Epilogue

The paperwork took about a month to complete. Mr. Stark adopted James, Meriam, Sirius, and Lily. It was less of Mr. Stark wanting to be a parent and more securing legal guardianship over the four young wizards. He said he wouldn't let SHIELD whisk them off and separate the five of them, not after everything they did to get to Remus. Meriam and Lily had separate rooms, but Sirius and James insisted on rooming with Remus, just like at Hogwarts. Remus was too tired at the time to argue, and he didn't really mind, it had just been nice having such a big room all to himself. He filled it with cozy spaces that he refused to call dens for personal reasons. Now it was full of James' stinky socks, just like Hogwarts.

September 3, 2014

There was a little statue in Central Park where Gwyllgi died. The plaque read 'The Goodest Avenger' in Remus' handwriting. Mr. Stark made it. He mixed her ashes into the concrete base, so it was like she was really there, cast in bronze in her service dog vest. Remus liked to walk past it every day and leave a flower. Each time he went, he could see her ears get a little lighter than the rest of the statue, as people who walked past gave her special pats. Today, James walked with him.

"I'm really sorry about your dog, Remus," James said.

"Yeah, me too," Remus said. "HYDRA gave her to me, so they could control me better. It didn't really work, I guess, but I got to keep her for about a year, which was nice. She was a good dog."

"We've got Padfoot now."

"It's not the same. It was way less gross when Gwyll ate things off the floor than when Pads does it. You know he knows better."

"Animal instincts are strong, man," James shrugged.

"You still getting the urge to eat baby birds?" Remus nudged him with his elbow.

James hummed, "I think it's the crunch. I know I get enough calcium."

"Gross, dude."

"Are you going to get another service dog? You know, to help with your furry little problem?"

"Nah," Remus said. "I… don't need another dog. I've got Padfoot and Prongs, don't I?"

"Aw," James shoved him playfully. "Come on, I'll race you back to the Tower." James shoved him once more and took off towards the Tower.

"That's not fair, you've got longer legs than me!" Remus laughed, running after him.

Tony didn't know why Fury wanted to see him, but he said it was important. Of course, Fury thought he was the most important thing on this side of the Atlantic and beyond. Tony wouldn't put it past him to think needed the plumbing redone in the Tricarrier was more important than whatever else Tony could have going on. This time there was something different about the way he said it.

Tony landed on the Tricarrier and was greeted by Fury and Hill.

"What's the situation? I know I'm rarely your first choice…"

"It's Lupin," Fury said.

"Remus is…"

"The other one. He wants to see you."

"Me?"

"He asked for you specifically."

After a moment of deliberation, Tony decided to send the suit back to the Tower. He'd ask JARVIS to send it back when it was time for him to return.

The Avengers weren't the only people Lyall Lupin had deliriously assaulted. When SHIELD came to collect him from the Tower, he managed to not only black out half the city for an hour, but he also put seven agents in the hospital. Tony didn't blame him, not after he saw what HYDRA had done to Bucky. Red Skull could strip away everything about a person and manipulate them into doing whatever he wanted with them. Skull had Remus for half a year, and by the looks of it, the Avengers had gotten to him just in time. They hadn't gotten there in time for Lyall.

Lyall was in a holding cell on the Tricarrier. It was a converted crew quarters, so that he would be comfortable. He didn't deserve the brig. Lyall was a victim, not a criminal, but he was still dangerous There was little they could do to stop his magic inside of the containment field Tony designed, but as long as no one went in there with him, he couldn't hurt anyone accidently. Tony wasn't allowed into the containment with Lyall, and was instead left in one half of a visitors room, with Lyall behind glass on the other side.

The two men sat in tense silence for a solid ten minutes. Tony fidgeted in the arm chair and Lyall shifted awkwardly on couch.

Ten minutes was about as much silence as Tony could take, "So…"

"Remus likes you," Lyall grunted. "I've been told." Remus had requested to visit Lyall, but he'd been denied. Fury wouldn't give them a reason, but Tony hadn't thought anything of it. Fury didn't like explaining things. "And I read his letters."

"I… that's good," Tony nodded. "I like him, too. He's a good kid."

