“If I let you two pair up will you promise not to make anything that has even the potential to explode?” Miss Johnson asked the two twelve year olds with a stern expression.
“We caused one minor explosion!” Harley said, tone deeply offended.
“Four this semester,” Miss Johnson corrected, thoroughly unimpressed. “One of which nearly injured a student whose parents probably wouldn’t be as… relaxed as yours.”
“Gwen volunteered to help,” Peter said, careful to keep his voice even Harley scowled at the poorly hidden insult. “She thought it was cool.”
“But her parents didn’t,” Miss Johnson said firmly. “No explosions or I will pick partners for you.”
Peter and Harley shared a glance. Peter grimaced and shrugged, Harley scowled and rolled his eyes.
“Fine.”
“Good, I’ll sign you up.”
Peter grinned as Harley made faces at their teacher’s back. After a moment though Harley sighed and rested his chin on his hand.
“Lame. What are we going to do that doesn’t have the potential to explode? Doesn’t she know that’s what experimenting is for?”
“Yeah, that’s what my dad says,” Peter agreed with a frown. “We could, uh, well if we did something mechanical, she said explosions not combustion. Besides, if we do all the testing at home she won’t see it.”
“I guess,” Harley said, though he still didn’t sound excited. “Do you want to come over after school and brainstorm?”
“Is your dad going to be there?”
“Uh, I’m not sure, he said he might have to work late. Steve will be around if he’s not.”
“They won’t mind me coming over?”
“Nah, but if Steve’s picking us up we have to walk home.”
“That’s fine,” Peter said, pulling his phone out as the class started leaving for lunch. “I’ll just call dad to ask him.”
“Sure,” Harley agreed. They went to each other’s houses often enough that they both basically had second homes there. Part of the reason they were such good friends was because despite their very different living conditions they both had their single dad doing his best to look after them.
Both their dads were busy with work and they’d both gotten more than a few comments about it. Harley was far more ready to fight someone about it that Peter was. Peter was more used to hearing bad stuff about his dad and did his best to just ignore it. He knew his dad loved him and made plenty of time for him, no matter what anyone else said. Harley still didn’t like the way Peter would shrink when someone suggested his dad wasn’t a good dad.
Harley was more than willing to argue for Peter as well. He could still remember the first time he’d gone to Peter’s house two years ago. Peter had spent two days telling Harley about Happy and Pepper and could he please be cool about meeting his dad. He still wouldn’t talk about his old schools then and Harley had been determined to be cool so they could still be friends and Peter didn’t have to move school’s again.
He’d mostly succeeded too.
He and Tony were cool now anyway, he even let them help in the workshop sometimes.
“Dad said it’s cool, somethings going down at work anyway. He said it has Pepper very tense.”
“Someone getting fired?” Harley asked curiously.
“Why do you enjoy dysfunction?” Peter asked with a laugh.
“It is how I thrive,” Harley answered flatly. “Chaos and dysfunction are my bread and butter.”
“Lunatic,” Peter said, rolling his eyes.
“Hey Steve,” Harley greeted brightly, earning a slight frown that only made him grin.
“You used to be cute,” Steve said with a raised eyebrow.
“So did you according to dad,” Harley replied without missing a beat. Steve rolled his eyes and ruffled Harley’s hair before he could dodge out of the way.
“Hey Pete, coming over again?”
“Yeah, my dad’s got to work so he said it was fine,” Peter said with a shrug. “We’re going to plan our science project.”
“Right,” Steve said with a slight frown before he pulled on a smile and gestured down the street. “Well, let’s go then. I’m sure you’ve got some brain storming to do.”
“I’m telling you it’s all been done!”
“Not all science has been done.”
“All the science we can do has been done. No way Miss Johnson lets us do any of the cool stuff and, unless you’re dad lends us-”
“Dad won’t lend us anything. Aunt Pepper told him off last time.”
“Lame.”
“I’m home.”
“Hey dad,” Harley greeted looking over the couch as Bucky came in. “Have a good day?”
“Long day.” Bucky smiled and ruffled Harley’s hair before heading to the kitchen, exchanging nods with Steve. “Hey, Peter. Anything interesting happen with you two today?”
“Miss Johnson said we could work together for the science project,” Peter said, eye still one their scribbled brain storming.
“That’s pretty cool,” Bucky said cocking his head to the side when Steve gave him a small frown.
“It would be cool if we could actually decide on a project,” Harley huffed. Steve pointedly glanced towards the kids. Bucky raised an eyebrow and shook his head bemusedly.
