#actually rhodey was just excited because he's! a! pilot! but still

[ironhusband]

Thank you Hamburger Hill for providing us with actual footage of Rhodey’s first tour. 

#HE'S SO TINY ADFGHJHGFDFGHJKL #he's so short #don was just 23 during this so when i say actual footage #also.... #tony who was so worried he didnt sleep for a week: so how was your tour #rhodey trying not to think about how tall and hot everyone is: fine i was thinking of you the whole time :) #actually rhodey was just excited because he's! a! pilot! but still #don cheadle #james rhodes #rhodey #war machine #james rhodey rhodes #hamburger hill #iron patriot #iron man #marvel #mcu #tony stark

[elisaphoenix13]

Once Upon A Summer (Ch.3)

Tony was tired. It had only been a few days, but taking care of Peter was repetitive and draining. He actually wanted to go to a meeting just so he could get some more adult interaction. Sure, Stephen's brief visits to make sure he hadn't killed Peter were helping keep him sane, but he needed more. Either he was going to have to grab Peter and take him out into the public, or he would have to beg Stephen to stay longer than he has been. Which wasn't going to happen. Tony Stark didn't beg, and he also didn't want to deal with the public when they saw him with a baby.

So he found himself in his lab more often than not. Tony would get the playpen set up in the lab and put Peter in it with some of his toys before he mindlessly tinkered and built. The first day he was actually productive, but as the days passed, Tony ended up on auto pilot. Half the time he didn't even know what he was working on. He just knew he was tired and going stir crazy with mostly just a six month old baby to talk to.

He wished Stephen would stick around more. Despite the mountains of sarcasm that passed between them, Tony enjoyed his company. He enjoyed looking into blue eyes that always seemed to change colors every time he looked into them, he enjoyed their back and forth, and he even liked watching Stephen with Peter. The sorcerer always put up a front with Tony, but whenever he played with the baby or did anything with him, he softened. Any stress lines Stephen had melted away, and sometimes the softness even carried over to Tony.

Whenever it did, Tony wasn't really sure how to receive it. No one ever really showed him that kind of kindness. They were just as sarcastic and rude to him as he was with them and Tony never really realized it until all of this happened. He was actually glad Peter got caught in a magical fight.

Even if it meant he woke Tony up every two to three hours because of teething pains.

"...ark...Tony…Tony!"

Tony sits up with a jolt and looks around in alarm. He didn't even know when he had dozed off, but the small puddle of drool on his workbench was evidence enough as well as embarrassing. He subtly wipes the corner of his mouth with a nearby rag before using it to clean up the small puddle before finally looking around to see what woke him. Based off the position of the sun outside, only an hour had passed and a quick glance at the playpen found Peter fast asleep. Maybe a dream woke him up?

"Tony."

The engineer looks back toward his workbench and jumps in his seat when he finds Stephen standing on the other side of it. "I should probably tell you I'm a heart patient."

"Normally I'd be concerned that you just wiped your mouth with a dirty rag, but it's you so it's probably a common occurrence." Stephen replies as he walks over to look down at Peter in the playpen. "How long has he been sleeping?"

"I dunno. Probably about as long as me." Tony looked at his watch and was both glad and disappointed to find that his earlier assumption was correct and only an hour had passed. "Maybe half an hour."

The sorcerer nods. "Have you left the tower since you brought Peter home a few days ago?"

"I don't have the energy to deal with the tabloids if anyone saw me with Pete as he is right now." Tony admits. "I don't even have the energy to have nightmares."

Stephen gave him an odd look for the last bit but Tony just shook his head. He didn't want to get into it. He had nightmares about so many different things, but what he said was the truth. He was a little sleep deprived so his nightmares didn't get a chance to plague him because Peter would wake him up before they got a chance to. Tony still hadn't decided if he was happy about it or not.

"You look like you could use a change of scenery." Stephen observes.

"You know what? I do." Tony admits. "I rebuilt my mansion in Malibu...maybe you can use a vacation too."

"I--" Stephen looks between Tony and Peter. "I'm sure Wong can take care of things for a little while."

Tony looks at the sorcerer in surprise. "Really?"

"Were you not inviting me?"

"Of course I was! I need help with Pete anyway."

Tony wanted to facepalm. Why in the world did he say that? He used Peter as an excuse to invite Stephen to Malibu with them, and while he did need help with the baby, he wouldn't mind actually spending time with the sorcerer. He needed the adult companionship. The Avengers all sort of did their own thing and Rhodey was busy with the Air Force so Tony would take what he could get.

And Stephen was nothing to sneeze at.

"Right...of course. I can take us there whenever you want." Stephen offers and Tony makes a face.

"We can take the jet."

Stephen looks at him with a raised brow. "You want to take a six month old baby on a plane for six hours?"

"...Touché. You mind watching Peter while I get some stuff together?" Tony asks and sighs when the baby chooses that moment to wake up and sit up.

"Go ahead. I can still watch him. I can even take him to the Sanctum and pack."

"Just be careful."

Tony could tell that Stephen was keeping himself from rolling his eyes but neither of them said anything as they went their separate ways. He went upstairs to pack some clothes and things for Peter, and Stephen scooped up the baby and disappeared through a gateway he made. Tony looked at some of the baby furniture around the penthouse when he arrived on the floor but decided that he didn't want to lug any of it. Even through one of Stephen's gateways. So he asked FRIDAY to order some more of the furniture and have it delivered to the mansion as soon as possible. Then he went upstairs and threw some of his things into a duffel bag before he packed a bag for Peter which he filled with everything he needed and then some extra. He even grabbed some of the teen's regular clothes in case by some miracle he changed back to his normal self while they were in Malibu. Tony didn't have anything for Peter at the mansion yet, but he figured it was time to get a room set up for him.

"Did you pack his food?" Stephen asks and Tony jumps and holds his hand to his pounding chest.

"Heart patient!" Tony drops his hand and grabs the bags. "You of all people should understand what that means! And yes, I packed food. I had FRIDAY order furniture and send it to the house too."

Stephen nods and shifts Peter into one of his arms so he can free his hands and make a gateway to the mansion. "Seems a waste of money but I wouldn't want to drag it all around either."

"Precisely."

Tony gathers the bags as well as the one Stephen brought and steps through the gateway with a little less hesitation. Magic still put him on edge but he felt he could trust Stephen, and the younger man really was doing Tony a favor by doing this anyway. Taking Peter on the jet for six hours would have been a nightmare.

When Stephen follows Tony through the gateway, it closes behind them as the sorcerer looks around. The layout was nearly identical to the previous mansion since Tony was pretty happy with it, and he didn't miss the curiosity in Stephen's eyes when he saw the grand piano. The sorcerer gently places baby Peter down on the floor with a few of his toys, and once he makes sure the infant is adequately occupied, Stephen walks over to the piano before looking at Tony.

"May I?" He asks softly.

"Sure. Make yourself at home. What do you want for lunch? I'll order something." Tony offers.

"I'm not picky." Stephen shrugs and sits down at the piano.

The music that filled the air shortly after was nice to listen to but it was obvious that Stephen's hands affected his playing. Tony wouldn't say anything because it probably took a lot of courage to play with people listening, and it was nice to listen to. Even Peter seemed entranced by the music. He sat on the floor staring at the sorcerer, drooling on the block he was holding to his mouth, and it made Tony smile. There may have been night after sleepless night since Peter was turned into a baby, but he was a cute one. Peter watched Stephen with such awe that Tony was actually a little jealous.

He couldn't blame the kid...and Peter was easily impressed even as a baby. Anything Tony did made Peter happy. Even sneezing... whatever that was about.

A sudden wrong note pulls Tony out of his thoughts and Stephen sighs. "Don't worry about it. It sounded great." Tony assures quickly.

"...thank you."

"Even Pete was hypnotized." Tony chuckles as Stephen gets up and walks back over to the baby.

"Is that right?" Stephen smiles and pokes the baby's tummy, drawing a laugh from him. "How about some cereal puffs?"

Peter bounces with excitement when Stephen pulls Peter's bag closer and pulls out the container of puffs, and he drops his block when the sorcerer offers him one. The softness that Stephen only seemed to show Peter immediately surfaced when the baby babbled happily between strawberry flavored cereal puffs and Tony was glad to see it. The stress and frown lines were gone and Stephen was more beautiful than ever--

Tony should probably stop staring.

"FRIDAY, order my usual from the pizza place." Tony says.

"Yes, Boss. It should arrive within the hour."

"Thanks sweetheart."

"Umm…" Stephen looks up from Peter after giving him another puff. "Where will I be sleeping by the way?"

Tony grins. "I've got a king sized bed in my room." When Stephen looks at him flatly he sighs dramatically. "There's a bedroom next to mine you can use. It's eventually going to be Peter's but you can use it for now. Would have been nice to have another warm body in my bed though."

"I'm sure it would be." Stephen says dryly.

Tony smiles and walks over to dig through Peter's bag and grabs everything he needs to make Peter a bottle. Once he's finished with that, he leaves the formula on the counter for a later time and takes the bottle over to Stephen after shaking it to mix it. In the meantime, the sorcerer had dug out the portable changing pad and was in the middle of changing Peter's diaper when Tony gave the bottle to the baby.

"How about a movie and lunch?" Tony says. "I'd say the beach but I'm not sure how good of an idea that is with Peter."

"He might try to eat the sand." Stephen points out.

"Unless I hold him. He might like to get his feet wet. There's a cabana down there too."

Stephen looks out the floor to ceiling windows and then back at Peter to finish changing his diaper. "You have a pool. He can get his feet wet in that."

"That's true." Tony shrugs. "So movie, lunch, and tire the tyke out in the pool?"

"I don't have swim trunks."

"You wearing underwear?"

Stephen turns red. "Well...yes."

"Just wear those." Tony shrugs and leans down to pick up Peter when he was finished being diapered and dressed. "Hey kiddo. Feeling better?"

"Why am I the one changing him anyway?" Stephen mumbles to himself.

Tony didn't bother answering him. He just sat on the couch with Peter and turned on a movie that he let Stephen choose. When the pizza arrived, the sorcerer got up to get their food and then brought it back for them to eat while they finished their movie. It was a nice change in pace even though he was still inside. Stephen would periodically make a comment about the movie, and even one time they argued about the scientific accuracy of... something. Tony sort of forgot what the problem was part way through their argument because Stephen was distracting. Peter interrupted them with a loud belch that Tony swore shook the walls and it sent both men into a fit of laughter.

By the time they got around to going out to the pool, Stephen pointed out a problem.

"He needs a swim diaper."

Tony holds Peter out in front of him and frowns. "He's got a diaper on."

"It's not the same. That will soak up all the water and probably fall off." Stephen turns to head inside. "If you give me a few dollars, I can go pick some up."

Tony follows him back inside and grabs his wallet off the counter. He pulls out his card and hands it to Stephen after the sorcerer grabs his sling ring. "Here. Get the special diapers and a pair of swim trunks for yourself."

Stephen disappeared through a gateway and was back not even five minutes later with both items. Tony was given the diapers to change Peter into and Stephen went into his room to change into his swim trunks, and soon enough Tony was back outside with Peter. He carefully descended into the pool until the water was up to his waist and then he held Peter out to dip his feet in the water. The baby's following squeal of happiness almost made Tony cringe from the intensity of it but he couldn't help but laugh when tiny legs kicked in excitement.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm already in the water!" Tony chuckles and lowers Peter into the water a little more. The baby was squirming in his hands, but Tony had a firm grasp on him. "Remind me to bring you back here when you're back to normal."

"I grabbed some sunblock too." Stephen says as he walks out.

Tony gawked. Stephen was really beautiful in every way. He was even fit. Which of course made sense when the sorcerer used martial arts as a means of defense and fighting.

"Oh...yeah. Good idea." Tony wades over to the side of the pool and he holds Peter on the edge so Stephen can apply the sunblock.

"There." Stephen says when he finishes with Peter and then starts on himself. "You may have been blessed with tan skin but Peter and I will burn like lobsters."

Tony pulls Peter back into the water and the baby splashes happily. "Yeah, he's already teething. I don't want to put sunburn on top of that."

"Thank you by the way." Stephen says softly.

"For the trunks? That's no big deal." Tony says.

"Well, yes...but for inviting me too. I know it was to help with Peter--"

"That was only part of it." Tony blurts out and then clears his throat. "I needed the company...and you looked like you needed a vacation too."

"That's an understatement." Stephen huffs. "I think this was overdue for both of us.

"We can stay as long as you want." Tony says.

"Tempting, but we both have responsibilities." Stephen says as he puts the sunblock aside. "A few days wouldn't hurt though."

Tony smiles. "Sounds good to me. How about you Pete?"

Peter answers with another loud squeal and some more splashing and Tony closes his eyes against the water.

"I think it's safe to say he's happy with the idea." Stephen chuckles.

#ironstrange #stephen strange #tony stark #peter parker

[iamwestiec]

fic I want to see: five futures Tony/Rhodey/Pepper deserved but never got

Hey there friend! I'm going to take advantage of the @goodintentionswipfest to finally answer this ask by posting what exists of the fic I totally never finished writing you for this prompt before I burned out real hard on writing last year. Hope you get a little bit of fun out of what's here. <3

1 - MIT meet, 100% less drama

Tony meets James-call-me-Rhodey Rhodes at MIT. In other universes, they were on campus at the same time, but the whiz kid playboy tearing up the mech-e department and local bar scene seldom crossed paths with the steady grad student getting a masters in aircraft design courtesy of the Air Force. 

In this one, they are inseparable. 

Rhodey's got a way of following his train of thought that Tony's never encountered, and his intuitive understanding of flying machines outstrips Tony's own. (Tony is determined to catch up, but Rhodey never makes him feel bad for having to. Entirely unlike Howard, he thinks, and feels disloyal for the thought.) They bounce ideas off each other and make each other sharper, better, and it's a feeling of belonging Tony never expected to find. When they build an AI - a Turing-complete AI!! - Tony jokes about them becoming parents without ever going on a date, and the look of wistful fondness on Rhodey's face is all the encouragement he needs to finally ask him on one. 

After graduation, Tony owes years to SI and Rhodey owes years to Uncle Sam, but they keep in close touch, with plans to go into business for themselves one day. Times being what they are, no one asks, and no one tells, but he and Rhodey both know that the much publicized dates with various eligible ladies are for maintaining appearances and nothing that will really come between them.

When Howard and Maria die, Rhodey must cash in every favor he has to get the leave, but he's there for the funeral. Tony is pretty sure his steadfast support is the only reason he could stand to be sober those first couple weeks. Stark men are supposed to be made of iron, but Rhodey's always been the one with a core of steel. 

Rhodey never trusts Obie much, and - continued relationship with Tony notwithstanding - Rhodey is an impeccable judge of character. A few years later, an internal audit proves his instincts right when Stane is caught laundering company assets to sell weapons on the black market. Terrified at the thought of his weapons in the wrong hands, Tony quietly begins to diversify SI's business model - clean energy, healthcare, [THIRD THING] - things that can build the world up instead of tear it down.

Eventually Tony is able to hire Rhodey away from the military to be his chief airframe designer and personal test pilot. They move out to California to oversee the autonomous search-and-rescue drones they're developing, and set up in a preposterous mansion overlooking the ocean in Malibu, with their ever growing family of bots and JARVIS to make the huge place feel full.

Despite having no qualms shout their personal AI butler and robotic lab assistants, Rhodey calls him bougie when Tony brings on a driver, Harold-call-me-Happy Hogan, and a personal assistant, one Ms. Virginia Potts. Happy's a solid driver and a cheerful guy, but Ms. Potts is a downright revelation. She's the second person he's met now who has no trouble keeping up with his mile-a-minute mind, and though her competencies lie along a different line than his or Rhodey's, he quickly realizes they are no less remarkable. He also plain likes her in an easy way he so seldom clicks with people. Tony might be a little bit smitten.

After a while he realizes Ms. Potts-call-me-Pepper (and seriously, did Tony miss a memo on alliterative nicknames?) seems smitten too, though not with him. Rhodey's no longer active duty, but old habits of discretion die hard, so she has no way of knowing when she strikes up a flirtation with the airman that he and her boss are more than just business partners. Rhodey's flustered, and Pepper's embarrassed, but Tony's always had a big heart, and he loves nothing quite so much as making the people he cares about happy. He can see the way his honeybear smiles when she's around, and it's obvious how much she lights up with him, and he's a genius, right, but he doesn't need to be to see that they'd work. So he tells them to go for it, as long as Pepper doesn't mind sharing and Rhodey doesn't mind being shared, and they look at him like he's grown a second head because what they want is all of them together.

They totally work.

2 - IM1, BUT HAPPIER?

They meet when Lt. Rhodes is assigned the Air Force liason to Stark Industries. Warned in advance, Rhodey was expecting brash, crass, and totally out of control, but what he found in Stark, Jr. was someone with a passion for machines and an excitement for invention unlike anyone he's ever met. When they realize they'd been on campus at the same time, Tony (“please, Mr. Stark was my father”) declares them the Brass Rat Pack, which makes him roll his eyes, but doesn't make a Sammy Davis, Jr. joke, which bumps him up a couple more points in Rhodey's estimation.

3 - IM2 BUT WITH SOME DAMN COMMUNICATION 

Rhodey was always going to get a suit. Tony's best friend, the best pilot he knows, AND one of the few people in military he actually still trusts? Of course. He offered Pepper one too, but he seemed to expect her to turn him down, because then he offered her the position of CEO. Insisted, really. 

So Pepper becomes the head of Stark Industries while Tony and Rhodey become Iron Man and War Machine. The military brass doesn't love having one of those suits and all of their secrets in the hands and head, respectively, of such an unpredictable element, but knowing that Colonel Rhodes is liasing most of his activities goes a long way toward quieting the grumbles. The men's joint testimony on just how far off any imitators, foreign or domestic, are from duplicating the technology convinces Congress that Team Iron Man's op-sec, while unorthodox, is effective. 

Rhodey takes some well deserved R&R and joins Tony and Pepper in Monaco. It's new still, this thing between them all, but it's good. 

4 - POST-IM2

AVENGERS FAM DAMMIT

Aliens invade New York, and Rhodey is so glad he stole that damn suit. 

5 - POST-IM3

IN WHICH WE AVOID CIVIL WAR 

RESCUE HAPPENS

Rogers and Romanoff bring down SHIELD, and Pepper is horrified to realize how close she came to being murdered by the state. After Killian, after Extremis, she knows she could be considered a threat, but seeing her name, and Tony's, and Rhodey's, on the kill list in the data dump is chilling.

+1 - After Everyone Lives

"Meguna Petunia Stark-Potts-Rhodes, out of the lab and inside for dinner!"

Morgan laughed. "Not my name, Dad - and anyway, wouldn't it be Potts-Rhodes-Stark, alphabetically?"

"You know, you'd think that, but your pops actually called dibs on the anchor leg years ago…"

"A relay's got four legs, Dad."

"What did I ever do to deserve a jock for a daughter? Tell you what, find us a Q who doesn't run screaming, and we'll consider it."

"What are we considering, Tony?"

"Morgan thinks our polycule needs to be a quadrilateral, apparently, and I'm blaming the track team. I've told her we're only considering candidates with Q last names; we're so close to a straight."

"Tony, you've never been close to straight in your life."

Mom gestures at the two bickering and pleads, "Just not another guy, please, darling, I'm outnumbered already."

"I dunno, you usually like tha-"

"Tony!" Mom and Pops shoot him identical stern looks.

Family. She wouldn't want it any other way.

If anyone made it this far, thanks for reading! @allofthefeelings I'm sorry the full fic never made its way out of my brain, but thank you for the prompt anyway! And thanks again to the Good Intentions WIP Fest!

