Epilogue - Renew
Two Weeks Later
“You did what?”
Rhodey’s shriek practically echoed across continents, Tony was pretty sure – and it had nothing on Pepper’s, but Pepper was way scarier when she wasn’t shrieking at all. Pepper at her most terrifying was quiet and deadly.
But Rhodey was loud. Tony winced at the volume, offering his platypus a pleading look.
“It’s not my fault, they just kinda found out because…well, because bad guys, Rhodey!” he whined plaintively. Rhodey glared at him through the display, and Tony was a little glad that his best friend had been involved in some military mission and was therefore unable to make Tony face his ire in person. For now.
“And that’s another thing we need to talk about. Stane? Again? What the fuck, Tony?”
Tony sighed heavily, running a hand over his face, feeling for lines that weren’t there anymore. “Yeah, my sentiments exactly, sugarplum.”
It was quiet for a moment while Rhodey studied him, and Tony fidgeted uncomfortably; Rhodey always saw a little more than Tony wanted when he looked at Tony like that. “How are you?” he asked finally, the words superficial but his eyes penetrating.
Tony thought for a moment before answering, a small smile stealing across his face as he contemplated the last two weeks. It had started out rough, that was for sure, but honestly? He hadn’t even thought about Stane all that much since the two super soldiers had effectively thoroughly distracted him. “I’m good, honey bear. Really good,” he responded, and Rhodey still looked suspicious, but his shoulders relaxed somewhat. Tony continued, “It’s been two of the best weeks of my life, actually. Steve and James, they’re…they’re…” Tony trailed off, unable to find the words to describe his lovers, so he just shrugged and smiled helplessly. Rhodey seemed to melt at the sight, a genuine smile spreading across his face.
“I’m happy for you, man. You deserve it,” he said warmly, and Tony ducked his head, still smiling.
“So when are you coming back?” he asked, changing the subject before he did something horrible like blushing or something.
“I’ll be in tomorrow,” Rhodey responded, and Tony nodded.
“Your room’s ready for you at the Compound, as always. I think Pepper’s coming in tomorrow, too. You can help me break it to her,” he said with a cheeky grin, and Rhodey gave him a disbelieving look.
“You haven’t told Pepper yet?” he asked incredulously, and Tony winced sheepishly.
“She’s been handling some shit in South Korea, I didn’t want to bother her,” he said defensively, and Rhodey eyed him, doubt written all over his expression.
“Mhmm. Might wanna work on that excuse, buddy. Pretty sure Pep’s gonna see right through that horseshit.”
“Rude, sourpatch! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“I will never pick the side going up against Pepper Potts. Unlike you, I have some sense of self-preservation,” Rhodey said haughtily, and Tony stuck his tongue out.
“Coward,” he muttered.
“Smart guy who wants to keep living with all his organs in place,” Rhodey corrected with a grin.
Tony huffed. “Fine. Whatever. See if I ever back you up again on anything ever.”
“Love you too, man.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Tony was still grinning when he waved a hand and the call ended.
Three Months Later
“I swear to god, Tony, if you do not calm down right now, I’m going call emergency board meetings every single time you have date night for the next year,” Pepper said exasperatedly, smoothing down Tony’s hair for the umpteenth time from where she stood behind him.
“I just want everything to be perfect, Pep,” Tony said earnestly, practically vibrating in his seat. He’d been nervous all day, waiting for the Brooklynn boys to get home so he could ask the Question.
Pepper didn’t get why this was such a big deal, but that was okay. To her mind, they all three already lived in the same building, so Tony asking the super soldiers to move in with him wasn’t any major change – but to Tony, offering to share his own personal space with people was always huge. And it was especially huge considering that these were the very people he’d sworn never to trust again only a few scant years prior.
But Pepper, bless her, seemed to notice that Tony’s anxiety was only mounting, because she bent down and pressed a kiss to his cheek before crouching delicately on her heels so she was eye level with him. Placing one manicured finger on his chin, she turned his head so that he had to look her in the eyes.
“They’re going to say yes, Tony,” she said gently, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“But what if they don’t,” Tony blurted, nerves getting the best of him, and she tapped his chin with her finger reprovingly.
“They will, honey. And do you know why?” Pepper asked, head tilting almost teasingly, and Tony shook his head no. “Because they’re in love with you.”
And at that ridiculous statement, Tony just blinked at her. But she didn’t seem to expect him to respond, eyes glinting knowingly. Her voice took on a more serious quality, eyes spearing him. “I wouldn’t have believed it a few months ago myself. I thought you were making aa huge mistake when you told me the three of you were dating. I was terrified they’d hurt you again, Tony.”
Tony made as if to interrupt, ready to defend his boyfriend’s, but Pepper shook her head, touching her finger to his lips. “Let me finish,” she admonished, and Tony subsided, pursing his lips. She smirked at his petulant expression, then sobered again. “I really thought they’d hurt you – but that was before I saw the three of you together. And Tony, those boys couldn’t hurt you if their lives depended on it. They look at you like you hung the moon, and you look at them the exact same way. I guarantee the only reason they haven’t asked you to move in with them is because they don’t want to push you – just like I guarantee that they’re going to say yes when you ask them to move in with you. They love you, Tony, and I think you love them, too.”
Tony just stared at her when she removed her finger from his lips, swallowing. “You don’t know everything,” he said hoarsely, “…but…thank you, Pep.”
Pepper definitely knew everything.
The Brooklynn boys moved in later that evening.
Six Months Later
Super soldiers spotted with Stark heir!
Jason Stark being seduced by his father’s murderers? An inside look at Stark’s terrifying new reality.