“We’re twelve, it’s not like we’re expected to revolutionise science,” Peter argued. Steve rolled his eyes, scowling for real now.
“I just want something that hasn’t been done a hundred time,” Harley whined. Bucky shrugged and widened his eyes slightly as he started prepping for dinner.
“We just need a different angle,” Peter said, frowning at their work. Steve cleared his throat, looked at the food Bucky was preparing before sending another pointed look at the kids.
“Are you staying for dinner, Peter?” Bucky asked. Judging Steve’s unimpressed look that wasn’t what he’d meant. Honestly, they didn’t live in each other’s pocket anymore, what did he expect?
“No, thank you, dad’ll text me soon. He got kinda busy, Happy will probably pick me up,” Peter said easily. “Harley, what if we-”
“Seriously?” Steve said quietly. “No comment? Have you even met Peter’s parents?”
“Sure, I’ve met his dad,” Bucky said with a shrug. “I think he’s Italian. He’s cute.”
“Cute? Bucky, his son is in your house every other day. Do you even know his name?
“Uh, To… Tony. Antonio, maybe? Pretty sure he goes by Tony.”
“Bucky.”
“Steve, it’s none of our business,” Bucky said blandly. “Peter’s happy. Just because his dad is busy doesn’t mean anything is wrong.”
“But Buck-”
“Leave it, Steve,” Bucky said firmly. “It’s none of our business unless the kid’s in danger and he’s not. He’s happy, busy dad or not.”
Steve opened his mouth but was interrupted by Peter’s phone starting to ring.
“Hey Happy,” Peter greeted as he and Harley started packing up his things. “Yeah, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be down. I just need to pack up.”
“We didn’t think of anything!” Harley whined when Peter hung up.
“I’m sure you’ll come up with something,” Bucky said confidently, ruffling Harley’s hair and ignoring the annoyed ‘dad’ he got in response. “C’mon Peter, Harley and I will walk you down. Steve can chop some vegetables for dinner.”
Steve gave him an unimpressed look and Bucky just smirked in response before getting the kids moving.
“Hey, sorry I’m late buddy,” Tony said with a grin, easily catching Peter when he threw himself into the elevator at Tony. “How’d things go with Harley?”
“Ugh, awful. We couldn’t think of anything,” Peter said with a roll of his eyes as Tony carried him out of the elevator to their living area. “We’re not allowed to do anything that might explode and she didn’t say anything about combustion but Aunt Pepper said you can’t give me advanced parts for school projects and Steve suggested a potato battery or something but we’ve done that and we want to do something cool.”
“Wow, you do talk a lot,” Tony said before tossing Peter onto the couch. Peter shrieked and laughed rolling out of the way before Tony could collapse on top of him. “Stop growing. You’re getting to heavy for me to carry.”
“I bet Uncle Rhodey can still carry me,” Peter said with a grin.
“You bug,” Tony said with faux offense. “I bet I can eat your share of desert.”
“Dad no!” Peter said, still laughing.
“Dad, yes! I’ll help you come up with an idea first though. I’m a magnanimous ruler.”
“Because Aunt Pepper’s in charge,” Peter said with a grin. “So do you have an idea what we could do then?”
“Not at all, but I do know there are plenty of sciences to experiment with. There’s plenty you could do with the less flashy sciences.”
“You mean the squishy sciences?”
“Don’t turn my words against me, you bug, you love biology. Besides there’s also social sciences. There’s a lot to experiment with, you just have to think outside the box. Less ‘what’ll look cool’ and more ‘what interesting thing can we achieve with science’.”
“I guess,” Peter said with a slight frown.
“Don’t worry about it too much,” Tony said, standing up and ruffling Peter’s hair. “You’ll work it out, and it’s not like your grades are something I’ve ever worried about. C’mon, let’s see how much of a disaster we can make the kitchen before Jarvis steps in.”
“As always, Sir, I’d like to remind you that it’s best to start with the less destructive route.”
“Of course you would,” Tony scoffed. “Fine spoilsport, give me the instructions then.”
“Dad, you always say that.”
“And it always makes you laugh. Now help me not make anything explode, it’ll be good practise.”
“I guess,” Peter said with a shrug. Hopefully they’d be able to come up with something tomorrow. Maybe Harley would have an idea.
“So, did you come up with anything?”
“Not really,” Harley said with a huff. “Natasha came over and just spent the whole time trying to get Steve to agree to a date. Steve tried to make her focus on dad but he was cutting at the time and she refuses to rib him while he’s holding a knife.”