There was another long, awkward pause. Tony recalled dully that Lyall hadn't responded to any of Remus letters, despite the fact that Remus wrote to him every day and eagerly waited for a response every morning when the mail was brought up to the penthouse. Every time Tony had to inform Remus he didn't have any mail, Tony could feel a metaphorical needle jab his heart. He knew it was metaphorical because he panicked the first time it had happened. He thought his arc reactor had stopped working and his heart was getting shredded by shrapnel.

"It's taking all of my strength not to try and kill you," Lyall said, breaking the second tense silence. His voice was strained, and Tony could see his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. There was no malicious intent. Lyall was fighting HYDRA's brainwashing.

"I'm confident the glass will hold," Tony assured him. "I designed it myself. The kids helped me test it."

"I know it holds," Lyall snapped. "And… thank you."

"You're welcome," Tony said amicably. He wasn't sure why he was being thanked, but he was sure he did something right. "Remus can't wait for you to recover."

"If… when I… if SHIELD ever clears me… and if Remus isn't… if he's still in school," Lyall's voice was stilted and gruff, as disheveled as he was. "I want you to keep him."

"He'll be devasted. He loves you a lot and he's already lost so much…"

"I don't trust myself near him," Lyall insisted. "Skull didn't… he can't completely erase someone… can't force them to do things that go against their very nature, not in the amount of time he had me. I can't blame him for hurting Remus when I… had him in Germany. And I certainly can't blame Skull for what I've done before. He was able to get to Remus because of me. If it weren't for you, he'd had turned Remus into the Winter Soldier's replacement."

"You can't expect yourself to be the perfect father…"

"I can expect myself not to be the source of Remus' worse nightmares, but I am," Lyall said. "I provoked Greyback. My own arrogance gave him an opening to do things to my son I can never forgive myself for. I allowed myself false hope that lead to his mother's murder and his torture. I've done nothing but put him in danger…"

Tony knew what it felt like to be abandoned. He didn't know who his birth parents were, and as much as he considered Howard and Maria his parents in every way that mattered, those first few years were full of abandonment and attachment issues that all three of them had been woefully unequipped to handle. He didn't like Lyall, the man wouldn't be winning father of the year any time soon, but neither had Howard. Howard had never kicked him out, though he probably should have. There was nothing more painful than knowing he'd let his father down.

"You can't do this do to him," Tony said. "It'll hurt him more."

"I may never be free of what HYDRA did to my head," Lyall said.

"You'll get cleared and… I know it must be difficult starting from scratch in a new dimension, but I can write you a check…"

"Money won't fix me," Lyall snarled. "I'm not taking him back. I'll not hurt him again."

"SHIELD's therapists…"

"I'm done," Lyall said. "Just… I know you'll take care of him. If anyone can keep him safe, it's you, not me."

Lyall stood up and left the room, returning to his quarters. Tony couldn't follow. He wanted to storm in there and shake some sense into Lyall. He'd shout at him until he stopped thinking he could just abandon his son, but there was a wall of specialized glass between Tony and Lyall and anything Tony could do had the risk of setting Lyall and his now uncontrollable magic loose onto the Tricarrier.

"I'm not telling him!" Tony shouted. "You'll have to tell him yourself!" Tony could barely tell Remus he didn't have any mail without having a mini heart attack. "I didn't think you were a coward!"

Lyall didn't take the bait. Or more likely, he couldn't hear him through the several walls between them. There was nothing more that Tony could do.

He felt like crap.

"Teach me!" Lily pleaded.

"Leave me alone!" Clint snapped.

"Please!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because!"

Lily harumphed, then petulantly added, "Why because."

"I know you're old enough not to do that."

"And you're old enough not to fall on 'because' as an excuse!"

"Why are you so loud?"

"I need to learn how to use this!" Lily shook the bow in her hands.

"Why?"

"Why do you think? Greyback is still out there. The Red Skull is still out there maybe, if the Book didn't kill him…"

"We're never that lucky," Clint sighed.

