Sins of the Fathers

by geekymoviemom

Tony Stark would never describe his relationship with his father as anything other than difficult. So what would possess him to agree to become the guardian of some random kid from Queens? Peter Parker lost his parents when he was barely old enough to remember them. But when tragedy strikes again during the Stark Expo, it's none other than Iron Man, his hero, who rescues him.

14. Chapter 14

I can't tell you guys enough how thankful I am for all of the kind reviews, follows and favorites! I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story!

I've had a few questions about Peter's age that I'd like to address. The MCU timeline is not the easiest to decipher, so for the purposes of my story, Peter was seven years old during the Stark Expo when the story began. His birthday is in August (per the comics), so in this chapter he will be turning twelve. In MCU canon, Peter gets bit by the spider when he's 14. He's 14 in Civil War, 15 in Spider-Man Homecoming, and 16 in Infinity War, which is the timeline I'll be sticking with for the rest of my story. :)

I also need to thank stjohn27, who's the best sounding board and prereader a girl could ask for.

---

Tony's eyes widened at the eerie sense of grimness in Steve's voice. While he thought the old man was often a bit more serious about everyday life than he needed to be, this was a lot more than that.

Steve looked broken. Completely and utterly broken.

"Yeah, okay," Tony said, clearing his throat and pointing over towards the living room couch. "You… um… need something to drink or anything?"

"Nah, I'm good," Steve said. He sank his large frame down onto the couch, leaning back and closing his eyes briefly. Tony knew that Steve didn't require as much sleep as the average human, but at that moment in his unprofessional opinion, Steve looked like he needed a long nap. Badly.

But a blink of the eye later and Steve's relaxed posture was gone, replaced by the rigid back and straightened shoulders of a well-trained soldier.

"Tony," he began. "I know Natasha dumped all that SHIELD and HYDRA stuff onto the internet, for the whole world to see, but—"

"Yeah, I've scanned through some of it," Tony said. "But I haven't really had a chance to look through it all. Pete's been having nightmares lately, again, so we've been trying to deal with him, and—"

"You haven't let him read any of it?" Steve demanded. "Have you?"

Tony's head snapped back in surprise. "Absolutely not! I haven't told him about any of it. It's bad enough he had to listen in on the entire goddamn showdown at the Triskelion!"

"Poor kid," Steve lamented. "I hope you'll let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Sam's offered to help too, he's got some experience with counseling. Not kids, he counsels former soldiers, but… just know that the offer is there. And not just for Peter, Tony. If you ever feel like you need someone to talk too… Sam said he's available."

"Thanks," Tony said quietly. "I appreciate it. He seems like a good guy."

"Yeah, he is," Steve agreed.

"But I don't think that's why you're up here in my apartment after midnight. Is it, old man?"

Steve let out a heavy sigh, his broad shoulders sagging. "No, it's not."

"Okay…, so…" Tony said, trying to not sound impatient. "Look, I'm not trying to rush you here, but since Pete's not sleeping all that great and I have no idea when he'll wake up again, we need to—"

"Have you ever heard of Arnim Zola, Tony?" asked Steve.

The unexpected question caught Tony off guard. His brow furrowed as he wracked his brain, knowing he'd heard that name before somewhere.

"Uh, yeah. I think my dad mentioned him a few times. Smart guy, worked for SHIELD, died of some bad cancer or something when I was a toddler. Why?"

"Well, before all that, Zola worked for HYDRA," Steve said. "Specifically for Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull. Zola was the scientist who helped to design all of Schmidt's weaponry during the war."

"So, why the hell was he working for SHIELD?" Tony asked. "That doesn't seem so smart on their part."

"Natasha called it Operation Paperclip. She said after the war, scientists with strategic value were recruited to work for SHIELD, without regard to their former affiliations."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. That seems a bit risky for a security organization." And not at all surprising. During his lifetime, Howard Stark's interest in fellow scientists and inventors almost boarded on obsession. It would make sense that he'd want as many of them as possible all in one place so he could glean from them.

"I suppose on the outside Arnim Zola didn't look like much of a threat," Steve said. "I think the people in the SSR thought he was only helping Schmidt because Schmidt had threatened to kill him."

"Okay, so… this guy Zola survives the war, then gets recruited to SHIELD to do… what exactly?"

Steve pursed his lips as his blue eyes filled with tears. "Zola was responsible for the rebuilding of HYDRA inside of SHIELD, Tony. He was the mastermind behind it all. And HYDRA grew inside SHIELD like a parasite, so that even after Zola was dead, he was still working." Steve paused, shaking his head. "That bunker that Natasha and I found, that's where I was first trained in the Army, and it was also the place where SHIELD was born. And in a secret level deep underground, we found what was left of Zola. He'd… downloaded his consciousness—or at least that's what Natasha called it—into hundreds of feet of that old tape that used to be your computers."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Tony. "He did that back in 1972? That's pretty impressive!"

"He was a genius, Tony," Steve snapped. "Like you are. Even Howard said so, and he was the smartest person I'd ever met before you."

A flash of pride at being called smarter than Howard Stark surged through Tony. "Yeah, well—"

"HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity couldn't be trusted with its own freedom," Steve interrupted. "And so Zola took the opportunity he had within SHIELD to continue the work he'd been doing with Schmidt. The Project Insight algorithm, Tony. That was all Zola's doing. He was the one who developed it."

Tony's heart immediately started hammering in his chest, and his hands clenched into tight fists. "He didn't happen to tell you why he was targeting my son with his deathships, did he?"

"We didn't know about the targets until you and Bruce cracked the algorithm, Tony," Steve replied gently. "But… Project Insight wasn't the only thing that Zola and the rest of the HYDRA agents were responsible for. The ghosts that Fury mentioned—"

"The ghosts were HYDRA," interrupted Tony. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"They were everywhere, Tony," Steve said. "HYDRA had agents everywhere. In the government, in the military, in hospitals, schools. They weren't just confined to SHIELD."

"Yeah, I heard ole Senator Stern was arrested for being one of the HYDRA goons," Tony said with a sneer. "Serves that fucker right."

