"Why?" Tony hit his knees, voice raised dramatically in an obviously horrified tone. His arms were raised towards the sky as an agonized expression twisted his handsome features. "Why God? Why?" a moan of despair followed as Steve pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed in exasperation. He hadn't even had the chance to change out of his jogging clothes before he'd stumbled upon the scene in the kitchen; which had mostly been Clint raiding Tony's hidden cereal stash. It had been in the middle of cooking that Tony had seen the evidence. Now the spoon was halfway to Clint's mouth, but now was frozen as he stared down at Stark from his perch on the counter. An empty box of cereal lay on its side next to him. Suddenly Tony's hand snapped forward to lock onto Clint's ankle. "WHY?!" the pitch rose further in absolute distress.

"What the fuck?" Clint continued to stare down at Tony whose hair was sticking up in all directions; Zeus was batting at his left foot and Natasha was standing behind him with an expression of amusement. She tugged on Tony's hair to get him to tilt his head back in order to look at her.

"Tony." There was a warning note in her voice even as her lips quirked into a smile. "Would you like some French toast with powdered sugar?" Tony nodded silently as Clint gawked at her aghast.

"I want some!" he whined.

"Then you should not have eaten the last of Tony's cereal." Bruce snickered from his spot at the island. "Now go drink your coffee." The second sentence was directed at Tony as she released his hair watching as he stood up as though nothing had happened.

Steve stared at her. "Wow." Blue eyes blinked at the scene that saw Tony acting almost like a normal adult drinking his coffee. Idly he noted the SHIELD logo and tried not to grin. Tony had swiped that mug from Fury's office. Bruce lifted the Stark Industries mug to his lips to hide his grin as Natasha began cooking. The Hulk slippers on her feet were adorable and he found himself falling for her a little more. Steve finally took a seat with his own food he'd managed to make during the cereal crisis. The serum burned through calories so quickly; Tony had once pointed out how inhuman and unfair it was while Coulson had stood by shaking his head. Eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes and fruit were now all placed before him. Tony snagged a strawberry with a quick grin. He shook his head and pushed a glass of orange juice at Tony with a pointed look. Tony pouted but took a drink before draining the glass with a wide obnoxious smile on his face as he set it back down. It caused the supersoldier to shake his head with fondness before turning to his meal.

A whip sound filled the kitchen followed by the sound of someone getting the back of their head struck by an open hand. Coulson took a seat by Steve as Clint hunched his shoulders before taking a bite of his cereal. A few minutes later and Pepper was striding into the kitchen just as Tony was attacking his plate of breakfast with uncontained pleasure.

Pepper shook her head with a soft grin because getting Tony to eat so regularly was still something that amazed her. The Avengers appeared to be doing him some good in more ways than she'd imagined. Pepper placed the Starkpad down next to him. "You have a few meetings, a speech and need to check over the R&D Department in Malibu." She spoke softly because even though he'd moved her to CEO and had absorbed some of the responsibility back after the attack on New York City she still liked to personally push him in the right direction in these incidences. "The plane leaves at noon today. You're already packed. I made sure of it." A small smirk tugged at her lips now. "However you have yet to inform me of who is coming with you."

Tony took a huge bite and chewed with deliberate slowness. He really didn't want to go to those meetings…they were boring and he could be using that time to work in his own workshop. Or be with Steve. Or be in his workshop with Steve.

"I'm coming with Tony." Natasha's voice broke through the silent staring match that Pepper had been engaging Tony in as he continued to eat without answering.

Clint made a noise of protest. Stark had prototypes he would be testing that made things explode. There was no way he wasn't taking that opportunity. "I'm going!"

The two assassins locked eyes while Clint jutted out his chin in defiance. "No one can leave you two unsupervised for more than five minutes! Look at that grocery store." Natasha raised an eyebrow.

Tony turned back to Pepper, "I'm taking both of them!" because now he had ideas. It wouldn't hurt to have two of them testing out things. Plus Natasha could scare those stuffy suits. "Natasha has worked within the company before and I promised Clint he could come a few weeks ago."

Steve was noticeably pouting, but he already knew he was staying because Tony wanted someone to make sure Peter was ok while he was gone. He trusted Steve the most.