"And they're after my best friend! You know Remus. He may have stood up to Greyback last time, but he's a pushover and a softie. He's too sweet for his own good. When Greyback comes back, and he will, I've got to protect Remus because he'll roll over sooner than protect himself. Especially if Greyback tries to pull the 'surrender or I'll hurt your friend' crap again. He's somehow more self-sacrificing than Potter, which is impressive… But Greyback can't pull that if I kick his arse!"

Clint let out a very long, very exasperated groan. As far as excuses for teaching a small child how to use a weapon, that was a pretty good argument. He knew she'd get under his skin. She was annoying and also really smart. That was why he was avoiding her.

"If you don't teach me, I'll teach myself," Lily added, clumsily fumbling with her bow as she said it. It slipped through her fingers and clattered onto the floor.

Clint winced, "Alright, fine. If only to stop you from hurting that poor bow."

"Yes! Thank you!" She gave him a quick hug and then bounded off towards the training room.

Clint was frozen in place, grimacing. He hated kids. Okay, that was a bit harsh. He didn't hate kids, especially not the five that had weaseled their way into the Avengers Tower, even with their magic, which creeped him out. Remus, for example, was soft and very adorable. Clint preferred kids and magic at a distance and now they and it were everywhere.

He supposed, as far as kids went, Lily was alright. He could see why Remus liked her so much. It took a lot of grit to stomach James and Sirius for an unknown amount of time, just to find her best friend. Clint could respect that. And she had talent with the bow. No skill yet, but Hawkeye could help with that.

Tony paced the lab. When he had a lot on his mind, he liked to tinker on things. Right now, he was too nauseous to do anything but pace. He couldn't not tell Remus, but he really didn't want to be the one to give him news that bad. He also couldn't give the job to anyone else. He wouldn't stoop to Lyall's level.

He spent ten minutes staring blankly at a holo-screen before he left in a frustrated huff, unable to focus. He intended to go to the gym and try his hand at boxing, even if it wasn't very good at it. He could imagine Lyall's face on the punching bag, that might make him feel better.

Instead, he found himself in Steve's room. Steve was sitting on his couch, furiously scribbling on a sketch pad. Meriam was sitting next to him, sketching away on her own pad, her tongue sticking out in concentration. They were listening to some Frank Sinatra on Steve's record player. Seeing the two of them like this made Tony feel like he was part of a real family again. He felt bad for intruding.

"Hello," Tony said. He still wanted attention, even if Steve was busy.

Steve and Meriam both jumped.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Meriam gasped. With her heart condition, Tony wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

"What are you two drawing?" Tony decided not to address it. He was good at avoidance.

Steve motioned his hand towards a bowl of fruit on the coffee table between them.

"So you'd be upset if I ate one?"

"Not really," Meriam said. "We're almost done."

Tony was half way to grabbing an apple when he saw the look of suppressed laughter on Steve's face. Meriam's face was just a little too detached for Tony's liking. She looked like her brother right before he sprung that trap on Hawkeye that dyed his hair a very vivid purple. It took a week to wash out and another week for him to stop complaining about it. ("I thought you liked purple, Hawkeye?" James said innocently. Hawkeye screamed, "Not my hair!")

"This is wax fruit, isn't it?"

Steve burst into a fit of giggles, trying to cover his mouth. Meriam joined in. She was laughing quite mirthfully for someone usually so elegant and refined.

"You're both awful," Tony plunked himself down next to Steve and nestled under the larger man's arm. "I thought you were the well behaved Potter," he reached over Steve and playfully poked her head. Her hair was very soft.

"The existence of a well behaved Potter is a myth that suits me quite nicely," Meriam smirked. "Compared to James, I am well behaved, but that's like saying lava is cold compared to the sun."

"That's fair," Tony sighed.

"Do you need something?" Steve asked.

Tony fidgeted. He shouldn't say anything with Meriam in the room, even if he trusted her to keep a secret. He couldn't burden her with what he had on his mind, that wasn't fair.

"Just bored," Tony shrugged.

One look between him and Steve, and he knew Steve could tell what he was getting at. Tony had no idea how he managed to get this lucky. He was falling for his best friend. As amazing as Steve was, that wasn't what was on his mind. What he needed was to procrastinate.