"But Fury also doesn't think that we've flushed them all out yet," added Steve. "He thinks there's still agents out there. Cut off one head—"

"And two more take its place," Tony finished, shuddering. "So what does Fury wanna do about it?"

"Well, Fury's technically dead, so whatever he's doing it's going to be under deep cover. And Natasha's out there right now too, trying to build a new cover of her own. But once she gets back, I really think we need to try and root out as many of these HYDRA agents as we can. You and Bruce can find the location of their hidden bases, and then we'll all go in and eliminate them."

"Okay, that sounds all well and good and everything," replied Tony. "But who's the 'we' in this scenario? SHIELD? 'Cause that's not gonna fly. President Ellis is still up-in-arms about it, not to mention Congress. I've been up to my neck with Department of Damage Control stuff ever since the mess at the Triskelion, and you know I hate all that damn political stuff. Way too much smooth-talking and ass-kissing for my taste."

"No, not SHIELD. SHIELD technically doesn't exist anymore. I meant, we," said Steve, gesturing between himself and Tony. "Us. All of us. You, me, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, and Clint. The Avengers. We're the ones who are the best qualified to handle this."

"Barton? What the hell's he been up to all this time?"

"Natasha said that he's been running missions for Fury," Steve answered. "Like we were before all this happened. I can get in touch with him when we're ready."

"Mmm. And you think this is the way to go, do ya, old man?"

"Yes, Tony," Steve said firmly, even as his voice started to tremble. "I do. HYDRA has to be eliminated. They've… ruined too many lives already. They have to be stopped."

"Rogers?" Tony asked in a low voice. "What aren't you telling me? There's something else, isn't there?"

Steve let out a shaky breath, his chin dropping down to his chest. "Yeah, there is."

Tony's jaw clenched as he quickly glanced up at the clock, noting it was nearly 1am. Peter had been asleep for about two hours, which meant they had maybe another thirty minutes before he woke up, crying out for Tony.

"Rogers? What is it?"

"Natasha and I saw some things while we were down in that bunker at Camp Lehigh, Tony," Steve said, his flat voice almost a whisper. "Zola was taunting us, stalling us while HYDRA fired a missile towards the Camp. They tried to kill us."

Something about Steve's voice made Tony's blood run cold, and he shivered, his teeth catching on his lower lip. "What did you see?"

"Your mom and dad, Tony. They were—"

"They were killed in a car accident," Tony snapped. "Howard was probably drunk, as he usually was. What does that have to do with anything?"

Lifting his head, Steve locked eyes with Tony, his jaw twitching. "No, Tony. They were killed by HYDRA."

Tony let out a sound, somewhere between a choke and a gasp as he clutched his clenched fist to his chest. "You're absolutely sure?"

"I saw it, Tony," whispered Steve. "Natasha and I both did."

"Goddamnit," croaked Tony, slumping back against the couch. "Howard just couldn't keep his nose out of anything, could he?"

"It wasn't Howard's fault, Tony—"

"Yes, it fucking was, Rogers!" cried Tony. "He was obsessed! Everything he had, none of it was good enough! He wanted more! More knowledge, more technology, more stuff to do more… whatever!" Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Vanko. Hank Pym. This Zola asshole. Anyone who showed just the slightest hint of being as intelligent as him, he went after." Tony paused, letting out a morbid chuckle. "Everyone except me, of course."

"I'm sure he loved you, Tony," Steve protested. "You were his son!"

"Bullshit, he did!" snapped Tony. "He never loved me! Howard didn't even like me! All I heard about the whole time I was growing up was how I was never gonna match up to the great Steve Rogers! And that was only when he thought I was worthy enough to even speak to!"

Steve's head snapped back like he'd been slapped. "Tony, I only knew Howard when he was young and single. I didn't know—"

"Yeah, well, he never shut the hell up about you," Tony grumbled. "It was either Steve Rogers or whatever technology he was after or which new scientist he was trying to woo. And all it did, all his obsession got him in the end was to get my mom killed. Way to go, asshole!"

"I don't—, I don't know what to say, Tony."

Tony shrugged, blinking back tears as he looked off to the side. "There's nothing you can do. My parents have been dead for over twenty years now. But my mom, she deserved better. She deserved better than to go out like that. I think… I think she would've loved getting to meet Pepper, and her grandson." And who knows. Maybe even Howard would've been impressed by Peter. Kid could charm the socks off an alligator, so why not Howard Stark?

They were quiet for a few moments, the only sounds being the roar of the occasional airplane as it flew overhead, until Steve spoke up again.

"Tony, that's not everything I came up here to tell you."

"What now, Rogers?"

"I… um…" Steve stammered. "Natasha told me after Fury was attacked that there was a Soviet assassin out there that went by the name Winter Soldier. She said he was responsible for dozens of kills in the last fifty years."

Tony's throat, already raw from trying to hold back his emotions, tightened even more. "Did this assassin happen to be that dark-haired dude on the carrier in D.C.? With the metal arm? The one that nearly beat the hell out of you?"

"Yes," Steve choked out. "It was. I've thought he was dead this whole time. I watched him fall from a moving train down a cliff during the war, while we were raiding the HYDRA bases… I guess HYDRA captured him, they must've experimented on him, done something to him."

"Well, yeah, I'd say HYDRA did something to him," mumbled Tony. "Sounds like they scrambled his head pretty good."

A single tear rolled down Steve's cheek, and he hastily brushed it away. "He's my friend, Tony. My best friend. I thought he was dead. We'd known each other our entire lives, and now—"

"Now he's one of HYDRA's puppets," Tony muttered. "Who killed my parents."

"Tony, I—, he probably didn't even know what he was doing. I fought him, before I knew who he was, and he was brutal. HYDRA enhanced him somehow."

"He nearly killed you, Rogers," Tony said in a low voice. "I'd say he was just as brutal after you realized who he was."

"No," protested Steve. "He stopped. On the carrier, he could've killed me. His hand was raised, but he stopped. He stopped. That must mean that the real Bucky is still in there somewhere, underneath all the HYDRA programming."

