't have to leave the lab."
"I did not!"
"Yeah, you did," Darcy shot back. "Sign this." There was a scuffle.
Diana laughed and turned down the volume. "All right, well, a few more days and it'll be over. Remind Tony that technically he's already on his paternity leave and that he won't get any sleep for the next three years so he'd better take a nap."
"Yeah I don't think that's going to fly," Darcy said, laughing. "Was that all, boss?"
"Yep, that was it." Diana smirked. "See you later." She hung up.
There was a sudden crack of thunder. Pepper woke up from her impromptu doze and sat up. "Is it going to storm?" she asked drowsily.
Diana went to the window. "Nope, it's still clear out." She smiled and turned to the door. "I think we have a visitor."
A moment later Thor swaggered through the door. "I bring greetings from Asgard," he said, coming over to hug Diana and twirl her off her feet. "Loki sends a hug."
She smiled and hugged him back tightly. "Thank you. I'm so glad you came to visit."
"I could not be absent when our dear friends are expecting their first child." Thor turned to Pepper and very, very gently gave her a hug. "How do you feel, Pepper?"
"As well as can be, I think," Pepper replied, "even if I feel like a whale."
Thor smiled. "You are bringing a life into this world, Lady Pepper," he said solemnly. "It is not the external shape that matters, but the strength of your spirit."
Pepper's eyes filled with tears. "That's beautiful, Thor."
He smiled, and helped her sit down again, carefully elevating her feet.
"So how's Asgard?" Diana asked, beckoning Thor over to her desk-corner once Pepper got involved in a talk show.
"Asgard is fine. Sif sends her greetings as well." Thor sighed.
"But?" Diana pressed gently.
"But there is something brewing on another world," Thor said grimly. "A few of my warriors have heard that several interested parties are after the Mind stone. We need to alert the Avengers, and Vision."
Diana nodded briskly. "FRIDAY, get Darcy up here to keep an eye on Pepper. Tell Tony to meet us on the roof. Tell Cap we're on our way to the facility, and don't let Vision out of his sight."
"Yes Mrs. Rogers," FRIDAY replied calmly.
A klaxon started to go off.
"What is that?" Pepper asked, alarmed.
"Dr. Foster's advance warning system has gotten a hit," FRIDAY reported, her tone anxious. "It appears to be the forward wash of at least two hyperspace tunnels."
Diana groaned. "Recall the Avengers. Lockdown the Tower. Thor, Iron Man, suit up!" She looked at Pepper. "We've got to get you back to the Avengers Facility."
"You as well," Thor said urgently.
Tony came bursting through the common room door. "We've got incoming!" he announced, his latest Iron Man suit forming around him. "Pepper, Diana, Darcy, get to a quinjet!"
Almost before Diana could blink, all essential civilians and personnel were on their way to the Avengers Facility and its state-of-the-art bunker.
They saw the Avengers' quinjet flying in the opposite direction, and the draft from both jets made the quinjet shudder.
Pepper grabbed Diana's hand tightly. "I can't believe this is happening again," she murmured.
"Everything's going to be fine," Diana assured her.
Pepper shook her head worriedly. "The last time there was aliens in space, Tony almost died," she said.
Diana squeezed her hand. "It's going to be fine," she said. "He knows what's waiting for him at home, and the team won't let him get hurt. You know that, Pepper."
Pepper nodded, took a deep breath to calm down, and then gasped.
"What?" Diana asked worriedly.
Pepper pressed a hand to her lower back. "I think I'm having contractions."
Darcy, on the other side of the quinjet, shook her head, her face suddenly white. "Nope. Nope, you are not having contractions on a quinjet above New York. Not gonna happen. It's just stress, that's all."
"I think you might be right," Pepper said, rubbing her back again. "This feels more like muscle twinges."
Diana rubbed at her friend's back lightly. "Just relax, Pepper. We're almost to the facility, and your doctor and the midwife are going to be there, and we can make sure everything is going to be fine. Just relax."
Pepper nodded, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing.
They made it to the Avengers Facility just fine, and Diana went with Pepper to the Medical Ward while Darcy went to be briefed by Hill.
"Yep, they're contractions," the doctor said cheerfully.