#good intentions wipfest #bring out your dead #tony/rhodey/pepper #tony stark #james rhodes #pepper potts #westie writes

[gothgirlmahi]

All That’s Best (Prologue)

Dark!Steve x Reader

New Dark!Steve series I’ve been working on. Mostly planned out so there should be a few new chapters soon especially since I’m cooped up in the house.

Masterlist

Summary: Steve saves you from a HYDRA base, but who’s going to save you from him? Warnings: Noncon, violence, Steve is crazy and will get crazier.

“Exterior is clear. I think some of them probably went underground,” Tony voice came in through the earpiece.

“Working on the inside. Nat, you find anything?” Steve asked.0

“Nope,” she said, “I think someone might have tipped them off that we were coming.”

“Or they saw Iron Man coming for the base and scattered like roaches,” Sam said. He wasn’t wrong. The Avengers hadn’t taken the most stealthy approach in this mission, but there wasn’t much reason to. They knew the base didn’t have that many people in it and anywhere they could run from this vantage point would get them caught. Even the underground tunnels had to lead somewhere nearby so every escape route was practically a dead end.

Steve crept through the corridor silently, watching for any potential threats. Even with silent footfalls, the halls echoed and creaked of their own accord. As he turned a corner, he noticed a doorway up ahead, with a bit of light emanating from it. Getting closer he saw a handprint of fresh blood staining the wall.

He hurried his gait and peaked through the door, stopping at what he saw. A woman, tied to a chair, covered in blood. Your head popped up when you heard him enter the room. 

“Help,” you begged silently. Your head sported a bloody wound, oozing steadily through your hair and down your neck. Your body was covered with other signs of struggle, ripped clothes and fast forming bruises.

“I found someone,” Steve said into the mic, “give me a minute.”

He approached you carefully.

“Are you okay?” he asked and felt stupid. Of course you weren’t okay. You were going to bleed to death if he didn’t get you out of there.

“They did this to me. I was just...I don’t know what’s going on. Please help me.” Steve ran to untie you and you nearly collapsed in his arms. The metallic smell of your blood hit the air and it smeared against his suit as he held you. Steve grabbed you firmly but gently and headed towards to quinjet.

“Injured civilian. Bringing her out now. She needs immediate medical attention.”

“Why was she there?” Tony asked.

“Maybe I’ll ask her when she’s not about to pass out.”

“Fair enough.”

“The place is empty,” Nat said. Steve could hear her on the other end of the hallway he was running through. That must mean they had cleared the whole base.

Steve looked down and sighed. You were quickly losing consciousness as he sprinted to the plane. When he was in, Banner looked you over and asked Steve to set you down.

Clint and Natasha ran in next, followed soon by Sam and Wanda.

“You guys head back, Rhodey and I are gonna stay and make sure everybody’s gone,” Tony said.

Natasha jumped in the pilot’s seat and began to fly.

Steve looked at you and frowned. You looked so pitiful, barely conscious and so confused about what was going on. Your head wound was horrendous and he had to wonder what exactly you were hit with. Banner inspected the wound for a bit and started applying pressure.

“I don’t think she’s gonna die, but the sooner we get back the better.”

“ETA fifteen minutes.”

They had been staying at a temporary location while they staked out the HYDRA base. There was medical personnel on site and people that could help you. Banner had given you something to stabilize your condition and it sent you right to sleep. Steve sighed, looking at you. It was a shame that someone like you was treated like that.

You were too...perfect. Everything about you, the curve of your lips, the melodic tones of your voice even as you cried for help. Like an angel. He didn’t have time to think on it too long as they were quickly approaching their landing point. As soon as they hit the ground, he would have you seen to in the med bay. Then he could see about getting you home to wherever you were from.

You were in the hospital for a few days. Recovering. The team was still trying to wrap up any loose ends which kept them near the base and near the hospital you were in. Steve came to visit you everyday, bringing flowers or candy or any other thing you mentioned. He found out that you lived in New York. You were supposed to be released soon so he told you not to waste an airplane ticket when you could catch a ride back with the team.

Talking to you made him only hate HYDRA more. They were really the scum of the earth. They had taken you, a young woman with no family and no one to take care of her. No one to look for her when she went missing. Someone who wouldn’t be missed. Your parents had died when you were a teenager which left you mostly fending for yourself. Then HYDRA struck.

Now that you were out of the hospital and back in New York, Steve was conflicted. He couldn’t just let you go home alone. It wouldn’t be right. The streets were too dangerous and you were possibly injured or even traumatized from your experience. He would make sure you got home safe and check in later. Follow you and watch until you got securely in your apartment. Just so you had someone on the planet actually checking on you.It was his job to protect people and make them feel safe. And you had been so grateful when you woke up in the hospital. You thanked him at least eight times and cried and hugged him. Your hugs were warm, loving, welcoming to him. He wouldn’t mind another one. He wouldn’t mind a lot of things coming from you.

It didn’t help that you were so pretty. More than just easy on the eyes. Gorgeous really. Like a personally commissioned sculpture, the ideal of beauty. Aphrodite in human form.Steve had become infatuated with you and he knew it wasn’t to a normal degree. He started following you more often until it became an everyday thing. There wasn’t any woman who ever managed to hold his interest like this, not even Peggy. Maybe it was the dependence you had on him. He had fended off a few unsavory encounters you had never been wiser to. Stayed in the shadows to protect you. Peggy had never needed him in that way. She was always well enough to see to her own safety but the idea of you needing him set him off in a mission to protect you. Because he loved you. 

He had been following you for weeks now. Watching as you went to work, came home, went about your routine. You were his obsession. Thoughts of you filled his waking and sleeping mind. But there was a problem. He knew he couldn’t be there all the time. Couldn’t protect you 24/7. Even though he saw himself as your personal hero, he was still Captain America and had to attend to his business. What would he do when the team needed him? He was starting to consider his options.

It was a shame really. And your apartment wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of safety. Once he watched a man sneak in the key card locked door behind one of your careless neighbors. He hadn’t heard of anything bad happening after the incident but the act filled him with dread. What if he hadn’t been there to watch? What if that man had ill intentions for you? His poor, helpless sweetheart. You had already been made a victim once and he didn’t want to see it happen again. Things had to change.

He asked you out on a whim although he was sure you’d say yes. When he wasn’t secretly following you, he did call you to catch up occasionally. You were always so eager to talk to him, to tell him about your day and to listen to him detail his own. When he called you, you sounded excited. His plans were to take you to a new gallery that had opened up and go from there. Both of you could appreciate good art so he knew it would be a perfect date. Maybe dinner and a movie after. God, he wanted to give you everything.

The date came and went without a hitch. You both enjoyed the gallery and talked about it at length as he drove you to the movies. cracking jokes and having a good time along the way. You saw some generic action flick but Steve wasn’t so interested in that. He was interested in you. Interested in your smile, interested in that tight black dress you were wearing, the swell of your breasts, and whatever was awaiting him between your gorgeous thighs...

...No. 

He could wait. 

He would wait. He had to.

Dinner went similarly, talking about the movie and the art you saw. You were so animated when you talked, it was absolutely enthralling. The way you described things, the jokes you told, Steve was sure you couldn’t get anymore perfect. And he was sure he was in love with you.

And that was when he knew exactly what he had to do. 

..............

Masterlist // Chapter One

#steve rogers x reader #dark!steve rogers #dark!steve x reader #dark!steve rogers x reader #dark fic #steve rogers x you #marvel x reader #dark marvel #dark steve x reader

[just-dreaming-marvel]

ONE HUNDRED TWO - WAKANDA

LEGACY: A Tony Stark Daughter Story

MASTERLIST

< previous

Word Count: 1,875ish

Summary: The Team goes to Wakanda for help. Steve and Bucky are reunited.

The quinjet ride to Wakanda was mostly silent. We were mentally preparing ourselves for what we knew was coming, or what we guessed was coming. I was still trying to keep my connection with Tony. I could feel that he was still alive, but I was trying to reach into his mind to speak to him. Even just to say goodbye and that I love him one last time. Steve had been next to me for most of the flight, holding onto my hand. But once he stood up and began walking towards the pilots seat, I knew that we were almost there.

“Drop 2600, heading 0-3-0,” Steve instructed. 

“I hope you’re right about this, Cap,” Sam said. “Or we’re gonna land a lot faster than you want to.”

I looked up to understand what Sam was saying. We were heading straight into the trees. I stood up and walked over to Steve, our hands brushing together as I stood beside him. He quickly grabbed my hand. As the quinjet continued on, the trees were revealed to be a camouflage force field and the grand city of Wakanda appeared. 

Steve gave me a quick kiss on the head before turning us around as the quinjet landed. I walked out, still holding Steve’s hand, with Natasha on the other side of us. We were followed by Rhodey and Bruce, who were followed by Wanda and Vision, with Sam finishing up powering down the quinjet.

“Seems like I’m always thanking you for something,” Steve stated as his free hand reached out to shake T’Challa’s. I looked over at Bruce and watched him awkwardly bow to the King.

“Uh, we don’t do that here,” T’Challa said, waving for Bruce to stop bowing.

 He reached out and took my hand, putting it to his lips for a kiss before I could stop him. “Miss Stark. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Like wise,” I said as Steve gave my hand a gentle squeeze. 

“The Captain has spoken very highly of you.” I gave him a small smile as a light, embarrassed blush came to my cheeks. T’Challa continued, “So how big of an assault can we expect?” T’Challa turned around and we started following him towards a building.

“Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault,” Bruce answered, trying to push his way closer to the front.

“How we looking?” Nat asked.

“You will have my King’s Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and…” T’Challa trialed off and I quickly followed his eye line to see who he was looking at. I let go of Steve’s hand and froze in place as Steve continued to walk on.

“A semi-stable, 100-year-old man,” Bucky joked. 

The two long-time friends shared a hug as visions of the Winter Soldier beating me played through my mind and, without me realizing, began projecting outwards. I could feel that Bucky was no longer the Winter Soldier, but it didn’t change my fear. It didn’t change what had happened. I tried to remember what it felt like when I went to help him in Bucharest, but my recent time at HYDRA was affecting my feelings towards the man. Bucky and Steve continued to chat as Sam came up to me.

“You okay, Bailey?” He asked, stepping up to my side. The visions played through his mind as he got closer. “Woah, Bai—“ He went to put a caring arm around me, but I quickly shook my head and flinched away. He retracted his hand, a concerned expression etched on his face.

“I’ll be fine.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Bucky, fear evident on my face, and Sam could see all of it.

“I don’t think you’ll be fine. And that’s okay… He has changed though. At least that’s what we’ve heard.”

“Doesn’t change what happened and the fact that I’m still scared… I know he wasn’t in control. And why I’m feeling this way isn’t exactly his fault. But—” 

“But he still did those things.” Sam looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. “Does Steve know?”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe he knows the whole story.”

I believed that Steve knew that I knew the Winter Soldier, but not what he had put me through. I took a deep breath, trying to stop the projections so that they wouldn’t hit Steve. Steve turned around, excited for me to finally know the Bucky he remembered and saw the fear plastered on my face. He rushed over to my side.

“Bailey, are you okay?” Steve worriedly asked.

“Bailey?” Bucky questioned, stepping towards me. He studied me carefully. “It is you… It’s been awhile.” My breath began hitching and I couldn’t form words. 

“Bailey?” Steve worried. “Sweetheart?” I flinched at the nickname but my focus never left Bucky. “You remember trying to help him, right?” 

“It’s not that, Steve,” Bucky answered. “It’s about years ago.”

“Did you know her?” Steve questioned.

“Yes,” Bucky sadly replied. 

Steve looked at me, finally noticing the fear in my eyes. “What exactly happened between you two?"

“I… I, um… the Soldier…”

“I used to train with the Soldier and he… he would beat me,” I quietly stated, stepping forward.

“What?” Steve questioned, snapping his head my way. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There was never a good time…”

“A good time? Really, that’s your excuse?”

“Do you ever think there’s a good time to tell the man you love that his best friend used to beat you for not training hard enough?” I snapped. Steve took a small, cautionary step back. My anger projecting outward a little. “He was— is your best friend, Steve. Would you have believed me if I told you?”

“But you went to Bucharest to help him, why?”

“Because she loves you,” Bucky answered. “At least that’s what she told me when she showed up that day… It’s okay, Bailey. They’ve taken HYDRA out of my head.” Bucky tried to reassure me and move on from Steve’s questions. “I am so sorry.”

“Can I see your hand?” I reached for Bucky’s human hand. “I can feel that you’ve changed, but I just need to be sure… So that I can trust you and not be scared anymore.” 

Bucky willingly set his hand in mine, knowing that I wasn’t trying to control him, and I searched through his mind. They had cleared HYDRA out of his mind and I was surprised to find that he even remembered me, since his memory was still being repaired. I let go of his hand and took a deep breath before forcing him into a hug.

“I am so sorry for what I did to you,” Bucky whispered as he hugged me back.

“It’s okay,” I responded. “It wasn’t you.” I took another deep breath, readying myself for what I was about to say. “I forgive you Buck,” I whispered into his neck. He held me a bit tighter.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“Well too bad. I forgive you, for hurting me, for killing my grandparents.” He tensed up. “For all of it… Everyone deserves another chance, Bucky. Even you… Plus… My fear is not all your fault…”

Bucky pulled back, giving me a worried look before looking at Steve and then back to me. “So… You two, huh?” He pointed at Steve and I.

“I guess,” I laughed. “Crazy, isn’t it?”

“How did you end up with this old man?” Bucky joked.

“Hey!” Steve said, faking offense. Though, I could feel a tinge of real offense flow through him.

“It’s a long story,” I said. “And I still don’t know if we’re actually together. Perhaps once this is all over we can get a drink and catch up.”

“I’d like that,” Bucky responded, a hit of hopefulness in his voice. 

Steve and I then left Bucky, Sam, and Rhodey to watch the grounds as we went to see what they could do for Vision. When we got to the lab, Vision was lying on an exam table with Shuri studying a hologram projection of the stone over him. Bruce was on the other side of her, watching her every moment. He was in awe of Shuri’s brilliance and the technology that she had at her finger tips. 

“Whoa. The structure is polymorphic,” Shuri stated.

“Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially,” Bruce says.

“Why didn’t you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?” Shuri asked.  

Vision turned to Bruce, seemingly asking the same thing. It was a solid question, what hadn’t we? Maybe because we were rushing to stop a murder bot. Just no big deal, there was no reason that we had to rush into creating Vision. Plus that he was basically created by Thor’s lightning after he had disappeared for 24 hours. So we had plenty of time to rethink everything.

“Because, we didn’t think of it,” Bruce answered with uncertainty. 

“I’m sure you did your best,” Shuri reassured with a smile. 

“Can you do it?” Wanda asked. Her worry was strong but I knew that it wasn’t my place to help calm her. 

“Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures.” Shuri turned to T’Challa. “It will take time, brother.”

“How long?” Steve asked, giving my hand a squeeze before he let it go and stepped closer to the group.

“As long as you can give me.” A chime went off and I watched as Okoye, T’Challa’s head guard, brought a hologram of the Earth up in her palm.

“Something’s entered the atmosphere,” Okoye stated.

“Hey, Cap, we got a situation here,” Sam warned over the comms. I watched out the window as a shield appeared over the city and one of the alien ships slammed into it. 

“Gosh, I love this place,” I heard Bucky say.

“Yeah, don’t start celebrating yet, guys.” Rhodey warned. “We got incoming outside the dome.”

I watched as the shock waves and debris from the ships destroy the forest and boil up against the dome. I look to Steve as him and T’Challa share concerned glances. 

I felt how scared they both were, how afraid, and the need they had to protect everyone. They have no idea what we are getting ourselves into. I turned towards the exam table when I heard Vision struggling to sit up and slide off the table.

“It’s too late,” he said. “We need to destroy the stone now.”

“Vision, get your ass back on the table,” Nat demanded.

“Agreed,” I stepped in. “Vis, I don’t want to have to force you down but you know I can and I will.”

“We will hold them off,” T’Challa stated as he and his guards started for the door. Steve turned to Wanda.

“Wanda, as soon as the stone’s out of his head… you blow it to hell,” Steve instructed. 

“I will,” Wanda said.

“Evacuate the city. Engage all defense procedures,” T’Challa commanded. He stopped before fully exiting the room, turned, and pointed to Steve. “And get this man a shield.” 

next >

#avengers #avengers fanfiction #avengers age of ultron #age of ultron #avengers infinity war #infinity war #avengers endgame #endgame #captain marvel #Captain America civil war #civil war #Spiderman homecoming #captain america #iron man #Tony stark #Steve rogers #Tony stark fanfiction #Steve Rogers fanfiction #Tony stark x oc #Steve Rogers x oc #iron man x oc #Captain America x oc #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #fanfiction #avengers x reader #the avengers x reader #pepper potts

[ceealaina]

Nice Day for a White Wedding

Title: Nice Day for a White Wedding - Chapter 1 Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card Number: 3088 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - FutureFic Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Teen Major Tags: None Summary: After years living happily together, Tony has finally gotten up the courage to propose. The wedding is going to be perfect, and all his dreams are coming true. The only problem? Rhodey maybe wasn't paying attention when he asked, and maybe doesn't know what he agreed to. Word Count: 5455 Chapter One | Chapter Two

“… Honeybear? What do you think?” 

Rhodey blinked to find Tony staring at him, a hopeful, expectant smile on his face and oh god. He had zoned out completely thinking about his schedule for the conference he was going to next week, and he had absolutely no idea what they had been talking about. 

“Um,” he said, trying to buy some time, and Tony’s smile dimmed slightly. He reminded Rhodey of the nervous, terrified kid who had walked into his dorm room at MIT, and he would shoot himself in his knee before he would let Tony feel that way again. “Yes,” he offered, hedging his bets. Tony’s smile had been more shy than the manic look he got when talking about armies of robots, so Rhodey was probably safe, right?

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, but already the smile was blooming back across his face, eyes going bright like Rhodey had just made all his dreams come true. “I mean, if you don’t think it’s a good idea…” 

“Yes, definitely,” Rhodey told him firmly. “It’s a great idea. It’s gonna be great.” 

Oh god, he really hoped he wasn’t agreeing to an army of robots. 

Tony beamed at him for a long minute, and even if Rhodey had no idea what was going on, Tony’s smile was contagious and he couldn’t help grinning back at him, laughing when Tony started laughing brightly. Tony’s eyes got a little watery, but before Rhodey could question him on it, he was launching himself forward and wrapping his arms around Rhodey’s neck. Rhodey had no idea what was going on, but he was never gonna complain about having Tony in his lap. HIs arms moved automatically around Tony’s back and drew him in close, the two of them making out in the lab just like old times until Jarvis interrupted to remind Tony about his meeting with the Swiss investors. Tony pulled back, still grinning wide. 

“I love you so much,” he told Rhodey, giving him one final peck before hopping off his lap. “We’ll talk later!” he called over his shoulder, heading out the door with a definite bounce to his step. 

Rhodey leaned back against the desk and sighed, scratching at his chin ruefully. He had definitely just agreed to an army of robots. Pepper was going to kill him. 

*

What with one thing and another, Rhodey didn’t end up seeing Tony again for the rest of the day. He was in bed, in that dozy almost-asleep state, when the door cracked open. He couldn’t help smiling at the ceiling before rolling over onto his side, watching through half lidded eyes as Tony moved into the room, stripping messily out of his clothes. He disappeared into the bathroom and Rhodey drifted off again, waking with a jolt when Tony bounced on the bed a few minutes later. 

“Jesus,” he muttered, earning himself a giggle as Tony clambered over the bed, draping himself over Rhodey’s chest and burying his face against his neck. Rhodey couldn’t help grinning, moving his hand to card through the soft waves of Tony’s hair. “Hey Snickerdoodle,” he whispered, letting his eyes fall shut as Tony’s beard scraped over his neck. “No late night in the lab?”

