A/N: Special Boys Valentine's Day.
Possible triggers for anxiety attacks/PTSD.
Thank you to everyone! Here's a longer chapter, with cuteness galore. Since it's Valentine's Day, I've stuck Tony and Steve together, with Peter, with Peter being adorable. Also, in the next starts, I start messing with the canon (even more) of the Marvel Movies, specifically Iron Man 2 and Avengers. It's gonna get fun.
There is a slight description of an anxiety attack below, and I wrote it while starting to experience my own. I really relate to my characters. :)
Everyone is amazing, I keep doing this for you guys! Marvel owns more than I do in this story.
As per usual, unbeat'd.
Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.
The first thing Steve had done after Mary left was search the apartment for bugs, or any type of listening device, or camera. When he didn't find anything, although he found a lot of stuff that he was going to ask Mary about, he felt a little better. He looked inside the icebox to see that it was actually empty, and decided that he would have to make a list of groceries. He found some paper and a pen in the study, and took it out to the dining room table, wanting to be closer to the front door. Steve pulled out a separate piece of paper to write out questions that he had as well, such as if groceries were still rationed out with stamps. It was clear that there was a freedom with money again, judging by the car that Mary drove; it seemed very luxurious.
After making a list of groceries, Steve went to put the notebook back into the study and he stared at the files sitting on the desk. Was he ready to look at them? Was he ready to find out what had happened to his friends, to those he cared about? The loss of Bucky still felt fresh to him, and he had to wonder if he was willing to add on to that.
Steve decided that the files could wait. He assumed that if Howard, or Peggy, weren't there to greet him as he woke up, then the information of what had happened could wait for another day. What he could go look at was the shield that rested in his bedroom. Mary was right, it was going to take some time. And for right now, he wanted to try and be just Steve Rogers. Not Captain America, or even Captain Rogers. Steve Rogers needed to deal with what he was walking in to in this future time, then the military man could come back out.
Steve was looking through some records when he heard a couple voices in the hallway a couple hours later. He walked over to the door, found the peephole in the door, and gave it an experimental look. He was a little shocked at the distorted view, but he could see Mary going over to her door, a little boy next to her, a backpack on his back, talking excitedly.
"-Daddy said that he could do it. Miss Pepper wasn't happy, but she wasn't mad at him." Mary pushed the door open, ruffling the little boys hair and they disappeared inside. Knowing that it would only be a few minutes until Mary came over, Steve grabbed his shoes, and the keychain that had the keys to this apartment on them. He had changed into a plain white t-shirt, underneath a blue sweater, the sleeves pushed up, but he had kept his khaki pants on. Steve decided that still going over there would still be a good idea, besides if he was going to be spending time with Mary, it wouldn't be a bad idea to meet her son. Steve had always had an affinity for children, hoping to have some when he was older.
As Steve was finishing lacing his shoes, tying them, there was a knock on the door. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, and saw Mary standing there, a little boy next to her leg. When he looked up and saw Steve, who was much taller than his mother, his hugged Mary's leg.
"Mama," the little boy whispered. "Mama, he's tall, but he looks nice."
"This is Steve, Peter, he's our new neighbor," Mary said to the boy, her hand resting on top of Peter's head. "What do you say when we meet new people?"
"He's not a stranger?" Peter asked, looking at his mom, then back at Steve.
"Nope," Mary shook her head. "He's Mama's work friend, so not a stranger." Steve was glad to hear that this boy knew not to trust strangers, at least not without an adult around.
"Hi," the boy said a little shyly. "My name is Peter, it's nice to meet you."
Steve crouched down, bending his knees, so that he was eye level with Peter, and put out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Peter." Steve smiled at the boy, and he got a little smile back, Peter sticking his hand out without hesitation, and shaking Steve's hand, waving it up and down with chuckled, and that caused Peter to giggle, knowing that his action was silly.
Mary leaned down, whispering something into Peter's ear, and he suddenly grinned. "Mama says that we're going to have dessert now, and that you're invited to come have some with us." Steve smiled at him and nodded. "Yay! Mama!" Peter looked back up at Mary. "He said yes! Can we go have ice cream now?"
Mary laughed at his enthusiasm. "Why don't you go on inside and wash up, and change out of your play clothes. When you come back out, I'll have a bowl all ready for you, okay?" Peter was already off, running back to their apartment before Mary was even done talking.
"You were right," Steve said as he stood back up, and Mary looked over at him. "His Dad had promised dessert." Mary chuckled and nodded and the two headed over to her apartment. "Does he regularly do that? Promise dessert?"
"When Peter eats dinner with him, yes," Mary said as she nodded. "They don't get to eat dinner together that often, specially now that Peter has started school." Mary closed the door, locking the deadbolt and Steve followed her into the kitchen to help. He saw a few containers that must have had the promised food in them too. "He picks up Peter from school when work will keep me over, and it really helps me out."
Mary pulled out two dishes, took the containers, and started dishing out the food. Steve could smell the pasta sauce as soon as she took the lid off, and watched her scoop some pasta on each plate, followed by some meat that looked like sliced chicken, then the sauce over top. Reaching in the fridge she grabbed some shredded cheese, and Steve marveled at the plastic bag a little. The food smelled good, so he trusted her judgement as she spread cheese over the second plate.
"Peter doesn't get to see his Dad that often?" Steve couldn't help the curiosity flowing through him, and apparently, out of his mouth in the form of words.
"He gets very busy sometimes, but he always tries to make time for Peter," Mary said as she put one of the plates in a rectangular box. She pressed a couple of buttons, and it started to hum, and turn the plate in a slow circle. "He's very high up in his company. After Peter was born, it took some juggling, but we managed to work out some sort of schedule." Steve couldn't help but wrinkle his nose a little. Mary pulled out a bowl, and went over to her own icebox, that he found out was just called a freezer, or a refrigerator now, and pulled out a carton of ice cream.
Peter's Dad was sounding more and more like an absent father, and he wondered how Mary could be okay with this. Peter needed a constant male role model in his life, along with his mother. Steve had had Bucky's Dad, and Bucky himself to a point, and he was convinced that it had helped. He didn't want to see Peter slip down the slippery slope of becoming a bully, or becoming a lost, or rebellious teen. From their short meeting, he knew that Peter had potential to be anything.
