Meeting with Nick Fury and so-called “Avengers” wasn’t exactly the best thing Tony Stark could think of doing at this very moment, but being a hero, saving the world and all that jazz was a reason why he was currently sitting in a conference room with hologram and a big table. Fury was standing next to still blank hologram, Agent Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, and Bruce Banner were sitting at the table, and Tony Stark was half-sitting but also half-lying on the comfortable armchair which probably shouldn’t even be in a conference room in the first place, as he held his hand on his bored face.
“Can we just start it? I mean not that I want to say it out loud, but to be honest, I can think of a better company I could be in right now.” said billionaire, and everyone looked at him. Fury, Coulson, Romanov, and Barton seemed to be fighting the urge to roll their eyes, Captain America looked like he was deeply hurt by that comment (he probably was), and Doctor Banner seemed to have the same opinion. The only thing that was good about this meeting was probably the fact that it was held at Stark Tower.
“This meeting isn’t about any current threat to our world or even New York alone and thank god for that, but you are supposed to be a team so you should get to know each other a little. I am not saying that you have to be best friends, but what you have to is you have to know how someone will be acting in the field and how to call someone during a battle. We are all here also for you to compare your schedules and pick couple of hours to decide when will you be having trainings.” said Director and because of the last couple of words Bruce raised his hand, what Fury was able to somehow see with his one eye even though he was looking at complete other direction of the room at the moment, namely he was eyeing Stark who still was just laying at armchair with closed eyes and a hand at his face. “For now, we don’t need Hulk, but maybe on one of the missions we will be forced to use code green, so be-“ the man cut his sentence in half a word when doors of the conference room opened.
Everyone except Stark quickly looked at the person entering and of course they were surprised when they saw a little brown-haired boy, who couldn’t be older than four. He looked up at all of them and they could see in his dark brown eyes he was starting to get shy and maybe even anxious but when Tony Stark, still not looking at them, spoke, the boy’s face lit up immediately.
“Silent treatment, are we?” muttered only billionaire and the little boy forgot about everyone in the room and run straight to the Iron Man.
Face expressions of almost everyone changed and now they were not only confused but also alarmed.
First of all, how did a four-year-old get to this floor at Stark Tower?
And second of all, more concerning at the moment, how Tony Stark - billionaire - superhero - playboy - will react when a small child throws themselves at him?
So, of course, they were a little taken aback barely a moment later.
The boy threw himself at Stark but then the man instantaneously, opening his eyes sat up a little, grabbed a toddler under his arms, and sat him comfortably at his own lap. Afterward, he brushed the kid’s brown curls from his eyes and get a good look on his face.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” he asked with worry drawn on his face.
“Dummy ruined my LEGO.” the boy explained sadly and laid his head at Stark’s chest, simultaneously as he put his arms around the older man’s neck.
“Oh, bambino.” was all engineer said, ignoring the looks everyone in the room was sending him. He put one hand on the top of the boy’s head running his fingers through his soft brown curls, and the second hand at the toddler’s back, holding him close to his own body and leaving a kiss on the boy’s forehead, before continuing. “It’s okay, we can just donate him to some near college or high school.” said with gentleness no one would accuse him of having.
“No!” the boy almost jumped, in the meantime pushing himself a little away from the man, but he still held his one hand on the toddler’s back.
“No?” the superhero raised his left eyebrow.
“You can’t just give him away, we’ll miss him and he’ll be sad.”
“And you’re not sad that DUM-E ruined your LEGO?”
“No, he did it only because he’s lonely and bored a lot.” explained the four-year-old, almost crying at the miserable life of a poor robot.
“Oh, baby.” said billionaire with a slight smile and hugged the boy to himself, kissing him in the top of his head. “So, what are we gonna do with him?”
“You have to build him a friend, so he wouldn’t be lonely every time you’re not in the workshop!” replied the kid, as if it was the most obvious resolution in the world, and in the meantime Stark was looking around the room, clearly searching for something, which is why Natasha just a moment later followed the route the boy was walking by, to see if maybe he dropped something.
“Okay, we can build him a friend. Where’s Tessa?” asked Tony about the boy’s plushie, frowning when he didn’t find it.
“I left her with Dummy, so he wasn’t lonely again.” explained the four-year-old with a defeated voice and curled himself into Iron Man even deeper than before.
“It’s very nice of you, Pete.”
“Yh-hm.” Fury cleared his throat to draw the attention of the two to yourself and for a moment it looked like the junior just now realized they weren't alone in the room.
“I’m proud of you.” added mechanic to the boy, which lit up his face again, and then the man stands up, quickly putting the toddler on his hip and standing in front of The Avengers. He was firmly holding the boy under his bottom and by a second hand, he was supporting his own palm, while the boy was gripping Tony's thumb. “Wanna say something cucciollo?”
The four-year-old turned to see six strangers and smiled hesitantly.
“I’m Peter and it’s nice to meet you all,” he said shyly. “I’m sorry I interrupted, I forgot dad had a meeting,” he added leaning against Stark.
“Hey, hey, baby. It’s okay, DUM-E ruined your LEGO because he was lonely and it was an emergency, and when it’s an emergency you tell me, yeah?” reacted quickly Iron Man.
“Yeah.”
“Alright, so now introductions time,” muttered Tony and nod at one end of the table, where everyone was no longer sitting but standing. “Rogers, Romanov, Barton, Agent, Fury, and Banner.”
Steve and Clint said short “It’s nice to meet you, Peter” and “Hey, kid.” Natasha nodded to him, Coulson smiled slightly, Fury’s face was expressionless like always, and Bruce was only looking in shock because Tony Stark is a great scientist so he knew a lot about the man, but he had no idea the man would be a father.
Nonetheless, before anyone had a chance to speak, doors to the conference room opened once again and everyone turned to look at them.
“Uncle Rhodey!” yelled with wide smile Peter, when Colonel Rhodes stepped into the room.
“Peter, thank god!” sighed the man, seeing as his nephew was safe.
“You wanna explain maybe how Pete was able to come here from the penthouse and by himself as well, during the time you were supposed to babysit him?” Tony spoke, correcting the position of his son in his arms.
“Uh, I-“ the soldier started but was interrupted.
“It wasn’t Uncle Rhodey’s fault!” defended quickly the four-year-old. “I just wanted to find you to tell you about Dummy before I could forget, so I convinced Jarvis to distract Uncle Rhodey and show me a way to you.” explained the boy, looking at his father, who after hearing the story raised his eyebrow.
“You convinced JARVIS to lie to your uncle, and he what? Just said yes?”
“I’m sorry, dad. I just wanted to find you.” said a toddler, hugging his father, so he changed his position. Now the boy was leaning straight against the man, his head rested on the older’s chest, and his legs were on both sides of the billionaire’s stomach, who was holding his son by one hand under his bottom, and his second palm rested on the kid’s back.
“Ok, bambino.” Tony kissed the top of the boy’s head. “Next time, just tell J you want me and I will be the one to come to you, okay?” the engineer asked his son, as he was rocking him back and forth.
“Mm.” muttered Peter.
“Gotta say, it was a great meeting.” Stark lifted his gaze at Fury. “But I have to go.”
“We just started.” answered annoyed Director. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“It’s nap time.” billionaire pointed out held by him toddler, who was drowsy and already almost asleep. Afterward the hand he was gesturing with, he laid on the back of the boy’s little head, burying his fingers in soft curls. “Right, Pete?”
“Mm.” muttered again munchkin, and Tony started walking away from the conference room.
“When you’ll be picking time for training, just ask JARVIS about my schedule, he’ll be more than happy to help.” the man added, looking over his shoulder.