STARK FOR PRESIDENT 1: FOR THE LOVE OF A GENIUS.

A short story by

TeamStark2905

I have added some depth to this, a love scene between Howard and Peggy and the build up to the outcome.

I would like for readers to tell me if they prefer this version or the other.

STARK FOR PRESIDENT 1: FOR THE LOVE OF A GENIUS

Series wide Author Notes
The following pages provide a detailed overview of the seven books in the Stark for President series.

If this series is a hit, I will think about making them watch the Police Academy Movies.

Star Wars, Dr Who, and Star Trek are too complicated to do this with.

I don't know one part of speech from another in English, even though I've been trying to learn. Catholic School taught me nothing, except the basics.

From 1986 until 2000, I was the sole special education student in a mainstream Catholic school and the experience was not pleasant. It does not require the expertise of Bruce Banner or Tony Stark to discern that my "education" was pathetic.

There are slash relationships and throuples in this series. I will NOT tolerate being flamed just because I write a particular way.

I know I keep pulling this but I don't think it lends itself very well to being a novella. I think it's better as a short story. Given all the time jumps and such. I am not the kind of "author" who can do that in a novella.

The premise is still the same, Tony Stark *WILL* run for president

Stark for President 1: For the Love of a genius

Tony's point of view

Pepper and I had just returned from an energy conference in Malibu.

We walked into the elevator and went to the 110th floor. The weather was absolutely awful. We got soaked on the way back into the tower. The rain was coming down in literal sheets, and despite Happy's best efforts with the umbrella, we still got soaked.

I went upstairs to change and I came back down, then Pepper did the same.

I sat on the recliner couch and pulled her onto my lap. The make out session that followed was one of the most intense we'd had to that point.

"Want to go upstairs and finish that?" I asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"Shhh! Listen" she hissed and I stilled.

"When Tony and Pepper get back we tell them everything Howard, and I do mean everything, Tony deserves the truth and so do the others. He's not going to react well."
"I know Peggy, I know he won't and the others won't either — especially Bruce and that's what frightens me"

"If I didn't know any better, Pep, I would swear that those were the voices of my parents""So would I"
"What do we do?"
"Go to my office, Call Jay, Tommy, Bruce, Scott, Clint, Pietro, Wanda, and Nat." I instructed, "tell them there's an intruder in the tower. We go in together, confront them, find out what's going on and then, if necessary, we call security."

Pepper went and made the calls.

"They're on the way"
"OK, I'll start dinner"
Pepper set the table and then helped me in the kitchen.

When my brothers, sister and sister-in-law arrived, we walked to the door of the guest room together

Bruce kicked the door open, his right hand had turned green and was presently curled into a fist, his face radiated a snarl and his eyes were glowing like two radioactive emeralds.

Clint had one of his arrows primed and ready.

Wanda was wielding her magic. Nat had one of her widows bite stun rays poised and ready to strike.

Pepper and I had a gauntlet glove apiece

Tommy had a Batarang,

Pietro prepared to use his supersonic speed, and Jay had the bazooka from his suit loaded and pointed at the people in the bed.

"What in the actual blue fuck is going on here?" I demanded savagely, glaring at the two figures.

"Language Anthony, Scourgify!" said the man

"Protego reflectere" I replied, using wandless magic to defend myself. The intruders were spitting soap suds out of their mouths.

"Pep, call Severus, have him and Harry come here immediately and bring the extra strength Veritaserum!"
"OK"

Severus and Harry arrived by floo with Sirius, Remus, Fred, Hermione, George and Lucius right behind them. Severus locked the floo. Pepper, Hermione and Nat locked all the doors.

There was a thud and a "Hey, watch it" behind me and then an "OW! Hey stop that!" and then gasping and whimpering before there was finally, silence.

"Right. I want to know EXACTLY what is going here" I snapped,

"Nat found the culprit"
"Dose him Severus."

Nat held him up by the scruff of his neck. Clint opened his mouth by forcefully pinching his nose and lowering his jaw. Severus placed three drops of the potion under the man's tongue.

"What is your name?"
"Nicholas Joseph Fury"

"Date of birth"
"July 4th 1950"
"Ser No?"
"A 07458876"

"Clearance?"
"Level 10"

"Who are these people behind me?"
"Howard Anthony Walter Stark and Margaret Elizabeth Carter-Stark, known as Peggy."

"Why are they alive? My siblings and I were told, by you, that they were murdered by HYDRA on December 16th 1991"
"Our orders were changed. Instead of killing them, we were ordered to send them to Wakanda. To the cryostasis freezer"

"Except that we were never put in Cryostasis"

"King T'Chaka decided this was not wise and allowed us to serve on the King's Security Council"

"After King T'Chaka died, King T'Challa decided we should come home, so here we are."

