Yes! You are reading this right! This is another instalment of the Cause of Attraction series! I have two more ideas on this, and no doubt many more will form! This one started out a big of gag but actually took form the more I thought about it, so…enjoy!
As always, nothing MCU related is mine, I am not so lucky.
Wait…Two Fury's?
The weeks following Tony's proposal saw the two men planning their big day – their friends overjoyed for their happiness and each diligently offering their help in any way they could. Nat had been riding cloud nine when they had asked if Jared could be their ring bearer, her free time spent with her tablet, searching out adorable suits for him to wear for the event.
Ned and MJ had been unsurprised the two were getting married, though the fact they were aiming for six months' time was a shock to them. Though, MJ pointed out that with Tony's money, it wouldn't be too difficult to pull it off. She didn't mean it snidely, only that getting some things in place within such a little timeframe meant having to throw more money at them, and money opened a lot of doors.
Pete's two best friends had admitted to starting their own relationship and though they had feared it might put a strain on their dynamic, Peter had been only filled with joy. Ned had always had trouble with girls, being a larger guy, but MJ didn't care. She said it only meant that Ned was better able to throw her around and she loved it. Peter, naturally, had grimaced. While Tony had been openly bisexual, Peter was a billion percent gay, and his only dealing with female anatomy had been in helping Nat birth Jared in the broken down elevator more than a year ago.
Recently, MJ had been looking into her biological father. Now that she was an adult, her mother could no longer stop her. Peter had never understood the woman's reticence over MJ knowing who her father was, but did worry it might be some unsavoury character. As such, he had enlisted Tony's help in the matter, hoping that Pete might be able to forewarn her if he did learn that her father was not a good man.
What free time the two men had when not wedding planning was spent on looking into MJ's father. Many avenues had ended in nothing, leaving the genius rather frustrated and Peter equally disheartened. Eventually, on Ned and MJ's next visit to the compound, the man had pulled her aside.
"Is something wrong?" The girl asked.
Tony smiled and shook his head. "Not at all, but as this is a sensitive matter I thought it best to have the conversation alone. Pete asked for my help with finding your dad, and given that you didn't tell him he could share the information, I didn't want to alert Ned in case he didn't know."
The young woman fiddled with a broken nail. "No, Ned knows. I just…my mom has always been very tight-lipped about who he is, or was, and I'm keeping the number of people that know I'm looking for him to a minimum."
Clicking a few keys on his board, Tony nodded. "Understandable, and I hope you don't think Peter crossed any lines – I can be discrete even if my history doesn't lend to that belief."
Chuckling, MJ shrugged one shoulder. "No, I'm not annoyed or anything. I kinda knew he'd wind up telling you – you're both in a relationship, and getting married at that. I didn't expect him to keep it a secret from you. And I do appreciate your help, really, so thank you."
Waving her off, Tony clicked some more keys and then slapped his thighs lightly. "Right, well, the reason for my pulling you aside is that most of my searches have come up with zip. However, I have yet to try any kind of genetic searching. As someone who is very cautious about anyone having my blood, I wanted to ask to take some from you so I can run some additional searches."
A frown marred her face. "What makes you think my blood will find something no other searches have done?"
Tony flicked his eyes at the screen. "That is the worldwide database of all genetics ever entered into any kind of computer. Blood analyses, fingerprints, hair, everything you can think of that can be used to cross match or run a DNA test."
"So, if I gave you some hair, saliva, blood, anything else you can think of, you think you can find him?"
"I think I have a good chance, yes."
Tony allowed MJ all the time she needed to consider it before, minutes later, she agreed. Tony asked Bruce to come take some blood and though the scientist once again protested he wasn't that kind of doctor, he did do as asked. When he queried why, Tony told him he wasn't at liberty to say but promised he had the full permission of MJ to proceed. He rolled his eyes but seemed satisfied Tony wasn't doing anything nefarious.
"When I have the results I'll make sure Pete brings you over," Tony promised.
"Can I ask you something, Mr. Stark?"
Blinking, Tony nodded. "Call me Tony, but sure, shoot."
"Do you ever think your life would have been different if you'd had a different biological father?"
Floored by the question, Tony took a moment to really mull it over. "Sure. I mean, Howard Stark was a brilliant man, but he was a shit husband and an even worse father. I often wished I had a different dad, but I didn't. I used to wish my mom had had an affair with our butler, Jarvis, because he was the man I wished had been my dad."