"Hey, kid," Tony said to Meriam. "I think I can do something about your heart condition."

"Really?" Meriam sounded skeptical. "Dad tried everything and the best he could do was the potion but… the ingredients are really rare. James knows how to make it."

"It's not medicine," Tony said. "It's a pacemaker, sort of," he gave his own glowing magnet and little tap, "I've got some unique insights."

Meriam frowned, "No offence, but I'd rather not have my chest ripped open…"

"No, nothing like that," Tony hastily corrected her. "It won't glow if you don't want it to. It's to help with circulation which should take a lot of stress off of your heart, but it's not a blood thinner, which has its own set of problems."

"That… sounds too good to be true," Meriam frowned. "But… fine. If you can make it look fashionable."

"Great, let's go!" Tony sprung to his feet and clapped his hands excitedly. The perfect distraction.

Steve got up too, "You've got great timing, I was just going to give James some pointers on how to use his shield."

Steve gave Tony's hand a squeeze. He was getting more comfortable showing affection, and that sent Tony over the moon. He'd wait as long as it took, Steve was more than worth it. Tony wondered how Howard would react to his precious Super Soldier courting his rebellious son. He could only guess, but he liked to think Howard would call it a good influence.

As soon as they had a private moment, which were becoming scarce, they'd have the talk about what was going to happen with Remus. The kids were starting school tomorrow, so baring any supervillain attacks, they'd be in the clear from the five biggest distractions in the tower.

Sirius wandered the empty halls of the Tower, looking for James. He bothered Remus until Remus kicked him out of their room, the prat. Sirius only wanted to ask about muggle school, but Remus was studying the Book and didn't want to be pestered by Sirius. He wasn't entirely sure where James was. He wasn't in the common room, their room, or Meriam's room, which were the only three locations Sirius could think of, despite the size of the Tower.

Sirius was absentmindedly swing his sword, the Shadow Blade. The name was annoyingly generic, but Sirius couldn't think of anything better at the moment. James had suggested the Anti-Glowstick, but that was dumb. Sirius was fond of Nox Blade, but he wasn't married to it. He wasn't sure if they were allowed to change the names of their weapons.

Lily wanted a new name for her bow, since it shared the name with a pop song and a Bond movie and James teased her relentlessly for both. Sirius decided he liked Lily. She refused to leave him behind with Greyback, even though he insisted she save herself. She was alright in his book, even if she was a bit stuck up about rules. Remus liked rules too, and he was alright.

Sirius swung the sword in the general direction of a plastic plant, and accidently swung too far, nearly hitting someone as they rounded a corner. The Shadow Blade made contact with Mjolnir and the impact sent a jolt of electricity up Sirius' arms.

"Ho!" Thor shouted in surprise.

"Sorry!" Sirius winced. "I… shouldn't be swing this around in the halls, should I?"

"No, that you should not," Thor frowned down at him. "Have you not been taught how to properly treat your weapon? What are the learning halls like in your homeland?"

"Well, swords aren't a part of the curriculum," Sirius admitted. "I think it used to be, a thousand years ago. Now it's only magic and very little of it is combat focused. It was quite boring, if I'm being honest…"

"That explains young Remus' aptitude for scholarly pursuits."

"No, I don't think anything can explain Remus' scholarly pursuits," Sirius snorted. "He's a swot. Hey, you know how to use swords, right?"

"That I do!" Thor boasted. "Come, we shall use the training hall!"

"Cool!" Sirius grinned.

Steve found James leaning against the wall opposite the training room. He was rubbing his arm and scowling at the doors with one of the sourest expressions Steve had ever seen. It was pretty amusing. James hadn't lost all of his baby fat, none of the children had, they were still so young, and his scowl ended up looking more like a pout.

"What's the matter, soldier?" Steve asked.

"Evans and Barton are in there," James grumbled. "I told them you and I had it scheduled, but Evans hit me with her bow and called me a prat!"

Steve bit back a laugh, James looked so offended. "And Hawkeye didn't tell her off for hitting you?"

"No! He gave her pointers on how to hit me harder next time!" James' voice cracked from the injustice of it all.

