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Chapter Text

Agent Phil Coulson was not a happy man. First, one of his best agents was compromised, then he was sent to collect one of the most annoying men on Earth-Tony Stark- for the Avengers Initiative. But that wasn’t the problem. No, Phil’s problem was the ex-HYDRA assassin the man had married. James Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier, was going to give him a massive headache, Phil could already tell. Barnes would never agree to stay at their house while his husband went off on a potentially deadly mission for a government agency neither of them trusted. Not only that but there was also the issue of Captain America. The Captain had no idea his best friend was still alive and kicking, much less married to Iron Man.

The agent walked up to the massive door of the fancy mansion in Malibu, but they must have seen him coming because before he could even raise his hand to knock the door swung open, revealing the assassin he so dreaded talking to.

“What do you want?” Barnes bit out.

Coulson barely suppressed a wince at the frosty tone and murderous glare.
“I need to speak with Stark. It’s urgent,” he said.

Barnes stared at him for a moment longer, then slammed the door shut. Phil stood there for a moment, flabbergasted. Ok then, they don’t want to talk, he thought. As he turned round to leave, the door behind him swung open once again, this time revealing the person he had originally come to talk to.

“What?” So Stark wasn’t in a talking mood right now either.

“I need to speak with you. May I come in?”

The door opened wider and Tony stepped aside to let him in. Once inside, Phil noticed Barnes lounging on a couch in the main room, looking relaxed, but Phil knew better, and he knew that was only a facade. As he walked further into the house with Tony behind him, he stopped when he felt something squish unnaturally under his foot. He lifted his foot and saw a small Iron Man teddy bear lying on the floor.

He shot a questioning glance at Stark, but he provided no explanation. Coulson decided to file that info away for later and investigate when he actually had time.

He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, faced with the occupants of the house staring him down. Tony’s foot started to tap impatiently, and Barnes’ expression was getting more and more murderous by the second.

“I’m here to speak with you about the Avengers Initiative,” he started. Tony sighed and rolled his eyes, and Barnes looked indifferent. Phil held out the tablet he had been carrying, and Tony threw his hands up out of the way of the tablet.

“I don’t like to be handed things,” he said.

Barnes stepped forwards and took the tablet from Phil’s hand, never making a sound. He then handed the tablet to Tony, then stood back with his arms crossed, back to glaring at Phil.

Tony turned the device on and swiped at it, flinging holograms into the air. Information about each candidate was displayed in its own hologram. Both Barnes and Stark flinched in surprise when they cames across Steve’s file, though Barnes was better at hiding it.

“We only need Tony for this project,-” the two started to protest, but Phil held up a hand for silence.

“We only need Tony for this project, but I know you won’t go unless you both go, so we’d be willing to let James come but he must remain out of sight unless there’s no other choice. Captain Rogers doesn’t know that you’re alive as of now, and we’d like to keep it that way so he will remain focused on the mission. I’m sure you can find out where we’ll be if you decide you’re in, but you need to make that decision soon. We’re talking about a global catastrophe.” He finished his proposition, and hoped it was enough, because now the choice was theirs.

“Thank you for your time Mr. Stark, Mr. Barnes, I’ll be going now. You know where to find us.”

With that, he turned around and left the house, leaving Stark and Barnes to their thoughts. Now, where did he leave his Captain America cards?

Chapter Text

“I don’t like it. This is a terrible idea, we shouldn’t do it. SHIELD can handle their own messes.”

James was pacing around the bedroom. It didn’t belong to Tony or to James himself, but to a small child named Peter. Said child was being carefully held and rocked in Tony’s arms, half-asleep.

“James, we have to help them. You know they wouldn’t have come to us unless they really needed the help. Besides, I need something to do, it’s sooo boring out here,” Tony argued.

“Okay then, maybe they do need our help, but what about Peter? We can’t just leave him here!” James explained, gesturing towards their son.

“We can take him to the tower, he can stay there with Happy until we’re done. He’ll be fine.”

James sighed, considering his options. He could either stay with Peter at the house and let Tony go off on his own, or he could go with Tony, stay out of sight but still keep an eye on him while Peter goes to the tower. He knew that the tower was one of the safest places Peter could be, and James did NOT trust Tony to go and not die. So he made his choice.

“Fine. We’ll help them. But the first sign of something going horribly wrong, I’m not hiding.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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The first step is to drop Peter off at the tower. They packed a little bag for him, complete with his Iron Man teddy bear and super soft blanket. Tony retrieved one of his suits and told James and Peter he’d meet them at the tower. As Tony took off in the suit, the other two took the private Stark jet to New York.

Most of the flight, Peter was sound asleep. There were a few moments he would start to fuss, but all James had to do was smooth down Peter’s soft brown hair and he would calm down.

The five-year-old was the best thing that ever happened to James besides Tony. Peter was the most adorable child he had ever seen, with a mop of soft brown hair and big brown doe eyes. James loved him with all of his heart, and he knew Tony did too. Peter was Tony’s biological kid that they didn’t even know existed until two years ago when the mother got in contact with them because she was dying and wanted her son to have a life with his father. He’s lived with them ever since.

Landing at the tower, James noticed a distinct lack of his husband on the floor they entered. He soon realized that since Tony would have gotten there much earlier than him and Peter, he would most likely be in the workshop.
Setting down a sleeping Peter in his bedroom, James then got into the elevator to go find Tony.

“JARVIS?” he asked. “Can you please take me to the workshop?”

~ Of course James ~ The British voice sounded over the speakers.

“Thank you,” James replied as the elevator started to move.

As he arrived at the workshop floor, he could already hear the loud music blaring through the speakers. He walked through the door and just watched as Tony made adjustments to one of his suits.

“You ready to go?”

Tony jumped, dropping the tool he was working with in his shock.

“Jesus, you’re quiet. What did I tell you about doing that?” Tony asked.

“That you would find a way to stick a bell in my arm so you could hear me coming.”

“Exactly. Now,” Tony clapped his hands together, “Where’s the peanut?”

“In bed, where he should be,” James reported. “And also where I want to be,” he mumbled under his breath. A glance at the little smirk on Tony’s face told him the other man had heard him.

“Now now, dearest James, we have work to do! Villans to catch! Agents to annoy! Let us begin!”

James couldn’t help the giddy grin that spread across his face. It was all just so… Tony. Dear God, he loved this man.

“Have you found out where we’re needed yet?” James asked.

“Indeed I have darling!” He pulled up some surveillance footage. “We have a wild reindeer sighting in Stuttgart, Germany!”

“Well then, let's get going.”

*********************************
James loved his husband, really he did, but being carried across the Atlantic ocean by a flying metal suit at who-even-knows miles per hour was not his favorite activity.

As they approached the location of the ‘reindeer’ sighting, Tony's voice came over their private comm system.

“Alright, I've hacked the jet, you should be good to land on it without being detected.”

“Thanks love. Be safe.”

Tony carefully approached the jet, then as nothing showed they had been seen, set James down carefully on top of it. After making sure James had his balance and wouldn't topple over the side, Tony took off, circling around a building before blasting back towards the scene, this time much more visible.

“How about a little music? It’ll make my entrance even cooler than it already is.”

James smiled. “You do whatever you want doll,” he responded. God, he loved this man.

The jet started to shake as the speakers started to blare Shoot to Thrill. The fighting duo on the ground looked up in shock as the red and gold suit flew onto the scene and blasted horn-man backward into the stairs, then crashed into the ground, landing in the classic superhero pose. He stood, armor plates shifting and revealing all his weapons aimed at the weird man with horns, who James assumed was Loki.

“Make your move, reindeer games.”

The man, Loki, slowly raised his hands as his fancy costume rippled and faded away. Tony lowered his arms slightly, the plates shifting back into place.

“Good move,” he said.

As the jet landed, James carefully crawled to the edge, making sure he was still hidden but still had eyes on Loki. He didn’t like how easily the god had given up. James knew he was planning something, but he couldn't tell what.

As Tony and Steve loaded him into the jet, James met eyes with the mask of the suit. He was given a small, almost unnoticeable nod in acknowledgment. He crept back towards the middle of the jet as the door started to shut. He dug the fingers of his metal hand into the jet’s roof, securing his grip so he wouldn’t fall.

He had a mask made by Tony that was carefully constructed to help him breathe high up and also kept the lower part of his face hidden. James thought his old one would work fine, but Tony had refused to have something that reminded him of his time in HYDRA within 100 feet of James.

The jet was in the air, the flying going steady so far.

Unfortunately, good things don’t seem to last around them.

Just as he was thinking that, the sky rapidly darkened, and lightning flashed through the sky. James quickly curled into a ball near one of the engines, hoping it would provide a little cover as a - A person? - landed on top of the jet. Fortunately, the person (James thought it was a man) seemed so focused on whatever he was doing that James went completely unnoticed.

Oh boy, James thought. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

Chapter Text

When the lightning started to flash, that’s when Tony knew they were in trouble. When the storm first appeared in the sky, Tony felt an extreme flash of panic because James was on the roof. But Tony squished that feeling down. He knew James could handle himself, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t worry. He really hoped James had the common sense to cover his arm because metal arm + lightning = bad things Tony doesn't want to think about.

He muted the suits external speakers and quickly connected to his private channel with James.

“Babe, you good up there? Everything a-ok?” He asked.

There was a moment of silence, the comm crackled with James’ whispered words.

“All good, but there's someone on the roof. I'm assuming he's related to Loki somehow, because he's wearing weird armor, a cape, has a hammer-lookin’ thing, and can fly.”

Tony thought about that description for a second, then replied.

“Well I'm gonna go ahead and say that that's a pretty educated guess, and I agree. Where they come from must specialize in strange clothing.”

The comm crackled again when James let out a small breath.

“He's headed for the door. Expect company,” James warned, then went silent.

Not a moment too soon, as the ramp flew open and the silhouette of a tall, fit man appeared, a cape flapping behind him in the wind. Tony stepped forward, about to blast the unknown man with his repulsors, but the man threw his hammer-thing at Tony, and Tony flew back, hitting the side of the jet and falling to the floor.

The man, who Tony now recognized as Thor from the files, lunged forward, grabbing Loki by the neck and taking off once again.

“And now there’s that guy,” Tony mumbled.

“Tony,” James' voice came over their private channel. “I saw them leave. You good in there?”

“Yep, all good down here. Just getting really freakin’ annoyed with all these alien people.”

Natasha turned around in her seat.

“Another Asgardian?”

“Is that guy a friendly?” Steve asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony replied. “If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” He turned, getting ready to jump out when Cap’s voice stopped him.

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan: Attack.”

Then he took off, following the same path as Thor. Before he got too far from the jet, he heard it: a small Goddamnit Tony in his ear before a solid weight crashed into his back. He jerked around wildly for a moment, then the weight on his back spoke.

“Tony, goddamnit, stop moving around it’s me!”

Tony instantly stopped his struggling.

“James, why did you jump off of a jet and onto me while I was flying? That’s a terrible plan, even for you!”

“Well it’s not as bad as oh yeah, why don’t I just go chase after two people, both of which are EXTREMELY POWERFUL NORSE GODS without ANY BACKUP, and how about I don’t tell my husband what a stupid plan I was about to execute! And really? I have a plan, attack? That is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard. You’re a moron and I hate you.”

James finished his rant, leaving Tony speechless. He eventually found his voice.

“Love you too.”

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James PoV

The duo closed in on the mountain where JARVIS’ scanners picked up the two Asgardians signatures. James was carefully laid out on Tony's back, his arms wrapped around Tony's armored chest. As they rapidly approached the two gods, James’ enhanced hearing picked up Blondie saying Now listen well, brother, before Tony stretched out his arms and crashed into him, tackling Thor off the mountainside.

James quickly ducked, protecting his face with his shoulder as Tony crashed the god, and consequently themselves, into the forest, branches and twigs slapping against his head and arms, luckily covered by his jacket.

Tony threw Thor down to the forest floor and hovered above him, carefully circling out of reach. While Thor was rolling himself to his feet, James took a flying leap off of Tony's back into a nearby tree. He landed silently and hid in the branches, making sure he couldn't be seen.

Thor regained his footing and glared at the Iron Man suit.

“Do not touch me again,” he growled out.

“Then don't take my stuff!” Tony responded.

“You have no idea what you are dealing with,” Thor accused.

Tony looked around and gestured toward the forest.

“Shakespeare in the park?” His voice was laced with sarcasm. “Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?” He mocked.

“This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!”

James could tell Tony was getting fed up with this guy.

“He gives up the cube, he's all yours. Until then, stay out of my way,” Tony turned to leave. “Tourist,” he muttered under his breath.

James mentally facepalmed. Don't antagonize him, Tony!

Thor wound up and threw his hammer at Tony, hitting him square in the chest and sending him crashing back into a tree, snapping the trunk in two. James heard him quietly mumble something not so pleasant under his breath as he stood. I’m mad at Thor for throwing a hammer at your face, but you kind of deserved that Tony. James got an alert through his earpiece if Tony was seriously injured, so he wasn’t all that worried at the moment.

Thor held up his hand and his hammer flew into it with a metallic whistle. He started to whirl it around in a circle as Tony struggled to his feet. Suddenly Tony did a little half-turn and fired his repulsor straight into Thor’s chest, knocking him into a tree. This tree held up under the extra weight and sudden impact, and Thor stayed standing, but a little disoriented.

Don’t do it, Tony, don’t- he did it. Tony blasted forwards, got his feet out in front of him, and slammed them into Thor’s chest at full speed. What part of 'He’s an extremely powerful Norse god' did you not understand?

