A/N: Sorry for the wait, but do you have any idea how hard it is to write an abstract for a Master's Thesis? Because I sure as hell didn't until last month when I was in tears over the fact that I couldn't get it right.
I finally got it right and my thesis project has been approved, and so today I got the chance to finish this chapter. Hopefully now that my thesis paper is underway it means I have more time to write this.

Also for those of you who read my GMW Fanfics, the Season 5 fic will start on October 6, which is this Friday!

Chapter Five – Sometimes all you need is a swift kick in the head

Riley saw the moment her father rushed out of the room, her heart was pounding in her chest because she knew that he was having a panic attack. He hadn't had one since a few months after Siberia, she had worked with him to get them under control because he hadn't wanted to seek advice on it. So, she worked with Vision on figuring out ways to keep him from having a panic attack but also she worried about him having a heart attack from the stress. She loved her father more than anything and she worried about him. She was about to stand up but she felt Peter place his hand over hers, it was his way of saying that she couldn't.

It was at that moment that she hated the fact that no one knew she was Tony Starks daughter, she was ready to jump out of her skin because she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything and it sucked.

"Geez, what's up with Stark," Lucas said from across the table. "Did he have to make lunch so dramatic?"

"What's up with you man, what do you have against Tony Stark?" Zay said and Riley knew that it had to do with the fact that Zay had grown up with Uncle Tony in the same way she had Uncle Rhodey. They were family and family stuck together no matter what.

"He's an arrogant, self-serving, egomaniac who would rather think of himself than his own company, or his own team," Lucas said. "Why do you like him?"

"Considering he's my father's best friend, my godfather, and my surrogate uncle, yes I freaking like him, and you shouldn't judge someone based on what you read in the news," Zay said standing up. Slamming his hands down on the table he got close to Lucas and smirked. "Let me guess you're a fan of the great Captain America, well your hero isn't all that great either, but I can look pass everything he's done and work to understand him better instead of being bitter towards the man."

Riley knew that Zay had said those things for her own benefit but Riley couldn't believe that she was hearing something from Lucas who knew nothing about her father. She knew her father had kept up the appearance of being that billionaire playboy, but in reality, he had been so busy raising her, or making sure that no one knew she existed that in the end that image had faded, and he let it fade even though he was seen leaving a party with one or two people with him, but after Afghanistan he usually just went home to create things. Life with her had been different than what the public wrote about, it was an act he put on for the benefit of everyone else.

"Can you believe him," Lucas said looking over at her and she couldn't hold back a sneer as she stood up and walked off.

"Don't say anything bad about Tony or Iron Man," Peter said as he walked off.

"What's it to you people," Lucas called after them.

"When you learn the truth, it might hurt more than you believe," Ned said before joining his friends.

Once the four of them were out of the cafeteria Riley ran as fast as she could to where she knew her father would go. His workshop inside of NAF wasn't as big as the one at home, he made sure that all of his own inventions, including Iron Man stayed at the house with the exception of the one he kept near him but any tech he made for the Avengers stayed on site.

Rounding the corner inside of the main building, she rushed down the stairs towards the workshop. Since Peter was with her most people would think that she was with Spiderman but they were actually with her. She saw her father slumped over his work bench, hyperventilating while clutching his chest.

"Guys, give me a minute and I'll let you in," she said and waited until they all agreed. "Fri, blackout the windows I don't want anyone to see."

"Sure thing Riley," FRIDAY said before she closed the door and walked towards her father.

"Daddy," she said feeling small because she couldn't help him. She walked towards him slowly making sure that she didn't make any sudden movements. Once she was close to him she slowly placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. It took a few minutes before his breathing evened out.

"Hey," he said and she could tell that his voice was hoarse from trying to breathe.

"How are you feeling?" she really wanted to know what triggered the attack but she didn't ask.

"Sorry about that," he said before pulling her into a hug.

