Chapter 7
Stone coming back into Tony’s life had thrown everyone for a loop. His poor Omega was stressed and anxious and Harley’s attitude constantly changed on a dime. Sometimes he was fine with Steve, joking with the Alpha and snuggling close during movie nights.
Other times, well...other times Steve felt the distant ‘step’ in ‘step-dad.’
It didn’t help when Stone was saying shit about Steve behind his back and to Harley’s face. Or when he flaked on the pup and Steve and Tony had to pick up the pieces.
Steve got the call while he was working at his grandfather’s gym, a frantic Tony who said Tiberius was supposed to pick Harley up from school an hour ago but had flaked at the last second. Stone hadn’t even called Tony himself, he’d had his secretary do the dirty work.
Steve was livid but tried not to convey that over the phone as his Omega begged him to go grab the pup, since Tony had already planned back to back meetings at SI.
“Yeah, of course babe I’ll go right now.”
“Thank you thank you thank you! I promise Steve I’ll pay you back tonight, okay Alpha?” Tony finished with purr, sending shivers down Steve’s spine and soothing his anger a little.
“You don’t owe me anything, love. But...I would never turn down any appreciative gestures from you Omega,” Steve said, putting a little of his Voice into it to return the favor. Plus a part of him knew his mate was teasing him and Steve was a troll at heart. Cause while Steve was behind a desk gathering his things, he knew Tony was in a room with other people judging by the background noise.
And when his Omega let out a strangled growl, Steve knew he had won this round.
“I am in the boardroom Steven.”
“And I am off to get our pup. You can punish me later,” Steve said with a smug smile, grabbing his jacket as he headed towards his brother in the ring. “Love you doll, I’ll text you when I have Harley with me, okay?”
“Love you too, babe. And you will so pay for that later,” his mate chuckled before hanging up .
“You can’t ditch work to go fuck your Omega silly, Stevie,” Buck said, helping one of their regulars with his stance before the blonde could even open his mouth.
“Okay first of all - you’ve totally done that before. So don’t even go there. Secondly, I have to go get Harley and I’ll bring him here - so I’ll only be gone half an hour or so. Tell Pappy if he asks.”
“Pretty sure he just started his afternoon nap, so you’re safe. Also I thought FuckFace McNoStones was supposed to take the pup?”
“FuckFace McNoStones flaked and had his secretary call Tony to tell him. Pup’s been at school waiting for an hour,” Steve explained, some of the anger returning to his voice. He could smell the change in his brother’s scent, anger leaking out of the other Alpha who nodded in approval.
“Alright, I’ll cover for you. Go get your pup.” Steve tried to smile at the words, but mostly he was insecure and too angry to cherish them. So he marched on, out to his car and maybe speeding a little for the ten minutes it normally took...maybe making it in six.
He scanned the building, frowning when he finally spotted a little boy sitting on the concrete next to a standing teacher. Steve quickly put his truck in park before rushing over to the pup.
“Mr. Rogers! So good to see you, sorry for the circumstances. Harley kiddo, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?” Darcy Lewis, Harley’s Beta teacher said with a bright smile.
“Thanks for staying with him, Ms. Lewis,” Steve said to the woman already walking away before turning to the pup who was still sitting on the concrete. “Hey bear, you okay?” Harley didn’t answer him, just stood up and began walking to Steve’s truck.
The Alpha followed, opening the door wordlessly before climbing in himself.
“I’m sorry Harley, I know you were looking forward to hanging out with your father. But on the bright side you get to come to work with me!” Steve said, trying and failing to make a joke. “I mean, I work part time at my Grandpa’s boxing gym. We’ll head there until your Daddy gets off work.” The rest of the short ride was silent before Steve parked his truck.
The Alpha offered the pup a smile, but the boy just kept his head down and followed Steve into the gym.
“There you are! Think you can just come and go from my gym as you please?” his Pappy asked, faux anger in his voice as he shuffled over to the pair. “And who’s this lad?”
His Pappy moved to the states from Ireland in his twenties where he met Steve’s grandmother and the two had his Pop - Sarah - and her two little brothers.