Pepper literally whimpered. "Now?" she said, shaking her head. "No, no, no, I am not going to be the cliché wife of a main character that goes into labor when there's an important battle going on. I won't."
Diana pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. "I think you've been hanging out with Deadpool too much, Pep."
"Who?"
"Never mind." Diana rubbed at Pepper's back lightly. "Everything's going to be fine, Pep. I'm here, I'm not going to leave you, okay?"
Pepper shook her head. "I think I'll be fine for a while, right doc?"
"Right. She's still in the early stages of labor, Mrs. Rogers, we might be here for a while."
Diana frowned, and then saw Darcy waving at her frantically in the corner. "Okay. I'll be back in a bit." She left the med ward and met Darcy in the hallway. "Sit rep?"
"Not good." Darcy threw a holo screen up on the wall. "Jane's net is tracking two spaceship signatures, and they're settling into orbit around the planet. We're tracking their scans, and they're looking for power sources."
"They can track the Mind stone?" Diana asked worriedly.
"It looks like it, yeah. Thank goodness Thor got here in time. We're going to need the muscle. The Avengers, and Vision, are moving out of the populated area and, they need permission to go into Canada."
Diana smiled. "Call the ambassador and I'll get it."
The ambassador was not happy about possible alien battles being fought in the wilds of Canada, but would rather have that than downtown New York or Niagara Falls. So she gave the Avengers permission to deal with the possible alien invasions in Canada. And just in time, too, as two minutes later the Avengers crossed the border.
Diana kept a screen with her at all times, and kept a comm in her ear to listen to the Avengers channel. But until something actually happened, Darcy could handle the UN, and Diana's place was with her soulmate's soulmate. Which made Pepper her soulmate once removed, which made her... "FRIDAY, coffee," she said aloud. "I need coffee." It was only ten in the morning, but it was going to be a long, long day...
By ten at night, Pepper was still walking the halls of the Med Ward, sweating and panting and gripping Diana's hand when a contraction came. The spaceships were hovering in geostationary orbit above North America, still scanning for the Mind stone. They were sweeping closer and closer to Canada.
Tony and Bruce, and Vision, were working on shielding the Mind stone as best they could, and Steve was working with the rest of the Avengers and SHIELD on prepping defenses. Tony was also asking for updates on Pepper every half hour. Diana made FRIDAY do it, as she was focusing on helping Pepper breathe.
"Okay," Pepper said, after she'd nearly squeezed the life out of Diana's hand, "I think it's really close. That was really, really strong."
"Okay," Diana said reassuringly, discretely trying to see if she could shake the circulation back in her hand. "We just have to walk ten feet back to the room and the doctor will check, okay?"
"Yep."
They made it the ten feet back to her room, and Diana called for the doctor. "Yep, your baby is almost ready to join us in the world. I just need you to keep breathing, okay?"
"Okay." Pepper groaned and squeezed Diana's hand.
Diana couldn't help her wince.
Pepper saw, and frowned. "Sorry," she gasped, closing her eyes.
"It's okay," Diana said, patting Pepper's forehead with a cool cloth. "You're doing some epic work. You can squeeze my hand as hard you-" She heard something in her comm and went silent, trying to listen.
"-they've found the Mind stone. Shielding is ineffective." Bruce sounded worried.
"Sir, I'm reading ten incoming vessels. They've entered the atmosphere and are headed right for us." FRIDAY.
"Formation?" That was Steve.
"Standard diamond."
"Right. To the quinjets, people. Iron Man, you stay on the sidelines, you've got enough to worry about."
"I can do my job, Cap."
"I know. But I don't want to let Pepper see you with a single bruise, got it?"
"Got it."
"ETA three minutes," Sam warned.
"Right. Let's do this."
Diana suddenly realized that everyone in the room was staring at her as she frowned into the middle distance.
"Diana?" Pepper asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"
Diana shook her head and gave Pepper a small, forced smile. "Nothing. It's fine. They're handling it."
Darcy knocked and burst into the room. "TV, TV, TV," she said hurriedly, snapping on the screen. "Look."
There, with the best camera angles FRIDAY could manage, she displayed the ten alien ships coming down through the atmosphere, and the three quinjets rising off the ground to meet them. A tiny flash of red and gold, and grey, proclaimed that Iron Man and War Machine were out, as well.