"Dad you were having lunch with Captain Rogers, I hoped it would be easier if you were around him, that's why I offered the ultimatum but if it's not going to be alright maybe we can hold off on telling the world."

"No, it wasn't that, Steve was fine it's just that… Riley your training team is headed up by Barnes isn't it."

"Yeah, I was placed there this morning," she said wondering where he was going with this.

"The Winter Soldier… his other personality, although it's gone, he still has to live with what he's done, but it's also the fact that he killed your grandparents."

Riley's mind started working overtime thinking about the ramifications of knowing that her grandparents hadn't died in an accident but by the hands of James Barnes. And now he was training her.

"The panic attack was because of me," she said shocked at thinking that he was afraid.

"Riley, I don't want you hurt, I was afraid that he was going to take you away from me and that's the last thing I want to happen."

"Don't worry too much, if he tries anything I'm pretty sure that a compound full of people will stop him. I think what you're more afraid of is that I'm too weak to handle myself but dad, seriously I trained with you and Happy, I have a bunch of little projects that I'm pretty sure could kill someone because I'm not a hundred percent sure if they're going to work, plus I'm your kid… and I doubt anyone would want to face mom's wrath if I got hurt in any way."

"I wouldn't want to face your mother if anything happened to you, she's scary when she's angry, hell it's one of the reasons why she's so good at running the company."

She nodded at him and smiled before she pulled him into a hug. "Feel better?"

"Yes, now is the rest of the gang waiting outside or did they create a distraction."

"They're outside."

He smiled at her before standing, she noticed that he was a little shaky on his feet for a moment. He walked over to the door and opened it as three teenage boys fell to the floor.

"Really smooth guys," he said smiling at the boys.

Riley was glad to have friends like them, but now she had another problem and that was that one of her teammates didn't like her father and the reasons why had mostly to do with the fact that they were obsessed with Captain America.

"Off to class with the bunch of you," her father said smiling before hugging her and sending her off with the rest of her friends.

Peter put one arm around her shoulders, and the other around Ned's, so she put hers around Zay and the four of them walked off. With friends like them she didn't need anyone else, especially someone who would bad mouth her father. Although Isadora is okay in her book and she wouldn't mind getting to know the other girl.

"I wonder if I could come to this school full time," Peter said out loud making Riley laugh.

"What you don't want to go back to your other world?" she said smiling at him.

"Well not really, I love it there and I'm happy being Spiderman and all, but I guess the back and forth would get a little bothersome after a while."

"Don't pick, plus your Aunt would probably kill my dad for keeping you away so much, especially since I'm pretty sure she knows that you're Spiderman," she said smiling at him. "Now off you go, you and Ned both have class over there this afternoon."

She pushed him off, her father had made sure that the two would be taken into the city by Happy on most days. They also have a bus for the few students who traveled back and forth, which was only about ten including Peter and Ned. They were in a good school and her father was very much aware of that even though he found it hilarious when Peter needed to do homework instead of being a superhero.

"I swear I'm never sure if you two are flirting, or acting like you're flirting," Zay said as they walked off towards their next class. It was a history class taught by her public persona's father, though at the school no one knew that they only thought that they had the same last name.

"No, we're not flirting… I don't even know how to flirt," she said trying to divert any attention Zay was trying to put on her relationship with Peter. "I'm pretty sure it's only a platonic friendship Zay not romantic."

"Yeah keep telling yourself that," he said as they walked into the room and came face to face Mr. Matthews.

"On time," Mr. Matthews said. "Not bad, especially since last time I taught a class with you two in it you were ten minutes late consistently."

"Well we're trying to be good," she said smiling.

"Yeah especially since the last time you were trying to be good you blew up the science lab," Zay said making her push him to the side.

Lucas couldn't believe it, why had the four of them reacted that way, just because he didn't like Tony Stark. It wasn't until Zay said that Stark was his godfather which meant that someone was close enough to Stark to name him the godfather to his kid. They had gotten along so well, and now he felt stupid because of what he said.