Tony shot him a skeptical look. "Uh huh. And what exactly do you think you're gonna do about it? He's a ghost, and now without Pierce and the rest of whoever at HYDRA was controlling him, we have no way of knowing what he knows or where he's gone."

"Then that means I need to find him," Steve said firmly. "I need to find him before someone else does. And if Fury is right, that not all the HYDRA agents have been flushed out, then it's even more important that we find him before they do." Steve paused, looking intently into Tony's eyes. "I could use your help, Tony. Sam's offered to help too, but…"

Steve's voice trailed off, but Tony caught the intent behind his words anyway. Tony's vast resources and worldwide connections would certainly go far in aiding such a difficult search. Tony felt his upper lip curling, he had half a mind to tell Steve to shove it. That he wouldn't waste any time or money to help find the person who most likely murdered his parents in cold blood, brainwashed or not.

But from what Peter had told him about this Bucky person, he and Steve had been best friends since childhood, very much like Peter and Ned. And Tony knew without a doubt that if Peter and Ned were ever in a weird-ass situation such as this, Peter would do whatever he possibly could to help Ned.

And I'd do the same if it were Rhodey. And he for me.

"All right," Tony finally said. "I'll help you. But if there's still HYDRA cells out there, our main focus should be on wiping those out first. I'm not giving those fuckers another shot at my son, Rogers. Not ever."

"I agree," Steve said, his shoulders sagging a bit. "Thank you, Tony. And I'm sorry, you know I never meant—"

"Nothing anyone could've done," interrupted Tony. "Not your fault, either."

"But still. Howard was my friend, and your father. If there's anything I can do—"

But Steve was interrupted by a sudden loud wail coming from the direction of Peter's bedroom, the hair-raising sound causing Tony to shiver.

"No! Please, Daddy, no!"

"Go, Tony," Steve said as Tony bolted to his feet. "I can see myself out."

"Later, old man," Tony shot over his shoulder as he hurried out of the living room. Rushing into Peter's bedroom, Tony found him curled into a tight, sweaty ball on his bed, his head cradled in his arms as he sobbed.

"Hey, hey, buddy," Tony murmured as he pulled the boy into his arms, positioning Peter's head over his heart as Peter grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pinching Tony's skin in the process. "You're all right, Pete. I've got you. It's okay now."

"I'm scared, Daddy!" Peter cried, tears leaking out from under his closed eyes. He wasn't even fully awake. "They're too loud! Make them go away!"

"I've got you, Peter," Tony said firmly. His right hand curled into Peter's hair, rubbing his scalp. "I love you, buddy. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

It took over fifteen minutes of shushing and comforting before Peter was able to calm down. But finally, after his skinny body had relaxed and his breathing had evened out, Tony leaned his head back, tears of exhaustion and sorrow burning his eyes.

Are we ever going to have any peace? he thought. Or is it always going to be like this. Cut off one enemy's head and two more take its place?

---

"Hey, Peter!" Ned exclaimed as he rushed into their homeroom classroom and slammed his books down onto the desk, which wobbled slightly under the force. "Did ya hear? There's a new Millenium Falcon set coming out for Christmas this year!"

"No," answered Peter, failing miserably at trying to drum up even the pretense of enthusiasm. "I didn't. How many pieces?"

"I don't know yet," Ned said. "Dad only saw a blurb about it in one of his trade magazines. We should know more as we get closer to Christmas."

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little penis Parker!" called Flash Thompson as he entered the classroom, taking his seat directly behind Peter. Their homeroom teacher had told the class on the first day of seventh grade that assigned seats were unnecessary since they were only in this classroom long enough for the morning announcements. Unfortunately, that meant that Flash could sit wherever he wanted, and since Peter was always one of the first students to arrive in the classroom, Flash often managed to sit right behind Peter.

"That's not my name, Flash," Peter shot back, even as his exhausted eyes burned with tears. He'd been so sleepy that morning that he'd barely managed to get his contacts past his droopy eyelids. Peter didn't sleep all that great when Dad was home, which meant it was a thousand times worse when he was away on one of the Avengers raids.

"My name is Peter Parker Stark," Peter continued, emphasizing the 'Stark'. "If you're gonna make fun of my name, at least get it right."

"Oh, I know your name, little Parker," Flash retorted. He kicked one of the legs of Peter's chair, jarring him such that three of his heavy books fell onto the floor. "And I don't care who adopts you, or how many superheroes you live with. You'll always just be little penis Parker to me, and to everybody else at this miserable place. So you might as well just get used to it."

Peter's jaw tightened and he swallowed hard, biting back the urge to say something else, something just as mean. But his tired mind wasn't working all that well this morning, and he knew it would just be pointless anyway. For whatever reason, Peter couldn't ever come up with anything that didn't sound ridiculous in the heat of the moment like that. He just couldn't do it. Steve had tried telling Peter once that it was because he was too kind to think of such insulting, degrading things, but somehow that didn't help him feel any better.

He also had to hand it to Flash. The kid definitely had some balls to be making fun of the son of Tony Stark, little or not. And especially since Steve still drove Peter to school on occasion on his motorcycle. You'd think that being driven to school by Captain America would garner just a touch of respect from the class bully, but no. It never did.

Flash only keeps it up because he knows you won't say anything. He knows you won't fight back, Peter thought miserably. Not that I could without getting my ass kicked, anyway.

During the summer break, which was nearly three months of almost continuous boredom only broken on occasion by quick weekend trips up to the Compound and a twelfth birthday spent at Coney Island, Peter had returned to school to discover, much to his horror, that nearly every single one of his classmates had shot up in height. Even Ned, who'd always been a bit closer to Peter's height, had grown at least three inches over the summer, whereas Peter had grown maybe an inch and a half. Barely enough to even warrant buying new pants for the school year.

And if that hadn't been embarrassing enough, Pepper had even caught Peter crying about it one night in his room, about a week after school had started. Dad and the other Avengers were off on yet another one of the HYDRA raids, and Peter had gone to bed as soon as they had eaten dinner that evening, telling Pepper that he wanted to be alone. But even though Peter had locked his bedroom door and told JARVIS he didn't want to be disturbed, the AI must've let it slip that he was upset, because fifteen minutes later Pepper walked through his unlocked door and found him sobbing into his pillow, his arms tightly clenched around his old stuffed polar bear.

