He excused himself and left agent Carter to continue the meeting, trusting her to get their point across, too tired to spend one more minute listening to incompetence. Despite the fact that he was still learning and improving himself under the watchful eye of agent Carter he still couldn't remain as calm and professional as her. It certainly irked him, which resulted in an expression that managed to unsettle even the most put together agents much to her amusement.
If you relax your face, you will definitely look slightly less intimidating,
she tended to say, to which he always replied that that's exactly the effect he wanted to have on people. It didn't stop her from surprising him every chance she got, just to see his carefully constructed mask crack even for a second. His slowly improving intimidation skills weren't even close to the methods the other agent used, which pulled out a smile on his face at the mental image of the new agents’ faces once she was done with them.
The good mood shifted when he opened the door of his office, something was wrong…not wrong but different, he held his breath for a second while slowly stepping inside, then his ears picked up the sound and the mystery was solved. Immediately he closed the door careful not to turn around before he took off his jacket and threw it on his desk.
“You can come out now, Anthony.” and smirked when he heard he quiet groan before he turned around and met his small visitor.
“Hiding behind doors are we now?”
The kid gave him a sheepish grin and padded towards him only to stop when Nick raised his hand to stop him.
“Sorry, uncle Nick. I wanted to surprise you.” he said, looking like a kicked puppy a look that he was getting better at, and one that Nick thought could resist, the moment he noticed the kid's bare feet he softened his expression.
“Where are your shoes, Anthony?”
“Behind the door, can't sneak in if you wear shoes, besides they are new and…”
“Alright, you can hug me, then put on your shoes, you'll catch your cold.” he crouched just in time to catch the kid when he went for a hug.
He would never admit it, not even if he got threatened with physical pain, sometimes only sometimes he…he had a soft spot for the kid, so being called uncle didn't bother him as much as he pretended.
Carefully he raised himself with Tony in his arms, chuckling at the surprised yelp he let out, before he put him to sit on the table and said,
“Stay there.” quickly he found the hidden shoes and placed them on the kid's lap.
“Put them on.”
“But, uncle Nick…” he whined as usual and when he saw that he couldn't win, he pouted yet he obeyed while complaining that Jarvis was exactly the same.
“Now, do your father know where you are?” the flush on the boy's face was his answer.
“He won't even notice I'm gone, I'll go back to the car before he sees me.”
Of course he won't
“So, you decided to pay me a visit?”
“I was looking for aunt Peggy.” came the soft reply.
“What happened? You couldn't find her, so what's the next best thing good, old, boring me.” he joked, but made sure to appear like he was hurt by the kid's answer.
“No! Of course not uncle Nick. I wanted to ask her something, for school.” then he added, “ you look scary now, like a pirate, I like it.”
Adorable, he thought and ruffled the kid's already messy hair, sat on the chair in front of the desk and stretched his arms up, groaning when his back popped.
“So how's school Anthony?”
“Tony.”
“Alright, how's school Tony?”
“Boring, it's too easy sometimes, the lessons I mean.”
“It's supposed to be boring and you're supposed to listen to your teachers, don't go looking for trouble, I'd know if you did.”
“Ahhh, stop repeating Jarvis, uncle Nick. I know all of that, and I don't go looking for trouble, I'm trying to be good.”
“I know kid, I know. Hang on, how did you sneak in? Your father never brings you along.”
“Well…”
“Tony…” he warned, subtly lowering his voice in order not to appear as if he was mad at him, but serious enough to get his point across.
“Fine! I sneaked in, I was supposed to go home and do my homework but then I heard dad talking about Captain America and decided to come along. Remember the story about the little red-headed girl?”
Nick blinked in surprise, his mind going back to the first time he told Tony a bedtime story, back when he was around five, now he was seven, and despite how intelligent the kid was, he didn't expect him to remember it.
“You're kidding me, you fell asleep in the middle of the story.” a long moment of silence before he chipped in,
“I remember the beginning! And there was…” and he stopped talking, his mouth open while he had one eye closed in concentration.
“Fine…I don't remember the rest, but she was sneaky and I got inspired and I did it!” he started giggling only to slow down and after he checked Nick’s expression, he continued.
“Did you tell Jarvis?”