Pepper gasped and squeezed Diana's hand again, this time in terror, not contractions.
"All right, let's turn that off," the doctor instructed, giving the CEO a worried look.
"No," Pepper said, "I need to see."
"No," Diana said, just as firmly. She blocked Pepper's view of the screen. "Right now, you need to focus on you and your baby," she said. "The Avengers can look after themselves, and if anything important happens, I will tell you. Sound good?"
Pepper nodded. "Sounds good."
"Good." Diana turned off the screen and waved Darcy over. "Hold Pepper's hand for a second, I have to get something."
"Uh, okay."
Diana pelted through the halls of the med ward, made a beeline for Tony's armory, where only she and Steve had the entry codes, and swiped a shell of a repulsor gauntlet off the desk. They'd made fun of that version of armor, because it was soft and formed over the wearer's skin, and Tony hadn't gotten any further than the inner shell. She fastened it to her fingers and palm, and raced back to the Med Ward. "Back," she said brightly, replacing Darcy at the bedside. She let the gauntlet form around her hand. "All right Pepper, now you can squeeze as hard as you like."
Pepper laughed. "Good thinking."
Diana let her squeeze through the contraction, and laid her other hand on top of Pepper's. "You're doing great," she promised. "Darcy, you'll keep me updated?"
"Yeah. Keep your comm on. I'll be back with coffee."
"Thanks."
The next few hours were the strangest of Diana's life. She was in the room with Pepper, coaxing her to breathe through her contractions, and watching her best friend cry and curse her billionaire husband, but in one ear she was listening to the pitched battle that was aliens vs. superheroes.
They'd managed to shoot down six of the ships before the battle had been taken to the ground, but so far they were handling it. Vision was in no danger, so far, and as long as no more help came from the motherships, everything was going to be fine. Also, as long as Tony kept it together and didn't focus on the pains coming through the soulmate bond. So far, Clint and Sam were distracting him with the banter.
"I can't do it anymore," Pepper half-sobbed, shaking her head. "It's been hours and I just want to be done, I'm tired."
Diana dabbed at her face and neck with a damp cloth. "You can," she told the older woman. "You've managed Tony Stark and SI for years, this is just one day of pain and you're done. You're almost there, Pep, I promise."
The midwife nodded encouragingly. "Now when this next contraction hits, I need you to push with all your might, Pepper. Got it?"
Pepper nodded.
The next contraction hit, Pepper pushed, and things started happening. "I can see the head," the midwife announced. "Come on, big push."
What seemed like hours but was only a few minutes later, the beautiful, sweet cry of a newborn baby rang through the room. "It's a boy," the doctor announced.
Diana stared at the red, slimy, squalling creature in the midwife's arms, and smiled. "You did it Pep," she whispered, giving her friend a smile.
Pepper's face when the now-toweled off infant was placed in her arms was the most beautiful expression Diana had ever seen on another human. "He's perfect," Pepper whispered, tears of joy sliding down her face. "He's absolutely perfect."
Diana stepped back to let her have a moment, and took a picture of the perfect scene for Tony. Then, she pressed her earpiece, turning it from receiving to two-way. "Not to interrupt your battle, but, it's a boy," she announced.
There was a moment's silence, and later on the tapes Diana would see Iron Man dropping to the ground in complete shock. "He's here?" Tony whispered into the comms hoarsely, letting FRIDAY take over the armor and fight for him.
"He's here," Diana replied, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Ten fingers, ten toes, absolutely perfect. I'm sending you a visual. FRIDAY?"
FRIDAY sent the picture directly to Iron Man's HUD, and Tony gave a choked gasp. "He's so tiny," he said.
Diana smiled. "Yeah."
"Iron Man, get out of here," Cap ordered kindly. "Thor, cover him."
"On my way," Tony said, sounding teary-eyed. "I'll be there ASAP. Tell Pepper I'm coming."
"I will. Going off comms." Diana switched her earpiece back to receive-only, and stepped back to the bed.
"If you'll come with me, we'll take care of the baby while Pepper finishes up," the midwife said, nodding to Diana. "Would you like to hold him?"
Diana carefully accepted the newborn into her arms, and smiled at the baby's scrunched little face. "He looks like Tony," she said, blinking back happy tears. He opened his eyes at her voice, and stared up at her solemnly for a few moments. "Hey, little man. I'm your Auntie Diana."