"Now if you don't mind... it's date night and..."
"We'll leave you to it... Tony, let's go down to your lab and discuss this... what's your loudest AC/DC album? I'd quite like to put that on..." Pepper cringed, mortification evident in her pretty face.
"Pep... what's the matter?"
"I came home from boarding school when I was 16 and walked in on my godparents on date night. It was not pretty. I won't tell you what was happening but they were in the living room. I went to the library to study!" she explained with a shudder

"Just like in that episode of Friends when Joey walked in on Rachel in the shower" said Bruce.

"Worse! Like when Dorothy walked in on her mother and Max Wienstock in The Golden Girls. Or when Dorothy's son and Rose's daughter slept together"

"Brigid Nylund and Michael Zbornak?"

"Yes"

"Or Blanche and Stan"
"You mean when Blanche and Stan hooked up and Dorothy was jealous?"
"Yep"

"Or that time we were... and Professor McGonagall walked in, on us in her animagus form?"
"Yeah like that"

We went downstairs to the lab, locked the door and turned the sound system up.

Pepper's point of view

We worked until it was time for dinner, so we went upstairs to eat.

There were already delicious smells wafting from the kitchen.

We ate dinner in the formal dining room.

"I think it's time I told you about my horrible childhood." said Howard

"OK"

Peggy's point of view

Howard was a nervous wreck.

"You don't have to do this... at least... not verbally"
"Tony's right, Howard, you don't have to do it verbally."

"What do you suggest instead?"
"Well, pen and paper or... I could set up my laptop and show you how to use it."
"OK."

Pepper went and got her laptop and opened a document on it.

She set it up at the desk in the window. Howard sat on the big executive office chair and Pepper showed him how to use her laptop.

While Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Jay, Nat, Clint, Harry, Severus, Scott, and Hermione went bowling, Howard and I worked on the story of his childhood.
When the others returned, we were finished. Pepper showed Howard how to change the font and spacing, and how to add page numbers. She printed out 12 copies. 11 on white paper and one on yellow (Clint has Dyslexia and his filter colour is yellow)

We sat down to read through Howard's story together.

"My father was a violent drunken bully who used to beat my mother, brother and I on a nightly basis. I was too young to know it at the time, but he was doing other things to my mother... things I didn't understand yet. When I was 9, my father finally murdered my mother... for as long as I could remember, that was the thing my brother and I feared the most. Ed was 17. He was responsible, thorough, and organized. The state gave him custody of me and extra money to ensure that I got a good education. I went to Phillips Academy so that Ed could join the military. When I was 18, I went to MIT, then I joined Ed in the military. I was ineligible to be a soldier but, Ed told his commanding officer about me and my ambitious plans for after MIT, and I was hired at once. Obadiah — my best friend from MIT — came on board as my business partner. He met Maria around the same time I met Peggy..."

"Of course... Peggy was already involved with someone when you two met." said a voice.

"What in the blue hell are you doing here?" Tony snarled. I looked up at the person Tony was yelling at... and found myself face to face with Steven Grant Rogers...

"You are no longer welcome here, Rogers. Go find somewhere else to live".

"Knowing this clown, he's up to no good" Howard snapped. "Come on, Peggy, let's go to our room"

"No. Mr Rogers is just leaving"
"That's Captain Rogers to you, son... You better start showing your superiors some respect."

"You're an abomination. Not to mention a massive hypocrite." said Pepper.

"Who the hell do you think you are, you little tart? Speaking to your betters like that?" Rogers replied
"You are not my better... You are a creepy, arrogant, perverted, twisted, asinine, ignorant, nincompoop... if you put the first letters of those words together, they spell out captain." said Pepper, her voice frosty.

"Tony told me everything you did in Siberia, you bastard, you could have killed him. All because you think the Sokovia Accords aren't necessary. With cretinous weasels like you around, those accords are necessary."

Rogers grabbed Pepper by the face and slammed her into the wall, backwards.

"If you ever speak to me like that again, I'll make what I did to Stark last week look like child's play."

Pepper had the last laugh. She pulled her right hand from behind her and on it was one of the gauntlet gloves from an Iron Man armour. She pointed the blaster at Rogers' nether regions and blasted him there. He squealed like a stuck pig.

Tony grabbed the fallen pseudohero and put him at Bruce's feet...

"Same as Loki got?"

"Yes... Jay, film it, Severus, narrate it. I need to see to my girl. Clint, you know how social media works, don't you? I want this video on as many platforms as there are."

"Tony, while I don't blame you for this, I do need to say that your mom and I need to tell you something"

"OK"

Tony's point of view

Rogers got the parting blow in...

He glared up at my father and said

"She was mine before she was yours, Stark. Just as well for you, I have no interest in her any more; otherwise I'd steal her back. Laws were repealed, so I can be myself now."

