Chris turned off the television in the living room and stretched his arms into the air before rubbing his neck. Annie and Gabe were curled up asleep on either side of him, and Alex was asleep beside Annie. Chris carefully stood up and took Annie to her bed and then returned for Gabe. With Alex, though, he gently shook his arm.
"Wake up, Lex," he whispered. Alex's eyes slowly opened.
"Daddy?" Chris smiled, unused to hearing Alex call him that when he wasn't being reprimanded.
"It's bedtime, son. Let's get you to your room." Alex groaned and Chris helped him stand. He walked his son out of the living room and down the hall to his own room. Chris pulled the covers down and waited for Alex to climb into the bed before covering him up and tucking him in.
"Night, Dad," Alex mumbled.
"Good night, Alex. Love you." Chris left Alex's room and closed the door behind him. He walked down to Scott's door and quietly opened it. Scott was bent over his desk, his cheek on lined paper and smudged ink. Chris chuckled and ran a hand through Scott's hair. Scott took a quick breath and jumped up.
"Dad!"
"Shh," Chris said. "It's almost midnight. You should get in bed." Scott nodded as he stretched.
"Didn't mean to fall asleep," he said, almost slurring.
"It's fine, son." Scott stood up and fell onto his bed. Chris shook his head fondly and covered his eldest up as well and then left Scott's room for his own. He scratched at the stubble on his chin, vowing to shave the following morning, and stripped to his boxers. He'd just gotten comfortable in bed when there was a knock on his door that opened to the hall. Chris closed his eyes tighter, hoping the knocking would stop. When it didn't, he huffed and stormed to the door, yanking it open.
"It is almost mid-! Tony?"
"I- I'm back," he said, his eyes taking in Chris' lack of attire. Chris saw Tony's roaming eyes and leaned against the doorway, crossing his ankles.
"And you couldn't wait to see me? Or were you checking to see if I was alone?"
"Chris-"
"We'll talk in the morning, Stark. Get some sleep." Tony looked at his watch and then to Chris.
"It's morning."
"You knew what I meant-" Tony pushed Chris into his room and closed the door.
"Dad. Dad. Dad!" Chris took a startled breath and sat up.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice scratchy from a deep sleep.
"Grandma's been calling you," Scott told him. Chris nodded and wiped his eyes.
"I'll call in a second. I'd like some privacy though, son."
"Yes sir." Scott left and Chris grabbed his phone off the charger from the table beside him. He pressed Deborah's number and held the phone to his ear as it rang.
"Chris! Oh thank goodness you're alright!"
"What's going on?" he asked, trying to wake up.
"Dad got to work this morning-" Chris saw it was almost 12:30 in the afternoon and he jumped out of bed. "- and got a call that the hangar had been broken into!"
"What's that got to do with if I'm alright or not, Mom?" he asked, pulling a pair of jeans over his boxers.
"Because there was a note left! Someone stuck it to the Cessna with a knife, and-" Deborah took a quivering breath. "It had Katherine's obituary and a picture of you saying you were next and we couldn't hide you for long!" Deborah began sobbing and Chris jumped when he felt a hand on his arm.
"What's going on?" Tony asked quietly. Chris held a finger up.
"Ma, everything is ok, alright? I'm safe. I'm living with the Avengers and their state of the art security. No one will get me or the kids. Maybe you and dad should… Dad needs to pass control to Freddy for a bit and you two should go to the cabin to relax. This can't be good for Dad's heart."
"But if it's announced that you're opening a branch in New York-!" Chris winced at the volume of his mother's sobs.
"Mom, I… I'll ask Tony to put his AI or Scott's AI into the hangar for extra protection. And I'll… I don't know, I'll see if maybe I can do some target practice and make sure I'm not rusty. I'll be safe, Mom, I promise."
"I'll keep him safe," Tony said loudly. Chris turned red.
"Was that Tony? Scott said you were asleep."
"Ma."
"Chris."
"Just have the police working the case call me or Tony, alright? Tony knows… He knows why that's there."
"Why is it there? What's going on?"
"Not over the phone. Let me know when you get to the cabin and I'll talk Tony into letting me use his super secure line and call you to explain. I've got to go. I have an anxious Avenger trying to tap into my line."
"It's only because I know who he is that I won't ask if that's a euphemism." Chris spluttered and Deborah laughed before hanging up.
"What's going on?"
"Tony-"
"I can get a transcript made-"
"You wouldn't dare," Chris said, looking hard at the billionaire. Tony shivered.
"You gotta stop with the big bad wolf routine, Bear, or there's going to be some other type of huffing and puffing." Chris tried to stay serious, but had to turn to hide his laugh.
"Please for the love of God don't start calling me a wolf, too."
"Maybe in private," Tony said, smirking. "Now what's going on? What has your mom freaking out?"
"Someone broke into my dad's hangar during the night and used a knife to stick a note to one of our older family planes. It had…"
"I can handle it. I'm a superhero, you know." Chris pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It had Katherine's obituary and a picture of me saying I was next, and that my parents couldn't hide me for long." Tony nodded and walked away to grab his phone from his pants pocket. He pressed a few buttons and then looked at Chris.
"Your hangar is almost done. I'll head over before tonight and connect Friday to your servers. You'll be able to get to me immediately if something happens, or Friday will get both of us if you're not there."
"Thanks, Tony. Have you had any luck pinning Kat's murder-" Chris shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sure it's uncomfortable to discuss her."
"Only because of what her death did to you," Tony said. "She was your wife, Chris. Your kids wouldn't be here without her, and I'm pretty attached to them."
