A/N: Slight Anxiety/nightmare trigger near the end.
Chapters 14, 15, and 16 posted all at once, don't miss a chapter! :)
Unbeta'd, and Marvel owns more of this than I do.
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.
Steve showed Tony the text from his phone at a stop light, the boys in the back of the car talking excitedly about possibly living together. Tony knew that Peter would immediately ask Wade's mom to move in with them at the hospital. They had woken Phil up, and he was responding well. By the time they'd get back he would be fully awake, and ready for visitors. Tony smiled and nodded. "'Bout time."
When they parked, Steve grabbed the bags, making a motion with his head to take the boys up to see Phil. Peter and Wade ran up the stairs, Peter's intent to probably find his grandparents now to ask them to live with them as well. Even after sleeping, Peter hadn't let go of the idea. Tony couldn't say that he was against it, he did have the room still, but if this was something that was going to happen, he really needed to get the Tower back up and renovated. They would start to get crowded, even in the mansion, with at least a dozen people living there full time. If everyone said yes, that was. Something to focus on later.
"Petey, get over here, kid," Tony said, trying to turn Peter down the hall towards the bedrooms. "Help me check on something real quick."
"I wanna tell Granma and Granpa we're back!" Peter said, but he stopped in his tracks, Wade right behind him.
"Give me two minutes, then you can shout it from the balcony." Peter giggled a little and the two boys ran back over to Tony. "Except, don't go shouting form the balcony, at least not without me there, or permission."
"Because of all the people around the house?" Peter asked as they walked down the hall. Natasha walked down the hall, giving Tony a small smile as she passed. Tony took that as a good sign since he was pretty sure that she had come from Phil's room. "Who are all those people?"
"A lot of them had cameras," Wade piped up. "And I thought I saw some with microphones, like those people form the news!"
Tony winced a little. There weren't as many reporters and paparazzi around the house when they did a drive by, before ducking into the underground parking, but they were still circling the house. "Yeah, those people will be going away soon. I hope. But if they manage to get near you at the house, then don't talk to them."
"Are they bad people?" Peter looked up at him.
Tony hummed. "No, they just don't always do things the right way, and so they make people upset. Like me. And other people. This will make more sense when you're older." Tony stopped by the bedroom door, opening it slowly. "Okay, I need your expert opinion on this one Petey." As the door opened, Tony peeked around, just to see what was going on in the room, and saw that Phil was already sitting up in the bed, awake.
Peter let out a gasp, then ran inside the room, pulling himself up on the end of the bed. "Phil!" He could see that the man was still injured, so he was careful, but insistent on crawling up the bed. The older man wrapped his arms around the boy, smiling.
"There you are." He chuckled when Wade crawled up on the bed, too. "Mr Wilson as well."
"Hi, Phil," Wade said, smiling at him.
Peter peered at Phil, not moving away from the arms that were around him though, eyes big. "Are you feeling better? I saw you get hurt and-"
Phil ran a hand through Peter's hair, Tony distantly thinking, again, that Peter needed a trim, and the boy stopped before he could start rambling. Just like a Stark.
"I'm doing better," he confirmed for Peter. "They say I have to stay in bed for today, but I feel even better now seeing both you and Wade." Tony was always amazed at how Coulson could use his professional sounding voice with the kids, and still make them smile. Tony himself had never used the higher-pitched "baby voice" with Peter, or Wade for that matter after meeting him, but he also never used his business voice. Granted, his business voice was usually used for the Board of Director, or potential clients, and he just didn't like most of them in the first place. He liked kids. Especially his kid.
"Alright, I'll make you a deal, Petey-boy," Tony said, and all three occupants on the bed looked at him. "I'll let you and Wade stay here to catch up with Agent, and I'll put away your stuff, but you both have to help put dishes in the dishwater for dinner, okay?"
"Okay!" Both boys grinned, making themselves comfortable on the big bed. Tony nodded to Coulson and left the room, closing the door most of the way, hearing the excited voices of Peter and Wade talking immediately.
Tony found Steve walking towards Peter's room, with both his and Wade's bags, and moved to open the door for him. "I could have gotten those," Tony told him.
"It's not a problem, I had already grabbed my bags, and thought I would finish cleaning out the car," Steve said, putting Wade's bag on a chair, and Peter's on the bed. After picking Wade up from the hospital, his Mom had given them a key to their apartment and they picked up some extra clothes and stuff for him as well.
"Well, thanks." Tony opened Peter's bag, stealing glances every so often at Steve. The man looked tired, and he knew it was because he couldn't have had more than four hours sleep. Tony himself had been awake all night as well, so he knew exactly when Steve woke up. "Told the boys that they had to help with dishes tonight if I put their clothes away, so that's one less chore for me. But, I think that Peter's going to ask Agent to live with us, as well."
Steve hummed a little, a little smirk. "He probably will. Good thing you've already got Phil in his own room."
"Why are you encouraging this," Tony said, shooting a meaningless glare at the Captain. "I don't have room in my house for half of New York!"
"You don't need that much room," Steve said with a chuckle. "Just a quarter of New York." Steve laughed when Tony threw a pair of Peter's socks at him, easily catching them though. "I imagine there will be more room when we finish the Tower, too."