Mary looked over at him and seemed to see what he was thinking. "I know that look, mister. I see it all the time on my mothers face. Tony is a fine father as he is." Now Steve had a name to put with the name, but not a face. Yet. "We all used to live in California, and he came over to New York when I got transferred to make things easier. He loves Peter, and I'm just fine with his level of involvement."
"I don't mean to make judgments," Steve quickly said, not wanting to make her upset, or offend her.
"I know," she said. "Things are different now when it comes to parenting. Both good, and bad, but I make do. I'm luckier than most other women, or men, for that matter though." There were three beeps and Steve turned to look at the box that Mary had put the food in. She opened it, grabbing a towel that hung on the rail of the oven, and pulled the plate out, putting the second plate in.
Before Steve could ask anymore questions though, Peter came into the kitchen, dressed in his pajamas, and stood next to Mary, watching her. He clearly remembered that she had promised ice cream, but he wasn't demanding, and waited patiently for his treat.
"Ahp ahp," she pat his butt and he giggled. "At the table mister." Peter smiled and shuffled out of the kitchen, over to the chair that had a booster seat on it, climbing up. "What can I get you to drink?" Mary asked, looking at Steve. "We have various juices, water, or milk."
"Milk will be just fine, ma'am," Steve said, giving her a smile.
"It's Mary," she reminded, pulling out two glasses and setting them on the counter, then pulled open a drawer to pull out a couple sets of silverware.
"Let me help." Steve jumped into action, scooping up the silverware in one hand, and pausing a bit before taking the bowl of ice cream, waiting for the slight nod from Mary, saying that he could give the little boy his treat.
Walking out into the dining room, he put the bowl down in front of Peter, who grinned widely, and accepted the spoon form Steve. "Thank you!" He said without prompting, and Steve smiled at that.
"You're welcome." Steve set the silverware down at the spot next to Peter, and then on the other side of the table. Mary came out with the two plates of food, setting them down, and Steve went back in to grab their drinks. Steve sat down, putting the glass of water in front of Mary, the milk at his place.
"Mama?" Peter asked, after swallowing his first bite of ice cream. "Can I stay with Daddy this weekend?"
"You want to spend the night?" Mary asked, and the little boy nodded. "Did you ask Daddy?"
"Yup!" He smiled. "He said I had to ask you first." Steve couldn't get a clear image of this man in his mind. He wasn't around that often, but he never went over Mary's head as a parent.
"If you get all your homework done before bedtime tomorrow, then I think that you can have a sleepover with Daddy." Peter whooped and Steve couldn't help but chuckle with Mary.
"Thank you, Mama!" Peter smiled, then looked over at Steve. "My Daddy makes robots, and he said he'd teach me how to make them too! He's really smart, and he says I'm gonna be really smart, just like him."
"You seem pretty smart to me," Steve told him with a smile. "And I just met you today."
"My teacher says that I'm really good at math, but that's because my Daddy has been helping me with my numbers," Peter continued to ramble on, eating bites of ice cream in between punctuation marks. "I can already count to a hundred. Daddy says that if I can do that, then all the other numbers are just as easy."
Mary smiled as Peter went on, eating her dinner, and Steve remembered that he had his own plate in front of him. He cut some of the chicken, and scooped up some pasta and sauce with it. There was a little moan when he started to chew, and Mary smirked a bit.
"Good food?" She asked, taking another bite.
"Daddy makes the best pasta!" Peter exclaimed happily. "He says it's cause his Mama was, um, tally-on."
"Italian," Mary said, helping Peter.
"Yeah! Means she was born in Italy." Peter nodded, continuing again. Steve kept eating as Peter explained. "Daddy really can't cook anything else that good, at least not without help from Mommy, Uncle James, or Jarvis." The little boy took another bite of ice cream, the bowl almost empty. "Sometimes Jarvis has Dummy come up," the little boy giggled, like he had just told a joke.
Steve glanced at Mary, raising an eyebrow. "Dummy is the first robot that Tony built, and he often wields a fire extinguisher," Mary explained to him, like it made complete sense. Steve blinked, but turned his attention back to Peter. The little boy talked about robots, and his Daddy, until he was practically falling asleep at the table. Steve bid him goodnight as Mary picked him up, going to wash his face from ice cream, then tuck him in.
Steve couldn't help but get up and start washing the dishes as she was gone with Peter, but he kept thinking about the enigma that was Peter's father. He wondered if he'd ever meet the man. The picture from Peter's birthday had been taken on the couch that was in Mary's living room, he could tell, but he wondered if that had just been because of the occasion. A small part of Steve was glad for the distraction, it kept him from thinking too much on how much had changed, and how much was going to continue to change in his life.
January 2010
Steve wrote down a few more notes in his notebook, browsing through another website, stopping when there was a knock at his front door. He was sitting at the dining room table, papers spread out, pens, highlighters, and sticky notes sitting around the laptop, as he studied his latest future topic. He slid the chair out and went over, looking out the peephole, but didn't see anything. There was another knock, and Steve smiled, before opening the door.
"Hi, Mr Steve!" Peter smiled up at him, short enough to avoid the view of the peephole, and the little mischief maker knew it.
"Hi, Peter," Steve said, stepping aside for him to walk in. "How are you today?" Steve looked over and waved to Mary, who was standing in her own doorway, watching her son go over. She smiled and waved back, mouthing 'Thank you' to him as Peter walked in. She looked dressed for work, and looking a little frazzled. It was supposed to be her day off from any office work, but she must have been called in.
"I'm okay," Peter said, setting his backpack down by the empty dining room chair next to the one that Steve had been sitting in. Steve closed the door and went back over to the table. He grabbed the booster seat that Mary had gotten for Peter just for his place, and placed it on the chair as Peter pulled out his school book, sketchbook, and pencil case. "Mom said that if I got my weekend homework done before she got back from work, then she would get me some new colored pencils tomorrow." Peter grinned as he climbed up into the seat, Steve taking his own seat again.
