From the moment Coulson had stepped foot into Stark Tower, Tony had known his week would be chaotic and hectic. But still, he had hope, even though Pepper had been unrealistically cold with him, looking at his suits with pure hatred and non-veiled contempt. He could not stand it anymore : he understood that she was worried for him and his company, but he could not bear the cruel way she talked to him. He was not the only one that had noticed after all ; even Rhodes and Happy had been adamant about the fact she was openly disrespecting him. But she was the only one that could keep up with him and the only one who had never truly betrayed him so instead of looking for love and passion, he settled for companionship and gentleness.
She had not felt sorry for him when Coulson literally recruited him for a mission he did not want to be involved in - and she did not feel sorry for him after falling from that wormhole. The sight of the armada from the other side had not left his head and he so wished he could have had a few hours to recuperate before the crazy events that had befallen him. Somehow, he had a son. And a daughter. And his kids were witches and wizards and somehow also British Nobility. Their godmother was somehow the Queen of England and their godfather was the Minister of Magic and they were both very protective of their godchildren, which would be reassuring if they had not threatened him six way to Sundays. He did not even know the Brits could be considered as menacing - he had after all always made fun of their accents and their obsession with tea.
But truly, nothing could have prepared him for the storm that was Persephone Harriet Potter. He vaguely remembered her from a party, almost fifteen years ago - she had been so young now that he thought about it and he had been mesmerized by her emerald eyes. How could he not ? He had never seen any like them, and even now, after more than a decade, he could safely say he had never encountered someone with such unique eyes. At the time, it had been his only focus - like he could safely swim in them without ever drowning. Like she could catch him and that he was safe within her arms. The next day, he had felt so ashamed of his feelings that he had left her hotel room without leaving his name or a way to contact him. Even if she would have tried, there had been so many women claiming to be pregnant after a one-night stand that he would not have even tried to track her down and see if her claims were real or not.
And at the time, Obadiah was still taking care of everything that concerned Tony, and he was 100% sure the traitor would never have told him about the possibility of an heir to Stark Industries, let alone two. It would have meant a way to continue on the family legacy and since the man was adamant about usurping him, he would have taken every single step to ensure Tony would not be aware of his existence. Knowing him, he would even have sent assassins after him and it was slightly concerning to figure out how they could have evaded them. Even he, as a CEO and the youngest billionaire in the world had not been able to fend them off - with the military on his side might he add.
[FLASHBACK]
Fury did not know if he should thank whatever cosmic deity had decided to intervene today or cry at the implication. He had been partly satisfied with his Avengers idea, even though the team still lacked cohesion. He had known they were too different to willingly work together, but he considered he still had time to shape them into Earth's Defenders. But they had made a rookie mistake by showing Rogers the file Natasha had compiled about Stark, because from there, Captain America tried to ascertain himself as the leader of their group - which was certainly not in Fury's interest. But it seemed like his salvation was today in the form of a certain Potter hero. From the moment he had tasted the twin's DNA and had found out they were lucky enough to be both a Stark and a Potter, he knew he had his chance to recruit her.
She was honorable - it was a characteristic shared by all Potters. But aside from that, she knew the distinct separation between right & wrong and led a war when she was still a mere teenager. She was meant for great tidings from the moment she was born, unbeknownst to her. And if he played his card right, he could definitely add her to his roaster and just call it a day, because with her at his side, he could be sure the team would work. Everybody knew she trained her Aurors with an iron fist and did not let sentiments or friendships cloud her judgment.
The three kids facing him were fascinated by Loki and kept on asking him questions even if he was restrained and unable to speak. It was a bit worrying that they did not care about the destruction around them and were more focused about pranks they could recreate - which Thor had a delight in telling them. While they were distracted and Stark still awestruck by the revelation of the two younger's parentage, Fury decided to videoconference his cousin, Kingsley Shacklebot. From the moment his deep voice and his British accent were heard in the room, the teenagers stopped talking and tried to shield themselves from the camera.
"Kings, you'll have to excuse my call, but I think I lost something of yours", said Fury while turning the cameras towards the teenagers. "I don't know how they came here, all the way from England because I am pretty sure they are supposed to be in school."