Tony hummed and then blew a raspberry against Rhodey’s neck, because he was an actual child. “Guess I just missed you.” 

Rhodey grinned again, his eyes still shut. “Missed you too, baby.” He felt Tony shift, and opened his eyes to see him propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at him properly. Tony’s eyes met his, searching them for a long minute before he broke out in a wide grin. 

“God, I love you so much,” Tony breathed, before he was leaning down, kissing Rhodey thoroughly. 

Rhodey moaned softly against his mouth, arms wrapping around his back as Tony shifted to straddle his waist. He had no idea why he was being so extra affectionate tonight -- even for Tony -- but he definitely wasn’t complaining. “I love you too,” he breathed against his lips. 

They kissed lazily for a few minutes, Tony rocking absently on top of him and sighing softly as Rhodey stroked his fingers up and down his spine. “Okay, okay,” Tony said finally, breaking away to nuzzle at Rhodey’s neck instead. “Rain check? I’m wiped.” 

Rhodey nodded, even as his hands tightened around Tony’s back. “You gonna stay here tonight?” he asked, feeling Tony’s lips curve into a smile against his adam’s apple. 

“Nowhere else I’d rather be, honey bear.” 

*

Tony woke in the early hours of the morning, the sky outside still dark. Normally Tony would be bitching about Steve scheduling Avengers meetings before any decent human being should even be awake, but this morning he was in far too good of a mood to complain. He wasn’t even feeling the lack of coffee. Rhodey just huffed as Tony slipped out of bed, burrowing deeper into the blankets without waking up. Tony beamed at him, and pressed a whisper light kiss to his cheek before heading to shower.

He was, as per usual, the last one into the meeting, bursting in at ten seconds to the hour. He slid into his customary seat beside Steve, bouncing his leg with even more chaotic energy than usual. 

“Okay,” Steve started. “Let’s call this meeting —,”

“I have an announcement!” Tony burst out, ignoring all standard procedures.

Steve made a show of drawing in a long breath, scrubbing a hand over his face, but when he turned to Tony his smile was pleasant. “Yes, Tony?” he asked, voice teasing. “What’s so important that it can’t even wait for the meeting to start?”

If he’d been in less of a good mood, Tony would have had a comment in return, or at the very least have stuck his tongue out at the other man, because he was a mature and responsible adult. But as it was… 

“Rhodey and I are getting married!” he blurted out, with no sense of preamble. He knew he was grinning like an absolute idiot, and he couldn’t have cared less. “I asked him yesterday, and he said yes, so uh…  Yeah. We’re getting married,” he said again, because he couldn’t get enough of the way the words tasted on his tongue. 

The room erupted into a chorus of cheers and congratulations. “Tony!” Steve said beside him, sounding absolutely delighted. Tony grinned back at him and then he was being hauled off his seat and crushed into Steve’s broad arms. “Congratulations!” he told him, yelling in his ear to be heard over the epic blessing that Thor was bestowing upon them. (Tony was 99.999% sure that he was just doing it to be a shit.) “I’m so happy for you!” 

He was practically passed around the room then, everyone hugging him and giving him congratulations -- or in Natasha’s case, telling him it was about time that he got his ass in gear. He knew she was really telling him ‘I love you.’ The team could get on his last nerve sometimes, but he loved them all completely. They were so genuinely happy for him that Tony felt his chest go a little tight, had to clear his throat a few times before he could properly say thank you. He would have married Rhodey in the middle of an iceberg with only penguins to bear witness, but knowing that the team would be right there celebrating with him made something he would never admit to go all warm and gooey inside. 

*

Rhodey woke up feeling comfortable and refreshed, with the faint memory of Tony’s lips pressed to his cheek in a good morning kiss. Tony would be Iron Man until he died, he knew, but Rhodey was more than happy to stay semi-retired, piloting the War Machine armour as backup, rather than part of the main team, while serving as the Avengers liaison to the military -- well, the president, now. 

Taking his time with his morning routine, he showered and dressed before finally wandering into the common area with vague ideas of finding coffee and then bugging Tony in that order. Steve was the only one around, reading a book in one of the armchairs, but he looked up when Rhodey came in, beaming wide. 

“Hey, congratulations!” he said, actually getting up and coming over to give Rhodey a hug. 

Rhodey blinked in surprise, even as he hugged Steve back. His promotion wasn’t that big of a deal, could barely even be considered a promotion really. It was more of a structural reorganization than anything. “Uh, thanks!” he said, trying to sound as genuine as possible because it was nice of Steve to be so enthused on his behalf.

Steve grinned as he pulled back. “Tony told us all the big news. He couldn’t wait. He’s… Really excited.” 

And that made a bit more sense. Tony was always inordinately proud of everything Rhodey did, no matter how ridiculous or small. “Yeah,” he said, aware that he was grinning a little stupidly, thinking about Tony. “I’m not surprised. You know how Tony is.”

“Yeah…” Steve was giving him a curious look now, but an instant later his expression cleared and he was back to grinning brightly. “Well still. Congratulations, Jim. Nobody deserves it more than you.” 

As Rhodey wandered off for the kitchen, Natasha materialized by Steve’s side, folding her arms across her chest as the two of them watched him disappear. “Betcha ten bucks that Rhodes has no idea they’re getting married.” 

Steve snorted, turning to her with a smirk playing around his lips. “That’s easy money, Romanoff. You’re not fooling me.” He rolled his eyes at Nat’s arched brow. “Again.” 

“Fiiiine,” she drawled, taking a minute to consider. “Fifty bucks says he doesn’t figure it out before the wedding.” 

Steve considered a minute, thought about how ridiculously excited Tony was, how he’d never in his life done anything by half measures. “You’re on,” he told her, shaking her hand firmly. 

*

Rhodey found Tony, as expected, working in the lab, fiddling with the holographic plans to what looked like Sam’s wings. Tossing a ball across the room for DUM-E to chase, Rhodey leaned against the counter next to Tony, sliding a fresh mug of coffee in front of him and waiting for Tony to look up and acknowledge him. When he did, a bright smile on his face, Rhodey arched an eyebrow at him.��

“So. I passed Steve in the common room. Stopped to offer me congratulations…” He huffed out a laugh at the sheepish look on Tony’s face, tinged by genuine delight. “You told everyone, didn’t you?” 

Tony shrugged at him. “I couldn’t help it!” he protested. “I’m just so excited.” 

Rhodey gave him a fond look, leaning over to kiss his temple. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised,” he mumbled. Tony gave a happy little wiggle. 

“They’re all really happy,” he told him, half distracted by his blueprints again. 

Rhodey took a sip from his own mug of coffee as DUM-E came back up with his ball. “I don’t know why,” he said, tossing it across the room and missing how Tony looked up at him sharply and went still, breath catching. “It can’t possibly be a surprise to anyone. It’s just the natural next step.” 

He turned back to Tony, blinking when he found Tony staring at him with wide eyes, welling up and looking at him with this awed sort of expression. 

“Tones…?” he started, but cut himself off with a grunt when he suddenly found himself with an armful of Tony, the other man kissing him breathless. 

“God,” Tony muttered against his lips, hands fumbling with the fly of Rhodey’s pants. “God, I fucking love you so much.” 

And by the time they were sprawled up together on the too-small cot twenty minutes later, both panting for breath, Rhodey forgot all about asking Tony what had him almost in tears.

*

By the end of the week, all the Avengers were in on the betting, and Steve was torn between his deep-seated need to win at all costs, and wanting to drag it out forever because he was pretty sure this was the funniest thing to ever happen to him.

He was watching tv in the common room when the elevator dinged and Tony and Rhodey walked off, bickering good naturedly over something to do with the War Machine suit. Without looking up at them, Steve poked at his phone and switched to some Lifestyle network previewing the top ten wedding locations of the year. Tony didn’t even seem to notice, but out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Rhodey pause. 

“Uh… Interesting viewing choice there, Rogers.” 

He shrugged. “Never know when you’re going to have to plan a destination wedding.” 

Rhodey snorted at that. “Destination weddings are tacky.” 

Tony did pay attention then, glancing up at the images on the screen, and then grinning at Rhodey. “We are so in sync.” He leaned, giving him a quick kiss, and then grabbed his hand. “Come on, Honeybear. Experiment time. We’re gonna put this to rest once and for all.” 

Steve managed to wait until they’d left the floor before laughing so hard he could barely breathe. 

*

The thing was, Tony constantly had nine million things on the go. He didn’t really have time for things like picking out flowers, and decorations, and deciding on a venue. And, even if he had the time, it was probably better if he didn’t. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy still refused to let him forget the time he’d decided to redecorate the media room in floor-to-ceiling cheetah print.

Besides, these were all just details. He and Rhodey were obviously soulmates. As long as they were both there, and exchanged vows, who cared whether they had roses, or orchids, or birthworts (whatever those were). Much better to outsource the party planning to the people actually paid to plan parties.

So he’d hired the best wedding planner in the city, and told her to have at it. 

Still, he felt a little guilty for not offering Rhodey any input. 

Rhodey was poking at shit in the lab when Tony came in with a “hey babycakes,” that had Rhodey rolling his eyes, trying to hide the smile that threatened to cross his lips. 

“Hey honey.” 

“So listen, I just wanted to check… Did you want to do any of the planning for the big event?” 

Rhodey blinked and kept his face carefully neutral as he tried to wrack his brain for what event they could possibly be going to.

“I mean,” Tony continued. “I just told the planners to go with their instincts, but it’s not too late if you want a particular cake favour or anything?”

“Um.” Rhodey had no idea what event he was even talking about. It must have been some SI thing. He didn’t remember agreeing to anything, and he had no idea why Tony would expect him to have any input, but if he’d promised to go, he’d promised to go. “I’m good. We should leave the party planning to the people who are actually paid to plan parties, right?”

Tony was staring at him like he’d said something incredible. “That’s almost exactly what I said!” he crowed. 

Rhodey wasn’t really sure why this was supposed to be a revelation, since Tony had never planned a party in his life, and certainly nothing as big as a Stark Industries event. 

“Why sweat the details?” Tony added. “Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re there together, right?” 

Rhodey just stared at him, not even fighting his fond smile this time. “You’re such a dweeb, man,” he told him, softening Tony’s put-on pout with a slow, lazy kiss. “Sure, Tones,” he added in a mumble against his lips. “‘S long as we’re together.”

*

Pepper had known from the minute that Tony called and told her they were getting married that Rhodey had no idea what was going on. Mostly because Rhodey’d been carrying around a ring for two years, and kept chickening out, and there was no way Tony had proposed first without a resulting phone call from Jim throwing an absolute fit over it. 

Pepper planned to stay firmly out of it. 

Honestly, if she’d thought it would be a problem, of course she would have said something. But she knew they’d both be disgustingly ecstatic to marry each other no matter what the situation. So for now, it was endlessly amusing watching Tony walking around even more besotted than usual while Rhodey remained utterly oblivious — except for the brief moments of sheer panic when he realized Tony was asking him about something he had absolutely no memory of agreeing to. 

Besides, those two idiots deserved it for all the ridiculous shit they’d put her through over the years.

It was slightly less funny when she nearly had a heart attack when Steve Rogers pulled her unceremoniously and without warning into an empty conference room. 

“I need to talk to you!” he hissed, like anyone would even hear them through the soundproofing. 

Pepper arched an eyebrow at him, a little nonplussed by how badly he had startled her and trying to play it off. “I can see why you’re not trusted with the spy missions, Captain Rogers.”

Steve just rolled his eyes. “It’s about Tony and Rhodey’s wedding,” he told her. “I think there might be a problem.”

Pepper’s other eyebrow joined the first, and she motioned for him to go on. 

“Rhodey doesn’t know Tony proposed. Tony’s going around planning this incredible wedding, and Rhodey hasn’t even said yes! I think we should say something, right?” He gave her a hopeful look, not entirely innocent. 

Pepper blinked back at him, face not revealing a thing; there was a reason May always pouted about her game face on poker nights. “First of all, the extent of Tony’s ‘planning’ involves him calling a service and dragging Rhodey there the day of, so I wouldn’t be too worried about all the effort and energy he’s putting into this. Second of all, I’m staying out of it. Me trying to tell them means they’ll just not-listen harder. They’ll figure it out at the wedding, at the very least. And thirdly…” She folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at him. “You wouldn’t be trying to get me to intercede just so you don’t lose your bet, now would you, Steve?”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “You know about that?”

“Good lord. Of course I know about that.” She shook her head, clucking her tongue is disappointment, although she was grinning now. “For shame. I would have expected better from Captain America.” Heading for the door, she paused long enough to glance over her shoulder at him. “Besides. I’ve got fifty bucks that says they won’t figure it out!” 

*

“Honey, baby, sweetheart, love of my life…”

Rhodey groaned burying himself deeper into the blankets and turning his face away from Tony and into his pillow. 

“Rhooooo-deeeeeeeeeey.”

Rhodey shivered as Tony’s lips traced the shell of his ear before he placed feather light kisses over the back of his neck. “‘s too early,” he protested, mostly because it was expected of him. “Go ‘way.” He felt Tony’s lips curl into a smile against his neck. 

“Nope.” 

Relenting, Rhodey rolled over onto his back, blinking sleepily up at Tony. His boyfriend was dressed and alert, sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him with a grin. Rhodey glared at him and then shoved him until he tipped over, just because he could. “Stop being so in love with me,” he grumbled. “‘s embarrassing.” 

All that got him was a delighted laugh from Tony, an answering smile spreading across Rhodey’s face at the sound. God, he loved Tony’s laugh. 

“I love your laugh,” he told him, because Tony didn’t get true compliments enough, and it seemed important to say, and good lord he was tired. Rhodey scrubbed a hand over his face, blinking a few times when his vision came up blurry. “It’s too early,” he whined again, giving Tony a suspicious look. “How are you so bright and cheery?” 

Tony snorted, rolling onto his side and leaning up on his elbow so he could look Rhodey over with twinkling eyes. “Uh… Probably because it’s almost noon there, Honeybear.”

“What?!” Rhodey rolled over, grabbing his phone from the bedside table and leaving Tony cackling beside him. “What the hell?” 

“Where’s that military training now, huh?” Tony teased, poking him in the side. Of course Rhodey couldn’t let that slide. He grabbed Tony, yanking him over to his side of the bed, their wrestling very quickly dissolving into lazy kisses, Tony complaining about his morning breath and Rhodey ignoring him entirely. 

“Can’t believe I slept till noon,” Rhodey grumped, pulling away when the sleepiness caught up to him again. 

“Well. That is what happens when you stay up half the night playing video games with Clint and Sam.” Tony patted his cheek condescendingly. “You’re not a young thing anymore. It’s okay darling, it happens. Don’t have quite the same… Stamin-ah!” 

Tony cut himself off with a yelp of laughter as Rhodey ambushed him again, dragging him under him for more kisses. “Show you no stamina,” he grumbled, though he only lasted a few minutes before he was flopping back into the pillows with a low groan. “Come on, Tones. Don’t make me get up.” He batted his eyelashes at him. “Ten more minutes, honey?” 

“Can’t,” Tony informed him airily. 

“Because I’m so irresistible?” Rhodey fluttered his eyelashes a little more. 

“Obviously.” Tony leaned in, giving him another quick peck. “But come on, time to get up gorgeous. We’re gonna be late. It’s our final suit fitting”

Rhodey scrunched his face up in confusion. “Suits for what?” 

Tony gave him a deadpan, unimpressed face. “Suits for what, he asks me,” he grumbled. 

Right. The SI thing. Rhodey half tuned Tony out as he started rambling about preliminary measurements and final fits and, for some reason, their matching pocket squares -- why did they have to match? For that matter, why did they even need tailored, bespoke suits? It wasn’t that important, they could rewear something they already owned.

He opened his mouth to tell Tony exactly that, but then thought better of it. Tony probably had a long, rambling justification for why new suits -- with matching pocket squares, apparently -- were necessary. And as long as it made him happy, Rhodey was fine with it. But it also looked dreary and rainy outside, and all he wanted was to lie in bed with his boyfriend and watch dumb action movies while they made out. 

“Hey.” He covered Tony’s mouth with his hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. Tony didn’t even look offended, just arched his eyebrows, looking at Rhodey expectantly. “Or, consider this. You take off all your clothes, put on just an apron, cook approximately fifty pounds of bacon for me, and then it’s just you, me, and Die Hards 1 through 3.” He waggled his eyebrows enticingly. “Come on, Tony. JARVIS takes our measurements, and your tailor has literally never had a less than perfect fit in his life.” He pitched his voice low, rubbing his thumb over that spot on Tony’s hip that always made his breath catch and his body shiver. 

Tony rolled his eyes at him, but Rhodey already knew he had won. “You are a menace,” Tony said, before grinning. “Fine. JARVIS, please tell Giovanni that we won’t be coming into today, and to proceed with the suits as they are.” He leaned in, stealing another kiss. “Just don’t blame me when you trip over your own pants, because they’re too long for your short little legs.”

“Baby, as long as your pants fit right so I get to stare at your gorgeous ass all night, I don’t give a shit what I’m wearing.” 

Tony burst out laughing at that, and Rhodey beamed back at him. 

“Now go! Take off those pants!”

*

Really, Clint’s kind of weird insistence that they all go out to strip club the night before should have given the game away. Or Tony waking him up even more lovey-dovey than usual (although the sweet, lazy wake up sex had been a pretty fair distraction). Or the fact that they were going upstate, for some reason, and that Tony insisted on holding Rhodey’s hand on the way up, steering with his left the entire way there.  

 He was starting to feel a little suspicious by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the inn, the perfect blend of cozy and classy. SI events were usually ultra-ritzy, swanky affairs in glitzy ballrooms in the city. Not… This. And his suspicions only doubled when Tony turned to him in the lobby with glistening eyes, gave him a long, lingering kiss and then pulled back, beaming. 

“See you in a bit, honeybear,” he promised, voice gruff, before he was taking off down the hall and disappearing upstairs.

But it wasn’t until after Pepper had taken him to a different room to get changed with a smirk that he couldn’t quite place, after he’d gotten dressed in that fancy bespoke suit (that fit like a glove), and had Pepper fuss over his hair and his tie and his jacket, after they’d gone back downstairs and he found himself staring out into the beautiful back garden that was arranged with chairs, and an aisle, and what could only be described as an altar, that he realized that he’d missed something very, very important. 

“Oh god,” he breathed, taking a step back and scrubbing a hand over his mouth. “It wasn’t an army of robots.” 

“I’m sorry.” Pepper was behind him again, smirking wide. “What was that?” 

“Pepper!” he whispered frantically. “What is going on? I haven’t even proposed yet!” 

She looked utterly unimpressed. “Really? Come on Colonel, connect the steps.”

“I hate you,” he told her. “You’ve known about this the entire time, haven’t you?” 

Pepper just shrugged. “I had money on the line,” she told him, but then she leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Hey, relax. You’re marrying the love of your life. Everything you ever wanted, right?” 

Rhodey could feel the goofy smile crossing his lips. “Yeah,” he admitted, and Pepper smiled right back at him. 

“Then go get your boy.”

And then he was stepping onto the altar, where Tony was waiting for him, grinning with no chill at all, like he couldn’t have stopped himself if he wanted. He chewed at his lip as Rhodey joined him, catching his hands and tilting his head to give him a questioning look. 

“You alright?” he asked softly, laughter in his voice. 

“Are you?” Rhodey retorted, making Tony laugh in earnest. “Come on, let’s go.” 

“Alright, Honeybear.” Tony was still looking amused. “Let’s do this thing.” 