"Your collection is getting pretty big now, isn't it?" Steve smiled at the boy. Peter had been over the moon when he found out that Steve had liked to draw as well, and he had been helping the young boy with some tips. He was surprisingly good for a five-year-old.
"Yup!" Peter pulled out his school pencil, and opened his school notebook. "I have thirty-seven colored pencils now." Peter took care pronouncing the big number. "Daddy said that if I keep my collection growing, and if I do well in Art lessons, then he'll make me my own coloring room at his house!" The little boy was almost bouncing in his seat at the prospect.
Steve still hadn't met the mysterious Tony, but he thought he caught glimpses of him leaving Mary's apartment at night, after dropping Peter off. The man was usually wearing a hat and some sunglasses, always casually dressed. It was easy to tell the difference between him and Mary's boyfriend, Phil. They worked together, and Steve was only a little concerned about inter-office romances. Phil told him that he was the one who had made Mary Steve's Handler, (after asking him to sign his prized collection of Captain America trading cards). He said that it didn't put them in contact all the time, and so it would be harder for work to get between their personal relationship. Steve wouldn't say anything, because he could clearly see that it was working, and the two were able to keep work and life separate.
There was one knock at the door, before it opened, Mary walking in. Her hair was pulled back, and she looked a little less frazzled. She had Peter's bag with extra clothes, and Steve assumed his art stuff as well. "Thank you so much, Steve," Mary said as she kissed the top of Peter's head. "I couldn't get a hold of Tony, and they need both Phil and me down at SHIELD."
"Don't worry about it, Mary," Steve smiled at her. It had taken a bit, but she had finally gotten Steve to stop saying ma'am so often to her. "Peter and I always have fun, don't we buddy?"
"Yeah!" Peter smiled, looking up from his homework. "Mr Steve teaches me all about drawing."
"I'm so glad that you have fun, baby." Mary smiled at Peter. "You know the rules, be good for Mr Steve, do what he says. You both have our numbers, and I will call you later, alright?"
"I know, Mama," Peter rolled his eyes a little, but leaned up to kiss his Mama goodbye. "Go save the world!" Mary chuckled every time he said, and hugged him before slipping her jacket on.
"We got this," Steve said, adding a little bit of modern slang into his accent, and Mary raised an amused eyebrow before leave the apartment. He heard her lock the door from the outside, and he turned back to his laptop, watching Peter out of the corner of his eyes do his homework.
Tony took a deep breath, resting his head against the cool tile of his bathroom floor. Jarvis had dropped the temperature for him, and a little shiver slipped down his spine. He hadn't had a hangover in nearly five months, and he was starting to remember why. It wasn't just the fact that Mary had caught him in the aftermath of a hangover after a particularly long Iron Man mission, and the fact that her eyes, full of disappointment haunted him- Actually, that was most of the reason. He hadn't been allowed to see, or even speak to Peter, for three days after that, and only after she made him breath into a breathalyzer. He couldn't blame her, but it had shamed him a bit more than he thought it would.
But, the way Tony was feeling, the empty feeling in his stomach, the pounding in his head, the shaking in his hands, it wasn't alcohol induced. He hadn't had anything to drink last night, or even the night before. He'd had a lot of coffee that morning, working down in the workshop, but he was pretty sure that wasn't what had sent him careening for the toilet.
Taking a couple more deep breaths, he felt ready to open his eyes, and start to push himself up. "Jarvis," he mumbled out, mouth feeling sticky, and just overall disgusting. "Scan." He got the one word command out and pulled himself up, slowly, and over to the sink so he could brush his teeth.
As he spit out the last of the toothpaste he heard his AI pipe up. "I would recommend a blood test, Sir." Tony frowned a little at the suggestion. "With my limited scanning, I can find no foreign substances that would cause you to be sick."
Tony groaned a little, but nodded, slowly, carefully, heading down to the workshop. Ever since coming up to New York he had put a lot of time into updating the old workshop. He basically replaced everything that Howard had, and tried to make it look almost like the Malibu workshop.
"You also have two missed calls from Miss Parker," Jarvis told him after Tony had started a blood sample into the system. "She informed that nothing was wrong Young Master," his AI quickly continued before Tony could panic. "She had been called into work unexpectedly."
"I would have taken Peter," Tony grumped a little, knowing that he had probably missed his chance, and that Peter was already over at the new neighbor's place; Steve. He hadn't met Steve, but he heard about him all the time from Peter. Something about that just didn't sit right with Tony. He of course knew what it was, but he would rather take a repulsor to the gut before he named the feeling for what it was; Jealousy.
"I know you would have, Sir," Jarvis said almost sympathetically. "But, I thought that it might not be the best idea, considering at the time you were currently invested with the inside of your toilet." Tony wrinkled his nose. "And should you have some sort of virus, you would not want to give it to Young Master Peter." Tony grumbled a little, knowing that Jarvis was right. "Miss Parker has informed me that Peter is currently in the capable supervision of the neighbor." Tony refused to let Jarvis address Steve by any name, other than 'the neighbor.'
"I'll make it up to her," Tony said, leaning against the desk gently, feeling his stomach roll gently. "I'll take Peter for Valentine's Day, so she and Agent can have a nice night, or whatever he might have planned."
"Are you assuming that you won't have plans yourself, Sir?" Jarvis asked after a second.
"Having a second date doesn't mean that I'm ready to jump into that trap," Tony grumbled, resting his head on his arms. Tony knew for a fact that he hadn't had anything to drink last night for the pure fact that he had been very conscious what he had to drink. When he was out on his first date in many, many years. He'd never admit it out loud, but he had been nervous. Tony had met the man coming out of Mary's apartment building, catching a rare moment when Tony had his hat off, and had been cleaning his sunglasses from Peter's fingerprints. The blonde hadn't said anything about his identity, just give him a little smirk, before stepping forward to introduce himself as George.
After last night, George had agreed to a second date with Tony for next week. It was weird, because Tony hadn't even gone back to his place afterwards, there was no make out session, and he wasn't drunk. If this was how normal people dated, Tony had a lot to get used too.