Pepper had tried her best to comfort him, even telling him that she'd been one of the youngest in her school class as well, and one of the last to start growing, but it didn't help all that much. Peter still looked up to every single person in his class, and was probably outweighed by at least twenty to twenty-five pounds. Especially Flash, who was turning thirteen in a few weeks and was already over half a head taller than Peter. Flash's voice had even started to deepen, which Peter had to admit was pretty funny at times when it changed pitch in the middle of a sentence. But he didn't dare allow Flash to see him laughing, or even smirking. There was no telling what the older, stronger boy would do if he ever caught Peter laughing at him.

"Shut the hell up, Flash," Ned said, shooting a nasty glare at the taller boy. "Why don't you pick on someone else for a change? I'm pretty sure Peter's had enough of your shit for awhile."

"There's no need for that kind of talk in my classroom, Mr. Leeds," their homeroom teacher said firmly as she stepped inside the room. She peered over her half-moon eyeglasses at Ned, eyeing him warily. "Is there, young man?"

Ned pursed his lips, dropping his sheepish gaze to his books. "No, ma'am," he replied.

"I should hope not," the teacher said as she sat down at her desk. "Now then, I require all of your attention for the morning announcements."

"Way to get your only friend in trouble there, little Parker," Flash whispered as soon as the teacher started reading. "At least we know that you're good at something."

Curling his shoulders, Peter rested his chin on top of his stack of books, his eyes staring straight ahead as the teacher droned on. He was so lost in his exhaustion that he barely heard Ned whispering next to him.

"When's your dad supposed to get back?" he asked.

"Dunno," Peter whispered back. "Couple days, I think."

"Where are they this time?"

"Last time Dad called he said they were in Iceland. I'm guessing they're still there since he said there were a bunch of bases they had to go through."

"Iceland!" Ned exclaimed, ducking his head down when the girl seated next to him shot him a glare. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah," grumbled Peter. "So cool."

"You don't think so?"

"I'd think it was cooler if I got to go too," Peter replied, pouting. "And if it wasn't so dangerous for them to be there in the first place." So far all of the HYDRA bases the Avengers had raided had been heavily fortified, and it didn't help Peter's mood at all that Dad kept coming home all bruised and battered, often with at least one black eye and sometimes even with broken ribs, which made it a lot harder for Peter to cuddle with him.

Plus, the fact that Dad didn't heal as quickly as Steve or Bruce only made Peter worry about him even more. Peter wasn't sure how much more his father's body could take being beaten up on such a regular basis. Even though he was encased in his protective armor, it still required a lot of physical strength to maneuver and fight, especially while he was flying. And not to mention the hits he took. Enemies always seemed to assume that he was invincible—he was Iron Man, after all—so it always seemed like they aimed directly for him.

"Mr. Stark?" the teacher asked, looking pointendly at Peter. "Is there something you wish to add to the announcements this morning?"

Peter felt his cheeks flushing red, and he quickly shook his head. Even though it had been almost four years since he'd been adopted, Peter still wasn't used to being called 'Mr. Stark'. Whenever he heard it, his first instinct was to turn around and look for his father.

"N—, no, ma'am."

"Then I trust you can keep quiet until I have completed them?"

"Yes, ma'am," Peter replied, as politely as he could muster. "I can."

"Very well. Let's try it and see, shall we?"

Ned gave Peter an apologetic look as Peter laid his head back down on the desk, not even trying to listen to what the teacher was saying. To make matters worse, Sam Wilson was supposed to come up to their apartment that evening after dinner to talk with Peter, and while Peter liked Sam enough, he wasn't in the mood for yet another counseling session. Dad had already dismissed Peter's old therapist, saying that Sam seemed to be helping Peter a lot more than she ever had. And while Dad probably had a point; Peter did enjoy talking with Sam more than he had the other lady, he still felt like an idiot most of the time, and Peter hated feeling like an idiot.

Because no matter how many times he and Sam talked, Peter still couldn't sleep without his polar bear, and he still had nightmares that made him cry out for his daddy in the middle of the night. Even when Pepper or James, or even Sam would try to comfort him after a nightmare, Peter still only wanted Dad.

No one else's heartbeat sounded like Dad's. Not even JARVIS could replicate the sound quite right.

There can't be too many more HYDRA bases left, Peter thought, trying to think optimistically. Maybe these will be some of the last ones.

And then maybe, just maybe, they could get back to normal. Even if it was their own weird, superhero version of normal, Peter wanted it. No, not quite. Want was too light a word. Peter didn't just want normalcy, he craved it. He craved it more than Mr. Delmar's sandwiches and watching movies and building with Legos and wanting to play football, even if he knew he'd likely get killed if he tried.

Peter just wanted his big hero family to be happy together. Dad, Pepper, Happy, James, Steve, Bruce, Thor, and Sam. Even Agent Romanoff too, if she wanted. Peter didn't mind her too much. He liked her voice, it kind of reminded him of Aunt May.

That wasn't too much to ask.

Was it?

---

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Tony snapped as he repulsed two more of the stubborn HYDRA agents away from the entrance to their underground bunker, wincing inside his helmet as their bodies hit the nearby concrete supports with a sickening crunching noise. "Why am I always waiting on the rest of you guys?"

"Sorry, Tony," Steve answered, knocking yet another agent aside with a massive swing of his arm as he landed easily on the concrete steps, one step up from where Tony was standing. "Not all of us can fly, you know."

"Yeah, well, you know I could probably solve that little problem if you gave me the time," Tony muttered as he shot again, knocking yet another agent back against the metal fence that surrounded the bunker. "I need to hotwire the lock, old man. Cover me."

