Ironman
"You were supposed to be on the plane an hour and a half ago." Pepper's voice filtered in through the hallway. Tony was sitting on the floor listening to his six-year old read the beginning of the first Harry Potter book.
"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there." Tony rebutted, barely taking his eyes off his kid. He watched as Peter jumped up to greet Pepper.
"Auntie Pep! Look Daddy said I could read this while he's away!" Peter squealed, jumping up and down in front of the woman, showing off his book. Pepper's annoyance with him faded, and her face filled with amusement.
"Oh wow, Pete that's great. But, Daddy needs to leave now, you think you could help me get him moving?" Pepper asked, lowering her voice into a conspiring whisper. Peter giggled and nodded his head.
"Daddy, Peppa says you need to go now." Peter whispered as he walked over to Tony. Tony rolled his eyes at Pepper.
"I know bud. How about this. I'll run upstairs and grab my bag, and you and Auntie Pep can meet me at the door to say goodbye?" Tony said, standing up and picking Peter up in the process. Peter nodded vigorously and Tony pressed a kiss to his head before putting him down and sending him after Pepper. He waited for them both to leave before heading upstairs to a secret door right next to his bedroom.
"Hey, Tash?" he called as he shut the door behind him. He looked around the room, it was where he usually spent his time, but nobody but Peter knew that. And even though the kid was only 6, he knew not to mention this to anyone. His wife was a spy, for a super secret organization that he wasn't supposed to know about. And because of that, no one but him and Peter could know she existed. So he kept her hidden in her tower, for lack of better terms, whenever she was off mission.
And while she wasn't Peter's biological mother, she was as good as, and Peter saw her that way. He was ripped from his thoughts by someone exiting the bathroom.
"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be on the plane like an hour ago?" Natasha said as she walked up to him, letting him rest his hands on her hips. He scoffed.
"Not you too. Pep's already been on me. I'm headed out right now, I just got to say goodbye to Pete. Plus I couldn't leave without seeing my lovely wife." He said, giving her a goofy grin. She rolled her eye, but her mouth was tipped up at the side, showing her amusement.
"How long are you supposed to be gone this time?" She asked then, pulling out of their embrace to move around the room, continuing to get ready.
"Three days. I'll be back as soon as I can. Did you get a mission?" Tony asked, hoping she's say no. She shook her head.
"No I promised I wouldn't. I told Fury I was taking some me time. I was hoping you'd say that Peter was going to stay with a friend of his mother's for a couple days, so I could spend some time with him. I could use a disguise to pick him up?" Natasha then said, looking more vulnerable than she usually would. Tony felt his heart melt.
"I think that could be arranged. Just make sure it's a good disguise, I don't want to worry about your cover being blown." Tony said, worry laced in his tone. Natasha gave him a soft smile, and nodded.
"Tell Peter I'll be 'here' to pick him up in an hour." She said, starting to push him out the door, "Now you need to go. I'll see you in a couple days, любовь." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before pushing him out of the door and closing it in his face. He scoffed, before grabbing his bag and heading downstairs. He could tell he took too long by the glare Pepper sent him as he approached.
"Make the goodbyes quick, James is getting impatient." She reminded him. He nodded, deciding not to piss her off anymore.
"Hey Petey, you remember that friend of your mommy's I was telling you about?" He asked the young boy who had ran up to greet him. Peter looked confused for a moment before he realized what Tony meant. He nodded excitedly.
"Well she's going to be here in a little bit to pick you up. Your going to stay with her until Daddy gets back okay?" Tony asked, hoping Pepper wouldn't get too suspicious. But the smile that broke out on Peter's face at the idea of getting to spend time with his mother, made it all worth it.
"Okay Daddy, I'll go pack!" Peter said, starting to run off, but Tony caught him before he could get too far.
"Why don't you say goodbye to me first and then Auntie Pepper can help you pack?" Peter nodded.
"Okay, bye Daddy! Love you lots! Don't be gone too long!" Peter said cutely, before placing a wet kiss on Tony's cheek. Tony's heart clenched at the thought of leaving his kid, even for such a short amount of time.
"Love you too, baby. Be good while I'm gone okay? And if you're good we can go out for ice cream when I get home." Tony said, and watching Peter nod so hard he almost fell over.
"Okay, Pete why don't you start packing and I'll be there to help you in a minute." Pepper spoke up, her voice soft despite the annoyance on her face. Peter saluted her jokingly, before rushing off. The second he was out of sight she turned on him.
"I thought I was watching him while you were gone?" she asked, leading him out the door to his line of cars. Tony winced.