MJ nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I mean, my stepdad is great and all, he's always been nice to me but he doesn't treat me like I'm his, you know?"
Sadly, Tony knew all too well. "I understand. It's not much, but you know you're welcome at the compound, right? I mean, if it's too much and you want to move out of there, I can set you up here."
"Thanks, Tony, that's really kind of you. Maybe one day I'll take you up on it. My mom…she tries but, well…" She trailed off.
He gave her a pat on the knee and sent her off to find her friends. He entered all the samples he'd collected from her into the various centrifuges he had and set them running, asking JARVIS to notify him the moment anything resulted in a match. Then, deciding he needed some sunshine after that rather bleak conversation, he sought out Jared.
The toddler, just over a year old, was still the light of Tony's life, except Peter, of course. Any blue to his emotions and he sought out Jared or Peter. The boy was in his high chair, currently making his way through a blueberry waffle. "Hey, big guy!" He called.
Hearing his voice, Jared instantly shrieked in delight and demanded to be let out of his chair. "Up Uncle Tony!"
"Uh, eat your waffle, buddy, let's not have mommy mad at me, okay?"
The blue-eyed cherub grinned but continued to eat his waffle dutifully. Nat kissed his cheek and greeted him warmly. "Feeling blue?"
Tony never understood how she knew these things but never questioned it either. "Something like that. I was hoping to take the gremlin out for bit."
"Sure, Tony, just let him finished his lunch and then he's all yours. I could do with a gym day, anyway."
Nat was getting ready to return to missions now that Jared was no longer breast feeding. He entertained the boy while he ate and gratefully accepted the waffle she placed in front of him, her look saying she knew he'd not eaten yet. He scoffed it down, his stomach rumbling eagerly. Once done, and the kitchen cleaned up, he put the car seat in the Audi and strapped Jared in, driving into the heart of downtown for some shopping.
He kept the toy store purchases to a minimum, but risked Nat's wrath when he bought the entire playset for outdoors, swing, slide, see-saw, trampoline, everything. He'd been working on setting up a play area for Jared outside and this would kit it out perfectly for him. Jared spied a sparkling green dress in one of the clothing store and Tony knew Nat would love it. He asked for it to be bagged as a gift and had it sent back to the compound.
Hitting the local park, Tony ran the lad ragged and had a great time chasing after him, going down slides, swinging him as high as he dared, riding the carousel, spending a solid couple of hours there. Driving back, he caught Jared yawning and figured it was time to head back. He handed Jared back to Nat, the woman looking glowing after a good workout and freshly showered.
"Thank you again, Tony, I needed that. He ready for a nap?" She asked, motioning to the sleepy-eyed child in his arms.
"Yeah, ran him ragged at the park, he's been yawning the whole way back."
Chuckling, she took him from Tony and crooned when he fussed. Steve wandered in and kissed Nat, catching up with Tony for a bit before following his woman and child. Tony meandered back down to the lab and checked on the progress of his tests, seeing them just over halfway done. A note on his desk informed him Pete, Ned and MJ had gone to see May, he'd be back sometime after dinner.
Opening up their shared wedding plan he noticed Pete had sorted out decorations and had drawn up a meal plan for Tony to check over before they booked their venue. Each of the three they had narrowed it down to offered all the meals on the plan so he went through it, seeing if any of the dishes might cause issues. An hour later his computer beeped at him and JARVIS came through the speakers.
"Sir, your results are back. I…suggest you brace yourself."
Feeling dread pool in his stomach, Tony read through the results and swore so colourfully even Bucky would have been shocked. He needed to speak to MJ with haste. He fired off a text message to her that when Peter came home she needed to be with him, and he had the many staff on hand around the compound prepare a guest room for her – she was likely not going to want to go home after this.
-oo0oo-
Peter actually had a very sneaky reason for using Ned and MJ as his cover for being out. In reality, he had asked his friends to cover for him and promised he'd fill them in later. Currently, he was in Lucca's restaurant, visiting the old restaurant owner who was overjoyed to see him.
"Ah! Peter! It is wonderful to see you!" The man greeted him warmly, kissing both cheeks. "No Tony?"
Peter awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, no. I actually…he doesn't know I'm here. It's nothing bad, I promise! I'm sort of trying to sort out a surprise for him."
The aged man sat down at a booth and asked his head cook to whip them up some Chicken Alfredo, one of Peter's favourite dishes. And, coincidentally, was on Peter's meal plan for the wedding. "Okay, what can I help you with?"