Tony had stopped for a bout a millisecond when he heard Steve say 'we', but then remembered that he had agreed to help with the rebuild. "The way Peter's going, I might have to redesign the entire thing."
"What was supposed to go into the Tower?" Steve asked as he started to hand some of Peter's clothes to Tony.
"Well, there was the destroyed Penthouse," Tony said, adding a dramatic sniffle for effect. "I was gonna live on that floor, and below that I had a guest floor for Mary and her parents." Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "Just because Rachel doesn't like me, doesn't mean I can't be nice." And there was that warm Captain America smile. "The first thirty floors were going to be offices for SI, with another ten floors for R&D-"
"You need ten floors for that?" Steve asked, with genuine curiosity.
"Guiding the future, Cap, that's what SI does." Tony neatly put Peter's clothes together, switching drawers now. "Then I had my own workshop, then a couple of floors for guests, and the like. Fifteen other floors would be available for rent for other business. Prime location space for just about anything, and with a spectacular energy incentive."
"And now? You're going to redesign it?" Steve asked and Tony just nodded.
"When I've figured out what I'm going to do, I'll show it to you," Tony said, finishing with Peter's clothes. He opened an empty drawer to put Wade's stuff in. "Make it easier when we get to head over there. I think it was mostly the top floors that were damaged anyway. Little bit of superficial damage on the ground floors."
"One good thing about your Tower being chosen as Alien HQ." Steve smirked as Tony shot him an unamused look.
"Captain Sassypants."
"I thought I was Captain McCheater."
"You are Captain Whatever-I-Want-To-Call-You!"
"Now that just seems like a mouthful," Steve shook his head a little and Tony may have actually growled.
"You should not be this on top of your game with only a few hours of sleep," Tony grumbled and finished putting away Wade's clothes. "Seriously. It must be the serum that gives you this second wind." When Steve had woken up from his spot on the couch, and had seen Tony sitting in the over-sized chair in Mary's living room, working, he was halfway through saying 'I think we should talk about what happened last night.' Then he noticed that Peter was also out in the living room with them, curled up asleep in Tony's lap. Tony just gave a little shake of his head, running a hand through Peter's hair gently. Now Tony just had to keep him off the topic, because an awkward conversation with Captain America about a kiss was not on his list of things to do. At all.
"I should go tell Bruce that we're back." He closed the dresser drawer and turned for the door. "I should probably also check in with Potts, see what the media shit-storm looks like today."
"Unless something happened in the past hour-" Steve started, and when Jarvis interrupted him Tony threw Steve an honest glare this time.
"Sir, Mrs Fitzpatrick is headed for the front door. She appears to be angry." Tony frowned at Jarvis's words and quickly left, with Steve right behind him.
"What has her worked up this time?" Tony asked quickly, rounding the corner from the hallway and seeing Rachel reach for the front door. "Rachel! Hey!" She ignored him, a determined look of anger on her face, and yanked the front door open. Tony sprinted forward, trying to catch her before she got too far out, and the press started to get too interested.
Tony stopped suddenly when he saw who was coming up the walk-way, from the front gate no less, and who Rachel was moving to intercept. George Hayes. This had the potential to get really bad, really fast. He had to diffuse the situation. Tony looked at Steve, who had almost bumped into him when he had stopped, and pointed at Rachel.
"Get her back inside the house-" Tony winced when he heard Rachel started to yell at George, "-quietly."
"What do you think you're doing here?!" Rachel got closer to George, who was looking a little shocked at this strange woman who came out to yell at him, but didn't stop his stride. "Have you not cause enough trouble?"
Tony sprinted forward, past Rachel, trusting Steve to get Rachel. He was right when he heard Rachel huff and protest, more quietly, to Steve. Tony stopped in the middle of the walkway, not letting George move any further. "She has a point. What are you doing here?"
"I can't come to see the hero of the hour?" George gave him an obviously fake smile, well aware that the paparazzi could see them. Tony knew the smile well, he had perfected it at age eight. "We used to have something."
"Yeah, a very short something, and now it's over." Tony's words were quiet and pitched low, but he kept his own practiced smile on his face. "I don't know what your game is here-"
"He's just a troublemaker! Haven't you caused my family enough-" Rachel shouted, and Tony glanced over his shoulder. Steve was trying very hard not to just pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, not with so many cameras watching. Tony didn't care at this point.
George raised an interested eyebrow at Tony. "Lowering your standards, Stark?" Tony growled slapped a hand on George's back, fingers splayed to look friendly, but fingers digging in a little.
"Come with me, and shut your mouth," Tony muttered. Steve eyed Tony but got Rachel inside. "I have half a mind to let her at you once inside. That's worse than anything I could ever do to you. You're not even supposed to be here, I know for a fact that you got the restraining order."
"That was impressive how you got that approved so fast after a disaster," George commented. Tony pushed him inside the door first before shutting it.
"Steven Rogers, you let me go this instant," Rachel was saying to Steve, and Tony almost felt bad.
"I'm afraid I can't do that ma'am," he said in his nicest voice, which could very possibly make most other villains want to apologize. "I don't think Tony would appreciate bloodshed on the floors."
"I might make an exception," Tony muttered, and Rachel looked a little smugly at Steve. He turned back towards George, who now looked pleased with himself. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police, or get the other Avengers in here. They are all here, you know."