*

The ceremony went by entirely too fast and yet they seemed to linger in that perfect moment forever. Tony’s vows were adorable, and geeky, and so perfectly sweet and Rhodey found himself welling up, laughing through tears. And when he stumbled over his own, written less than five minutes ago, Tony laughed delightly, though he was looking a little weepy himself. 

And then Thor was pronouncing them officially married -- before of course Thor was their officiant -- and they were kissing, and it was probably a little too racy for a wedding, but it didn’t really matter because it was their friends, and they were all cheering, and their officiant was a literal god, so who cared if Tony slipped him a little tongue, and if Rhodey had to get his hands on his ass and give it a squeeze.

The grounds for the inn were huge, the reception taking place further down a little wandering path through the woods. The two of them took their time wandering through, hands entwined, and Rhodey couldn’t keep from staring at Tony every few seconds. He couldn’t believe that in just a few short minutes, he’d gone from not even knowing what was going on to being married to the love of his life. He was grinning like an idiot, he knew, but he couldn’t feel stupid about it; every time he looked over at Tony, Tony was already looking back at him. 

The second they’d reached the reception area, though, Tony was tugging him off to a quiet little corner. “You had no idea what was happening, did you?” 

“I…” Rhodey hesitated a moment, because he knew how insecure Tony could be sometimes, and in no circumstances did he want him to confuse not knowing with not wanting. But starting out their marriage with secrets seemed like a terrible idea, and he was pretty sure Tony already knew anyway, so. “Not a clue,” he confessed, scratching the back of his neck ruefully. “Still love me?” 

He needn’t have worried. Tony looked at him for a second, doing his best to look stern, and then burst out laughing. He laughed for so long that Rhodey was genuinely concerned about his ability to breathe, putting an arm around Tony’s waist to keep him upright (and also, because he’d take any excuse to get his hands on Tony). 

“Oh god,” Tony choked in, taking in deep gasping breaths as he tried to calm down. “I knew it! I saw your face, when you saw the altar…” He snorted again. “And I could just tell. Baby, I love you, but nothing compares to that look of absolute panic you had. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen. That is… That’s the greatest wedding gift you could have given me.”

“That’s good,” Rhodey told him dryly. “Cause I didn’t actually get you anything.” 

That set Tony of laughing again, and Rhodey just wrapped his arms tighter around his waist, tugging him close, nosing against his neck and pressing soft kisses against his shoulder. 

“You’re really not upset?” Rhodey whispered into his skin. “I feel like a little bit of a dick, not helping plan my own wedding.” 

“Hey.” Tony pulled his head up, cupping his cheeks and holding him steady so they were eye to eye. “It’s all just details, honey. As long as it’s you and me, that’s all that matters.” 

Rhodey beamed at him, and then they were kissing again, letting heat build up between them until Bucky came by and threatened to pour an entire bottle of champagne on them if they didn’t get things started so everyone could get some goddamn cake.

After, when everyone had eaten and the champagne had been poured, when the dancing had mostly petered out and the stars were out in full force in the sky, Rhodey sat sprawled out on a little loveseat, Tony half sideways and half in his lap, head resting against Rhodey’s chest. He had one arm wrapped around Tony’s middle, combing the fingers of his other hand through his soft curls, and Tony was making, soft, sleepy, contented noises. It felt like heaven.

“Hey,” Tony said, voice drowsy. “Blackmail opportunity for life.”

Rhodey squinted at the stars, but he’d had a lot of champagne tonight, and he was pretty sure that made no sense at all. “What?”

“Yeah, Tony continued, still in that same, sleepy tone of voice. “How’re you ever gonna get mad at me again?” He gave a little giggle, the sound making Rhodey feel warm and content all over. “It’s just like. Hey honeybear? Remember the time you didn’t know we were getting married?” 

Rhodey just snorted, tightening his arm around Tony because he never wanted to let him go. “And I’ll just be like. Hey sweetheart, remember the time you didn’t tell me we were getting married?” 

“Excuse me?” Tony squirmed around and Rhodey reluctantly let him go so he could sit up and face him. “I did tell you! I proposed!! How is that not telling you?” 

“But you never once said the words ‘we’re getting married’ in the next six months?” Rhodey just scoffed. “Geez, Tones. Couldn’t you be a little more excited to marry me?”

Tony stared at him for a minute, gaping. Then he was yanking Rhodey in for a kiss, and then, not much after that, the two of them were slipping back up the path to the lodge, stumbling and love drunk and stopping every few seconds to kiss as they made their way to the honeymoon suite. 

And the next day, when the cover of the New York Times was just a giant picture of Tony’s face with the words ‘I MARRIED COLONEL RHODES’ printed underneath in a font that was nothing short of ostentatious, well… Rhodey had no one to blame but himself. 

@tonystarkbingo

#tonystarkbingo2020 #tsb2020 #ironhusbands #tony stark #james rhodes #pepper potts #steve rogers #fluff #weddings #misunderstandings #team as family #fic #my fic

[no-gorms]

hi! i just wanted to let you know that you're an incredibly talented writer and i love all of your stony fics! i especially loved the fic Cold Space, Warm Welcome, and was wondering if you could write a steve!pov version of it! i'd love to see your take on pining!steve, which i'm sure would be wonderful. thank you so much for sharing your writing with us, and i hope you have a wonderful day!

Hiiiiii thank you! 😘

I’m very fond of Cold Space, Warm Welcome, it’s true. I’m not gonna write a full-length Steve POV, but here, have a ficlet I just cobbled together! Hope you like, and that you have a wonderful day, too.

By the way, I’m mostly putting the tumblr prompts I’ve received on hold for now (though I love them all), because I’m currently struggling working on a timestamp for front row seats and want to get that posted before the auction for Marvel Trumps Hate starts. I’ve signed up for the auction and BY THE BY if anyone wants to bid on me, I’m open to timestamps/sequels to most fics I’ve written (please send me a message to confirm which ones are possible) sooooooo

+

Everyone’s making a fuss over nothing. Steve’s had more than his fair share of falling into vacuum, and really, it was only a matter of time before he’d do it with a malfunctioning suit. It’s only been a few minutes since he’d arrived on board the Iron Advance but he’s already regained coordination and feeling in his hands and feet. 

“You drink that up,” Natasha says, nodding at the cup in his hands, courtesy of Happy and the Iron Advance hangar’s drinks dispensary. Why didn’t they have one on the Furtherance? Oh well.

Steve squints at the steaming mug in his hands. “Don’t you have a black box to decode?”

“It’s on my list,” Natasha says. “After making sure the Captain hasn’t frozen to death.”

“C’mon, it’d take more than a space jaunt to freeze our Cap,” Clint says.

“Oh, so this is typical of y’all,” Rhodey says. “Is that what I’m hearing?”

While the others erupt into what is no doubt a fruitful discussion on what is and isn’t the norm of the two crews, Steve focuses on the drink. Truth be told, he thinks it’s not mainly the drink, nor the blanket on his shoulders, that’s making him feel better and raring to go.

It’s the excitement of where they are, all of them, on the Iron Advance. Although losing a good ship will sting for a long time, Steve has always kept his focus forward and onward and upward, through his military career and Sol service and wars that lost their purpose long before their momentum.

Better to be in the here and now, on a ship that belongs to trust allies, and especially…

Actually, there he is.

Steve thinks he might’ve developed a hypersensitivity to the color combo of red-and-gold. Just seeing it at the corner of his eye makes him perk up, as it does now, thanks to Tony’s marching across the hangar, his armor’s boots surprisingly light on the metal walkway. Steve wondered earlier where he’d gone off to, when everyone else had landed. Even now, Tony isn’t approaching them, but is instead walking towards a metal rig by the bulkhead.

Steve feels himself ready to get up and call out – Tony, where are you going?

But then Tony turns, stepping backward into the rig, and the armor opens.

The armor opens – Steve had no idea it could open like that, and he thought it was a far more difficult process what with how he’s never Tony so much as take off his helmet – whereby plates and flaps do a complicated but seemingly effortless dance around its human pilot, who then steps out.

Its human pilot, who is Tony, who steps down onto the grate.

He is – that is – that’s Tony.

Steve can’t say he’s never wondered what Tony looks like inside the suit. He’s wondered a lot, but he’s also figured that it didn’t matter, because Tony could look like anyone and he’d still be wonderful – funny, smart, sarcastic, and such a good guy when he’s not feeling self-conscious about it.

But Steve now realizes that he had developed some mental images of Tony that persisted. Namely, the strong association of Tony with the red-and-gold armor meant that Steve’s been thinking of the man underneath as having the traits of that armor, too – shiny, glossy, perfectly crafted like the amazing creations he makes.

But Tony’s not perfectly-crafted and glossy. He’s just… a guy. He’s a human being with messy hair, unkempt overalls and workshop stains on his arms and hands. A human being with clever brown eyes, a goatee over a chin that hints at a smirk, strong arms and tapered waist, plus all of above in a single package that is breathtakingly touchable and relatable and vulnerable in ways that the armor isn’t.

One thing remains true between the armor and the man underneath: they’re both beautiful.

The man rather more, though.

The man’s also scowling at him. And is turning away, muttering an instruction to the Iron Advance’s computer under his breath.

Steve should say something. He must say something. But all his brain can summon up is a variation of, Oh wow, which is neither useful nor witty, and Steve wants to be witty.

“I got your shield,” Tony calls out at him. “You’re welcome.”

“Oh, that’s—” Steve starts to get up, but pressure on his shoulder keeps him sitting. This is a sorry state of affairs, because Tony leaves without even a glance back, as though Steve’s the only one who feels the weight of this historical moment, because it is a historical moment.

“That’s…” Steve realizing that he’s still staring down the doorway Tony disappeared through. “That’s Tony.”

“Yeah,” Rhodey says slowly. “I’m pretty sure you’ve met.”

Steve blinks rapidly, as though a fog is just rising out of his brain. He quickly busies himself consuming the drink in his hands, and ignores the sound Natasha makes behind his back.

#anonymous #verse: cold space warm welcome #superhusbands #scaramouche writes superhusbands fic #scaramouche answers asks

[mischiefandspirits]

Iron Legion (21/?)

Never let it be said that Tony Stark ever does things by half. He might have grown up with little family, but he wasn’t about to keep it that way.

Tony Stark was seventeen when his first child was born, and that was just the beginning.

For Masterpost, Timeline, AO3, and Fanfiction

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arachne Mark II, Part 4

Dad told him he couldn’t bring his phone to the fight.

However, he didn’t say he couldn’t record it.

“You ready, Jay?”

“All set, Master Peter,” Jay said as Droney did a lap around Peter’s head.

“Sweet! Try to get as much of the action as you can without getting too close.”

“Of course,” he said primly before flying off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all.”

Steve internally shook his head at the costumed enhanced who took a relaxed crouch in front of him. What was Tony thinking bringing in a rookie? “Look, kid, there’s a lot going on here that you don’t understand.”

“Mr. Stark said you’d say that. Wow,” the kid -- because with that voice he was without a doubt a kid -- said.

Suddenly Steve was being dragged into a kick that hit harder than anything he’d felt since taking the serum, even with his shield taking most of the blow.

“He also said to go for your legs,” the kid laughed.

Steve went for his shield, but a foot landed on it just as his hands were grabbed by the kid’s webs.

“Spidey,” Nebula growled and picked up the shield. “Non-combat, remember?”

“He started it!” the kid joked, but let go.

Surprised, Steve stumbled forwards right into the shield Nebula used to bat him away.

“Team up?” Spidey offered, landing next to her.

“No. Do as you’re told or I’m sending you home,” she ordered, but otherwise ignored him. She ran forward, ducking a blow from Steve and kicking his knee to bring him down so she could knock her own against his forehead.

“But I promised to punch Cap in the face!”

“If it makes you feel better…” she trailed off as she punched Steve in the face. “Now go pin Maximoff. Focus on her hands.”

“Tell me you got that, Jay!” the kid whooped as he swung away.

“Hey! Father said no recording!” she shouted at him and Steve used the opportunity to grab his shield back.

“No, he just said no phone,” Spidey chirped as he swung past. In a German accent, he added, “Shoot him in the legs. His shield is the size of a dinner plate and he’s an idiot.”

“SPIDEY!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony shook as he landed at Peter’s side.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

“Kid, you alright?” he asked, kneeling next to him.

“Hey!” Peter panted and Tony grabbed his arms before the kid could either hit him or hurt himself. “Get off me!”

“Same side, guess who,” he said and Peter started to relax. “Hi, it’s me.”

“Hey Dad,” Peter sighed.

“Yeah.”

“That was scary.”

“Yeah. You’re done, alright?” Tony said as Nebula walked up.

“What?”

“You did a good job.” Tony grabbed him as he started to get up and carefully pushed him back down. “Stay down.”

“No, I’m good. I’m fine.”

“Stay down,” Tony ordered.

“No, it’s good. I gotta get him back!”

“You’re going home. You’re done,” Tony shouted, standing. “Nebula, watch him.”

“Wait, Mr. Stark. Wait,” he heard Peter say over the comms as he took off. “I’m not done. I’m not… Okay, I’m done. I’m done.”

“Tony,” Rhodey said as a private line opened up between just them. “Is that…?”

“Remind me to kill him once we get home,” Tony said instead of answering. “He was supposed to stay out of the fight.”

“He’s your kid,” Rhodey said as if that explained the kid’s inability to follow orders.

Which was fair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m not the one that needs to watch their back.”

Nebula downed her with one hit. “Might want to rethink that.” She turned to her father. “Please tell me we can turn her over to Ross.”

“Should I be worried about how excited you all are to beat up all my old teammates?” Father sighed and opened up his watch’s display.

“Not all of them, just the ones that treat you like garbage.”

“What am I looking at, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?”

“Priority upload from Berlin police.”

“What’s wrong?” Nebula asked.

“Fri, fire up the chopper. Nebula, stay here with Vision and keep an eye on you-know-who.”

When he took off, she glanced down at Romanoff then followed him. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not.” He stopped and gave her a stern look. “Ross the Lesser is already kicking up a fuss over Spidey and Masque. You need to keep your head down.”

“And you need backup. Everyone except Peter, Vision, and I are either unconscious or criminals, and Vision’s still messed up over Maximoff and Rhodey. Unless you plan on calling in the triplets, then let me help. Ross doesn’t even need to know I’m there.” When Father didn’t answer right away, she added, “Should I call Pepper and see what she thinks?”

He narrowed his eyes and waved a finger at her. “You know, I didn’t raise you to be this manipulative.”

She continued to stare him down, unimpressed.

“What about Peter?”

“He’ll be fine at the hotel.”

Father sighed and continued down the hall. “Stay in the chopper.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m going to kill all of them,” Nebula growled as she watched Father pass Barton.

“Can you start with Dunderbolt?”

Nebula spun around just in time to see a small, dark shape dart into the shadows with a hissed, “Harley!”

“Are you two spying on me?” Nebula asked, voice sharp. “Did you forget what happened last time?”

There was a pause then a spider-shaped drone flew up to her.

“Technically we were spying on Dad,” Peter offered.

“You don’t need to be spying on anyone.”

“You should have brought me,” he huffed. “I wanna help.”

“Like you helped when you picked a fight with Rogers.”

“He started it!”

“We should get to know what’s going on,” Harley said.

“We’ll tell you later. Leave.”

“Droney can’t fly that far on his own,” Peter said.

“Droney,” Harley snorted and Peter shushed him.

“Then turn it off and we’ll bring it home.”

“Come on, Nebs. We just want to watch,” Peter whined and she could see his puppy eyes in her head.

“Yeah, come on, Nebs. We’ll be good!” Harley added and she could see his smirk.

“Don’t call me Nebs, Harley, and you are physically incapable of being good,” she said, pushing the drone to send it spinning back.

“Hey, be nice to Droney!”

“Hey, be nice to me!”

“Does this thing even have an AI?” she asked, ignoring the younger of the two.

“No, Jay usually pilots him, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be nice.”

“I still can’t believe you told J.A.R.V.I.S. and not me!”

“I only told him because I needed help running the tests. I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“Which we’re going to talk about later,” Nebula said and Peter sighed.

“What all can you do?” Harley asked. “Besides being sticky.”

“Jerk,” Peter muttered, but listed his abilities and the features of his suit.

Nebula only half listened, having already gotten the summary of J.A.R.V.I.S.’s Spider-Man files from Father. Most of her attention went to watching Father finish his conversation with Wilson before heading back to the hanger.

“Stark?” the more annoying Ross called as he walked up and the boys quieted down. Father turned to look at him, but then got distracted by a message on his watch. “Did he give you anything on Rogers?”

“Nope. Told me to go to hell. I’m going back to the tower instead. Hey, can I pick up Redwing here or will you have someone drop him off?” Father asked, opening the door.

“Redwing?”

“Wilson’s bird-bot.”

“They are government property.”

“The wings are, but the bird-bot -- or the Stark Drone MK82 922 V 80Z V2 Prototype Unit V6 if you want to get technical -- is Stark Industries property, out on loan for testing, and legal wants it back ASAP,” Father said, pointing at his watch.

Nebula shot the drone a look and mouthed, Really Peter?

Peter sent a group text to her and Harley a moment later.

Small-one: Redwings one of us!!!! He doesn’t deserve to be put in jail because Wilson messed up

Brat: Free the bird bot!!!!!!!!!!

Small-one: FREE THE BIRD BOT!!!!!!

Me: Shut up, idiots.

Brat: Justice for avian drones!!!!!!

Small-one: JFAD!!!!

Nebula turned to Father once the door was shut and they took to the air. “You are not allowed to have any more sons. Clearly J.A.R.V.I.S. was an anomaly. All the rest are imbeciles.”

“Be nice to your brothers,” he said as he lowered the tinting on the windows. “What did they do now?”

She pointed at the drone and he frowned. “Don’t you two have homework to do?”

“I already finished,” Peter said as Harley was saying, “This is way cooler than Grapes of Wrath.”

Father’s nose scrunched up. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Father!”

“Did you like that book?”

She crossed her arms. “He needs to do his homework.”

“That wasn’t a no,” Harley snickered.

Father pointed at the drone as he sat down. “Homework.”

“Do you want me to enter the coordinates?” Nebula asked as Harley groaned.

“For the tower, sure,” Father said, carefully removing his sling.

“You can’t be serious,” Nebula said, knowing exactly what he was going to do.

“I promised to go alone. Besides, maybe if it’s just me, Rogers might actually calm down long enough to talk.”

“You can’t go alone, we’ve talked about this. You at least need backup.”

“The chopper isn’t as fast as the suit and we need to be there now. You’d slow me down. Besides, Ross will think something’s up if the chopper goes AWOL.”

Nebula opened her mouth before she got a text from Harley.

Brat: Zippy can keep up right

Me: You mean Guardsmen Mark J-IV? Yes, but it’s at the tower and not designed to be piloted from the inside.

Brat: True

Brat: But I MIGHT have one of dads controller headsets

Nebula turned to the drone. “You’re grounded.”

“What?” Peter shouted. “Why?”

“Not you.”

“In my defense, I was only going to use it to prank Pete, and I never even got to do that because I couldn’t figure out how to get past Jay.”

“Use what?” Father asked.

“He stole one of the controller headsets.”

“Which is a good thing,” Harley said quickly, “because it means I can follow you with Zippy!”

Father groaned and rubbed his face. “Both of you are going to spend all summer helping Pepper with all her most boring work.”

“What? Dad no, please!”

“That’s cruel and unusual punishment!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley scowled as he turned the book on its side in some desperate hope that it would make the book more interesting.

“Sir has engaged in combat. You are cleared to move in.”

“Finally!” Harley tossed the book aside and brought the headset’s display to full view. He had Zippy stand up from where she’d been hiding in a nearby cave and shot off towards the base. “Alright, Jay, how many of Zemo’s muscle heads are we looking at?”

