You're my family
Three weeks later
"Morning", Natasha said, as Tony entered the room.
She frowned slightly when she saw that he wasn't alone but brought a man with him.
"You are doctor Stephen Strange, aren't you?"
"Yes, hello. And you must be Natasha Romanoff. Pleasure meeting you."
Natasha stood up from her comfortable chair a bit unsure but with a polite smile.
"Yes, that's right. May I ask what brings you here?"
"Where are the others?", Tony interfered.
"Gonna come in a minute. You're early today. For some un-explainable reason. You're- always late."
"Yes, well, I had to get up this morning."
"What for?"
"To spend some time with Stephen before he had to go to work."
"O-kay. Sure. I'm just gonna wait for you to eventually tell me why that is the case because asking anything never gets me anywhere with you."
"You learned so much over the years, Nat."
The billionaire sat down, patting the chair next to him.
"I'm sorry- Okay, I'm just a bit lost here. Doctor, why exactly are you here?"
Before Stephen could say anything, the door opened once again and the rest of the group walked in, all looking at the doctor as if he was the messiah.
"Oh, come on. Have you never seen a medical professional? Sit", Stark told them with annoyance.
"Not in here, no", Clint quietly remarked.
"Well, now you do. Jesus. You all were new to this group once. Don't forget who built it up."
"Fury", Steve said as he crossed his arms.
"Don't forget who built it up for real, popsicle."
"Boys, not here", Bruce interfered as he reached his hand out to Stephen.
"Big fan. Honestly."
Strange took his hand with big eyes, being a bit intimidated by the whole situation.
"Thank you-"
Tony smiled at him and gestured to Nat.
"So. Natasha Romanoff, known as Black Widow. Natasha is the competent one. You'll get along well. Next to her, the normal dude, doctor Bruce Banner. Really chill and nice guy as long as he doesn't get angry. If you see green, run. Doctor Banner is our medical specialist- or he was, now he is our being-big-and-green-specialist. Steve Rogers. Once served in World War II until he was frozen and experimented on. Now he is America's butt. In all definitions of the phrase. Then we have Clint. He's just Clint. I call him Robin Hood. He is our archery guy. Next to him we have the God of thunder. I call him Shakespeare. Listen to him and you know why. Even though you talk horribly posh sometimes as well. But he is definitely worse. We have more people in our group but Natasha, Bruce, Steve, Clint, Thor and I kind of started this whole Avengers thing. We do have connections but it's sometimes hard to really figure out who you can trust and who might go against you. And now, everyone, this is Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Hear me out-"
Natasha immediately raised her hand.
"The what?"
"Sorcerer Supreme", Stephen repeated.
"I went to a place called Kamar-Taj. It's in Kathmandu, a city full of- special people. I met a woman called the ancient one and learned a few things about magic. For example portals or energy based weapons. I came in contact with a relic that's called the Eye of Agomatto and based on that, I found out who I am supposed to be to them."
"The Eye of Agomatto? What's that?", Clint asked a bit overwhelmed at what he was hearing.
And he clearly wasn't alone by the loss of words written all over the faces of the other participants.
"The Eye of Agomatto is a very powerful relic."
"With the time stone", the billionaire added.
"Excuse me? He is the owner of the time stone?", Banner asked shocked.
"Accidentally", Stephen remarked.
"I didn't choose to be any of this. But now that I am, I decided to help you. Only if you- I don't want to seem like an intruder."
"Oh, adorable"
Tony pulled out a contract from under the table and put it in front of Stephen.
"There you go. I wouldn't have brought you if you were not welcome."
Thor smiled.
"Welcome to the group." He got up and walked over to pat the doctor's shoulder.
"Thank you", he said absentmindedly as he signed the contract.
Tony nodded encouragingly as he took it back.
"You are now a member and proudly can call yourself an Avenger-"
He had to grin as he looked at Stephen's unimpressed face.
"-or you don't. Or you just call yourself the much more intimidating sounding name of Merlin."
Natasha sighed but had to smile as she got up too.
"I'm glad we finally found someone who is capable of helping us with this. So- in fact- magic is real then?"
Strange nodded.
"Okay. Never thought it would come this far. Anything else I should know? Have you talked to God or anything?"
"Yes, he has", Tony quickly said.
"And you have too", he added while pointing at himself offended.
"Oh god. I have had enough ego for today. See you all."
The woman left the room, quickly joined by Clint.
"I shouldn't let her drive alone. That never ends well for the other people."
Tony dismissed him with a grin.
"You can leave too, old man", he gestured at Steve.
"Didn't intend to stay", the other shook his head with a small smile and got up too.
"I'm glad you're joining the group, doctor. I sincerely am. I grew to trust our Ironman's instincts."