"Is THAT why you were such an asshole towards her? Because you believed you would be perpetually forced to be with someone you didn't want to be with, because of the law?" I demanded

Both my parents made furious moves towards Rogers, but my mother got there first. She punched Steve Rogers in the face as hard as she could, and she kept right on punching and slapping him until Dad dragged her away. She was shaking uncontrollably, tears streaking down her face at an alarming rate... I had never seen her that angry.

Turning to the others, I said

"Handle this piece of filth... defenestrate him and hang him by his red white and blue underoos from the flag pole for all I care, but when we come back down, he and his belongings better be long gone. Along with his side of the team."
"Don't worry, Tony, we'll take care of it, and I'll repair the window afterwards."

"Thank you, Scott"

Before we went upstairs, I rammed my foot into Rogers' face, splattering his nose across his cheeks in the most satisfactory way possible.

Dad had taken Mom to the sun room. Pepper made hot chocolate and the four of us sat up there and talked until bedtime.

Peggy's point of view

I had a very hard time sleeping that night. Howard was out like a light the minute his head hit the pillow, but I tossed and turned. Eventually, after I accidentally elbowed him in the face, Howard said, "OK Peg, out with it... what's wrong"
"Rogers" I thundered.

"You can't stop thinking about what that asinine weasel did to you, can you?"
"No"

"You want me to make you forget?"
"Yes! Please Howard... make me forget but... also... make me beg for it"
"OK"

Tony's point of view

I could hear mom and dad talking, Pepper was fast asleep. Her head on my shoulder. I reeled her in closer and tried to go to sleep but it was just impossible. Pepper sat up and gave me a sleepy glare.

"Tony go to sleep"

"I can't"

I got up and went downstairs to the lab. Pepper followed me, bringing the quilt with her.

I worked for an hour, and then I got under the covers beside Pepper. She was out for the count.

I pulled her into my arms. She groaned and woke up.

"Do you want to... you know?"
"OK"

Howard's point of view

Peggy and I got up at our usual time and went to the kitchen where she fixed pancakes for everyone. With toppings.

"Jarvis, do we have any strawberries?"
"I'm sorry Mrs Stark, we do not. Ms Potts is allergic to strawberries"
"Oh that's right"

Pepper and Tony came in fully dressed in work clothes.

"Breakfast is ready"
"Thanks mom"

Tony's point of view

Pepper and I ate the pancakes mom had made us and left for work.

When we got home, Pepper went to her office to make a couple of phone calls and finish a few things up that she hadn't got to because the board meeting overran, while I set the table for dinner.

After dinner, Pepper insisted that we clean the kitchen from top to bottom while Mom and Dad sat with their feet up.

"So, Mom, what really happened between you and Rogers?"

I asked.

Howard's point of view

Peggy was still upset after our earlier run-in with Rogers, so I answered Tony's question with her blessing.

"Rogers treated your mother like crap. Remember everything I told you boys never to do to your spouse?"
"Yeah?"
"Rogers did all of them and then some!"

"When I get my hands on that sonofabitch, I'm going to make what happened in Siberia look like what I did to Aldrich Killian the first time he tried to flirt with Pepper. I will end that motherfucker with my bare hands... What did he do?"

"He used to beat me daily, and I later discovered that he'd been drugging me, waiting until I fell asleep and then..."
"WHAT?" I snapped, "That had BETTER not mean what I think it does".

"Here... we'll show you the memories."

Peggy's point of view

Howard put the Pensieve Stone that Severus brought on the coffee table. He put my memory on the Stone, Tony put the projector screen up, sat down next to Howard and me and tugged Pepper onto his lap.

Tony's point of view

MEMORY

He grabbed my mother by the lower lip and dragged her into the apartment. Putting his hand over her face and facepalming her, he slammed her backwards into the wall. She hit the ground hard. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and underwear and dragged her into the bedroom. She tried to protest, but he whacked her head off his nightstand. He went to the bathroom and didn't wash his hands. He went to the kitchen to get two glasses of milk, one of which he put a powdery substance in, and he slammed it down on mom's nightstand. He drank his milk quickly and forced her to do the same, holding her mouth opened while he poured the milk in. Once she was asleep, and he was sure she was definitely asleep, he ripped the rest of her clothes off, undressed himself and mounted her roughly. He entered her without preparation and without lube. He put his hands very firmly on her shoulders and began to thrust rhythmically. The pace and intensity of his thrusts increased as he progressed to his climax. When he climaxed, he let out a very loud grunt and as he finished he let out a satisfied moan. When he was finished, he slid out of her, got dressed and left. He forgot to take the glass from her side of the bed and rinse it out.

He dragged her downstairs by the hair and left her by the garbage bins.