“None. Sir is currently fighting Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes.”

“Dicks!” Harley hissed, pushing Zippy to go faster. He told Dad he should have waited right outside. “What did they do now?”

“Sir was the one to attack first,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said hesitantly.

“And what did they do to make him attack?”

“It… would appear that one of the Winter Soldier’s missions… was the assassination of Howard and Maria Stark.”

Zippy jerked to the side as Harley momentarily lost control.

Holy mother of Jesus!

“Zemo had a video of the event. And when questioned, Rogers admitted he had already known.” J.A.R.V.I.S.’s voice was as even as usual, but the lack of title on Roger’s name gave away his anger all the same.

“I’m going to kill him,” Harley snarled.

He and the others didn’t know much about their Stark grandparents since Dad didn’t like talking about them, but they’d managed to pick up a few things from his and Uncle Rhodey’s stories from their MIT days. Mostly it came down to three things: Howard and Dad didn’t get along (although that was probably an understatement according to Nebula), Maria was adored by them both and often played mediator, and Dad was crushed by their deaths.

And Rogers thought that the circumstances were something that should be kept quiet?

Harley spotted two people outside and landed Zippy next to them.

The two men leaped apart and Harley had her shoot Zemo with a tranq before turning her to T'Challa and leveling her gauntlet at his uncovered face.

“Stark?” he said, shocked.

Harley considered how to answer before turning on Zippy’s voice modulator. “Iron Lad,” he corrected, coming up with the name off the top of his head.

Then immediately regretting it. Iron Lad? Man, that made him sound like some perky pre-teen sidekick from a comic book.

“Where’s Iron Man?”

“Inside.”

“Get Zemo out of here before I do something that will get me in trouble,” Harley growled before marching inside.

Destruction was everywhere, which made it pretty easy to track the three’s progress through the base. Zippy dropped down a silo and Harley gasped when he saw his dad lying on the ground. Almost the entire surface of his suit was cracked or smashed in, including a suspiciously shaped crack across his upper chest. The helmet was gone and Harley could see the pieces lying off to the side while the reactor was only giving the faintest of flickers, which died out as Zippy rushed to his side.

“Dad!”

Harley gave a sigh of relief as his dad’s eyes opened slightly.

“Wha’?”

“It’s me. Are you okay?” Harley asked after turning off the voice modulator.

“Fine,” he lied closing his eyes.

“You should have called me in as soon as that stupid video started. I’m going to kill Zemo. Or Rogers. Or both.”

“No killing,” Dad huffed, his voice slurring slightly.

“Dad, hey, stay awake!” Harley said, having Zippy carefully pick him up. “Jay, how much longer until the Quinjet gets here?”

“Approximately half an hour.”

“Alright, we need to get you out of the cold,” Harley said and had Zippy bring him up into the main room of the base. She set him down on a relatively clear portion of the floor then Harley had her hit the safety releases on the suit and pull him out. “Dad?”

There was no answer and Harley started to freak out until J.A.R.V.I.S. said, “Sir, has fallen unconscious.”

He gave a shaky sigh before having Zippy begin her first aid procedures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony sighed when he came into his and Pepper’s office to see his children huddled up together looking like they were plotting world domination.

In all honesty, he’s pretty sure his kids could manage it.

“Do I even want to know what you lot are doing?” Tony asked, looking every single one of them in the eye.

Nebula was sitting in his chair, her face completely blank. Harley was sitting on his desk, face innocent which only proved he was up to something. The triplets, in hologram form, and Friday had been near the front of the desk, but disappeared at his call. Finally, there was Peter, standing on the ceiling and currently the only one looking guilty for whatever they were up to.

Tony went for the weak link, of course. “Peter, get off the ceiling, then tell me what you all are up to.”

Peter did hop down, but stayed quiet after a look from the others.

Tony stared the three down and they stared back.

“Am I interrupting something?” Vision asked as he phased through the wall.

“Up for debate, Vis. What’s up?” Tony said, not taking his eyes off the kids.

“Ms. Potts asked me to give you an update on the cleanup at the mansion and to ensure you received your package.”

“Package?”

“You didn’t get it?” Vision asked. “It was delivered to the mansion yesterday so Ms. Potts asked the triplets to grab it and bring it to you on their way in for their updates.”

Tony put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. “Alright you three, hand it over.”

“No,” Nebula said while Harley hummed, “We don’t have it,” and Peter muttered, “Can we talk about it first?”

Then the triplets and F.R.I.D.A.Y. popped back up, speaking over each other as well.

“Just leave it to us, Boss,” FRIDAY said, trying to shoo him out without being able to touch him.

“We’ve got everything under control,” P.L.A.T.O. tisked.

“You’re still healing! How about you go watch a movie with Torre?” J.O.C.A.S.T.A. chirped.

“I think Cavallo was looking for you. Something about his braces,” H.O.M.E.R. lied.

“Sir, perhaps you should just leave them to it,” J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested once they finished.

Tony dragged a hand over his face at the confirmation that all but the twins were in on this. He shot Peter a pointed look. “What did I say about turning your siblings against me?”

His eyes went wide and he pointed at Nebula and Harley. “It was their idea! I told them we should take it to Mom!”

Vision walked up to Nebula and leaned down. “What is it?” he poorly whispered and she handed him a paper. He frowned as he read what was on it. “I understand your hesitation, but should it not be his choice if he wants to find out what it says?”

“Yes,” Tony said at the same time as Harley’s, “No.”

“What even is it?” the man asked, throwing his hands in the air.

“A letter from Captain Rogers,” Vision answered before the others could stop him.

Howard! Red and white and blue swinging down like a guillotine. Bone-chilling cold.

Tony’s eyes pinched closed and he gave a shaky exhale. “What does it say?” He held up his hand when there were multiple exclamations. “What does it say?”

“Just a bunch of bullsh-” Harley cut off with a yelp and Tony opened his eyes to see him on the ground.

Nebula lowered her hand and held his gaze before sighing. She took the letter back from Vision. “‘Tony, I'm glad you're back at the mansion.’”

The kids all snorted and Tony joined in. He had a home. Multiple ones, really. The mansion was getting cleaned up then sealed up until the UN figured out what they were going to do now that all but two of the active-duty Avengers were gone.

“‘I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family.’”

“He says to the Avenger with the largest family,” Harley jeered. “Not counting Vision, since he’s apart of the family.”

“As well as Col. Rhodes for the same reason,” Vision added and the kids nodded.

“‘The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine.’ True, seeing as the only remaining Avengers are your grandson and brother in all but blood,” Nebula huffed and Tony felt his lips twitch up as he leaned back against the wall, watching his kids figuratively tear Rogers’ letter to shreds. “‘I've been on my own since I was eighteen. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the army.’”

“I thought Bucky supposedly died when he was twenty-five,” Peter said, looking to P.L.A.T.O.’s icon for confirmation. “And didn’t he have a team during the war?”

“As well as Peggy Carter,” they agreed.

“Is he even trying?” J.O.C.A.S.T.A. groaned.

“‘My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't.’”

“What is he even on about now?” H.O.M.E.R. muttered.

“‘I know I hurt you, Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself, and I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should. So, no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there.’”

“Oh I’m sorry for lying to you for years, but hey, hopefully you’ll figure out soon you were wrong and call me back, completely ignoring the fact that I'm now a wanted fugitive and nearly killed you,” J.O.C.A.S.T.A. mockingly chirped.

“Speed-Sis,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. hissed.

“No, no. She’s got a point,” H.O.M.E.R. said, his ram briefly being replaced by a buff cartoon angel. “So, can we track them down now? It won’t be hard with the phone.”

“Phone?”

“There was a phone with the letter,” Peter explained, picking it up off the desk.

Tony sighed and walked over to take the letter from Nebula.

He shoved it into Pepper’s shredder.

“This never happened,” he said, plucking the phone from Peter’s hand.

“What do you mean?” Vision asked.

“Ross the Lesser doesn’t want us to get involved with the hunt for Rogers and his recently freed gang, so we won’t.”

“What? Why not?” H.O.M.E.R. whined.

“Until Jessy and I can get him out of the picture, we can’t risk giving him any reason to think we’re helping Rogers’ gang. He’ll take any excuse he can get to get more of a hold on us. Which means we keep out of the search.” He shoved the phone into his pocket and sent them all a look. “That goes for all of you. Leave Cap and his crew alone, understood?”

They all looked disgruntled, even Vision. However, they slowly agreed one by one.

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony. “What about what they did to you, though?”

Tony ruffled his hair. “We both had a hand in that fight, and I threw the first punch.”

“And then the Captain escalated it instead of de-escalating it,” Nebula said.

“Yeah, and it was just a couple of punches,” Harley scoffed. “You didn’t even use your full strength.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony said, flicking him on the forehead. “I still shouldn’t have punched him. Like I said, we’re both at fault. Now, don’t you two have somewhere to be? Bambi said something about paperwork for marketing?”

Peter groaned and pressed his face into Tony’s shoulder while Harley glared. “Cruel and unusual punishment!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yo, I had Harley Nathaniel Richards make a joke about making his own suit and yet I didn't get a single Iron Lad comment? Shame!

Also, judging by all the bloodthirsty comments I got, I clearly underestimated how much you guys wanted to see Nebs or Peter kick Cap's butt.

Question of the day: I made a joke last chapter about making Loki's arc a musical and, surprisingly, some people asked me to actually do it. As such, I figured I'd see what the consensus was. Would you guys want that? Or, as another option, would you guys want to see the musical pieces posted in a separate story, like a series of outtakes type thing?

Next up: Web-Warriors

#ca: civil war #harley keener #tony stark #nebula #peter parker #iron family

[parkernotes]

the amazing butterfly-man

also available on ao3

pre-infinity war / slight humour + hurt/comfort

whumptober 2019 prompt: explosion

word count: 1289

It was supposed to be an easy task, but when Tony checks the time on the right top corner of his display, he's surprised to find out they've been at it for two hours already.

He's getting annoyed, too. The drone-like objects shoot at him and fly around him fast, almost teasingly. He takes them all out, but more and more of them still continue popping out of nowhere.

Rhodey and Peter, who are helping him out, sometimes update him on their own progress through the comms. Originally, Peter had the duty of helping to evacuate the area, but after that was done he climbed on top of a rooftop and started webbing up the drones. He sounds excited and confident enough for Tony, making laser sound-effects every time he shoots a web, probably not realizing they can hear everything he says, so Tony keeps an eye on Rhodey instead. It's his first mission ever since getting his prosthetics, and Tony wasn't expecting this mission to drag for so long.

However, it seems like they have everything under control. They still haven't found the source of the drones, but they appear to be gradually decreasing in number.

That is, until Peter suddenly speaks up through the comms, his voice thick with nervousness.

"Uh, guys… I think I have a problem."

"What is it?" Tony asks instantly, shooting at two drones at the same time.

"I've ran out of webs!"

"Shit," Rhodey curses.

"Get to somewhere safe," Tony says, holding back a curse of his own. "I'll get you in a bit."

"It's… okay!" Peter grunts through the comms. "I'm throwing punches!"

"I fucking swear-" Tony mutters, interrupting himself as he gets distracted by a wave of drones shooting at his back. "There are too many of them, Parker. Find somewhere safe, now!"

"Wait, Mr. Stark, it's okay! I think I got it!"

"Got what?"

Tony chances a look towards the direction of the rooftop Peter had chosen, just in time to see the kid jump off the fucking building.

"Peter!"

His heart hammers against his chest and he takes off, watching as Peter's downward trajectory is interrupted by a larger drone flying a few feet below the rooftop. The smaller drones around Tony follow his path, slowing him down, and he has to shoot at some of them before they do too much damage to his suit.

As Tony focuses on the kid again, he notices the large drone he landed on is starting to spiral downwards, much to his horror. A moment later he realizes it's not because of the kid's weight, though, but because there's a man flying the thing, and he's too busy taking Peter's punches to actually pilot it.

"Kid, you're gonna crash! Let go, I'm gonna catch you!"

Despite his orders, Tony himself crashes against a few drones flying in his direction as he gets too invested in the kid's actions. He curses and almost flies straight into a building, losing sight of Peter in the process. FRIDAY helps him spot him a few seconds later, but he's too late.

The large drone crashes against two cars parked side by side, and Tony watches as they explode right in front of him.

"Tony, is he-"

"Peter!"

He lands a few feet from where the drone crashed, feeling he's about to be sick, or have a heart attack. Or both.

He vaguely realizes that the smaller drones have stopped shooting and flying, and are slowly descending from the sky, landing on rooftops, on top of cars and around Tony on the sidewalk.

He doesn't really focus on that, though - his eyes are fixed on the place where Peter crashed. A part of him doesn't want to look, doesn't even want to think about what he might find in there, but another part is telling him that this can't be true, the kid surely wouldn't-

"Mr. Stark!"

A wave of relief washes over him, and Tony's knees suddenly feel weak.

"God," he breathes, turning around to see Peter popping up from another car a few feet away. "How did you even… Just how?"

"Oh," Peter starts, the mask eyes turning big as he approaches Tony and takes in the explosion the man just witnessed. "We rolled away once it crashed, didn't you see that? It only exploded after a few seconds."

Tony swallows, his heartbeat still ridiculously fast. "I... didn't. Those things got in the way."

"Oh," the kid repeats. "It's fine now, though! I knocked him out."

"You sure did," Tony mutters, still a bit out of it. He almost feels like he's just had an out-of-body experience. "How did you know that was the source?"

"When my webs ran out, I saw the guy flying from the inside of a van," Peter replies. "I think he was trying to get away while we were distracted."

Tony nods, taking a deep breath before retracting his helmet. "Okay… That's- That's fine. We need to figure these web shooters out, though. Design some with more storage, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Peter nods, the mask eyes shrinking with excitement. They suddenly turn a bit bigger again in the next second, and Peter tilts his head to the side. "Mr. Stark… are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"Just," Tony begins, then pauses for a second, averting his gaze. He still feels on the edge of an episode, heart pounding against his chest as the image of Peter jumping off the building and crashing against the sidewalk replays inside his head. It's not the first time the kid does something completely insane, but this time he didn't even had his webs. That's a whole other level of craziness. It's like he forgot for a minute a radioactive spider bit him, not a fucking butterfly.

What if something happened to him? Tony was almost there when the kid crashed. He would never be able to forgive himself, he thinks bitterly, then tries to shake the thought out of his head. For some reason, the idea of seeing the kid hurt just gets harder to take at each passing day, and thinking about what could've happened is pure torture. Sometimes all he wants is to envelop the kid in bubble wrap.

"The idea of having to report to your aunt about you squashed down against the sidewalk is really terrifying, so let's not jump off buildings again, yeah?" he settles for this instead, even though the memory of the kid's Aunt's angry gaze on him does make him fear for his life a little bit, still.

Peter has the audacity to giggle, the little shit. "Sorry," he says. "But I really knew I could get him, so it's fine!"

No, it's not, Tony thinks, but holds it back. The kid is fine. It's not his job to scold him. Tony's not his parent, after all.

Rhodey lands right next to them, retracting his own helmet as soon as his feet touch the ground.

"Good job, kid," he says. "You good?"

"Yeah," Peter nods. "Is NYPD coming?"

"Almost here," Tony says. "We should head home. You need a lift, right, kid?"

"It's fine, Mr. Stark!" Peter reassures him, already starting to walk away from them. "I have to grab my bag, and afterwards I'm heading to Ned's!"

"Are you sure?" he asks, raising his voice as the little shit continues to walk away. "You know, it would literally take me five minutes."

"Yeah, don't worry! Thanks, though!" Peter yells back, looking a bit adorable as he salutes them goodbye. "See ya!"

Tony sighs deeply once he's out of sight. Rhodey chuckles, putting his helmet back on.

"C'mon, your child is fine. Let's grab some pizza."

Tony scoffs, but sets off right after him.

#irondad #whumptober 2019 #no.2 #fanfic #fic #mine #peter parker #tony stark

[lizardsandpumpkins]

Promise you'll never leave me again | Natasha x Reader

Summary: Due to the events in Civil War, Natasha had to leave Y/N without saying goodbye. After Captain Marvel brings her back to earth, they finally get a chance to reunite.

You were supposed to meet Pepper and Tony for brunch to make some plans for the wedding. Instead you ended up in space, watching helplessly as Peter turned to dust in Tony's arms. It's been months since you've been stuck on the Milano with Tony and Nebula and today might have been your last day. You were out of food and oxygen and had no idea how to get back to earth in time. You were watching Tony from afar as he was recording himself, as a last massage to his fiance, one of your best friends. You've known her for years and when she asked you to be your maid of honour you were so excited. It finally took your mind off of Nat, your ex. Things have just started developing between the two of you, it felt like yesterday when you shared your first kiss after a heated training fight when the accords came up and the team split apart. Not wanting to be on either side, you stepped back. You tried to live a normal life and you got that when half of the team just disappeared. Tony was so angry and hurt and Nat didn't even come to say goodbye to you. She didn't even send a text. The few weeks you've been together and the years of friendship before didn't seem to be important enough to drop by. Pepper and Tony were there for you when you needed them the most and sometimes they did a pretty good job of making you forget the pain of not only being left behind by the woman you fell in love with but by the rest of your friends as well. You didn't hear anything from Steve, Sam, Wanda and Clint either, you didn't even know if they were still alive. You haven't quite figured out wether you were lucky to have survived the snap or not. Strange knew what you had to do in order to defet Thanos but losing almost everyone made you doubt he made the right decision. The pain was too much to bear, even if you just met them. You could only imagine the damage Thanos did on earth. It made you angry and what's even worse was that there was no way you could get revenge because you were destined to die on a strangers space ship. At least you weren't alone, you had Tony. Nebula had nothing left. You glanced at her, leaning against the table across from you, her eyes closed. You doubted she was sleeping. She was tough at first but she opened up a little. She had a tough past and it reminded you of Natasha in the red room. Natasha. You desperately wanted to be in her arms again one last time. Tears were rolling down your cheeks as you thought of your last love. For a few weeks you truly thought you could be happy.

"Come on", Nebula grunted, holding her right arm out to you. You furrowed your eyebrows, unsure of her intentions when she pulled you up to your feet. You got dizzy just standing next to her, your body felt so heavy and exhausted. You just wanted to go to sleep. Nebula put your arm around her shoulder and dragged you through the Milano, to the pilots seat, next to Tony. You couldn't get out a single word so you just nodded her and hoped she understood. She wanted to give you the chance to spend your last moments with your friend. You rolled your head to the side and looked at him. He was so thin and worn out. The look in his eyes changed since he lost Peter. He felt so much guilt even though there was nothing he could have done to prevent his death. Thanos was just too powerful.

Tony reached out his hand for you to take and gave it a soft squeeze.

"I love you", he whispered, clearly fighting to keep his eyes open. You've been through so much together. You fought against Loki, against Ultron and over the music playing at his parties. He actually had a great taste in music, you just didn't want to admit it. It took you a while to warm up to him, first you thought he was nothing more than an arrogant billionaire but there was more to him than his sass and his money.

"I love you too, Tony", you croaked before it was too late:"I'll see you on the other side"

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath in. The last thing you saw in your mind was Natasha and her warm smile. She would come out of the bath after a long shower after a hard training session, covered in a robe and her wet red hair lying softly on her shoulders. Sometimes she would laugh and you and tease you because you couldn't keep her eyes off her when she climbed into bed with you. She'd look so domestic and for a moment you'd forget that she was a trained assassin who you were killing aliens with a few years back. You never told her you loved her. You've felt it but before you felt it was the right moment to tell her, She disappeared.