Smiling warmly, Peter laid his hands flat on the table. "Tony asked me to marry him."
Lucca bellowed in delight and grabbed his hand, admiring the stunning ring on his left hand. "Oh, Peter, it is beautiful! Very lovely colours."
"Uh…well, they match my suit. You know Tony is Iron Man?" Lucca nodded and Peter continued, "well, thing is…I'm Spider-Man."
The Italian laughed and smacked the table. "I knew there was no way you could be an ordinary lad to deal with my Tony! Then the colours match you perfectly! Tell me, was it romantic, his proposal?"
Peter filled Lucca in on all the details, included the horrible history the park held for him. How Tony had turned one of the saddest memories of his life into something far less bleak. He had returned to the park many times since and no longer felt the crushing grief of loss anymore. Lucca wiped his tears and patted Pete's hand, offering condolences and understanding at such a horrific loss. His own wife had died many years before from a drunk driver, he knew all too well the pain of sudden loss.
Their meal came and Peter heartily tucked in, moaning in delight at the flavours bursting across his tongue. He had no idea what Lucca did to the meal but it was unlike any other he'd ever eaten. "The wedding is actually why I'm here," he said once he'd polished it off.
"Oh?" Lucca asked. "Did you need the catering covering?"
Peter loved that the man's first thought must be that he was needed in some way for his business but the younger man had a much better idea in mind. "I mean, yes, but that's not all I was asking. Tony doesn't have Jarvis in his life, and as much as he loves JARVIS, the AI, he can't physically be there for Tony on the biggest day of his life. I was thinking you might like to be the one to give Tony away."
Lucca's dark eyes filled with tears and he grasped the younger man's hands in his. "Peter…" he breathed. "This is a most wonderful thing to ask, but do you think this is what Tony would want?"
"Yes, Lucca. Tony loves you, you've been there for him through a lot, especially through the loss of Jarvis. If he were still alive I'd be asking him, that's not to say you're a second thought."
Lucca waved him off. "Of course I don't think that. I meant do you think Tony is going to want to be given away?"
Peter smiled. "I think Tony will be overjoyed to share the day with a man he considers another father to him, just as Jarvis was. If Ben were alive I'd be asking him to give me away."
Tearfully agreeing, Lucca was all tears and smiles. Peter than asked if he'd be willing to ask his chef's to do the catering, and Lucca was chuckling away. "But of course, Peter! It would be my honour to feed your guests. Marius will give you just what you need, be sure to send me your menu and I will put together a taste session for you to sample all the dishes, just in case there is something you think might be better suited."
"Now, the cake. I was hoping you might know a good baker? Tony isn't interested in the traditional cake, and neither am I, I hate marzipan."
Lucca searched through his contacts and pulled out a business card for a bakery not too far from the restaurant. "Tell Hazel I sent you, she will take excellent care of you."
Gratefully accepting the card, Peter hugged the man goodbye and made his way outside when his phone rang. A tearful MJ begged him to come collect her, she had to go back to the compound. Confused, Peter agreed and tapped his chest, the suit coming out and quickly snapped on his web slingers, swinging over.
His female best friend was sat in her back garden, her face streaked with mascara. "Thanks for coming," she croaked.
Peter quickly had the suit back in its container and sat down beside her. "What's wrong?"
She dropped her head to his shoulder. "I told mom I was looking for my father and she went mad, screaming at me I was ungrateful to Matt given he'd raised me. He was on my side, much as he doesn't really treat me as his daughter, but he understood my reasoning for wanting to know the other half of my biological makeup."
"I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning his cheek on her head. "Come on, let's go home."
The suit back and MJ firmly attached with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist he swung home, really hoping Tony had good news for her. MJ was strong but seeing her cry so brokenly and knowing how her mother reacted, he could only assume it was going to be a shock to learn who fathered her.
They landed moments later in the compound, startling a playfighting Clint and Bucky. The two men knew something was wrong and calmly called for Tony, who appeared seconds later to help detach MJ from Peter. The sadness in Tony's eyes told Peter all he needed to know and knew he was going to be in for a long night of consoling.
Bucky lifted MJ into his arms when her legs refused to bear her weight, her sobs still uncontrollable. He took her to Tony's lab at his direction and left them alone, promising to be on hand should she need anything. Peter had never been more grateful for the man than then and gave him a quick smile of thanks.
"Pete, can you get me something to calm her down a bit, please?" Tony asked.