When she awoke the next morning, she was inexplicably sore, she realized where she was and went inside. When she saw the slightly dampened powdery residue inside the glass. Realizing what must have happened, she put the glass into a bag and once she was dressed, took it to the lab. Later that day, the results came back. Devastated, she went to her boss (Mr Stark) and attempted to hand in her resignation. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked her what had happened, and she tearfully told him the truth. Mr Stark pulled her into his arms. A flash of purplish white lightning filled the room.

END MEMORY

"Wow, Mom, I had no idea"

I picked up my walkie-talkie and said

"Jay, get the guys, you're going on a mission... find Steve Rogers and beat the holy living hell out of him... then bring that sonofabitch back here but make sure he's alive and conscious..."

The others did as I asked and while Dad and I held him upright, mom kicked Rogers in the nuts, the breadbasket, and the face.

"You pig! You knocked me up the last time you violated me. I had no idea I was even pregnant until I went into labour 8 months after the attack."

I punched him in the face and stomach until my hands were bloody, then it was Dad's turn.

"I can't do it, Tony... I don't want to... he deserves it, but I can't... I'm not violent, I'm not like my father"

"OK, Dad, don't worry. Boys... take out the rubbish. With EXTREME prejudice."

Howard's point of view

I loaded up the Pensieve Stone with the next memory

Memory

8 months after the last time Steve brutally violated Peggy… She returned from California…

A steamy affair between soulmates.

Peggy's point of view

He swept me into his arms and carried me upstairs bridal style. When we reached the bedroom door, I was already dripping…

We opened the door, slipped inside and closed the door behind us again, locking it and double bolting it. He guided me back against the door and we started kissing, he started by removing my cardigan, shirt, skirt and bra with nimble, experienced fingers while my fingers undressed his top half.

"Babe are you sure?"

"Yes Howard, I've never been more certain of anything in my entire life."

"OK two things. First, Mr Trouser Snake is wearing his disposable raincoat — I want kids one day but not right now. Secondly, have you ever done this before?"

I winced, sucking on my lower lip… did I dare tell him what the filthy bastard I'd left in California had done to me?

"Yes but… not while conscious or aware of it and not willingly either"

Howard dropped the silver foil wrapper he was fumbling with on the bed and looked at me. His gorgeous brown eyes alight with anger.

"Who?"

"Steve Rogers"

"He's dead meat. I'm going to have his worthless scrawny ass rubbed out with extreme force."

"Thank you Howard"

"Since you've never willingly done this before, I'm going to have to start things slightly differently."

"OK… God Howard… please… I want to do this… I've wanted this for a long, long time. I want you to let Mr Trouser Snake explore every inch of me, there are 3 dark spaces that I know he'll like."

"You are so sexy and beautiful. I can't believe that asshole did that to you"

"It was 8 months ago Howard. Right before I came here."

That sentence would come back to bite me in the ass later.

Howard pulled the velvet throw off the bed, folded it neatly and put it on the armchair. By the enormous bulge in his pants, I could tell he was incredibly aroused.

"Looks to me like Mr Trouser Snake is wide awake and feeling frisky. Let him out to play" I begged

"OK, but he's wearing his raincoat, we don't need any unplanned events"

"OK, allow me to assist you with the… sheathing of the snake" I said giving him a very suggestive wink.

Howard giggled

I unzipped my skirt and slid it down revealing tiny dark red lacy panties and a neatly landscaped patch of pubic hairs just visible behind the lace. Howard was now drooling.

"Oooh Peg! You keep your garden very neat and tidy."

"I just landscaped it last night… I wasn't sure if we'd be doing this or not but I figured I should groom in case we were…"

"Are you sure this is something you want to do?"

"Definitely…"

"OK but… if it's painful or uncomfortable or you want to stop you have to let me know immediately"

"OK"

Howard was wearing white y-fronts which barely hid his throbbing erection. I caressed it and he whimpered.

Howard pulled me into his arms and we got under the covers.

He pulled me close and we started snogging.

"I wish to savour this… every second of it… because I somehow feel like this is all a beautiful dream and I will wake up alone in the morning."

"You won't" I replied.

"I hope I wake up holding you" He replied

"Make love to me Howard… slowly… make it take a long time."

"OK…"

We began snogging again, Howard gently flipped us over so that he was on top of me.

"I'm going to start by working my way down — slowly — to your breasts and sucking your nipples."

"I like the sound of that" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my hands on his butt, pressing him into me. He grinned up at me and I grinned back. I slid one of my hands into his y-fronts and cupped his throbbing manhood.

"Gods, Peg! I'm not gonna last if you keep that up."

He began to kiss his way down to my boobs, savouring each nipple in turn. As he sank lower, he lubed the fingers of one of his hands and slipped them deep into my folds. Scissoring them firmly back and forward till I was dripping into his hand.

"How does that feel?"

"Amazing, don't stop… please" I begged.

"I'm going to go further down and use my tongue, do you want to be on top for that?"

"Yes! Gods yes"

Howard rolled onto his back, pulling me carefully into his arms.

