Title: broke into a thousand pieces.
Author: kyrilu/Endless-chan
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: The Avengers (2012).
Rating: T/PG-13.
Warnings/Triggers: Underage drinking, parental neglect - Tony's father problems, alcoholism/alcohol abuse, adoption (Loki has a lot of problems coping with this issue.)
Pairings/Characters: Loki/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Steve Rogers, Sif/Thor, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson/Natasha Romanov, Ensemble.
Meanwhile, while Loki watches Thor's baseball game, Tony sent texts to Bruce and Pepper in class. It's not anything unusual - he always tries to get away with texting during class time - but he's rarely one to invite only Bruce and Pepper at the same time abruptly, when there's not a celebration or anything.
Pepper knows that this is a warning sign, of sorts. As in: Tony's pissed at his dad, kind of warning.
want 2 go 2 my place & watch the new ep of a tv show i just was in? the text reads. just bruce & u & me.
Sure, OK, Pepper types back immediately. And no more texting, Tony. Miss Hill's going to take away your phone again.
i have more than 1 phone, u know.
You're going to get in trouble. And you're going to get /me/ in trouble. You could have just texted me after school.
fine, geez. just wanted 2 make sure you didn't have any plans w/ the new kid again. if you know what i mean. ;)
Shut up, Tony. I just met him.
Then Pepper promptly turns off her phone, slipping it back into her purse. She's going to need a lot of patience in the next few hours, and the last half-hour of school is the closest thing to calm she'll have for a long time.
When the bell rings, she walks out of the classroom with Steve. "No play practice today?" he says; she's obviously headed for the school exit, and not the gym.
"Nope," Pepper says. "Not today. Mr. Fury thought it would be nice to give us a break until the Saturday show."
"Got any plans after school?" Steve says, and he's blushing.
Pepper stills. Is he-? Oh, hell. She rubs her forehead. "Sorry, Steve. Tony invited me over today to go watch an episode of one of his shows. He's in a cameo role as one of the murder suspects."
"Oh," Steve says, "um, okay, have fun. You think you can-?"
"On Saturday, the play," Pepper says, a light smile dancing over her face. "I've got a free ticket that I can give you, since I wrote the script, after all. We can go together, if you like. It'll be much better than the rehearsal. There's also going to be a party afterwards, at Tony's house."
Steve grins at her. "A free ticket? Wow, thanks!"
"Tony's having his chauffeur drive a whole bunch of us to his house," Pepper adds, "so you don't have to worry about getting a ride."
"Thanks, Pepper, that's awesome of you!" Steve exclaims, and he gives her a look like he wants to hug her.
"No problem."
Steve suddenly halts at the parking lot. "That's your ride, isn't it?"
Pepper follows his eyes, and sees a sleek limousine parked ostentatiously out in the front. "Yep," she says. "Gotta go. See you later, Steve."
"Bye, Pep. Have fun."
"I hope so," she says, shutting the door, and she waves to him through the tinted windows.
Bruce gives Pepper a lopsided grin when she sits down on the comfortable seats. He looks entirely out of place - loose baggy khakis, simple striped shirt, all against the backdrop of fancy cupholders and mini refrigerators. But he and Pepper have adapted to carpooling with Tony, so they both crack open a can of chilled soda apiece without hesitation.
Pepper calls a hello to Jarvis, the driver, and he tips his cap at her through the mirror. Bruce waves; another hat tip.
"Hey, Pepper," Bruce greets her, "do you know what we're watching tonight?"
Pepper shrugs. "A crime drama, I think. Tony's a sociopathic kid."
"...That's original."
"He was bragging about how much money he got out of it," Pepper says. "But he said it was still stupid."
"Which show is it?" Bruce ponders. "There's so many these days."
"Maybe it was a Law & Order spinoff," Pepper suggests. She takes a sip of her soda, and she savors the taste of vanilla cream. Tony has the strangest things in his fridge, but they're wonderful.
"God, no," Bruce says, horrified. "Please don't let it be a SVU episode."
Pepper hides a giggle behind her hands. "I hope not. The press will have a field day if he does. Well, they'll still have a field day as long as he's involved. But I think SVU's done a sociopathic kid episode before."
"Maybe it's one of those USA shows - wait, you watch SVU?"
Pepper rolls her eyes. "It's a guilty pleasure, Bruce, okay? I'd rather see Olivia Benson tackling criminals instead of the 'reality' crap on the other channels."
Bruce bristles. "Coulson and I both like Supernanny, and there's nothing wrong with that."
Pepper laughs so hard that she almost cries.
At this point in the conversation, Tony slides into the limo. Fashionably late, as always. He reaches into the fridge and gulps down a bottle of sparkling mineral water. "Hey, you two, whatcha talking about? My illustrious career, maybe?"
Pepper entertains the thought of Tony being a participant for Supernanny, and to Tony and Bruce's consternation, she laughs even harder.
The episode doesn't air until eight o'clock in the night, so Pepper declares the evening official homework time. Tony tries to protest, but Bruce readily agrees, and they all sprawl on the carpeted floor of the sitting room, chatting and scribbling away.