"And anyway, I have plans now for Valentine's Day. Are those test results done yet, Jarvis?" Tony wanted to change the subject now. "My stomach is protesting again."
"Preliminary results show that there is nothing wrong," Jarvis informed him. "I would suggest something for nausea, but I will continue to monitor your condition, Sir."
"You're the best, J," Tony said from his spot. "I think I'm gonna stay in my bed for a bit. Just as soon as I get up."
Steve was sitting on the couch in Mary's apartment now, a book in his hands, peter asleep in his bed. Mary said she was on her way back home, and told Steve not to worry about anything but making sure that Peter was asleep in bed. At the same time that he heard Mary's key jingling in the lock, her tablet on the coffee table lit up. Steve closed his book, frowning, and looked at it as Mary walked in.
"Miss Parker," Steve jumped a little at the british accent that came from the tablet, "I do apologize for interrupting, but I find it most urgent." Steve looked up at Mary who looked almost as surprised as he felt. She walked over and took the tablet from the table, giving an apologetic look to Steve, and set her bag by the closet.
"What's going on Jarvis?" She asked as she started to slip her jacket off. Steve recognized that name as one that Peter often talked about. It was one his Daddy's robots.
"I do believe that Sir is having a panic attack, and regrettably I am unable to help him." Steve raised his eyebrows a little.
"Where is he now Jarvis?" Mary stayed over by the door, the furthest spot away from Peter's room.
"I've currently managed to contain him inside of his room, but I'm sure that he'll be out in mere moments once he realizes the doors are locked." Steve wondered about this Jarvis actually being a robot.
"Put me through, Jarvis," Mary said softly. Steve watched her, wondering how often she had actually had to deal with this problem. "Tony?" She asked once there the sound of something else, sounding like drawers opening and closing. There was a grunt of surprise. "Hey, Tony, you there?"
"Mary?" Steve thought that maybe he could put a voice to this mysterious Tony, but the voice that he heard was shaken, sounding vulnerable.
Tony jumped when he heard Mary's voice coming from the ceiling. He was looking through his dresser, but he wasn't sure for what. "Yeah, it's me. Jarvis called me." Jarvis, he could trust Jarvis for everything. Which Jarvis had called her though. "You're AI, Tony." He must have said that out loud. "What are you doing right now?"
"I'm, looking for something." Tony stopped and closed the drawer he was looking through, fingers coming up to tap out a rhythm on his arc reactor. What was he looking for? "It's too hot in here, too hot." He tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like his lungs weren't expanding enough.
"What were you doing before you started looking?" Mary's voice was always so calm, so nice.
Tony frowned, trying to think about what he was doing, what had made him start looking. "Sleeping, I think I was sleeping." He closed his eyes, trying to remember, and then the nightmares came rushing back to him, what woke him up. He gasped and stumbled backwards, back hitting the same dresser and knocking over a couple picture frames, and a small box that held different cuff links.
"Sand, there's so much sand," his whispered, sliding down to sit on the ground. "It's so dirty, not like the shop, I can't work here. Peter, I need to, Peter, he's okay? He's okay, he's with you, he's safe, right?"
"Peter is safe." Tony's head jerked up at the new voice, a male voice, one he had never heard before.
Mary looked over at Steve when he had gotten up and walked over to her and the tablet. He had heard the man start to lose himself, something that Steve had heard many times before from soldiers in the war. Tony was having a flashback, suffering from PTSD. Steve could relate with his nightmares of losing Bucky, at the very least.
"Did he serve?" Steve whispered to Mary. Peter had never mentioned it, but he needed to know something on how to proceed.
Mary shook her head. "He did travel to Afghanistan several years ago," Mary whispered back quickly. "Something did happen over there." She wasn't sure how much to tell him, it was Tony's experience to tell. Steve just nodded, he could work with that.
"Tony, are your eyes open?" Steve asked, turning back towards the tablet.
"Who are you? Are you with Mary?" There was a guarded tone to his voice now, and Steve proceeded carefully.
"I'm a friend of Mary's," Steve, looking over at her.
"It's true, Tony. I'm still here, he's a friend." Steve nodded when she spoke. They needed him to not worry about who Steve was at the moment.
"Can you tell me where you are, Tony?" They needed to get him out of his head, away from the flashbacks.
The mans voice was easy on the ears, soothing, in a way that was different from Mary's. Mary had a soothing parent voice, but this man, it felt more personal than that. His tone was soft, but it wanted answers as well. "I'm,..." Tony looked around, and he saw the bed, saw the light coming from the bathroom. His bedroom. "Yes, I'm in my bedroom."
"Alright, that's good," Steve nodded. "Do you know what state you're in?"
State, right, location. This bedroom was different, it wasn't nearly as familiar. "New York, I'm in the New York house."
"Can you count with me, Tony?" Tony frowned at the voice. "Can you count backwards from fifty with me?"
"You want me to what? Counting? What's counting going to-"
"Fifty." The voice said, cutting Tony. "Fifty," he tried again when Tony didn't respond. Tony wriggled his nose and started to count backwards. He closed his eyes, and by the time that he got to single digits he realized that he could breathe again, that his chest didn't feel as tight.
"Good job, Tony," the male voice said again, and Tony felt a little bit of pride bubble in his chest. "Peter is in bed, he's sleeping. Mary has gong to go take a picture, and she's going to text it to you, okay?"
Peter, his son, his little boy. Tony sat up suddenly, moving to his feet. Where was- he heard the ringtone of his phone and snatched it up off the floor. The picture loaded almost instantly, and he let out a breath. Peter was asleep in his bed, face peaceful, on his side, hair a mess of loose curls.
"Does that help?" The voice was there again, and he nodded, not caring at first that he couldn't be seen.
"Yeah." Tony sat down on the edge of his bed. Now that he was coming down, knew where he was, his face flushed hot. A stranger had just talked him through a panic attack. He let out a little moan and dropped his head to his hand.
"Tony? Are you alright?" Yup, he was still there, still listening.
"Tony?" Oh great, and there was Mary.