"Copy that!" called Steve. Stepping up to the top of the stairs, Steve raised his shield, assuming what Peter liked to call his "hero position" as he awaited any further intruders. Tony quickly ripped the cover off the lock panel, burning through the metal layer with his arm laser and tearing out the newly exposed wires. Off in the distance, Tony could hear the ear-splitting roar of the Hulk as he thundered across the vast Highland, taking out any and all of the enemy agents in his path. It had taken quite a bit of convincing on both Tony and Steve's part to get Bruce to agree to join in on these raids. Even though Bruce had demonstrated that he could turn into the Hulk willingly during the Battle of New York, it didn't at all mean that he enjoyed it. Bruce had described coming back from being the Hulk as a very unnerving experience, likening it to a combination of the first desperate gulp of air after holding your breath for too long and trying to calm a wildly tantruming inner small child.

And if he was honest, Tony found it a bit disturbing as well. As such, after the first couple of raids Tony made sure to install a blanket warmer in the Quinjet, along with plenty of blankets, fresh clothes, and a pair of HD headphones that played whatever that stuff was that Bruce liked to call music. Opera? Classical? Tony didn't know. All he knew was that it sure as hell wasn't anything like AC/DC.

But if it helped Bruce to calm down and regain his bearings after a raid, it was worth it. And Tony was happy to provide anything he could to help his teammates. He'd already upgraded Steve, Clint, and Natasha's suits, making them immune to the residual vibrations from the impacts caused by Thor's hammer and Cap's shield, and lining them with some new prototype fabric that Stark Industries had been developing for the last couple of years. The fabric wasn't quite bulletproof, more bullet-resistant, but it was still better than nothing since wearing head-to-toe Kevlar wasn't really a good option for maintaining maneuverability.

Not that Kevlar would likely save anyone anyway, since most of the enemies lately seemed to have the armor-piercing rounds in their weapons stashes. Tony himself was almost a testimony to that way back in Afghanistan.

Three seconds later Tony had the lock disabled, smirking at the ease of it. He would've thought such a high-level terrorist organization would've had better security for their secret bunkers.

"Got it, Cap!" Tony called over the comm. "I'm going in!"

"We're right behind you, Tony," Steve said, grunting as he threw his shield across the Highland, aiming directly for Thor. Tony felt the massive vibration throughout the bunker as Thor batted the shield back towards Cap with his hammer, the resulting tremors taking out the rest of the defending HYDRA agents in one fell swoop.

"Why do you always save that little maneuver for the end?" Tony asked, approaching what appeared to be an abandoned scientific workstation.

"Ah well, you know how it is," Steve answered, panting for breath. "Gotta let them think they have a chance every now and then, don't we?"

Tony grinned behind his mask. Even though he knew what they were doing was dangerous, he couldn't deny that it felt damn good to personally kick the shit out of the bad guys that had dared to threaten his son.

And, Tony was glad that he wasn't the only one. Steve had confessed to him a few times that with these raids, and with the whole of trying to rid the world of HYDRA, he finally felt like he had his purpose back. That he was doing what he was meant to do.

"Yeah, sure, old man," Tony replied as his helmet folded back into the neck of his suit. Eyeing the rather complicated setup of equipment, Tony pulled a flash drive from his arm gauntlet, inserting it into one of the USB ports. "JARVIS, download anything useful here and relay it directly to the Avengers servers."

"Right away, sir," replied JARVIS.

"Find anything interesting?" Natasha asked as she came down the steps and sank onto one of the chairs, looking not too much worse for the wear.

"Only that the missile launch during Battle of New York was an embedded HYDRA agent acting under orders from Secretary Pierce to take us out," answered Tony in a low voice. "JARVIS is doing a more comprehensive search now. Should know in a few minutes."

"How's Bruce?" Steve asked Natasha. "Doing okay?"

"Seems fine. Thor's with him now, they're heading for the jet," Natasha answered. "Going through that calming mantra they've worked out. And Clint's doing a final sweep of the area, looking for any stragglers."

"Good," said Steve. "Let's you and I do a quick search of the bunker while Tony downloads the data. See what sort of tech they were using here."

Natasha got to her feet, giving Steve a slight smirk. "Lead the way, Cap."

"Sir," JARVIS said a few seconds later. "I believe I have found something rather… interesting."

"Oh?" said Tony. "Let's see it, J."

A second later the monitor in front of Tony came to life, displaying what appeared to be a requisition order of some kind. Tony quickly scanned the form, his brow furrowing as he realized what it was for.

"Holy shit!" he said softly. "JARVIS, are we sure this is authentic?"

"I have found no evidence to suggest that it is not, sir," answered JARVIS.

"What's the deal?" Clint Barton asked as he slid up behind Tony's right shoulder, still clutching his massive bow in his right hand. Barton's eyes narrowed as he studied the image displayed on the screen. "Is that—?"

"Yep," Tony replied grimly. "It is. It's Loki's scepter."

"Son of a bitch," Barton said under his breath. "So now it's fallen into HYDRA's hands too?"

"Somehow I have a feeling it's been in HYDRA's hands since New York," grumbled Tony. "SHIELD only thought they had control of it." Goddammit! This definitely changes things a bit!

"Well, is it here?" asked Barton. "We should look for it!"

"No. This form says it was moved to… Sokovia," Tony answered. His heart started to thud against his rib cage. Wasn't that the same place where those renegade SI weapons were discovered not too long ago?

"Well, then I guess that's where we're heading next," Barton said firmly. "That damn thing's too powerful to be left in HYDRA's hands for too long. There's no telling what they could do with it."

"Bunker's empty," announced Steve as he and Natasha returned from their look-around. "There's nothing left here except the workstations. They must've cleared this one out awhile ago and just left the agents here to throw us off."

Great. Disposable agents. Wonderful people, these HYDRA assholes.

"Gotcha," answered Tony, still eyeing the form displayed in front of him. He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing at the signature scrawled across the bottom. "JARVIS, who's that name belong to down there? Anyone we know?"

"I believe it says 'Doctor List', sir," replied JARVIS.

A violent shiver raced down Tony's spine. "Are you sure, J?"

"Quite sure, sir. It would appear this form was used to requisition the scepter to Doctor List's location in Sokovia."

"What's up with this List guy?" asked Barton. "He somebody extra special or something?"

"Ah, no," Tony lied, clearing his throat. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Steve giving him an odd look, but he chose to ignore it. "Not that I know of. But I figured you'd be the one who'd know. Weren't you one of the actual SHIELD agents, Barton?"