Knowing MJ's aversion to all things drug related, her returned with a steaming cup of chamomile tea and coaxed her to take it, her sobs subsided to hiccups and sniffles. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.
Tony and Pete sat either side of her. "Never apologise for needing to be emotional," Tony told her. "It isn't healthy to bottle up emotions."
Peter agreed and patiently waited for her to drink the tea so Tony could give her the answer she'd been looking for. Mentally, he braced himself for the worst and fought down any urge to go and give Mrs. Jones a piece of his damn mind.
When MJ seemed much calmer, Tony began. "I want you to know that I triple checked my results, and made absolutely certain there could be no doubt. I have also got a message ready to send to your father, if you wish it, to bring him here. Before I go on, I need to be sure you really want to know this, MJ. There are some things that shouldn't be known, and once you know, you can't take the knowledge back."
"Oh god, it's bad, isn't it?"
Tony sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "It's not bad, per se. But it is going to be a shock."
"Okay, tell me. I want to know, I deserve to know."
"Alright. Let me give you the history first, I don't know if it will help, but maybe it will. As I am sure you've known, your mother fell pregnant quite young, barely eighteen. It looks to have been a dalliance, and the likelihood your father knows about you is very slim. Your mother got in with some exceptionally bad people, Adrian Toomes level of bad, and your father was able to get her out. As with a lot of trauma responses, she developed an attachment to him."
MJ nodded. "Yeah, mom said she ran with some bad people, had me young, and all that."
"Uh huh, right. So, firstly, I don't think he took advantage of her, more like a moment of weakness, perhaps. He saved her, she's grateful, one things leads to another, sort of event. He took off once she was safely away and again, likely had no idea your mother was pregnant with you. I, uh, I can guess a lot of this because…well…I know the man. He's an asshole but not the kind to take advantage of a young, vulnerable woman, okay? And much as the man infuriates me, I reckon if he knew you were his, he'd have been back for you in a heartbeat."
MJ and Peter's eyes went so big that Pete wondered if eyeballs could fall out of their sockets. "Tony…"
Tony stopped him. "Yes, it's exactly who you think it is Pete, but let me finish explaining please. MJ deserves the entire story." He gave his attention back to the young woman between them. "Like I said, from what I've heard, I am fairly certain I have the history right. This man has mentioned to me on more than one occasion of the event, has said he sometimes regrets not checking in on your mother to see how she was doing. He…well, he was actually quite fond of her, especially of her fire."
MJ laughed a little. "Yeah, mom is a regular spitfire."
Tony patted her knee and smiled. "I'm sure. Okay, do you want to hear it or read the results for yourself?"
"I want to see it first, please."
Tony asked JARVIS to light the screens in the room, each of them filling with the information of the tests, the one in the middle showing the picture of one Nicholas J. Fury. "Your father is Fury, Head of SHIELD."
-oo0oo-
After taking some time to think it all over, MJ decided that she did want to speak to Fury herself, and Tony sent the message the man needed to urgently get to the compound. It was not an Avengers emergency, but equally important. Within the hour, JARVIS announced the man's arrival. MJ waited in the kitchen for them, giving Tony the chance to speak with him first.
"What was so damn important I had to haul my ass over here?" Fury grumbled.
Peter greeted him softly and went to sit with MJ. Tony watched him go before giving Fury his full attention. "Bear with me here a moment – remember the last conversation we have about that teen girl some nineteen or so years ago?"
Fury blinked at him with the one good eye. "Stark, are you telling me you dragged me out here to talk about a woman I slept with nearly two decades ago?"
"Trust me, please. I don't ask that often, Fury, and you know it." The dark-skinned man narrowed his eye but agreed to hear him out. "Well, what you might not have known is that she got pregnant from that encounter. Her daughter, your daughter, is sat in my kitchen."
Eyebrows climbing to his non-existent hairline, Fury folded his arms over his chest. "What cockamamy story is this, Stark? Some kid claiming she's my daughter?"
Tony shook his head and held out the StarkPad with the DNA results. "She's yours, Fury. I went over the data three times thinking I was going mad or must have fucked up."
"Hallie Jones had a fucking baby and didn't think to let me know?" He rumbled.
"How could she? Fury, you as much told me yourself you disappeared without a trace. You did your rescue then got the hell outta Dodge."
The man tipped his head in acknowledgement and scrubbed a hand over his face. "So, who is she?"
