keep you safe (forever and ever)

august fourteenth

Tony was already tired, and the kids didn’t even show up for another five days.

He had spent the better part of his morning with Peter, reading the files that Fury had sent over and trying to figure out how to best prepare. Peter didn’t usually stay for longer than the weekend, but it was summer break and May, who seemed to have been looking for an excuse to spend some alone time with Happy, had been more than cooperative when Tony phoned to ask if it was okay with her if Peter stayed for another week or so.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, where are we going to put the kids? No offense, your penthouse is like the nicest thing I’ve ever seen, but there are only three bedrooms and I don’t think all eight kids will fit in one.”

Tony was barely listening. “So, there are eight of them, and Thor is the oldest. Wanda is the youngest. And then there are six in between- fuck, I can’t do this.”

“Mr. Stark! First of all, you’ve said that like five hundred times in the last twenty minutes. Second, we have actual problems we need to solve. Preferably soon, cause I’m hungry.”

Tony sighed. “If you’re hungry, just get up and get a snack.” Peter jumped up and began rooting around in a cabinet before emerging with a bag of Goldfish. “And yes, I have already considered the housing issue.”

“Oh, cool. So are you planning to add an addition to the penthouse or what?” Peter’s words came out slightly garbled as he crammed more food into his mouth.

Tony grimaced. “Not exactly, no. Actually, Pete, I was thinking about maybe… moving?” He held his breath and waited for Peter’s response.

“Really?”

“Not far away!” Tony said hastily. “Just into a house… with more room for kids.”

Peter grinned. “Mr. Stark! That’s so awesome! I’ve always wanted to travel!”

“Wait, are you serious right now?” Tony asked incredulously. “You’re actually okay with this?”

“Uh, yes!” Peter fairly shouted. “I’ve never lived anywhere other than a city, and I’ve never lived in an actual house, you know? Now I kind of hope the team stays little forever!”

“Don’t even start, Underoos. The sooner the team goes back to normal, the better. Bonus points if Fury figures out a way to solve the problem in the next five days so we don’t have to play happy families.”

Peter only smiled harder. “Can we get a house with a pool? And a big yard?”

“We’ll see. I don’t even know where we’ll move to.”

“Colorado!”

“Pete, what do you know about Colorado? Also, I think your aunt might kill me if I took you far away again.”

Peter shrugged. “Okay, nothing, but it sounds cool. And actually, I think she would be happy for me. I always talked about leaving New York one day. Plus, I would still talk to her every day and she has Happy now, so I wouldn’t feel bad about not being here for her.”

Tony sighed. “Maybe. How about you start looking at houses in Colorado, then?”

Peter’s eyes tripled in size. “Wait. I get to pick the house?”

“No,” Tony corrected. “I get to pick the house, but I don’t feel like doing a lot of research, so I’ll pick from the ones you show me.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark!” Peter grabbed a StarkPad and began typing away.

“Honestly, kid, just call me Tony.”

“Mm.” Peter was already engrossed in his house hunt.

“Oh, and there’s no price limit. Obviously.”

“For once, I’m happy you have a shit ton of money.”

“Language, Underoos. And what do you mean for once? You literally wear a multi-million dollar suit on the daily.”

“Whatever.”

Tony smirked and went back to his perusal of the files Fury had sent. As he read, bits and pieces jumped out at him.

Malnourished.

Refusal to speak.

Unnaturally compliant.

Obvious signs of sexual abuse.

Neglect.

Nightmares.

Tony dropped his head into his hands. What the hell had happened to his team?

august sixteenth

Tony was starting to feel a little better.

A house had been chosen that both he and Peter were satisfied with. Like Peter had wanted, there was a pool and a large yard, along with a patio. Tony figured that eight bedrooms would be fine- a few of the kids would have to share, but with a little luck that wouldn’t be too much of an issue, and then he and Peter could each have their own room. The rest of the house was modern and clean, and Tony had paid for it upfront without even glancing at the price tag.

As soon as Pepper had found out what was going on, she had insisted on helping out as well. She immediately hired a large team of people to clean the new house from top to bottom, as well as set up all the furniture that Tony had had shipped over, and she had even been able to hire someone to go and buy all of the other household items that they would need.

Things were really coming together. Over the last two days, Tony had done almost everything on his extensive to-do list.