"I'm fine!" He may have said it a little too loudly, but he could feel the embarrassment rolling through him. "Much better, thanks for the talk, I'm just gonna go now and work downstairs, good night!" He made a motion, hoping that Jarvis would know to hang up.
"Tony?" Mary blinked when the line was cut. "Jarvis?"
"I'm sorry, but Sir cut communications." The accented voice answered Mary and Steve looked at her again. "He seems to be much better, his heart rate is back to normal, and his brain activity has settled considerably. I thank you Miss Parker, and..."
Steve blinked, realizing that the voice was asking for his name. "Um, Steve, I'm Steve."
"Thank you very kindly, for helping Sir." The tablet screen went dark and Steve felt kind of lost.
"Well, that was new," Mary murmured, and Steve was glad that it wasn't just him. They looked at each other for a moment. "I'm sorry that-"
"No need to apologize," Steve said before she could try. "As long as you're positive that he's going to be alright."
"I trust Jarvis' judgement," Mary nodded.
"Doesn't seem like the first panic attack that you've encountered." Steve took Mary's jacket, putting in the closet for her as she put the tablet down by the couch.
"Tony doesn't like to admit that he sometimes needs help," Mary said softly. "He's," and she hesitated. Steve could kind of understand, it wasn't her story to tell. "Tony is complicated, to say the least." Steve just hummed softly, nodding. He still wanted to meet the man, he felt like he needed to now. What was this Tony really like? To Peter he was Daddy, near about a superhero to him; to Mary he was a co-parent, and friend. But to Steve, he was someone who was trying to do right, but could probably be doing more. Peter and Mary deserved the best, and if Steve had to knock some sense into this Tony, to accept help, and to reach his full potential, then he would.
February 2010
Steve would have to wait another two weeks or so before he was able to get a shot at meeting Tony. Tony scowled at his phone when he saw the text from Mary, saying that Peter would be over at Steve's, and that Coulson had picked her up early. Tony couldn't get away from a meeting with the Board, not if he wanted to get his project off the ground this month. He had a plan, and he wanted it to open this year, and Tony Stark doesn't like to settle for second best.
Steve watched Peter as he showed him how to make a folder on the desktop for all his images that he kept downloading. Steve tried not to think about how a five-year-old was showing how to use a computer. There was a knock at the door, and Steve got up, ruffling Peter's hair, and went over, looking through the peephole. He blinked seeing a man with a familiar Captain America ball cap a goatee, and sunglasses on. Tony.
Steve opened the door and the two men looked at each other for a moment, before Steve moved to let the shorter man in. "You must be-"
"Daddy!" Peter was already up and running over to Tony. Tony 'oomphed' and laughed, catching Peter and lifting him up.
"Man, you just keep growing, kid!" Tony blew a raspberry on Peter's cheek before setting him down on his feet. "I swear, you're bigger than last time I saw you."
"You just saw me last week," Peter giggled, grinning up at him. "Daddy, if Mama says it's okay, can we stay at my place?"
Tony tilted his head a little. "You don't wanna spend the weekend at my place?"
"There's s'posed ta be a storm coming," Peter said to him, taking Tony's hand. "Loooots of snow!" Steve carefully held a breath, releasing it slowly at the mention of the snow. Tony hummed, rubbing at his beard a little with his fingers.
"So you want to stay here, huh?" Tony did Not want to stay here, but he had been having nightmares on and off back at the Manor. After his panic attack he hadn't actually gotten a real nights sleep, spending more and more time down in the workshop. There had been the nightmares of the desert, of the cave, and then eventually came the nightmares from his childhood. "Well, we have to ask Mama if it's alright." Peter squealed a little as Tony pulled out his phone.
Steve looked at the phone, seeing a logo on the back of it, and tilted his head. He swore he had seen that logo before in passing while browsing online, but didn't really think about it too much. There was a possibility that Tony would be just across the hall now.
Peter put his hands up, asking silently if he could ask Mary about the sleeping arrangements, and Tony put the phone in his hand after tapping a few times and Steve could hear the phone ringing. Peter started to hop around a little with the phone pressed up to his ear, and Steve looked back over at Tony. Tony caught Steve's eye, and Steve could tell that he wasn't going to back down first. This was not the same man that he had talked to over the phone, (was it the phone, it was technically the tablet), he could tell by the eyes that this man remembered that night, and he wasn't about to bring it up. Steve would have too.
"You must be the neighbor," Tony said when he saw that Steve was about to open his mouth, almost like he wanted to beat him to speaking. "I'm Peter's Dad, Tony."
"We've actually spoken." Steve saw the confusion on Tony's face for a second. "A couple of weeks ago." There was the recognition, and a wave of emotions passed through Tony's eyes in the matter of a second. "How are you-"
"I'm fine, so you just moved in here a couple of months again, then?" Tony said quickly, and Steve thought he would get whiplash from how quickly Tony changed topics and moods "Work with Mary at SHIELD then?" Tony looked around the apartment, assessing it? "Peter talks about you all the time, so Mary must trust you at least a little bit, but I find that I don't know that much about except from what Peter says. And I love my son very much, but he's five, and I can't exactly take everything that he says as gospel, not that I really take anything as gospel, but that's a whole different problem."
Steve blinked, staring at Tony. He didn't know that a human could actually talk that fast. He was surprised that he was even able to keep up with everything that he said, even with the Serum. "I'm usually here?" This Tony was naturally charming, and disarming, and hostile, all at the same time. This wouldn't stop Steve though, not from learning more about this man. Was this really the same man that he had talked through a panic attack?
"Fantastic, so you don't actually work with Mary?" Tony looked back at him, not taking off the sunglasses though. "Do you actually work, if you're here? And you're able to watch Peter with such short notice? Thanks for picking him up from school, though. When I can't do it I'm usually stuck in a board meeting. Did Mary tell you what I do?" Steve was barely able to finish nodding before Tony was continuing. "I'm trying to get a big project into the works, and fast. I want it done this year, and I've got a lot of work to do on it still. Work actually needs to start as soon as the snow is gone, not that snow stays long on the streets of New York."
