Chapter 6 Questions and Answers

When I woke up I wasn't expecting to find myself in my bedroom with Pepper sleeping next to me, and all of the Avengers scattered around on my emperor-sized bed-what? I don't stay still on a night and I have six kids with another two on the way, how else am I supposed to fit them all on here? Cap's by my feet and appeared to have been sketching something before he fell asleep and I can just make out the outlines of Thor falling asleep upside down on the bed a few feet away from me, I look over to where the outline is on the pad to see that it is entirely accurate. Thor's lying diagonal along the right corner at the bottom of the bed, his collar and head completely obscured by the bodies next to him and the fact that he is indeed upside down.

Natasha is lying next to him curled up into a ball but nearer the middle of the bed than the edge, hugging a large pillow to her chest and making it look like it's going to burst by how hard she's squeezing it. It's nearly impossible not to laugh and I have to bite my lip to keep myself from chuckling. Bruce is lying next to her, close to Pepper's thighs but facing Widow. An arm appears to have been around her before either one of them moved and his position is almost the same as as Widow's except he's clutching a blanket instead of a pillow that appears to have been covering them both.

I still think that they should start dating, but Bruce is too scared to ask her out in case something bad happens and the Other Guy appears. Natasha doesn't appear to have any grudge against him, even after what happened on the Helicarrier though it took her a while to get over what happened and trust him fully. From what I can tell, she very much wants to date him, but is scared of herself and doesn't seem to know how to present herself in a way that would encourage him to ask her out.

I make a mental note to find a way to get them alone and away from everyone else so that they can have a date without any interruption, though I haven't quite figured out how to do it yet. Maybe a dinner at a restaurant? Nah, too formal and it would only make Bruce panic. A picnic? No wouldn't work this time of year. Never mind, I'll come up with something at some point.

Next on the list is Clint. Except I can't see him anywhere. I look over Pepper's shoulder, trying not to wake her up and don't see him. I begin to panic, afraid that he's gotten himself hurt or is angry with me for what happened and has run off again. I feel my heart begin to race as well as my breathing until I feel a hand on my left shoulder. I abruptly turn my head around (nearly giving myself whiplash-again) and see lint lying next to me, not far from the edge of the bed, his eyes almost bloodshot and his face exhausted. He doesn't say anything and neither do I as I begin to calm down.

Once my heart is calm again and my breathing is normal, I take a proper look at him. He's wearing a loose T-shirt and long navy shorts without any patterns. His hair is ruffled and sticking up on one side of his head and his eyes are bloodshot. He's been up all night again, making sure I was safe. His whole body seems to scream exhaustion but I can tell he won't give in unless he's sure I'm alright.

I look at his blue eyes which seem to scream at me in worry, wondering if I'm okay. I give a small real smile which is rarely shown to anyone and I see him visibly relax, before moving in and closing the distance between us and snuggles into my chest after seeing if it's okay with me. I just smiled and put my arm around him in comfort and forgiveness for us both and I hear him sigh in quiet relief and attempting to snuggle deeper into my chest. I feel a purr rise in my chest and up my throat and smile when I see Clint relax so that he appears to be completely asleep. I close my eyes feeling bliss that I haven't completely lost my brother, despite the fact that I got his ankle broken and gave him a load of bruises from when the Space Worm exploded. With that as my last thought, I fall into a peaceful slumber.

Or so I thought.

Almost immediately after I fell asleep, I seemed to be awakened by nightmares of my past. It started off with Afghanistan and my time in the Cave as it always does, only this time Clint's there and being tortured brutally along with Pepper, our children, the Avengers, and Yinsen instead of me. All of them going through every single torture I went through just so I would make the missile.

They were yelling at me, in languages that I have since become fluent in, trying to force me into making the Jericho, with each and everyone one of my friends and family-though the children couldn't understand what was going on-screaming at me not to do it before I watch every single one of them die with Yinsen repeating his last words to me before the life leaves his eyes once more. "Don't waste your life" and I abruptly wake up screaming.

My heart feels like it's trying to push its way out of my chest except that there's a whole chunk of metal in the way that's keeping it in place. I can't tell what exactly is going on around me as I try and focus my eyesight and slow my breathing. I could see my brother and Pepper in front of me, Clint majorly panicking and Pepper trying to calm everyone down, including myself as I try and figure out where I am.

Cap, Widow, and Thor are all looking anxious, afraid that I'm going to have another heart-attack and not come back. Widow's trying to calm down Clint at the moment-who fell off of the bed from all of my movement, which sent him into a panic when he couldn't wake me up. Thor doesn't know what to do other than talk quietly and try and convince Pepper that poptarts would calm me down (I still find his obsession with poptarts a little weird) and Cap's trying to help Bruce and Pepper calm me down.

In the end, it takes TJ, Maria, Howard, Daniel, Yinsen, and Miracle to calm me down. They're still young TJ, Maria, Howard, and Daniel only being 8 and 7 years old and Yinsen and Miracle being 5. They're not supposed to come in here when the Avengers are in the room, but their bedroom's are linked to ours and the fact that they heard me screaming freaked them out.