"Sit over my shoulders… just relax, it's going to feel a bit odd but I promise it won't hurt."

"OK"

Howard was right. It did feel odd, having his tongue buried to the hilt, deep within my folds.

"Howard, I'm very VERY close… please… let Mr Trouser Snake take over."

"All right but honey I'm going to lower you slowly onto my length and it might burn a bit."

"OK"

Howard gently lowered me onto his throbbing manhood.

"All right… how does that feel?"

"Incredible. I wish I was still pure"

"Peg, what that bastard did was wrong. He had no right to do that to you. Your lack of purity doesn't bother me. You're still hot, and tight and wet… why don't you start to thrust and I'll match your efforts?"

"OK"

Howard pulled me close and we synchronised our thrusts… we were both caught off guard by the full force of the orgasm that hit us at that moment. Afterwards, Howard pulled me into his arms and we lay kissing and holding each other tight.

"That was incredible"

"Peg… I know it's too soon for this but I am truly, madly, deeply, utterly, completely and desperately in love with you. You're gorgeous and amazing and I just can't stop cradling you"

"Howard… it's not too soon because I am truly, madly, deeply, utterly, completely, and desperately in love with you too. You're handsome and sweet and thoughtful and…"

I intertwined our fingers here.

"I just… adore you"

"You're my everything Peg… I've never felt so sure but so terrified about anything at the same time"

"Me either, will you hold me skin to skin?"

"Of course beautiful"

He reeled me in, and we kissed one last time before falling asleep.

I woke up in Howard's arms the next morning. We had a long very steamy make out session and then got up slowly before we showered together and dressed for the day.

Later, when Howard was on a work call,

I was downstairs, in the library, reading. Howard was working in his office, Ana was cleaning the kitchen after breakfast. Edwin had gone to the supermarket for the weekly grocery shopping.

The pain began when I got up to go to the restroom. It was a searing, stinging, tightening sensation across my whole abdomen region. As quickly as it began, however, it went away again. I went to the restroom and thought no more of it.

4 hours later, I was a sobbing, screaming, hysterical mess on the library floor. I was clutching my abdomen as though my life depended on it. The pains were absolutely relentless... constant, consistent waves of agony. They'd started out about 30 minutes apart, and had gradually increased to every 5 minutes. That's where I was at when Howard found me. Ana was right behind him...

"Peggy what's the matter?"
"I don't know something really really REALLY hurts, but I don't know what's causing it... I've never experienced anything like it."

"Is the pain coming in waves or is it there all the time?"
"Waves... owwwwwwwww!"

"Is it a tightening sensation or just painful?"
"Tightening"

Howard frowned... then he gasped and then he said

"Peg... I know this is not really my business but... when did you last have a monthly?"

"Not for..." I began and then suddenly, the penny dropped "OH NO! OH MY GOD NO! I can't possibly be! That's just not something I even... OWWWWW"

"OK... I'm calling for help" said Ana

"Thank you Ana..."

Tears flooded down my cheeks like a rainstorm.

Howard gently helped me up onto my feet and into my coat.

"Dr Stane is unavailable. Cecily said she's very very very ill at present. She asked if we would pray for Dr Stane."

"OK"
"Upon Dr Stane's recommendation, I've called Dr Patrick Turner — the doctor at the surgery which is attached to Nonatus House. He said to come immediately to the surgery."

"Thanks Ana"

Obadiah came over at that moment.

"Maria's asleep. Before she drifted off, she told me to come and take you down to the clinic beside Nonatus house. Cecily said she would stay with Maria."

I felt a sudden gush from down below and the pain intensified.

"Let's get her into the car and we'll need to be quick about it. Maria warned me about this."

The pain was incredible. Howard enveloped me in his arms and whispered calmly into my ear, trying to calm me down.

"Try to focus on breathing, I know it hurts Peggy but we're almost there I promise."

By the time we got to Nonatus house and parked the car the pain was unbearable.

"SOMETHING IS MOVING!" I shrieked suddenly

One of the midwives came over

"Ms Carter, we've been expecting you, My name is Nurse Beatrice Aylworth, this is Nurse Lucille Robinson,"

"SOMETHING IS MOVING!" I shrieked again "HELP!"

"Don't worry precious, it's just baby's head getting ready to be born. Mr Stark, I'm going to need you to come around this side and help me to get Miss Carter out of the car. As she has had no prenatal care, and we don't know how far into her pregnancy she is, it would be ill-advised to deliver in the car. I have the wheelchair here precious, Mr Stark and I will help you to get into the wheelchair. It is very important that you do not attempt to push until we get you into the delivery room."
"It might be easier if I just carry her up the stairs, Nurse"

"Perhaps you're right Mr Stark"

"Ok Peg, climb out of the car, slowly, I'm going to pick you up and then for heaven's sakes cross your legs!"