"You know Riley is a good person, and from what I saw of Zay, Peter and Ned they're all good at what they do but because you can't let go of this weird hatred you have for Stark you might lose a part of the team we need to be a part of," Isadora said rolling her eyes at him.

Farkle looked up at them. "Didn't your Aunt Peggy tell you to stop hating on the man?"

"Yes, but then that whole civil war happened."

"Lucas, whatever happened at that airport has nothing to do with us, we don't know what happened, we don't know the reasons behind it but in the end you have done nothing but hate him and now it's going to cost you the team we have to build," Farkle said looking him in the eye.

"I think you need to talk to Sharon and get all of the facts before you keep digging yourself into this hole you want to be buried in," Isadora said before standing up and walking away. Farkle following her giving him an I'm sorry look before walking away. They had afternoon classes, so he wouldn't be able to talk to any of them including Sharon until later.

The thought that he might have messed up a new friendship so quickly was bothering him throughout the day. The afternoon classes were normal courses, history, math, science even a literature class, but he hadn't paid attention in any of them. Especially since the moment he walked into his history class and came face to face with Riley and Zay who both ignored him and continued their conversation. When classes were over for the day he sat outside on the lawn and just thought about everything including his Aunt Peggy.

Why had she told me not to judge Stark? Was all he wondered but he couldn't find an answer.

"Hello Lucas," someone said from behind him. When Lucas turned around he was faced with his childhood hero, behind him was Sharon looking at him with a look that he knew all too well, she was disappointed in him. "You know I heard that you had a disagreement with your team already."

"Yeah well, it's only the first day who knows what will happen next," he said realizing that he won't be able to be happy and hero worship that man with a pissed off Sharon in the background.

"I had a disagreement with my team once and in the end it cost me more than I could have wished, it cost me a friendship with one of the only people I knew I could trust, all because I had kept a secret from them. I acted in a way that wasn't befitting of Captain America, and now I have to work twice as hard to repair that friendship."

"So, what is the lesson here sir," Lucas said looking to the man he had admired all of his life.

"The lesson is that maybe you should let go of whatever anger you have that's causing this rift and learn grow from these new friendship, who knows you might learn something," he said standing up. "Also know that sometimes if you can't let go, it'll cost you your team and maybe even your life."

When Captain Rogers walked away Sharon sat down next to him and smiled for a moment. They didn't say a word to one another for a few minutes before she spoke up.

"Do you know the reason why Aunt Peggy wanted you to let go of the hatred you have over Stark?" When Lucas shook his head, she continued. "Well not many people know this, because it's not public knowledge, it's not even in the SHIELD files, but Aunt Peggy was Tony Stark's godmother."

Lucas's head shot up the moment Sharon had said those words he didn't know what to do with that information.

"The only reason I knew is because well, she left me a long letter, I found it after she had died, after I had helped three fugitives, after everything that had happened during the whole civil war fiasco. The letter wasn't for me though, it was for the one person none of us thought to invite to her funeral, the one person she had helped raise and when she got sick he had been the one to make sure that she got the best care even if he wasn't around."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I thought you might want to know, I read the letter before I gave it to him which was an invasion of privacy, but since she had left an entire trunk of things for Stark I was curious about it all. I betrayed someone who was supposed to be a part of our family all because of a blind trust for Captain America. Aunt Peggy was loyal to both and she would have probably taken them both by the ear and yelled at them. They were her family, even though she had a whole family in us, but no matter what she loved every one of us in her own way."

"Why would she keep that from us thought?"

"Because Stark asked her to, after the death of his parents," Sharon put her arms around him and hugged him. "You can't be mad at family."

When she left Lucas felt as though he had been given something he would have never known in the first place. It wasn't a mystery to solve, it was the legacy of his life, and the hate he held for someone.