He never lost his accent, which was always entertaining to Steve and Bucky.
“Pappy this is Harley, my mate’s son,” Steve introduced the two as the pup shuffled closer to the Alpha.
“Ah yes I’ve heard about you from my grandson. Nice to meet you, great-grandson,” Pappy said with a smile. Steve was conflicted when Harley grabbed Steve’s jeans, happy he was seeking comfort with him and sad he was seeking comfort in the first place. Harley was still clearly upset, which his grandfather quickly picked up on. “Who put a bee in your bonnet, lad? You look upset. Sad or mad?”
Steve had to keep himself from laughing when the six year old actually glared at the old man in response.
“Mad I see. Well pup, looks like you could punch something.” Harley’s scent immediately changed as he looked up at Steve, who momentarily forgot about the circumstances and just felt the love he had for this pup.
“It’ll make you feel better,” Steve answered the silent question with a shrug, smiling at his pup who suddenly became excited.
“Come along, lad, let’s get your hands taped up,” Pappy said before he took off walking towards the front desk, not bothering to see if Harley was following him. But the pup did, after a moment, racing off after him as Steve watched with a fond smile.
“You sure you want Pappy teaching him? You know he taught me to fight dirty, right?” Buck asked as he passed the other Alpha, reaching into the mini fridge for a gatorade.
“It’s better than seeing him so upset,” Steve said with a shrug before he shoved his brother playfully.
“Hey! Jerk.”
“That’s for not telling Pappy where I went.”
“He just woke up from his nap and snuck past me!”
“I heard that James,” Pappy barked as he and Harley came back over, with the pup's hands now covered in white tape. “You’ll be the practice dummy Harley works on. Come on, in the ring you two.” Steve chuckled when his brother whined at that before obediently heading into the ring.
A member came up and asked for some towels, so Steve went back to the front desk, counting on his Pappy to cheer the pup up. As he helped other members sign in and hydrate, he stole a glance at his kid.
He couldn’t hear, but could see his Pappy teaching Harley how to properly punch. A memory surfaced as Steve drifted off for a moment.
Steve and Bucky were both at eight, staying with their Pappy as their Mama and Papa were at the hospital having their little sister.
The blonde hadn’t been introduced to the serum yet and was a gangly little thing. His Pappy had pulled him aside and shown him how to beat Bucky - who always won when they wrestled. He also showed the two of them how to properly punch someone as well as some kickboxing moves that would help Steve later with bullies.
He snapped back to the present when he had one last member to tend to, helping them sign in before walking over to the ring to watch.
Bucky was on his back, groaning over dramatically while Harley giggled over him.
“Harley is the winner!” Pappy exclaimed, getting more laughs from the pup as he lifted one of the boy’s arms in victory. “Now you just need to defeat Stevie to be the champion. Think you got what it takes, lad?”
“Yeah come on, Stevie. Let me tag you in,” Bucky said with a smile as he crawled over to where Steve was standing, tapping the blonde’s shoulder and slipping out of the ring. Steve was prepared to excuse himself, still not fully on Harley’s good side when the pup surprised him by speaking up.
“Come on Steve! I wanna be the champion!” the pup cried with his tiny fists in the air. The Alpha couldn’t resist the request, warmth flowing throughout his body as he happily climbed into the ring.
“On your knees, Stevie. Let’s make it a fair fight,” his Pappy quipped as he leaned down to whisper something into Harley’s ear. The Alpha complied with a skeptical brow, suddenly doubting the idea of letting the two know each other.
“Harley, nothing between the legs. I don’t know what Pappy just told you…”
“Relax, lad, I did nothin of the sort,” the older Alpha said with a smirk. “Alright you two, I want a clean fight. Three two one,” Pappy said before ringing the bell. Steve put his fists up as Harley began circling him, the pup trying and failing to keep a straight face. It got Steve to break a smile as well, bringing his arms down a little before a punch to his stomach had the Alpha flat on his back.
He had seen it coming, since it was a trick his Pappy had taught him years ago - distract before attacking when their guard is down - and mimicked his brother with a dramatic groan. Pappy, playing the referee, began counting to ten as Steve slowly got back up before he was vertical again.