Unfortunately, thinking smart and logical things will not get said things through his husband’s thick head. So James went the other route of simply muttering into his comm.

“You’re a goddamn idiot Tony.”

Tony gave no outward sign that showed he heard James, but James knew he heard him. They never shut off their private comm system, especially when out in the field facing a potentially dangerous frenemy. The files might say Thor’s a friend, but right now, the evidence was pointing more towards a he-does-what-we-want-most-of-the-time-because-we’re-tiny-humans-and-he’s-a-freaking-god type of thing.

Thor rolled to his feet, at the same time calling his hammer. He raised it to the sky, and the clouds above darkened the sky as they gathered together above their location. All of a sudden, a huge lightning bolt flashed, striking Thor’s hammer, the metal absorbing it. The air was filled with electricity as Thor thrust the hammer at Tony, all of the pent-up lightning shooting out and hitting Tony in the chest with a flash of sparks.

James could feel little shocks from the air shooting down his metal arm, and he rubbed at the connection between his body and the arm, hoping they could leave soon.

The lightning stopped striking Tony, and he stumbled a little. Then James could hear JARVIS’ voice through the earpiece

~Power at 400% capacity.~

“How ‘bout that,” Tony mused. Then he fired both of his repulsors plus the unibeam in the center of his chest at Thor in an explosion of golden light.

Thor flew backward, flipped, and landed on his feet. The two both tensed, then blasted off towards each other, launching through the air until they clashed in midair, grabbing ahold of each other and flying up into the trees.

When they were out of sight, James started smashing his flesh hand onto his face, face-palming enough to fill his yearly quota. These two are such idiots! Don’t they know they’re supposed to be on the same team?

Soon enough, the two crashed back into the clearing, taking a few trees with them in their descent. The two on the ground seemed to realize that using firepower wasn’t going to work, and James hoped that meant the fighting was of- wait. That idiot is getting into a freaking FISTFIGHT with the god of thunder!

They threw each other around, blasting the other when they got the chance. James winced when Thor smashed his head into Tony’s enough to dent the faceplate.

While they fought, James saw a little flash of color (other than green and brown of course,) break through the trees. With a start, he recognized the god-awful eyesore of a suit they gave Steve. He landed a little way away, then had to get his parachute detangled. James turned his attention back to the fight when he heard Tony’s repulsors whine.

Tony took off from where Thor was about to smash his face in with his hammer. He flew up, circled around, then punched Thor, square in the head. They were both on their feet, ready to continue when a shout of “Hey!” accompanied by a brightly painted shield bounced off both of their chests and back to its owner stopped them in their tracks.

“That’s enough,” Steve said, sliding the shield back onto his arm. James took a good look at him. This was the closest he had been to his childhood best friend since he fell off that train. Steve looked good, for just recently been unfrozen. James wished he could talk to him, but at the same time was glad he didn’t have to. What would he even say? Hey, I know you thought I died when I fell off of a train, but here I am! Oh yeah, I have a metal arm, was an assassin for HYDRA for like sixty years, I’m married to a dude, and I have a kid. How’s your life been? James couldn’t see the future, but he could tell that that would be the most awkward conversation he’d ever have.

Steve jumped down from his perch, landing a little bit away from the duo.

“Now,” he addressed Thor, “I don’t know what you plan on doing here-”

“I’ve come here to put an end to Loki’s schemes!” Thor shouted.

“Then prove it,” Steve said, unwavering under the stares from the two men in front of him. “Put the hammer down.”

“Uh, yeah no, bad call. He loves his ham-” before Tony could finish his sentence, Thor swung, knocking Tony backward once again. James suppressed his urge to reach out and see if Tony was okay, because he was completely unprepared for that swing, unlike the other times he’d been hit.

“You want me to put the hammer down?” Thor yelled, taking a few steps towards Steve. He then took off, flying towards Steve, raising his hammer to strike him down. Steve crouched, raising his shield as he went down, preparing for the inevitable hit.

Thor hit his mark, slamming the hammer down straight into the center of the shield. As they collided, a shockwave of energy blasted outward, knocking all of the trees in the nearby vicinity back with immense force. Unfortunately, James was sitting in one of those trees. He latched his metal arm onto the branch he was sitting on, but the force blasted him back, forcing him and the branch he was clinging onto out of the tree and crashing into the ground. His head smashed into a massive rock, and everything went black.

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Tony PoV

Tony watched from his spot on the ground as Cap and Thor collided. He was propelled back, into another tree, and back onto the forest floor. He quickly regained his bearings, protected by his armor. All the trees around the clearing were bent over backward, and all of a sudden, there was a horrible static noise in his earpiece, and Tony was given a sudden reminder of his husband’s position.

He quickly muted the external speakers and desperately tried to get in contact with James.

“James! James baby, you there? Come on baby, answer me!” Nothing. “Answer me goddamnit!” Tony was getting desperate. A crackle of static came over the comm as James groaned, and the breath Tony was unconsciously holding whooshed out.

“James, you good there?” Cap and Thor were getting up, and starting to stare at him questioningly, and with a jolt, he realized he hadn’t moved from his spot since he fell. He quickly clambered to his feet, anxiously awaiting James’ response. He flapped his hand in a dismissive gesture towards the other two, needing to get the point across to leave him alone, he was fine. Go find the evil-probable-psychopath we left on a mountain.

“James Buchanan Barnes you answer me right now, or I swear to God, you’re sleeping on the couch for a month!”

“Well-,” he broke off into a coughing fit. “Well we can’t have that, now can we?” James croaked.

Tony felt his wildly beating heart slow down to a normal range as he heard James’ voice, raspy as it may be. He looked up as Cap and Thor started moving around again, preparing to go get Loki from where he was abandoned. Tony unmuted the speakers and faced the two blondes.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll get there on my own.”

Tony waited until the two were out of sight before he quickly shedded his suit and bolted towards the fallen tree he remembered James jumping into.

“James?” he called. “Where are you?”

He finally came across his husband, leaning against a fallen tree, picking splinters and leaves out of his hair and jacket. Tony deflated, his relief overwhelming him. Even though he had confirmation James was alive, he hadn’t been able to relax until he saw that James was okay in person.

Tony rushed over to him and sat down beside him, their sides touching.

“You good?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Fabulous. Now, I do believe we have an appointment with a pirate and his newfound captive, onboard the flying ship of doom.”

James smiled.

“Well then, I guess we should get moving.”

James got up and offered his hand to Tony. Tony latched onto it and pulled himself up. He pressed a quick kiss onto James’ lips before leading him off to where he left his suit. They quickly got themselves situated before taking off towards the helicarrier (that Tony may have hacked, but Fury didn’t need to know that).

Chapter Text

Tony PoV

When they got within sight of the helicarrier, Tony could feel James situate himself so he was hidden by the bulk of Tony's armor.

“JARVIS, can you block the 'carrier’s cameras and sensors on the runway? There shouldn't be anyone out there right now.”

They hovered for a few seconds, then Tony got the alert on his HUD, clearing them for landing without being seen. He swooped down and landed gently on the runway. James jumped off his back and landed on the pavement, followed by Tony stepping out of the suit. They had already hashed out their plan on the flight over, now they just had to put it in motion.

As Tony stepped out of the suit, James went up to him, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then climbed inside the now empty suit. They quickly walked into the helicarrier, Tony in the lead with James following behind him. His movements were clunky and non-human, and Tony marveled at how well James could copy JARVIS’ walk when he was in control of the suit.

The few agents they passed in the halls gave them strange looks, but none of them stopped to ask questions, just kept on going to where they needed to go.

They strolled through the halls of the helicarrier, neither of them giving any indication there was someone in the Iron Man armor. They caught a glimpse of Loki being escorted down another hall, undoubtedly on his way to a cell.

Tony happened to glance through an open doorway, where he saw Agent, leaning against the wall, holding some sort of cards in his hands. He stepped through the door, knocking as he entered. Agent’s head jerked up, hastily shoving the cards into his open locker and slamming it shut as he saw who was entering.

“What do you want Stark?” he asked, wearily.

“Nothing, nothing. Whatcha got there?” Tony inquired, nodding to Agent’s locker.

“Nothing,” Agent replied, impassive, but Tony could see a faint blush cross over his cheeks. Nothing. Sure.

Agent cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

“Walk with me,” Agent said, starting to head out the door, but then abruptly stopped, noticing the Iron Man suit just outside the doorway.

“Really Stark?” Agent raised his eyebrow.

Tony shrugged, smirking.

“Maybe it just loves me that much,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at the suit. The suit (James) paused for a moment, then very kindly flipped him off.

Realization dawned in Agent's eyes.

“Oh. I see. Is your ‘suit’ your bodyguard today Stark?”

“Why yes he is, Agent,” Tony replied.

“Have you got another suit onboard?” Agent asked.

“Is that concern I’m hearing Agent?” Tony asked in mock surprise.

“No,” Agent said, pushing past James and starting to briskly walk down the hallway.

Tony stood there for a moment more, then took off after Agent, hearing the clunky, metallic footsteps of the suit behind him. He caught up in a few steps, falling into step beside the agent. They walked in silence for a few moments before Tony started talking again.

“I do,” He said casually.

Agent looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Did I unknowingly propose to you in the last few minutes? If so, I take it back,” he stated dryly.

Ha ha, very funny, Tony thought. Playing along, aloud he said,

“But Agent, I thought you loved me! Although, it would probably be a good idea to take it back. A fabulous super-assassin has already stolen the heart of the one you so desire, my Agent!” Tony flapped his arms dramatically while speaking, gesturing to the suit behind them as he finished.

Agent rolled his eyes at Tony. How dare he, Tony thought. I’m fabulous!

“But I do have another suit, no, you cannot have it, or use it, and, speaking of love, I see you've met your secret childhood crush out there. How’d that go?” Tony asked.

He knew it had gone horribly, he was cringing just watching the security footage from the jet.

“Fine,” Agent replied curtly, but Tony could see the faintest blush cross his face.

But seriously dude? ‘I watched you while you were sleeping.’ That’s not only incredibly creepy, but also really weird.

“I heard he’s got a place in Brooklyn, courtesy of SHIELD? You can pick a weekend, I’ll fly you in. Keep the love alive,” Tony offered, the trio coming into the main meeting area just as Banner asked what Loki needed the Iridium for. He broke into the conversation gladly, watching out of the corner of his eye as James went and stood guard in an unobtrusive corner.

“It’s a stabilizing agent. Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD,” he walked over to Thor patting him on the arm. “No hard feelings Point Break, you’ve got a mean swing.

“Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants.” He walked to Fury’s circle of screens (That are incredibly stupid, by the way. Has this man heard of holograms? Much easier to use than screens. And low-tech screens, no less.) and looked out across the sea of agents in front of him.

“Raise the mizzenmast! Jib the topsails!” he called out. All eyes turned to him, some in confusion, most in annoyance. One agent’s screen caught his attention.

“That man is playing Galaga!” he shouted, pointing to the man in question. “Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did,” he muttered, trailing off near the end.
He turned sporadically, trying to see all the screens, covering one of his eyes then uncovering it just as quickly. (Screens, man.)

“How does Fury even see these?” He asked, looking to Hill for an answer.

She gave him a flat stare and said,

“He turns.”

“Sounds exhausting,” he replied, turning back to the screens. He walks around to all of them, randomly tapping and sliding things around as he speaks.

“The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.” He slipped one of his hacking chips on one screen base, making sure to be unnoticed by everyone.

“When did you become an expert in Thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked, her voice partly confused, but partly respectful. Like, a teeny bit respectful

“Last night,” he replied. He heard a small, Oh really noise in his ear, then a whispered “That’s definitely a lie,” from James. His hands froze in their movements for a second, then started again, Tony hoping that no one had noticed the small freeze.

“The packet, Selvig’s notes,” he continued. “The Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?” he asked the room.

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve spoke up. Tony could see the miniscule flinch from James in the corner at his voice.

“He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier,” Banner pointed out.

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect,” Tony added on.

“Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet,” Banner finished.
“Finally, someone who speaks English,” Tony praised, gesturing excitedly to Bruce.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve muttered.

“It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Banner shifted uncomfortably, a muttered ‘Thanks’ was directed at Tony. He counted it as a win, getting the reclusive scientist to address him directly.

Footsteps entered the room, and in walked the pirate himself, Nick Fury.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him,” Fury stated.

Steve broke in. “Let’s start with that sick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” A more pronounced flinch followed that name.

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube, and I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” Fury’s face was carefully schooled into a blank expression, but Tony could hear the underlying anger in his voice.

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do!” Steve yelled. He looked embarrassed at the sudden attention, but he finished his comment. “I understood that reference.”

Tony rolled his eyes. The simple joys in life, he thought. He turned to Bruce in askance.

“Shall we play, Doctor?” he asked.

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James PoV

As Tony talked and blabbed on about science he didn’t understand, James was watching Steve. He watched in utter fascination as his old friend spoke, and moved, and lived in front of him in full detail. The first time he saw Steve face to face in the new century, and he was wearing a fricking Iron Man suit. His head was racing with warring thoughts. Should he stay hidden, or should he reveal himself to all in the room? The logical part of his brain overruled the emotional side. The plan was for him to stay hidden unless absolutely necessary, so that’s exactly what he would do.