"She's Peter's best friend, her name is Michelle, but she goes by MJ."
Fury couldn't help but snort that she essentially went by a similar nickname that he did. No one called him Nick, not even his own mom. He remembered the joke he held with Carol over if he'd had kids they'd probably call him Fury too. "Is she…does she?"
Biting back a smirk at his unusual lack of loquaciousness, Tony nodded. "She asked me to bring you here. She wants to meet you."
Tony had mentioned before the two friends of Peter's to Fury in passing, but their paths had never crossed. Strangely, now that he knew, he could see the similarity in their mannerisms, especially MJ's poker face – the girl could keep her face still as stone on command. Fury turned and walked to the kitchen before stopped, removing his trench coat and gun holster, setting them aside. He took a deep breath and Tony patted his shoulder in comfort.
They walked into the kitchen and MJ looked up from the many tissues she had shredded that littered his island countertop. Her light brown eyes met Fury's dark one and she swallowed, her lips trying to form a smile.
"It's alright," Fury rumbled gently. "Hard to smile for someone you've just found out is a key part of your genetic makeup."
Peter snorted and MJ slugged his arm. "I'm sorry it's just…that's exactly what you said!"
Tony rolled his eyes and sat down with them. "I'll be here for as long as you need me to be, MJ. There is no need to rush anything, Fury has his own room here on the compound and I am sure he can clear some time in his schedule to stay a few days if that's what you need. If you want me to leave, I will."
The girl shook her head and grabbed Peter's hand, squeezing it hard. "No, I uh, please stay. Just for now. I don't…did you really not know about me?"
Taking a seat opposite her but within reach of her if she wanted to touch his hand or anything, Fury shook his head. "I am rather ashamed to say that after my night with Hallie I left without a backward glance. I thought it best that way. Your mother was in a very vulnerable place and I didn't want to add to that."
"But you slept with her?" MJ winced at the accusatory tone and started to apologise.
"No, it's okay, don't. You're right, I shouldn't have done. Hallie was barely eighteen and when I got her out of the gang she'd fallen in with I was riding the high of seeing her safe. She'd been tasked to me by SHIELD when I was still climbing the ranks and originally, they wanted me to use her to deeper infiltrate the gang. I refused, got her out, and…well, Hallie was a spitfire. Scared as shit, but still desperate to cling to her spirit. She wanted comfort and when I held her, she kissed me and I gave in all too easily. Hallie was a beautiful girl and this life is lonely, MJ."
"Michelle," she said suddenly. "My friends call me MJ, you're not my friend." Fury winced and almost seemed to shrink a little. "I mean, you're a bit more than a friend. You're my…my dad."
It was probably going to bite him in the ass later but Tony resolved to watch over the footage again and again. Fury, The Fury, was tearing up at this slip of a girl calling him dad. "I would very much like it if you called me Nick."
MJ looked at him a moment. "What about dad? I mean, if it's not too sudden. This is all fast I know but my stepdad…he, I just-"
"Dad would be perfect," he rasped, his arms automatically coming up when MJ ran around the island and hugged him so tight Tony was sure the man had stopped breathing.
Peter grinned at Tony, enjoying every second of the sweet moment taking place. Of course, no one on the damn planet would ever believe Fury was crying over finding out he had a daughter, and truthfully, he never planned to breathe a word. This man had become a trusted friend, despite his seemingly cold behaviour toward Tony. But, the genius knew that was how Fury was, it wasn't personal, simply how he talked to his friends. Family, it seemed, was a whole different story.
"Why didn't mom tell me about you? It's not like you're some big bad guy."
Fury carefully brushed her cheeks free of tears. "I don't know. Perhaps shame, or embarrassment."
"Well, we can talk to her about that some other time. MJ, are you wanting to stay at the compound tonight?" Tony asked. At her nod, he called for JARVIS to order Thai in for everyone and offered Fury his usual room on the grounds.
"Thank you, Tony," Fury said, grasping his shoulder.
Tony grinned. "Hey, what are friends for?"
Fury looked at him and nodded. "Sometimes I wonder what I did to earn your friendship, but I don't take it for granted."
Honestly, it was probably the kindest words Fury had ever said to him, except for the time during Ultron when he said he cared very much about Tony. Tony left the kitchen, Peter in tow, letting the two Fury's get to know one another better. Whether Hallie Jones was accepting of them meeting each other or not, Tony had already resolved that MJ had a home in their compound for as long as she needed it.