Barton scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Ha! Yeah, but there were way too damn many of you nerds at SHIELD for me to bother trying to keep up with. I was only familiar with whoever I was assigned to protect." He shot Tony a rather suspicious look. "But anyway. Can we wrap this up soon?"

"Why?" Tony snapped, glaring at the archer. "You got someplace else you gotta be, Legolas?"

"And what if I did?" Barton snapped right back.

"That's enough!" Steve said firmly, preventing Tony from saying anything else. "Have you gotten everything you need, Tony?"

"I have completed the download, sir," said JARVIS.

"Yep," answered Tony, retrieving the flash drive. "So I guess we're done here."

"Good," answered Barton. "Then let's went. I'm ready to get outta here. Place gives me the creeps."

"And I'm calling the mission," Steve said as they climbed up the stairs that led outside. "This was the last of the bases located in this country, so I think we should take a break while we figure out what to do next."

"A break?" asked Tony. He was far too impatient to want to drag this whole mess out any longer than he had to. "Why?"

"I'm always up for a break," said Barton, not surprising Tony in the least.

"Because if we're going to be heading into Sokovia, Tony," said Steve in his best Captain's voice. "We should be prepared. And being prepared for a mission like that involves a lot of planning, even more so when that scepter is involved. I mean, we all saw the damage it's capable of already, and we have no way of knowing what kind of safeguards HYDRA will have placed around it. And I'm not willing to risk any of my team members' lives until we have a very detailed plan on how to get into the country, find the base, and retrieve the scepter."

Tony let out a heavy sigh. He knew Steve was right. He was tired, the whole team was tired, which only increased the potential for mistakes exponentially. Not to mention the fact that they'd already been gone for over a week, and Tony always got extra jumpy after being away from Peter for that long, even with Rhodey, Sam, and Pepper watching over him.

"Yeah, okay," Tony grumbled. "But then let's finish this. I'm ready for all of it to be over." And so is Pete.

Arriving back at the Quinjet, Tony was pleased to find Bruce sitting on his padded chair, wrapped in one of the warm blankets and listening to his screechy opera on his headphones while Thor watched over him. "He doing okay?" Tony asked Thor.

"It would appear so," Thor answered. "In fact, I do believe this transformation was the least traumatic that I have witnessed thus far."

"Excellent," Tony muttered, clapping Thor on the shoulder. "Thanks for watching over him for me. I know Bruce appreciates it too."

"I am happy to do so, Stark," Thor said with a smile. "Banner is a most formidable ally, and one I am proud to call my friend."

As soon as Natasha and Barton were on board Tony stepped out of his armor, attempting to make his way up towards the cockpit when he was stopped by Steve's hand on his arm. "Why don't you let Clint take the first pilot's shift this time. Is that okay with you, Clint?"

"Yeah sure, Cap," Barton said as he plopped down into the pilot's seat.

It was on the tip of Tony's tongue to protest. He always felt more at ease flying the Quinjet himself, even if Barton technically had more hours flying these types of jets. But the look in Steve's eyes didn't leave any room for argument, and Tony felt it wasn't worth it for him to try. He was way too damn tired.

"Yeah, okay," he replied, allowing Steve to lead him towards the seats in the back of the jet. Natasha shot them a strange look as they passed her, but Steve didn't seem to notice.

"Tell me what's going on, Tony," Steve said as soon as they sat down. "I know you saw something down in that bunker. What was it?"

Tony pursed his lips, a little embarrassed that Steve could read him so easily. "That Doctor List asshole. I've seen his name before."

"Where?" asked Steve.

"During the whole Project Insight mess. One night before it all went down, JARVIS found a document stating that Richard Parker had been working with this Doctor List on something. It was dated about two months before Parker was killed."

Steve leaned forward, his eyebrows knitting together. "What do you think it means?"

"I have no fucking clue, Rogers!" snapped Tony, drawing another concerned glance from Natasha several feet away. "I don't know, Cap," Tony repeated, a bit quieter this time. "According to what we found today, this List dude is most likely a HYDRA agent."

"So you think that Parker was a HYDRA agent as well?" Steve asked. "I thought Fury said Parker was killed by one of the ghosts."

"Yeah, that's what he said," answered Tony.

"Well, haven't we determined that the ghosts were the HYDRA agents operating inside SHIELD?"

"If we can trust what Fury said," Tony grumbled. "Which, given the man's history of only doling out whatever little breadcrumbs of information he deems appropriate at any given time, I'm not so sure that I can."

"I don't think Fury would lie about something like this," Steve said. "It wouldn't make sense to—"

"And why not?" interrupted Tony, his upper lip curling into a sneer. "Fury didn't tell me that Peter was under surveillance the entire time he lived with that aunt and uncle of his. He didn't tell me that he orchestrated the phone call from DSS after the Expo. Now, I can maybe understand him choosing to not share that information when I first took Pete in, not knowing how things might work out. But to keep it from me even after I adopted him? There was no good reason for it."

Steve was quiet for a moment, his head resting on his closed fist as he thought. "Tony," he finally said in a quiet voice. "You said Fury knew your father, correct?"

Tony's head jerked back in surprise. "Yeah. Why?"

"And did he know that things between you and Howard weren't—"

"That Howard was a shitty dad?" Tony asked, scowling. "Yeah. I even told him as much."

"And when did you tell him that?"

"Aahh, a couple days before the Expo disaster," Tony replied. "What the hell are you trying to get at, Rogers?"

"Well, maybe Fury was just trying to let you and Peter get to know each other on your own terms," said Steve. "You know, without all that… what do you call it? Baggage? Without all the extra baggage. I mean, from what you and Peter have both told me, he's been through a lot for such a young kid. Maybe Fury just wanted him to have a shot at being normal for a change."

"Normal?" Tony asked, incredulous. "What about any of our lives would you consider 'normal', Rogers? And even before all of this Avengers stuff, I was in no way 'normal'. Fury even said that. Called me narcissistic, said I didn't play well with others, etc, etc. I still can't believe he thought I was worthy enough to take in a kid."

