Because, why not?
Killerlashes betas. Thanks for reading. XOXO
Speechless, Part Two
"Aw, Steve! Can't we keep him?"
As Steve stared at Tony across the examination table at SHIELD, it was his turn to be speechless.
"Keep him? Tony, he's a child, not a Labrador." Steve rolled his eyes, but as the child in question nearly flung himself off the sterile table and into Steve's arms, he seriously started to consider it.
The boy was hardly two years old, with a mess of brown hair and big, sad eyes that seemed like they had seen too much in his short time on earth. He'd been found by accident, really; the team hadn't been quite sure what they were going to find in that big, abandoned warehouse after an anonymous phone call sent them there. It was, of course, a wild goose chase, and the only thing they found was the boy.
My name is Peter.
That was all the note that was pinned to his little t-shirt said. After that, it was a mess of swearing (from Clint) and tears (from Peter) until Steve, ever the leader, stepped in and scooped the boy up in his able arms. His face stayed buried in the blue fabric of Captain America's uniform the entire way back to headquarters.
Later that night, after Peter had been tucked into a too-big bed at the Avengers' home. Steve found Tony in his workshop tinkering away with his suit. He was completely lost in his creation, and Steve watched while Tony went on, seemingly oblivious.
"You know, you're not as stealthy as you think, Captain," Tony muttered, and shot a cocky grin in Steve's direction. Steve rolled his eyes and strolled into the workshop, head down and hands in his pockets.
He shrugged. "I wasn't trying to be stealthy, I was just observing." Picking up one of the numerous coffee cups surrounding Tony's workspace, he asked, "Have you slept?"
"Yesterday. I think."
"Tony…" Steve started to chastise him, but Tony held up his hand.
His dark eyes were tired, but Steven knew to leave well enough alone. He knew that Tony would rest when he was ready and when he felt like his work was finished. Maybe.
Steve sighed. "Don't stay up too late." He rested his hand briefly on the back of Tony's neck. Tony closed his eyes, leaning into the touch, but kept on working.
Hours later, when the left side of the bed was still empty and the rest of the house was quiet, Steve had decided to take it upon himself to physically remove Tony from his lab.
Only Steve didn't make it as far as he thought he would. He was stopped short at the end of the hallway, just outside the room where he'd secured Peter. A faint blue light spilled out into the hallway, a light that he was incredibly familiar with. The light from Tony's ARC reactor bathed the room in a warm, blue glow and Steve felt his frustration with his significant other melt away.
Tony was sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed. His head hung at an uncomfortable angle, but Steven was glad he was at least sleeping. He left him on the floor, knowing that Peter would be safe and that Tony would feel better because he was there. Peter's little body was close to the edge of the bed and facing Tony, almost as if they'd fallen asleep mid-conversation.
It was Clint's surprised yells that brought Steve half-dressed and running into the kitchen the next morning.
"What the hell is this? That's not in his paperwork! Does SHIELD even know he can do that?" Clint sputtered, while Tony stood by laughing.
"What's going on?" Steve frowned. Clint gestured to the top of the stainless steel refrigerator that Peter was currently standing on top of. "How'd he get up there?" Steve asked and reached his arms up. Peter practically dove off the top and Steve caught him, laughing.
"He climbed up there. Like...like a monkey." Clint shook his head as if to clear cobwebs in it and then turned back to the coffee pot.
Tony shrugged. "It was more like a spider."
"Climbed," Steve repeated. "Like a spider."
"It was pretty cool actually," Tony said, with a gleam in his eye that Steve recognized as the same look he got with a new idea or invention.
"Well. Okay then."
"So, now can we keep him?"
Steve bit his lip to hide his smile and looked down at the little boy, babbling happily in his arms.
"Well, I guess we kind of have to."