"Yeah, but a friend of Mary's called last night, begging to get some time with Peter, so I promised he could stay with her. It's only for three days." Tony said, sending her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. And since everyone assumed he was still heartbroken about Mary's death, they never questioned anything when he brought her up. So he wasn't surprised when Pepper got a thoughtful look on her face and just nodded.
"Okay, I'll make sure he packs enough for when she arrives. What's her name?" Pepper said professionally, as Tony slid into his driver's seat.
"Nicole." Tony answered, making a mental note to text Natasha his ridiculous answer for her cover name. He nodded once more at Pepper before speeding out of the garage.
He wished he didn't rush his goodbyes to his family though, when he was sat in a cave, knowing he would probably never see them again.
"And you Stark?" Yinsen asked, pulling Tony out of his thoughts. He watched Yinsen carefully for a moment, and then deciding it wouldn't matter if he told him the truth, he answered honestly for the first time.
"Yeah I have a wife, no one knows about her. And we have a kid, he's 6." Tony said, and then after a moment added something a lot more quietly, "And I'm probably never going to see them again."
---
"Mommy, do you have to wear that silly hair? You look funny." Peter's voice caused her to look up from the text that had just turned her world upside down. She tried to school her face into something casual, as not to worry Peter. She looked back down at the text from Coulson and then James Rhodes respectively.
Stark has gone missing. I'm assuming you'd like to come in? -C
Something has come up, I'm heading over to pick up Peter. I'll explain when I get there. -J.R.
"Um, you know what baby...why don't you get your bags. Your Uncle Rhodey is coming to pick you up." Natasha said, only her spy training able to help her keep her voice even.
"Mkay." Peter hummed, hoping down from the table and heading to his room in the safe house they had occupied as part of their cover. But knowing what she knew now, she decided it was time for a certain James Rhodes to figure out the truth. She walked to her room, quickly removing her disguise, before hearing a knock at the door.
"Peter! I'm going to open the door, don't come out until I call you." Natasha said, peeking her head into his room and waiting for him to agree, before heading to the front door.
When she opened the door, she could see the worry in her husband's best friends eyes, until he took in her appearance. She watched as his had twitched for the weapon she knew he had hidden on his hip.
"You don't look anything like who Pepper described. You better explain real quick." He said coldly. She rolled her eyes and gestured for him to follow her inside. He followed her warily as she led him to the kitchen, before she rounded on him.
"I'm not actually a friend of Mary's. I'm Tony's wife." She said simply, watching as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. She brought up a holographic folder filled with evidence and gestured for him to go through it. He watched her warily from the corner of his eye as he did so.
"I met Tony as a teenager, and we got married a little bit after Peter was born. He's not mine, he is still Mary's. Tony didn't tell you because I work for a secret organization, and if anyone found out I was tied to Tony or Peter, they could be targeted. Now I just got told by my handler that Tony's gone missing, so now it's your turn to explain." She said, her voice smooth despite the war raging beneath the surface. Rhodey regarded her silently for a moment.
"I knew it. I suspected he was hiding something from me for a while, but I didn't expect it to be a super secret spy as a wife. Where's Peter?" Rhodey asked, surprising Natasha with how easy that was. But then again, he's been friends with Tony for years, so this must not have been that surprising.
"In his room, I told him to stay there, it's soundproof. Now tell me what you know." she demanded, he nodded, the worry from before leaking back into his eyes.
"We were doing a routine weapons demonstration in Afghanistan, when our convoy was hit. There were several explosions and unfriendly fire. I couldn't find Tony afterwards, and his body hasn't been recovered. Everyone is saying he's dead, but I know he's not. I think someone took him. They are letting me lead a search and rescue, but I know Tony would have killed me if I didn't take care Peter first so that's why I'm here." She nodded.
"Is there someone he could stay with? Maybe Pepper? I want to help look for Tony, in my own way, of course." She told him. He nodded.
"Pepper is prepared to look after him for however long it takes to find him. And we could use all the help we can get. I know you will probably go off the grid to do this, but if you find anything I could use, please find a way to send it my way." She nodded, her mind already preparing for her mission.
"Peter!" she called, and a few seconds went by before they both heard the sound of pattering feet coming towards them.
"Uncle Rhodey!" he called, bringing a smile to the older man's face. He rushed over to Rhodes and she watched as the man bent down to pull him into a hug.
"Hey bug." Rhodey said, kneeling down in front of her son, who met her eyes over his head. He watched as Peter's small face turned confused.