It was so hard not to laugh, Steve didn't know how teachers managed it, "Well, I'll have a talk with Clint."

James grumbled something and slumped deeper along the wall.

Thor showed up just as Steve was about to try and formulate some sort of pep talk about how to handle a girl who would rather hit you than talk to you. It was difficult, this wasn't his area of expertise, so he welcomed Thor's timely arrival.

"Friend Rogers! I am going to train our young friend," He patted Sirius on the back. Sirius stumbled under the impact, but he wasn't hurt.

"I was going to give James some pointers with his shield," Steve said. "Clint's in there already with Lily. Why don't we turn it into a team exercise?"

James groaned, "Why?"

"Lily's not so bad," Sirius said.

"She's a stick in the mud!" James complained.

"Yeah, but not more than Remus and she didn't abandon me to save herself, even when I told her to."

"Ug, fine," James complained. "Whatever."

The six of them ended up forming three teams, Steve and James, Sirius and Thor, and Clint and Lily. Lily wanted to try two teams of the three children vs the three Avengers. Thor thought that sounded fun, but Steve wanted to make sure the three of them were proficient enough not to hurt themselves before they sparred against Avengers with no other Avengers backing them up.

The spar ended up in a draw, but only because the three Avengers stopped when the kids had to tap out. They didn't have the stamina or the practice to go toe to toe with Avengers, even with someone skilled at their side.

Sirius tapped out first, but James and Lily stubbornly refused call it quits before the other, and ended up collapsing at the same time. They were too competitive to admit their limit and fed off each other's stubbornness, which Steve would have to help them work on. He was sure he could help them harness that to work together in spectacular ways, if they could overcome how much they disliked each other.

However you cut it, they still had fun and were able to teach the children a lot. Sirius got better at sword safety, James managed to throw and then catch his shield a few times, and Lily hit several targets she was aiming at, instead of targets nearby.

Steve enjoyed having the kids around. It was refreshing and fun to pass their knowledge to the next generation. Thor agreed. Clint begrudgingly admitted seeing Lily improve with the bow was cool. Steve counted that as an absolute win. Clint counted it as Steve being the most annoying ray of sunshine on the planet.

Tony found that working on a device to help Meriam was a good distraction, but they hit a wall after two hours. Spending time with her was nice. Tony didn't get along with her or the others as well as he did with Remus. They were all incredibly intelligent, but so far only Remus had shown an interest in science, and even then he didn't like tinkering with things. Tony had tried, but Remus would get frustrated and teary when he couldn't put a radio back together as quickly as Tony wanted him too.

Meriam was just as smart as Remus, but her two biggest interests were history and historical fashion. Neither of those were topics Tony could even begin to comprehend. He hated thinking about the past and fashion was boring. If he needed fancy clothes he would give Pepper his credit card and she'd come back with something nice. The closest he could get to talking fashion with Meriam, historical or otherwise, was the work he'd done upgrading Captain America's suit, but he doubted she'd be interested in that when all she wanted to talk about was the sociopolitical reasoning behind the size of hatpins through the years.

"Hey, Meriam!" Sirius burst into the lab without warning.

"Oh, hey Sirius," Meriam mumbled.

Tony narrowed his eyes when he saw the blush creeping on Meriam's face. Sirius was wearing a sweaty black tank top and his hair was plastered to his forehead, but he still managed to look as good as any thirteen-year-old could look. Tony had to fight the urge to forbid them from having Thoughts, but they were in the throes of puberty and he'd only known them for a month. He'd add some security protocols to the PLATYPUS code to ban Sirius from Meriam's room.

He'd ban all of them from going into each other's rooms entirely, but Steve said that was overbearing and unfair and he should trust them enough to let the twins into each other's rooms, at least. But Tony had been a fourteen-year-old kid, he knew how messed up things could get without responsible adult supervision. He'd have been so much worse off without Rhodey watching over him. That was the whole point of the PLATYPUS protocols. At least he was better than Howard – he hoped.

"You missed it," Sirius said. "We were training and it was really fun. I knocked Hawkeye over!"