"I'll be nice and give you two reason." George held up one finger. "The police would take too long to get here-"
"Not like I couldn't restrain you until they got here."
"-and you wouldn't want your son to see anymore violence." As George lifted a second finger, Tony felt like he had just been slapped with it. George grinned, but it wasn't a pleasant one, it was a shark that had gotten its prey. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some folded up papers, handing them to Tony.
Tony grit his jaw and pulled the papers roughly from his hand, opening them. The paper was thick, and Tony was soon able to see that they were photographs. Rage boiled in his blood when he saw that they were of Peter. There were a couple of Tony out with Peter at the zoo from last month, one him holding Peter while he walked away from Mary's door, before he put his hat back on. And there was a picture that Tony knew he had only hung up in his house; Jarvis had caught Tony and Peter in a moment down in the workshop, Dum-E holding onto the fire extinguisher, Butterfingers trying to make a smoothie, and U trying to hand Peter a screwdriver. The boy was grinning at the bots, laughing as Tony put his hands up to stop Dum-E from using the bright red canister, again.
"You went through me personal things?" Tony shouted at him. "You followed us around? I should call the police on this alone!" Tony held up the personal picture. "This was in my workshop! A place I know you've never been, and were never allowed to go to!" Despite the rage that billowed out in waves, the blonde in front of him just kept smiling.
"But you won't call anyone. I know this, and you know this. Those aren't the only copies I have of those," George said motioning towards the pictures. "One of those finds its way into one of the hands outside, and it doesn't matter what I do, the whole world knows about your son."
Tony's feet propelled him forward in a lunge, his arm winding back as his hand closed into a fist, but was suddenly stopped, a strong arm wrapping around Tony's waist. "Don't do it," Steve said quietly in his ear. "There are better ways to take care of this."
"I don't care," Tony growled, not taking his eyes off of George. He had a startled look when he thought that Tony was going to charge him, but looked smug again when Steve stopped him. "I want to hit something, and there's something in front of me."
"Tony," Steve looked at Tony. "If you-" They both turned, startled when there was a hard smack, and a startled shout. Rachel was huffing, shaking out her hand, and George was holding his cheek. "Mrs Fitzpatrick!"
"Go Rachel!" Tony cheered, ignoring Steve's admonishing look.
"That's assault!" George cried out. "I could bring you up on-" He stopped when Steve stepped up close to him.
"You won't do that," Steve told him. "You're not going to anything, because what you're doing is illegal on so many levels, and just wrong."
"That's not how the world works anymore, Captain," George said to him, taking a step back. "You have to do whatever it takes to get ahead in this world."
"What do you want?" Tony growled out. Rachel had moved to stand next to Tony, glare pinned on George.
"I'll respect the restraining order, and keep the pictures private," the man said. "For a nice seven figure sum."
Steve frowned. "That's extortion and blackmail!"
"It's just extortion, thank you very much," George said, like he was actually offended. "I don't do blackmail."
"Because you can't do violence!" Rachel shouted at him. "Everyone in this house could kick your ass."
"I think you just leave," Steve said to him.
"Not until I get what I came here for," George pressed.
Tony pressed past Steve, and this time he wasn't stopped. Tony grabbed his collar, pushing him back up against the door. "You're not getting a cent out of me. You think that you're the first person to try this with me? I will bury you in so much legal-ese and lawsuits that it'll make your head spin. I know your kind, and the demands will never stop coming."
"I'll tell the press about this," George said. He was no longer smiling, but he wasn't going to stop apparently. "I'll tell them how Iron Man and Captain America assaulted me."
"And I'll give them a recording of what happened here," Tony shot back. "You had your fifteen minutes of fame, and it backfired."
"I bet you're as disappointing in bed as you are in pers-" He gasped all the air was suddenly pushed from his lungs when Steve moved forward, punching George in the gut. Tony turned his head, looking shocked.
"The only disappointing thing in here is the scum in front of me," Steve growled out. "I would get out of here if you know what's good you, and it would be wise if those loose lips suddenly figured out how to stay closed." Steve grabbed George's collar this time, pulling him back to open the door, and shoved him outside. Steve slammed the door shut, locking it, letting out a breath. He turned around to see both Tony and Rachel looking at him, the former with a look of shock, and the latter with a pleased smirk.
"I may have made things worse," Steve said after a moment. "He's probably still going to tell the press. I'm sorry Tony."
Tony swallowed, looking at Steve. "Then I guess I need to say something first." Both Rachel and Steve looked at him with big eyes as he moved down the hall towards his own office. They both followed after him. Tony was already pulling out his phone, typing out something as they walked inside of his office. "Jarvis, get Pep on the phone, tell her it's a Code Cheeseburger." Steve and Rachel frowned at each other at the code name.
Barely a second later Pepper's voice was coming out through the office. "Tony, you can't be serious."
"Couldn't be more serious," Tony answered, dropping into the leather chair behind his desk and pulling open some drawers.
"You want to hold a press conference now? Of all times?"
"I'm on a time constraint, actually," Tony admitted. "Mr Hayes has decided to try extortion, and now it'll become blackmail, and he's going to reveal Peter." There was a gasp from Pepper. "Pull out the prepared papers, call the conference."
"Where do you want it held?" They could hear Pepper typing, and papers shuffling. Tony glanced up at Steve and Rachel for a second, taking a second to think.