"Okay, okay," Steve said, raising his hands. "As normal as possible then, given the circumstances. But like you said, Tony. Fury doesn't always tell us everything. And really. How long did it take for Peter to endear himself to you?"

"'Bout two days," Tony admitted. He allowed himself a slight grin, remembering how easy it was for tiny Peter to worm his way into Tony's walled-up heart of titanium. "Scared the hell outta me, to be honest."

"And do you think knowing all this stuff about Peter's birth father at that point would've changed anything?"

"I guess not," Tony said grudgingly. "But Fury still should've told me sooner. Especially since we now know that HYDRA was targeting him all that time, and we still don't know why."

"You still think Parker did something to Peter?" asked Steve.

Tony threw up his hands. "Hell if I know, Cap. But I won't lie, it keeps me awake at night wondering. I just want to keep my son safe, ya know? Is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not, Tony," Steve said. "But I also worry that you might be jumping to conclusions, and I don't want those conclusions to affect your judgement. Especially if they're unfounded."

"If that's the case, Rogers, then why did that Killian fucker say what he said about Pete, huh?" Tony snapped. "And why did Fury think it necessary to keep an eye on Peter after Parker was dead? And why the hell was he one of the goddamn Insight targets?"

"Tony—!"

"Pardon me, sir," JARVIS cut in. "But Master Peter is requesting to know when you plan to arrive back at Avengers Tower."

"Should be 'bout five hours, Tony," shouted Barton from the cockpit.

"He is also requesting to be allowed to remain awake until you arrive, sir," added JARVIS. "It would be approximately two hours past his usual bedtime."

"Yeah, tell him that's fine, J," answered Tony. "I highly doubt he'd be able to get to sleep before then anyway."

"Very good, sir."

"I'm sorry this has been so disruptive for Peter, Tony," Steve said gently. "I'd like to say that we could do these raids without you, but I'm really not sure that we could. We all need each other out there."

"No, I agree that we need the entire team together," Tony said quickly. "I'm just… looking forward to when we'll be done. Give us all some normalcy, ya know? At least our version of normal, for a little while."

Until the next two-headed monster arrives.

"I'll admit, a vacation does sound nice right about now," Steve agreed. "But not until we retrieve that scepter. It's way too powerful to just leave in HYDRA's hands."

Tony slumped down in his chair, letting out a heavy sigh. "Yeah. The scepter."

---

Tony wasn't at all surprised to find Peter waiting for them on the landing platform when the Quinjet touched down at the Tower. And despite how tired Peter looked, with his red-rimmed eyes evidence that he'd fallen asleep wearing his contact lenses again, Tony's heart soared when he saw him.

"Hey, Pete!" Tony exclaimed as he held open his arms. Peter immediately ran towards him, grinning widely.

"Hey, Dad," Peter said, his voice muffled against Tony's chest. "I missed you."

"We'll debrief in the morning," Steve said as Thor, Natasha, and Bruce all said their goodnights and headed for the elevator that led to the residential section. Steve paused to give Peter's hair a ruffle. "You doing okay, Peter?"

"I'm better now that you guys are back," Peter answered with a smile.

"Good," said Steve with a wave. "Do you mind if I come up tomorrow after you get home from school? I feel like we haven't caught up in awhile."

Peter quickly glanced up at Tony, who gave him a slight nod. "Sure," he replied. "That sounds good."

"Great! See you then!"

"'Night, Cap," Tony said, giving Steve a mock salute as he tugged Peter inside the doors to his lab. Despite his outward lack of injury this time, he was still exhausted.

"Give me a few minutes to say hi to Pepper, okay, bud?" Tony asked. "Then I'll come and sit with you for a bit."

"Yeah, okay," Peter said. "She said she was gonna try and wait up for you too."

"Hey," Pepper said as Tony entered their bedroom. She was sitting up on the bed, going over more paperwork. "Did you see Peter yet?"

"Yeah," Tony said, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I think he must've fallen asleep in his contacts while he was waiting for us. His eyes are all red and squinty."

"Oops. I should've reminded him to take them out," Pepper said, wincing. "I usually do, but…" she gestured at the piles of paperwork strewn across the bed and bedside table. "We've been pretty busy this week. Three more companies have offered leases on the arc reactor technology—one of which is headquartered in India, of all places—and those new phones that we just released two weeks ago are completely sold out already. So tomorrow I need to figure out how to get the factories to produce another run and—"

"And there are no better hands to juggle all of these things than yours, honey," Tony said. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Even if you still refuse to hire another assistant."

"I have three already, Tony," Pepper said, tilting her head. "And two secretaries. I don't need another assistant. What I need is—"

"Sorry," Tony said with a smirk. "My cloning technology is still a few decades away. Besides, who could possibly improve on perfection? Daresay I think that not even I would be up to that task."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Ah. But it's what I meant," said Tony, shushing her with another kiss.

"Mmm. You're still an incorrigible flirt."

"Oh, but I only practice on you, honey," Tony murmured. "Want me to tuck you in before I head over to see Pete?"

Pepper's shoulders dropped as glanced around at the piles of paper. "You know… yeah. I can do more of this tomorrow."

Five minutes later, with Pepper tucked snugly into their bed, Tony headed for Peter's room, not at all surprised to find him already under the covers and clutching his polar bear. His eyes were already at half-mast when Tony sat down next to him, but he wasted no time in crawling onto Tony's lap and settling his head down against Tony's chest. Tony immediately curled his fingers into Peter's hair, inhaling the green apple scent that he found so calming.

"I missed you, Dad," Peter murmured a moment later. "I don't like it when you're gone."

Tony's arms tightened around Peter as he kissed the top of Peter's head. "Me too, bud." He wanted so badly to tell Peter that he'd never have to leave him again but knew it would be a lie, and trying to lie to Peter was pointless. The kid always managed to see right through them.

If only we could get Ultron to work, Tony thought. Then I really wouldn't ever have to leave again. I could be that stay-at-home Dad that everyone always thinks is so cool.