He noticed that throughout the meeting he was getting strange looks from everyone but Tony, Phil, and Fury. Of course, no one else knew he was here. No one else really even knew he existed. It might be just a bit odd, he thought. A bright, shiny suit of armor standing in the corner of the room, not doing anything but sitting there and watching them.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as Tony and Banner started moving out of the room and into the connecting hallway. He quickly followed behind them, acting as robotic as he could. He was just exiting the room as he heard Steve mumble.

“I thought Stark piloted the armor.”

Oh, it’s definitely a Stark. Just not the one you’re thinking about.

James followed the duo into a lab, and once again, James stood in the back of the room, out of the way of the scientists bustling about. Thinking of Starks before now got him thinking about little Peter. The kid had to have woken up by now, so Jaymes quickly double-checked to make sure the external speakers were off and that the comm. connection to Tony was still active.

“Hey JARVIS?” he asked. “Can you call Happy for me?”

~Of course, James,~ he responded.

James saw Tony’s lips quirk up into a small smile as the phone began to ring. Happy picked up on the third ring.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Happy? Can you put Peter on the phone for me please?”

“Yeah, one second,” he replied, his voice getting farther away as he presumably went to go find the mischievous five-year-old. Soon James heard the rustling over the phone as it changed hands.

“Daddy?” Peter's young voice asked.

“Hey, Petey!” James responded, smiling uncontrollably at the excitement in his kid’s voice.

“Daddy!” Peter screeched. “Me and Happy had the bestest day ever! We played cars, and we watched a movie, and we went out for ice cream, and we had lotsa fun!”

James could see Tony turn away from Banner as he no longer fought the urge to smile as he heard Peter’s nonstop talking over the phone.

“Slow down kiddo, make sure you breathe. Now, it looks like you’ve had a great day! You’re gonna be stayin’ with Happy for a few more days, just until we finish this, so don’t wear him out too fast,” he chuckled.

“But Daddy, I wanna play with you and Dad!” Peter whined.

“We’ll all go out to a movie after we finish up here, how’s that sound kid?”

The other end was silent for a moment, Peter mulling the deal over, then the phone burst into noise again as Peter readily accepted James’ little deal.

“Okay, but we have to see one of the good ones. Not those boring old movies you guys like!”

James chuckled as Tony let out a little giggle, causing Banner to look at him strangely.

“You good there Tony?” he asked. Tony cleared his throat.

“Yep, just a little… something in my throat,” he coughed.

James tuned back into Peter’s rant about which movie they should see.

“-but that one’s too boring. Ooh maybe we could go see that new one about those kids that like, time travel-”

“Peter,” he interrupts. “We can see whatever movie you want. You just have to wait for your Dad and I to get home okay?”

“Okay!” Peter chirps. “I can go hang out with Happy until you get home!”

James tried to picture the normally stubborn man bending to the will of an equally, if not more, stubborn five-year-old, but then erased the image from his mind, knowing the man would do anything and everything for Peter, as would almost anyone who’s met the kid.

“You do that kiddo. You do that.” He noticed other people approaching the lab. “I gotta go kid. Work to do and all that boring adult stuff.” Peter giggled. “Your Dad and I love you very much, kid. We’ll see you in a few days,” he said

“You’ll call, right?” Peter asked nervously.

“Of course I’ll call. Any chance I get. Okay?”

“Okay,” Peter responded, more confident now. “I love you guys! Have fun at work!”

“We will Pete, we will,” James said, then hung up the phone, just as Tony zapped Banner with a small prod.

“Hey! Are you nuts?” Steve yelled as he walked into the room.

“Jury’s out!” Tony replied.

Knowing what he knew about both Tony and Steve, James could already tell that this was not going to end well. Not well at all.

Chapter Text

Tony PoV

Captain Spangly-Ass stormed into the room, eyes blazing with fury. The automatic doors slid shut behind him as he made his way into the lab. Tony ignored him and continued quizzing Dr. Banner.

“You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow Jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?” Banner looked around, lost, but before he could say anything, Mr. Righteous broke in.

“Is everything a joke to you?” he asked indignantly.

“Funny things are,” Tony stated, a hint of sass seeping through his voice. He kept an eye on the suit standing in the corner, knowing that if things escalated, (which, knowing himself, they would), he would have to keep James from attacking anyone.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny.” Rogers snapped. “No offense, Doctor,” he tacked on.

“No, it’s alright,” Bruce assured. “I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

“You’re tiptoein’, big man. You need to strut,” Tony encouraged Bruce, just to see how far he could push the Star-Spangled-Man-With-A-Plan.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark,” Rogers practically growled in his face.

“You think I’m not?” Tony asked incredulously. “Why did Fury call us, and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us?” Tony heard a small snort through his earpiece.

“He’s not telling us fuckin’ anythin’, babe,” James muttered. Tony fought down his smile and continued to rant at Rogers.

“I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables, Captain.” He hissed the last word, his frustration with the man breaking through his front.

Rogers seemed shocked for a moment, then he regained his composure and continued to question, but with less anger in his voice.

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Curiosity crept into his voice.
Tony rolled his eyes. Seriously, how dumb is this guy?

“He’s a spy, Captain,” he said aloud. “He’s THE spy. His secrets have secrets.” He made a wild gesture in Bruce’s direction. “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?” Tony asked, now addressing the doctor.

Bruce’s eyes widened. “Uh,” he stumbled over his words. “I just wanna finish my work here and-”
“Doctor,” Rogers interrupted and fixed a piercing stare on Bruce. Tony felt a surge of protectiveness flare up in him for a moment, then die back down. How dare Rogers come into the lab, a place Tony had tried to make comfortable for the uncomfortable doctor, and basically force him to speak about something he obviously felt he had no place in?

There was a moment of silence, before Bruce’s shoulders sagged and he gave in to the Captain’s wishes.

“‘A warm light for all mankind,’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube,” he started.

“I heard it,” Rogers stated.

“Well, I think it was meant for you,” he said, pointing at Tony. “Even if Barton didn’t post that all over the news.”

Rogers looked confused. “Stark Tower? That big, ugly,-” Tony shot him a betrayed look. How dare he call my baby ugly, he thought. The Cap continued. “- building in New York?”

“It’s powered by Arc Reactors, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?” Bruce asked.

Tony nodded absently. “That’s just the prototype, too. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now,” he confirmed.

“So,” Bruce continued, “Why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they even doing in the energy business in the first place?”

Tony hmm’ed. “ I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files.” A breathy laugh came through his comm. "Of course. Should’ve known you were gonna snoop."

Rogers reeled back a little. “I’m sorry, did you just say-” Tony held up a finger to silence him.

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, we’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?” he offers, holding out the bag to the Captain. Rogers just stared at him, baffled.

“Yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around.” he sneered. Tony could hear James growl in his ear, but thankfully, the suit didn’t move an inch. It would be a bit hard to explain why the suit was moving on its own.

“An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically not possible,” Tony sniped, then turned and offered the bag to Bruce. He hesitantly took one, but when Tony gave him a look, he took a few more.

Tony shot Rogers a look. “See,” he gloated. “At least someone around here appreciates my kind and generous offer.”

Rogers ignored him and continued to speak as if Tony hadn’t said a word.

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up.” No shit, Sherlock. You think all that word vomit he spewed in his cage was for nothing? Tony thought. “This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.” Rogers gave Tony a pointed look.

“Following isn’t really my style,” he said, in false remorsefulness. "No kidding," James muttered.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?” Rogers asked mockingly.

Tony shot back a retort, fed up with this guy’s bullshit. “Of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?”

Bruce, broke in, trying to diffuse the tension. “Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Rogers seems to contemplate for a moment, then shakes his head and turns to leave.

“Just find the cube,” he shoots over his shoulder, then the doors slide shut behind him, leaving the two geniuses alone in the lab (with James, but who’s counting?).

“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about?” Tony asked under his breath, tapping away at one of the monitors. “Wondering if they shouldn’t have kept him on ice.” “Tony!” James hissed in his ear. Tony flaps a hand, uncaring.

“You want to come out, dear?” Tony asks, and Bruce looked up, confused.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Tony replied. “Just talking to myself.”

Bruce doesn’t look convinced, but he goes back to work.

“The guy’s not wrong about Loki,” Bruce speaks up. “He does have the jump on us.”

Tony snorted. “What he’s got is an ACME dynamite kit. It’s gonna blow up in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.”

“Sure you will,” James says, just as Bruce replies, “And I’ll read all about it.”

“Uh-huh,” Tony says. “Or you’ll be suiting up with the rest of us.”

Bruce shakes his head, a small, pained smile on his face. “See, I don’t get a suit of armor. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”

Tony is silent for a moment, then he begins to speak, if a bit hesitant at first. “You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This thing,” he taps the Arc Reactor in his chest, it’s comforting blue glow shining through his shirt. “This stops it. This little circle of light. It’s a part of me now, not just armor. It’s a terrible privilege.” He pushes back painful memories of his trip to Afghanistan.

“But you can control it,” Bruce stresses.

“Because I learned how to.”

“It’s different,” Bruce mumbled, turning to another screen in the room.

“Hey,” Tony said, his voice surprisingly gentle as he stood on the other side of the screen. He brushed all the data to the side and he confronted Bruce. “I’ve read all about your accident. That much Gamma exposure… should have killed you.”

Bruce gave him a strange look. “So, you’re saying that the Hul- that the Other Guy… saved my life?” When Tony said nothing, he continued. “That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?”

Tony gave him a little smirk. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Bruce sighed. “You might not like that.”

“You just might,” Tony replied.

“Can we trust him?” James asked.

“I think so,” Tony replied, quietly.

“I assume you’ve been disabling all the security cameras near and inside the lab, so if you think we can trust him, sure, I’ll come out.”

Tony did a little fist pump, then finished locking all the cameras out.

“Hey, Brucie,” he said, dragging out the ‘Y’ and grabbing the attention of the other scientist.

“What did you do, Tony?” he asked.

“Why do you immediately think I’ve done something? That was rhetorical!” he said when he saw Bruce was about to answer. “And I haven’t done anything. I just have a guest coming that I prefer you not to speak about at all. Can I trust you with this?” he asked, and for once, Bruce saw he was deadly serious.

“You can trust me with anything, Tony. I won’t tell a soul,” he promised, and he knew he would keep it. He didn’t want to betray the trust of who he hoped was his new friend.

Tony checked all the monitors one last time, then called out to the open air, “You’re good to go, babe!”

For a second, nothing happened, and Bruce looked around confused. Then all of a sudden, the Iron Man suit in the corner clicked, and Bruce watched in fascination as it opened and a man stepped out.

“Has he been in there this whole time?” Bruce asked.

The man was stretching, and Tony responded. “Yeah, and he’s not used to it like I am.” He turned to the man. “Sucks for you!” he teased.

The man just flipped him off and continued stretching. “Fuck you, Tony,” he said.

“Love you too, darling,” Tony cooed.

The man finally stood up straight, and Bruce got his first good look at the unknown man.

His dark brown hair went down to just above his shoulders, and Bruce supposed he was fairly attractive, with a lean but muscular body and defined features. What struck Bruce the most was his eyes, and how he held himself. His steel blue eyes were weary, full of a pain Bruce couldn’t name. His posture screamed of a man who was ready to fight at any given time, but his eyes said he was tired, ready for some peace.

“Hi,” he said awkwardly. “I’m Bruce.” He held out his hand to shake. The man looked at it for a moment, then held out his own. He captured Bruce’s had in a firm shake, and said, “James.”

Bruce was silent, then he cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence. He looked to Tony for actual introductions, since James didn’t seem to be offering any information to who he was.

“Oh!” Tony seemed to get the hint. “Lovely, this is Brucie, my new Science Bro! Brucie, this is James, my husband!” Oka- Wait What? Husband? Tony is married? And to a guy? The news always painted him as a womanizer, and nowhere did it say Tony liked guys!
“Brucie?” Tony asked. “You good there?” Bruce nodded, still in a bit of shock. He got out of it a little when Tony started to look a bit downcast. “Are you a-?” He left the question hanging.

Bruce snapped out of his shock completely, horrified at the implication of the question. “No! God, no Tony.” Tony looked relieved. “No, I just- I didn’t know you were married, is all. Does anyone else know?”

Tony made a face. “Fury and Agent know, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, and a few others. Otherwise, no. You’re the first person we’ve told in, what, two, three years?” James nodded.

“Oh, wow. I- I’m honored.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “No, really Tony. I’m honored that you trusted me enough to tell me this. And, for what it’s worth, I’m happy for you. Both of you,” he added on, looking in James’ direction.

The man didn’t react, but Bruce thought he saw a glimmer of approval in his eyes.

Suddenly, the suit beeped, startling all three men.

~Excuse me, sir, but there is someone approaching. May I recommend that Master James gets back into the suit?~

The three shared a look, then James hastily made his way over to the empty suit. As he stepped inside, it started to close around him. “It was nice to meet you, Bruce,” he said, before the suit closed around his face and he stepped back into his corner.

“Nice to meet you too, James,” he replied, knowing somewhere in him that James could hear him. They quickly went back to their station to make it at least look like they were doing something, but Tony noticed something on his monitor. “Brucie, come here.” Bruce got to the monitor just as the doors slid open to reveal a Fury that didn’t look like he was in the mood to play (but honestly, when didn’t he look like that?).

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” he thundered.

Tony, uncowed, replied coolly. “Uh, kinda been wondering the same thing about you.”

Fury, unmoved questioned further. “You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

“We are,” Bruce calmly interjected. “The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have a location within half a mile.”

“And you get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Tony finished. He quickly glanced at his monitor as it beeped angrily at him. “What’s Phase 2?” he asked the director, his voice edged with suspicion.

“Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons.” a voice announced angrily, and soon, the person came with the voice, Rogers slamming a heavy duty-looking gun down on the table. He glanced at the two scientists. “Sorry. The computer was moving a bit slow for me.”

Nick looked a bit out of his depth, but you wouldn’t know unless you were looking for it. Guess what Tony was looking for.

Fury tried to explain himself, but didn’t succeed. “Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn’t mean that we’re-”

“I’m sorry Nick,” Tony interrupted, swiveling the screen around to face everyone. “What were you lying?”

Fury’s face twisted into something resembling a grimace. Rogers looked at the spy with mild disgust.

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed a bit,” he said, his voice filled with distrust. The doors opened once again, letting Thor and Natashalie into the lab. Bruce tensed when he saw her, and Tony placed a hand on his arm, trying to at least calm him down.

“Did you know about this?” Bruce seethed, staring Romanoff down.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” she asked, ignoring Bruce’s question and walking further into the room to stand by Fury.

“I was in Calcutta! I was pretty well removed!” he replied, almost yelling at this point.

“Loki’s manipulating you,” Romanoff chided.

Bruce huffed a disbelieving laugh. “And you’ve been doing what exactly?”
“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you,” she defended, but nothing showing on her face.

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy! I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction!” His voice rose steadily over his little speech, and by the end of it he was yelling, poisonous looks being sent to the two SHIELD agents in the room.

Fury seemed to hesitate, just for a moment, then he pointed at Thor.

“Because of him!”

Thor reeled back like he had been struck. “Me?”

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but that we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned,” Fury continued.

Thor looked outraged. “My people want nothing but peace with your planet!” he shot back.

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you?” he challenged. “And, you’re not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled.”

“Like you controlled the cube?” Rogers broke in.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war,” Thor added on, still looking offended. These people are such idiots! How the hell are we supposed to be a team? Tony thought.

“A higher form?” Rogers questioned, a mildly sick look appearing on his face. Tony felt for the guy, he really did. Waking up 70 years in the future after crashing a plane in the middle of a war, only to have to go back into battle must suck.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something,” Fury replied.

“Nuclear deterrent. ‘Cause that always calms everything right down,” Tony commented.
Fury looked unimpressed. “Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Oh, so that’s how you wanna play it.

Rogers started to comment when Tony interrupted. “Wait! Wait up just a sec! Hold on how is this now about me?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” Rogers shot back, his voice dripping with disdain. Oh that’s low, Rogers.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this,” Thor interjected, a little smile on his face. Fury rounded on him once again, his eye blazing with anger.

“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?”

“Did you always give your champions such mistrust?” he asked back.

Soon all comments became indistinguishable from each other, everyone’s voice melding together to form one giant cacophony. Romanoff and Bruce were going at it, while Fury and Thor were hashing it out. Tony was yelling at Rogers, any respect he had for him for being James’ friend was gone.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony could see the scepter starting to glow, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, continuing to argue with Rogers.

Suddenly, Thor’s voice broke through the noise. “You speak of control, yet you cause chaos!” The chattering died down.

“It’s his M.O., isn’t it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re… we’re a time bomb.” Tony could see that Bruce was getting uncomfortably defensive, and he knew a defensive Bruce could turn into an… angry Bruce.

“You need to step away,” Fury ordered. Tony tried to diffuse the tension. He threw an arm around Rogers’ shoulders.

“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?”

Rogers shoved his arm away roughly. “You know damn well why, back off!” he snapped. Everyone in the room was silent, watching their little showdown with careful eyes.
“Oh,” Tony said, getting right up in Rogers’ face. “I’m starting to want you to make me,” he pressed. Rogers shoved him, and Tony could see the armor make an aborted move to get between them. Tony saw Romanoff’s eyes become filled with suspicion. Crap, he thought. She saw. He was pulled back to the conversation as Rogers’ voice broke through his haze of thought.

“Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” he asked condescendingly.

“Genius, billionaire,” he hesitated, then continued, reassuring himself that it wasn’t true in his head. “Playboy, philanthropist.”

Rogers narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disgust. “I know guys with none of that worth ten of you,” he hissed. “Yeah, I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire,” Tony interjected, all the while thinking that Rogers was wrong. He didn’t only fight for himself. He would fight with everything he had to make sure his family was safe.

Rogers smiled a little, a bit in disbelief, the rest abhorrence. “Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

“A hero? Like you?” They were chest to chest. “You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle,” he snapped, his patience for the man run thin.

“Put on the suit,” Rogers challenged. “Let’s go a few rounds.” Thor’s booming laugh reminds them of the other people in the room.

“You people are so petty… and tiny,” he said, still smiling with a bit of aloofness.

Tony realizes just how close he had gotten to the Captain, and moved away. These people were giving him a headache.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-” Fury was cut off.

“Where?” Bruce asked. “You rented my room.” He sounded angry. Too angry.

Fury tried to placate him. “The cell was just in case-” He was cut off again by a furious Bruce.

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t! I know! I tried!”

Tony stared at him, shocked. He could hear Rogers’ sharp intake of breath. He had tried to kill himself?

Bruce sighed, then explained. “I got low. I didn’t see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on! I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back here into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!” He stood straight, glaring at Romanoff. “You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?”

Tony could see Romanoff and Fury slowly pull their weapons out, and Rogers balled his fist, ready for a fight.

“Doctor Banner,” Rogers said, his voice deceptively calm. Bruce looked over his way. “Put down the scepter.”

Bruce looked down, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the scepter clutched in his hand. He looked up at Tony, wide-eyed, but all Tony could do was shrug. Across the room, a computer beeped, and Tony gratefully took the distraction.

“Got it!” he called.

Bruce put the scepter down carefully on its stand and walked over to Tony. “Sorry kids, looks like you don’t get to see my party trick after all.”

“You’ve located the Tesseract?” Thor asked, looking at the scientists with interest.

“I can get there faster,” Tony told the others.

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.” Thor refused.

Tony was turning to get his extra suit, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks and turned him around again.

“You’re not going alone,” Rogers told him.
“Oh really, you gonna stop me?” Tony taunted.

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.” Oh, you’re just asking for trouble, Rogers.

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man,” he teased.

“Put on the suit,” Rogers ordered, his face serious.

The computer Bruce was at beeped again, and he stared at it for a moment before realizing something.

“Oh my God,” he whispered. All of a sudden, the helicarrier jolted, sending the half-baked team flying in all directions. Romanoff and Bruce disappear out the windows to the bridge, and Rogers is sent to the floor. Tony tumbled back but was caught safely in the arms of the suit. He quickly regained his footing and patted the armor on the shoulder.

“Thanks, babe,” he whispered. James’ voice crackled through the comm.

“Is it an emergency now?”

“Probably,” Tony agreed. “But stay in the suit for now. You can still help, but I’ll feel better if you were in the suit.”

The armor nodded and released him. He lurched his way out the door, Rogers following behind him.

“Stark, what the hell are you doing? Get in the suit!” he yelled.

Tony kept moving. “Can’t,” he got out.

“Can’t? You can’t use that suit? Why the hell not?”

“Reasons!” Tony yelled, then shoved Rogers down another hall. “Meet me at engine three!” Then he took off down the all, toward his other suit as the roar of the Hulk echoed through the ship.

Chapter Text

James PoV

James waited in anxious silence until he could confirm that Tony was well on his way to the suit and that everyone was well and accounted for. He could hear what he assumed was the Hulk’s infuriated yells a few floors below him, but at the moment, he was more focused on the falling ship they were all on actually crashing and killing everyone.

“Tony, did you get your suit yet?” he asked, powering up his own suit and crashing through a window that lead outside.

“Not yet,” he panted, dashing through the halls.

“Get there, and fast. I'm going to help Steve,” he ordered.

Tony made a sound of affirmation before James flew around to the broken engine. He could see Steve and his dumb costume waiting for someone to show up. He could tell when Steve saw him because he tensed up and started talking. James quickly switched to his channel and turned on the voice modulator in the suit. As he listened to Steve rundown of the situation, he had JARVIS scan the damaged engine. A 3D view of it popped up on his HUD, and he sent it to Tony’s suit before he realized that the rotors were stuck. He would have to push to get them moving again.

“I’m gonna have to get inside and push,” he commented, already beginning to blast his way into the engine.

“You’ll get crushed by the force!” Steve exclaimed, just as Tony shouted “No way! Not happening!” Whoops. Looks like Tony made it to his suit. Luckily they were on their private channel, otherwise, Steve would be very confused. JARVIS highlighted something on the scan - a lever.

“See that red lever? When I get the engine running, I need you to hit it,” he commanded.

Tony made a small sound of realization before he went off on a mumbled tangent about what exactly the lever would do. James could hear thrusters in the background, and he moved faster, wanting to get inside the engine before Tony had a chance to take his place and be in more danger than he already was.

His final blockade fell away, and he carefully flew in between the rotors. He glanced around at the towering metal blades, hoping that someone made it to the lever in time. Otherwise, someone would have fun explaining that to Peter. ‘It’s okay, your dad just got crushed to death in an oversized blender’. Because that would go over well.

He made his way behind the nearest blade and shook out his hands before placing them in the middle of the metal rectangle. He pushed, hard, but the rotor wouldn’t move. He fired up his thrusters and pushed as hard as he could. The blade creaked and groaned, but with a final hard shove, it moved. Jerkily at first, but got smoother as debris was knocked away. James pushed as hard as he could, speeding up with every circuit made around the engine.

He could hear the muffled sounds of a fight through the comms, and he hoped to God that Steve would be able to hit the lever before he got filleted.

He was quickly building up speed, The wind was whipping around him, buffeting the armor and almost knocking him off course. He quickly regained his grip and pushed harder and faster than before.

“Wait, aren’t you in the- didn’t you- what?” Steve stuttered, his voice sounding tinny to James’ ears. Tony must have gotten here, then.

“Later, Spangles. Right now, just focus on getting rid of these idiots,” Tony instructed, blasting one of the men off the helicarrier.

James was shooting around, everything around him blurring into one big grey blob. An alert popped up, he needed to get out, the engine could now sustain itself.

“Okay, I need you to hit the lever!” he yelled, beginning to let go of the rotor.

“We’re- a little- busy!” Steve grunted, quickly shooting down one of the men before ducking behind a wall to avoid a hail of bullets.

James had to let go, if he stayed any longer, he would be obliterated. His hands came off for a second, but that was all it took. The forces overtook him, and he was shoved back against the rotor behind him.

“Oh shit,” he groaned, before he was sucked downwards.

Tony PoV

“Oh shit.”

Tony stopped short.

“What happened? What did you do?” he asked, his heart pounding in his chest. There was no response. All of a sudden, a harsh clanging started up, and it didn’t come from the comms. Tony’s head whipped around to face the engine his husband had disappeared into. He could see masses of sparks falling out from underneath it, and panic overtook his body.

“Lever! Hit- ucking- ver!” He heard James’ voice call out, choppy and cut off.

“Steve! Get the goddamn lever! I’ll finish these dumbasses off!” Spangles nodded and took off, quickly making his way up the side of the helicarrier. Tony shot forward, blasting every person that wasn’t wearing a hideous flag costume. Tony had just kicked the last guy into open air when Spangles finally jumped and hit the lever. He turned his attention to the engine, where a beat up, red and gold suit fell for a moment, then regained flight. A boot thruster shut off for a second then rebooted, and the suit limped its way over to Tony’s. Tony cut Rogers’ side of the comm off before talking to James.

“You good?” he asked, carefully grabbing the faulty armor’s arm and dragging it back to the carrier.

“Yeah, definitely. I think I need to lay down for about 10 years.” James groaned. The couple made their way into the carrier, when Fury’s voice came over their earpieces.

“Coulson’s down.”

They waited with bated breath to hear anything else about the agent, their trek to the labs halted.

“They called it,” Fury said, and their hearts sank. Coulson was a good man, and he didn’t deserve to be killed, not in the least by Loki.

As they neared the labs, the two went their separate ways; Tony to the briefing with everyone that was left, and James to the lab, where he could hopefully get out of the suit for a little bit.
Tony and Rogers sat around the table, the only people left or available to come.

“Thor’s gone, who knows where he went, Banner’s in the same situation. Romanoff’s with Barton in the med bay. You two are all that’s left,” Fury stated. Tony held back a little smirk because he knew that there was at least one more person to help them out, and that person made a hell of a lot of a difference. Fury took something out of his pocket and looked at them, almost mournfully. “These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket,” he threw Agent’s Captain America trading cards on the table, stained with blood. “Guess he never did get you to sign them.”

“We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor, I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming,” Fury mused. He confronted the two heroes. “Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier,” he admitted.

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes,” Fury’s head dropped the slightest bit, showing how the loss of his agent and friend had really affected him.

Tony abruptly stood, then turned and walked down the hall, away from all of the feelings he wasn't ready to face. He burst through the lab doors, where James was poking at the bruises littering his chest. When he saw Tony, alarm flitted across his face.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, dropping his shirt and letting his hands come to rest on Tony’s shoulders.

“Yeah, yes. Everything’s fine, it’s just-” he cut himself off. James cupped Tony’s face in his hands and lovingly stroked his thumbs across his cheekbones.

“Too much?” James asked gently. Tony nodded, leaning into the touch. James released his hold on Tony’s face, only to gently pull him into a loving embrace. They stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, for what felt like hours. All of a sudden, James’ phone started vibrating in his pocket.

Tony reached down and slid it out, answering the video call request when he saw who was calling.

