Of course he was grateful.
He was.
He was also just a bit resentful.
Staring up at a ceiling that was familiar but definitely not his own and lying in a bed he had spent nearly every other weekend in since he was eight, should make him feel safe. Hearing Rhodey's steady breathing in the bed below him should lull him to sleep. That's what all of these things had done in the past. But now, so far from home and so lost in more ways than one, Tony's brain wouldn't shut off.
The thirteen year old boy rolled over in bed and sat halfway up to stare out the window from the New York apartment. From here, he could just barely see the lit outline of Stark Tower. The top of which held the penthouse where he'd spent most of his childhood.
Of course, there was the mansion in Malibu but that had always been more of a summer home to the two Starks. Howard, his mother, had been very intent on staying in New York. After all, this is where the omega had first met Tony's father. This is where Steve Rogers had grown up and, barring that Tony could have his father in his life, the omega had resolved to make sure his Pup could feel as close to the alpha as humanly possible. Which meant that Tony had been born and raised in New York.
His mother had spent a majority of his childhood taking Tony through the streets of Brooklyn and echoing all the stories Steve had once told him all those years ago. He had tugged Tony along the busy Brooklyn streets; he'd swung Tony up over his head to sit upon his shoulders as he guided Tony in and out of restaurants and shops Steve had told the omega of; had held him snug against his hip as he had pointed out what used to be Steve and Bucky's apartment. Howard had been quite intent on sharing everything of Steve he could with the little boy who was half Steve and half Howard.
And Tony was. His aunt Peggy has always said that he looked like a perfect blend of his parents. The remaining elderly commandos backed this up as well. Tony had always thought this couldn't be true, what with how small and gangly he was, always had been. But then there had been the pictures. The black and white photos that came out of dog eared files. They were printed with the words REBIRTH on them, and Howard had sat Tony, who'd been all of 6 at the time, down to tell him. Tony's father had been small and gangly. He'd also been sickly. That's how Tony's mother had met him.
Tony had listened with wide eyes and rapt attention as Howard had explained who Steve had been before he was Captain America. He'd previously been tucked in to stories of the man for as long as he could remember. Howard had always been so animated when he talked of Steve and Bucky and the Howling Commandos. Tony had every poster and comic and action figure. He had seen every cartoon. But it wasn't until Tony was six years old that he learned of his childhood and suddenly, being small and thin and gangly wasn't so bad.
The boy swung his legs over the edge of his top bunk and deftly jumped down onto the carpeted floor, pausing to listen to Rhodey's even breathing. Satisfied the older boy hadn't woken, he tip-toed to the bathroom. He did his business and washed his hands before he leaned over and scrutinized his face in the mirror.
He'd seen the pictures of his parents, both young and old, and he could see it. His features had always been such an even blend of both of his parents. He'd always been so proud to look just like them both. "The perfect blend," his mother had always crooned while he brushed his hair. Tony had always looked like an even split of both his parents. He had his mother's wavy chestnut hair, his upturned nose and high cheekbones; but he had his father's crooked smile, strong jawline, and his father's expressive baby blues ( "the exact size and shape with the very same fire," his mother's voice echoed through his thoughts as he scrutinized them in the mirror). His skin tone was a fair bit lighter then his mother's but darker then his father's. An even split. He was an even split.
The thought had usually never failed to make him smile, especially because it was typically his mother who was saying the words, but right now those thoughts just made him feel tired. In the dark and quiet of the night, they brought tears to his eyes that he stubbornly blinked back. With his mother gone, those thoughts only made his lower lip quiver.
The door creaked behind him and Tony whipped around in his haste, scrubbing a hand over his face where a traitorous tear had escaped. Rhodey appeared in the open doorway, pajamas disheveled and eyes narrowed with concern as they lighted upon him.
"Oh, Tones…" he crooned, sympathetically as he crossed the distance between them too quickly for Tony to protest. It was quiet here and there were no cameras for him to have to be brave in front of, so he collapsed into the older boy. The 15 year old took it effortlessly, hugging him tightly as he bent slightly to slip an arm under the backs of Tony's knees and heaved the preteen into his arms with an ease of practice.