"Alright. I hope you have your things packed." Pepper merely gave Natasha a slight smile before turning sharp eyes onto Clint. "One more egg incident. Just one." The threat was obvious. "I'm not flying out to Malibu. Understand?"

Clint saluted her and began inhaling his cereal before hoping down to go pack. There was a noticeable skip in his step.

The dummy set up on the hill exploded in a fiery ball of death as Clint let out a whoop of excitement. "Yes! Fuck yes. Did you see that?" he was grinning, blood pumping and far too much happiness for blowing something up.

"I'm pretty sure that was hard to miss. Did you see that fireball?" Natasha asked with a slight grin. She was lying on the grass next to Clint and Tony with her own prototypes to test.

"I'd like to see one of those fucking Doom Bots survive that." Tony smirked as he changed the setting on his own prototype. "Alright…my turn." He took aim as the other two turned their eyes back to the dummy Tony was aiming at. It looked a little bit like Justin Hammer. No one was questioning it considering Clint had demanded his look like Loki. "Fucking Hammer." Tony muttered under his breath before pushing the button. The only sound was a slight sizzle before they could feel their hair standing on end. The bolt that struck the Hammer dummy fried it before it caught fire. "Of course when you're using that against robotic opponents it shouldn't catch fire like that."

They nodded their heads as Natasha began fiddling with the new wrist weapon Tony had equipped her with. "So what does mine do?"

"The question you should be asking, Tasha, is what doesn't yours do?"

She changed a few settings before taking aim. The following boom could be heard echoing through the valley. "I think I might love you, Stark." Clint's voice sounded awed as he stared at the smoking crater left by Natasha's weapon.

"I do vaguely remember someone saying they were not going to be making weapons anymore."

"Not for customers or on a mass scale for purchase. When it comes to my teammates or my own suit…well I can trust those hands. Plus all of your weapons only recognize the person they're designed for or a fellow Avenger. The one I just fired is something modified that I had planned on installing in my Iron Man suit."

"Oh."

"What's next?" Clint was almost vibrating with excitement. "Do you have any of those arrows?"

"Clint…my friend. I have many different archery items for which you may try out. Or you can field test them during battle. Whichever you prefer."

"Yep. Its love. I feel so much love right now."

"Careful, Clint. Steve might feel that love from New York and break you in half." She snickered before turning back to her wrist unit already wondering what she could use next.

"So…Bruce?" Clint waggled an eyebrow. "I heard you two in the rec room."

She raised an eyebrow at him before a smile quirked at her lips, "Who haven't you heard have sex?" she asked as Tony actually choked and stared at Clint.

"You haven't heard me!" he exclaimed fingers idly running over the weapon in his hands.

The leer on Clint's face was all he needed, "Oh I've heard you alright. I haven't kept track of the amount of times. Honestly…the gym? The library? Pretty sure what I heard last week was in the workshop." That tone was a judging tone. Tony didn't feel Clint had the right for a judging tone.

Natasha was vaguely surprised that Tony's face had turned an interesting shade of red before he began to shove the expression down, "Never took you for a peeping tom, Barton."

"Haven't seen anything. Though I don't think Phil will ever look at his hero the same again."

Tony was not going down without fighting and couldn't resist, "Apparently the serum didn't enhance everything." Clint turned his head and stared at Tony with eyebrows raised in surprise. "That's right." He grinned.

She didn't even bother attempting to cover up her impressed expression, "You mean little Steve Rogers wasn't so little?"

"Wow. I'm so telling Phil that."

Tony snickered and Natasha followed as they lay there laughing in the grass with destruction laying before them, weapons discarded on the ground and grass stains finding homes on their clothes.

Then it turned slightly serious as Natasha turned inquiring eyes on Tony, "He is being good to you, right?" she asked softly watching as Tony got a stupid grin on his face.

"I'm trying to figure out why it took me so long to realize…" Tony allowed himself to relax, a truly free smile on his face instead of that horrible fake one he showcased in public. Then he moved the topic to another point of interest. "How can people judge someone for loving another because of their gender?" he asked quietly. His fingers traced the outline of the arc reactor as Natasha rolled on her side to stare at him.