Jackpot
The kid's eyes widened in realization and he turned to point his puppy eyes look at him,
“Can you call him uncle Nick? I forgot and… Jarvis will be disappointed in me.” and damn, the poor boy looked about to cry, so he had to agree.
“Alright, but if Jarvis comes after me with a wooden spoon I'll hide behind you.” that gave the wanted reaction, as Tony couldn't stop laughing for a whole minute before he announced,
“I'll protect you uncle Nick, I got a shield too.”
“In that case, I'm going to inform Jarvis that I'll drive you back home and with a bit of luck we will be there before anyone notices you've been gone. Stay there, no reading through my files.”
“Okay.”
It didn't take him a lot to call the butler and explain everything to him, luckily the man already suspected it and sounded calmer than it was expected, if it was Nick on his place he'd be freaking out and throwing threats left and right. Jarvis was a smart man, so he was sure he had something planned for these kinds of situations.
When he went back to the office to get Tony, he wasn't there, well he wasn't were he left him.
Of course, he isn't
“Tony?”
“Under the desk.” came the quiet reply and he quickly stepped behind the desk, ready to reprimand the kid, but stopped when he saw what the kid was doing.
“Ah, I see you've met Goose.” the cat, well it looked like a cat but he wasn't going to tell that to the kid, was sitting in Tony's lap, purring like the ungrateful, lazy thing it was.
“Look uncle Nick, it likes me.” it was really nice yet at the same time a bit sad to see how overjoyed the boy was at the fact that a cat found him likable enough to cuddle him.
“Oh, you found the little rascal, haven't seen her in a few days. Careful kid, she likes to scratch.” but Tony barely paid any attention to his warning he kept smiling at the cat, small hands gently petting her as if afraid to accidentally hurt her.
Seeing that the kid wasn't about to get off the floor and abandon the cat, Nick saw no other way than to join them. There wasn't much room between his desk and the wall but he somehow managed to fit in.
“Where did you find her?”
“A friend left her to me, to take care of her. Isn't that right Goose?” he chuckled when the cat pressed itself even more in Tony's hands, purring in contentment, much to the kid's delight.
Smug little bastard
“Story?” and his brown eyes lit up like stars in genuine curiosity.
“Maybe, there is a story after all.” he had to act a bit smug, it came with the profession you know.
“I'm sure Goose wouldn't mind it, right kitty?” he said as if the cat would join his plea. Just like that the purring stopped long enough for the cat to meow in answer before it continued.
“Well, I'll be damned.” slipped past his lips.
“Good job Goose, you're the best cat ever.”
“Alright, stop praising that troublemaker, otherwise it won't listen to me anymore.” he joked and chuckled at Tony's look of disbelief.
“Goose is a good cat, she won't cause you trouble.”
Despite how nice it was to watch the kid bask in the cat's warmth and unexpected attention, they had to go.
“Come on kid, we need to go in order to get on time.”
“Can Goose come with us?”
“No.”
“Please…” even the cat looked at him with pleading eyes,
That's new, one more look at Tony's puppy eyes and sad face and just like that he gave in.
“Fine, but you have to promise to watch over her I don't want her to get lost. And you…” he pointed his finger at the cat before he gently bumped her nose, “ behave yourself.”
“You're the best uncle Nick, heard that Goose, we're going for a ride. I'll introduce you to Jarvis and you'll see our garden.” then he kissed the cat's head which to Nick wasn't a good idea, but it seemed like Goose didn't mind it.
Together they walked towards the car with the cat happily following Tony like they had been friends for a long time, it was incredibly amusing to watch.
Throughout the drive, Goose was playing with Tony, both of them enjoying the ride way too much in Nick’s opinion. Pretty soon, they arrived at the manor where Jarvis greeted them and after a hug from Tony he offered them something to drink. Despite his better judgment he had to accept the offer and spent half an hour in the kitchen chatting with Jarvis while subtly watching over the kid and the cat.
When the time came to leave, Nick was rewarded with a big hug from Tony, Goose got a kiss on her head and a promise to visit them again.
“Why am I not surprised?” he mumbled when he and the cat were once again alone.
Goose simply meowed in answer and he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his thumb over her head, chuckling when she closed her eyes.
“No worries, the kid will be back, he's as stubborn as you.”
And he'll never stop asking for the story, oh well there are much worse ways to spend the time.