Step Into Action

"Tony? You okay there?"

Fuck.

Tony came back to reality to the Avenger's staring at him in confusion. Once again, he got lost in his thoughts, lost to the world around him. Rhodey had already called him out on it, and maybe it was a premonition for what was to come, but he needed to do better.

If the Avengers found out about Peter being his kid...

They wouldn't do anything bad, but there would be heavy judgement for sure. Maybe. He didn't know anymore. The lie had been buried deep inside him for years. He didn't know what would happen if the truth came out.

When he told Ben, it felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders, he finally had someone to talk about it all with. Then, here, it all came back, increasing tenfold as he carried an uncaring world on his shoulders.

Steve had asked the question, and Tony wasn't quite sure how he should respond. A lie like before? Or bring up a possible new teammate. Both options burned at his tongue.

"You've been pretty spacey lately Stark. What's got your feathers ruffled?" Natasha prodded, noticing the hesitation from Tony.

And immediately, Tony bit back, "nothing that concerns any of you." He regretted it. It sounded defensive, and gave away that it was an issue.

"Oh, someone's angry," She quipped, eyebrows raised in little surprise. He was always hiding something, and god, she wanted to know what it was.

"Aren't we a team? What's going on?" Clint added on. "You're always up our asses about secrets."

"No, star-spangled-pain-in-my-ass is the one who hates secrets. I hate hypocrites." Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, Breathing deeply. He slowly counted as he felt the anger roll of him, lifting his head. "And it's not anything scandalous."

"Then why not tell us?" Thor asked boldly. "Why hide secrets from friends?”

Tony rolled his eyes. "I had secrets before meeting all of you and I will carry some of them to my grave," he informed coldly. "Just because we're on a team, live together, doesn't mean any of you have a right to me." 

Bruce cleared his throat awkwardly. "You don't have to tell us Tony. We're allowed to keep stuff to ourselves."

"And this is why you're my favorite," Tony joked, pushing up from the table, taking his plate with them. "But if you must know, that Spider hero will be joining us soon."

"What?" The group said in disbelief.

"Is this like that ant man thing, where he has an army of spiders?" Same asked, almost looking nervous at the thought. 

Tony shook his head. "No. Either way, he'll be training with us so the kid doesn't get killed trying to fight crime."

"Kid?" Steve repeated.

"He's fourteen. Turns fifteen in July."

"Why is a child fighting crime?" Steve exclaimed, slamming his hands in the table.

"None of that shit from you patriotic war crime. According to his uncle, with or without our help, he'll be flinging himself into danger. He'll be around in a week."

Bruce paused at that info. "Uncle?"

"Yes," Tony assured. "Uncle. He figured out his nephew was Spider-Man, and reached out to me."

"You adopting every random child that walks into your life Stark?" Natasha teased.

"Hilarious." He put his plate in this sink, and turned around. "Sorry if dealing with an enhanced teenager has made me spacey."

Clint scoffed, "that's what having kids will do to you. Have a kid of your own and suddenly you're always worried about them."

Tony had to literally force the retort to stay in his mind. He wanted to say he had kids, that Clint wasn't special, but he said nothing. His grip tightened on the counter in front of him, his knuckles burned white, but he didn't say anything.

It was just a joke. One made by a tired dad. He couldn't just snap at that. Snap that he wanted to be involved in his kids life. 

Breathe.

Just breathe.

Like Mary and Richard advised. Breathe.

Hold those breaths out until anger fizzles out. Blows out.

This wasn't worth getting angry over.

"Suppose I wouldn't know," Tony finally said. "I'm sure we're all in for chaos either way."

"Anything we know about the kid?" Sam asked.

Tony smiled, shaking his head. "Sure, ask him yourself when he trains with us. I'm not spilling his life story."

"Why the fuck do you know then?" Clint swore loudly.

"Language!" Natasha mocked rather quickly.

And Steve slammed his hands on the table again. "I say something one fucking time!"

Natasha let out a sarcastic gasp, smirking her ass off. "Oh no, the American dream swore!"

Steve's face slammed into the table, and the hero literally just did not get up.

Tony sighed dramatically. "Great, you broke him. Now Barnes will get pouty."

"Barnes is in Wakanda, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," She reminded, gripping the back of Steve's head to pull him up. And he just looked tired. But, he was alive, so she dropped his head and he smacked against the counter and fell off the chair.

Everyone held back their laughter, faces burning bright red at Steve's body, splayed across the floor, his ass up. It looked so staged, but he literally just fell like that.

"I suggest we leave him there," Thor proposed, letting out a boisterous laugh.

And the others nodded, holding back their own snickers still. Well, all except Bruce, who acted like the only adult at times. "At least get him a blanket."

"You're so kind Bruce!" Thor bolstered, throwing an arm around him. Bruce flustered, not really used to Thor's... everything yet. Of course, they'd been friends for awhile now, but physical contact with any of them was still strange.

“T-Thor!”

And Thor, knowing Bruce’s boundaries, realized his actions, and dropped his arm. “Sorry Bruce.”

“I’m going to bed.” Tony muttered.

“You are not going to bed,” Clint declared confidently. “You are going to be in your lab until five in the morning until someone smacks you with something to get you to pass out.”

And yeah, Tony was originally planning to go to his lab, but the prospect of seeing his son made him eager to sleep. To let time fly by in a flash so he would see his son sooner. “Believe it or not, sometimes I actually want to get a good nights rest.”

“Blasphemy!” 

“Shove it Romanov. I fund your weapons. I’ll give them to Wanda. Fuck, I’ll give them to vision, who I still don’t trust with sharp objects.”

“Tony, he isn’t five, he’s a hyper intelligent AI,” Bruce reminded.

“Who almost took a bath with a toaster.”

Bruce paused, words that he was going to saw disappearing from his lips at the shit he just heard. “He what?”

“Anyway, see all of you in the morning. We should get a few shipments of training gear. It would’ve been quicker, but well, all of you are picky.”

Clint scoffed. “We are not picky.”

“You ask me to peel the crust off your sandwiches because I do it for vision.”

Clint’s face scrunched up, features knitting together in a flushed annoyance. “Shut up.”

“Yeah, yeah. When Wanda and Vision get back, tell them that I hope they had fun on their date.”

“You are such a dad. It’s gross,” Natasha said, faking a gag, laughing when Clint elbowed her. “What? It’s weird seeing him act like a dad.”

Tony just sighed, glad he let his anger wash over him. Natasha’s comments didn’t sting. “Goodnight.” He left the kitchen, stepping over Steve, and headed down the hall that led to everyone’s room. Past them was an elevator that took him up to his own room, where he turned in for the night.

Each second he started drifting, he couldn’t help but be happy about having his kid in his life again.