“Terrifying new reality? Are they fucking kidding?” Tony demanded, tossing the magazine down onto the coffee table angrily where the picture of him with an ice cream cone in hand, grinning as the Brooklynn boys laughed at something he’d said, was displayed incriminatingly. “Do I look terrified?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s their point, doll,” James said amusedly, sliding onto the couch next to him and tugging him close with his metal arm. “They’re sayin’ we’re threatening you into pretending like you like us.”
“Well that’s just fucking dumb,” Tony declared, folding his arms, and James snorted, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.
“No one ever accused the press of being intelligent,” Steve said with an amused grin that matched James’s from Tony’s other side, and Tony grumbled incoherently.
“Why can’t they just accept that I’m happy?” Tony wondered, then thought for a moment. “Also, this is a little Twilight Zone for me – usually the accusations of debauchery and who’s corrupting who are the other way around. Weird, it’s actually not any better from this side.”
“Well, I gotta say, I don’t mind it too much,” James said, and Tony glanced at him in surprise, completely missing how the other man’s eyes had darkened.
“What? Seriously? They’re dragging your names through the mud for no reason!” he said indignantly, halfway to outraged on their behalf.
“Sure, but they aren’t entirely wrong, are they?” James said, and now there was no way Tony could miss the huskier tone to his voice. He swallowed, and Steve pressed closer from his other side, pressing a kiss against his neck. James eyed them both, a smirk crossing his face before he focused back on Tony, the smirk turning sultry in an instant. “After all, we are seducing you, aren’t we?” James’s metal hand stroked up Tony’s arm, coming to cup his cheek as Steve continued to press kisses down the other side of his neck, and Tony shivered. James watched the movement with dark, hungry eyes, and Tony couldn’t look away. “We are debauching you, aren’t we?”
“Dunno,” Tony choked out, shooting for casual and unaffected but the hoarseness to his voice ruining the intention entirely. “Can’t say for sure. Not enough evidence. Might have to prove your theory. For science.”
“For science,” James echoed, the smile stealing across his face entirely predatory now. “You hear that, Stevie? Tony here thinks he needs more proof of what those articles are sayin’ about us. Think we can give it to him?”
Steve unlatched from his neck for a moment, and Tony bit back a whine at the loss, though the glint in James’s eye told him he was fooling no one. “Let’s give him all the evidence he wants, James,” Steve agreed, and Tony had a single moment to think ’Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?’ before he was being swept up into Steve’s arms and carried bodily to their shared room.
They definitely presented a preponderance of evidence.
The Stark heir was very much being seduced and debauched by the super soldiers.
One Year Later
Tony woke in a cold sweat, trembling and gasping for air.
“Tony, sweetheart, you’re fine, you’re right here with us,” Steve was murmuring to him when he finally gathered himself enough to tune back in to the world around him. It had to be the middle of the night, still, darkness permeating the room with only the barest slivers of moonlight streaking in through the window. Tony was tense for a moment, but he relaxed when he realized Steve and James were on either side of him, Steve stroking his hair and James rubbing soothing circles on his arm.
“S-sorry,” Tony finally stuttered out, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to banish the feeling of dread and foreboding that always accompanied dreams of this nature.
“No need to apologize, doll,” James reassured him, not stopping in his repetitive motions. “We all get bad dreams.” Tony made a wordless noise of agreement, keeping his doubts to himself – because he’d had bad dreams, sure, but there was a difference between his dreams of Afghanistan or Siberia and this. But his boyfriends, perceptive as they were, wouldn’t let him off that easy.
“Baby, this is the fourth night this week that you’ve woken up like this. Is everything alright?” Steve asked, nothing in his voice but sweet concern, and Tony swallowed, starting to shake his head yes, then changing his mind and shaking his head no – because he trusted them, and he knew they wouldn’t laugh at him if he shared something that sounded crazy or outlandish. He knew that, and, because of that conviction, there was no reason to lie to them.
“No. No, something’s wrong,” he said, his voice firm, though it wavered slightly in the middle. The super soldiers clutched him tighter.
“What is it, darlin’?” James murmured, voice soothing even in the sliver of tension that had crept in.
Tony swallowed, trying to find the words. “I – I don’t know exactly. It’s just – there’s something. Something is coming, James, and I don’t know what it is.”
He knew the words sounded silly, he knew they sounded like the words of someone who’d been through enough nightmares to drive a weaker person insane and now saw threats everywhere – but he also knew his boyfriends would believe him, and he was safe with them.
“Shh, it’s alright, sweetheart. We’re here with you, it’s going to be okay. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay,” Steve comforted, drawing Tony’s head to lay against Steve’s broad chest. But Tony pushed away, sitting up and turning to look at the super soldiers, desperate to make them understand.
“No, you don’t get it!” he said, distress coloring his tone. “Something’s coming and I don’t know what it is. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what to prepare for!”
James and Steve exchanged a look, and Tony felt like his breath caught in his chest, hoping they wouldn’t prove him wrong, wouldn’t show him here and now that he had been foolish to place his trust in them believing him. But they turned back to him as one and pulled him back down between them, cushioning him on either side, drawing him in protectively, possessively.
“We know, Tony,” Steve said quietly, his voice rumbling in his chest. “But you don’t have to protect us. We’ll all protect each other. Together.”
“Together,” James agreed, resting his cheek against the top of Tony’s head.
And the panic and fear that had been clawing its way out since the dreams had started settled, repressed by the presence of his super soldiers.
Because James and Steve were right – what could stand against them when they three stood together?