"Wait. You're not wearing your funny face." He said, taking good care not to call her mom in front of Rhodey.
"It's okay Pete, I told Uncle Rhodey about Mommy and Daddy. But only he knows okay? It's still a secret." Natasha said, kneeling down next to Rhodes to address her son.
"Okay. Am I going with Uncle Rhodey?" Peter then asked, looking between the two. Natasha nodded.
"Yeah, baby. Mom's got to go to work, and Daddy has to be gone a little longer than he said. You are going to go stay with your Aunt Pepper." She tried to put as much calm into her voice as she could. She didn't want to let Peter in on something being wrong until they absolutely had to.
"Why don't you get your stuff, bug. And then we will head out." Rhodes said, and they both stood up as they watched Peter skip out of the room.
"I don't want to tell him anything until we know for sure either way. And Rhodes. Please don't tell anyone else about this. The more people that know, the more risk my family is under." Natasha said quietly, in case Peter came back. Rhodes nodded seriously, before Peter returned.
Right before Rhodes and Peter headed out the door, the man turned, hand in Peter's small one.
"I never did get your real name." He said. She gave him a smirk.
"Natasha." she answered. He nodded thoughtfully.
"Well, Natasha if you find anything send it my way yeah?" he asked. She nodded and closed the door after them. As soon as she closed the door, she let herself fall apart for approximately five minutes, before she suited up and went searching for answers.
And three months later, she was the one who sent the anonymous tip to Rhodes that helped them locate her husband.
---
"I know about Natasha, Tones." Rhodey's voice said from beside him. It was said so quietly, he was almost sure he had missed it.
"How?" he asked simply, hoping his wife's cover was still safe, he didn't know if he could handle any more stress.
"She told me, when I went to get Peter, when we couldn't find you." Rhodey answered, and Tony felt himself relax, "She was the one who found you. She sent me an anonymous tip. She seems great, Tones." his friend said gently. He turned to look at the genuine expression on his best friends face, and searched for any hint of resentment or anger. And surprisingly, he found none.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you...it's just..." he trailed off, not being able to find an excuse for the years of secrecy.
"I know. You did it to protect them. I get it. I haven't told anyone, not even Pepper. Your secret is safe with me." Rhodey said, Tony nodded but remained silent. He couldn't get his family out of his head, longing for the moment he could hold them in his arms.
"Mr. Stark, we have landed." A voice said to his right. He nodded and allowed Rhodey to help him stand up, and even let him walk him down the ramp. But the second he crossed onto the asphalt he became the Tony Stark he knew they would want to see. He could feel Rhodey tense up beside him, already knowing what he was doing. He sent his friend a reassuring smile, before walking to greet Pepper.
"Your eyes are red. Few tears for your long lost boss?" he stated, playing on his charm.
"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting." she responded, and he relaxed.
"Yeah, vacation's over." he finished, earning himself an eye roll from the woman. They both headed for the car, Tony allowing himself to stop and give Happy a nice hug before he got in.
"Where to, sir?" Happy asked after he settled in the front seat. Tony opened his mouth to answer, but Pepper beat him to it.
"Take us to the hospital, please Happy."
"No." Tony interrupted.
"No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital." Pepper responded exasperatingly.
"No, is the complete answer." Tony interjected over her. She sent him an annoyed look.
"The doctor has to look at you." She tried one last time to convince him.
"I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other is to hug my son. But first, I want you to call for a press conference, now." Tony responded, his tone giving no room for argument. Pepper furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"Call for a press conference?" she asked, disbelief and confusion evident in her voice.
"Yeah." he responded simply, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.
"What on earth for?" she then asked, but he ignored her, tired of the third degree.
"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." He ordered, and they both finally grew quiet. He scrolled through his phone, trying to remember what name he had saved Natasha's information under. When he had finally found it, he clicked on it quickly, typing out a quick message.
I'm home, and I'm okay. Thanks for looking for me. I'll see you at home soon, I have something I need to do.
He put the phone back in his pocket, knowing Natasha wouldn't say anything back.
"Who could you have possibly been texting." Pepper asked, suspicion lacing her voice. Tony rolled his eyes and let out a tired breath as Happy passed back a bag filled with cheeseburgers. He unwrapped one quickly and stuffed his face with it, letting out a sigh with how delicious it was.
"Old friend." he responded, watching as Pepper's face filled with disgust as he talked with his mouth full. She rolled her eyes, turning back to her work.
---
Hours later he walked into his seemingly empty house.
