B-Bear
CHAPTER 17: B-BEAR
Tony couldn't believe he only had Harry with him for a total of five months. It's been a hell of a life since then, and Tony’s been so grateful for every day of it.
Sometimes, he imagines what it would have felt like to have had Harry as a toddler. He wonders if he'd still be the kindest and sweetest child if Tony raised him right after Lily and James died. If Harry had been raised by people like the Dursleys and still turned out perfect, it stands to reason his kid was naturally pure.
And he wasn't the only one to think that. Everyone Harry meets always ends up falling in love with his adorable emerald eyes and sweet personality. Dr. Granger’s co-worker, Dr. Malfoy all but spent 5 minutes with Harry in the waiting room and Tony already knew his son had the other psychiatrist wrapped around his finger.
The first time he ever met Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon, the former pararescueman ended up spending the rest of the day playing hide and seek with Harry, even though he's supposed to be training with Captain America and Black Widow. Considering how much Wilson pined over Natasha since meeting her, it's crystal clear just how effective Harry's charms were.
The students and teachers in Harry's school also seemed to have soft spots for him. Just a week earlier, when Tony went to pick him up a little later than usual because of traffic, he saw Harry waiting for him on the lobby of their school with a high schooler accompanying him. At first, he was definitely worried his son was being bullied by bigger kids. But when Harry saw him, he gave the older boy a quick hug and a wave goodbye. Turns out, Harry's got his own fanbase in school especially in the upper grades because of how adorable he was with the messy hair, red glasses, and charming British accent. When the Math Club found out he's extremely smart, they often seek Harry out and give him random problems to answer. The fact that Middle and Upper schools were on a completely different wing, having to seek Harry out in elementary was not at all a quick errand. The boy who accompanied Harry while he waited for Tony was actually one of those Math Club kids named Colin. Harry said Colin was worried when he saw Harry sitting in the lobby chairs alone and offered to wait with him.
It was a huge relief to Tony when he found out about how protective some of the older students had become to his son. It makes him worry less about others bullying Harry outside the classroom.
Remus, Harry's teacher who Tony was now on first-name basis with, assured him no bullying ever happened inside the classroom as of yet. Harry's two main friends whom he also shared a table with were also weirdly protective of him, explained the educator. Ironically, one of them was the granddaughter of a Board member that hates Tony's guts. Of course, Mr. Vance might not actually have a part in little Rory's life so that's not much of a surprise.
Over all, Harry's first two months in school went by perfectly fine. His social life was expanding and his academics were on par with some of the middle schoolers. Before Harry was actually enrolled, the school had him undergo a placement test, especially because his previous schooling had a different curriculum than in the US. His maths and reading were on 5th-grade level at the very least, but his other subjects weren’t as great. His sciences were okay, but not as great as his maths were, and he has a hard time in spelling and grammar. His knowledge on social studies was close to nothing. Still, the Head of the school, Ms. McGonagall, asked if Tony's ever planning to have Harry accelerated; as she always offers the same choice to every academically gifted child.
Tony had the choice to hire a tutor for his son on the subjects he needed help on and still put Harry a few grades higher, but he ultimately decided against it. As someone who’d been accelerated in school, Tony didn’t have the best experience unlike his other peers. Sure, he made some temporary friends but the idea that he’s supposed to be very smart to get accelerated five grades up placed so much pressure on him in school. Every time he made a mistake, they all made it look like he wasn’t living up to expectations. Tony didn’t want that for Harry. Maybe after the year ends and Harry wants to move up, Tony wouldn’t deny his kid. But until then, he wanted Harry to stay in the normal curriculum.
Fortunately, Ilvermorny School has always been familiar with child geniuses whether it be in academics, art, sport, or music. It brought them to an arrangement in which Harry would stay in first-grade for all his other subjects but be provided with fifth-grade mathematics material on top of his first-grade ones. And two months in, Tony can already see the positive effects on Harry. He’s got stable friendships, he’s never bored in class, and he got to be a real kid for once.
**
October was nearing its end—which brings them to a certain dilemma: Halloween.