“Hey Bambi!” he said, a smile making its way to his face.

“Dad!” Peter shouted, going out of frame for a moment as he threw his hands in the air.

“Kiddo, you gotta calm down. We wanna see you!” James chided, but it had no heat to it. They were both grinning with both amusement and fondness in their faces.

Peter was bouncing about, the camera shaky and blurry. The parents didn’t mind as they listened to their son excitedly tell them what he had done in the few hours since they had last talked to him. They watched in peaceful happiness as Peter jumped around, his eyes big and innocent, his face flushed with happiness and excitement.

When he finished telling them about how he had hidden from Happy in a cupboard for half an hour then jumped out to scare him, he plopped down on the floor and looked at them expectantly. When they did nothing but look at Peter with confusion, he heaved a dramatic sigh.

“Come on, now you gotta tell me stuff!” Their looks didn't change. If anything, they were even more confused. “I told you about what I did, so now you guys gotta tell me what you did!” The couple exchanged a glance. They obviously couldn't tell Peter exactly what they had done, so they improvised.

“Well kid, your Daddy saved a falling ship,” Tony said, and onscreen, Peter’s eyes widened in awe.

“Like a superhero?” he whispered reverently.

“Exactly like a superhero,” Tony confirmed.

Peter sat there, staring at the couple on the call for a few moments more, then started jumping around once again, leaving the phone on the floor.

“YES, YES, YES! YESYESYESYESYES! MY DADDIES ARE SUPERHEROES! DAD IS IRON MAN AND DADDY IS-” he cut himself off. “Daddy,” he asked, staring at them quizzically. “What’s your superhero name?”

James and Tony thought frantically for a few moments before James blurted out the first thing he could think of. “The Winter Soldier.”

Peter processed the name before continuing his flailing. “MY DADDY IS THE WINTER SOLDIER! THIS IS AWESOME! THIS IS THE-WOAH!” his socks slipped on the floor, sending the small boy sprawling. The parents flinched, hearing the small thump.

“Petey? You good there, bud?” Tony hesitantly asked. Peter’s head popped into the frame, a giant smile on his small face. He burst out laughing when he saw his parents’ and their Worried Faces™. Smiles broke out on Tony’s and James’ faces as their son rolled around on the floor, laughing his head off. His little hands were clutched to his heaving sides, his cheeks red with mirth. James watched in amused silence as Peter’s laughter tapered off, replaced by Peter’s heavy breathing.

Tony fondly shook his head. “I don’t even know what you’re laughing at, kid. What could possibly be that funny?”

Peter just shook his head. “Nothing,” he giggled.

Tony raised his eyebrows incredulously. “Nothing? Kid, how could you laugh for 5 minutes straight and then say it was nothing?” Peter shook his head again, his lips pressed tightly together. “Do I have to get over there and tickle it out of you myself?” Tony threatened playfully. But after he said those words, Peter’s face fell. It lost all the joy and humor it had been carrying just moments before. “Bambi?” Tony asked. “What’s wrong, Petey-Pie?”

“Will you?” Peter asked tearfully. “Will you come home now?” Their hearts broke at the sight of his big brown eyes, brimming with tears. “I want you to come home now. Please?” he asked, his voice quiet and pleading.

“Oh Peter, baby, we’ll be home as soon as we can. Okay, Honey? We just gotta hang around the boring adults, and do boring adult things for just a few more hours. Then we can come home and play games for as long as you want, alright?” James soothed. The five-year-old nodded hastily, wiping away his tears with his sleeve.

“Alright. You come home soon, then we can prank Uncle Happy some more,” a mischievous grin came across Peter’s face.

“Okay bud,” Tony confirmed. “You got it. First thing when we come back, Uncle Happy’s getting a face full of glitter!” Peter giggled again, the sadness fading away.

“Peanut, we gotta go now, okay? We’ll see you very soon and we love you so very much!” They watched as Peter waved back at them and blew a little kiss at the screen.

“I love you too! My superhero daddies!” Peter giggled and clapped once again before he hung up, leaving Tony and James alone in a bare lab.

James leaned against Tony, lowering his head to the smaller man’s shoulder. “I really needed that,” he mumbled.

“Can I ask-” Tony began, but James cut him off.

“Why I told him I was the Winter Soldier?” Tony nodded.

“I’m… not actually sure why I said that. It was the first thing that came to my head. And,” he took a deep breath. “I don’t want them to have any control over me, not even with a name. If I can make that name into something good, then maybe,” he stopped.

Tony wrapped his arms around his partner. “It’s okay,” he soothed, stroking his hand through James’ long hair. “I get it.” And he really did. Making the Winter Soldier, someone HYDRA had made into a weapon, a killer, into someone that saved the world, a superhero, would just rub it in their faces that they had no control over the man he was currently holding in his arms. They clung to each other for a few more moments before James reluctantly pulled away. Tony could see that something was bugging him, so he gave his husband a little shove.

“Out with it,” he ordered gently. James looked at him with confusion. “Whatever’s bothering you, out with it.”

James seemed to steel himself, before he blurted out, “I think you should talk to Steve.”

Tony blinked, shocked, before he incredulously asked, “Steve, as in the Star-Spangled guy who I’m pretty sure hates me?” James nodded. “Why?”

“Because for one, you guys are supposed to be a team, so you need to be able to at least tolerate each other. And two,” he ran through his hair. “I’ll eventually have to show my face to the others, right?” Tony nodded. “I need you to get along because I cant, I can’t choose between you,” he pleaded. Tony could see the pain in his eyes, could see how it would kill him inside to have to choose between his family and the man he loves, and his best friend from childhood.

“Okay,” Tony surrendered. “I’ll try to talk to him.”

James gave him a small smile. “That’s all I ask.”

************************************************************************

Tony searched for the Captain in a few rooms before finding him where Loki’s old cage was.

“Was he married?” Rogers asked in a quiet voice. Coulson.

“Uh, no. There was a cellist, I think,” Tony responded.

Rogers sighed. “I’m sorry. He seemed like a good man.”

For some reason, that made Tony a little angry at the dead man. “He was an idiot,” he snapped.

Rogers looked a little shocked. “Why? For believing?”

“For taking on Loki alone,” Tony retorted, leaning against the railing.

“He was doing his job,” Rogers defended. Tony scoffed.

“He was out of his league. He should’ve waited. He should’ve-,” Rogers cut him off.

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony,” Tony walked a little away from the bigger man, huffing.

“Right. How did that work out for him,” he muttered.

“Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?” Rogers asked, sympathy lacing his tone. Tony rounded on him.

“We are not soldiers,” he snapped. “I am not marching to Fury’s fife!”

“Neither am I!” Rogers shot back. “He’s got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list…” he trailed off.

“He made it personal,” Tony muttered, catching sight of the blood staining the wall.

“That’s not the point,” Rogers dismissed. Tony shook his head.

“No, that is the point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?” he mused, the gears in his brain working overtime.

“To tear us apart,” Rogers suggested. Tony ignored him.

“He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us and wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience,” he reasoned.

Realization lit up in Rogers’ eyes. “Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart.”

“Yeah. That’s just a preview though. This is opening night. Loki’s a full-tilt diva,” he rambled, building on to his idea. “He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the sky with his name plastered-” his voice trailed off, and the blood drained from his face. “Oh no. No, no no no.” He turned and ran down the hall, towards the lab where he left his husband and his suit. He could barely hear Rogers’ footsteps pounding down the hallway behind him over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

Loki was at the Tower.

Peter was at the Tower.

When he skidded into the lab with a crash, James looked up from where he was fiddling with something on his arm.

“Tony, honey, everything okay?” he asked concern clouding his face.

Tony too giant gasping breaths as he made his way to his suit. “Loki. Going to Tower.”

James’ eyes went huge, and his face went pale. “Peter,” he said in a horrified whisper. Their suits closed around them just as Rogers crashed into the lab.

“What?” he said, confused, as he took in the two suits which he now knew both had pilots. He quickly ducked as they burst to life and flew over his head, crashing through the window and flying off.

Inside his suit, Tony was panicking. If Loki touched one hair on his baby’s head, he would wish he had never been born.

His comm crackled, and Rogers’ voice came over it. ‘Stark, where are you going?’

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. “No time to talk, Rogers. Gather the gang and meet at Stark Tower,” he ordered, putting on another burst of speed. “JARVIS, find Peter. Find him now,” Tony said.

~ Master Peter is currently playing in the penthouse, sir.~

“And where’s Loki?” No response. “JARVIS, where’s Loki?” he demanded.

~Sir, Loki is currently 7 feet away from the entrance to the penthouse. He’s on the balcony, sir, and getting closer~

Anger and worry welled up inside of him. We’re supposed to protect him. he thought. One of the only good things in his life, Peter is the one thing he’s most proud of. His innocent little baby that deserves everything. And if Loki hurt him… Tony couldn’t imagine what he would do.

“Hey,” James’ voice echoed through his helmet. “Peter’s gonna be fine. We’re going to beat this guy and his army, then we’re going to go home to Peter and prank Happy for days. Just imagine how annoyed he’ll be.”

Tony cracked a small grin, imagining Happy covered in glitter and slime, Peter running around his feet, a giant grin on his face. But then the happy picture vanished, and his mind doubled its worrying.

The tower burst into view, its massive blue letters standing out like a beacon. Well, Tony thought. Those, and the literal beacon that’s glowing on the rooftop. His helmet immediately zoomed in on the penthouse once they were in range, and Tony’s vision clouded with red when he saw that Loki was sitting on his couch, in his house, with his kid held tightly in his grasp.

Peter looked mostly okay, but his face was red and covered in tears, and his arm was being held in the iron grip of the trickster god. The god’s face held only smugness and contempt, nothing that showed he was bothered by the crying five-year-old he had gotten ahold of.

I don’t care if that man is Thor’s brother or not, he thought. His suit crashed through a window, followed closely by James’. They both held up their repulsors, waiting for even the smallest of reasons to shoot.

He is going to regret ever laying his hands on my kid.

Chapter Text

James PoV

They crashed through the window, glass flying across the room. Loki’s face was smug and expectant, and it made James’ blood boil at how he carelessly dragged Peter around.

The boy was wiping away a few stray tears with his sweatshirt sleeve, his nose red and raw. Tony and James stalked up to the god, arms raised, ready to fire at a moments notice. They jerked to a stop when Loki held the tip of his scepter threateningly to Peter’s neck. James could see how his baby’s breathing turned shallow, his eyes focused on the needle-sharp point of the weapon at his throat. The Asgardian smiled sharply at the couple, his gaze predatorial, his grip never faltering.

“Let. Him. Go. Now,” Tony ordered, his voice shaking furiously with every word.

“Now why would I do that?” Loki asked tauntingly. “I walk in here, preparing for my rule of this world and your utter failure, and what do I find, but a child. I would have left it alone,” here he tightened his grip and pulled Peter closer to him. Peter let out a small whine and James’ anger racked up another notch. Loki continued, his bright blue eyes gleaming in malice. “But then I realized that this child looks eerily similar to a certain man in a suit of armor that imprisoned me.”

Loki shook Peter around, forcing a squeak out of the boy. James stepped forward, uncaring if anyone was listening over the comms.

“Let him go. He has nothing to do with this,” he commanded, letting a little bit of the Soldier drip into his voice. “Let him go now, or else,” he threatened. For the first time, Loki’s smug exterior faltered, looking a little uncertain, before the mask slipped back into place.

“Fine,” he sneered. “You want him so bad? Take him!” He shoved Peter towards his parents. The boy collapsed to the ground at James’ feet, just as Loki fired at the trio. James quickly curled protectively around Peter as Tony fired back. The hit glanced off of James’ armor, knocking the ball of Peter and his dad into the wall.

As Tony and Loki fought it out, James carefully pried Peter away from his chest, holding him gently by the shoulders. His mask folded away, letting his worried, steel-blue eyes meet Peter’s terrified ones.

“Are you okay?” he asked quickly. Peter nodded, his tiny body shaking in fear. James cursed quietly and pulled Peter back to his chest again, tucking his head under his chin. Peter shook and started to sob, his hands going to clutch at his father’s armor.

“I-I wanna go home!” he cried, wincing and flinching as the sounds of fighting carried on behind them.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, it’s okay,” he soothed, pressing a kiss to the top of Peter’s head. “Just close your eyes, everything’s gonna be okay.”

He whispered sweet nothings into his hair as Peter clung to him and shook in his arms. Suddenly, the sound of another window shattering echoed through the room. Peter flinched, curling into James’ chest as his hands flew to his ears. James hugged him even closer as footsteps made their way towards them. He glanced a look up, and immediately relaxed when his husband’s worried face stared down at him.

Tony stepped out of his suit and crouched down, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on Peter’s shoulder. Peter startled, then leaped up, throwing himself at Tony. Tony caught him and carefully but fiercely hugged his son to himself. James met eyes with his husband, both sets suspiciously wet. He cocked his head, a silent question about the trickster god.

“Threw him out a window. The bastard hitched a ride with a flying alien,” he reported.

James looked at him in shock as Peter said, “Dad said a bad word.”

“Yes he did, Petey,” James said staring at Tony accusingly. Tony looked sheepish for a moment before he was back to normal.

“Oh yeah, there’s aliens now,” he added on.

“I assumed,” James deadpanned.

They both turned to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that adorned most floors, (three of which were broken,) as the quinjet flew by, shooting down any flying aliens it could.

“You have to go,” James whispered. Tony’s face became pained.

“I have to go,” he repeated, hating every word.