“Yeah, they’re weird about that.”
“I guess, didn’t stop Steve though. You come up with anything?”
“Dad suggested looking into social science but then we got caught up making dinner.”
“What are we going to do with social science?” Harley asked with a frown as he pulled his food out of bag. “Speaking of food though, I brought you one of dad’s healthy muffins.”
“Yes, muffin lunch!” Peter said, gleefully taking the muffin. “Uncle Rhodey says I’m the only reason dad feeds himself. Jarvis still walks us through making dinner.”
Harley paused with his muffin halfway to his mouth, eyes widening. Peter stared back bemusedly until Harley finally seemed to refocus.
“Social sciences!”
“What?”
“We’re going to do our experiment on the social sciences! It’s perfect.”
“What is?”
“We’ll get our dads together! My dad can bake and cook and your dad can teach us advanced mechanics.”
“I don’t know…”
“No, it’s brilliant. Steve keeps saying dad is happier with a partner and didn’t you say that Pepper and Rhodey think your dad needed someone to help him relax and look after himself?”
“I guess,” Peter said slowly. “But dad tends to be suspicious of new people who want to date him.”
“But that’s the brilliance! He doesn’t even know your dad’s Tony Stark. He just thinks your dad’s a random, Italian, single-dad. So we can get them together and then reveal that he’s Tony Stark once they’re already dating.”
“You want to make our dads fall in love?”
“Basically. I bet we could. They have stuff in common. Besides, we just have to go about it scientifically.”
“Scientifically?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I suppose… yeah, ok! Let’s do it!”
“Yes!”
Project Relationship
Attempt #1 – Café meet-cute
“Ok, this was a much longer walk than I anticipated,” Tony said as they entered Barnes’ Beans. “We’re going to have to call Happy to get home.”
“But this café’s really good!” Peter said brightly, looking around intently, Giving Steve and Natasha a small wave when they saw him. Harley’s head came out from around the back and when he spotted Peter he gave a quick thumbs up and disappeared again. “Can I get a cinnamon roll?”
“Cinnamon roll for my cinnamon roll?” Tony asked with a grin. “Sure thing Bambino, I could use a coffee.”
They got in line and Peter carefully peered around. He frowned when he didn’t see any further sign of Harley. The person in front of them was ordering when Bucky suddenly stumbled out from the back, shooting a bemused look behind him before he approached the counter. When Harley’s head popped out Peter tilted his head questioningly. Harley rolled his eyes, shrugged and gestured at Bucky.
“A bit short staffed?” Tony asked. Peter looked up at him in horror.
“What?” Bucky asked with a frown.
“Just, with the flour,” Tony said, gesturing at Bucky’s person. Bucky reached up and wiped at his face, groaning when he saw the flour on his hands.
“Of course,” he said with a huff, before shooting Tony an abashed smile. “Sorry, looks like I need to clean up a bit. Let me just take your order first.”
“Hey, no worries, it gives you a very authentic look,” Tony said with a grin. “I’ll have a black coffee and a cinnamon roll for the bug.”
“Dad,” Peter said with a whine. Bucky just laughed lightly.
“You got it,” he said easily. “I’ll put the order through and Kamala will sort it out for you.”
“Say something bo- oh no,” said a girl as she approached, eyes going wide as she took in Bucky’s appearance. Tony let out a little snort and Bucky rolled his eyes. Kamala immediately started shoving him away with complaints of; “You’ll get flour in the register again.”
Tony just waited amusedly until he could pay. Peter looked towards Harley who was watching the scene with horrified incredulity. He ducked around the corner again before Bucky could see him watching. Tony paid, chatting casually with Kamala.
Well, at least Peter got a cinnamon roll.
Conclusion: Adults are stupid. Too many extraneous variables. No control scenario.
“I think it was the greatest coffee I’ve ever bought, and it was just a plain black one. I’m going to have to take you there next time you’re in town.”
“Whatever you say Tones,” Rhodey said with an amused smile. “So how did you know about this great coffee place, Peter?”
“Rude,” Tony said, wrapping his arms tighter around Peter in his lap.
“It’s a bakery,” Peter said, completely unaffected. “Harley’s Dad runs it.”
“Oh, Harley’s dad,” Rhodey said with a smirk. Tony stuck his tongue out and Peter frowned slightly.
“Yeah, he manages everything and bakes and stuff,” he said. “You knew that, right dad?”