To say everyone else was surprised is an understatement, they all completely froze in shock except for Pepper and Clint-though Clint was surprised when he saw Yinsen and Miracle since he hadn't met them. THey had all climbed onto the bed-and it was a bit of a struggle since the bed is a few inches higher than any normal bed off the ground-and immediately hugged me and started telling me jokes-and they weren't all that bad considering their ages-which brought my focus back onto my surroundings and allowed me to relax.

Closing my eyes, I let my focus drift to my racing heart and frantic breathing which quickly relaxed and I managed to avoid passing out. I lay my head back on the pillows and feel my chest rise and fall deeply almost making me fall back asleep before someone with impeccable timing speaks up.

"Are you okay Tony?" Bruce asks quietly, so as not to startle me no doubt. I reluctantly open my eyes to see everyone staring at me, the children spread out around my body and holding my hands and resting their heads on my chest. The Avengers are spread out around them still slightly wary about them being here by the emotions in the room. Pepper's next to me on my right slightly less panicked and Clint calmer than before on my left.

Natasha and Bruce are more wary about the children than the others since they don't spend a lot of time with kids and Bruce is just worried about losing control around them. Whereas Cap's trying to figure out if I've really been sleeping with Pepper like the press thinks, and Thor's just trying to figure out how six children 'walked through a wall' which is really just a hologram that can harden when turned off by someone on either side.

In order to ease the anxiety in the room, I let myself relax to tall them that I'm going to talk, and sit up as Pepper adjusts the pillows to support my back and neck before I finally speak. "I'm fine," At their looks of disbelief I sigh again and continue. "It was just a nightmare, that's all, but I'm fine now." I say my voice sounding slightly stronger and they all relax somewhat, especially Pepper, Clint, and the kids. Then cap speaks, his voice confused and slightly suspicious.

"Who are the kids?" He asks glancing at them and they smile nervously at him and the other Avengers. I sigh and look at Pepper and we have a silent conversation before I turn away and look back up at him to answer his question.

"They are my children-"Is all I manage to get out before they all-excluding Pepper and Clint of course-yell in surprise and Cap starts his rant on how wrong it is for me to be having children outside of marriage-and I do agree it is wrong, but that's just my opinion as I've seen what it does to other people-and I can't hold it back anymore. A loud growl rips from my chest and out of my throat, at a volume that is louder than their yelling and shuts them to complete silence as fear and shock suddenly overcome them.

"Don't you dare talk about me like that!" I growl, my voice is two octaves lower than it usually is (and I'm a high tenor) and my pupils become slits and I have to control my emotions to stop myself from shifting. "I would never have children outside of marriage, as it is completely wrong in my opinion. I am married and my children are legitimate." I glare at each of them in turn, all of them looking scared, including Pepper and Clint but they're worried about what I'll do to them.

After a few deep breaths, and lots of hugs from my children, I manage to calm down enough that my pupils dilate and the Leopard receeds back to my subconsciousness once more. Once I'm sure I'm calm enough to face their questions I look back up at them and nod at Clint to let him know I'm calm enough to answer questions. taking a deep breath, Clint asks the main questions that has everyone rialed up even though he already knows the answers.

"When did you get married, and who did you marry?" He asks quietly, clearly still being cautious after what just happened. I sigh again quietly before looking them all in the eyes, before looking down at my hands trying to muster up the strength to answer. TJ wraps his arms around my chest and leans on me comfortingly and I put my hand on his head, stroking his black-brown-ginger hair (I don't know how that happened either, it's his natural colour as well as Maria's). After a few more seconds I manage to say the small, yet simple words.

"I got married 9 years ago... when I was 16, I married Pepper." My voice is hardly above a whisper and I risk a glance at the others who are shocked at this unexpected revelation. The fact that they're becoming shocked so often has stopped phasing me now, and it's somehow getting annoying.

"You got married when you were 16?! How old are you now?" Cap asks, staring at me with his mouth open and his eyes wide, it's almost comical especially since the others, except for Clint are perfectly copying him.

"I'm 25 Captain." If it was possible for them to become even more shocked then they did, but right now I don't think they could.

"How old were you when Afghanistan happened?" Bruce asks quietly, seemingly afraid of the answer as well. Everyone's looking at me the same way, but I can't stand to see the pity that will come into their eyes when I tell them and I can't bare to think about the cave right now, not so soon after having a nightmare about it. I close my eyes tightly shut and lean back against the pillows as I feel the panic overtake me again. "Tony are you okay?" I hear Bruce ask but I can't answer as I try and fight the anxiety filling me up again. I feel the Arc light up in my chest and the emotions around me intensify in panic, fear, and confusion. I force my heart to slow down and try to block the memories from coming to the forefront of my mind, by the time I can focus enough to open my eyes, all of my children are clinging to me tightly their eyes full of worry.

I calm myself down enough for their sakes before looking back up at Pepper and Clint, who promptly put their arms around me in a way of comfort, confusing the others. After another few deep breaths I finally force myself to answer the question. "I was... I was 19." I whisper closing my eyes as the memories fly into my minds eye and I clench my fists in order to suppress my shaking and anxiety. That's when memories of the Wormhole in New York flit into my mind and my heart races even faster, I don't know what made them come up but I force myself to hyperventilate to stop another Arc exploding. I hear panic around me but I ignore it as I let myself slip into unconsciousness.