She held him while he got his first shots, his antibiotic, regretfully gave him up for weighing and foot-printing, and held him while Pepper was getting cleaned up and changed into a fresh gown, and resettled.
"Tony's on his way," she informed Pepper, once she was clear to come over. "Hungry?"
Pepper nodded, and yawned. "Starved. What time is it?"
Diana glanced at the clock in the corner, trying to focus on the numbers. "Uh, like six in the morning, I think. Breakfast."
Pepper ordered breakfast, and while she was waiting for it, carefully cuddled the newborn skin-to-skin.
Diana helped her eat, and watched Pepper murmur and talk to her baby, smoothing her fingers up and down the little infant's back. Pepper yawned again, for the fourth time. "I think I need sleep," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Will you take the baby, Di?"
"Yeah. You get some rest. Tony's still a few minutes out, and he's going to want to shower and change before he comes over. Right FRIDAY?"
"Directing Sir to quarters now," FRIDAY announced in her earpiece. "He's not very happy about it."
"Well he's not coming in here smelling like sweat and battle," Diana replied firmly.
"Sir says good point," FRIDAY said, after a second.
Diana chuckled quietly, and just stood there, watching the tightly wrapped burrito baby in her arms. She realized that nobody had named him yet, and wondered if they'd even settled on a name at all. She was just going to call him 'Jr', till someone said something.
Before she even knew it, there were hurried footsteps down the hall, and Tony crept quietly into the room, his expression half-hopeful half-terrified. He froze upon seeing the bundle in Diana's arms. "Is that..." He turned pale.
Diana smiled at him gently. "Come meet your son."
He walked forward two steps, froze again, and said, "I think I need to sit down."
She gently shoved him into a chair, and waited till he'd taken a couple deep breaths and ran his fingers through his damp hair a few times. He hadn't taken his eyes off the baby's face. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked.
Tony's face went another shade of pale, but he nodded jerkily.
She carefully transferred the Stark heir into his father's arms, and made sure he was holding him securely, before she straightened up and took a step back.
Tony's eyes filled with tears. "My son," he whispered, touching the baby's cheek gently.
Diana snapped a picture, and tried not to get overwhelmed from the amount of feelings transmitting through their soulmate bond. If she broke down, the entire Avengers team would be unsettled. She took a deep breath, and knelt in front of Tony's chair. "Would you like to see his little toes?" she asked.
"Won't he be cold?" Tony worried.
Diana smiled. "It'll be fine for a minute." She carefully unwrapped the baby burrito and watched Tony's face as he stared at the perfect tiny toes, and the perfect little fat-rolls of his thighs, and the tiniest diaper she'd ever seen, and the little fat-rolls on his arms, and smiled when he traced the shell of his perfect little ear.
"He's perfect," Tony said, his voice choked. He bent his head to press a kiss to the baby's forehead.
The baby woke up, probably due to Tony's facial hair, and blinked up at his father.
"His eyes are blue," Tony said dazedly.
"Lots of newborns' are," Diana told him, taking another picture of the Stark staring contest.
Tony blinked. "Hi," he murmured, in a gentle tone of voice Diana had never heard before. "I'm your dad. You probably know that already, from the sound of my voice." He touched the baby's fist gently. "And I promise I'm going to try my hardest to be the best dad I can, okay? I promise."
The baby blinked up at him, and then nestled into his arm with a little newborn mewl, completely secure in the arms of his father.
Tony carefully tugged the blankets back around his son, and simply stared for another good long minute. "My son," he said again. "Steven Jarvis Stark."
Diana's head jerked up and she stared at him. "But you said you weren't naming him after anyone on the team," she blurted.
Tony smiled at her. "No, we named him after family. The two best role models a boy could have." He smoothed the baby's fuzzy hair. "I think we'll call him Jay, for now. What do you think, little man?"
Diana frowned at him curiously. "How long did you guys have the name?"
"Uh, since you and Steve went home after I found out Pepper was pregnant."
Diana's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? Everyone's been submitting name suggestions for months!"
Tony shrugged. "Nobody suggested anything that we liked better, so, we went with our original plan." He smirked. "Although I did like all your suggestions about naming him after classical figures. Fitzwilliam, really?"