"Do you often talk this fast?" Steve couldn't help the question that blurted out when Tony actually took a breath after talking. He swore he saw a little glare, but a little bit of a smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, but I just felt out of breath as you were talking." They both looked over as Peter made a little noise while talking to Mary, then went back to looking at each other. "I don't work with Mary at the office, no," Steve told him, watching Tony's eyebrow raise just a tiny bit, "but I do know her from SHIELD, yes." Tony hummed a little, nodding.
"She wants to talk to you, Daddy." Peter ran back over to them, and Tony wrapped his arm around his waist to stop him from sliding across the floor. Tony took the phone back from Peter, and Peter bounced back over to Steve's laptop, Steve turning to watch him briefly. Tony eyed the motion, completely not jealous though.
"You're not happy with this," Mary said as soon as he put the phone to his ear.
"I'm not happy with you," Tony said quietly, nodding a little, turning his back to Steve and Peter, so that at least Peter didn't hear anything more than mumbling. "And why didn't you tell me that this was the one who was there during the Incident."
"You didn't ask." Mary didn't sound apologetic at all, this offended Tony's ego. "Steve is perfectly happy to babysit, he doesn't mind."
"Yeah, I don't care about that," Tony grumbled.
"So, I don't care if Peter wants to stay home for the weekend, but I don't know what your plans are," Mary changed the subject, and Tony swore he heard the little laugh she was trying to keep silent.
"My plans are to spend the weekend with my son," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "I had the last board meeting until next week, and I've cleared my schedule with Pepper, specifically for this weekend." Like he said he would, giving Mary and Coulson a worry free holiday.
"I think I have an idea of why Peter wants to stay home, though," Mary said, a hint of mischief in her voice. Tony hummed, acting all put upon, but he wasn't as bothered as he wanted them to think. The only thing he wasn't happy about was being in 'the neighbor's' apartment, where his son was apparently staying.
"It's not like I can't stop back over to my place to get some clothes." Tony's nose wrinkled a little, Peter really wanted to stay here, and apparently there was a reason, and going back over to the mansion wasn't like it was required. He could take Peter with him when he got his stuff, and they could say hi to Dummy, Butterfingers, and U, then. Those three bots honestly adored his little boy, and that always warmed his heart. Tony would just have to be careful, to always have his hat and sunglasses by the door, just in case. Not that he really planned on seeing anyone while they were there.
"And Steve will be there the whole weekend as well, in case you need anything," Mary had kept talking while Tony's mind had kept working.
"Great, won't need anything though," Tony said. "Because it's been over five years, I think I know how-"
"Tony, your jealousy is showing." Mary was enjoying this.
"I am Not-"
"You are, it's kind of cute. So, just send me a text with what you decide to do, and I will see you when I get back," Mary said, and Tony could hear Coulson in the background. "Have a good weekend, Tony!"
Tony's eye twitched a little as she hung up and he turned back around, now seeing that Steve was sitting next to Peter, by the laptop, the little boy explaining something to him. Tony took a breath, and steeled himself for the interaction that he was going to have. It was for Peter, this was always for Peter. He wasn't jealous, nope.
Tony walked over, sitting on the other side of Peter, and saw that Peter was explaining how to use icons on the desktop, and moving them to the task bar for shortcuts. The neighbor didn't know how to use a computer? As soon as Tony sat down though, Peter's hopeful brown eyes turned to him.
"Yeah, we can stay- ack." Tony was pushed back into the couch when Peter landed in his lap, arms around his neck in a hug suddenly. He swore he heard a little chuckled from The Neighbor. "But I have to run home at some point to get my clothes, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy!" Peter grinned at him, which meant that Tony had to smile. Peter's smile more infectious than the common cold. Tony always thought that Peter's smile looked more like Mary's than his own. "Now, we should probably get back over to your place, and leave your neighbor here to his own day. I'm sure he has his own plans today."
"Nope," Peter shook his head, getting down from Tony's lap, though. "He said he's going to be here all weekend."
"Why don't you go get your bookbag, Peter," Steve said before the boy said anything more. Of course, Steve knew what day it was, that's why Mary and Coulson would be gone. He was a little surprised that Tony had volunteered to watch Peter; he would have thought that the man would have his own plans.
"I find it hard to believe that nothing is happening for you, today," Tony said to him as Peter ran off. Oh, Tony may not be his biggest fan, but he could see that The Neighbor was incredibly handsome. Those blue eyes captured you first, he could see them even through his dark sunglasses, and his hair was immaculate. Tony longed to rough it up with- Tony slapped his consciousness. Now was not the time to think about this handsome man, that he would rather have in his bed than his former dating possibility.
"Why's that?" Steve wasn't sure if Tony was being serious, or insulting to him.
"No one catch your eye? No one's asked you out for today? Because I know a few dozen people who'd want to take you out on Valentine's Day." Tony wouldn't mention that he might have been one of them. You know, if he wasn't taking care of his son when Tony was still capable. Not. Jealous.
Steve watched Tony for a second, Peter coming back out with his stuff. He longed to see Tony's eyes, and the rest of his face really. You can only put together so much of a person from just seeing their chin. The eyes held so much, expression and emotions, they betrayed what others wanted to put on for the rest of the world. And Steve didn't like that he didn't know this man. Maybe it was because Steve had grown rather attached to Peter in the past few months, and wanted to make sure that the little boy stayed happy, and safe.
"Bye, Mr Steve!" Peter smiled, hugging him around the waist.
"Bye, Peter," Steve said, rubbing his back a little. "You know where I am, any time." Peter nodded and took Tony's hand. "It was nice to meet you, Tony." Steve also didn't like that he didn't know Tony's last name, but Mary had said that he didn't want others to know, to keep Peter unknown from big buisness, or any cameras that might show up. Steve could see the sense in that as he learned about how bothersome cameras could be for anyone with any kind of importance in this new time. Tony was respecting both Mary and Peter's privacy, even if he was keeping them a secret from everyone else. Steve really just wanted to have a heart to heart with this man, to clear things up.
Tony gave him a two finger salute, touching the brim of the cap, and followed Peter out of the apartment, closing the door. Steve went over and watched through the peep hole as they went into Mary's apartment. Tony never took the hat off until he was out of view, and Steve blew out a breath.