Howard guided me out of the car so that I didn't crack my skull on the inside of the door. He carried me carefully into the surgery, into the delivery room and set me on the bed on my knees.

An almighty contraction took me by surprise. I screamed

"OK Ms Carter if you feel like you need to push go right ahead. It'll feel like a big bowel movement, like you're constipated."

I was terrified.

"OK Peg, next pain give it some welly. I know you can do it... I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to take care of you. I promise."

The next pain was even more intense than the last one.

"Go on Peg, Push..."

"That's it precious, baby is moving down nicely. I need you to stop pushing and listen to me. Breathe, the head is crowning. This feels like someone lit a fire down there but not to worry, it'll only sting like that for a moment or two."

Nurse Robinson was right, it did only sting for a few seconds.

"Head is out precious, now big push for the shoulders. There you go... one more hard push that's it... you've got a little girl precious. She's beautiful"

Nurse Robinson cut the cord and she dried, cleaned and wrapped the squalling infant and tried to hand her to me but I refused...

"You don't understand, Peggy was... violated some months ago by her ex and she and I have only been together for the duration of her pregnancy — she didn't realise she was pregnant till the pain started. Peg, don't worry, it's ok I'll take care of this... I promise... you just concentrate on what you have to do next

"No problem Ms Carter... While Mr Stark and Nurse Aylward take care of the baby I'm going to help you deliver the placenta."

Howard's point of view

I understood what Peggy was dealing with, she hadn't even the slightest inkling that she was pregnant, then she went into labour, and then she delivered the baby and the shock hit her like a ton of stones racing down the side of a mountain. Obadiah had told me that he and Maria had been unable to have a child of their own. This was news which Maria took very very hard. Then something tragically serendipitous happened... Maria's cousin Gloria and her husband Joseph Tribbiani were whacked in a Mob Hit gone wrong. They left behind 8 young children. 7 girls and 1 boy. Maria immediately agreed to adopt those children. I went outside once the baby had been fed, and dressed by Nurse Aylward and was sleeping peacefully. Obie was still there.

"What did she have?"
"A little girl."
"How could she not know?"
"Rogers had been violating her on a nightly basis for months under the influence of sleeping pills."

"Oh..."
"How's Maria?"
"She's not good at all... we thought that we were but it was another false positive"
"Oh. that's awful"
"What will happen to the baby now?"
"Well, she'll be put up for adoption"
"Oh."

"Obie... do you think you and Maria could handle another?"
"I think so. Let me go home and see her and the children and I'll let you know"

Nurse Aylward came outside with a cigarette in her hand.

"Mr Stark we need a name for the baby"
"Jane" I said immediately "Jane Elizabeth and since Peggy doesn't want to raise her we can use my grandmother's maiden name — Foster"
"That's beautiful"

An hour later, little Jane woke up hungry so I fed her the bottle that Nurse Aylward warmed through for her.

Obie came in

"Maria said yes Howard"
"OK... great... Nurse Aylward, Dr and Mrs Stane will adopt the baby"
"That's wonderful"

"She's waiting outside in the car, should I bring her in?"
"Yes. She brought our son Joseph with us because he got in a fight at school today and he's got a black eye and a bloody nose and Maria wants him to see the doctor."
"OK"

Obie returned less than 5 minutes later with Maria. They got to know little Jane.

"Obie, I was thinking maybe you could head up the office in Malibu"
"OK"
"You can use the house out there..."
"That would be wonderful Howard, thank you"

2 weeks later, Obie, Maria and the children left for Malibu. He called me every week of the 2 years that he was out there.

10 months after Obie and Maria left for Malibu, Peggy and I got engaged. 6 months after that, we got married and 9 months later, we had a son. Peggy had a caesarean section because the child was massive and because she didn't want to go through the trauma of delivering naturally again. She haemorrhaged after the child was born and as a result, had to have an immediate radical hysterectomy. Obie was waiting with me while Peggy was in theatre

"Mr Stark" said Nurse Robinson "You have a son, he's beautiful."

"Obie... would you and Maria consent to being godparents?"
"Of course. I'll call Maria and ask her to come down immediately"

Nurse Robinson took me back to the recovery room where Peggy was coming out of her sedation and I was allowed to hold the baby for the first time.

When Maria arrived, Nurse Robinson brought her and Obie back to the recovery room.

"Say hello to your godson" I said softly.

"What's his name?"
"Anthony Edward Stark. 10lbs on the nose. Doctor said that it was just as well we didn't try to have Peg deliver naturally..."
"He's beautiful Howard."
"I know"
"Welcome to the world Master Anthony. You're the luckiest boy in the world. You have parents who would do anything for you and godparents who think the world of you... and you have 9 cousins ranging in age from 3 to 16. You're going to be the most pampered, well-educated and loved baby in the whole world."