You let out a shaky breath, holding on to Tony's hand. You were this close to thinking you'd accept death, because there was no way you could live in a world without Tony and Nat by your side.

Faith, or Captain Marvel, had different plans in mind though because the blonde appeared in front of the Milano, shining so brightly that the light was burning in your eyes. You couldn't believe it. At first you thought this was what death felt like but it was the opposite.

"Tony", you tugged at his hand, hoping it wasn't too late for him. His eyes fluttered open before he squinted at the figure in front of you,who wore a smug grin on her face. She finally found you.

Carol flew behind the Milano and pushed it all the way back to earth.

"We're going home", he signed in relief, leaning his head against the seat. He'd finally see Pepper again. They could be happy and they could finally get married and have a life on their own. That seemed to be enough for him to gather all of the strength left in him, to finally stumble out of the spaceship, leaving you behind. You smiled, happy for your friend. To be honest, you weren't quite sure who you'd go back to. Sure there was Pepper and even Rhodey but you wanted to give them some time to reunite with Tony first. Apart from them, the rest of your friends were gone. Even Thor and Bruce had appeared before the accords and were nowhere to be found.

"Don't you want to go to your friends?", Nebula asked and you looked at your hands, contemplating.

"My friends have been gone long before I went to space", you admitted, before finally pushing yourself up:"but since we're finally back on earth, I want to make you some bomb ass mac n cheese"

Nebula physically supported you once again. She could see you struggling without having to admit it. You would have to make sure to give her an extra big plate and stick by her side to make her as comfortable as possible. You weren't sure if she'd stay or if she would just refill the ship and be out of here like everyone else in your life.

Nebula led you to the hatch and you just stood there, watching the group below you. Pepper spotted you first and ran up the ramp, arms falling around your neck.

"I'm so glad you're back", he whispered in your ear:"I thought I lost both of you"

You held onto her in such relief that your time trapped on the spaceship was over and you were back in your familiar surroundings.

"I thought we'd die", you admitted quietly as you pulled apart. She studied your face and glanced over her shoulder:"Steve and Natasha are here"

You thought your eyes were betraying you. You were starving and your mind was playing tricks on you in the dark. Everyone was staring at you and you were so overwhelmed by your emotions that you didn't even notice the raccoon passing you to sit with Nebula.

You were unsure of what to do until Pepper laid an assuring hand on your back:"She's been beating herself up for leaving you. Go talk to her"

You shuffled down the ramp, ignoring Steve who took a step forward, intending to greet you and stared at Natasha. Her hair was a little longer than last time and her ends were blonde, indicating she had died it while she was on the run. You always loved her red hair. A part of you wanted to scream at her, to let her know how betrayed and worthless you felt when she left you but the other part realized that forgiving was more important. You never knew how much time you had left together and you didn't really want to be apart from her, you wanted nothing more than to be with her.

"I'm so sorry", She sobbed, tears running down her face:"I'm so sorry I left without saying goodbye but I was afraid if I saw you, I wouldn't be able to go"

"Promise me you'll never leave me again", you croaked, straightening your back. You needed to hear at least that before you could move on.

Nat blinked rapidly, surprised by your words. She thought you had every right to be angry and though she was so relieved to see you halfway alive and well, She didn't expect you to forgive her that easily.

"I promise I'll never leave you again", She repeated in relief, taking a few quick steps forward until you stumbled into her arms. You buried your face in the crook of your neck, her soft hair sticking on your tear stained cheeks. You took in her familiar smell and immediately felt home. She eventually pulled back, placing her hands on your cheeks. She looked you over, taking in how much you've changed since you've last seen her. You looked horrible, though she wouldn't admit that yet. She was way too ecstatic to have you back. She pressed a hungry kiss on you lips and then took your hands in hers:"You need to see a doctor"

"No", you groaned, pulling her back to you as she was turning around to get you some medical attention:"What I need is you and maybe a peanut butter sandwich. I can see a doctor tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay", She gave in, giving Tony a nod before she led you inside. She was glad that he was back but you were her priority. You were still shaking, partly because you were still weak and partly because you were so overwhelmed with emotions. It felt absolutely surreal that you felt like dying an hour ago when right now you felt like you've never been more alive.

"I love you", you blurted out and she stopped dead in her tracks:"What did you just say?"

Maybe it was too soon, you just got back and you haven't been a couple for long before she left but you needed to say it. She was all you could think about while you were up in space and day after day you were so worried that you wouldn't make it back to her or that even if you did you wouldn't be able to find her.

"I said I love you and I regret not telling you sooner, because I thought I'd never see you again", you repeated yourself and looked at her. Even though she was still crying, She broke out into a smile:"I love you too"

#natasha romanoff x reader #black widow x reader #mcu x reader #marvel x reader #avengers x reader #endgame x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #black widow imagine #black widow one shot #natasha romanoff one shot #marvel imagine #avengers imagine

[ironhusband]

5 Times Tony Said I Know A Place  + 1 Time Rhodey Said It

-1-

It started small, which, contrary to popular belief, is something Tony can start with. Maybe only when he was a fifteen year old kid with no experience or confidence, and not the billionaire persona Tony developed, but still. When it first happened, Rhodey and him didn’t know each other very well, but still felt concocted due to their early admissions and having to shout to be heard. But they weren’t best friends who knew each other so intimately back then. They were just roommates slowly going through becoming friends.

So it started with Rhodey frowning at his C.

“What’s the matter, sourpatch?” Tony asked, and unconsciously, Rhodey hid the paper away from his eyes. Tony glanced at the paper Rhodey hid. “You seem… concerned?”

“It’s nothing,” Rhodey dismissed, not wanting to admit to getting a bad mark, “do you want to get take out tonight?”

“It’s not nothing!” Tony ignored his question, “you’re upset!”

Rhodey pursed his lips, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tony’s shoulders slumped, “oh. Okay.”

Rhodey folded the paper neatly and put it in his drawer, trying to put the mark and conversation behind him, “okay, so do you want take out?”

“Actually, I know a place,” Tony said and then offered him a hand for Rhodey to take, “let’s eat out.”

~~~

In the next half an hour, Tony actually managed to bring a smile to his face, “I can’t believe you took me to Chuck E. Cheese!”

“Hey, say what you want about my methods, but I get results,” Tony grinned back at him, “I-I get to see that beautiful smile.”

Rhodey couldn’t help but have his smile spread at Tony’s downright adorable attempt at flirting. Then his smile dimmed slightly, as he brought his hand to his mouth in curiosity, realizing what that meant, “you did this to cheer me up?”

Tony snorted, “no, this is where I bring all my dates to.”

“Shut up,” Rhodey shoved him but didn’t object to this being called a date, “why here?”

Tony shrugged, “it’s where my butler used to bring me as a kid when I was upset. Always managed to make me forget what made me cry. Thought you could use this place too.”

Rhodey shook his head. It didn’t make sense how Tony managed to effortlessly understand him. Some people might have forced him to talk about what made him upset or took him anywhere else that wasn’t used to cheer a child up. But not Tony. Tony knew just what he needed.

“You’re ridiculous,” is what he told Tony and brought into a one armed hug.

-2-

“Hey, you’re back!” Tony cheered, “how was the test?”

“Good, I think,” Rhodey shrugged, “c’mon, you know me. And it’s physics. I’m good at it.”

Tony stuck his tongue at him, “don’t rub it in.”

Rhodey only smirked in response. “Okay, I'm studying for chem now, so be quiet.”

“What did you just say to me?” Tony gasped.

Rhodey chuckled, “I’ve only got a window for an hour. I gotta use it.”

“You just aced a test and you’re studying again?” Tony shook his head and stood up detremindly, “unacceptable. We, Rhodey Rhodes, are going out to celebrate. And I know just the place.”

“Tony, I can’t-”

Tony put a hand over his mouth, “I won’t hear it.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes but didn’t try objecting again.

~~~

“No, you’re wrong, the pool is way better than the beach!”

“I can’t believe you’re standing in front of this beauty and saying this!”

Rhodey glanced at the beach, “but the water is salty.”

Tony snorted and he sarcastically drawled, “okay, you win.”

“You know, you should be taking my side,” Rhodey pointed out, “out of the two of us you’re more likely to get a visible sunburn.”

Tony bristled, “yeah, but waves.”

“That’s a con.”

“No, it’s not!”

Rhodey smiled at him, “I’m not having a yes no argument with you.”

“Okay, then I win.”

Rhodey laughed. Rhodey went on to ace both of his tests and Tony grinned and said, “I take credit for giving you a much needed break.” Rhodey pinched him playfully but didn’t tell Tony how he was running on only coffee at that point.

-3-

“Honeybear, you’re gonna love me,” Tony announced to him.

“I already love you,” Rhodey told him and showed his point by rubbing his nose against Tony and briefly pressing a kiss to his lips.

Tony giggled, and what a wonderful sound it was. “No, I mean really love me. Like trying out that thing I keep suggesting love me.”

“Impossible,” Rhodey said and dropped what he was doing.

Tony smirked and said, “I got us two tickets to Guns n’ Roses.”

Rhodey gasped, “no!”

“Yes!”

Rhodey lunged at him and cupped Tony’s face in his hands, “oh my God, I do love you.”

Tony pecked him, “told you.”

“But wait,” Rhodey paused, “they’re all sold out. I made my sister camp out. How did you…?”

Tony bit his lip, “yeah, about that...”

Rhodey looked at him suspiciously, “what did you do?”

“Don’t worry, I just know a place.”

~~~

Tony ended up finding them the best car to drive them to the concert almost halfway across the country. He told their teachers they were sick with a high fever. Rhodey chastised him for it, but it was still the best concert he ever went to so it was half hearted. He was forever grateful to Tony for letting him see his favorite band live.

-4-

Rhodey felt like crying his eyes out with frustration. His CO wouldn’t let him do anything important, his CO didn’t believe he could do anything important and most importantly, his CO wasn’t letting him prove he could do anything important. He didn’t know what to do and he felt helpless and at loss. Rhodey hated feeling like that.

He burrowed his face into his boyfriend’s neck, the safest, most comforting place on Earth, “will you still date me if I quit MIT?”

“No actually, I have three other back ups I know won’t flunk,” Tony quipped but at the way Rhodey’s hands tightened around his middle he said, “just kidding, honeybear. You know you’re the only one for me. MIT or no MIT.”

Rhodey hummed, feeling warmer at the praise, “what if I go to CalTech?”

“Don’t even joke, Rhodes,” he rubbed his hands comfortingly around the arms on his waist, “why do you think you’re flunking?”

“I’m not flunking,” Rhodey mumbled, “but my CO sure wants me to.”

Tony groaned, “that guy’s a jerk. He doesn’t know what he has in his hands.”

Rhodey smiled into his neck, but he didn’t feel any less frustrated or any more hopeful.

“Hey, I think I have something that might cheer you up,” Tony said, “I was saving it for your birthday, but I think you might want it now.”

“I’m not in the mood,” Rhodey grumbled.

Tony chuckled, “get your mind out of the gutter. I know a place.”

~~~

Tony took him to a small airport. All through the drive Tony teased him about wearing a blindfold, so to not ruin the surprise, which did not ease Rhodey’s anxiety one bit. But when they got there… Tony showed him the most amazing plane. “It’s your favorite model, right?” Tony asked, “you told me so.”

Rhodey started at him and then at the plane and then back at Tony, “you remembered that?”

“Course I did,” Tony scoffed at him, “I needed something for your birthday. Come, this isn’t all.” Then Tony took him by the hand and introduced him to the pilot, “he’s gonna take you for a spin.”

Rhodey couldn’t believe what Tony was offering him, and it took him a while to recover enough to nod and get into the plane. The pilot flew him, twisting and turning and going upside down with the aircraft, making Rhodey shriek in delight. When they were done, the pilot allowed any and all questions, even letting Rhodey touch the controls to “test fly” the plane while it was turned off.

When he came to land Tony told him, “you’re not going to flunk.” He cupped Rhodey’s face gently, “you’re going to pass ROTC with flying colors, go on to get an amazing position that will make your CO jealous and fly a plane just like this one day. Just you wait.”

Little did Rhodey know by then, but Tony was right.

Rhodey kissed Tony with a smile still stretched on his face, “I don’t think you can find another gift for my birthday to top this.”

-5-

Rhodey was homesick. He hadn’t seen his family in a long time and he was starting to miss them. What put him in an especially sour mood was when his sister got a part in a play she was excited about, and Rhodey couldn’t come and watch it.

“I hate you when you’re in this mood,” Tony complained, “just want to make you feel better.”

Rhodey sighed, “I know this is hard for you to understand because your dad is an asshole. But I don’t know… I just miss them. And Philly too. God, I miss Philly.”

Tony looked thoughtful before a grin showed on his face, “I have an idea.”

“Oh no,” Rhodey teased.

Tony stuck his tongue out at him, “I think I know a place that will cheer you up. You trust me?”