“They need Iron Man,” James urged, knowing that the team couldn't do it without Tony. Tony still looked highly reluctant to leave.

“Do it for Peter,” he said, playing his final card. If that couldn't get him to leave, nothing else in the world would. And it worked. Tony’s face became steeled and determined, ready to fight for his son.

Tony carefully pulled Peter off of his chest, making him release a torrent of wails and cries. James’ heart broke hearing them, seeing how desperate Peter was to stay with his Dad.

“Hey, hey kid. Peter!” Tony gently ran his hand through Peter’s soft brown hair. “Kiddo, I need you to look at me.” Peter raised his watery brown eyes to meet his father’s. “There you go, kid. Listen, Petey, I need you to stay with Daddy, okay?” Peter let out an unintelligible cry. “Please, Peter. I need you to stay safe, and right now, that’s not with me,” he pleaded. “I need to go help my team. They’re trying to save the world, but they need Iron Man.”

Peter sniffled. “You’re gonna save the world?”

Toy nodded. “Yup,” he responded, still petting Peter’s hair.

“You’re gonna stop the bad man?”

“Definitely.”

Peter took Tony’s face in his tiny, tiny hands, and James thought that this was the most serious he’d ever seen the kid. Peter looked Tony dead in the eye, and asked in the most heartbreakingly pleading and hopeful voice,

“You’re gonna come back?” Tony’s eyes began to water again.

“Bambi,” he whispered, pulling Peter into a strong embrace. “Absolutely.”

Peter seemed satisfied with that and gave Tony a final kiss on the cheek before he opened his arms to James. He quickly scooped the child up, then gave Tony a hug and a kiss, whispering, “Be safe,” in his ear before stepping back and watching as Tony stepped back into his suit and flew out the window.

James turned and made a beeline towards the workshop, but upon noticing Peter nervously sucking his thumb, stopped y his room at the tower to grab his Iron Man teddy bear. Peter took it graciously, removing his thumb and chewing on the bear’s ear.

Once in the workshop he quickly grabbed his sniper rifle and one of Tony’s bullet-proof vests. Giving the child on his hip a glance, he grabbed what looked like an old war helmet off of a shelf and set it on Peter’s head. The helmet fell over the kid’s eyes before he pushed it up with a toothy grin.

“JARVIS,” he asked, making his way to a higher floor. “Where would I have the most access to aliens?”

~The South side of the building, on the 86th floor, sir,~ the AI responded.

“Thanks, JARVIS,”

~Anytime, sir~.

He made his way to the 86th floor and carefully scoped out a good window perch. When he found the right window, he moved back a few feet before setting Peter down, safe from any falling glass.

Back at the window, he hit it sharply with the butt of his gun. The glass fell, and James could hear the light tinkling of it hitting the street below. He got his first real look at all the action. There were aliens everywhere, killing and destroying anyone and anything they could. James could see the Avengers scattered through the air and streets, valiantly fighting to keep the world safe.

James made his way over to Peter with the vest and squatted down next to him. “Peter, honey, Daddy’s gonna help Dad beat the bad guys, but you gotta stay right here, you hear me? Right here.”

Peter nodded, his toy still in his mouth. James smiled and ruffled his hair, then slid the vest down over Peter and the helmet. As it was meant for a man much older and larger than Peter, it completely swamped him. The only visible parts of the little boy were a few curls, his nose, and his giant eyes that peeked out over the top of the vest. The helmet sat on top of it all, completing the (mostly)(hopefully) bulletproof barrier around the kid.

“Stay here,” he reminded the child. Peter nodded again, the massive helmet swaying back and forth. James laid down in the window frame and set up his rifle, his hands moving effortlessly, almost without thought. He got situated, turned on his comm, and waited. He would only intervene if absolutely necessary.

He didn’t have to wait long.

An alien snuck up behind Steve as he was battling two others, back turned. James quickly but calmly took aim and fired, hitting his mark dead on. Steve’s head whipped around, staring at the dead alien in shock. But that split-second of distraction was all one of the aliens needed to lunge at the Captain, hands outstretched and poised to kill.

Steve turned back to his fight just in time to see the alien get shot down, inches from his face.

“Romanoff, was that you?” his voice crackled over the comms, sounding winded. She made a sound, denying the shot. “Barton?” he asked, growing more confused by the second.

“Nope,” the archer replied. “But whoever it is is a damn good shot.”

James smirked a little in satisfaction, pride flickering into his heart. I knew I still had it.

Before anyone else could say something, another wave of aliens flooded out of the portal. James quickly spat out, “Stark Tower, 86th floor, don’t look for me, fight!” He couldn’t help but feel a little smug at how everyone he could see jumped a little at the new voice, but they all heeded him, getting back into fighting stances.

James started to pick off as many as he could occasionally glancing back at Peter. The kid was happily munching on the ear of his toy, watching in innocent and avid fascination as aliens flew past. James was relieved that the fear from earlier was gone, at least for now, because the last thing he needed or wanted was a panicking kid on his hands.

James got lost in the fighting, the rhythmic reloading of his gun, the satisfaction when he killed one of the creatures.

Suddenly, Natasha’s voice was in his ears, shouting that she could close the portal. He stood abruptly, startling little Peter, but he ignored the kid for a second.

“Do it!” he shouted, desperately wishing for the invasion to be over so he could go back home with his family. The rest of the team voiced their assent, yelling for the agent to close the breach.

“Wait!” Tony’s voice shouted.

“What is it, Stark?” Steve asked.

“I’ve got a nuke incoming,” a nuke? Who the hell fired a nuke at the city? Were they trying to kill everyone? “And I know just where to put it,” Tony finished, his voice strained and oddly sad.

“Know where to put it?” James mumbled, confused. He then saw Tony’s suit, watched as it made a sharp turn skyward. The blood drained from his face in horror. “Tony, no,” he breathed. “Tony, you can’t! You’ll kill yourself!” he yelled, uncaring that the rest of the team was listening.

Behind him, Peter’s head whipped up, sending the helmet skittering across the floor. “Dad?” he squeaked, his eyes going big. James cursed, then heard the faint click of the comm. lines changing.

“Tony, hon, please,” he begged. “You can’t do this! Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave us,” he whispered pleadingly, knowing it was futile. Once Tony sets his mind to something, nothing could change it. He watched in mute horror as the suit grew closer and closer to the portal.

“I’m sorry, babe. It has to be me. I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered. His voice turned hopeful but pleading. “Tell Peter I love him, okay?” James nodded, knowing full well Tony couldn’t see him. “James, baby, I love you. Don’t forget that! I love you!” he yelled, before the suit disappeared into the portal and the comms turned staticky.

James’ knees buckled, and he fell to the floor with a harsh sob, hand over his mouth and his eyes burning and watering. He stared blankly at the spot his husband disappeared, praying that he would come back to them when Peter’s voice broke him out of his trance-like state.

“Daddy?” he whimpered, and James turned and crawled over to him. He pulled his little Peter into his arms, one hand going up to play with the hair at his nape. He could feel the tremors going through the small body, shaking him from head to toe. Peter’s eyes were glued to the portal, but James’ back was turned, knowing that the chances of his beloved coming back through were slim.

“Dad,” Peter whispered.

“I’m sorry buddy, he’s gone,” James muttered sadly still running the fingers of his flesh hand through Peter’s hair.

“No!” Peter protested, squirming out of James’ arms. “Dad!” he shouted, pointing at the portal.

James spun so fast he almost knocked himself over. Sure enough, a small red and gold figure was falling from the now closed portal. He shot to his feet, Peter clutched firmly to his hip. He got right up to the window ledge, but there was no telling flash of blue or anything that would show him that Tony was alive. The suit fell, gaining momentum, not slowing down. He stared at the falling suit, hoping something would happen.

Nothing.

“Tony!”

******************************************************************************
Tony PoV

As soon as he got through the portal, he lost contact with James. His beautiful, wonderful James. At least James still had Peter.

His Peter, the light of his life. His baby that he had promised to come back to, that he didn’t even get to say goodbye to.

Goodbye, Peter, he thought. I love you.

The nuke hit.

Explosion.

Brightness.

Darkness.

Tony awoke with a start, his brain jumping to action and his heart racing. He could hear the fading echo of the Hulk’s yell and figured that’s what got him started again. He saw Rogers- no, Steve- sitting next to him.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice raspy. Guess that’s what happens when you basically die.

“We won,” Steve breathed, his dirt-smudged face breaking into a relieved grin.

~Sir,~ JARVIS questioned in his ear.

“Not now, JARVIS,” Tony responded.

“You wanna get shawarma?” he asked, addressing the rest of the team that had gathered around. “I’ve never had it before. We should get some. Celebrate. Yay, we won!”

~Sir! JARVIS insisted.

“What, JARVIS?” he snapped. While waiting for the answer, he scanned everyone’s faces. There was only one person- “Oh shit,” he cursed.

~Master Barnes is on his way, sir, with young sir in tow. He is, as I believe you call it, doing the ‘Murder Strut’~ JARVIS’ smug voice stated. Tony cursed again as he disengaged the suit and stood up on wobbly legs. The rest of the team watched in confusion, except Natasha, of course.

“Shut it, you,” he told her, and her sly smile grew. The two of them had actually grown pretty close when he was dying, and she definitely knew about what was coming for him.

“Okay, class,” he clapped, and everyone’s eyes flew to his face. “Very, very soon, actually, frighteningly soon if you ask me, but you probably shouldn’t because literally no one understands what the hell I’m saying-”

“Tony!” Steve broke in. “Get to the point.”

Tony sighed. “Basically, very soon someone will arrive. This person will most definitely look like they want to kill me, but they don’t actually want to, so please don’t attack him or else he and I will kill you.”

Everyone (but Natasha) stared at him like he was crazy.

“Okay, then,” Barton said slowly.

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’ll see,” he said.

Soon enough, he was proven correct. James was Murder Strutting ™ down the destroyed street, and even from far away Tony could see the glare on his face. From the way everyone (again, but Natasha) tensed, they could see it too. But Tony could tell that they were so focused on the man stalking towards them that they failed to notice the small child sitting on one of his feet and clinging to his leg, carried along for the ride. Soon enough, James was right on top of them.

Steve gasped, a small, “Bucky?” leaving his lips as he took in the sight of his childhood. Peter transferred himself to Tony’s leg with a small squeal, nuzzling into his knee and drawing eyes to him. James reached out and smacked Tony across the back of the head.

“ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!” he bellowed.

“Here we go,” Tony muttered.

“Why the actual hell would you do that? You almost fuckin’ killed yourself!” Tony squirmed, a sheepish blush staining his cheeks.

“Do we have to do this right here?” he asked, gesturing blindly to the team behind him.

James smirked. “Oh, yes we do. You’re the one who decided to fly a fuckin’ nuke into a fuckin’ ALIEN WORMHOLE!” Tony opened his mouth to put up some sort of defense, but James covered it with a hand. “And I know that you’re the only one who could do it, but that doesn’t mean you had to fly in there with it!” James took a deep breath.

“What if,” he asked in a low and deceptively calm voice. “What if you had actually died, hm? What would’ve happened to me? To Peter?” here Tony looked down at his son, happily chewing away on his pants leg, clinging to him with all his might. Tony gave him a small, fond smile, remembering that Peter chewed on things when he was nervous, happy, or content.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered shamefacedly. The team stared, shocked that someone could get the great Tony Stark, to truly apologize?

James reached out and lifted Tony’s chin, their eyes meeting again. James’ were devoid of any anger they had earlier, now just kind and caring. “Hey,” he whispered, a stark contrast to his yelling. He gave Tony a relieved smile. “I’m glad you’re okay,” and pulled him into a crushing embrace. Tony returned it with vigor, his relief at his family being safe evident in the way he desperately clung to the man he loved.

He felt a tug on his pants, and glance down to see Peter staring at them expectantly. “Come here, you!” Tony exclaimed, hefting Peter up and into their hug. He gave a happy squeal and hugged Tony, wrapping his small arms around the man’s neck.

“You came back,” he mumbled into his neck.

Tony’s eyes started to burn. “Yeah,” he said clutching Peter to him. “Yeah, Bambi, I did.”

Peter squeezed his neck again, then let out another happy shriek. Tony winced, the high-pitched sound right next to his ear. Peter squirmed, struggling to escape his father’s hold. Tony carefully set him on the ground, only for him to run and jump at Natasha with a cry of, “Auntie Tasha!”

She caught him gracefully, without effort. “паучок,” she responded, kissing his head. James sidled up to Tony’s side, slipping an arm around his waist. Tony leaned into the touch, resting his head on James’ shoulder as they watched Peter and Nat converse.

They were suddenly reminded they weren’t alone when Barton suddenly burst out.

“I seriously think I speak for us all when I say, what the fuck is going on here?”

Chapter Text

“He said a bad word!” Peter gasped, pointing an accusing finger at the archer.

“Yes, he did,” Nat mused. “Pay up Barton.”

Clint gasped, affronted. “Are you guys deafer than I am? He said like eight swear words!” gesturing to James. Peter shook his head.

“I didn’t hear anythin’,” he claimed with a small smirk. “Did you, Auntie Tasha?”

She returned his smirk. “I heard nothing.”

Peter grinned victoriously and held out his hand. “Pay up!” he chirped. Clint just stared at the kid in horror.

“My god, this kid’s a devil child,” he muttered. Tony cleared his throat.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call my son a devil child, Barton.” Everyone gaped. He had just confirmed what they were all thinking.Tony Stark has a child. But, as they looked closer, they could definitely see the resemblance. They had the same hair color, same nose, and chin. But the most striking resemblance was their eyes. It like someone has transposed Tony’s eyes onto the kid, albeit the kid’s were much bigger and rounder with youth.