Peggy came around from surgery a short time later, She met the baby and tried to feed him but it turned out that he was lactose intolerant so he had to have formula.

*END MEMORY*

Rogers was fuming, his face was scarlet, his ears had steam coming out of them, his eyebrows were knitted downwards into a deep scowl.

"Collecting strays is what you do best Stark" he snarled, glowering at me.

*MEMORY*

Peggy's point of view

"Howard, Anthony is such a mouthful for such a young boy... why don't we shorten it to Tony?"
"I like that"

"Unless of course he's in trouble"
"When I was little I couldn't say Edward properly so we shortened his name to Ed."

Tony was a wonderful child. Well-behaved, intelligent, precocious and eager to learn and to please us. We sent him to Kindergarten when he turned 5, but he struggled socially because he could already read, write, count and spell. Maria and Obie had been home educating their children for 4 years. Joseph had been getting bullied in school (Catholic school) for being unable to read write and spell properly (He has Dyslexia) and the 7 girls were bullied for being orphans. When Obie found out he was livid and he and Maria pulled them out of school immediately and taught them at home. When I realised just how intelligent Tony was, I asked Obie and Maria if they would help me home-educate him.

"Of course Howard. New York has a state mandate about exercise though. Our kids take dance because the majority of them are girls and because Joey wants to be an actor when he's older"

Anthony joined the older kids. While he'd been in school he had befriended a couple of older boys and a couple of younger boys. Bruce, who was 18 months older, Jay who was 2 years older, Scott who was 8 months younger and Clint who was 2 years younger.

Tony's point of view

When I was 7, Bruce's mom was murdered by his father and mom and dad took him in. When I was almost 8, Jay's family was in a fire at church... we were sure for a while that it may have been racially motivated, but the police didn't buy it. When I was 9 Scott's parents disappeared, leaving him home alone one night — Dad went to get him. Then, one snowy Christmas Eve, Dad found infant twins on our stoop a boy (Pietro) and a girl (Wanda).

When I was approaching my 11th birthday, all of us except Scott got letters inviting us to study at a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mom and Dad bought a house in England so that we could go. I met my soulmate on the train when I was going into my 5th year. She was beautiful, deep green eyes, long red-blond hair and a dusting of freckles. When I first encountered her, she was helping a boy who was being bullied...

She had a small bottle in her hand and was brandishing it threateningly in the face of a girl who also had red hair and green eyes.

"What's going on?"
"This bitch thinks she is so great just because she's humping the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and is now 7 months pregnant with his kid. She targets kids like this dude here — a perfectly nice, perfectly charming, perfectly well-behaved boy by the name of Severus T. Snape, and thinks she can get away with it."

"Right... Miss... I suggest you keep away from Mr Snape because if... ummm Pepper here blows her top it could have consequences for you in your delicate condition. My mother had me by C-Section... she almost didn't survive the surgery."

"What did you call me?"
"I called you Pepper, you're brandishing pepper spray in the face of your nemesis"
"Well it's better than Ginny or Virginia or Red"

"I'm Tony Stark. I'm Ravenclaw prefect for 5th year

"Virginia Potts, Ravenclaw Prefect for 5th Year"

We talked for the most of the rest of the train journey... I felt like I had known her my whole life. I asked her to be my girlfriend and she agreed. The rest of the journey to school was spent snogging her... I wasn't the only one who found himself a girlfriend... Clint did too... and much to Bruce's chagrin, it was...

"Natasha Romanoff"
END MEMORY

"Rogers, what you said to my mother was uncalled for. You will apologise or else."
"I will not"
"Fine... Jay... get the chairs"

Jay got the chairs and he and I smashed Rogers round the face with them and Bruce speared him.

Rogers collapsed on the floor like a fallen tree.

As a matter of urgency, I contacted Maria Hill and had her move the rogue avengers out of the tower into SHIELD accommodation.

3 weeks to the day after we found out that our parents were still alive, they moved into their new (smaller) mansion on Long Island. At dinner that night, with the blessings of my parents and her godparents. I did something I'd been planning for ages.

We had just finished dinner.

Mom was serving dessert — New York Cheesecake — I put the little indigo box on top of Pepper's slice. It was open she looked at the ring, she looked at me, she looked back at the ring she looked back at me, and then she noticed the message I had spelled out in melted chocolate

"YES!" she said

I slipped the ring onto her finger and whispered something VERY naughty into her ear. She giggled and smacked me in the ribs.

There was a knock on the door.

"Tony, Pepper, I think you'd better come and deal with this" said Dad.

"Mr Stark"
"I'm going to stop you right there. Please call me Tony."

"Fine, Tony. I am Colette Patterson. I am a social worker with CPS..."

"OK, my brothers and sister and I are fully grown adults now so you're a little late on the uptake..."