"It doesn't matter who you love as long as you love them." It was said with absolute conviction. "You just hadn't found a guy who you were interested in. Steve is a good fit for you."

Tony's forehead scrunched up, "I've had two serious relationships. Pepper and Steve. Everything else was meaningless. Sex was just sex. A way to blow off steam, a brief human connection before going back to my bots and JARVIS. Maybe that makes me a horrible person; I didn't leave my partner unsatisfied and never set out to harm them, but there was never a chance of anything more than one night."

"Nothing wrong with that." Natasha reasoned, "You weren't harming anyone. Tony. You just needed someone who was worth it. Pepper you had a connection with already; you just weren't a perfect fit for each other."

"What about Steve?" Tony asked, "I keep waiting to fuck that up. He'll realize that I'm too broken and not worth the effort. Steve will find someone who is a far better fit." He shrugged slightly. Then it was as though he'd shaken that line of thought off. "Apparently Rhodey gets to come back for a few weeks this month. Haven't seen him…in months."

"Does he know about Steve?" Clint was smirking slightly to himself.

A frown appeared on Tony's features, "I said something to him shortly after…he hasn't mentioned anything since."

"Love how this conversation went from explosions and weapons to thoughts on same sex relationships before venturing over into you being stupid…again."

"Watch it Barton."

"Why wouldn't you deserve Steve? Honestly. You're being incredibly stupid. He is just as likely to fuck up as you are. You are probably his first actual relationship. Steve doesn't necessarily know what he is doing either. And in relationships you piss each other off. Sometimes one of you gets tazed, but that is beside the point."

"Agent totally tazed you." Now a smirk stretched across Tony's face.

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

"Who wants something to eat?" Tony jerked up into a sitting position. "Food sounds amazing."

Peter was staring down at Steve with a look that greatly resembled pity. This couldn't end well. Especially since the National Icon was on the ground being licked by a scruffy puppy. The very happy ball of excitement was all over Steve. Scrambling paws, bright eyes, whole body shaking and tongue everywhere.

"Isn't he adorable?" Steve asked with a laugh. His blue eyes were bright as he ruffled the puppy's face causing those ears to flop around. "I've always wanted a dog…"

Big blue eyes stared up at Peter; the puppy turned his head to stare as well with brown eyes looking at Peter as the teenager sighed. "You're a grown man…you should not be doing that." He muttered crossing his arms and looking away. "We were supposed to pick up kitten food and replace the destroyed food bowl." He cocked an eyebrow. "Does dad even like dogs?" he questioned as Steve hugged the puppy to his chest effectively dirtying up his shirt.

"Peter. As you have pointed out I am the adult here and as a responsible adult I cannot in good conscience leave this poor animal behind."

"That is why they created shelters." Now a smirk pulled at Peter's lips. "I can do this all day long."

It must have been something he said because it set Steve off into uncontrollable laughter. "I'm sure you could." His eyes were sparkling with humor and crinkled at the sides. The smile was quite wide. "We're going to need to get him some food. Toys. A bed…bowls, treats…" Steve scooped the puppy up into his arms carefully maneuvering wiggling legs and excited puppy in such a way that he could carry the dog without much problem. The puppy's face was mostly black with some white around his mouth stretching down to cover his belly, most of his legs and some of his back. Black dominated the dog's back with a splash of brown around his face. Steve had found a very endearing puppy.

Peter shook his head before following along as the puppy stared at him with such a happy expression. A smile stretched across his face. "He is kind of adorable…"

Triumph stole over Steve's face. "Of course he is. I wonder what kind of dog he is…"

"I'm sure they'll have books we can look at. We've just got a few blocks."

Carefully Peter reached over to ruffle the puppy's black floppy ears; a look of absolute delight crossed the puppy's face as his tongue flapped out. A woman nearby made a cooing noise that caused Peter to blush as he pulled his hand back. Steve grinned at him shifting the puppy slightly as the dog's head leaned over his arm to stare at Peter with that same happiness.

They walked into the store with the puppy as Steve looked around at all the items. "Wow…pet stores have gotten bigger." He muttered slightly as the dog seemed to agree letting out a bark as his tail began to wag in earnest.