Tony worked in the NAF workshop for an hour before heading to his office to have his afternoon conference call with Pepper over designs for Stark tech products as well as anything else she wanted to throw at him. It was a good thing that the conversation was happening over a holoscreen because the last time they had done it face to face she had actually thrown something at him for saying something inappropriate during the board meeting.

When he sat down he noticed that he was ten minutes early, so he checked his emails to clear them out. There were request from foreign governments for missions, Hydra missions he needed to approve, and request from Fury for helicarrier upgrades. Even though Fury was no longer the director of all of SHIELD, he was in charge of any missions that Tony didn't want to handle himself, of course he used the helicarrier as well as several agents to run the missions. Hill split her time between the two, but Tony had allowed her to work from the air since he knew how close she was to Fury.

Three emails had been flagged by FRIDAY for him to read and he couldn't help but smile at them, one was from Harley, no doubt it was an angry email because his mother had denied his chance to enter the Academy.

From: Harley Keener

To: Tony Stark

Subject: What the Hell Man, I thought we were connected

Hey Stark,

Seriously, why did you listen to my mother, you know I wanted to be there. But when I asked her she was angry and sent me to my room for being an evil little shit and trying to plot on running away without her permission.

We're connected you and me, remember, so why didn't you stick up for me with her. So what if I got a D or two, it's not my fault… not entirely… okay maybe it was but what does it matter if I get a D in gym class.

I'll get you so help me I will.

Harley

Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes, Harley's mother didn't want him going to the Academy because he had gotten two D's on his last report card. Tony understood and told her that if Harley raised his grades he would rethink the kid's entry into the Academy. It had been the most adult conversation he had ever had, and he knew that she was doing it out of love for her son.

From: Tony Stark tonystark

To: Harley Keener potatogunmk2

Subject: re: What the Hell Man, I thought we were connected

Harley… Harley, Harley, Harley

If you want to survive at the Academy you need a B+ average in Gym, or else you won't survive the training. Trust me I saw the kids after a morning of training with Captain America, and four other agents, you can't survive that if you can't keep up.

If we were connected you would have known that you needed to keep your grades up, you promised me that you would show up with a spotless report card. But in the end, you didn't keep up your end of the bargain. What should I do with a sixteen-year-old who won't take proper orders… not even from your own mother.

It was her decision not mine, so go fight with her over this. You need parental permission to join the Academy, REMEMBER or were you hoping that I would ignore that part just for you?

Try again squirt

Tony

He knew that Harley would throw a hissy fit from the email alone, which he was waiting for especially since the kid had wanted to get into the academy as much as anyone else especially when he had floated the idea to him. His mother had heard and thought it would be a good idea but once he had received his grades from the last semester the woman had been pissed and she had a right to be. So Tony said that if Harley would raise his grades by the beginning of next year they would rethink his entry, but they weren't tell Harley this because he would only raise his grade to go to New York.

The next email was from Mama and Junior Barton's both of which he had smiled at since the kids had taken a liking to him especially after Barton Senior had gone and joined Team Cap during the Accords and all but abandoned his family, and blamed Tony for it as well.

Laura had sent the email along with a picture of the kids all together on vacation over the summer to one of Tony's private islands. Considering Barton wasn't in the photo it meant that he had taken it not knowing that Laura would send it to Tony. He couldn't help but smile at the group.

From: Laura Barton

To: Tony Stark

Subject: Thank you

Hello from the Bartons,

Thank you, Tony, for letting us use your island getaway for some family bonding before the beginning of the school year. The kids loved it, and I hope you like the picture even though Clint refused to get in it the moment I said I was going to send it to you. He's still being a stubborn ass, even though I'm pretty sure he's forgiven you for well everything. Sadly I told him that I haven't forgiven him, but that's what marriage counseling is for.

Coop wants to join the Academy but I told him to wait until his sixteenth birthday so that I could have him for a few more years. So now he's training everyday he even joined the soccer team to build his stamina. I'll send you a video of his first game of the year.