"At the closest Manhattan Community Center," Tony said. "I'm going to remind them all that this isn't about me, or the Avengers, or any of that. This is still about rebuilding, and making sure that everyone is safe, and has a home again."
"I have a feeling I know what's going to happen." They could hear the smirk in Pepper's voice. "I'll meet you over there in half an hour."
"Make it forty-five," Tony said before ending the call.
"Tony, are you sure about this?" Steve asked him, stepping up to the desk.
"Not at all," Tony said, still looking through one of the drawers. He huffed and closed it before standing up, heading for the door. Rachel put a hand on his arm and Tony turned to face her, expecting her to tell him how selfish he was, how he should be-
"We'll watch Peter for you." The opposite of what he had been expecting. "You go and shame all of them, teach them another lesson in the humanity that they don't have."
Tony's mouth opened a little. "Uh, thanks, Rachel. And thanks, for back there, in the foyer." She gave him a rare smile and Tony hurried from the room. He didn't actually know how to handle the support from her, and he had other things to worry about at the moment anyway.
He stepped into Mary's room, seeing William sitting there, reading the morning paper. He nodded to Tony, folded up the paper, and got up, stepping out. Tony idly wondered if Jarvis had warned him, or maybe there was some kind of parent things going on there. Stepping up to the bed, Tony sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at Mary, looking peaceful.
"I know we always said that when this moment came, we'd figure it out together, and that hopefully it would be because Peter was graduating High School or College, and that it would be because I couldn't hold myself back from spoiling him with presents." Tony let out a little sigh. "I messed up, as per usual. But I'm working on, kind of fixing it. This is gonna suck, and it's gonna be hard, and I'm going to be apologizing to Peter for years to come..." He trailed off. "There is no but to that. The upside is hard to find in this one." Tony reached up to push a piece of hair off of forehead.
"Found Phil for you," he said quietly. "I'm sure he'll be in tomorrow, he's with Peter and Wade right now. Don't tell him I called him Phil, though. It's always Agent, no matter what." Tony took a deep breath. "This isn't how I pictured this going at all, and please don't yell at me when you wake up and see what happened. I promise that I'll have beaten myself about it more than enough already." He turned away, facing the door but staying on the bed. "You know, I remembered you when you came into my office all those years ago. After we slept together, of course." He let out a humorless chuckle. "I remember thinking that the sex had to be good with someone who looked like me, because I was just that good. And I think that's also the reason that we don't work together as a couple, because I would be just too much, and you would never back down, and it would just get too ugly, too fast."
"Sir," Jarvis said quietly, almost gently, from the ceiling. Tony glanced at his watch and nodded. He pat Mary's hand gently.
"I've got to get dressed, enter the circus again." Standing up from the bed, Tony looked at her, his face open, honest and vulnerable for just a second. Then he raised his mask, the practiced easy smile on his lips. "Wish me luck, Mare." He left the room, nodding to William who was leaning against the opposite wall.
"We'll be watching," the older man told him with a smile. Tony nodded and went next door to his room to change.
Steve had looked through all the clothes he had brought, kicking himself that he didn't bring anything that he thought would be nice enough for a press conference. Not that that was anything he ever thought he have to prepare for, but he didn't want to go in jeans, or khakis, but he wasn't seeing much of another choice.
He finally decided one a non-plaid, blue button up, slipping a black sport jacket on over it, paired with some khakis. He would have rather worn his leather jacket, but he doubt that would look good. Steve stepped out of his room and saw Tony coming out of Phil's room, already changed, and Steve couldn't help but appreciate how much the man could clean up. He of course had seen him on TV and online in suits, but he had gotten used to the casual t-shirt and jeans Tony in person. Tony was wearing a white buttons down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black waistcoat with red accents, and some kind of multicolored tie underneath, paired with black suit pants. His hair had been styled, and his beard was trimmed, and he looked impeccable, even not in the full suit.
Tony looked down the hall and saw Steve, raising an eyebrow as he walked towards him. "Don't you look fancy, Captain."
"Well, I understand you have to at conferences." Tony raised both eyebrows at Steve now, and Steve joined him walking down the hall.
"I do, you don't," Tony pointed out.
"I'm not letting you go alone," Steve replied.
Tony's brow furrowed a little. "I don't need a bodygua-"
"Not a bodyguard," Steve quickly amended. "I talked to Natasha, Clint, and Bruce, and we all decided that someone should go with you, to represent the Avengers."
"While the obviously see-through tactic of distracting the press is appreciated," Tony started, the two of them heading down to the garage, "I think that I'm a big boy. This isn't baby's first conference, for me." He glanced at Steve. "And no one knows that Captain America is actually Steve Rogers from the 1940's. Take it from experience, keep your privacy while you're still able too." Steve was able to note the tightness in Tony's voice at the words. He had to remind himself that Tony had been dealing with this nearly all his life, always in the public eye, always on display.
"Then I'll be there for moral support," Steve said, not giving up. Tony let out a sigh as they approached the black town-car. He caught Tony eyeing one of his sport cars for a second, before motioning to the black vehicle with one hand.
"Fine, get in. But I'm not saying anything to Pepper, that is your own beast to take on," Tony muttered as he slipped in behind the wheel of the car.
