Steve stares at the closed door for several seconds after Tony has left with his son.
What small boy doesn't want his mother?
And why was Tony not surprised?
'Captain?' Fury's voice cuts through his thoughts. 'Would it be alright with you if we debrief now?'
Steve represses a flinch at his tone,
'Sorry, sir.'
'Isn't much to tell,' Clint shrugs as he sprawls in his chair. 'Tony got a tip that there was an AIM base, we went, he hacked, we conquered.'
'And the data?' Fury clasps his hands together as he looks between them.
'Stark has it,' Natasha tells him.
'Stark has it,' Fury repeats. 'And when do you suppose he'll hand it over?' he looks straight at Steve.
He knows Steve isn't going to chase Tony to hand anything over to SHIELD.
'I'm confident he'll make us aware of anything important,' Steve replies, stubbornly.
Fury snorts,
'The more important it is the less likely Stark is to share.'
'It was his tip,' Steve tells him, 'that makes it his mission and his data. You're the one that made him a consultant and not a full Avenger.'
Fury is too controlled to pull a face like he's sucking a lemon.
'The clone is of Stark,' Natasha adds. 'The data he has recovered is most likely the research into achieving that and their plans for raising the boy.'
'Eliminating the nature verses nurture variable,' Fury mutters to himself; a statement that Steve resigns himself not to understand.
'Most likely,' Natasha agrees, straight faced and not giving a thing away.
'If you two think you're being subtle...' Clint scoffs.
'Not our secret to tell,' Fury shrugs and flicks a hand. 'And it's mostly guesswork on my part.'
'Then we don't need to know,' Steve tells them, decisively. 'If it's Tony's business then we can respect that.'
'Hmm,' Fury watches him intently.
'What Tony found on the computer isn't important right now,' Steve insists. 'The point is we worked well as a team.'
Fury subsides, to Steve's relief, and the discussion on team tactics begins.
'We're collecting my friend Bruce and then we're flying home,' Tony tells the boy in his arms as he abandons the rest of his team to do the debriefing thing.
'Ok,' a small nose is pressed against his neck.
Tony won't let himself panic.
He can do this.
'Pepper is going to be so mad at me,' Tony grins manically as he jogs the last few feet to hammer on Bruce's door. 'She's going to love you though. Come Brucey-boo! Time to go home!'
Bruce opens the door, looking tired, and falls in step with Tony without comment.
'Bruce is my favourite science bro,' Tony tells his son as his brain summons up how much he had wished Howard would just take the time to talk to him. 'And we're going to get his opinion on that machine I've acquired.'
'Is this going to be another situation where I remind you what sort of doctor I actually am?' Bruce looks over. 'Oh, hello.'
'Bruce, this is my son,' Tony tells him with a perfectly straight face.
Bruce stares then shakes his head,
'You were right then; they did get their hands on some DNA.' He gets it, and that's why he's Tony's favourite.
'Yup,' Tony pops the p at the end.
'And he's going to move in with us?' Bruce asks carefully; Tony had admitted his suspicions of AIM having some of his DNA but they didn't discuss what would happen if they found a live child.
'I'm an arsehole,' Tony informs him, 'but if all I manage is to be a better parent to him than mine were to me then he'll turn out alright. There are people in the penthouse now converting my second guest room.'
'When you decide something needs to happen it certainly happens fast,' Bruce just laughs and shakes his head.
'Jarvis has created him a back story,' Tony adds. 'Born to a surrogate and living with me in secret. I just need to choose a name and he can falsify all the birth records. Any problems from Fury and I unleash the pack of SI lawyers..'
'Ok,' Bruce agrees, probably ignoring that last part. 'Do you have any in mind?'
'Ah, well, there's a complication on that front,' Tony grins as they step onto the lift for the quick trip to the flight deck. 'I'll tell you on the jet, come on.'
The boy tucks himself tighter to Tony's chest as they go outside, burying his face against the arc reactor and away from the wind that races across the deck. They move quickly over to the jet and up the steps as the flight crew finish the preparations for take off.
'What's the problem?' Bruce asks as soon as they sit down.
'Coffee please,' Tony smiles at the steward.
'Certainly, mister Stark.'
'Rhodey only chose me three names and I might need four,' Tony tells him simply as he puts his son onto the seat beside him next to the window. He holds onto the boy's arm as the jet lauches off the side of the helicarrier and then lets him scramble away to look out the window.
'Might need four,' Bruce repeats and rubs his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Tony, I'm quite tired, can you spell this out for me?'
'The machine he was hiding behind?' Tony reminds him and Bruce nods vaguely. 'An incubator.
'Can we have burgers and chips, please?' he diverts easily into beaming at a stewardess who's bringing over his coffee now that they're in the air. 'And juice. Orange juice with bits.'
'Of course, Mister Stark,' she smiles. 'Would you like a straw with that?'