"I am here to bring your children to you"
"I don't have any children"
"Yes you do. Remember when you dated a girl called Mary Fitzpatrick when you were at MIT?"
"Yes"
"You have a son with her"
"WHAT?"
"It gets better"
"Really?"
"Yes. When Maya Hansen left you 9 years ago she was 5 months pregnant. She kept the pregnancy a secret by wearing larger than normal clothes. You have a daughter with her"
"Why can they not live with their mothers?"
"Their mothers are no longer alive"
"Oh... in that case, bring them inside. This isn't where I live full time but my parents live here"
"Wait a minute... your parents were murdered by HYDRA"
"They actually weren't. It's a long story"
"I see. This is your son Peter"
"Why can't I get emancipated?"
"The State of New York does not believe in emancipation of minors Peter, we've been through this"
"Why do we have to bother someone who doesn't really care? Where has he been since I was born? Why wasn't he told?"
"You said you would give him a chance Peter Benjamin."

"Yeah OK fine I will but just... humour me, answer my questions would you?"
"Fine. I've been around since you were born kid, I just didn't know you existed because no one told me" I said fixing Colette Patterson with an ice cold glare.

"Peter was in the custody of his aunt and uncle until his uncle died and his aunt was arrested for child abuse."
"My son is abused?"
"Yes... I'll let him tell you about that"

"How old are you Peter?"
"I'm 15 ma'am. I just had my 15th birthday in August"

The little girl was waiting patiently for us to address her.

"This is your daughter, Maria-Rose Stark, she's 8 and a half and extremely shy"

"Actually, I'm not that shy, I just don't speak when I've not been spoken to. I learned that the hard way a long time ago."

"Meaning?"
"Meaning until Shane McMahon and his wife Lilian Garcia fostered me, I was treated like a slave... among other things"
"By whom?"
"Aldrich Killian"

"Your mother went to work for AIM."
"Yes she did. She died when I was 5. Mr Killian got arrested for... plenty of things that we needn't even bother discussing. Shane and Lilian were kind enough to take me in. I'm grateful to them."
"I thought Shane's wife was called Marissa"
"No... Marissa left him. She almost left him penniless actually. Lilian is the exact opposite of what Declan, Kenyon and Rogan say Marissa was like."
"Whoa, Shane has kids?"

"Yes, four. Three boys with Marissa and he adopted a little girl with Lilian. She's called Natalya, she's 11. She has Autism and Global Developmental Delay. She and Stephanie's 3 girls are as thick as thieves."
"Really?"
"Yes and she adores her grandparents. Right now though, Stephanie is Persona non Grata... May I ask you a question... Ms..."

"Potts, you may ask me a question, you may also call me Pepper."
"Pepper, what's with all the curiosity about the McMahons?"
"Well, Vince and Linda McMahon are my godparents. They brought me up."

"Ok... Shane told me about what happened to his cousin Ginny"
"Yep, that's me. My full name is Virginia, but I've been Pepper since I was 15"

"Oh"

"We should be heading back to Manhattan"
"It's almost nine thirty, why don't you just stay here for the night and go back to Manhattan tomorrow?"
"OK"

"By the way kids, I'm your grandmother, Peggy"
"And I'm your grandfather, Howard"

"You've also got several aunts and uncles."

Mom made hot chocolate for the children and Pepper and I took them upstairs and put them to bed.

"So much for celebrating our engagement" I groused.

"We can do that when we get back to the tower."

The next morning we introduced Peter and Maria to the rest of the family.

"You guys are the Avengers, aren't you?"
"Yes we are"

"Wicked. A couple of months ago I got bitten by a radioactive spider and..."

Peter looked up suddenly and stopped speaking.

"Peter, continue your story bud, your father and grandfather are afraid of spiders but it's OK."
"Well anyway, I ended up with all these freaky powers."

"Such as?"
"I can shoot webs from my hands and feet, I'm sticky and I can climb walls and... I have enhanced hearing, enhanced strength and... well that's as much as I have tested on my own. So I became the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man."

"Perhaps your uncle Bruce could test your powers further?"
"I'd like that"

"I know this is a bit of a weird suggestion but, I think both you Peter and You Maria have dealt with some very traumatic stuff recently and I was thinking it might be a good idea for us to go to family therapy"
"That is an excellent idea Pepper"

From the ashes of a family disaster rose the greatest phoenix metaphor — The Stark family. Clint and Nat moved back to New York, from Florida, Uncle Obie and Aunt Maria moved back from California with the four youngest girls. Eventually, Joey moved back too... Pepper got in contact with her cousins... and her godparents.

Little did any of us know what was about to happen...

I suppose we might have guessed what was coming if we'd looked up at the sky long enough but we didn't...

No one foresaw that the Avengers were in for the fight of our lives...

Against one violent, violet mad Titan by the name of Thanos...

Story 1 complete!