"Sad I missed that," Tony said smugly. "Oh, wait. JARVIS, pull up the security footage of the training room."

"Of course, Sir," JARVIS said.

The screen Tony was working on minimized his calculations and displayed a very nice angle of Sirius tackling Clint to the ground. It was very funny.

"JARVIS, save the footage to the Hawkeye blooper folder."

"Cool!" Sirius grinned. "I wanna see that later."

"Oh, that looks like fun," Meriam said. "Maybe I'll join next time. Oh! I could design costumes for us! I have to get my sketchbook, I left it in Steve's room."

"I bet you'll make us look awesome," Sirius said.

"Thanks!" Meriam smiled at him and then bolted from the room.

"She designed all her clothes, too," Sirius said proudly.

Tony saw the way Sirius looked at her as she left and had to fight the urge to sit Sirius down and start ranting about what was and wasn't appropriate for a thirteen-year-old boy. He knew that would be an overreaction. His childhood was unusual and he was already protecting them from that.

"She's very creative," Tony said.

"Is that a motorcycle engine?" Sirius gravitated towards one of the ongoing projects. "That's so cool!"

"You like it?"

"Is that four-stroke? I've always wanted to take one of these apart and put it back together again. Oh! Can I build my own engine?" Sirius spun back around. "My Uncle Alphard got me a Bike Magazine for my eleventh birthday. He was about ten months off, it was actually my little brother's tenth birthday, but he did it to annoy Mother and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I managed to save the cover before Mother burned it and I've always wanted to see one for real."

"That's an experimental engine for Cap's bike," Tony said. "I'm trying to make it as indestructible as possible. He rides that into battle."

"That's so awesome," Sirius was hovering over the engine, practically vibrating with energy. "When can I get one?"

Tony puffed in surprise, "I… uh… when you're at least sixteen, I'm gonna say."

"But that's more than two years away!" Sirius whined.

"Steve can teach you how to drive one when you're fifteen and a half."

"That's a little better," Sirius pouted.

"How about we build you a bike together?" Tony said. "By the time we're done, you'll be old enough to ride it."

"Really!" Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, sure," Tony smiled. "We'll start by taking this engine apart and upgrading it. I've been meaning to do that anyway."

"You're the coolest!" Sirius announced, finally allowing himself to put a hand on the engine. His entire body glowed for a moment, he was so happy. Wizard kids were strange, but it was nice seeing a magical response to a positive emotion for once. It still fritzed some of the equipment. Tony could work on that later. Steve's bike was pretty analog, so that didn't matter for this project.

Tony was so happy to have someone to share his passion for mechanics with, he entirely forgot his original intent for today was procrastinating a very uncomfortable situation.

Neither of them noticed the sun had gone down until Steve and James arrived with a box of pizza. James proceeded to hand Sirius a can of soda, shaking it vigorously first. Sirius happily went to open it and was promptly shooed out by Tony before he could spray the lab with soda.

"Don't do that in the lab," Tony said sternly. He felt bad immediately, as Sirius looked up at him like a kicked puppy. "Anywhere else is fine," Tony sighed.

"Thanks!" Sirius chirped, happy once more.

James and Sirius ran off, planning their next prank on Clint and Thor. Tony wished them luck as they rounded the corner.

"I don't understand this, but I think I made it right," Steve handed Tony a health smoothie.

"Aw, thanks," Tony said. "You know I hate these."

"I do, but you drink them anyway."

"They're healthy," Tony grimaced. "I know you like your steak and potatoes but not all of us have the metabolism of a super soldier. I have to keep this amazing figure somehow."

"Is it worth it?" Steve asked, grabbing a slice of meat lovers pizza.

"Yes," Tony frowned, taking a very long sip of the smoothie. "Ah, kale," he grimaced. "I feel healthier already."

Steve raised an eyebrow and took a bite of pizza, "It's gluten free."

"Save some of that for me," Tony sighed in defeat.

Steve laughed. The way his blue eyes reflected the lights in the lab made life worth living.

"Sirius is really great with mechanics," Tony said. "I've never seen anyone so enthusiastic about motorcycles that they glowed. I may have promised you'd teach him how to drive one when he turns fifteen."