As everyone gawked at the kid in Natasha’s arms, Steve stared in disbelief at the man standing beside Tony. How..? Steve shook his head, shoving the thought to the back of his mind. That could wait for now. Instead, he leveled a glare at Tony.

“I think you owe us an explanation, Stark. Now,” he said coolly.

Tony PoV

“I think you owe us an explanation, Stark. Now.”

Well, shit.

Tony knew this was coming, he knew that it would happen once he joined this dysfunction of a team. And from the way Rogers was staring James down, Tony knew that his dawdling would NOT be appreciated right now. He sighed in resignation.

“Fine, but can we move this somewhere else? We have a cover to keep, and I’d rather not do this in the middle of the street,” he grumbled.

“Come along, Солнышко,” Natasha called, taking Peter and starting the walk back to the tower.

“Uhh, Tony?” Bruce asked quietly.

“Yeah?” he answered absentmindedly, tangling his fingers with James’ as they started to walk.

“Shouldn’t you take the suit back with us? It could get stolen.”

“Ha!” Tony barked. “As if anyone could steal my tech!” James yanked a little on one of his fingers. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll have JARVIS pilot it back for me.” As if on cue, the armor glowed blue once again and shot up from the street, leaving a trail through the air leading to the tower.

Tony took in their little group: bruised, bloody, and covered in alien goo. Well, everyone except Peter. The only thing on him was a mega-watt smile that made Tony’s heart go soft.

Natasha was leading the cluster, Peter held in her arms. They were having a conversation that Tony was afraid to ask about, what with Peter’s mischievous glances back toward Clint. Behind them were Clint and Thor, not talking but walking in companionable silence. Every so often, Clint would leave the group and come back cleaning the tip of an arrow he found. Trailing behind them was Tony and James, hands still intertwined, quietly talking to each other about who-knows-what. And although he couldn't see them, Tony knew that Bruce and Rogers were behind them. Bruce because there was nowhere else for him to go at the moment. Tony knew Rogers was there because he could feel the stare burning into the back of his head.

Tony was so lost in his thoughts that he missed Bruce calling his name until James squeezed his hand.

“-ony?”

“Yeah?” he snapped his attention to Bruce. Bruce looked at him concernedly.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be fine?” Tony brushed him off.

Bruce obviously didn’t believe him but moved on anyway. “I was thinking back to the fight when I reali-”

“Sir,” Jarvis interrupted. Tony held up a finger for silence.

“Yeah, Jarv. Go ahead.”

“Sir, I do believe that it would not be a good idea to bring Master Peter back to the tower.”

“Why not?” Tony asked brusquely, stopping in his tracks.

“Well, it appears that Loki appears to be stuck in the floor of the living room at the moment, Sir.”

Tony gave Bruce a sideways glance, and Bruce flushed sheepishly.

“I- the Other Guy may have fought Loki in the tower,” he mumbled.

Tony gestured for him to go on. “And…?”

Bruce blushed further. “He may have smashed Loki into a giant crater in the floor.”

Tony beamed. “Now that’s what I like to hear! This is great! I mean, Pepper may kill me over the floor, but still!” He turned to offer James a fistbump, but the other man just stared at him, unimpressed. Tony turned back around, pouting. “Party pooper,” he grumbled.

Tony jogged up to the front, dragging James along with him. “Nat, I’d like my gremlin back now, if you wouldn’t mind,” he held out his arms.

“Dad!” Peter screeched, throwing his arms around Tony’s neck. Tony hugged him back, while also updating Natasha on the situation. Her face hardened.

“If he thinks he’s getting anywhere near my Солнышко, he is sorely mistaken,” she practically growled.

Tony nodded to her then skedattled to his previous position in the line-up. James patted Peter on the head before he carefully unloaded his gun from his shoulder, now alert and ready to protect his family. Tony kissed Peter on the forehead before he slung his kid onto his back to make him less of an open target.

They were at the foot of the building far too soon for Tony’s liking. After a little bit of maneuvering, the heroes managed to cram themselves into the elevator.

Third Person PoV

The elevator shuttered to a halt at the penthouse, and everyone spilled out with Tony and Peter at the back of the group. All too soon, they found Loki, sitting up in a giant crater in the floor. Tony made a mental note to ask JARVIS for the footage later. The team surrounded with trickster god as he sat up, rubbing his head. He opened his eyes, only to be greeted with the muzzle of Natasha's gun, inches away from his face.

“You put your hands on my nephew,” she hissed. “ You'll pay for that.” Tony felt a little flare of surprise- it seemed that Peter and Nat had talked much more than he had thought on the way there.

Loki’s eyes seemed to catch on Peter, and he stared in shock at Nat. “ Him?” He asked, his voice surprisingly small.

“Don't play dumb!” She snarled, her gun getting closer and closer to Loki's face.

“I don't know what you're talking about, mortal! I may be a trickster, but I don't harm children. Ever.” His voice was firm and unwavering.

“I don't believe you,” Natasha snapped, but Tony could see her resolve wavering, just a little.

James suddenly shoved his way to be right in front of Loki. The god recoiled, "what are you doing, you-” James grabbed Loki's face and - surprisingly gently - pulled back his eyelids. After getting a good look, he released the god, who scrambled back and looked at James in disgust.

“He's not the same,” James announced. "Thor,” he said, getting the gods attention. ”What color are his eyes normally?” James gestured vaguely to Loki, who looked affronted about not being addressed directly.

“Green,” the god replied. “ Always green,” he stated confidently. James shook his head.

“He was being controlled. This is not his fault.” Everyone burst at that, questioning how he could tell, and if he was sure.

“QUIET!” Tony shouted. Everyone tapered off, staring at him intently. “If it was mind control, trust him, he'd know.” That was all Tony could bring himself to say. James nodded his thanks.

“His eyes,” he said simply. “ They’re green. When he was in Germany, at SHIELD, when he attacked Peter,” he took a calming breath. “ All those times, his eyes were blue. He was controlled,” he turned to Barton. “ Just like you were.” Comprehension dawned in everyone's eyes, and Thor broke out in a massive smile.

“I knew it, brother!” He exclaimed, stooping Loki into a back-breaking hug. “I knew it wasn't you!”

“Put me down, you oaf!” Loki commanded. Thor held on for a few more moments before complying. Once he was back on the ground, Loki scanned the weary faces around him. Most were wary, not willing to trust him after he invaded Earth a little bit. Fair enough, he thought. Though, the man with the metal arm, the one who first approached him, looked almost… empathetic. Like he knew what the Trickster was going through. He would have to follow that up later. Loki shifted in the direction of the man, and the man took a half-step back, inadvertently allowing Loki to see the people behind him.

There was a shorter man watching the proceedings with a cautious and defensive face, curled defensively around something small. Loki stumbled back a little in shock when a pair of huge hazel eyes peeked out at him. The boy seemed to realize he was being watched, and he shyly covered his face with his hands. Loki’s heart broke when he saw the rings of bruises covering one of the boy’s wrists.

He looked to Thor in a silent question, and Loki let out a small, dejected noise when his brother nodded sadly.

He took a small step in the boy’s direction, only to be stopped dead by an iron grip on his shoulder.

“Don’t,” the man with the metal arm warned. Loki was about to defend himself, but he realized after a moment that that would do him no good. He knew when he was beaten, and he didn’t want to start another fight with the child in the area and risk hurting him more.

Then Thor intervened. “Friend of Stark, I do not believe that my brother acts with malice. He may be a trickster, but Loki would never willingly harm a child.” That seemed to be enough for the man to hesitantly let him go, but Loki could feel the man’s eyes boring holes into the back of his head, waiting for him to make a wrong move. Loki couldn't blame him. The man may be empathetic to his case, but he wouldn’t be forgiving if Loki did anything else now.

The entire group watched on, ready to attack if the god made one wrong move. Loki got within two feet of the man and the child before he decided to not test his luck and stop. He dropped to his knees before the duo, and he could hear a confused sound emit from one of the people behind him. Now that he was closer, he could see that the man and the child in front of him were undoubtedly related. They shared many of the same features. That just proved to make Loki feel worse because through the haze that had covered him for the past few years he could distinctly remember recently throwing this man out a window. He shuddered at what would have happened to the child had he succeeded in killing the man.

“Son of Stark,” he began softly, soothingly. “I mean you no harm.” The boy looked at him curiously, his big eyes seeming to stare into Loki’s soul. “It was not my intention to harm you, or any of your people,” he added on, casting a glance at the people gathered around. “I was not in control of my own mind, and for hurting you, I am truly sorry.” He now addressed everyone. “I may be a trickster, but I have never been a killer. I do not really know what happened on this planet, but I know that what I did was unforgivable. But for what it is worth, I am so sorry.” he finished, bowing his head.

He stood and turned to hand himself over to the other heroes when he heard a small voice behind him.

“You didn’t mean to hurt me?” the child asked, emerging from the cocoon of his father’s arms. Stark seemed reluctant to let him go, but the metal-armed man gave him a signal and he reluctantly stopped fighting it.

“I did not,” he confirmed. The child stared him in the eyes, searching for something that only a kid could find before he asked another question.

“Did a bad man hurt you too?” Loki’s eyes began to burn with tears.

“Aye,” he choked out, his throat seeming to close. He once again turned to trudge his way to the group when a small object collided with the back of his legs. The child was wrapped around his legs, and them Loki saw how truly small this child was. He came up to only a little above his knees.

Loki crouched down again and ignoring the gasps and movements around him, he hugged the child back tightly, allowing his tears to fall.

“It’s okay now, Mr. Loki,” the child - Peter, he remembered - whispered. “The bad man can’t hurt you anymore.”

Loki let out a watery chuckle. “Thank you, child,” he whispered back, inaudible to everyone but Peter. Nobody would hurt him either, Loki decided. Not while he was around. He pulled back from Peter, and his eyes happened to catch a glance of Peter’s wrist again.

Loki took Peter’s hand in his own and closed his eyes. He concentrated, letting his magic come through, becoming less tainted now that he was operating under his own power again. He could feel it in the air as the heroes tensed around him, but he ignored them, instead focusing on fixing the damage he caused.

The area around him was bathed in green for a moment, then the glow went away and Loki stepped back from Peter. Stark stomped forward angrily, shoving Peter protectively behind him.

“What the hell did you just do to him?” Tony shouted, gearing up to punch the trickster.

“Dad!” Peter whisper-called. “Dad, lookit!” He yanked on Stark’s shirt, pulling the man down to his level and showing him his wrist. Stark examined it closely, twisting it this way and that.

Nothing. It was completely healed.

Tony glanced at Loki. Nothing in his posture spoke of anything but guilt and remorse as he stared at the small family. I suppose he doesn’t have to die this second.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tony and James stepped out of the elevator, having just returned from delivering an unusually compliant Loki back to a SHIELD holding cell for them to determine if the Asgardian was truly the villain. Looking around, Tony realized just how much damage his tower had taken in the fight. He was mentally tallying damages when he realized that the rest of his ‘team’ was gathered in a circle in the center of the room.

He carefully tried to tiptoe out of the room, but James’ hand flicked out and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stay.

“If I have to deal with the Spanish Inquisition, so do you,” James muttered. Buzzkill.

They hadn’t been as quiet as they had hoped, however, because Rogers turned around and leveled his glare at Tony. James bared his teeth a little bit at the good Captain, and Tony turned to him incredulously whilst also walking to the circle of doom.

“Did- Did you just growl at him? That’s gold, baby. Pure gold.” Tony sat down on the outskirts of the circle, dragging James down with him. He scanned the circle. No Peter, no Nat. Good. “You have questions,” he directed this to Rogers, who had turned a disbelieving, unwavering stare to James, “go ahead,” he waved his hands, “ask away.”

“I- You- Bu- How?” Rogers sputtered. “How is Bucky here?” Tony held up a hand.

“Let me stop you right there, Capitan. One, don’t call him that, his name’s James. Two, why don’t you ask him yourself? He can talk for himself.” Rogers lightly flushed.

“Buc-James. How are you here right now? You-I watched you die,” Rogers’ voice had a desperate undertone to it. Tony supposed that finding out your best friend from like a hundred years ago was still alive left a little room for being desperate for answers.

James was silent, thinking hard on how much he wanted to share, no doubt. “I’m going to get this over with quick because something” someone “else needs my attention at the moment.” Tony reached over to grab James’ hand, silently giving his support. He didn’t miss how Rogers’ eyes sharply followed the movement. “I fell off the train. You saw that. HYDRA found m in the mountains, and made me an assassin,” Rogers’ face went white. “and eventually I was sent after a very important target: Tony. Basically, from there, I was trapped in a basement for a few weeks” months “as Tony reversed as much of my programming as he could, and here we are. The end, thank you, goodbye.” He tried to stand, but Rogers made a grab for his hand.

“You can’t just leave! What about, whatever that is,” he gestured at their still linked hands, “and- and the kid! What is going on here Bucky? You owe me answers.” Rogers demanded forcefully, shaking James’ hand a little.

James tore his hand out of Rogers’ grasp and latched onto the blond’s wrist, iron-like with his grasp. “Don’t. Call me Bucky. My name is James. And I don’t think I owe you anything. We may have been friends, but that was a long time ago. I don’t know you right now. And as for this,” he lifted the couple’s hands. “This, is my happy marriage of two years, and that,” he pointed down the hall. “Is our child. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a child to reassure that he’s not going to be killed by aliens.” And with that James dragged Tony by the hand down the hallway.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((8))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Steve PoV

As the last flutter of clothing from the couple disappeared around the corner, Steve stood in stunned shock at what had just transpired. He turned jerkily toward the others.