When they reached the side entrance to the Community Center, all the cameras setting up around the building, Tony and Steve saw Pepper waiting for them in the doorway. They both walked in, the door closing, and Pepper stood in front of Tony, smoothing down his tie of non-existent wrinkles.
"This is a truly horrendous tie for cameras, Tony," Pepper said a little fondly. Tony shot her a grin.
"Isn't it? Peter picked it out for me last Christmas." Pepper snorted softly and kissed Tony's cheek.
"It'll be hideously perfect." Pepper then turned her eyes to camera, letting her eyes travel down, then back up to his face, assessing his attire. "The only thing missing is his shield."
"He wanted me to turn back to grab it," Tony said with a smirk. "He thinks he's going on camera." Pepper and Tony both shared a laugh and Steve frowned a little. Tony watched Pepper walk over to Steve putting out her hand to shake.
"I'm Pepper Potts, and I've heard a lot about you," she introduced, not letting Steve get a word in. "And you'll be staying the background with me."
"I thought that if-" Steve started, gesturing towards the little podium that was set up.
"Tony is a professional at conferences," Pepper stopped him. "Trust me when I say that, he can handle anything. Well, unless he has another superhero alter ego to announce." Tony snorted, smirking a little. "You'll want to keep you anonymity, Captain." She clicked her tongue a little and both men fell in line behind her like a couple of trained pups.
Tony took a couple of silent breaths as they approached the podium, all the reporters and cameras having finished set-up. They were all standing, while all the occupants inside had chairs, benches, and cots to sit in. They seemed unaffected by the press conference about to happen, and eyed Tony, Steve, and Pepper as they walked through, curious.
Tony couldn't help but stop at what looked like a single father, sitting on a cot, with two little girls, asleep on his lap. The oldest couldn't be older than eight, and the youngest was a touch younger than his Peter. He crouched down a little in front of the little family. "Shoulda figured that all the cameras would be here for you," the man said quietly, but not entirely unkindly.
"Yeah," Tony gave a little shrug, looking at the father. "Not exactly what I wanted to be happening right now. How are your girls holding up?"
The man glanced down at the two girls, his arms wrapped around them both. "My youngest gets confused about why we can't go home, and I think my oldest is starting to catch on." He looked back up at Tony. "But, I'm luckier than others around here, I got my girls with me." Tony nodded a little.
"They treating you alright while they set up something for you?" Tony was sending donations this way, and he wanted to make sure that his money was being put to its fullest extent to help. "Food, clothing, blankets?"
"Yeah," the man nodded. "Not sure what kind of housing they'll be getting us though, so many places destroyed, not many left open." He wrinkled his nose a little. "Not really looking to move too far away, finding a new job is hard enough, but finding one that works around my girls is even harder."
Tony let out a little breath. Single father, confirmed. "What do you do?"
"Just moved onto days as a security guard," the man told him. "Don't expect I'll be going back there anytime soon though. The building was damaged in the attack, just like our apartment." Tony watched the man run a hand over the head of the younger girl as she turned in her sleep. "People will do anything for their kids, Mr Stark."
"Yeah," he said softly, tearing his eyes back up to the man. "Yeah, I'd do anything for my son." The man's eyes widened a little, and Tony smiled softly. "Got a six-year-old waiting for me at home. I'd really rather be back there with him, than here dealing with that," he said with a motion to the crowd outside. Tony stood up, reached inside his waistcoat and pulled out a card. "My private line is on the back of this one," he said as he leaned forward to slip the card in the pocket on the front of the man's shirt. "I'll be working on different projects all over the city, state even, and I always need good security. Give me a call, we'll get something worked out." The man just blinked, speechless, but managed a nod. Tony gave him a little smile and went back over to Pepper and Steve.
Pepper pulled out her Starkpad. "What position do I need to secure?" She asked simply. Steve turned a confused expression to her, then back over to Tony.
"Security guard. Flexible schedule, full benefits, has experience," Tony recited off as they started walking again. "Pay grade six, I think." He nodded a little.
Steve looked at Pepper when Tony rattled off words to her. "Non-executive employees fall under an eight step pay grade," Pepper told him quietly, inputting information into her tablet. "Eight is the lowest, and working all the way up to one." Steve blinked. Tony was going to set someone up starting at three steps up?
Tony was aware of Pepper stopping Steve from following him past a certain point, hidden from the cameras and reporters. Flashes started going off as soon as Tony got closer to the mic. Tony waited a couple of moments, looking out at them, putting names with faces, mentally putting together the pecking order for questions. His smile was up, his game was on, the counter had started.
"I did not come out with notecards this time, so I'm afraid we're all in for another ride." He smiled, the few laughs rippling through the crowd. "Anyway, it seems like there are a couple of things that I need to address, and I think the cards would only distract from the frantic yelling that you'll all do anyway. Am I right?" And on cue, they all started to yell his name, hands and pens in the air.
In Tony's mind, one of two things was going to happen. In the hour that it had taken for Tony to reach the podium, George could have easily dropped the pictures to his contacts, and they would ask about Peter right away, or the first question would be about the Avengers. Or he'd have to tell them all that that's what they were calling themselves. Tony was hoping for the secret third option of his sexuality.
"Kate," Tony said, pointing to one of the ladies in the front. She was from the same station that had interviewed George.