"Let's watch a movie when we're done," Bruce says, his gaze trained on the glass case next to the television, brimming with countless films. It's his life's goal to finish rewatching all of them - he's pretty much watched all of them at least once, and he's been egging Tony on to pop at least one movie into the DVD player every visit so that he could have another rewatch.
"Star Wars, episode one?" Tony drawls, just because he knows that it'll annoy them.
"No!"
Because, honestly, they really don't need to hear Tony extolling the virtues of Jar-Jar frakkin' Binks every time he appears: meesa tink dat he's a-better dan Chewbacca!
"Fine," he says, amused at their collective reaction. "How about the new Star Trek movie?"
"Number eleven," Bruce says.
"Whatever."
"I've only watched it a handful of times," Bruce says in a deliberating tone - Pepper thinks maybe once at Tony's, four or five times in the theater? One of which was on opening night, of course, and Tony and Pepper had been with him. And Tony had employed a variant of Punch Buggy for every camera glare from the Enterprise's lights.
They'd almost gotten kicked out of the theater, but Tony had flashed the steward his school ID. (Also, Pepper socked him back. Hard.)
"I've only saw it once," Pepper says, fondly remembering Tony's yelp of pain. "Why not?"
To her surprise, Tony doesn't argue, he grins and says, "Anything for my guests! Jarvis, do you mind getting us the usual? We're going to watch a movie."
"Of course, sir." The voice is from the next room over, later accompanied by the clatter of soda bottles rattling against each other.
Tony sets the movie up, turning on all the features of the elaborate sound system, fetching the remote. Pepper and Bruce settle on the sofa, homework long forgotten. It's a familiar routine: the room falls into darkness, all lights turned off; the blue glow of the speakers around the room flicker on; the DVD player accepts the disk with a whir and a click. Then he takes his place on the couch - in between Bruce and Pepper, so he could bother the both of them.
"Thanks, Jarvis," Pepper says, when she feels an icy glass pressed against her fingers; Tony and Bruce echo her sentiment.
She can feel the warmth of Tony's waist against her hip - he's always touchy feely, unnecessarily taking the space in a boneless, slumping position - and she lets him lean, this time. Because, okay: she allows him his moments, sometimes.
Tony calculates that he'll be silent for the first two-thirds of the movie, and then lose it by the last one-third. He can get really twitchy sitting still for such a long time, especially when watching a movie he's already seen.
What should he say, when his period of temporary silence expires?
'Doctor Who is better.'
Huh. Lacks tact, and has plenty of style - and best of all, Pepper will be on his side this time. Bruce can be an utter rage monster when it comes to sci-fi stuff. The last Firefly versus Battlestar Galactica free-for-all had been a blast.
Or maybe school gossip, if he'd like to avoid a less geekier topic. Like how Clint and Natasha both might be dating Phil Coulson - a senior, and one of Bruce's buds. Now, that's news!
He won't bring up the play, even though it's Pepper's masterpiece, because he doesn't want to think about the piece of shit that's his father.
Across the screen, James Tiberius Kirk flies a car off a cliff (another kid these days with parent issues, Jesus), and Tony leans against Pepper on one side and curls his arm around Bruce's shoulders on the other; he's Peter Pan in his head and Jim jumps.
Bruce reaches for the popcorn bag on Tony's lap, crunching salty kernels underneath his teeth. Tony shifts so that it's more accessible, and Bruce mumbles a quiet thank-you.
You'd think that being one of Tony Stark's best friends means that you're completely free of microwave popcorn, but nope, no cigar. Bruce doesn't mind, actually, but it was a surprise the first time he came around - so now, he's rather used to it.
He's used to a lot of things here: the bubbly orange soda, the constant stream of movies and television shows, and Tony and Pepper's arguing. He's wondered how those two have stayed friends after all these years, what with the bickering and the sniping, but he thinks that they've turned it down a lot, ever since he's become the third of their group. Having a middleman, mediator, a I'm ranting to you, Bruce, because you're Switzerland most of the time kind of guy probably does that.
Or maybe some kind of goddamn therapist, because mentioning TV and movies is a surefire way to lighten the atmosphere.
Bruce isn't blind: Tony's screwed up, he's difficult, he's a rich kid with an attitude and Pepper is the only one who Tony can't faze. And...Howard Stark. Tony's never a person to share personal details, but it's obvious that he's got some sort of similarly screwed up family life.
(You should've seen him out-snark that last guy who said right to his face that his career was just because of his father.)
But, well, Bruce really isn't a therapist.
"Doctor Who is better," Tony whispers into his ear, disrupting his thoughts, and Bruce shows his teeth and launches himself into battle.
The credits are rolling when Jarvis steps into the sitting room. The three teenagers sleep soundly on the couch, stretched against each other - Tony's head in Bruce's lap, Pepper half-cuddling around the remainder of Tony's body, Bruce draping his arm around Tony's forehead.
Jarvis quietly insinuates the popcorn bag out of Tony's grasp, throwing it into the wastebin. Then, he palms the remote from the sofa's arm, and mutes the sound, the Star Trek theme fading out, disappearing.
They won't get to see the new episode of Tony's show, after all, but Jarvis thinks that's okay. Young Mr. Stark had his friends entertain him for the evening, and they're resting now.