Ilver, as the school was commonly referred as, has an actual annual Halloween event wherein students from Kindergarten to Middle School can wear costumes and do Trick or Treating, knocking on offices and classrooms of the High Schoolers for two whole hours. The packet he received from Harry when the little boy excitedly told him about it gave details of what’s not allowed as costumes for the Trick or Treaters like anything that may show racism, sexism, gun violence, or homophobia. Health-conscious parents can also feel some sort of relief because there’s a part in the packet that informed them each High School homeroom class and every office must prepare both candies and healthier options like cereal bars and pretzels. The whole event wasn’t compulsory, and parents who rather not want their children to do trick or treating can pick them up earlier from school. Sucks for them, Tony thinks.
Tony was just as excited as his son about the event. None of the other Avengers ever experienced Trick or Treating before—sad as it was—and suddenly decided they’ll be doing one in the tower as well. Tony actually shuddered at the thought of Harry receiving so much candy, but he didn’t want to deny his family their little joy. He did, however, made them buy stickers and small toys along with their candies just so Harry wouldn’t explode in sugar.
But the two separate Halloween events just gave Tony more to think about—Harry’s costume. He knew he could just buy a costume online and have Harry dress up like a pumpkin or a mad scientist, but that was too generic. Starks are never generic. Avengers costumes were also out of the question even though it’ll be so easy making Harry his own Iron Man suit or a Captain America costume. He wanted Harry to wear something special.
Remembering that he still had his own costumes as a kid the real Jarvis made for him in the basement, Tony went down to look for them. With the A.I. JARVIS’s help, he found the whole wooden chest (yes, it was in a real chest. Jarvis was as British as he could be and brought with him his own vintage school trunk) of costumes and immediately brought it up to the penthouse.
Steve was in there when he arrived and as soon as he saw Tony lugging in a big wooden chest, the supersoldier was quick on his feet.
“I got it,” said Steve.
“Oh my god, please. This shit is heavy. I should’ve brought my armor.”
“What’s in this, anyway?”
Tony stopped in the middle of the room and blushed. He never planned on opening the thing around other people because some of his costumes were embarrassing, but he also didn’t want to stay in the storage basement longer than an hour.
However, Steve could also help him choose a costume for Harry. Tony didn’t have to worry about his boyfriend ever finding out he wore a Captain America costume for three years straight at ages 4 to 6 since he burned those down when Howard didn’t come to his 7th birthday like he promised because he went out looking for the hero.
Deciding to go with the help, Tony responded, “It’s my old Halloween costumes. I thought maybe Harry might like some of them. He’s still very undecided between going as a lion, an owl or a wizard. And I had hundreds of costumes from all those rich kid Halloween parties my parents made me go. I had to have attended at least three of them a year.”
Steve’s grin was blinding when he realized he’ll possibly see what adorable costumes kid Tony wore in Halloween. Part of him wished to see if he ever did a Captain America one. And he can already imagine tiny Tony Stark in an expensively-made robot costume.
Instead, what greeted Steve was a heap of colors under transparent garment covers. He picked one up and held it at arm’s length. It was a chicken costume that looked like it could fit a two-year-old. Steve opened his mouth to comment, only to close it, then open it again. “You were a chicken?” He finally asked, eyes dancing in mirth.
“I was a weird kid,” defended Tony mournfully. “Jarvis said I had a bit of an obsession with rubber chickens as a baby and he and my mom thought it was cute.”
Steve couldn’t hold it any longer and he burst into giggles. “That’s so adorable, Tony. You’re so adorable.” He placed the adorable costume on the table and reached over to kiss his sullen boyfriend on the cheek. “But I don’t think it would fit Harry.”
“No way I’ll put him in that even if it does fit,” grumbled the older man. “One Stark in an embarrassingly bright yellow chicken costume is more than the world needs. Thank god there weren’t digital copies of me on them.”
Chicken costume forgotten (or forcibly ignored), the two continued digging into the box of costumes. Surprisingly, every single one of them was in good condition. They separated all costumes that would fit Harry or might fit Harry if adjusted, and ended up with a pile bigger than it should be. Tony really did attend a lot of Halloween parties.