"Mr Stark, some pictures of you were released online less than an hour ago, claiming that you have a son-" the rest of her question was drown out by the uproar of the crowd again. Tony hated being right on the first guess. George had just straight released them to all of social media, not doubt with a little news station help.
"Ouch Kate," Tony put a hand to his chest. "Jumping from the gate on this one, aren't we? What happened to lobbing me a couple of easy ones?"
"This isn't a typical press conference," Kate shouted above the voices.
"Alright, I'm explaining this all in one, so everyone get your pens ready." Tony waited for the voices to die down enough. "I'm going to preface this with the fact that those pictures were obtained illegally, and all of them have probably been removed by now." Jarvis would have caught them, and started tracing them, taking down every hosting source along the way. "Yes, I have a son, and I love him very much. No, he is not here with me."
"Why not?" Someone shouted from the back.
"Because I don't trust you vultures, to be perfectly honest." He could feel Pepper's tiny frown on the back of his neck. "My son is young, not even in the double digits yet, and I'd like to keep him away from the cameras and reporters for as long as I can." Tony leaned his arms on the podium, putting his weight on them, appearing casual to everyone else. Tony knew that Peter would be watching this as well, everyone at the Manor would be. "You know what, from now on, I'm going to refer to him as Mini-Me, I like that," he nodded to himself. "Let me continue knocking out the obvious questions. No, I'm not married, nor am I dating. Yes, the mother is very much in the picture, and we jointly raise our son together. No, I will not be giving any names, or any other kind of personal information."
"Mr Stark!" The shouts started up again. "How old is he?" "Why can't we have his name?" "Can you release any official photos?" "Was it the mothers ideas to keep it secret?" "Does he have your last name?"
Tony put his hands up, the reporters going quiet a little, then he gestured to another woman towards the middle. "Mrs Tate, right?" She nodded. "Indulge me, do you have kids?"
She nodded, a little smile that Tony recognized as one that parents got when they thought about their kids. "I have two."
"A boy and a girl?" She nodded again. "Sounds lovely. If you don't mind, what are their names? Ages? Unless they're twins, then who's the oldest? What school do they go to? Oh, does your husband work, or are you the main bread winner? Does he get more time with the kids, so that they resent you for not spending enough time at home? Or are they both numb to the fact that both parents work, and they're left with a sitter, or day-care all day?"
The woman sputtered a bit, her face turning red, and the other reporters were dangerously close to turning on him. "Don't want to answer all those questions? That's alright, I respect your decision to not expose them to hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people." Tony's gaze raked over the rest of the press. "That's what it sounds like to my ears." Tony stood up fully. "As I said, Mini-Me is young, and as his father, I will do what I have too to protect him. I humbly ask that everyone refrain from taking unauthorized, illegal, pictures of my Mini-Me, and heaven forbid you find her, his mother. Do not approach him, do not talk to him, like he were some other high profile target for your news days. I'm sure that the rest of you would not want anyone to do that to your kids, or grandkids, nieces, nephews, or even cousins. You'll know when you're allowed to capture his image, or his voice." Tony waited, waited for any other stupid questions to pop up that would go against what he had just said, and was pleasantly surprised when nothing else about his son came.
"You know, as popular as I am, and as much as we all love to talk about me, let's not forget something else." Tony motioned back to the Community Center building. "There are still people here, and all throughout Manhattan, that are still trying to rebuild. Businesses, homes, personal property, all lost by the tragic attack that occurred just a few days ago." Tony thought of the dad inside with his two girls, of the other parents and families inside. "Lest we forget so quickly, supplies, donations, and volunteers of all kind are still needed. There's going to be a lot of physical rebuilding as well as emotional, and all help is appreciated. We can't let friends, family, anyone, go without homes, without food or water, the basic necessities."
"Will you be donating your own time, as well?" Someone shouted above the rest.
"I will," Tony answered without hesitation. "While I am lucky enough to tend to my son, who was also in the middle of the danger, inside the stability of our own home, I have put into motion several things already. The site of the Stark Expo has already been shifted to hold many displaced citizens, while a search continues to find them reliable and safe shelter, or to return them to their own homes. And, I'll make the official announcement that the Stark Expo will be postponed until everyone person there has been safely housed."
"What can you tell us about the attack?" A male voice asked. "And what about those that fought with you?"
Tony took an invisible breath. He knew the question would be coming, told himself not to think about the actual event while up there. "I can tell you that the attackers were repelled and defeated. I was just one small piece to the team that took on the threat. There are many fine men and women of the police force, and the firefighters, and hospitals, that put their lives on the line to help. We would not have been able to accomplish what we did without them, and I thank them, and honor their fallen numbers."
"What about the other superheroes that were with you?" Of course they only wanted to hear about that.
"Want something catchy for the headlines? Call us the Avengers," Tony said.
"Is it true that Captain America was there?" A female this time. "Has someone else really taken up the mantle?"
"I can't comment on something that isn't already public knowledge," Tony told them, prompting raised voices. "All you need to know is that a group of us came together to defend New York, to defend the world, and we'll do it again, if and when the time comes. Now, I must ask, are there any other questions not related to my son, Iron Man, Captain America, or the Avengers?" Tony wanted them to talk about the rebuilding effort. That was too much to ask though.
"Mr Stark, are you gay?" Tony almost laughed at the question.