"What?" Diana asked, blushing. "You can't go wrong with Pride and Prejudice."
"Uh-huh." Tony glanced over at Pepper when she stirred, and his smile gentled. "Hey, there's the lady of the hour," he said, standing up and going over to the bedside. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "You did good, Mrs. Stark," he said, glancing down at the baby.
"Yeah," Pepper agreed, smiling at him. "Do I get more than twelve percent of the credit this time?"
Tony groaned. "At this point, you get one hundred percent."
"Well, Diana helped a little, too," Pepper acknowledged. "And so did your Iron Man tech, so, you can have like, one percent."
Tony smirked, and then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, my tech?"
Diana waved a hand at him, where the bracelet and palm-piece were still attached. "There was a lot of hand-squishing going on," she said.
Tony nodded. "Well, one percent then. Although, half of this little guy's DNA is mine, so..."
"So when you've carried a child to term and spent eighteen hours in labor, you can claim more than one percent," Pepper said tiredly, closing her eyes again.
Tony leaned forward to kiss her gently. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Diana slipped out of the room, letting the small family have their moment, and suddenly the ten minutes' walk from Medical to Control seemed miles long. She sank onto the nearest hallway chair. She closed her eyes, and focused on the chatter from the comms.
"-good job, everyone," Steve was saying. "As soon as SHIELD gives us the all-clear, we can head home."
"Yes, finally," Scott said, with a groan.
"I'm missing an arrow," Clint announced.
"Dude, that was the one that blew up," Sam said.
"Oh yeah. Never mind, all clear."
Diana's eyes opened again. How'd they get the aliens to actually go away? She dragged herself to her feet, made a beeline to the nurse's station, and found a cup of coffee pressed into her hand. "Uh, thank you?" she told the male nurse.
He gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's dark roast, very good for all-nighters," he said.
She took a sip, downed half of it in two gulps, and shuffled the two billion miles to Control. Maria and the support staff were there, looking haggard as they directed clean-up and local SHIELD support. Darcy was slumped awkwardly in a chair, dozing.
"It's a boy," Diana declared, as soon as she entered the room.
Maria's face lit up with a smile. "Good for them," she muttered, before becoming completely professional and going back to work.
Diana poked at Darcy, who was barely starting to wake up, and offered her the rest of the super-strong coffee. "It's a boy," she repeated.
Darcy nodded. "Cool." She sat up straight, and shook her head. "You look awful, boss."
"Thanks," Diana said wryly.
"In a, you helped someone deliver a small someone, kind of way," Darcy added cheerfully. "Anyhow, wow that's strong coffee, the Avengers are done, headed home."
"I gathered that. How'd they get the aliens to leave?"
Darcy flipped to a screen on her tablet. "Uh, Tony and Bruce modified the Hulk buster suit to go into low orbit and damage the shuttle bay of the alien ship?" she said. "And then Steve gave a very inspiring speech about humanity and rights and defending against piracy and I have it recorded if you'd like to watch it. It's one of his best speeches. And the aliens decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to get the infinity stone, and according to Thor, who was the only one who understood their inter-ship chatter, they didn't want to stick around when the Master got here."
Diana felt a thrill of dread creep down her spine. "Who's the Master?" she asked slowly.
Darcy shook her head. "We don't know."
Diana sighed. If it wasn't an immediate threat, they could deal with it later. "Okay," she said. "How's the rest of the world responding to the threat?"
"So far, all responses have been positive," Darcy reported. "UN is pleased that no cities were demolished, and the WSC is pleased that we get more alien tech to scavenge from, not that SHIELD's going to let the WSC get their grubby hands on it, and... yeah."
"Awesome. Take the rest of today off; you've earned it. I'm going to go shower, change, have breakfast, and handle the debriefs, and the team."
"What about sleep?" Darcy asked.
"I'll sleep when Steve gets back," Diana replied.
"Cool." Darcy shuffled off to bed.
Diana headed to her own quarters, took a long, hot shower, put on sweatpants and a comfy T-shirt, and went to the mess hall. She plowed her way through waffles, half a cantaloupe, and two cups of coffee before getting word that the quin-jets were landing. She took another coffee to go, and even beat Maria to the hangars.