"Thanks, Rogers", Stark chuckled.
The blonde patted his back and followed Natasha and Clint.
"Bruce, Thor, I will need you to be reachable in case something happens again. If you have any questions, you can contact both Stephen and me. You will be the two most influential people in this. I need you to look into as much as you can. Read books, watch documentaries about Kathmandu- whatever. Just don't be clueless when I need a God and a smartass by my side."
They both looked at each other and walked to the exit.
"Count on us."
Tony turned around to look after them and let out a breath of relief.
"They are really good. I promise. I am aware that you work alone but these people are strong. So strong in their individual fields. And they are determined. They don't give up. And they have made mistakes that they learned from. All of them. Mostly Rogers. We had a rough time. A sincerely horrible time. But we both talked it out. And eventually trusted each other again. When I tell you that this group has some of the most remarkable people in it, then I mean it. I just want to reassure you that you're making the right decision. Stephen, you need someone to rely on. You can't do it all by yourself. I had to learn it and you have to learn it too. Every leader needs an army."
"That's what they are to you?"
"Some. Some of them. Nat, Bruce and Thor are way more than that. Pepper is an indirect member of this whole thing as well. She is great. And I'm thankful to have her by my side. This Fury guy, he was great too. I miss him."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. He wouldn't want it any other way. He always said that he wanted to die doing the thing he was meant to do. He wanted to die a hero and he did."
"I never knew these things about your life."
"What? That I have strong people by my side?"
"That you had a family this big."
Tony smiled warmly at him.
"You're my family."
"They are too. They are, Tony. Don't deny it. You care about them."
"Yeah, I do. Peter. Parker. The Spiderboy."
"Yes", Stephen chuckled.
"I want you to meet him. He's like- He basically is my son. And I want you to get to know him."
"Oh", Stephen breathed out a bit worriedly.
"What?"
"I- I don't know."
"He will like you."
"Why are you so sure about that?"
"Peter likes everyone I like. That boy is an angel. A literal angel."
"Okay", the doctor smiled.
"Great!"
Stark leaned back.
"Because I invited him over to meet you and he's incredibly thrilled."
"You did what?"
"I told the boy to meet my man?"
"Please tell me you didn't phrase it like that."
"He's used to it."
"Tony?"
"Fine, I told him to come and meet the new member of the Avengers."
"Better. When will he be there?"
"Two or three hours."
"Today?"
"Yeah. Why, do you have plans?"
"No-"
"Okay. Then why are you so shocked?"
"Because- that's all a bit quick."
"Do you tell your patients the same thing? Like someone with a brain tumor coming in and you're leaning against the wall, wiping sweat off of your way too perfectly shaped face and say Oh god, that's so fast though. I couldn't even prepare. Christ, what a drama."
"I don't sound like that."
"Then you will have so much fun with him. Pizza and board games and us casually mentioning to him that we are a bit more than friends. The boy needs another dad. He honestly does. His aunt is nice and all but she's a bit special. And I am just- me. I'm Tony Stark. Anthony Edward Stark. The only thing I'm competent in teaching that kid is to shave. And he doesn't even have a stubble. I wouldn't be surprised if he still didn't have any armpit hair. I bet he'd send me a WhatsApp message if he found a chest hair. If that boy ever talks to me about pubic hair, I'll be lost."
"How old is he?"
"Sixteen."
"I hate bringing this to you but that boy should have all the pubic hair."
"He's a fucking spider-mutant. I don't know, Stephen. Fact is, I am just as much of an idiot when it comes to raising a teenager as you are. You can't be less qualified. He asked me about a girl and how to ask her out and I told him about how often I got hit in the face for saying the wrong thing. And how often I got kicked in the not-my-face area of my body for it as well. I can't help him with that shit. But I'm trying. And that's all I'm asking from you. I love you. Sincerely. You have to believe that. But that boy means the world to me. And if you don't try with him, I don't really know what to do. Because he always will be my kid. And no one will come between us."
The doctor smiled sympathetically at him.
"That's probably one of the most wonderful things you have ever said."
"That I'll kick you out if you come for my boy?"
"Yeah."
"I fucking love you. Come on."
Stark got up and took his partner's hand, leaving the building with him. They drove home quietly and contently. Tony now and then looked to his side to see Stephen look out of the window. He was clearly lost in thoughts. But that was more than fine. He deserved the daydreaming. And the billionaire took pride in how much he'd helped his boyfriend with this. How he had grounded him. And he took even more pride in the fact that he was trying to build an actual family now. That he could give Peter this. Stephen had woken a spirit in him. A spirit that wanted just one thing: To live a life like he'd always wished to have it.