"Really? Ending the weapons manufacturing. That's a big move." a voice spoke from the living room. He walked further into the room and saw Rhodey sitting on the couch with Peter fast asleep in his lap. He walked over and sat down tiredly on the couch next to them, careful not to jostle his son.
"Yeah. I know. You can yell at me later. I just want to hang with Peter...and find Nat." Tony said, feeling weird mentioning his wife to his friend, after having to keep it a secret for so long. Rhodey nodded, and eased himself out from under Peter, who didn't stir.
"She went upstairs, in case you had brought Pepper with you. I'll leave you guys alone. I'm going to come check on you tomorrow okay?" Rhodey said, quietly. Tony just nodded, out of energy from the excitement of the day...and the trauma of the last three months. Rhodey gave his shoulder a squeeze before exiting.
Tony sat there silently for a few minutes, content in watching his son sleep. He watched as Peter's nose scrunched up in his sleep, and he let his first genuine smile in a while grace his face.
"He missed you a lot, so I've been told. I was in and out." His shoulders slumped at the familiar voice that spoke up behind him. He let out a sigh of relief before spinning to find his wife sitting next to him on the couch.
"I missed him too. I missed you. I thou-I thought I was never going to see you guys again." Tony said, voice breaking. He took in a few rattled breaths, before Natasha gathered him in her arms, and he finally let himself go. He sat there silently sobbing, for who knows how long, his wife whispering soft words while running her fingers through his hair, before he finally slumped further into her lap in exhaustion.
"Hey, why don't you wake up Peter? Huh? Just hold him for a bit, and then we can all have a sleepover in our room tonight yeah?" his wife's soft melodic voice swept over him, and he nodded, finally extracting himself. She gave him a kiss on the forehead, and he noticed her eyes were a little red too. He gave her hand one last squeeze before she headed to their room, leaving him to wake Peter.
He turned to look at his son, and gently shook his shoulder. He watched as Peter's face scrunched, before his eyes slowly opened. It took a while for him to register who woke him up, but the second he did, he jolted up.
"DADDY!" he yelled, launching himself into Tony's already outstretched arms.
"Yeah baby. Daddy's home." he whispered, feeling grateful he was able to have the feeling of his kid in his arms again, holding him tighter than necessary.
"You were gone sooo long. But I'm glad you're home. Is Mommy back too?" Peter asked, pulling away after a moment. It was too soon for Tony's liking, but he let it happen. He gave Peter a kiss on his nose, causing the boy to giggle before he answered.
"Yeah, bud. She's upstairs waiting for us. We are going to have a sleepover." Tony said, standing up, bringing Peter with him. He knew logically his son was a little too old to be carried around, but he couldn't help it.
"No way! That's so cool!" Peter said, before his attention was drawn to the arc reactor in Tony's chest.
"Daddy? Why do you have a light in your chest?" Peter asked, and Tony stiffened a bit as he walked into their secret bedroom. Natasha was sitting on the bed, and had heard the question, because she was now sitting up straight, her eyes trained on his chest.
"It's a battery to help Daddy's heart." Tony answered, helping Peter get comfortable in their bed. Peter seemed to accept this answer, snuggling in between the two adults, before quickly falling back asleep.
"A battery?" Natasha's whisper made him look up from where he was watching Peter. He gave her a smile, that was more like a grimace.
"Shrapnel. It's an arc reactor, it's keeping the shrapnel from reaching my heart. It's okay, I'm okay." He assured her, giving her a kiss over Peter. She nodded before settling down, reaching out a hand to hold his, both of them facing each other.
"I'm so glad you're alive, любовь." Natasha whispered, when Tony was on the edge of sleep. He just hummed in response, already losing the battle of consciousness, as she pressed a kiss into his hand. He drifted off into the first and last dreamless sleep he would have in a while.
---
"Are those bullet holes?" an incredulous voice spoke out, catching him off guard. He turned to the side to see Natasha staring at him incredulously.
"Uh..let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." Tony replied, hoping his humor would diffuse the situation. But naturally with his luck the red head just got angrier.
"Anthony Edward Stark, you have some explaining to do." Natasha replied, her face giving away nothing, but her tone told a different story.
Once he finally got rid of the suit, he stepped down to stand in front of his wife.
"Uh...I assume Coulson briefed you on how I escaped?" Tony chose to start at the beginning. Natasha nodded, lips thinning into a straight line. He could see the worry and anger in her eyes, despite her trying to hide it.
"Well, um I found out that Obie's been dealing under the table...the uh the night of the charity event? And I was already working on another suit by then...and now I can use it to get rid of my weapons. All of them. I need to make sure they are all gone." He tried to defend his actions, the ones he had done without telling Natasha, but he figured it was in vain.