"If she was still alive, this," Chris said, gesturing between them, "wouldn't have happened."
"I know that," Tony said. He cleared his throat and held up his phone. "I'm going to make some calls and see if my contacts found something." He headed to the door and Chris chuckled.
"You gonna get dressed first?"
"Nah. I'll let 'em talk," Tony said in a cocky tone.
"Mmhm. And when Annie sees you?" Tony faltered. "You want this to work, then you have to keep in mind that there are extremely young, impressionable children watching you and us."
"Wouldn't want her to see my 'tang," Tony grumbled as he grabbed a pair of Chris' sweatpants from a drawer.
"Oh, yes. She wanted me to thank 'Mr. Money' for the car."
"I thought it was more appropriate than a horse or a real car, but if you want-"
"Shut up, Stark," Chris said without any malice.
"You gonna make me?"
"DADDY!" Chris nodded.
"Get used to it," he said ruefully. "They pick the worst times to interrupt." Chris pulled a shirt out of his drawer and slid it on.
"DADDY!"
"I'm coming, Annie! Just give me a second!" He shook his head and turned to Tony. "I'll take a raincheck on that shutting you up thing."
"I look forward to it," Tony said. "I'll let you know what I find later. And think about getting all five kids together to tell them?"
"Mine are available whenever. Just let me know when Peter's here."
"DADDY!" Annie's voice came under the door and Chris closed his eyes.
"That high pitch just… Really brings out the straightjacket in me." Tony laughed and Chris opened up the door to see Annie.
"Daddy!" Annie grinned happily.
"Annabeth. Why are you screaming?"
"Because you weren't listenin'."
"As good a reason as any, Papa Bear," Tony mused. "Alright. Heading out. Have Friday get me if you need me."
"Shirt, Tony," Chris said. Tony grinned and pulled a shirt from Chris' drawer, an Air Force shirt, and slid it on.
"See ya, Sunshine," he said before leaving from the other door in Chris' room.
"Is Mr. Money your boyfriend, Daddy?" Chris sighed and put his hand on Annie's head.
"Have you had lunch, princess?"
"Yep! Scotty made me nuggets."
"Good. You working on your letters?" Annie scowled.
"I don't like school work, Daddy. I just wanna have fun like before I was five."
"I'm sorry, Annie, but it doesn't work like that."
"But I don't wanna!"
"Annabeth Grace-" The door burst open and Chris watched his oldest two children wrestle their way to get into the room first.
"Move, fart-face!"
"At least I'm not a dickwad!" Scott returned.
"BOYS!" They froze and looked at Chris.
"Hey Dad," Scott finally said. "Won't happen again."
"When are you supposed to see Captain Rogers?"
"I've already trained with him this morning. I'm supposed to be in the lab with Mr. Stark this afternoon."
"He'll be busy-"
"Aw, Dad!" Scott groaned.
"- adding Friday to the hangar's security system," Chris said, glaring. Alex looked from Scott to Chris, frowning.
"Am I missing something?"
"Not a damn word, Scott," Chris threatened.
"Seriously?" Scott said. "For how long, Dad? You- you can't actually expect me to-"
"Major Summers, Mr. Stark has requested that you and your children join him and Peter for Thai-" Annie cried out "- and pizza tonight at 6pm."
"Tell Tony we'll be there," Chris said. "Thank you, Friday."
"Tonight, then?" Scott asked.
"Unless something comes up, yes," Chris told him. "Now go see what Stark wants you to do while he's gone. Lex, you have a section to do in your workbook-"
"I already did it," Alex said. "It's on the table for you to look over. Can I play my video games?"
"Go ahead. Where's Gabe?"
"He's with Mr. Barton outside," Scott said. "Mr. Barton said he'd help him plant his own garden and they're going over what plants will survive here over winter."
"Alright. Thanks."
"Annie, I'll help you with your letters once Mr. Stark gives me my math work, ok?" Scott offered. "Maybe you can help point them out with the numbers in my notebook."
"I can help you," Annie said cheerfully. Chris mouthed a 'thank you' to Scott who nodded back.
"I have a few things to do today," Chris said. "I have to narrow down a few more applicants and check the delivery of some planes to the hangar and welcome the first hire."
"Gonna carpool with-?"
"No," Chris said in a warning tone.
"Ok. Come on, Annie. Let's see what letters you can point out in Mr. Stark's lab." Scott leaned down and helped his sister climb onto his back to give her a piggyback ride to Tony's lab. When they got there, Scott realized the door was open, which was unusual when Tony was working. He slowly moved forward and heard raised voices. Annie whimpered and buried her head into Scott's neck.
"Shh," Scott said. "It'll be alright, Annie. Mr. Stark won't let anything happen to us." He knocked loudly on the door. "Mr. Stark? I'm here to get my math work." Tony looked over from the screen and Scott saw a dark skinned man with a patch over his eye.
"Who's the kid, Stark?"
"The son of a friend I'm helping out. That a problem?" The man on the screen looked at Scott appraisingly.
"You must be Spider-Man, then. I've heard about you."
"Ok?" Scott looked at Tony and adjusted his grip on Annie. "I was told you were going to be gone for the afternoon. He's planning on going to that same place, so you could go together for some peace, if you wanted. Can I get my assignment so she and I can look at the numbers and letters?"
"Yeah, kid," Tony said. He pulled out a folder and handed several papers to Scott. "Have Mick check them over for you, alright?"
"Why not Friday?"
"I mean, you can ask Friday, but Mick's been specifically designed for you." Scott nodded and carefully backed out of the lab so that the eye patch man couldn't get a good look at Annie.