Tony put his hat and sunglasses on the little table in the entryway, and he and Peter both took off their shoes. Tony could wait a few hours before he needed anything from the Manor. "Alright, little man," Tony said as Peter put his backpack by the closet. "Why'd you want to stay here?" He picked up Peter, making him squeal, and dropped on the couch, bringing Peter into his lap.
Peter wiggled a little in Tony's lap, burrowing a bit between Tony's arm and his side as his hand sought out the arc reactor. Tony was able to stop a shiver anytime that Peter touched it. Peter was the only one who could get away with touching it whenever they wanted. Tony waited patiently, noting that it usually didn't take his son this long to come out with what was on his mind.
"There's someone at school that I wanna give a valitine to," Peter said eventually, kind of quiet. Tony raised an eyebrow slightly. "Cause I got one, and it was really cool, and handmade. And I asked Mama, but she said that I should ask you for help."
"Oh?" Mary was trusting him to handle their sons first crush?! Was she crazy? "Why did she say that? Your Mama would know more than I would about Valentines."
"She said that you would know what to give a boy as a present." Oh. Oh, Peter's crush was another boy. Now Tony know why Mary was handing this off to him. "She said that you like boys, too."
"I do," Tony said nodding. "Alright, well, let's start with seeing what this other boy gave to you." Peter hopped up, running into his room. Tony thought she was still nuts for giving him this responsibility. He was also almost thirty years older than Peter was, and a very high functioning, low responsibility, adult. He yearned for a drink.
Peter came back out, holding onto a little paper box. It looked like origami. Peter carefully opened it and inside was a piece of paper with Peter's name printed on it in impeccable handwriting. Tony blinked. A bit elaborate for someone in second grade, but he could see why Peter wanted to do something for this kid.
"This is real nice, kiddo," Tony said as he looked at it. Peter put it down on the coffee table. "What's this boys name?"
"Wade," Peter said, smiling. Tony had heard this name before, heard it form both Peter and Mary, he was one of Peter's best friends in school. Tony remembered him from the time that Peter said he got in a fight with a kid who said that Peter was too short.
"So, tell me more about Wade," Tony said, pulling Peter back up into his lap as he moved to lay on the couch. Peter moved so that he was sitting on Tony's stomach, facing him, smiling. Peter loved to be close to Tony, and to cuddle in any way. Surprisingly, Tony didn't mind as much as he thought he would. Pepper, and sometimes Peter, was still the only one who could actually hand stuff to Tony without a very visible reaction.
"He likes to eat," Peter said, his hands going to find Tony's arc reactor out of habit. "Usually stuff like tacos, but he likes sweets, too. And he's really funny."
"Yeah? I remember some of the jokes that you told me," Tony said, smiling at him. Peter's fingers traced the circles of the arc reactor.
"He said that his Mama is sick, but his Daddy is in the military, like Uncle James." Peter continued. "But his Daddy isn't a fly boy like Uncle James." Tony nodded. What could a second grader do for another one?
"Does Wade live far away?" Peter shook his head when Tony asked, and Tony hummed, nodding. "How about we make something for Wade to eat? We'll them dinner, and then make Wade something sweet, like, maybe cupcakes?" Peter's eyes lit up and he smiled, nodding. "Yeah? You like that idea?"
"Yeah! Let's do that!" Peter was hopping a little, and Tony grunted silently as the air was pushed form his lungs. "He really likes chim-chimi-chimicha-"
"Chimichangas?" Tony guessed, and Peter nodded. Tony sat up quickly, throwing Peter off balance, and chuckled when he caught Peter with his legs making the little boy laugh. "Alright, let's ask Jarvis for a grocery list, some recipes, and get started! Do you have Wade's home phone number? I'll call his Mama, tell her not to make dinner, and to keep it a secret from Wade."
"Good idea!" Peter jumped up to go for the address book that Mary kept by the cordless phone. Tony was fairly certain they would just end up getting box mix for the cupcakes, but Jarvis would guide them safely. Jarvis knew how to keep Tony from burning down a kitchen,... Again.
Tony had never cooked a chimichanga in his life, but Jarvis assured him that it was something even he could do. He didn't trust his AI's assessment. He looked at the frosting selections that he and Peter had picked out; a lot of red, some black, white, and some blue. Apparently Wade really liked red and black, and Tony thought that he could make a red, white, and blue cupcake for Peter.
What Tony knew for sure was that there was going to be way too much sugar going into Peter and Wade's little bodies, and he was going to regret this come bedtime. Tony was trying to frost the cupcakes as Peter tried write Wade's name on a card with Jarvis's help. That's when he caught a whiff of something burning. Tony whipped around towards the stove and saw a bit of smoke trying to escape from the oven. The second batch of cupcakes were not going to make it.
He grabbed a hot pad and opened the oven door to pull out the ruined cupcakes, then froze when he saw the smoke rising up to the ceiling, approaching the smoke detector. Oh, that was something he didn't need to explain to Mary. Tony hurried over, vaulting up and over the island, and using the height to grab at the cover of the smoke detector as it started to beep, and ripped the battery out, almost tearing it off the wall.
"Daddy?" Peter called out from the dining room table, looking in. Tony landed on the ground and looked over, giving him a smile.
"You remember when Daddy said it would be a good idea to buy a few boxes of cupcake mix?" Peter nodded. "This is why. Everything's alright, but we should probably, most definitely, open some windows."
Peter hopped down him booster seat and went to start opening the windows int he living room at the same time that there was a knock on the front door. Tony groaned and hurried over, grabbing his hat and sunglasses, before opening it. He blinked when he saw Steve standing there.
"Is everything alright?" Steve looked at him, then looked around Tony, being a couple inches taller than him. "I thought I smelled something-"
"I burned some cupcakes, nothing to worry about," Tony said quickly.
"Hi, Mr Steve!" Peter said as he came over, having opened all the windows. Tony could tell cause there was a slight chill coming inside from the cold weather outside. "Daddy burned some of the cupcakes." Tony's expression deadpanned, but Steve wouldn't see it because of the sunglasses. "But, it's alright, because we bought a couple extra boxes."