Rhodey wanted to say something teasing but what he ended up saying was, “with my life.”

~~~

Tony took him to the Charles Hayden Planetarium because Rhodey once told him it reminded him of the Franklin Institute back at home. They watched the stars together and Rhodey nuzzled his neck and told him, “the stars in your eyes are more beautiful.” By the end of the night, Rhodey still missed home but he felt he was just as lucky to be with his other home, with Tony.

-+1-

Tony wiped the tears from his face, embarrassed that Rhodey saw his outburst of emotional weakness. Voice shaky and watery, Tony looked away from Rhodey’s concerned gaze. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rhodey didn’t say anything and Tony didn’t watch for his reaction. Eventually, Rhodey sat beside, pressed himself against Tony and nudged him gently. “I think I know a place,” he joked.

Tony laughed quietly, the laugh coming out broken. The line had long since become an inside joke for them, as Tony had a habit of repeating it too much. Rhodey usually wasn’t serious when he said it, but this seemed like more than a joke. He wondered what place Rhodey could be talking about. A burger joint? A robotics lab? Maybe a music store?

But instead, Rhodey brought him to his arms and hugged him tightly, hands on Tony’s back drawing comforting circles.

Tony frowned, confused, “what’s the place?”

Rhodey hugged him tighter, “right here,” he said, kissing the top of Tony’s head, “home.”

#userpavi #userduckyy #usersae #ironhusbands #iron husbands #rhfe #rhodeytony #tonyrhodey #james rhodes #james rhodey rhodes #rhodey #tony stark #druwrites #ironhusbands fic #rhodeytony fic #Iron Man #war machine #iron patriot #Tony is 15 at the start but rhodey is just one year older than him in this fic. some parts are when they're 18

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (126/156)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

@findmeinthestarss

Masterpost

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Five

The tower seemed emptier without Tony. Friday was still there, the bots were still there, and K-9 ran to meet them when they entered the tower. Steve barely had the energy to bend to down and pet the robot dog and Steve had to wonder if K-9 had noticed the absence of Tony and Peter. The dog followed him as they all crowded into the living room of the penthouse and stayed by his side. It was a little sad.

None of them knew what to do.

“We can’t -- we can’t just sit around and do nothing,” Natasha said eventually. “I’m going to try and contact Fury and Hill.”

Steve nodded.

“I’ll call Pepper,” Rhodey said.

None of them said it but they hoped that the three of them hadn’t been dusted. Steve didn’t really want to think about who else they had lost.

Steve didn’t know who turned on the tv, but the news came on and immediately it was obvious that things were worse than they could have imagined. There were accidents everywhere. People disappearing in their cars or worse while flying helicopters or airplanes. Everywhere there were people missing. A bunch of celebrities were mentioned in passing before the newscaster focused on the number of important world leaders that had become dust. There was a picture -- a horrible picture of a pile of dust in the oval office just in front of the President’s desk. All over it had  happened. No one seemed to know what to do or how to handle it and worse no one knew who should handle it or how to get answers. Even the newscaster seemed emotional as she spoke and Steve expected that things were like that all over.

“Damn,” Rhodey said, phone in hand, clearly not having called Pepper just yet.

“Neither of them is answering,” Natasha said.

“Try Coulson,” Steve said, already fearing the worst. If Fury was gone--

“Coulson is -- didn’t Coulson die?” Bruce asked.

Thor looked towards Steve with the same question in his eyes.

“Turned out he didn’t. Well, it’s complicated. He has a team. Nat?”

“I’ll try,” Natasha said.

The news just kept going showing more and more images from around the world. The confusion and the mess that had been caused. So much that they had allowed to happen. Steve closed his eyes tightly. K-9’s paws landed on his legs and Steve reached down for the dog who climbed on his lap.

“Looks like Shield is off the grid again,” Natasha said after a few minutes. “We’re not going to get any help there.”

Rhodey did get through to Pepper. Steve let out a sigh of relief. With everything going on, they were definitely going to need Pepper. Rhodey spoke to her for a while and Steve was sure that Pepper was freaking out. Steve kept watching the news, unable to stop because he needed to face the reality and he needed to feel like he needed to do something. Anything. It was just a matter of figuring out what that something was.

Rhodey pulled his focus away from the news.

“Pepper has been conversing with UN representatives and some US officials. They reached out to her before this. She said she heard from Maria Hill before -- what did the news call it? The decimation?”

“And?” Natasha asked.

“She said that she didn’t know what they were doing but that they had some sort of plan -- it’s likely they got dusted. Everyone’s still trying to figure out how to keep track so who knows but…”

“Right,” Steve said. It made sense. Everything was a mess. It was worse than anything Steve could have imagined.

“My team is still out there,” Rocket said suddenly. He was seated next to Thor who was keeping relatively quiet. “Whatever of it is left.”

The racoon had introduced himself to Steve at some point during the flight. It was weird to talk to a racoon and yet maybe that wasn’t the weirdest thing to ever happen to Steve.

“At least I hope they are,” Rocket said. “I -- I need to find them. I need to know who else--”

Steve understood the distress that Rocket felt.  

“The quinjet will work in space,” Bruce offered.

Which meant that if they wanted to, they could go look for Tony and Peter. Natasha seemed to realize what he was thinking and she shook her head because Natasha was always logical and she was a few steps of him. The problem was they didn’t have any way to know where in space to look for them. And what if they weren’t -- well, then, it would be pointless. Steve hated thinking about it that way.

“I cannot accompany you, Rabbit,” Thor said.

“I know,” Rocket said.

Steve didn’t know if this was a goodbye and if Rocket was going to just disappear and never be heard from again, but Steve hoped that it wouldn’t. If they did figure out a way to go against Thanos, they were going to need all the help that they could get. Steve didn’t know if it would even be possible to go up against Thanos or if that would even fix anything, but it would definitely make Steve feel better to avenge everyone they had lost.

“I’m Tony Stark’s son,” Peter said.

Bucky’s eyes widened. “You’re -- you’re the kid. You’re Peter! Of course, of course. You kind of look like your dad. And Steve’s told me a lot about you. But you’re -- you’re here--” His excitement fell into a sad look.

“I am,” Peter said.

Bucky keep looking sad and maybe a little annoyed and then he shook his head. “This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all.”

Orange vastness surrounded them and not much else. He was sort of getting used to it which was strange. Peter didn’t see anyone else even though there had to be other people. He couldn’t even be sure how much time had passed or much of anything else and it was entirely disconcerting.

“Stick with me, kid,” Bucky said, “whatever this is -- where ever we are, you stick with me.”

Peter nodded. “Sure.”

They walked for a while even if it seemed like they weren’t getting very far because everything seemed the same. Eventually they came upon a bench and they sat down. Things changed then. It was less orange tinged and it seemed like there was more noise -- more people.

“We turned to dust,” Peter said and suddenly remembered Star Lord and Strange and Mantis and Drax. They would all be here too and maybe his dad...but no, if he was he would have seen him already. Probably. “So what is this place?”

“We are in the Soul stone, Peter,” Dr. Strange said, appearing in front of them.

Peter frowned at him and then looked towards Bucky and back at Strange again. “You knew this was going to happen. You knew.”

Ned watched the news first with May and MJ and then with his dad. His mom had turned to dust. Watching the newscasters try to make heads or tails of the situation could have been amusing but mostly it was just sad and scary. No one had any answers. No one knew anything. All they knew was that it had to be alien related. It had to do with the attacks and the battle that had occurred in Wakanda and whatever else had happened.

There was some sort of statement from Pepper Potts about Tony Stark still being missing. It meant that so was Peter. Ned just didn’t know how much more he could cry. His mom was gone. Peter was essentially gone. MJ had lost her entire family. None of it made any sense. Ned just wanted all of it to stop and for someone to explain what was happening.

Seeing May and MJ and the empty look in their eyes was as difficult as anything else. His dad’s eyes were so red and Ned couldn’t handle it.

But what made the whole thing worse was that everything had turned into chaos. It wasn’t enough that people had turned to dust because that had had the added effect of other casualties and accidents and making all of it an even bigger mess. MJ was completely broken up about it.

Worse, the President was gone. So were other world leaders. So until things were set to some kind of order no one knew what to do or think and the media just fueled the fire with their speculation and with bringing on guest speakers that knew nothing and just wanted a platform. It was all such a mess. All everyone was waiting was to hear from The Avengers and get an idea as to what had happened in the first place.

It turned out that there was less food and water than Nebula had expected. What was worse was finding out that their oxygen was going to run out too. Probably around the same time that they lost all power. They were headed for certain doom and Tony had no idea how to feel about it.

Nebula piloted the ship with as much power reserved as possible which meant that they didn’t have the heat running and that any non-essential function had been turned off. Tony had had to go through what seemed to be Quill’s clothing to find something to keep him warm. At least that had served as a distraction. Tony had also gotten to go through a few of Quill’s belongings which was how he found the cassette player. It had amused him for a while, mostly because Tony hadn’t seen one of those in longer than he could remember. It made him just a little sad about Quill being turned to dust.

During the fight on Titan, a lot of his nanotech suit had gotten destroyed but Tony had had just a small bit left. It was enough to reform it into his helmet. He could even power it still, but Tony just didn’t know if that would actually help them or not. Tony was just glad to have a piece of the Iron Man suit to hold and look at. It made him feel a little more hopeful. The helmet still did power on but it wouldn’t be useful unless Tony could get it to connect to one of the Stark Satellites and they were too far away for that to work.

They took a few more jumps through space and Nebula seemed confident that even despite their low fuel that they would make it close to Earth. Tony didn’t want to consider that it wouldn’t matter how close they got if they couldn’t somehow alert anyone to rescue them. It was all a matter of how close to Earth they could manage to get and Tony was hoping for the best. He had to. It wasn’t even a closeness to Earth, it was more about getting into range with his satellites. If he could send a message, it would make all the difference.

Although the trip from Earth to Titan hadn’t taken all that long, the trip to Earth seemed longer. Tony couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but he knew it had been almost a full day. When he asked Nebula, she confirmed. Almost sixteen hours had gone by. It had been sixteen hours since Peter--

Tony took a breath.

There would be a time to mourn. Once he was back on Earth. He just had to hold on.

“Stark,” Nebula said, “I expect we just have another twelve hours at the most. We’ll be as close to Earth as possible.”

They just had to get close enough.

Rocket left after he spent a few hours working on one of the quinjets. Steve didn’t really follow any of his tech babble although he was sure that Tony probably would have. Tony would have definitely found a way to help too if he were around. Essentially, Steve got the gist that Rocket was trying to make the quinjet more space friendly before he left.

“I don’t know how Hulk managed to take one into space at all,” Bruce admitted. “Or how I ended up where I did.”

“Wormhole,” Thor said, “that’s how you ended in Sakaar. It’s kind of a dumping ground for anything that gets lost”

“Oh,” Bruce said.  

Thor was sad. His devastation was so obvious to all of them and Steve couldn’t tell if it was because of the snap, the loss of, Loki, their loss against Thanos, or if it was something else altogether. He just knew that Thor was not acting like himself. He was withdrawn and sad. They were all some variation of that, it was just stranger to see it on Thor.

Although things were still a bit of a mess, people had started to organize and figure out what came next. People were reporting their missing family members. In some cases they knew for sure that they had been dusted, in others they had no idea. The numbers just kept rising and rising and Friday had started to compile her own list, pulling the people they knew -- Shield agents and friends and acquaintances and anyone that could be of use so that they could keep track. It was a hard list to look at. They made the list accessible online so that others could see it and know if their loved ones were on it. Steve hated looking at it, but he also wanted to keep watching it. Hating that the numbers never seemed to stop.

Keeping an eye on the list became the one thing he could do when there was no immediate task at hand. Natasha had taken on communications -- reaching out to anyone and everyone. She had friends in all kinds of places. Not all of them answered or responded. Natasha also reached out to Scott and to Clint but neither responded back and no one wanted to think about what that might mean.

Their one constant was Pepper who was still dealing directly with the UN and so much else. Steve was extremely grateful for her and everything that she was taking on when she didn’t even need to. It wasn’t even just Avengers stuff that she was taking on, but she was using SI as Tony would have wanted -- putting all resources on helping with search and rescue and rebuilding and things that Steve wouldn’t have even thought of. Pepper was also still the only one to speak out to the press on behalf of The Avengers and Steve was glad that he hadn’t been the one with that particular task. Pepper was the strongest person he knew.

After Rocket left, Steve wished he’d gone with him. The thought snuck up on him just a few minutes after he and Thor saw Rocket off.

“I don’t know if Tony’s out there,” Steve said to Thor, “but if he is, shouldn’t I be looking for him?”

Thor tilted his head. “If we knew where to start looking this would be different, but we don’t.”

“I know. I know. I just can’t do this -- this not knowing.”

Thor’s heavy hand landed on his shoulder. “Stark is a survivor.”

“Yeah. I just don’t know if this is one thing he can survive. Him and Peter.”

“I hope to meet yours and Stark’s son,” Thor said.

Steve didn’t correct him. It didn’t feel worth correcting...maybe Thor wasn’t even wrong.

It was when they got back into the penthouse that Friday caught their attention.

“Captain,” she said.

Steve figured it was Rocket. Maybe he was giving them a goodbye before he left Earth altogether. It wasn’t.

“There is a message,” Friday said. “It’s -- it’s from Mr. Stark.”

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Seven

#peter and tony #peter and tony fic #mcuwriting #mcu fic #iron dad #iron dad and spider son #stony #stony fic #marvel

[thesoundofnat]

I Need A Co-Pilot

Tony/Rhodey

Summary: Rhodey teases Tony about him being a total dad to Peter, but Tony isn’t planning on being a single parent.

A/N: Based on this prompt. I hope you like it!

Warnings: Brief mention of an anxiety attack, vague mention of Howard being a shit father.

[Read it on AO3]

Words: 1 567

He hadn’t realized he’d been doing it until Rhodey had pointed it out, and while it was common for Tony to start becoming hyper aware of certain behaviors once he was actually aware of them, he couldn’t find it in himself to to start questioning it this time. The kid had been through too much for Tony to start backing up now.

But of course Rhodey refused to drop it.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr ‘I’ll never be a dad’.”

Tony shot him a look, but didn’t honor him with a reply.

Rhodey was sitting on Tony’s couch (who even let him in to begin with?) looking incredibly smug for some unknown reason, but Tony had just dealt with Peter having called him ten times and given him a heart attack over something trivial, so he had no energy to even ask.

“Long day?” Rhodey asked, his voice softer as Tony flung himself beside him.

“I think this day lasted weeks.”

Rhodey reached out to run his hand through Tony’s hair briefly, a habit he’d picked up from Pepper years ago when she and Tony had still been together. It had started as a jest, but now Tony found himself continuously wishing he’d never stop.

“Tell me about it?”

Tony exhaled slowly. “Well, we had a meeting this morning that no one had told me about, so of course I ran late. I’m pretty sure they did it on purpose.”

“Fuck them.”

“Right? Anyway, it lasted longer than necessary, and I didn’t have time to eat lunch.”

“That’s a very Tony Stark thing.”

“Only this time they didn’t let me.”

“Again. Fuck them.”

“I then had to deal with the kid freaking out over a small thing, and making me freak out in the process before I realized what he was talking about.”

Rhodey tilted his head. “Well, they say parents tend to overreact when it comes to their children.”

Tony ignored him once again. “How was your day?”

“Stressful, which was apparently so obvious that they practically ordered me to go home.”

“And instead you came here.”

“This is as much home as my apartment.”

“Fair enough. How long were you waiting?”

“Not too long. I barely had time to ponder over whether I wanted to raid your fridge.”

Tony snorted out a laugh. “As long as you make me something too, be my guest.”

“Shouldn’t we invite Peter over? What kind of father are you to let your son starve?”

“Just go check the fridge, Rhodes.”

***

Tony was halfway through his brunch date with Rhodey and Pepper when his phone started blowing up.

“Who died?” Rhodey asked as Tony grabbed the device in alarm.

He only needed to glance at the screen before he groaned. “Really?”

“What?” Rhodey and Pepper asked in unison, and Tony just shook his head and shoved the phone in their faces.

“The kid just can’t text everything in a chunk,” he muttered. “Always gotta space out his sentences so that one simple thing is ten messages long.”

Rhodey squinted at the screen (Tony held back a comment about him getting old). “He wonders if that robbery downtown was a supervillain’s doing. Cute.”

“He’s desperate for some action, but I told him to focus on school this week.”

Pepper was nodding encouragingly. “That’s a good choice. He won’t be in school forever.”

“And I don’t want to be the cause of him failing all his subjects.”

“You should ask him if he’s having difficulties,” Rhodey said, waving his fork around and spilling pieces of egg onto the table. “Help him out and stuff if he needs it.”

“You know, that might not be a bad idea,” Pepper said, sounding way more excited about this than Tony would’ve thought.

“Do I look like a tutor to you?”

“This way you will keep him busy and therefore keep him out of trouble while still helping him.”

Tony leaned back in his chair. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“Think about it. This kid is obviously in need of older people looking out for him.”

“And he craves the attention,” Rhodey added.

“Right. Doing this would probably make his year, and that way you will have more control of the situation since he cannot - and probably will not - go out and take on things he cannot properly handle.” Pepper was as caught up with everything as Rhodey was.

Tony sighed. “I hate it when you two are right.”

Rhodey shot him a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re not looking forward to spending some quality time with your boy.”

“You know what, I’m never speaking to you again.”

But of course he would. He always would.

***

Tony should’ve expected Rhodey to show up just as he and Peter were wrapping up their tutoring session, but he hadn’t, and was therefore immensely surprised when his friend appeared in the kitchen out of nowhere (seriously, who kept letting him in?).

Peter was practically over the moon, blabbering about how awesome War Machine was and whatnot, and, in return, Rhodey revealed that he very much knew that Peter was Spider-Man and that he admired how much he’d already done for New York City at such a young age. Tony wanted to ask why they were kissing each other’s asses, but he reckoned neither of them would’ve appreciated it.

“I like him,” Rhodey said once Tony had sent Happy to drive Peter home. “He’s so energetic.”

“Yeah, well, try giving him your phone number and get back to me.”

“Stop lying. You’re loving the attention.”

Tony snorted. “I don’t love worrying he’ll break his own neck one day.”

“It’s your duty as a dad to worry about him.”

Tony tweaked him in the ribs this time, making him jump away with a laugh. “Stop saying that.”

“What? That hurt by the way.”

“Don’t lie. And stop saying I’m the kid’s father.”

“You know I’m kidding.”

“It doesn’t matter. He deserves a much better father than me anyway.”

Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Do we need to have a stern conversation about how you’re actually a good human being and would be an amazing parent?”

“I’m not in the mood, Rhodey.”

“Hey, look at me.” Tony did, albeit reluctantly. “You’d be an amazing father, and the kid looks up to you for a reason.”

“Because I’m Iron Man.”

“Maybe. But he of all people knows that there’s a human beneath the suit.”

Tony shook his head. “Doesn’t mean I’d be a good parent. Not that I want to be one.” The one way he could prevent himself from becoming like his own father was to never become a father.

Rhodey reached out to grab his neck, a habit Pepper had picked up from him. Tony shivered as he ran his thumb up his sensitive skin and along his hairline. “You’ve always been so mean to yourself.”

“It’s either that or an extremely big ego.”

“I’d prefer the ego.”

Tony’s lips twitched upward. “You say that now.”

“I won’t take it back.”

Tony poked his chest, but instead of withdrawing his hand he kept it there, fiddling with the neckband of his shirt. Blue looked good on him. “You know what I’ve noticed?”

Rhodey squeezed his neck lightly. “What?”

“If I’m the dad, you’re totally the mom.”

Rhodey barked out a laugh. “Pardon?”

“I’m not repeating myself.”

Rhodey pulled Tony closer by the neck, their foreheads just shy of touching. “Can I be blunt for a sec?”

“Always.”

“If we’re the parents here, I want all the perks.”

Tony hummed. “All of them?”

“All of them.”

Tony could feel Rhodey’s breath hitting his face. Could feel his heart beating against his chest. Could feel it picking up speed.

He leaned in, and Rhodey met him halfway.

***

The room was still dark when Tony woke up, but he could feel the lack of a body beside him immediately. His heart in his throat, he sat up and reached blindly around to light his bedside lamp, but a hand stopped him before he managed to kill the darkness.

“I’m here,” Rhodey said, voice soft as he gently pushed Tony back against the mattress. “It’s okay.”

Tony sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. Rinse and repeat, just like he’d been told to do to prevent an anxiety attack. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I have nothing to freak out over either.”

“Stop it.” Fingers in his hair, rubbing his scalp. Tony found himself leaning into the touch rather than feeling crowded by it. “You really have to stop being so mean to yourself.”

Tony reached out to pull Rhodey closer, moving over a bit so that he could sit. “What would I do without you?”

“I don’t even want to think about that.”

“Neither do I.”

“So let’s not.” Rhodey smiled now. Tony could see it in the dark. “To think me calling you out for being a total dad would lead us here.”

Tony laughed. “I’m not sure how I feel about you calling me dad.”

“I’ve never called you dad,” Rhodey protested. “I just said you are like a dad.”

“Whatever you say, honey.”

Rhodey used his free hand to squeeze his side before closing the gap, pausing with his lips an inch away from Tony’s to say, “I like it when you call me that.”

“Oh, I know.”

They kissed for the hundredth time that night, but definitely not the last.

#tonyrhodey #iron husbands #tonyrhodey fic #iron husbands fic #iron man fic #fluff #mine #I need a co-pilot #nat writes

[aka-willow]

Revealed

gif mine

Words: 1111

Characters: Willow Wren, Tony Stark

Summary: Willow makes a rash decision

Timeline: June 2016

Song: Revealed - Henry Jackman 

A/N: I swear I have a ton of chapters written, I’m just waiting until I hit certain checkpoints to post so I make sure contingency and everything is a thing

—————————————————————————–

Even flying didn’t help me feel better, as I soared above the grounds of the New Avengers Facility and tried to stave off my nervous energy. What I need to do is get over to Europe. I need to know what’s going on and I can’t wait here for them to come for me. HYDRA or the government. Except I have no way of getting there undetected and I need at least a day’s head start before anyone notices I’m gone.

Because if I’m caught this time, I’ll really be fucked.

I knew I wasn’t thinking with my head, that my idea to leave the compound and try to go overseas would ruin any progress I had made in working with SHIELD to assure them I wasn’t a threat. It didn’t matter. The alternative was worse. If any of the Lab Rats somehow got sucked into this, or if HYDRA’s planning something… I need to help. None of them know that part of HYDRA like I do.

I could almost hear Natasha’s voice in my head, lecturing me about not planning ahead, only looking towards the next step. What will you do when you get to Europe? Are you ready to be a fugitive again? And what will you actually do in terms of HYDRA?