Packed all of his bags and made sure his private jet was stocked with kid-friendly snacks, movies, and games? Check.

Bought every parenting book off of Amazon and forced Peter to read them too? Check.

Googled the extremely small town that they were going to be living in and memorized the layout? Check.

Ordered the entire children’s clothing section of several different brands, including H&M, Tea, and J. Crew, and had all of that sent to Colorado, where another team of people would wash, fold, and put them in dressers and closets, courtesy of Pepper? Check.

So really, Tony didn’t know why he was feeling so nervous. Yes, some of the kids had issues, but so did Tony. It wasn’t like they would be too hard to deal with.

“Hey, Pete?”

Peter looked up. “Yeah?”

“Should I pack JARVIS so we can set him up there? I should, right?”

Peter thought for a second. “Honestly, Mr. Stark, I don’t know. The files said that the kids don’t remember anything about their adult life, right? So they might be scared of him.”

“True. How about I bring him, and then we have him just in case?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Peter said. “Also, I need to go home and pack at some point, Mr. Stark.”

“Peter!” Tony fairly shrieked. “You haven’t packed yet?”

Peter gave him a weird look. “Uh, no. We still have three days.”

“Two,” Tony corrected. “We get the kids on the third day.”

“Fine,” Peter muttered. “I’ll pack later.”

Tony shook his head. “No, you’ll pack right now. Call Happy and have him take you to your apartment, and then come back here when you’re all ready.”

“I think Happy’s already at my apartment,” Peter said, his face turning red with the implication. “It’s fine, though. I’ll just take the subway there and then have him drive me back.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Tony said. “Do you have money for the subway?”

“Yes.”

“What about extra money in case you need something?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to need anything.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“No, Mr. Stark! I take the subway all the time, I’ll be totally fine.” Peter started heading towards the door.

“Wait! Do you need suitcases?”

Peter turned. “Actually, that would be really helpful.”

“On it!” Tony jumped up and then came back with four fist-sized cubes. “I invented them. They’ll expand when you tap the circle on top.”

Peter took them and jammed them into his backpack. “Thank you! I’ll be back soon!”

“Be safe!” Tony hollered after him.

Once Peter’s footsteps had faded away, he turned to his phone. He needed to call Fury. Dialing the number, he waited. Fury picked up on the fourth ring, sounding extremely tired.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mad-Eye Moody,” Tony said. “I have some questions about the kids.” He grabbed his laptop and opened up a blank document to take notes on.

“Stark, I’m going to transfer you to Coulson, all right? He’s been spending more time with them than I have.” There was faint shrieking in the background, and Fury swore loudly before a new voice came on.

“Hello? Tony?”

“Hey, Phil.”

Phil sighed. “So, how can I help you?”

Tony paused for a moment. “I read all the information that you sent over, so I know the basics. But I do have some more questions.”

“I figured you would. I’ll try and answer them as best I can, but we honestly don't know very much more than what we've already told you.”

“Do they remember anything?” Tony asked.

“We’ve been running tests for the last four days and it seems that they only have their memories up until the age that they are. Take Natasha, for example. She’s eight and only remembers the Red Room. So, the short answer would be no. They definitely don’t have any memories of their adult lives,” Coulson explained.

Tony nodded. “Okay. What about Cap and Bucky? Do they think they’re from the 1920s?”

“Interestingly enough, it doesn’t seem like it, but we can’t tell for sure, and we don’t want to ask and upset them even more if they don’t have any recollection of it. Steve also isn’t tiny like he used to be, but we can't tell if he kept his immunity or not. We really don’t know how any of this happened- like I’m sure you read in the file, they were fighting a couple of giants from Jotunheim, there was a flash of light, and all of them appeared back in the compound as very confused kids.”

“Right. I’m actually interested in Maximoff- her first language is Sokovian, right? Does she understand English?”

“Wanda hasn’t said anything in either language since she got here. We’re not sure if she can talk and just doesn’t want to, or if she literally doesn’t know how to talk. She can definitely make noise- she cries at night and will scream sometimes, but never actual words.”

Tony sighed. “I read in the files that Clint isn’t talking either?”