"Planning for the future, I see," Steve smiled.

"I am a futurist," Tony said. "It's in the job description."

"That's not what's been eating at you."

Tony needed another distraction, "I've been looking through HYDRA's files again," Tony said. "I found their files on Lyall. HYDRA marked Remus and Hope eliminated on it. It was a diversionary tactic, so that if one system was compromised, we wouldn't realize they had more prisoners."

"You think she might still be alive?"

"If she was half as brilliant as Remus is, I'm sure Skull would find a use for her," Tony said. "But I also wouldn't put it past him to off her because he was looking for magic and werewolves when he attacked the Lupins."

"But there's hope."

"If she lives up to her name, yes," Tony said. "I… also found a few morsels of information on the Winter Soldier."

"Oh," Steve deflated.

"I… nothing concrete," Tony said. "But I'm close. We'll get him back, Steve, I swear it."

"I know how good you are at… finding old popsicles," Steve managed to joke.

Tony could hear the pain in his voice. He hated himself for it. He should have kept that part to himself. He had enough on his plate today, he didn't need to add hurting Steve.

"Thank you for telling me," Steve added. "It means a lot that you're doing this. You didn't know Bucky…"

"I didn't know Hope, either. Or Remus or Lyall. I know this is your line, but I won't let HYDRA hurt people and get away with it."

"No decent person would," Steve agreed. "But still, it means a lot to me."

Tony hoped that was enough to get him off the more pressing matter of the now precarious custody of their favorite werewolf.

"That's not the only thing on your mind, is it?" Steve asked.

Tony groaned, "How do you know me so well?"

Steve grabbed his hand and squeezed gently, "You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Lupin doesn't want Remus," Tony said, only loud enough for Steve's enhanced hearing to just pick it up.

"He's still not himself," Steve said. "I'm sure with time…"

"He was persistent," Tony despaired. "He doesn't want custody of Remus if he gets better."

"I'm sure he's just…"

"I admire your faith in people," Tony sighed, leaning on Steve. "But Lupin doesn't deserve it. He's abandoning his kid and saddled me with breaking the news."

"I can tell Remus, if it would make you feel better."

"I'm not a coward," Tony said. "I can tell him. I don't want to play telephone with something like this. I just need to process it a bit more. And he's got his first day of school tomorrow, I can't…"

"And after that he'll be studying for midterms, then it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, his birthday will be coming up, and you won't want to ruin his summer vacation. It doesn't end, Tony."

"How are you right all the time?" Tony complained.

"Are you certain Lyall won't take Remus back when he's better?"

"Pretty sure," Tony sighed. "Lyall's convinced he'd hurt Remus if left alone with him."

"We can't keep this from Remus. You tell him, but I'm going with you."

"Thanks," Tony sighed.

Steve and Tony found the kids in the common room, playing Rock Band and eating pizza. Remus was watching his four friends from the sidelines, flipping through the Book occasionally, but mostly watching them jam out with a fond smile on his face. He looked so content, so happy. It broke Tony's heart that he was about to crush him.

"We'll be there for him. His friends will be there for him," Steve whispered in Tony's ear. "He'll be hurt, I know, but we'll be there to help him pick up the pieces."

"I know," Tony sighed. "Remus, we need to talk to you."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Privately," Steve added.

"Oh," Remus' smile dropped.

"Ooo, Moony's in trouble!" James and Sirius both crowed.

"What did you do, Moony?" Meriam poked him playfully.

"I don't know," Remus said. "But whatever it was, I'm certain it was James and Sirius."

"We did the shaving cream," Sirius offered.

"No one's in trouble," Tony sighed.

"What did you do with shaving cream?" Steve asked at the same time.

"Nothing!" James slapped a hand over Sirius mouth. "We did nothing with shaving cream and you can't prove anything!"

Steve frowned, but there were more pressing things than the current prank war the boys were waging. Besides, it was Clint and Thor's problem, not theirs.

"Remus…"

"It's about my dad, isn't it?" Remus already looked crushed, and Tony had no idea what conclusion he'd jumped to.