“Let’s see what we have here, then,” said Tony as he stared at the pile. He already saw some good ones like the shark one and a prince costume. He was picking up a Chewbacca costume that he remembers wearing the year A New Hope got released and smiled at how Anna Jarvis made it so intricately when he heard Steve gasp beside him.
In Steve’s shaking hands was a navy-blue overcoat with four silver buttons on each side. It wouldn’t look particularly important to anyone else, but Tony knew just what the costume meant for his boyfriend. Most of the children his age often wore the exact replica of the Bucky Bear—a bright blue coat with four red buttons, red gloves, red shoes, and a mask. But Tony? He wore what Bucky Barnes wore during the war— the coat, military fatigues, a sniper belt and sling, and military boots.
“Aunt Peggy had that made for me, you know,” Tony offered in a gentle voice, startling Steve out of his flashback. “I was seven at that time and got so mad at Howard because he went looking for you instead of coming to my birthday like he promised. I told everyone I’ll never be Captain America for Halloween ever again, so Aunt Peggy got me a Bucky costume instead.”
Steve didn’t say anything, but he did grip Tony’s hands tightly like he was grounding himself back to reality. They stayed on that spot for a couple of minutes until the supersoldier finally let go of the coat. “Sorry,” Steve muttered as he wiped his free hand over his face. “I didn’t mean—I’m sorry.”
Tony quickly pulled his boyfriend in for a hug. “Don’t be sorry, Steve. Never for that,” whispered the billionaire in Steve’s ear.
“Harry’s not allowed to wear this for school,” said Steve quietly once he relaxed. “Not this version, anyway. Peggy sure did give you an exact copy, all the way up to the gun case.”
Tony shrugged. “I grew up around weapons. It wasn’t anything new,” he responded easily. “And if he can’t wear it to school, he’ll just have to wear it here instead. Pepper found out about the team’s plan to set up a whole Halloween experience in the tower and made it official. The employees could also bring their kids over and do Trick or Treating on the office floors.”
“He can?” The sheer joy in Steve’s face was too precious not to kiss, so Tony did just that.
“Of course, he can. When he finds out who Bucky Barnes was, and how he used to be his favorite Uncle Steve’s best friend, no chance in hell is he gonna say no. We’ll just do a lion costume for his school one. I’m sure Agent knows someplace we can get that.”
**
Harry said yes to the Bucky costume, of course. And he looks very cute in his lion one. Tony probably took not less than five hundred pictures of his son in both costumes. Separately.
Since he wasn’t present during Harry’s in-school trick or treating activity, he just bribed Math Club Colin kid to take pictures for him. Math Club Colin jumped on the task all too willing. Turns out, Math Club Colin was also Photography Club Colin. Tony got awesome pictures out of him.
The 6-year-old was already bouncing in happiness and excitement when Tony came to pick him up from school. They weren’t allowed to eat any of their loots in class, but Harry admitted to eating a Mars candy bar right after class ended. Tony didn’t even have it in him to scold his son. A single candy bar was almost nothing compared to some children he saw on the sidewalk on his way inside the school. He had to hand it to Ilver—they really were serious about the healthier options because half of Harry’s sack was filled with stuff like tiny cereal boxes and gluten-free pudding cups.
He couldn’t expect the same with the Avengers, though.
The Halloween festivities were fairly obvious inside Stark Tower. Even the elevator was designed with fake cobwebs and spiders, much to Harry’s delight. As soon as they reached the penthouse, Steve took over and helped Harry dress up in his Bucky Barnes costume while Tony put on his own Howling Commando get-up. It was an emotional moment for his boyfriend, and Tony was glad to have given Steve the opportunity to honor his best friend’s memory through Harry.
The three of them went floor to floor knocking on doors and asking for candy. Everyone who saw Harry’s costume all did a double-take, gave Steve a surprised look, and Tony a look gratitude. Steve standing behind Harry all night looking so genuinely happy wearing his old Captain America costume could have reduced some people in tears. Hell, Phil Coulson did cry. Tony never even knew the Agent could do that.