"You're using boxed mix?" Steve asked Peter, who nodded. "What about making some fresh ones?"
"Jarvis says that Daddy can't bake," Peter said like it didn't mean a thing. Tony willed his cheeks not to turn red.
"I could always help you," Steve offered and Peter grinned. Tony opened the door a little for Steve, the silent invitation. "Why are you making cupcakes?"
"We're making a valitine dinner for my friend," Peter told him, turning a little shy. "He gave me a valitine at school, and I wanted to give him one back. Mama said that Daddy could help me this weekend, cause he likes boys, too"
Tony squeaked his protest a little when Peter just kept on talking to Steve, casually mentioning Tony's sexuality. He couldn't blame the boy, it wasn't something that he would actually understand at the age of five, but Steve would.
Steve blinked a little as he followed Peter to the kitchen. His thoughts about Tony possibly being gay were put aside when he saw the state of the kitchen. It was obvious that Tony didn't do a lot of cooking, with too many dishes out, burned cupcakes on the stove, and different frosting tubes out. Steve was pretty sure he could salvage this. Even when he was small and sickly, he could still cook while his Mother worked.
"The chimichangas are safe." Steve turned when heard Tony step into the kitchen. "The actual dinner part, that's safe and not burned.
"Then it shouldn't take too long for the cupcakes." Steve went over to Mary's pantry, and started pulling out the baking supplies, and he was vaguely aware of Tony starting to clear up counter space.
Was Tony happy with this new turn of events? Hell, no. He didn't want anyone else here, specially the Neighbor, seeing his failings at making cupcakes, but now he was going to steal the thunder of cupcakes, and Peter couldn't be happier about it. Steve absolutely was not going to go with them over to Wade's though. That's where Tony drew the line in this particular moment.
Tony started to wash all the dishes, something he could easily do without needing to take off his sunglasses. Maybe he would make a custom pair of sunglasses that he could wear that acted like the Iron Man HUD. He would be able to watch Steve without actually looking at him, he wouldn't have to try and do stuff looking through darker lenses just because Steve had decided to intrude.
Putting the last of the more difficult dishes in the dishwasher, Tony turned to see Steve squeezing out the different frosting into their own bowls, before adding a few other ingredients. The cupcakes were already in the oven, and it seemed that Steve was even taking over the frosting duty. Joke was on him though, Peter had already told Tony exactly how he wanted the cupcakes.
Steve could feel Tony watching him as he made the store bought frosting a bit more fluffier, lighter, and ready for the cooking cupcakes. He turned a little, scooping the frosting into plastic bags, (something he had seen in a video on the internet), and looked at Tony. "I thought that this might make frosting the cupcakes easier. Do you know what they're supposed to look like?" Peter had been given the duty of decorating the container that would hold the cupcakes, and was out at the table again.
"Yeah," Tony said, moving forward. The oven timer dinged, and Steve moved towards the oven, putting the frosting down on the counter. He passed by Tony and their arms brushed accidentally, but both men paused for a second, looking at each with only a couple of inches between them. Steve swore he saw Tony's eyes widen through the lenses, his eyes looking familiar, but Tony moved first, moving away.
Tony took a silent breath and grabbed the frosting bags. He felt nothing when that happened. It definitely didn't feel like there might have been actually sparks when their arms had touched. It was just static, static generated by the completely hidden arc reactor. That was it.
Steve glanced back one last time as he closed the oven, telling himself that he was not looking at Tony's butt, his well shaped, perfect size for his hands, ass. Nope.
"Daddy?" Tony jumped, and looked at Peter as he leaned up on the stool that was across from the frosting station that had been set up. "Can we make a Cap cupcake for Mr Steve, too?"
"Yeah, sure, why not," Tony said quickly as Steve put the cupcakes down next to him, on the cooking rack.
"We gotta let them cool down first," Steve said, smiling at Peter. "Or else the frosting will just slide right off, it'll start to melt." Peter nodded, watching the cupcakes, smiling.
"While that happens, we can put the chimichangas in the oven again," Tony told the little boy. "Wade likes cheese, right? Let's put some more on top, warm up the food, and melt the cheese."
"Yeah!" Peter grinned and slid off the stool, running over to the fridge to pull out a bag of shredded cheese.
Steve watched the two move around the kitchen, Tony doing the heavier lifting, and messing with the oven, but peter was grinning the whole time. He was again confused, on how apparently Tony could even cook boxed cupcakes, but Mary said that he and Peter spent a lot of time together. If he spent the night at Tony's often enough, Tony would have to know how to cook something, right?
As the baking dish went into the oven, Tony and Peter came back over to the apparent cupcake station, and Steve nodded that the cupcakes were cool enough to frost now. This was something that Tony could do, details? Easy. He had personally wired the Mark II Iron Man suit, taking a probably ridiculous amount of time to do meticulous details that might have driven anyone else crazy.
Watching Tony grab the bags, cut the holes, and work with an amount of focus he hadn't seen before, Steve was impressed with the work that Tony was doing, even with the sunglasses still on. He put down a base of blue frosting, then started to put down two red circles with a white circle between them, and put down a perfect start in the middle. He did that two more times, three Captain America cupcakes sitting there, looking nearly perfect. Tony grabbed the red and black frosting, placing them together, before making a swirled cupcake.
Tony then made two cupcakes that he figured would be just for Wade and Peter, both with a red base. On the first cupcake he took the black frosting, putting down lines to make it look like a black tip flower. Tony took the blue frosting and did the same thing on the other cupcake, a blue tipped flower. When he was done with the cupcakes he looked up to see Peter and Steve watching him, sitting next to each other.
Tony blinked and looked at them. "You have an amazing eye for detail," Steve said to him. "Those are some of the best frosted cupcakes I've ever seen."
Peter was smiling at Tony, the pushed one of the Captain America cupcakes over to Steve, then over to Tony, the third still in front of him. "My Daddy's the best." Tony picked up the cupcake, and a genuine smile spread over his face as he looked at Peter. Okay, so, maybe he could put up with Steve sitting next to his son for a few more minutes.