Lila, well she wants a unicorn and for you to have it sent to her, I don't know how I feel about that and please don't spoil her and build one. She also wants you to visit more often because you haven't come back since Clint came home and she's not happy about that.

I know you told me in confidence about… well you know and I'm glad you did because it explains a lot but maybe you should tell the team. I want them to forgive you fully about everything that has happened. Although I do want to kick my husband's ass, especially now that he keeps talking about going back to teach at the Academy.

I guess he just misses everyone, who knows, but I don't want him leaving his family so I've refused several times already.

Stay healthy Tony, give my love to everyone there.

Laura

He couldn't help but smile, after the whole Accords fiasco he had made sure that the Barton's would be safe even without Clint there. They had gone on the run forgetting that they had a family and Tony couldn't bring himself to forgive Clint for leaving his family, because Tony himself couldn't leave Riley like that. No matter what they said about him and the Accords he knew that they couldn't run around blindly acting the way they did, he made sure Ross wasn't involved anymore but it was their fault for not stopping long enough to actually talk.

He sighed giving up with the argument inside of his own head. What's done is done and it doesn't matter anymore. The Accords now protected the Barton's, they protected Riley, and Zay, who were all kids of superheroes, and that's all that mattered to him.

From: Tony Stark

To: Laura Barton

Subject: re: Thank you

Hey Laura,

Tell the kids I miss them too, and maybe they can visit in a few weeks when everything is settled, or maybe for Christmas? My house is huge and can fit all of you and a small army, plus I need help decorating this year.

I'm glad you all had fun on the island, I rarely use it so I didn't mind letting you guys go. Tell Birdbrain to get his head out of his ass. If he wants to uproot you guys for something that isn't about taking care of you then go ahead and kick him right where it hurts. If you decide that you do want to move closer to the Academy and let him teach, I have an empty plot of land not too far from here, I know a few good movers who would literally move your farm from where it is and plot it down no question. You wouldn't have to pack a single thing, they would literally take the whole house.

Tell Lila that I can't give her a unicorn… well not yet, but I'll work on it as long as you approve, maybe for Christmas?

Tell me what you want to do and I'll do it, plus I know Clint just misses Nat, and that could be why he's desperate to come here. The ball is in your court.

Love,

Uncle Tony

He closed out the emails as Pepper's face appeared in front of him with a smile on her face, he was afraid of what she had to say when she smiled.

"Hey Pep, I sent you the designs this morning so tell me what you think, come on hit me with it," he said smiling back.

"I think, that the great Tony Stark is being responsible, more responsible than usual and as scary as it is, I'm 90% sure that it has something to do with that kid of ours," she said smiling. The room was monitored by FRIDAY so he wasn't scared about talking about Riley.

"Yeah well she's a good influence, we should have a family dinner this weekend, or a barbeque with Happy, Rhodey and Zay."

"About Rhodey," she said and he could tell she was blushing because her freckles came out more when she blushed. "Um… we're kind of… well he asked me out and I said yes."

"My two best friends are dating without me knowing? I'm wounded Pep… Wounded."

"Not my fault he was supposed to tell you last night but he didn't and I yelled at him this morning about it, but anyway is it alright?"

He thought about it for a moment and realized that he didn't really care, "You can date whoever you want Pepper," he smiled. "So, dinner this weekend?"

"Yes, dinner is fine."

The two spent another hour discussing R&D for S.I. and the technical aspects of creating another Stark Expo except using inventions from students from all over the world. It wouldn't happen until the Spring but he wanted to try it out and possibly find more bright young minds to join the SHIELD recruitment program. Once they were finished with that, they quickly went over other things that hadn't been a part of the original email before hanging up.

The day was almost over and he had never been so exhausted in his life.

