Chapter 3
it had been sixteen years.
sixteen years since the rogues had left.
but it had also been sixteen years since a new chapter for the team had begun. the team had grown, consisting of tony, rhodey, thor, hope, clint, natasha, bruce (occasionally), carol and valkyrie (when they were in town), vision, and believe it or not loki.
oh, and peter had become an avenger-in-training.
it wasn’t pretty when tony found out but once tony realized he’d never be able to stop his son, he did whatever he could do to protect him.
bruce, cassie, helen cho, luis, and shuri were the masterminds behind the team. cassie hadn’t been bitten by a radioactive spider, but scott still let her work from the sidelines.
everything in tony’s life seemed perfect.
until everything was turned upside down.
the rogues had been pardoned. his husband included.
tony was scared, more than anything.
“what am i going to do guys? how do i tell peter? how do i tell steve ABOUT peter?” tony paced
“tones, first of all, breathe. i don’t know how you could tell peter about this, but can’t you say peter’s your intern?” clint said, trying to calm tony down.
“the intern cover might work, cassie could say the same thing too. live-in interns are a thing, right?” scott offered.
“i don’t think so, but i’m sure we can make something up. the avengers were never normal anyways.” tony answered. “thank you guys for this, i don't what i’d do without you.”
“it’s no problem tony, we’re on your side. us dads of the team gotta stick together.” clint said.
———
under the government’s orders, the rogues would have to stay at the avengers compound, under house arrest.
tony had been worried out of his mind. soon enough, the day had arrived.
tony had been up for hours, stressed out to the max.
then the doorbell rang.
tony pulled himself together, and went to answer it.
“tony, i’m sorry” was the first thing steve had said.
tony ignored that.
“well since your rooms have been taken, i guess you’ll just have to stay in guest rooms.” tony said coldly.
they passed the kitchen on their way, where peter stood.
“um hey, i wanted to know where the-“ peter started.
peter was aware of the intern cover that he and cassie were using for the time being. but seeing his papa, the man who had been absent all his life, was too overwhelming for him, and he ran the other way, back into his room.
“oh shit,” tony said.
“what’s up with the kid?” sam asked.
“yeah tony, who is that?” steve added.
“oh he’s just the intern, i think he was a bit starstruck.” tony nonchalantly replied.
steve pulled tony over to the side.
“tony,” he started. “what are you not telling me?”
tony tried to brush it off “steve, he’s just an intern”
“tony what happened to our child?”
“rogers, why would you want to know? you would’ve been absent the kid’s whole life.”
“would’ve?” steve raised an eyebrow.
“we weren’t able to keep it stable, and the child died, steve.” tony answered, lying through his teeth.
“oh,” steve answered sadly. “tony i just wanted to-“
“hey, can you hurry it up over there? i flew the plane and haven’t slept in forever.” sam whined.
“and i thought you were a grown man” wanda muttered, making bucky quietly chuckle.
“alright, we’ll get you to your rooms, god”
...
despite the size of the compound, it still seemed to be a home. bucky had been wandering the halls of the compound when he heard a sob coming from one of the rooms.
when bucky was sad, he didn’t like being alone. it always made him feel better to have someone to comfort him, he wanted to help whoever was on the other side of the door.
it was the intern.
“hello?” bucky whispered.
“go away irondad,” he groaned.
“i-it’s bucky. i wanted to help”
“god, i can’t do one thing right. i might as well tell you, but you can’t tell anyone.” the boy said
“i can do that”
“i’m not really an intern, i’m tony’s son. and steve’s.”
“stevie has a son?” bucky asked.
“not really,” steve and tony’s son replied. “he hasn’t been here my whole life. he doesn’t know i exist. my dad raised me along with mom.”
“wait but if steve is your dad, and tony is your dad, how do you have a mom too?”
the boy laughed. “she’s not really my mom, pepper, but she does all the things a mom does, and she loves me like a son and i love her like a mother, so i call her mom.”
“what’s your name?” bucky asked
“peter.”
“well peter, if steve is your dad, i guess i’m your uncle.”
“alright then, uncle bucky.”
and that was only the beginning