The smaller boy was dwarfed in size by him, Rhodey stood nearly a head and a half above Tony and had about sixty pounds on him as well. He turned and carried Tony from the depressing quiet of the bathroom to the hall. The newly presented alpha boy didn't bother with a light, allowing the soft blue glow of Tony's arc reactor to illuminate their way, as he padded down the hall and quietly crept to the living room. Tony hid his face in the crook of his friend's neck, letting himself be comforted by the smell as Rhodey sat on the couch and bundled Tony close to him, curling his larger frame around the shaking boy.
"They're gonna find him, Tones. He's your mom. He's Howard Stark. He's been kidnapped dozens of times before and he always comes back," Rhodey assured him. Tony swallowed.
"He's never been gone this long before," Tony murmured back, only lifting his face a little so Rhodey could hear. It had been nearly a month since the CEO had vanished, the only time Howard had been missing this long, Tony had been with him. The two of them had barely survived that and not unscathed either, the glow coming from his chest reminded Tony of that. Tony should be with him.
Rhodey rubbed his back and hushed him soothingly, though he had no words for the younger boy. He merely held him in the dark of the night and tried to calm his shaking body. This wasn't a panic attack but it was close and Rhodey had dealt with quite a few of those in the year since Tony and his mother had returned from Afghanistan. Tony had had his mother through all of those attacks though.
Tony's mother had held him through panic attacks and night terrors, through the cold nights that made his chest ache and through coughing fits that had cropped up courtesy of his reduced lung capacity. Now Tony's mother was gone and Tony wasn't alone, no Rhodey wouldn't ever allow that, but it was clear the boy felt more alone than he ever had before.
They sat in the quiet dark of the living room, Rhodey rocking the other every now and again, his eyes flicked over to the clock sitting on the book shelf. The numbers ticked over to the next minute. 10:58 pm. Rhodey opened his mouth to suggest a game, his eyes falling on the console sitting at the base of the TV, but something else beat him to it.
The familiar music of a phone pierced the quiet, sounding off from down the hall in the direction of Rhodey's room. The noise had Tony springing up from Rhodey's lap and scrambling to get his bare feet on the floor. Rhodey didn't stop him when he ran from the room, knowing better, he merely followed the younger male back to his bedroom and watched patiently while Tony retrieved his StarkPhone and pressed it to his ear.
His uncle's voice rolled deep and comforting from the speaker of the phone, "Kid?"
"Uncle Nick?" Tony replied, a question evident in his voice. Nick Fury had only ever called Tony directly twice, usually interacting with him through his mother.
"Tony? Where are you right now? We have a situation." his voice was curt and to the point, but Tony was adept in hearing the warmth and concern directed at him.
"Rhodey's. What type of situation?" he questioned, out of the corner of his eye he could see Rhodey lean in, obviously straining to overhear the conversation.
There was a moment of hesitation before the man sighed, "A suit situation."
The teen paused, blood running cold. He knew exactly what his uncle was saying but there was a ringing in his ears and the pounding of his heart. A suit situation? He meant he needed Team Iron, his mother and him. Tony swallowed, he'd never gone out on his own before in his suit. Iron Man had always backed him up. They were a team and had been approved for the Avengers Initiative as a team.
"Mom isn't…." Tony started but Fury cut him off, his tone sympathetic, "I know, kid. I wouldn't be asking if I had a choice. The world needs the Iron Patriot, at the very least."
Tony was properly standing and finding his shoes before he even processed the sentence. Rhodey handed him his bag, looking conflicted and as if he wanted to slip out the window with Tony. The teen knew his friend well enough to know Rhodey was considering it. He focused on the conversation with the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Where?"
"Stuttgart, how soon can you get here?"
It was simply a matter of a calculation and Tony did the math with ease off the top of his head. He offered the man his answer and then hung up without so much as a goodbye. The ringing in his ears grew louder.