"Whatever you're going to say, we can hear it too," James said.

"That's alright, Prongs, I'll just tell you after."

Remus stood up and shakily followed them into the conference room. It was the closest private place in the tower. Poor Remus was practically shaking with nerves, "He's not dead, right?" Remus squeaked as soon as he collapsed in the nearest chair.

"No, no," Tony said. "He's getting better, really. More himself."

"That's great," Remus said. "When can I see him? Can he have visitors yet? I know it's only been a month but he hasn't answered my letters yet and what HYDRA did was really bad, he looked like he was dying when… and I know that… I mean… I just want to see him."

Tony couldn't do this. Remus was too sweet, too gentle, too hurt already. He couldn't add to it. He couldn't…

Steve grabbed his hand and squeezed.

He had to. Remus deserved honesty and to have someone who would do the right thing, even if it hurt. "Remus, he… in the event that… I mean when he does… when… we're keeping you."

"I mean… yeah, until he's better and…"

"No, Remus. We're keeping you permanently," Tony said.

"But…" Remus' face scrunched up in pain. "But… he's my Dad and he's alive and…"

"I know this is hard to hear, Remus," Steve said.

"But he'll get better?" Remus whined.

"The SHIELD specialists say he's on his way to a recovery. We don't know if it'll be a full one, he'll likely never be the same, but he'll recover enough to be safe in society," Tony said.

"He's just not safe for me," Remus said quietly. "But… I don't understand… I know he had anger problems but I'm sure the SHIELD therapists can help with that and…"

"He doesn't trust himself with you," Tony said quietly. "I promise, Remus, we're here for you…"

"It was his idea?" Remus' voice broke and his face twisted in pain.

"We… I… he believes this is best for you," Tony said as gently as he could.

"He couldn't say that to my face?" Remus clenched his fists.

"Remus, son…" Steve went to comfort Remus, but Remus snapped to his feet and stumbled away.

"I'm fine," Remus' voice broke. "I'm going to go finish my pizza. Thanks for telling me."

Remus stormed out of the room. He was shaking even harder than before, and Tony couldn't blame him.

"I hurt him," Tony whined.

"Lyall hurt him," Steve said. "You did the right thing. Overprotecting him would only harm him more down the line. He's hurt, but we'll help him."

"I don't know what I did before I had you," Tony sighed.

"I feel the same way about you."

Remus couldn't wrap his mind around any of the thoughts pinging around his head. Most of it was pain and anger. Most of it felt more wolf than human. But it was all him and that was the extent of what he could be certain of.

His ears were ringing when he sat back down on the couch between Sirius and Meriam. He couldn't tell entirely what was going on. Mr. Stark said something to him, but he wasn't sure what. It was a bit ridiculous that he'd already forgotten. Or maybe he just couldn't process it yet.

"Moony, you okay?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Remus answered with a mouth that didn't feel like it should belong to him.

"You look… a little furry," Lily said.

"Yeah, well I'm a bloody werewolf, aren't I?" Remus snapped.

"I know that," Lily frowned. "But why are you half way towards transforming right now?"

"Maybe I just like it like this," Remus said. "The Hulk's always 'transformed' so…"

"Remus, we're your friends," Meriam's hand snaked into his and Sirius' arm came down over his shoulder.

"He doesn't want me," Remus' couldn't hold it in for very long. "My Dad doesn't want me."

"Oh, Moony," James wedged himself next to Sirius and Remus, but he didn't push Sirius away. Both of them hugged Remus as best as they cool. Meriam leaned on him. Even Lily, who couldn't stand being near James, joined in the pile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm okay," Remus insisted.

"It's okay that you're not," Lily said. "We're here."

"I know," Remus sniffled.

After a few moments, all of four them had transformed, making a zoological dog pile on the couch with Remus nestled safely at the bottom. James was even more sharp edges, but also the best pillow in the world. Sirius and Meriam were so unbelievably soft. And Lily nested by his head, clicking her beat in a comforting rhythm. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Nothing could hurt him here.

He finally had his pack.

Wow! The end of the first Book. On to Book 2: The Magical and the Mechanical! Excelsior!

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