“Well, he wasn’t at first,” Phil said. “But I heard him talking to Sam a little yesterday, which is a huge improvement. Natasha can speak English perfectly, courtesy of her Red Room training, but we think she prefers Russian.”

“My Russian’s rusty, but I’ll try and make sure I understand a few basic phrases,” Tony said, making a mental note to order a Russian dictionary.

“Thor and Loki are probably the most normal, but we had to tell them that their parents died in order to explain why they’re here and they’re not taking it so well,” Phil told him. “All of the kids, with the exception of Wanda, who we can’t communicate with, believe that they’re currently in a group home for a variety of reasons, and as you can imagine, they’re subsequently very confused. They know that they’re all being adopted together and we’ve showed them pictures of you, Peter, and the new house, but that’s about it.”

“So did you tell them that Peter is their older brother?” Tony asked.

“Yes. To keep things simple, we’re saying that he’s your biological son. I should warn you that Agent Barton in particular seems very scared of men in authority, so that’s something to keep in mind.”

“Right. I assume a lot of them are to some extent.”

Phil sighed. “Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. I also need to tell you about Natasha. I know that you read in her file that she shows signs of being sexually abused, but we didn’t realize how bad it was until I told her she had to eat her mashed potatoes, and she, um, tried to grope me. I think she thought that it would get her out of having to eat.”

“That’s fucked up,” Tony snarled.

Phil grunted in agreement. “She’s only eight years old. It's absolutely disgusting. I just wanted to make sure you had the heads up that that might happen.”

“I’ll definitely stay on the lookout for that, and I’m going to make sure Peter knows all of this stuff too. Anything else?”

“Oh!” Phil brightened. “Actually, something interesting that we learned is that Wanda really seems to like water. We had to fight a lot of the kids on bath and shower time, but she got right in and it was hard for us to get her out.”

“Wow,” Tony mused. “I would not have guessed that.”

“Yeah.” Phil looked happy that at least one good thing had come out of this mess. “Steve has also been spending a ton of time drawing, and Clint really seems to like to read.”

“Shit!” Tony smacked his head. “I forgot to order toys and games and whatever for them. I’ll do that now. Hang on one second, Phil. JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?” the automated voice replied.

“Search online for the best books, toys, games, and other kid stuff, and then order all of it and have it shipped to Colorado. Also, please send a message to Pepper to ask her if she can hire someone to unpack and put away all the toys.”

“On it, sir.”

“Thanks, J. Phil? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. I probably have to go soon though. It’s my turn to watch the kids- we’re taking it in one hour shifts.”

“Do they get along with each other?”

Phil hummed. “For the most part, yes. They seem to gravitate towards the people they’re closest with in real life- Steve and Bucky are always together, and Sam kind of trails after them. Thor and Loki fight a lot, so I’m not sure if having them in one room is the best idea. Surprisingly, Clint really seems to like Wanda, and I see him reading to her a lot.”

“Well, that definitely makes my job easier,” Tony mused. “I was worried none of them would get along.”

“No, they all seem to be fine with each other, although I think that some of them are on their best behavior because they’re in a new place, so I wouldn’t be surprised if more fights started occurring later. As a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t recommend leaving them without supervision for more than twenty minutes or so, even if you’re in the next room. There’s too much potential for someone to get hurt.”

“So who would you put in the same bedroom then?” Tony asked.

“Honestly? Steve and Bucky, and Clint and Sam. Wanda might want to sleep in the same room as you or Peter though, which would mean that only Steve and Bucky have to share.”

“Noted,” Tony said. “I’ll ask Peter if he minds sharing with Wanda, or I will.”

Phil smirked. “This seems to be coming very naturally to you. They’ll be calling you dad in no time.”

“Shut the fuck up, Coulson. And here I thought we were having a nice chat.”

“Sorry!” Phil said, still laughing. “I just think you’ll do a great job with them.”

“Well, that remains to be seen,” Tony muttered. “You guys are working on reversing it, right?”

“Of course. I won’t lie, this is stumping our scientists, but rest assured that we’re doing our best to get everything back to normal.”

“Good. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“I don’t think so,” Phil said. “And honestly, Tony, thank you for doing this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said, waving his hand. “You can thank me by finding an antidote.”

“See you in three days.” The screen went black.

Tony sighed. "I won't be like my father," he said to the empty room. "I won't be."