An employee walked towards them blatantly staring at Steve; her name tag read Amie, "He's taken." Peter spoke when the woman continued to stare at Steve who hadn't even been paying attention. An annoyed look was directed towards Peter who stared back unimpressed.

Steve glanced over, "Peter." It was said warningly before he turned his blue eyes on the woman, "We're looking for supplies for a new puppy and to see if we can find out what breed of dog he is." Steve flashed a hopeful smile. The woman practically melted and was more than happy to help them. She obviously ignored Peter's comment from before in favor of paying Steve more attention.

The puppy ended up with a deep red collar with a silver bone tag supplying information in case he was lost. Steve had named the puppy Cooper. Two huge pillows were picked out for the puppy to sleep on though Peter had a feeling Steve was the type of owner to let the dog in the bed. Several chew toys, bowls, bones, a huge bag of food along with three types of treats, puppy shampoo/soap and a brush were grabbed from the shelves. Peter stared at the pile of items and shook his head as Steve considered more toys. "I think he has enough…" it was said under his breath as the woman returned with a book.

"I found your puppy." She grinned at Steve as she held up the book to show a picture of an English Springer Spaniel. Her body was leaning right into Steve's side as she appeared to be helpfully showing Steve her find.

Peter felt his hackles rise; that his was dad's significant other and Tony wasn't around to get her to back off. Well he was stepping up to the plate.

"Pops? Did you speak with Dad about when he was getting back from Malibu?"

Steve started and turned wide eyes onto Peter who was staring at him casually to an unobserved eye. However he could see the annoyance in the teen's eyes as he stared at the woman who was backing away from Steve in surprise. "Today or tomorrow."

"He's your son?" she asked faintly.

"Of course I am." Peter gave off an indignant air as he raised an eyebrow at her, "I told you he was already taken. I don't think my dad would like to find out someone was hitting on Pops like this."

Her face paled slightly, "I'm sorry, sir. Are you ready to be rung up? Do you need someone to help you carry anything out?" she asked snapping back into 'good employee mode'.

Peter stared at her, "It's ok. I'll just call Happy to let him know we need to be picked up." The teen pulled his phone out and headed away from them as Steve shook his head.

"Tony has rubbed off on him…" he murmured to himself before giving the employee a small smile. "We're ready."

She nodded and walked briskly away as Peter came back, "Happy said he'll be here in ten."

"Pops?" Steve questioned softly as the puppy sighed and relaxed into his arms.

He shrugged, "Worked." As though it justified everything.

Steve wasn't sure what the teen would think if he told him that he didn't mind being called that. He'd hoped to start a family of his own eventually; it was one of those dreams he'd had when hoping that the War would end. If everything went to plan then he would be keeping Tony for the long run because Steve was in this relationship for keeps.

He handed over the card to the cashier who stared at the name on the card and back at him before finally swiping it. Happy was walking into the door as Steve received his receipt. Peter held onto the bags that held kitten items as he rocked back on his heels giving Happy a slight grin.

Happy smirked faintly as he noted the puppy in Steve's arms. "Does the Boss know about your new little friend?" he asked as he grabbed a few bags himself.

"Nope. He doesn't." Peter chuckled as they headed outside; Happy grinned back as he popped the trunk.

"Never thought I would see Tony with animals."

"I don't think of animals when I think of him…I think of bots and technology. You know…things that don't need food." Peter set the bags inside the trunk before pulling open the door. Steve set the puppy on top of his lap with a smirk closing the door before he began to start loading the rest.

Steve finally climbed into the backseat and looked over at the puppy that was resting on Peter who had given up trying to fight off the expression of fondness the puppy was causing.

"Gone for a week and a half. That's all it took."

Happy finally pulled up to the Tower as they collected as many bags as possible; Peter balanced two bags with the puppy while Steve effectively grabbed the majority of the bags with ease and left the two huge pillows for Happy to help with as they headed towards the elevator.

"JARVIS?" Steve questioned as the AI took them to the main floor. Thor ended up meeting them at the door and stared at the new addition with curiosity.

"Another noble creature?" he questioned reaching out a hand to ruffle the dog's head with a huge grin. "Have we named it yet?"

"He." Steve corrected before staring at the puppy in Peter's arms. "Cooper. I liked that name."