When they finished filling up Harry’s second sack for the day, they all headed down to the tower’s cafeteria where some of their employees and their kids were enjoying the games and snacks. There were some kids that went to Harry’s school as well—though all older than him—and gave the 6-year-old high-fives and big waves. A few of the really older kids actually even gave him a salute, much to Steve’s amusement and appreciation.
“They look so adorable, Tony,” Princess Leia-Pepper commented with a smile as their eyes both followed Harry and Steve greeting the guests.
“I know,” responded Tony with a tiny tone of lamentation. “I may have taken a hundred photos in the penthouse alone.”
Pepper chuckled and handed Tony a glass of sparkling grape juice which Tony accepted gratefully. “May I just say, I’m glad you’re letting yourself be happy, Tony. Steve is good for you and Harry.”
“I think so, too, Pep.”
When the party ended and he had to put Harry to bed, he passed the candies onto Natasha to check while he gave his son a quick bath. For a bedtime story, he’d forgone the storybooks and instead told the same story his Aunt Peggy told him many times before—a story of how the Howling Commandos led by Captain America Steve Rogers and his best friend James Bucky Barnes traveled around Western Europe to eliminate every HYDRA base they could find.
Years later, when Harry grows up, he’ll always remember his first-ever Halloween, as the photo of Steve kneeling next to him and kissing him on the head in their Captain America and Bucky Barnes costume will forever be proudly displayed in the penthouse living room wall.
And if a copy was also kept inside the secret compartment of Tony’s wallet along with Harry’s 1st birthday picture… well, no one will be the wiser.
**
Two weeks later, on a Sunday, found Tony all but spread out on the living room couch with his son, Harry, who had fallen asleep in the middle of a movie. Steve and Clint were in the kitchen making more popcorn while Natasha, Bruce, and Sam were on the floor—having abandoned the movie—and playing with Harry’s Race Across the USA board game.
“Sir, there’s a man in the lobby by the name of J. Barnes asking for the Captain. Shall I let him up?” JARVIS announced in the room. Steve, in his surprise, had dropped the bowl he was holding, letting up a loud smashing sound that woke up the sleeping kid on Tony’s chest.
Tony quickly shushed him back to sleep and carefully passed Harry to Natasha’s waiting arms. In the kitchen, Clint was already trying to snap Steve back to reality all while keeping an arm’s length distance.
“Steve? Steve?” Tony slowly approached his boyfriend, reaching to touch the man’s trembling hand. “Sweetheart? It’s okay. You’re in the penthouse. It’s November 2013. Are you back with us? Steve?”
Steve sucked in a breath the moment Tony touched him. He turned his head abruptly and the wide gaze landed on the shorter man.
“Tony?” said Steve shakily.
“Yes, It’s me. You’re alright, Steve-o.”
“Is it? Bucky… is it?”
“I don’t know, Steve. I’ll have to check first.” Tony responded delicately. “It could be his grandson or anyone.”
Tony saw the immediate change in his boyfriend’s posture as his shoulders snapped back to attention and gripped the hand Tony’s holding. “I’ll come with you. If it’s Bucky’s grandson, I’d love to meet him.”
Nodding, Tony helped Steve around the broken bowl. He caught the eyes of Natasha and silently asked her to keep an eye on Harry for a while. The spy subtly inclined her head in understanding. “JARVIS, direct Mr. Barnes to the briefing room.”
The elevator ride down was filled with silence. Somehow, Tony knew Steve still clung to the hope that it’s his best friend. The chances were slim to none, but with the lives they’re leading, nothing’s truly impossible.
“Are you okay?” Tony asked just as the elevator door chimed open.
“I think so,” responded Steve. “What if it’s really him?”
“Then we’ll find out what happened and introduce him to the team.”
Steve glanced at Tony softly. “Really? Even Harry?”
“If he’s safe, then yes. He’s your best friend.”
The two superheroes stood outside the briefing room door. Somehow, Tony knew their family will grow one person bigger.
A shaky breath and a steel-hard grip on the doorknob. Steve finally pushed the last barrier open.
“…Bucky?”
“Hey, Stevie.”