There was a deep silence before the Minister sighed and started snickering, to the surprise of everyone in the Tower. "Kids, what did I tell you last time you left the country ? At least, tell your mother, she does not wish to come pick you up from Antartica, again."
Fury was almost glad he did not have to watch them grow because they truly sounded like terror. His cousin - always so stern and severe - was almost relaxed at the idea that three minors had somehow left their home country without any apparent reason.
"Do not fret Nick, it seems like their mother was just as excited as them at the idea of meeting the God of Mischief and requested leave. She was also 95% sure that she would catch her kids over there - and please, tell Teddy his grandmother is very excited to see him once he gets back", shared Kingsley with them.
Of course, out of all the women on Earth, Stark had to reproduce with a Potter and just bring them into all the troubles that were allied with the name. But still, he would never try to dissuade her from the connection now that she would see him again. The director would certainly not be present if she had some type of issue with the father of her kids - because he had heard about her temper and would rather stay away from it at any given time.
The red-head teenager huffed and sat down, glaring at her brothers. "Mother cannot begrudged you from coming with you - both of you would be dead by the time we came here. Besides, it was Fred and George who brought us here, she will be tired by the time she wants to ground us."
Tony had not talked from the moment his kids had settled down. It seemed like they were twins, his twins and were both aware of their paternity. They had wanted to wait until he cleaned up his act before meeting him since they valued family and did not want to create bad memories with him. But they had not come to New York for him, they had come for the villain. They had traveled throughout the world to be able to meet Loki, because apparently, their mother's family worshiped Loki for a thousand years, which was disturbing and creepy in his eyes.
He tried not to judge - but he had never thought any of his future offsprings would have such a behavior : they were too proper. Oh, he could see the intelligence and mischief in their eyes, especially in James (which was such a great name and truly, something he would have chosen himself), but Lilian seemed too high strung and too…British. He did not want to sound judgemental towards his own child, but he was pretty sure she had not inherited this behavior from him, nor from her mother if she was planning on traveling to New-York just to meet her idol (homicidal villain, might he add, again).
Even though everything was confusing, he was at least happy to see the distinct resemblance between him and his son. And his daughter had the exact same eyes as his deceased mother (and the second name, which again, great choice) and it was so reassuring to see that they were not messed up. The oldest one was name Edward, but they casually called him Teddy, and they did not share any familial links outside the fact that he was an orphan and their mother had adopted him when she was 17, not even a complete adult yet. She had raised them as siblings, and it was clear that they did not see each other as anything else. No jealousy between the three of them and they were all frightened by the idea of seeing their mother mad - which was surprisingly everything he had imagined the mother of his children as. Even Fury looked somehow happy when he heard about her, which was a shock to every single member of the Avengers.
He looked almost fond of this unknown woman - because she was unknown. He had looked as soon as he heard her name, and aside from a few mentions in her file that quickly disappeared as soon as she turned eleven, there was nothing notable about her. She was a billionaire - surprising since the kids looked down to earth and did not display the same arrogance he had when he was their age and with a tenth of their fortune - and did not pay taxes because she was a Lady of some ancient Houses that were not even present in Modern History Books. He had been a bit bewildered by the fact that the Potter and Black family were as old as some countries - and so had been their money. A quick look in the archives of some very secret Swiss banks had revealed even more hidden funds and some art pieces thought to have disappeared several centuries ago. He was pretty sure some of them were worth as much as his newly furnished Tower and he was also reassured by the fact she was not running after his money since she did not need it - and such a humanitarian would certainly want to stay as far as possible from blood money, as Rogers called it. She had raised three kids when she had still been a teenager, with no help from him whatsoever and without ever asking him for anything. She had even given them names he would have liked and just made them so mature…
In his eyes, she was truly a saint. He did not want to compare her to anyone, least of all Pepper, but he was 100% sure no other woman would have taken the same decisions as her. Besides, he had not been ready to have children at the time, and it was a blessing that they had only resurfaced once he was responsible enough to care for them. IF she actually wanted to.