He watched as several emotions played through Natasha's eyes. Normally she would be able to hide what she was feeling, from her face, from her eyes, no one could ever read her. But it had taken years of marriage for him to learn her tells, and for her to let her guard down around him long enough to let him see.
He watched as the fire lit behind her eyes, and he knew he was in for a lecture.
"You're crazy. You've lost your mind. I know why you built the first one, Tony. It brought you back to us. Back to me...back to our son. What about Peter, Tony? Did you think of him? Huh? He is already at risk if anyone ever finds out about me...and you just what? You want to become a super hero so people can use him against you for revenge? Is that what you want? Because if that's what you want then you have gone crazy...and I don't know if I like this person you're choosing to be." Natasha was fuming, he could feel the emotion coming off her in waves.
He didn't dare move closer to her as she started pacing, sending him venomous looks as she said her piece. He knew she needed to get this out, before she would even listen to him at all.
As he watched her pace, he debated in his head what he really wanted. Did he want to endanger Peter when they found out he was tied to him? The world didn't know about Peter yet...but they would figure out eventually. Did he want to put him in danger? And not to mention Natasha, he knew she could handle herself, but if she ever got hurt because of him he'd never forgive himself.
But if he became this person, if he used this armor he built, he could protect them. He could make sure no one, especially not his family, could be hurt because of him again. And at that moment he made his decision, so he chose his next words very carefully.
"I shouldn't be alive. If not for a reason. I'm not crazy, Tasha. I just finally know...what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right. I want to be able to protect you and Peter. I want to protect those I couldn't when all I did was make weapons. Tash...this is what I need to do." he said, voice quiet and pleading. He kept his eyes toward the ground, so as not to lose his nerve by looking in her eyes. There was a small brief moment of silence, before he heard her approach him. Soon he felt her hand tilt his chin up, and his brown eyes met her striking green ones.
"You're all I have you know? You and Peter? You guys are it for me. I don't want either of you in harms way." She took a deep breath, and Tony prepared himself for her rejection, "But I understand why you have to do it. I get it. If this is what you need to do, then I support you." she finished in a whisper, touching their foreheads together. He let out a sigh of relief.
"I love you, Tasha." He stated. She gave him the most beautiful smile, before pressing a kiss to his lips.
"Okay. I'm going to go get Peter, and take him to Ben and May's until this Obadiah thing blows over okay? I don't want him to have to hear all of the fighting that I'm sure will inevitably occur if what you say he's doing is true." Natasha said, after she pulled away a few moments later. Tony nodded.
"Okay. Now don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." She said, giving him a smirk, before taking the secret elevator up to their floor. As soon as she left he heard the clacking of heels that signaled Pepper's arrival.
"Hey you mind if I send you on an errand?" he asked her, right as she walked in. And thus started the most dramatic night in his life, next to being kidnapped by a terrorist organization, that is.
---
"I thought I told you not to do anything stupid while I was gone." Natasha said the second he got home from the press conference. She was sitting on the couch in their private room, a slumbering Peter on her lap.
"I thought you were taking him to Ben and May's?" Tony asked her, choosing to deflect the oncoming interrogation for a few minutes. She raised a perfectly raised eyebrow at his deflection, before continuing.
"Well, by the time I dropped him off and got back here, everything was already over with. I'm sad I missed all the fireworks. I went back to pick him up just in time to catch the tail end of your press conference. I am Ironman? Really?" She asked him, sarcasm dripping from her words. Tony winced slightly before picking Peter up gently, careful not to wake him up.
He stayed silent as he walked Peter over to their king sized bed, and tucked him in. He sat down next to his son, and silently watched him sleep for a few moments, before his wife cleared her throat behind him.
"I know. I didn't know sending Pepper to hack into Obie's files would start that shit show. And by then it was too late to call you. I'm glad you were with Peter though." Tony said quietly, still not taking his eyes off his son's sleeping form.
"And what about Ironman? Are you sure about this?" She spoke up then, joining him on the bed, her eyes also falling onto their child. She ran her hand through Peter's bangs gently, as he answered.
"Yeah. It's the only way to make sure I can keep you guys safe." Tony said. Natasha nodded beside him, before grabbing his hand and pulling him up to face her.
"You know Nick is going to try and recruit you." She said next, joining their foreheads together.
"Tell your boss that I don't want to join his super-secret boy band." Tony rebutted, earning a laugh from his wife, before she pressed a kiss to his lips.
-----
TONY STARK WILL RETURN