Rhodey fixed him with a look, "You've never gone out without your mom before, Tones, you need backup." he insisted. Tony shook his head and when the older boy moved to argue Tony gently took his bag from him.
"You don't have a suit. The Iron Man armor is meant for mom, you wouldn't fit and you don't know how it works. Besides, someone needs to be here to cover for me when Mama Rhodes wakes up and I'm missing," he offered the boy a crooked smile.
Rhodey was already caving, "Tony-"
"Uncle Nick wouldn'ta asked me if it wasn't important." Tony pushed and inwardly celebrated when he watched the boy break, "Fine, but-"
"I'll be careful," Tony tried to reassure as he pulled the window up that led to the fire escape. Rhodey held the tricky window open for him, "Better be, punk," he muttered gruffly, looking worried despite the teasing words.
Tony flashed him a shaky smile that even he knew wasn't reassuring, before he ducked out the window. He called over his shoulder a mild 'Jerk' without looking back, worried Rhodey would see just how not okay with this he was. He ran down the fire escape and hit the streets below.
It was worrisome how easy it was to catch a ride across town and sneak into the tower, but he was in his armor before he could really think any of it through, JARVIS' voice humming calmly in his ear. Tony's little special ability made the Iron Patriot armor actually impossible for anyone to use but himself and also made it ridiculously intuitive for him, so he faced the highwind and set off in the direction of Stuttgart, trying very hard not to think on how much he ached not seeing the red and gold armor flying with him or hearing his mother's soothing voice over the comms.
His armor was much slimmer and sleeker than the Iron Man armor. His suit took into account his not quite baseline abilities, thanks to his partial dose of the serum courtesy of his father's genetics. He was nowhere near as strong, he could lift just over half of what his father could, but his reflexes were actually quite a bit quicker and he healed just as fast, plus there was his little bonus ability. His lips quirked despite the thought reminding him of his mother.
His own armor was thinner and hugged him tighter, as he was quite a bit more durable than his mother. His armor was a dark blue, crisp white lines outlined sections of his armor while small sleek sections on the insides of his legs and arms were a dark red. A star glowed with his arc reactor at the center of his chest instead of his mother's triangle. His helmet was blue and similar to his mother's but a bit thinner and his face plate was white with the glowing slits for eyes.
While he flew, he had Jarvis brief him on the situation, knowing Fury had sent the information over. The word god stumbled him momentarily and he had JARVIS reread that bit twice, scrunching his nose. Gods? Jesus, fuck. Okay, Whatever. Gods? Aliens? Madmen who pretended they were his family? It's not like it mattered. He'd kick ass and take names regardless. He'd do his mother proud regardless.
He descended over Stuttgart, Jarvis displaying needed info and statistics over his HUD as he zeroed in on where the action was. His eyes found the Quinjet first and without much of a thought, he was hacking the PA system as he flew on in, blasting music from the speakers like his mother always loved. Who was piloting the Quinjet had his lips quirking with fond amusement.
"Hey, Miss Itsy Bitsy! You miss me?" he hummed as he jumped in over S.H.I.E.L.D's frequency with some practiced ease. The video link JARVIS fed him had him watching the small quirk of her lips. He filed that information away for later. His mother didn't have the smoothest relationship with the spy, especially after the palladium poison situation, but the Widow had always seemed to have a soft spot for Tony and the small movement of her lips sent a pleased hum through the teenager.
As he dropped, his eyes fell upon the so called god, nearly snorting at his over-the-top and dramatic outfit. Tony felt his lips tugging into an amused smile as he eyed the antlers speculatively. Oh, he so wasn't gonna let this "deity" live that down. Despite all of his questionable fashion choices, the god fought with a practiced ease. He seemed to be only playing with his opponent, but that wasn't what stopped his heart and nearly had him falling out of the air.
No, what did that was the man fighting the god, outfitted in a familiar red, white, and blue suit Tony knew nearly as well as his own.