"Hey, thanks for the easy exit, Gary," Tony shot the man a smile. "I am an equal opportunity lover, and I'll request that no one else give my falsely titled former male lover any more airtime. I'll release my own statement on that in the future, and you all can run it for days on end! Promise, darlings, it'll be worth it in the end." He kissed his hand, blowing a kiss to the crowd before throwing up a peace sign, walking backwards back into the building, the doors closing.
(And Jarvis would show him the reaction form back home later, and he would smile proudly, and deny any hint of tears.
"That's my Daddy! He was talking about me and Mama, and saving the world. My Daddy is a superhero."
He'd deny the swell of warmth of Rachel's response to his son. "He certainly is, darling.")
Steve looked like he was barely being held back by Pepper's hand on his shoulder, and Tony shot them both a grin, hands in his pockets. "Breathe, Rogers, you're cheeks are looking a little red. This is why we kept you back, pup."
"That's normal?" Steve asked, motioning with his hand towards the door.
"That might have actually been a little contained," Tony said thoughtfully. "I let myself get a little more seriously than normal though, so that's probably par for the course."
"I think you did very well, Tony," Pepper said. "Usually you create at least two more scandals at impromptu press conferences." One of the Community Center workers came up to Pepper, whispering something in her ear, causing her a little frown. "Some of the major news stations want to bring their cameras in here," Pepper said looking at Tony. "There's a risk of exploiting those in here."
"But there's also the chance that it'll draw the kind of positive reception we're looking for," Steve countered. "It might draw in more help, more volunteers, and supplies."
Tony hummed a little, taking both opinions into consideration. They would want to see Tony speaking with the people here, that was for sure, and it would look bad either way, even if he had intended to stay for a little bit to talk to some more people. "Ask the others who are staying here," Tony replied finally. "It's their faces that are going to be on TV, and some of them may not be comfortable with it. If they say yes, than they can come in, in an hour." Pepper and Steve looked at him. "I want some time here with them, but I don't want it on camera. What we're doing here, it's not for the cameras, not for any extra publicity."
Steve smiled brightly at him, and Tony felt his insides melt a little at the sparkling of his blue eyes alone.
June 2011
Three days after the press conference, Tony collapsed face first on his mattress. It was late, and Jarvis had locked him out of his workshop for the rest of the night. Steve had insisted on actually going out now, with the rest of the Avengers, sans Bruce, to help in the city. He said he was still going to help Tony with the Tower, but they would be able to help more with removing left over alien corpses, and rubble and debris. One good thing about all the extra work was that he could keep avoiding the talking thing with Steve. Once Tony got home he would immediately find Peter, and Wade most of the time, and spend time with him. When the boys were asleep, Tony would sneak downstairs to the workshop to put in some work into the Tower re-model.
Tony's bones felt tired, and he knew that Jarvis had been right to lock him out, but he didn't want to sleep. He shivered a little, letting out a breath into the comforter on the bed. It was comfortable, and he couldn't deny that just lying there was really helping his weary body.
"J," Tony mumbled. "Turn down the AC, little chilly."
"Sir, I'm afraid that I have not changed the temperature settings," Jarvis responded, causing Tony to lift his head a little. Jarvis sounded a little... sluggish? "It would appear, that... there is... Captain..." Jarvis stopped responding and Tony shot up from the bed. He let out a breath and saw it form a cloud in front of him. He ran out into the hallway and rubbed his arms against the chill that was there. Jarvis had been trying to say something about Steve as well.
He ran over to Steve's room, knocking in rapid succession before he just pushed the door open a second later. Steve was lying in the bed, but he looked, wrong. His body was too straight, too stiff, and as Tony moved closer he saw that his chest was moving too quickly with shallow breaths.
"It would seem that your Captain is having an interesting reaction to the cold." Tony jumped at the sudden voice that came from the back corner of the room. His hand shot out as if his gauntlet were on his hand, and froze when he saw Loki's green eyes staring at him. Green eyes that used to be blue a week ago.
"Loki, fuck, what the hell are you doing in here!" Tony shouted, subtly looking around for a weapon. "How did you get out of your cage?" Tony tried not to move when Loki stepped closer to both Tony and the bed. He did move closer to the bed when Loki looked to be getting closer to Steve.
"I was actually looking for your room," the dark haired man said, looking from Steve to Tony.
"Sorry, no more tortures devices to attach to my face," Tony growled out with a glare. "I'm sure that I can find your old friend tho-" His words were cut off with a gurgle and a gasp when Loki moved, a hand to Tony's throat, slamming him against the wall of the room.
"I do not come here to trade quips, Stark," Loki said darkly. Tony swore the room got colder, and he heard Steve let out a strange huff of breath. "I need you to speak to Thor of my small amount of innocence." Tony's eyes widened a little. "You have felt what was in my head, what influence was there. You have felt what it is like to have your body turn against your allies, to fight for something that you thought to be the only reason to fight, no matter what." Loki leaned his face closer to Tony's. "You have heard them, am I not right?"
"I don't have the same mental problems as you," Tony rasped out. He was still able to breathe as Loki held him, but it wasn't exactly easy. "No voices talking to me."