Steve had thought about what he had said to Sharon's cousin and realized that maybe he should have a conversation with Tony about his panic attack. Steve hadn't realized at the time that the attack had happened after he had told him about Bucky training the new recruits. He didn't know why it had been triggered by that but he knew that Tony wasn't completely alright with everything, they were getting there but it wasn't 100% yet.

"FRIDAY, where's Tony right now?" he asked as he walked down the corridor.

"The boss is in his office right now finishing up a conference call with Ms. Potts," FRIDAY answered. "Shall I inform him of your inquiry?"

"No, I'll just knock on the door, thanks."

Steve stopped by the cafeteria and grabbed the largest coffee he could, he thought of it as a peace offering, as well as a sandwich because Tony hadn't eaten anything when they were at lunch and although he knew the genius could go hours without eating he wanted to make sure he didn't collapse from hunger. When he reached Tony's office he stood there for a minute remembering how their last conversation went. Maybe they were getting better, he wasn't sure but he was going to keep trying, no more running.

He knocked on the door before opening it to see Tony grimacing at a bunch of paper work on his desk.

"Need help?" he asked smiling.

"Not really, it's mostly done, it's just that I ran out of coffee and I haven't had any in a while, so I'm going through withdrawal right now," Tony said which made Steve smile.

"Well I brought some with me," he said holding out the cup watching at Tony's eyes lit up eyeing the cup with the kind of lust Steve was sure people gave their lovers. "You get the coffee if you also eat this sandwich."

"Yes, just give it here," Tony said inhaling the hot drink without flinching.

Steve put the sandwich down in front of him and sat down. "I thought that we should talk a little."

Tony stilled for a moment before putting the cup down, "I'm not going to talk about the panic attack, it happens… well not recently, the last one happened months ago, but anyway, I have it under control so pick a different topic."

"Okay how about dinner," Steve said without thinking.

"Are you asking me out on a date? I didn't know Captain America swung both ways?"

The moment Tony had said it he could feel his heart pound in his chest, he wasn't sure about his feelings towards the other man but it was something he wanted to explore. Instead he talked quickly to deflect from what was happening.

"No Tony, a team dinner this weekend."

"Oh, well the answer is no, I have a barbeque with Pep and Rhodey."

"Why can't it also be a team thing? We need to recalibrate after being… well after everything that's happened."

He watched at Tony's face went through a few emotions as he thought about it, "What if we invite a few recruits."

"It's Peter, isn't it?"

"Yes, because he's coming over anyway and so are his friends so you can't object to it."

"Fine, the kids will keep it from turning into an all-out fight."

"There will be a fight," Tony smiled at him. "It's the end of summer, I'm getting the water guns out and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, it's tradition."

Steve couldn't help but smile, it felt so normal, almost like it had been before the Accords, before Ultron, when they had all been friends.

"Fine but you're not allowed to put anything weird into the water guns," he said smiling.

Tony grumbled as he started eating the sandwich. "You know I wouldn't mind having dinner, just the two of us one day," Tony said before taking a sip from the coffee cup.

Steve couldn't believe it even as the genius smiled at him, he really couldn't believe it.

"If we use it to talk about getting pass everything that happened I'll be willing to go to dinner with you," he said hoping that the blush on his skin wasn't noticeable.

"I was thinking more along the lines of dating, I realized recently that I haven't been on a date in a while, but whatever floats your boat Cap."

The smirk on Tony's face told him that he was serious, and Steve choked on air trying to get his bearings in control. Tony had asked him on a date because he thought that Steve had asked him on a date. Was this progress? He wondered but wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Fine, next Friday," Steve said as he got up. "I'm sure I can trust you to pick a place to go to, or should I?"

Tony looked at him shocked as if he hadn't known that it would work which meant that Steve all of a sudden had the upper hand over this arrangement.

"You pick," Tony said. "Now leave so I can finish the rest of this," he said gesturing towards the pile of paperwork.

"See you tomorrow Director," Steve said before walking out of the room and rushing off. He wasn't sure what he had just done, but now he knew he had a date with Tony.