'What the hell, yes please,' Tony grins.
'An incubator,' Bruce likes to repeat things when he's tired.
'Yeah, and it's working so...' Tony shrugs letting Bruce join the dots.
'So there may be a third Stark on the way,' Bruce slumps back in his chair.
'Or a clone of someone else,' Tony shrugs. 'We don't know for sure that they don't have anyone one else's DNA. That's where you come in.'
'Right...' Bruce looks stunned.
'I got my people in before SHIELD arrived and... acquired the incubator. It's in my workshop in the tower.'
'You work really fast,' Bruce shakes his head again, impressed. 'So, if this second baby is yours...'
'And if it's a boy,' Tony agrees, 'then I'll have to check with Rhodey what other names I can use.'
'Is this a bet you lost?'
'I'm not allowed to name human beings,' Tony declares.
'Probably wise,' Bruce smiles.
'Well?' Tony knows patience isn't his strongest suit. He stretches as he stands up from the coach where he's put his son down to sleep using his tailored suit jacket as a blanket. In a practiced move he dodges around Dummy to get to where Bruce is studying the data from the AIM servers.
'This is incredible research,' Bruce sounds impressed and reminds Tony of Reed.
'They cloned me,' Tony smirks, 'and I'm not your average guy.'
'No,' Bruce agrees with a smile.
'Is the kid mine?' Tony leans into Bruce's side.
'Ah,' Bruce looks awkward but doesn't move away. 'Yes and no.'
'Mine but not another clone,' Tony guesses. 'Any idea who the mother is?'
Bruce looks up,
'Steve.'
Tony glances over his shoulder expecting the Captain to have arrived, but there's no one there.
Oh.
'Oh,' Tony turns back to face his friend. 'They managed to create a child from me and Cap?'
That's... weird.
'Yes,' Bruce sighs. 'It seems that due to the serum they were able to manipulate some cells of Steve's into behaving as eggs so then they just injected them with your DNA.'
'Why?' Tony shakes his head as his mind races.
'Your mind with Steve's serum?' Bruce suggests with a shrug. 'Maybe just a simple straight up bargaining chip against you both.'
'They can't know what traits it'll display,' Tony scowls, 'unless they know the serum will be passed on.'
'Your own intelligence could be argued to be genetic,' Bruce adds mildly.
Bruce is allowed to mention Howard because he's Tony's favourite.
'There's that,' Tony agrees. 'How long until it's... born?'
'Two and a half months if we're going to believe this convenient countdown,' Bruce gestures to the screen. 'I'll read the rest of their notes to be sure.'
Tony starts planning in his head,
'Ok, we can work with this.'
He can definitely work with this.
'It's a boy,' Bruce adds, 'for what it's worth.'
Tony nods,
'Right, ok. Jarvis, run those names past Rhodey.'
'Of course, sir.'
'What are you going to tell Steve?'
Tony hesitates for a moment and then shakes his head.
'That the second child is mine and the other parent isn't known.'
'You're going to lie.'
'He doesn't need to know,' Tony shrugs, his gaze settling on his son sleeping across the room.
'It's his son too,' Bruce points out.
'Look, I like Cap,' Tony gestures vaguely. 'We're getting along alright and he's settling in better now. I don't think suddenly have a child is going to help. And having a child with me? When we're only just at the stage were he feels he can tease me? And with him coming from the 40s? No, it'll throw him off his stride when he's only just found it.'
'You really think it's ok to keep his son from him?'
'What? No,' Tony scoffs. 'I'm not going to do this alone. What the hell do I know about caring for a baby? I'm going to shove them together at every possible opportunity. I'm just not going to tell Cap that the kid's his.'
'So he'll have the relationship with the boy but not any of the responsibility,' Bruce shakes his head with a smile. 'Tony, that's an interesting line your morals are letting you walk.'
'I'm a billionaire with a support structure, such as it is, outside of the team,' Tony grins self-depreciatingly. 'Cap only has the team and still occasionally freaks out over the price of takeout.'
'And if the child bares an uncanny resemblance to Steve?' Bruce asks, but he's smiling so Tony's pretty sure he's happy with this plan.
'We shall blow up that bridge when we come to it,' Tony claps him on the back.
'Sir,' Jarvis calls out, 'Colonel Rhodes has approved of your chosen names for the children. He will be calling you later when he's able.'
'Great,' Tony smiles. 'You approve too, buddy?'
'I am honoured, sir.'
Tony nods,
'Then, Bruce,' he gestures across the lab to the sleeping child, 'meet Peter Jarvis Stark and,' he gestures to the incubator, 'James Steven Stark.'
'Congratulations, Tony,' Bruce smiles and grips his shoulder, 'you're a dad.'
Tony blinks in surprise and smiles before waggling a finger at Bruce,
'Do not let me fuck up raising Captain America's kid.'
Bruce just smiles.