“Is that...legal? Like, can that actually happen now?” he asked quietly. Clint snorted, inspecting his arrows.

“What, gay marriage?” Steve nodded. “Yeah, has been for a bit now. They’re not gonna get killed for it if that’s what you’re wondering.” Steve moved his head in vague acknowledgment.

Bu-James was still alive. How could he have been so stupid? Of course, he wouldn’t have died falling from that train, he was too damn stubborn to go out like that. And then HYDRA had- No. He couldn’t think like that. It would drive him mad. And now here they were, both in a century they didn’t belong in. And James, my god, James had a child. Like, offspring. What the hell. Steve had so many questions, yet he knew that the likelihood of getting all the answers was very, very low. At least, at the moment.

His thoughts were interrupted by the pattering of tiny feet.

A child ran into the room from the direction the couple had disappeared what, fifteen, twenty, minutes ago?

The child was giggling, a bright smile wide across his face, a drastic difference from when he had first seen it. And he was so, so obviously the child of one of the heroes, Tony more so than James. Brown curly hair, big brown eyes, and an energetic glow that seemed to radiate from the small boy.

After the boy raced past the small group, a blur shot out of the hallway and toward the toddling child. The group tensed and shifted minutely, ready to defend the boy, when the blur scooped up and stopped moving. James. Everyone relaxed as he cradled the child to his chest. Tony ambled into the room, followed by Natasha, and suddenly they were all together, all staring at each other, and all immensely awkward.

Thor shattered the silence. “Who is the child, Man of Iron? Is he your heir?” he boomed. The child made a little eep sound and shifted so he was facing the ragtag group of heroes.

“Let’s bring the volume down Point Break, and yes. Everyone, this is my son, Peter.” The boy in question gave them a little wave and a shy smile.

His eyes seemed to catch on Steve, and he beckoned for James to lower his head. He whispered into his ear, and James let out a little chuckle and a smile. “Yeah, honey, that’s him.” Oh no. That… didn’t bode well for Steve, it seemed.

Peter made a little gesture with his tiny hands, and James brought him over to the group. “Up!” Peter commanded, and James lifted him so he was eye-level with Steve. The child looked him dead in the eye with a look that Steve supposed was supposed to be threatening, and shook a tiny little finger at him. “Don’t leave Daddy. That’s bad,” he said.

Steve smiled at the little kid. “Will do buddy,” he said with a chuckle. Peter narrowed his eyes. He looked back to James.

“He’s not hearing right,” Peter complained. Steve raised an eyebrow as James snorted.

“You mean he’s not taking you seriously, honey?” Peter nodded vigorously. “Then I guess you’ll have to tell him better.”

“Mr., Don’t leave my Daddy or else you’ll be bad, an’ you’ll get in lotsa trouble. Like, even more than you already are.” Already are? What did he mea-

Crack!

Steve held his tingling cheek. The kid slapped him!

Peter glared at him. “Don’t be bad anymore, or else I have to tell you again.”

Oh yeah. Definitely Tony’s kid.

Chapter Text

Tony sat with Peter on his bed, still quietly snickering from moment to moment. The look on Rogers’ face when the tiny five-year-old slapped him across the face? Priceless!

James was sat across from them, trying to keep a serious face. But Tony could see the corners of his mouth tilted upwards. “Peter,” he began. “You know that it's not nice to slap people.” Peter looked down with a little flush on this cheeks.

“I know,” he mumbled. Tony nudged him in the side and picked up where James had left off.

“But,” Peter lifted his head, “I'll allow it just this once because he was being an utter d-” James looked at him warningly. “-oooonut. He was being a donut so you were allowed to slap him. Just this once. No more slapping, got it?” He asked, not entirely serious. Peter nodded enthusiastically, megawatt smile already reappearing on his face.

“Can we go see Auntie Nat now?” He asked bouncing and practically vibrating in his place.

Tony nodded with a chuckle, and James reached out to ruffle Peter's hair. “Yeah bud, we can go see her again.”

--------------------------

When they arrived back in the main room, Rogers was still holding a hand to his cheek where Tony could see a rapidly disappearing handprint. Everyone else was smirking, smiling, or in Barton's case, full on rolling on the floor laughing. Then Tony noticed that everyone was there but Thor.

“Hey,” he called out. Nat glanced his way. “Where’d Point Break go off to?”

Nat got up and gently lifted Peter off the floor, where he climbed around until he was sitting on her shoulders. “SHIELD called him in, said they needed to discuss what's going to happen with Loki.”

“Loki?” Peter asked. “The person with the-” here he made a gesture, curling his fingers and mimicking the horns on Loki's helmet. Tony snorted.

“Yeah, kid. That guy.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hours passed, and no word from Thor or SHIELD. The team was lounging around in the destroyed living area, absentmindedly passing the time. Peter bounced from team member to team member, doing everything from asking Bruce what it ‘feels like to get big and angry’ to asking Steve if his time in the ice had made him a ‘creature of the snow’, whatever the hell that meant. Steve looked at Tony with an alarmed expression, wildly unsure of how to answer the question. Tony shrugged, taking a sip of the apple juice he had gotten half an hour ago. Steve sputtered for a moment longer then hesitantly answered, “Uhh… yes?”

Peter cheered and puttered circles around Steve, and it was mildly concerning for Tony to see how quickly his mood changed from ‘I’mma slap a bitch’ to ‘run in circles and chant ‘bless the snowman’’. Then again, Peter had always been the forgiving type.

After Peter’s 20th or so lap around a steadily more freaked out Steve, Tony called the hyperactive child over to give the old man a break. “How about you go find something from your room to entertain yourself, yeah?” Peter nodded rapidly, curls bouncing, and then he was off like a shot. Tony sighed, “That kid is terrifying sometimes with how much energy he has.”

Steve, still looking mildly traumatized, sat up straight when he realized that he could now talk without the kid overhearing, at least for a little bit. “Okay Tony, I think you have some explaining to do. One, why the heck did your kid slap me?” Tony grinned.

“He may have recently heard Happy talking to me about you getting found, and he might be really smart, so he may have, hypothetically, known that you didn’t go look for James after he fell off a train.”

Steve sputtered, “But- how was I supposed to know he-you- had survived?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said. Shrugging and beginning to stand up, he continued. “But you know what? I’ve learned that sometimes you can’t really reason with a five-year-old on a warpath.”

The team stood there in silence before Steve regained his bearings. “Okay, so that’s… kind of explained, but why do you two-” Tony and James “-know each other in the first place?”

“I feel like we’ve said this before. Have we said this before?” Tony asked, directing the question at James. James nodded. Tony turned back to everyone else. “As we said before, he tried to kill me after he killed my parents, I didn’t die, I managed to break his programming, and it all kind of devolves from there until the bean showed up.”

Steve looked so confused, Tony wanted to laugh. He stood there, his eyebrows scrunched together, mouthing the word bean to himself. “The kid,” Tony clarified.

“Oh.”

Speak if the devil, and he shall appear. Peter bolted into the room, a small case in his hands. As he ran by his parents he snatched James’ hand and dragged him over to the couch. When Peter opened the zipper on the case and James saw what was inside, he groaned. “Not this again.”
Tony grinned. There was only one thing that could get James that annoyed and - yep. There they were in all their glory.

The fridge magnets.

Peter had a weird obsession with making James’ metal arm not silver. Anything he could get his hands on that would make the metal ‘pretty’ would end up on the metal at some point. Anything from spray paint to stickers.

They don’t talk about the stickers.

Peter started pulling out magnets one by one and started to pile them onto James’ arm. On went the cow, the 3d car, and the one that was a - bucket of water? When did they get that one?

For now, the kid was entertained, and he happily stuck magnets onto his dad’s arm, until a glint of metal caught his eye. He gasped, then frantically dug around in his case of magnets. Finally! He pulled out the perfect one, and before anyone could stop him he jumped off his seat and slapped the magnet onto the one and only Captain America shield.

Steve looked at the new addition to his shield with a what did I do to deserve this expression. Staring right back at him was a thin magnet that was one of the ones Peter had drawn himself and they had gotten made into magnets. This particular one was when he went through a phase of drawing hybrid creatures. He called this one Jellyman.

Depicted in the magnet was a normal looking jellyfish, but on the main ‘body’ of the fish there was a human face, and in Tony’s opinion it was the scariest thing on the planet. But he said nothing, not wanting to disappoint the child.

He could see that Rogers had no qualms about that, but hurriedly made a noise and gave the man a look. Don’t you dare.

Rogers’ mouth clicked shut, not uttering a word. Peter hopped back to his seat, continuing with his magnet pile-up.

The team went right back to staring at each other in uncomfortable silence, Peter’s contented humming in the background. The door to the elevator whooshed open, Thor and Loki stepped out, accompanied by Fury. Loki was wearing a mask around his face, preventing him from speaking.

Tony felt James flinch a little at the sight of the mask, likely remembering his own mask from his time as the Winter Soldier. “Eyepatch, yeah, you wanna take that thing off Reindeer games over there? Sorry, that’s not allowed in this here household,” Tony said, the order lying below the surface of his tone. Fury rolled his eyes, but he unlatched the mask, and it fell from Loki’s face.

“So, what’s the verdict, Point Break?” Tony asked, still a little wary of Loki even though he knew it wasn’t (entirely) the god’s fault.

“Loki has been sentenced to go back to Asgard, to hear my father’s ruling. Though I believe it will not truly be a harmful decision,” Thor responded, his hand clapping Loki on the shoulder, who looked straight up uncomfortable at the touch.

“Wait,” Barton asked, his face getting more and more pissed off. “You mean to tell me that after all of this, he’s going to be let off lightly? Are you kidding me? What kind of justice system have you got up there in god-land?”

Thor’s gaze hardened. “Do not judge, Eye of Hawk, you know not of what you speak. From what I have observed in my time here on Midgard, your justice system is fairly similar.”

Now Steve spoke up. “In what ways?” everyone around was looking some variety of confused.

“Well,” Thor looked a bit embarrassed to be put on the spot. “For one thing, we do not convict harshly, if at all, when the mind has been affected. If there is foul play involved, my father will be able to tell and Loki will not be judged harshly for a crime he did not commit.” Everyone nodded. “I also believe that on your world you do not give the bad sentences to what you would call a minor?” Everyone nodded again, but then quickly realized what exactly he had said.

“Hold up a second,” Tony held up a hand. “You mean to tell me that he-” he pointed to Loki, “-is a minor? Seriously?”

Thor nodded, everyone’s shock completely going over his head. “Indeed. In terms of your human years, I would be around 23, and Loki around a mere 17.” Jaw. Dropped.

“Seventeen?” Steve whispered in horrified shock.

“Indeed, my friends! Now, I came here to bid you all farewell, for I must take Loki back to Asgard.” He grabbed Loki’s arm and prepared to lead the way to the balcony.

“Mr. Thor?” a small voice asked. Thor stopped and turned to face the small child.

“Yes, child? What is it you wish to ask?” he asked, seeing a question on the little boy’s face.

‘Do- Do you and Mr. Loki want a magnet? So you can remember to come back?” His huge brown eyes were hopeful and pleading.

“Why of course, Son of Stark! I would love one of the magnet things you speak of!” Peter squealed and ran to get the case of magnets.

“Thanks, man,” Tony muttered. “You absolutely just made his day.” Thor smiled triumphantly as Peter made his way back with two magnets in his hands.

“This one’s for you, Mr. Loki,” and he handed over a magnet of a small black cat sitting elegantly. “And this one’s for Mr. Thor!” and he showed a magnet with a little golden retriever on it, chasing after a little frisbee. Then he got a look on his face, one that Tony knew either spelled a good idea or a horrible train of thought. “Do magnets work on your hammer, Mr. Thor?” he asked.

Of course that’s what he thought of.

“I… I must admit that I do not know, small one. Would you like to try it?” Peter grinned his thousand-watt smile and carefully lowered the magnet onto the side of the hammer. To Tony’s shock, it actually stuck!

“YES!” Peter cheered, jumping up and down and chanting ‘yes’ over and over. The adults in the room all smiled, even Loki, all taken with the child’s infectious energy.

“Unfortunately, I must take my leave now. I will be back when I can leave Asgard again, so this goodbye is not for long, my friends,” Thor announced. Everyone bade farewell to the god of thunder, and Peter even went up to Loki and pulled on his cloak until the god had given him a high five and a smile.

They made it out to the balcony, and everyone watched in fascination as Thor called out one last farewell and then a bright light shone down and then the two gods were sucked up into what Tony assumed was the Bifrost. James got up and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist from behind just as the bridge disappeared.

“Hi babe,” James whispered as he pressed a kiss to the side of Tony’s head.

“Honey,” Tony whispered back, turning around so he could whisper directly into James’ ear. “Your new additions are digging into my ribs, let go of me before I ruin all of Peter’s hard work.” Tony laughed as he felt James pout into his hair, but the other man let go anyways. He took a step back from his husband and surveyed the damage, both inside his house and out in the world.

“You know, I don’t know what’s harder about an alien invasion, the actual fighting, or the cleanup.” A few chuckles. Peter launched himself off the ground at his parents, and Tony caught him before the boy could knock him over. “Well gang, we’ve got a lot to do. Let’s get started.”