They commenced a staring contest that lasted for several minutes, until a sound of pain came from Steve on the bed. Tony pushed back on Loki's arms, and the taller man let him go, taking several steps back. Loki frowned then disappeared with a shimmer, and the temperature started to rise back to normally nearly immediately. Tony frowned, then hurried over to Steve, pushing his face as close to Steve's face as he dare, but not touching him yet. He had to slowly bring Steve back to at least semi-consciousness, out of the panic attack, then it would be safe enough to touch him.
"Steve," Tony called out, and he swore to re-program Jarvis so that Rhodey never found out that he had used the man's first name again. "Steve Rogers, come on." He watched Steve's hands twitching in response. "Come, Cap, you can do it. Whatever you're seeing, it's not real. You're at Stark Manor, it's June. I'm here, Tony, and Peter is in the other room with Wade. Mary is here with Phil, and Natasha and Clint are upstairs, and Bruce is just down the hall as well. Come on, open your eyes for me."
Tony felt his phone buzz as Jarvis came back online. "J, I need eyes on Loki immediately," Tony said softly.
"Mr Loki is still located downstairs, and has not moved from his cage," Jarvis responded immediately and Tony frowned. "Shall I wake Mr Odinson to go and check on his brother?"
"Yes," Tony said, nodding. "Do it right away, Jarvis." Tony turned eyes back to Steve to see his eyelids fluttering. "Hey, come on, open those eyes." Tony felt more comfortable moving to sit on the bed now. Steve's eyes opened, his pupils blown wide, and they stuttered around as he took in his surroundings, before settling on Tony. "There you are," Tony said, putting a gently hand on Steve's chest. His heart was hammering in his chest.
"Tony?" Steve said quietly, brokenly. Oh. It was a flashback.
"Yup, that's me," Tony said, nodding, letting Steve put his hand on top of Tony's still on his chest. "Careful about moving, you're probably going to be sore. Your whole body was pulled tighter than one of Clint's bow strings." Steve started to fidget a little, and Tony's put his other hand on Steve's back when he insisted on sitting up in bed. "Yeah, you're okay now, though," Tony assured him.
They sat in silence for a couple minutes, Steve not letting go of Tony's hand, Tony not moving from his spot on the bed. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Tony asked gently. He wasn't going to begrudge the good Captain if he didn't want to share. Tony wasn't exactly the most open guy with his nightmares, and he assumed it would be the same with Steve.
"I was under the ice," Steve said in a near whisper. Tony's lips parted a little in surprise.
Steve closed his eyes tightly, gave one last squeeze to Tony's hand before letting go, giving a little lean to get up. He had to shake it off. He was in the plane again, he was going down, and could see the water and the ice rushing up to meet him. He knew it had to be done, to save the world, but this time he hadn't lost consciousness. He gasped, freezing water filling his lungs, burning his eyes, the cold soaking straight to his bones. Steve let out a strangled whimper through clenched teeth, and his eyes shot open when two warm hands were pressed to his cheeks. Tony was in front of him, his amber eyes clear with worry, and patience.
"We need to warm you up," Tony said softly. He moved Steve back onto the bed, directing him to lay on his side instead of his back. Steve tracked him as he walked to the closet, pulling out some extra blankets that were in the back. He wanted to help Tony, knew it would only be right to help him, but his body didn't want to move. Tony pulled the blankets on the bed over Steve, then shook out another blanket, draping it on top, and then one more time.
Tony knew what Steve was feeling. He would dream about the cave if he got too hot. Jarvis would drop the temperature of his bedrooms to nearly freezing when that would happen, just for a few hours, until Tony could regulate. Tony knew what he had to do.
Pulling the blankets back just enough, Tony slipped into the bed behind Steve, and wrapped his arms around Steve's stomach. He felt the fine tremble in Steve's body, and started to rub his arms a little. "Shouldn't take more than an hour to get you all warmed up," Tony said quietly, gently. "Then you can wake up earlier than anyone alive needs to be up, and I'm going to task you with making breakfast." Steve felt himself smiling a little at Tony's easy back and forth banter, with himself mostly. "But don't fall into Peter's trap of asking for pancakes, because it's not Saturday, or someone's birthday, and if Mary or I aren't there he'll try to get those sweet little flatbreads out of whatever sucker is cooking for him. Rhodey found that one out the hard way, and he won't be falling for that again."
Tony knew that he wasn't the only one that suffered from nightmares, but it was almost surreal to watch Captain America go through one, to be affected too much. He still had to separate that Steve Rogers, this Captain America, and the Captain America from his childhood, were very much the same man, and yet human all the same. And because of that, Tony knew that he was playing a very dangerous game right now. Falling for Steve Rogers right now, it wasn't right, and he couldn't promise himself that it was happening for all the right reasons, and not just some delayed reaction of hero worship. What person didn't hope that some famous person secretly met them and instantly fell in love?
Tony rested his head on Steve's neck, using his own natural heat to press against the temperature sensitive skin there. And it would work out, right? He and Mary were best of friends, right on the same level as he and Rhodey, and they had a child together. Tony was positive that Steve was genuine with Peter, and that Peter liked Steve with honest child-like trust and innocence, not because he was Captain America.
Alright, new plan, Stark, Tony thought to himself. Get Rogers warmed up, back to sleep, and get the hell out of here!
Well, it had been a decent idea of a plan, was his first thought when he woke up in the morning, still wrapped around a sleeping Steve Rogers.