"Cooper." Thor tested it out, "Another fine name for a tiny little warrior." He beamed as Zeus came padding into the room. Zeus sat down and let a plaintive meow escape which caused Cooper to stir. Head cocked to the side the puppy's tongue flopped out as he watched the kitten avidly.

"Bath time." Steve reached over to grab the bag with shampoo in it and then collected the puppy before heading down the hallway towards the nearest bathroom with the kitten following at a slow pace. Peter stared after him.

"When is dad arriving?" he asked casually.

"Tony is on his way." Thor looked down the hall after Steve, "It has been calm around here. I've been looking forward to another bout. Do you think Tony will put on his suit of metal to spar?"

"Maybe. You'll have to ask when he arrives." Peter began collecting bags as Thor grinned to himself; Peter had some bowls to wash and food to put up. The toys and beds remained in their spot for the time being.

Tony waited for the elevator doors to open. All he wanted was to relax; there was nothing good about being surrounded by that many idiots or talking in front of a huge crowd that probably understood a fraction of his speech. The only highlight had been blowing things up and working on various projects. Doors slid open and Tony walked out as his companions followed.

He noted a few bags and what looked like giant pillows near the doorway before he could hear the skittering of claws on the floor. Tony turned to see Zeus tearing up the hallway towards him. The kitten leaped through the air into Tony's arms as they came up automatically to catch the kitten. Unfortunately he had not noticed the reason for Zeus' escape as the puppy came tearing down the hallway after Zeus unable to slowdown. Cooper slid into Tony's legs as the billionaire tried to move, stepped wrong and went down.

It took only seconds before Cooper was all about licking the face of the newest person he'd come across. Zeus took his stand on top of Tony's arc reactor with his paw raised in threat as he puffed up and stared the puppy down who was all over Tony. Steve came skidding down the hallway; clothes slightly wet while he held a towel and collar.

A sheepish expression stole over his face as he looked down at Tony who was the center of an animal standoff. "…welcome home?" he smiled softy as Tony stared up at him before letting his head fall back onto the ground.

"Home? I'm home? I thought this was some animal rescue point." He muttered as the elevator opened up once more.

Footsteps sounded near his head as Coulson and Bruce stood over him with expressions of amusement. "Stark. How many times must I ask you to stop playing on the floor?"

"I don't even know who this is!" Tony pointed an accusing finger at Cooper whose tail began wagging in excitement. It appeared as though Cooper decided he was quite interested in Tony. Zeus hissed from the arc reactor.

"That's Cooper."

Coulson's lips twitched, "Your new friend, Captain?"

"Steve found him abandoned on the streets." Peter supplied helpfully from the doorway. He grabbed the towel from Steve, wrapped the puppy up and handed him over to the supersoldier. "Looks like your buddy escaped before you were done." The smirk from before was back.

Tony patted Zeus on the head as the kitten purred at his touch; there was a smug air about the little fur ball. "Cooper? Who named the dog?"

"Steve."

He looked over at Steve who was practically cuddling the puppy whose whole body was shaking with happiness. It was safe to say that Steve was already attached to him. Dammit. No way to convince them to find the dog a new home. Tony looked at the puppy once more. What was one more animal? If they took care of it and he wasn't the one taking it out in the middle of the night to go the bathroom. It would probably end up being one of those things that became everybody's responsibility. He just knew it.

"Fine." He sat up as Zeus slid down his chest to land in his lap. The kitten stared up at him with big eyes.

It took only a minute once he got to his feet before Steve was dragging him in for a kiss. Tony leaned into it with a sigh feeling his muscles relaxing. He'd missed Steve. He was so far gone it wasn't funny and he hadn't seen it coming. It was nice coming home to someone who missed him just as much even though that someone had brought home a bundle of energy in the form of a puppy.

Then the alarm was going off and it was time for the Avengers to assemble.

Had hoped to have this a few days ago...but it is here now. Humor and fluff with a little extra thrown in. Hope to have something else up this weekend (maybe a chapter for Taken Out of Context).

Steve wanted a puppy...who was I to say no to that face?

Thanks for the reviews and follows. I'm happy to see you're enjoying my story so far.