Tony and Bruce had made some big strides with the Ultron program over the summer, even applying some of it to Tony's new Iron Legion protocol, which consisted of a small squad of unmanned suits designed to act as a temporary peacekeeping and protection detail in the event of an emergency. So far, the Avengers had utilized the Iron Legion a couple of times to protect civilians during their raids on the HYDRA bases, and Tony was pleased with how well it had performed.

But the Iron Legion's protocols were limited to basic protective functions only. In order for them to become fully automated, Tony and Bruce would have to perfect the Ultron program first.

"How long before you have to leave again?" Peter asked.

"Not for awhile," Tony answered. "Cap says we need a bit of a break first."

Peter lifted his head, his brown eyes boring intently into Tony's. "Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'? I thought you'd think that was good news."

"Steve never gives you guys a break for too long," Peter said warily. "So that can only mean that you need to plan for something bigger. What's going on?"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "You're too smart for your own good sometimes, Pete," he grumbled. "You know that, right?"

"So, I'm right?" asked Peter.

"Yeah," Tony said after a short pause. "You're right. But this should be it. We think we know where Loki's scepter's being kept. All the HYDRA bases we've raided so far seem to have been cleared out for awhile now, so we're assuming that everything's been sent to this one location, including the scepter."

"So once you find the scepter, that should be it?" asked Peter.

"Should be, buddy." He tugged Peter's head back down to his chest, burying his nose in Peter's hair. "That's the plan, at least."

"And then you can stay home?"

"Yep," said Tony. "At least long enough for you to get sick of having me around."

Peter scoffed. "Not a chance."

"You don't think so?"

"Nope," replied Peter, yawning. "No chance."

Fifteen minutes later Peter was sound asleep, his breathing deep and heavy with those little squeaky noises he sometimes made when he was overtired. Tony carefully rolled him onto his pillow, tucking his polar bear under his arm and gently smoothing the curls off his forehead. Kid needed a haircut again.

As he exited Peter's bedroom, Tony paused to lean against the doorway, torn between wanting to head to his lab and do some work and heading to bed. He was exhausted, and the thought of curling around Pepper's lithe body and sleeping for the next six or so hours was sorely tempting.

Unfortunately, Tony also knew that he'd likely be unable to sleep, knowing what he now knew about this Doctor List. It can't have been a mere coincidence that Richard Parker had been working with an embedded HYDRA agent right before he was killed.

I have to be getting close, Tony thought, clenching his fists. I have to be. All these damn coincidences have to mean something.

"Hey, JARVIS," Tony said as he entered his lab, tapping his monitors to life. Even DUM-E beeped out a quiet greeting from his usual corner.

"Good evening, sir," answered JARVIS. "Working late tonight?"

"As usual, J," Tony replied.

"How can I assist you, sir?" JARVIS asked.

Tony breathed out a sharp breath. "Got that data from the Iceland HYDRA bunker handy?"

"Of course, sir."

"Good," Tony said, pulling a chair up to the monitor. "Show me everything you got on that Doctor List dude."

A couple of seconds later a file appeared on the monitor, displaying the personnel file for Doctor List. Tony quickly scanned down the file, his brow furrowing as the word 'enhanced' caught his eye.

"JARVIS, wasn't the term 'enhanced' used by SHIELD to describe people like Steve Rogers?"

"That is correct, sir," answered JARVIS. "SHIELD used the term Enhanced to describe humans who possess innate extraordinary abilities. Steve Rogers is one such Enhanced human. As is Dr. Banner."

"And that Winter Soldier guy who messed up Steve," mumbled Tony. "But neither Steve nor Bruce ever worked with this guy List before. Correct?"

"That is correct, sir."

Tony's heart began to thud. "JARVIS, didn't Richard Parker's work with SHIELD involve attempting to combine human DNA with animals?"

"That is also correct, sir."

"Okay. And Bruce said that he was killed not too long after he finally succeeded, after years of failure."

"Again, sir, that is correct."

"Sooo, if he had managed to combine a human's DNA with an animal's, would it be then appropriate to call that human an Enhanced? I mean, even that original file you found for me over four years ago described characteristics that could be considered Enhanced."

"I believe that would be appropriate, sir," said JARVIS.

Holy shit.

"Okay," Tony said. "So, if they managed to actually create an Enhanced human, and this Doctor List person was HYDRA, then it would make sense for them to want to hide whoever this Enhanced was."

"That would make sense, sir. But, may I remind you that there has been no evidence recovered that Dr. Parker ever actually created an Enhanced human. All the available evidence, from both SHIELD and HYDRA databases, indicates that his research was discontinued following his death."

Tony scrubbed his palm over his face. "Okay, but why? Were his experiments so complex that they couldn't be replicated? For some reason I find that hard to believe."

"Or perhaps it was because he refused to continue to cooperate following his success," JARVIS said.

"Yeah, that could be," Tony admitted grudgingly. "It still doesn't explain why Fury thought it necessary to keep Peter under surveillance after Parker's death though. It's almost as if Fury had been trying to use Peter as bait, as a way to try and lure HYDRA out in the open."

"I suppose that would be a possibility, sir," said JARVIS. "However, I would consider it unlikely."

Tony pressed his fist to his chest, trying to keep his breathing steady even as his heart continued to stutter. He was nearly on the verge of another panic attack. "Unlikely or not, Fury better hope that's not what he was doing," he said in a low voice. "Or I'll damn well take out his other eye the next time I see him."

"Yes, sir," replied JARVIS. "Are you in need of assistance? Shall I summon Miss Potts?"

"No, no," Tony croaked. "I'm fine, J. But… let's close this stuff for now, yeah?"

"Very good, sir. Perhaps some sleep will help you recover?"

Rolling his eyes, Tony reluctantly closed down his monitors. "Yeah. Good idea."

"Sleep well, sir."

But, just as he'd suspected, not even his exceedingly comfortable bed or the presence of Pepper next to him was enough to help Tony calm down. His mind continued to race, wondering how in the hell all of these seemingly random things were connected. Had Richard Parker actually managed to create an Enhanced human? Was that why he was killed? And if he did, did he do it for SHIELD, or for HYDRA?

And, perhaps the most important question of all: if Richard Parker did in fact create an Enhanced human, then where were they now?

---

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