The whole room had been pretty silent and even the Potters had understood how dire the situation was. It was one thing to leave the country to see your favorite idol, it was another to be caught by a secret hidden government agency and meet at the same time your biological father. The only one that seemed unbothered by the events was Teddy - aside from the mention of his grand-mother, he has not shown any sign of fear. Under the inquisitive look of the rest of the team, even Loki seemed interested, he smiled at them. "My biological parents died because of a serial-killer who was hell-bent on killing Mother, so I am the one least susceptible to being punished today. I am planning on using this excuse until the day I get married", supplied the teenager. There was too many information in one sentence to be focused on much else and it was better to leave this discussion for the moment they were alone. He did not trust the others around his kids. (Wow, he called them his kids again. Jarvis might be jealous at this rate.)
Out of nowhere, the lights started flickering while paintings and other decorations started rattling under the pressure. It looked like the only building concerned by this earthquake was the one they were in - and Tony felt like he was in for a surprise.
"Is your mother some sort of giant to make such a ruckus?", asked a tired Barton. After spending the day being unmade by an alien; it was surprising he was still standing.
As soon as his sentence was over; a crack was heard throughout the room and everybody seemed in position to attack. They were ready to strike down their new guest before noticing who it was.
And yes, her eyes were still as mesmerizing as they used to be.
She had not talked nor smiled - she had just stared at her children for a few silent minutes before getting a few stacks of papers from her bag and distributing them throughout the room bar Fury. He did not seem to mind, like he was aware of the circumstances before they were.
The papers he had in his hands were completely blank - one look around confirmed he was not the only one not understanding the events. He was about to ask before she started talking.
"What I am about to tell you requires a high level of clearance and after talking with my Minister and the American President, he has accepted that I reveal anything I deem necessary. I will just need your promises and your oath that what I will disclose today will be kept a secret", supplied the new-comer.
Everyone acquiesced before looking at her with suspicion. She was the youngest adult in the room but commandeered all of their attention - even Loki was enraptured by her. Tony certainly did not like this turn of events ; he felt a bit…possessive of her. It seemed a bit silly, but she had raised his children and it would feel peculiar if a member of his team suddenly became their step-parent. Instead of dwelling in those dark thoughts, Tony made his oath while looking at his kids.
"You cannot speak about this to anyone - we will know, trust me. Your oath prevents you from talking or writing about it - even the firm intention of sharing it will be detected by our Aurors, thank you very much", said the young woman. "Since it seems like I will lead this team of Avengers, it's only fair you know a bit about my community."
"Like a cult?", asked Rhodes, a bit dubitative. He still had many questions to ask - and he did not like the assertive way the Brit was using to address them.
The twins' mother bristled before turning a sharp eye towards him. "No, more like a community of witches and wizards that has been hidden since 1689 - some of us did not like the prospect of being burned alive by No-Majs, so we hid for hundreds of years.", she turned around and looked at Tony before focusing again on Fury. "Kingsley and your president were adamant about my presence here - and about the leadership of this team. You seem to think the safest hands are your own, which is wrong. If you want to operate at an international level, I am your key to this outcome Nicky."
A woman after his own heart…He could only respect a woman that was so confident she was not scared to steal someone's job right in front of him. The worst thing was that Fury seemed exalted by this notion, like he had been gunning for it.
""As the witch-hunts grew ever fiercer, wizarding families began to live double lives, using charms of concealment to protect themselves and their families. By the seventeenth century, any witch or wizard who chose to fraternize with Muggles became suspect, even an outcast in his or her own community. By Muggles, I mean non-magical people such as all of you. After heated discussions in the Wizengamot, our version of the Parliament, during which Ralston Potter, one of my ancestors, came out as a great champion of the Statute of Secrecy, as opposed to more "militant members" who voiced their desire to declare war on the Muggles.", the witch then smiled at them. "No real witch or wizard were burned or hanged or decapitated, it was just…men believing smart women must have contacted the devil to have access to any type of information". Persephone rolled her eyes before deciding to finally sit down. "If you'll excuse me, I have to speak with Loki because I am 100% sure he is my ancestor and 100% sure he's supposed to have the same shade of green eyes as me, and certainly not blue, like now."
[END OF FLASHBACK]