The Avengers piled off the jets, looking weary and battered, but not broken, and none of them had any life-threatening injuries. Steve dropped his kit bag and pulled Diana into a hug as soon as he came within reach. "Hi," he breathed into her hair.
She hugged him tightly. "Hi," she replied, realizing belatedly that if she hugged anyone else she'd have to shower again. That didn't matter, though, and she gratefully hugged all her soulmates before directing them to shower, sleep, and don't even think of going to bother the Starks until mid-afternoon. She'd checked on them, and the baby was fine in his bassinet as both parents slept, exhausted.
"We'll debrief once everyone's gotten some sleep," Diana told Steve, as she met him outside Medical, and they walked back to their apartment.
"All right." He gratefully accepted her help in stripping the uniform off, and convinced her that showering together would conserve water and energy. They were both too tired to do anything more than wash up and dry off, and cuddle together in bed. Both of them were asleep within minutes.
Most of the Avengers slept till three in the afternoon, and official debriefing was at four. That took a good two hours, and SHIELD was still working on containing all the debris from the alien ships.
"Which leads us to the last important item," Diana said, smiling. "The Stark baby."
Everyone smiled.
"We can't all go and see him at once," Diana continued. "But two or three at a time, and we'll space out the visits. FRIDAY made a roster."
"What's the baby's name?" Wanda asked eagerly.
"Steven Jarvis Stark," Tony's voice announced proudly, walking into the conference room, a tiny blue bundle in his arms. "Jay, meet the Avengers. Avengers, meet my son." The pride in his voice made Diana smile.
Steve looked shocked. "Tony," he started, and fell silent.
"I knew it," Rhodey muttered, grinning. He slapped Steve on the back. "You've got another automatic member of the fan club, Steve."
"Next one, we'll name him after you," Tony promised his old friend, looking slightly apologetic.
Natasha smirked. "You should wait and see if you can handle one of these, let alone two."
"Good point." Tony held him out. "Isn't he the most perfect baby you've ever seen?"
"He is truly a credit to his parents," Thor said, nodding. "He will grow up to be a fine man, Tony."
Jay was passed around from person to person, even Pietro and Bucky, and finally it was Steve's turn to hold him. The baby looked positively miniscule compared to Steve's bulk, and Diana took about a dozen pictures as Steve held the baby and cooed over him like everyone else had done.
"Thinking of having your own?" Tony murmured into her ear, slinging an arm around her waist.
Diana smiled softly. "Maybe."
The baby started to whimper, and Steve went from sappy to panicked in half a second flat. Tony moved forward and scooped the baby up. "All right, little man, time to go back to mama." He grinned at everybody and left, cradling his precious bundle.
Everyone split up and wandered off to relax after that, and Wanda dragged Pietro out of the room, the speedster still soliloquizing over the baby. "He was so small, Wanda, did you see his tiny fingers? I didn't know a person could be that small..."
Diana hung back as everyone scattered, and waited for Vision to come over to her. "How do you feel?" she asked gently.
"About the aliens or the baby?" Vision asked.
"Both."
Vision shook his head. "The baby... I have never truly seen a newborn before, and I will relish the experience of watching a baby grow into an adult."
"How do you feel about the fact that he's named after the person most of your programming is based on?" Diana asked.
Vision gave her a small smile. "It's a little odd, but, JARVIS would be proud."
"So would Jarvis," Diana said, smiling at the thought of old Edwin Jarvis.
They shared a smile at the strangeness of it all, and Diana sobered. "And the aliens?" she asked.
Vision's smile went away. "I do not appreciate being treated as an object of piracy," he said slowly, "and I also do not appreciate the fact that other species will try and come for the infinity stone. I don't want to be a danger to the people of this planet."
"Maybe the Asgardians can help with that," Diana said. "Did you or Thor understand what they said about the Master?"
"No." Vision shook his head. "Thor fears that something bigger is happening, more than just pirates looking for a score."
"What kind of big?" Diana asked uneasily. "Like, galaxy-wide? Realm-wide?"
"Something, well, infinite, would be the word for it, I suppose."
A/N 2: I'm assuming you all know where this is headed...I have big plans for the next few chapters. Big plans. *cue slightly maniacal laughter which may include nine-movie contract significance...*
Also on another note, thanks for all the favorites and follows. I love hearing from you guys :D