“I’ll find out what facility he came from,” I said to myself, my voice drowned out by the wind. “Try to get in contact with the Lab Rats again. Go from there.”

As I flew back over the compound, breaking over a cloud, I saw movement on the grass down below and narrowed my eyes as I tried to figure out who it was. Tony? That’s the only person that could be.

I angled my wings and shot downward, wondering where he was going, until my gaze found the Quinjets on the other side of the grounds. As I got closer to the ground, I saw that Tony was on the phone, back to the hangar and at a few hundred feet, just high enough to stay unnoticed, I caught bits and pieces of his conversation.

“I’ll be there as soon as possible. Of course not. I already sent Rhodey over.”

Europe. He’s going over there to deal with this.

It was like a lightbulb went off in my head, and I shot towards the hangar, aiming for the Quinjet already on the tarmac, gangplank already lowered. Still got it.

I was only wearing my training windbreaker, no change of clothes packed, no supplies, Nedward and Boxer Joe still in their enclosure in my room. Wanda will take care of them. I’ll get supplies when I get there. I’ll be homeless again. I’ve done it before. I had no memory of what it was like in Europe, even if my HYDRA files reported that I had been there before, and while I was nervous, I was also brimming with excitement.

My feet hit the tarmac and I jogged over to the jet as I dispelled the momentum, looking back to see Stark still on the phone, turned the opposite way. With a final sigh, I climbed up the gangplank, my stomach flip-flopping as I realized there was no going back from here. My heart hurt as I thought of everything I was leaving behind, not just the security of living at the compound, but the people, the rhythm. I realized that Marty’s flash drive was still in my room, along with my few possessions: the stuffed elephant, the pictures, the binoculars from Jessica. I’ll have to leave those, too. I don’t have time to get those.

Inside the quinjet, I spied a row of storage cabinets and I hoisted myself up, climbing in and shutting the door, sealing myself in the dark. I pulled my legs and wings in close to my body and powered down the iPod touch still in my pocket so that my location wouldn’t be tracked. Maybe I should ditch it outside. Do I have time before Tony gets on?

Just as I placed my hand on the cabinet door, I heard footsteps on the gangplank. “Engage takeoff protocol,” I heard Tony say, the words coming out like a sigh as he took a seat. I forgot how much I hate tight spaces. And the dark. This is going to be a long flight.

I felt the ship rise, my ears popping, as the engines began to hum and the ship accelerated, I was pressed back against the side of the cabinet. I stuck out my legs to brace myself and within minutes they were aching from the constant tension. My wings didn’t seem to like our accommodations either and a steady soreness radiated out from my shoulder blades. It’s just for a few hours. And then you’re home free.

Tony was quiet in the cockpit for a while and I wondered what he was thinking about. Eventually, he started talking to FRIDAY, asking for more details and updates on the bombing, and I caught that they had located Bucky over in Romania. Located… that means they’re going to bring him in. Let’s see what else Tony knows.

I shut my eyes and tried not to think about the road ahead as Tony continued to talk to FRIDAY. The minutes passed, and soon it had been a few hours in the dark. I got comfortable the best I could and thought about sleeping, but I was too wired.

“Arrival to Berlin in thirty minutes,” FRIDAY announced, and I shook out my fatigue. It would be time to go soon.

“FRIDAY, status report on the compound?”

“Readings all normal. No security changes. Ms. Maximoff is currently in the lounge with Vision.”

“And the kid?”

I bolted up, nearly banging my head on the top of the cabinet.

“Ms. Wren cannot be located in the compound.”

“Sorry, come again?” Tony said, and I heard the pilot chair creak. “Then where is she? Check security footage and scan the airspace.”

“Ms. Wren was last seen at twelve-thirty-one local time on camera ninety-two.”

“Camera ninety-two…” Tony muttered. “That’s the one on the west side of the hangar?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.”

The chair creaked again and there were footsteps against the metal flooring of the jet. I pressed myself against the back of the cabinet, praying that I wouldn’t be found. I’m so close. Thirty minutes more. That’s all that I need. I can fly out of Berlin on my own. I can run. I can—

The cabinet door suddenly snapped open and I shielded my eyes from the light as Tony’s peeved face filled my field of vision.

“Hi,” I said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

#ww writing #willow wren #tony stark

[imaginetonyandbucky]

5 times Bucky get jealous of his teammates relationship with Tony, 1 time Tony showed him he doesn't have to

1.Steve

Buckywasn’t jealous of Steve. That would be ridiculous. Steve and Tonyfought allthe damned time;that was notarelationship to be jealous of.

Hedidn’t care about the way they went from snappish to literally ineach others’ faces, close enough to kiss. He didn’t care aboutthe way Steve sometimes lost his temper and pushed Tony up againstthe wall. He didn’t care about the way Tony stared back when thathappened, beautiful in his furious defiance.

Helikeditwhen they got along. Of course he did.

Thenaked admiration on Steve’s face when he told the reporters, overand over again, just how much of a hero Tony was? That wasn’tanything to get upset about. Tony had earnedthatadmiration and respect, paid for it in blood -- mostly, his own.

AndBucky wasn’t jealous of the way Tony practically melted when Stevepraised him, either. It was hard not to be moved by Steve’sapproval -- it was damned hard to win, sometimes. Tony had earnedthat, too.

SoBucky wasn’t jealous.

[mobile readers, ‘ware the readmore!]

2.Bruce

Therewas no reason to be jealous of Bruce.

Brucewas one of the smartest guys on the team, maybe even smarter thanTony. His mind jumped from topic to topic so fast that Bucky couldn’tkeep up with what he was even talking about,much less what it meant.He was kind and generous, a gentle soul with a neverthelessdesert-dry wit. Everyone whose opinion was worth anything likedBruce.

AndBruce had brawn covered as well as brains; the Hulk was stronger thaneveryone on the team, even Thor, though at least with Thor it was aclose thing. But Thor had Mjölnir and Asgardian steel armor, and theHulk had... fists. And the Hulk knew the team, liked everyone on it-- but the Hulk lovedTony.The Hulk went out of his way to keep an eye on Tony in combat, andhad been known to make a complete change of course simply because hethought Tony might be in trouble.

Tonyliked the Hulk, too, greeting him cheerfully or cracking jokes thatthe Hulk’s slower wit found hilarious. Tony treated the Hulk like amember of the team entirely separate from Bruce, and the Hulk seemedto appreciate that. And Tony quite clearly adored Bruce as well --they spent hourslockedup in the workshop together, trading ideas faster than most men couldspeak, eyes lit with the excitement of discovery and creation.

Nothingto be jealous of there, at all.

3.Rhodey

Rhodeswas Tony’s oldest friend. They’d met at MIT when Tony was onlysixteen, a sophomore to Rhodes’ eighteen-year-old freshman. Rhodeswasn’t quite as smart as Tony or Bruce, but he was a longwayfrom dumb, having graduated MIT with honors. He’d then gone on to along and highly-decorated military career, proving his heroism andcourage over and over in the face of enemy action. And he was acapable enough pilot that Tony had trusted him with an Iron Manarmor. Bucky knew enough about piloting to be impressed by that.

Hewas another genuinely nice guy, though he had a very low bullshitthreshold and a sense of humor that was occasionally dark like pitchand sharp like Bucky’s favorite knife. Those things only made Buckylike him more, though.

Tonyand Rhodes had been inseparable since their first meeting -- evenmoreso now that they were both full-time Avengers. Clint had jokedonce that they might as well be lovers, and Rhodes had said, “Youcould not paymeenough,” while at the same time throwing an arm around Tony’sshoulders with abiding affection. They were like brothers.

LikeSteve and Bucky.

Sobeing jealous of Rhodes was like being jealous of his own right arm,and that was just absurd. Bucky wasn’t jealous of Rhodes.

4.Peter

Therewas no reason at all to be jealous of Peter. He was a kid,albeit a freakishly strong and smart one, destined to be an Avengersomeday in the not-too-distant future. Tony was his mentor, helpinghim design gadgets and supplying him with protective gear.

Peter’shero-worship of Tony was bordering on the embarrassing, but Tony tookit in stride, acting like Peter’s surrogate father and using thatregard for the kid’s own good, nagging him to eat and keep up withhis homework, worrying about him as if he were actually Tony’s ownkid.

Tonycalled Peter after every minor skirmish in Queens made the news tomake sure the kid was okay, spent hours with him in the trainingrooms, running through scenarios and drills. And then more hours inthe lab, testing web-shooters and simple spy gear and reviewing thefootage from Peter’s AI.

Peterhad an AI of his own.

Butof course he did; he was still learning and needed help from time totime. That’s all that was. There was no reason at all to bejealous.

5.Natasha

Buckymight’ve been a littlejealousof Natasha.

Fromwhat all parties agreed had been something of a contentiousbeginning, Tony and Natasha had forged a solid friendship. Tonytaught her the latest in computer piracy techniques and made gadgetsand devices for her like he was her own personal Q.

Natashastraightened his tie before meetings and gave reporters her dead-eyedstare when they talked down about him. She’d been his only date topublic functions for a good six months after he and Ms. Potts hadsplit up, and not even gone into a rage about all the things thegossip rags said about it. She brought him SHIELD intel with thepleased air of a cat presenting its person with a dead mouse. She letTony eat her favorite ice cream, and on movie nights, if he hadn’tslept in a while, she let Tony lay his head in her lap and doze asshe raked her fingernails through his hair.

Andlately, she’d taken to watching Bucky as she did it, her mouthcurved into a small, smug grin.

Yeah,he was maybe a little jealous of Natasha.

+1.Bucky

Fine,he was jealous.Of everyone.And not just a little, but ragingly, painfully aware of just how muchof Tony’s attention they got that hedidn’t.And he had no idea howtoget Tony to even notice him. It was driving him crazy.

“It’snot like I can just go over there and say, ‘Hey, pay attention tome,’” he muttered into his coffee.

“Payattention to who?” Tony said, making Bucky jump with a not-at-allguilty start. “Who are we paying attention to? Is it me? Because Ihave to say, I love attention.”

“I’venoticed,” Bucky said, smile curving helplessly warm and fond.“You’re like a cat.”

“Aslong as I’m not hacking up hairballs, I’m okay with that,” Tonysaid. “Speaking of attention, I was hoping to snag yours for acouple of hours this evening.”

Buckyblinked. Tony wanted... Bucky’s attention? “For what?” he said,like an idiot.

“Well,dinner, to start,” Tony said, head tipping to the side a little.

Buckyblinked again. Tony was standing much closer than usual and the airin the kitchen was very dry for some reason. “I’m... not sure I’mfollowing.” Because Tony absolutely did not mean what it soundedlikehe meant, of course not.

“Okay,well, I’m just going to-- Natasha told me, and Steve says she’snot wrong, but in case they’re both pranking me, please don’tdeck me, especially with your left arm because that would hurt a lotandI don’t have the suit on me right now.”

Buckywas still trying to parse that when Tony stepped even closer,tipped his head up, and kissed Bucky.

Righton the mouth.

Thatwas... That was probably not some kind of code or friend-kiss orspy-manipulation sort of thing, was it? There was no one here butthem. This was real,this was--

Buckyneeded to get with the program and kiss Tony back before he thoughtBucky wasn’t interested. Or worse, about to deck him.

Buckymade a helpless noise and curled his hands around Tony’s upper armsand tilted his head into the kiss and finally got with the damnprogram.

Finally,Tony pulled away, panting for air. “Okay, not pranking. Good datato have. So was that a yes on dinner, or--”

Buckykissed him again. Nobody else got to kiss Tony like this. Maybe Buckydidn’t have to be jealous, after all.

~ @27dragons

#prompts #winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #tony x bucky #steve rogers #bruce banner #james rhodes #peter parker #natasha romanov #jealousy #get together #27dragons #Anonymous

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (159/163)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

@findmeinthestarss

Masterpost

Chapter One Hundred Fifty Eight

-

The axe didn’t hit Thanos. Instead, it was thrown aside as if it weren’t a weapon wielded by a god and when it fell on the ground it clinked and fell heavily. In the next moment they were all thrown aside by Thanos and the Power Stone. Tony felt it like a blow as he flew into a wall. The purple light was blinding and when he opened his eyes again Thanos was on his feet and his house was all but destroyed and then there was lighting in the mix coming in through the roof to hit Thanos directly. Thor was flying just above them, eyes completely white and blue. He looked powerful and for a moment Tony had expected for the gauntlet to be visible, but it wasn’t. This was all Thor and he was more magnificent than Tony had ever seen him before. Then, Stormbreaker flew to Thor’s extended hand and Thor directed lighting at Thanos. It hit him and it was obvious he felt it, and he definitely felt it when Carol reappeared and shot him with an energy blast. But it wasn’t enough to keep him down and Tony didn’t know if that was to do with the Power Stone or if it was because Thanos on his own was that powerful and strong. 

The only way that they could probably deal with him was if they all attacked him at the same time. He saw Carol be thrown aside again just as Rhodey shot him with a few missiles which, at least when they connected, seemed to actually hurt Thanos. Scott was somewhere in the mix too, too small to see, but strong enough to get a few hits in. Nebula tried to go at him with one of the knives Tony had gifted her when Carol was back on her feet and had him distracted, but he grabbed Nebula by the neck right out of the air and threw her aside like a rag doll.

Gamora cried out and rushed to get sister’s side and Tony stood in front of them, keeping an eye on them as Thanos seemed to pause and stare in their direction. Bruce took the moment to run at him and with Thanos distracted managed to take him right through a wall. Debris fell around them and the roof looked like it was likely to collapse. Natasha and Steve had told him all about how bad at piloting the Hulk Buster armor Bruce had been in Wakanda. He’d gotten some practice in since then, but they all could have used the Hulk instead. 

Carol flew after them and Rhodey followed. Tony made to go too, but Gamora grabbed his armored arm. From outside, Tony could see more purple light and Carol’s blasts too. 

He turned to look at Gamora and he let the nanotech pull back from his face. “What is it?”

“I know what we have to do,” she said. She looked serious and maybe a little distraught. 

“Kill Thanos...isn’t that what we’re here to do?” No, they’d really come to be sure he couldn’t stop them from reversing the snap. He clearly still had the Power Stone, but Tony suspected that he had actually scattered the rest. Maybe they didn’t need to fight him at all. 

“That was the plan as far as I was concerned,” Rocket said, stepping forward. He had some sort of huge gun over his shoulder. “Or are you having feelings because he raised you?” Rocket asked. 

Scott appeared next to Rocket, then, getting back to his regular size. “What’s the plan?” he asked. 

From outside the house the sounds of fighting travelled and Tony knew they didn’t have much time before something went wrong out there. Thor seemed hesitant to jump in mostly because he was in possession of the stones. It was probably also because of how the fight in Wakanda had gone. 

“Shut up, Rocket. No, it’s this, the Soul Stone let me go because your Steve sacrificed himself and took my place,” Gamora said. “To get him back, we need to give the stone someone else. That’s the only way to get him out.”

“Thanos,” Natasha said at once. 

“Yeah that’s all -- yeah, that’s -- how?” 

Gamora stared at Tony for a long moment. “You, Stark. You’re the master of the Soul Stone.”

Carol was thrown back into the house and Thor caught her before she went too far. She looked at them with a raised eyebrow. “So, you lot think you’re going to help or what?” 

In that same moment, Tony heard a sound he hadn’t thought he would get to hear any time soon. Hulk yelling. It didn’t sound like anything but just sounds, but Hulk was back. 

---

“Sam says you have a crush on your friend MJ,” Steve said and Peter could immediately tell that he was trying not to show how amused he was. 

Peter shook his head at once. “No. No. I don’t. I really don’t...or, well, I don’t think I do? And when did Sam even tell you any of this? Because I’m pretty sure that I’ve been with you since you arrived and he’s been teasing me about this for a while now--”

“You were talking to Quill and his tree friend. Groot, was it?” 

He had gone over to talk to Quill for a moment because Quill was all depressed about Gamora disappearing still and Peter had tried to point out that Gamora was probably out of the stone and so it wasn’t a bad thing. 

“Yeah, Groot,” Peter said. “I wish I actually understood him.”

“So, MJ?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders. He felt weird talking about it when he had absolutely no idea what he was doing and when he didn’t even truly know how he felt. MJ was a good friend and she was quirky and different and she kept his secrets with only minimal teasing but Peter didn’t know if he liked her like that or just missed her and Ned. 

“I don’t know. Maybe? I -- she’s a really good friend and she knows about Spider-Man and she knows about dad too so there’s all of that but I just...Steve, I don’t know. I don’t exactly...I have no experience with any of this.”

His only real experience was probably with Liz and that hadn’t exactly started or ended particularly well. He’d just been so absolutely awkward -- probably would never stop being awkward. Then, of course, her father had turned out to be The Vulture and abandoning her at Homecoming was maybe just overshadowed by how her father had ended up in jail but it still didn’t make things any better for Liz. 

“My best advice,” Steve said, “is to not waste time overthinking things or waiting too long. There’s so much that can happen, Peter, so--”

“So figure it out and tell her once everything goes back to normal?” Peter asked. “Maybe I just have to see her again. Maybe then I’ll know.”

Steve tilted his head in a sort of nod and Peter sighed which made Steve laugh and lean over to ruffle his hair. “You know, Peter, you are still quite young.”

“Yes and I’m a mess.”

Steve laughed. “Everyone is sort of a mess when they’re a teenager. Just ask Bucky--”

“Yeah, he told me you got into so many fights.”

“I’ve never liked a bully.”

It was no wonder that he was Captain America. 

“Yeah, me either,” Peter said. 

---

The stone came to Tony when he reached for it. It was just him and Thor while the rest had gone to help The Hulk and Carol. They were trying to make this go quick. The stone was warm and it glowed a little in his hand, but Tony could feel the power and he knew that it wanted to be used. Back when he’d picked up the stone in Vormir, Tony hadn’t allowed himself to think about the stone or consider what it felt like to hold it. He’d been too distracted by the loss of Steve to notice the stone at all. He’d been so numb to everything, then, but now he felt the stone. 

The stone wanted his attention. It wanted to be used and it wanted Tony to go inside it and it was tempting. There was a sort of giddy excitement coming off of the stone and Tony was suddenly aware of how right Gamora was about him being the master of the stone. It beckoned him to go inside and it was more than tempting especially knowing that Steve and Peter were within it. But Tony couldn’t get distracted. He needed to exchange Steve and Thanos and--

No, they couldn’t do that. 

At least, not until everyone else was out of the stone because they couldn’t put Thanos in there with everyone that had been dusted. He would lash out and innocents would be hurt. 

Thor had been watching him as he held the stone, and met Tony’s eyes when his head shot up. “Thor, we have to reverse the snap,” Tony said. “Thanos doesn’t have the stones anymore -- at least it doesn’t seem like he does and I can’t send Thanos in there if everyone else is still in the stone.” 

“No, we can’t do that,” Thor said. He made the gauntlet appear again.

Tony put the stone back and he could sort of feel how reluctant the stone was to leave him and yet how glad it was to join the other stones. 

“Are you ready?” Tony asked and he could tell that Thor looked a bit nervous at the prospect.  

“Ready,” Thor said. 

Tony had no idea what was going on with the others and Thanos aside from what they could hear but he was sure the others could handle it. He took a few steps back from Thor as the stones shone and just like the first time that Thor had put the gauntlet on his arm glowed with the power of the stones. In his free hand Thor held Stormbreaker and lightning surrounded him, crackling in the air. He looked like a proper god and Tony stared on in awe. 

Tony watched as Thor lifted the gauntlet just in front of himself. Thor took a deep breath and then he snapped his fingers…

---

“So, all you seem to do around here and sit and do basically nothing,” Steve said, smiling a little. 

Peter was braiding Bucky’s hair which was strange enough because Peter knew how to braid hair, but also Bucky was so comfortable with Peter and Peter with Bucky that it was something they did. The result, Steve supposed, of all the time spent inside the Soul Stone. It was proper Uncle and Nephew behavior as far as Steve was concerned and it made him warm all over. 

“Basically,” Peter said. “Not much to do here is there? There are only so many stories Bucky can tell me about the newspapers in your shoes.” 

Steve reached over to ruffle Peter’s hair and Peter leaned into the touch. He was sort of like a cat. 

Steve had no idea how much time had passed since he arrived, only that it felt like quite a bit had. Sam had explained that time moved strangely in the stone and that they didn’t know if it was slower or faster or if it existed at all. 

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said, “and it’s not like we need to eat or sleep or even use a bathroom in here. We’re in some sort of weird limbo.”

It was strange. Cosmically strange. Steve was really kind of done with odd and strange things. He kind of just wanted normal life back. He glanced over at Peter and he was concentrating hard on whatever it was that he was trying to do to Bucky’s hair. Bucky looked relaxed and at peace -- he was more and more the Bucky from his past. Steve smiled watching them. Despite everything and despite how much he missed Tony, it was easier to not dwell on that…easier to not think about what might be going on outside of the stone and instead let himself be. He didn’t want to think about the future, either, because it was so distant and because Steve couldn’t let himself imagine that he would actually make it out of the stone. But Peter would. Bucky would.  

“Is the kid giving me some weird hairstyle?” Bucky asked, grinning at Steve. 

“I’m not,” Peter said. 

“Looks a bit girly to me,” Sam said with a smirk. 

“I have no idea what he’s doing,” Steve said with a shrug. 

“It’s a surprise,” Peter said and then after a moment. “Actually -- I don’t know what it’s called but it’ll look cool.”

“Hey, Pete, when did you learn to braid hair?” Steve asked. 

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “I used to...I used to braid May’s sometimes when I was younger.” 

He looked a bit sad talking about May, but then they all got that way when anyone that was still out there came up in conversation. Steve hadn’t really told him about how upset May had been when they went to tell her what happened and he felt it was for the best -- Peter probably already knew anyway without Steve having to tell him. It was better left unspoken.  

“It was fun,” Peter said, smiling a little. “I haven’t done it in a long time…”

Steve sat back on his elbows and stared up. Everything was so orange and yellow. He was staring up for a while, like watching clouds move because the colors sort of swirled and came and went. It was easy to get lost in watching it. The stone felt differently all of a sudden. It was warm. It was -- could a stone be happy?

When he looked at the others they didn’t seem to have noticed the change. 

“Stevie?” Bucky asked. 

Steve couldn’t explain it. The stone was sentient -- all the stones probably were, considering, but for a few moments it felt happy and excited and Steve didn’t know how he knew, but he knew Tony was near. 

“You okay, man?” 

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Yeah.”

Peter looked at him with some concern but Steve smiled his way and he sat back up. The warmth faded a little and Steve let himself imagine that out there Tony and the team were up to something. 

“Finished,” Peter said. 

Steve looked over at Bucky whose new braid made him look just a little weird. But Peter seemed pleased with himself. 

“Now, if we had a mirror,” Bucky said. 

“No, I don’t think you want to see it at all.” Sam said and he was laughing. 

“Hey! I worked hard on it,” Peter said, but he was laughing and then the laugh turned into a gasp. 

Peter looked from side to side, his face paled. Steve moved closer to him, reaching for him even as he felt like everything was changing. 

“Peter?” 

Peter’s eyes met his and Steve reached him, 

“I think we’re--” Peter’s voice trailed off and then he was gone. 

Everyone was gone...except for him--

He was all alone.

-

Chapter One Hundred Sixty

#peter and tony #peter and tony fic #mcuwriting #mcu fic #iron dad #iron dad and spider son #stony #stony fic #marvel