“I can do this all day,” he said to his step-son, who looked the same kind of manic he’d seen on Tony - it was a, ‘oh I am about to have so much fun’ look.
“Bring it on, old man,” Harley growled with a smile before charging the Alpha, throwing a right hook that Steve easily dodged.
“What did Pappy say to you, bear? I know he told you to fight dirty…” Steve said in a sing-song voice, dodging another punch and blocking a kick from the pup.
“It’s a secret!” Harley said with a laugh, dodging when Steve threw a punch in slow motion.
“Huh, well I have one of my own,” Steve said before grabbing the pup under his arms and lifting him up before gently placing him on his back. He pinned him down...before mercilessly tickling the six year old. “Start counting ref!”
As his Pappy counted to ten, Steve continued tickling the pup, keeping an eye on Harley in case he really wanted him off. But the pup just laughed, making no effort to wiggle away. The Alpha had never tried to tickle him before, but noted it was something he would do often in the future. The laugh and scent coming off the sweet pup was something he’d cherish forever.
Not to mention the sweet, ‘Steve!’ Harley tried saying repeatedly.
He really loved this kid.
And since he did, he released his prisoner at nine seconds, ready for the pup to pop back up again. Instead Harley just stayed on his back, wiping his eyes from happy tears and gazing up at Steve.
“Technically Harley won, since you fought dirty,” Pappy said to Steve before turning to the smaller blonde. “And you, you ready to tell me what got ya so angry?”
Steve froze a little at that, looking up at his Pappy who was only looking at Harley. The Alpha even opened his mouth to answer for him but Harley beat him to it.
“I was supposed to hang out with my father after school today, but he had work to do. Or at least that’s what his secretary told my Daddy.” Steve watched as his Pappy worked on controlling his anger, which was already coming off of him in waves.
“Harley was waiting for an hour before I went to get him,” Steve explained, further fueling the fire. Because fuck Tiberius Stone.
“Was he now? Well, sounds like the lad is malnourished. Come along Harley, Pappy’s got some ice cream sandwiches in his office,” the Alpha said to the pup, reaching a hand out to the boy. Harley smiled and grabbed his hand before standing up.
“Hey, I didn’t say this was okay!” Steve called fondly after the two, who were now out of the ring and walking away.
“I’m the champion, Steve!” Harley called back, getting a snort of laughter after his grandfather, who clapped the pup on the back.
“Yeah Stevie, he’s the champion,” the older Alpha said. “You on the other hand need to work for a living, I’m not paying you to sit around and do nothing. Get back to work!”
Steve just shook his head fondly as he watched the two go, his heart filling with more warmth than he thought possible when his love happened to also call him at that moment.
“Hello love of my life.”
“Oh my god, what’s wrong? Did something happen? Dear god did he run away from you?”
“Tony, honey, everything’s fine. Great, actually. That’s my happy voice, not my panic voice,” Steve clarified, sending a little of his current happiness into the bond. The feeling he got back was happy and thankful.
“Right right, sorry it’s been a long day. So wait, everything’s really fine? Like...Harley is fine?”
“Yes Tony, he is currently eating ice cream sandwiches with my Pappy. After he just defeated me at boxing. Heads up, he is now the world champion and will probably be throwing that in my face for the foreseeable future.” Steve practically melted at his mate’s laugh, loving that he could feel the ease settling in the bond between them.
“Well, that’s fucking awesome. I am on my way to you guys, should be there in five. Order a pizza and the three of us will have a movie night.”
“Sounds good, I love you babe.”
“Love you too, buttercup.”
After Steve collected his pup and things, they made their way out and into Tony’s waiting car.
“Daddy! Daddy guess what? Pappy taught me how to box! And I fought both Bucky and Steve and kicked both of their butts!” the pup cheered from the backseat, beginning to retell everything Pappy explained about boxing as a hand reached over and gently squeezed Steve’s.
The Alpha squeezed back, glancing lovingly at his Omega who pushed love back through the bond.
As well as a promise for what was to come later that evening.