“Yeah, Peter, I recognised him,” Tony said easily. “Him and his blond friend.”
“Steve?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, Tones?” Rhodey asked with a raised eyebrow.”
“Can’t win ‘em all,” Tony said with a shrug. “It’s fine.”
Project Relationship
Attempt #2 – Movie Date
“I’m not sure about this,” Peter said as they approached the ticket booth.
“You were the one who said there were too many extraneous variables,” Harley said. “This way we can remove all those variables.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Besides, isn’t this the kind of stuff your dad does?”
“Sure, dad.”
“Well, like father like son.”
“I hate you.”
“Whatever.”
“Can I help you?” asked the attendee.
“We want to buy all the tickets for the romantic comedy on Saturday,” Harley said. The attendee paused and looked them over doubtfully.
“No.”
“What?” Harley demanded.
“I told you.”
“Listen kid,” the attendee said with a sigh, “first of all you don’t look old enough to be watching anything but cartoons without parent supervision, second of all, you can’t buy out all the tickets.”
“We have money,” Harley argued, nudging Peter. “He’s got a card.”
“Did you steal a card?”
“No!”
“Let’s just go,” Peter said, tugging at Harley. “C’mon we left Clint in a tree.”
“No, we have money we should be able to buy the tickets!”
“Kid, either you bring a parents with you, or I call the police to ask why you have a card.”
“Let’s go.” Peter dragged Harley away before he could really start an argument. He ignored Harley’s arguing until he got them back to Clint who was being scolded by Natasha for managing to lose them.
Conclusion: Limited capabilities due to age. Revise plans for future attempts.
“Hey dad, what’s the point of me having a card if no one thinks I’m old enough to use it?” Peter asked suddenly.
“What?”
“Well, no one’s going to actually think a twelve year old should have a credit card right?”
“Depends what area you’re in,” Tony said with a shrug. “If you’re stuck in a bad area it’s probably an emergency and they won’t look too hard at the card as long as it works. Plus, if you’re missing and you use the card we can track where you used it.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Peter said with a slight frown. “So I guess you can see anything I buy with it.”
“With that one, yeah. When you’re older I can give you one that isn’t monitored but we’ll stick with that one for now, alright?”
“Yeah, Dad that sounds good.”
“Why’d you ask?”
“Oh, Harley brought it up.”
“Alright,” Tony said bemusedly. “Gonna let me help with your homework before Pepper realises I’m slacking off?”
“Can you?” Peter asked brightly. “That’d be great!”
Project Relationship
Attempt 3 – Car trouble/ice-cream date
Harley bit back a grin when he saw the car on the side of the road. He could see Peter standing at the side of it shifting uncomfortably with Tony leaning over the front looking under the hood.
“Dad, looks like someone’s having car trouble,” he said, tugging at Bucky’s sleeve.
“Since when are you the good Samaritan type?” Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow, even as he turned to head towards the car.
“It must be my stellar upbringing,” Harley said easily. “You’re a wonderful role model.”
“I guess that explains it,” Bucky said with a roll of his eyes. “I have so much sympathy for my parents now.”
“Dad!”
“Hey, need a hand?”
“No, I need a- oh, hey,” Tony said as he looked up and spotted Bucky. He glanced at Harley before raiding an eyebrow. “What are you two doing out here?”
“Spontaneous walk,” Bucky said with a smirk and a barely withheld eye roll. “What about you?”
“We were actually going on an ice-cream run but it looks like somethings messing around,” Tony said with a sigh, rubbing his eyes. Peter winced and Harley scowled at him. It was for the cause. For science!
“Still wanna get ice-cream? There’s a place not far from here. The kids can hang out and the car can cool down.”
“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice,” Tony said before turning Peter and Harley who both looked back innocently. “Peter, want to hang out with Harley for the afternoon?”
“Can we?” Peter asked with an unsure smile.
“Probably,” Tony said with a shrug. “I’ll text Pep and let her know. Gotta keep the boss in the loop.”
“The benefit of being your own boss,” Bucky replied as they started walking down the street. “I can do whatever I want.”
“That is blatantly untrue, and I will not be fooled.”
Peter and Harley quietly high-fived as they walked behind they’re Dads to the ice-cream shop. They got to the ice-cream shop and were both on their best behaviour. At Bucky’s prompting Harley distracted Tony long enough for Bucky to pay for the ice-creams. They all sat down and started chatting. Tony and Bucky were chatting and laughing. Peter and Harley grinned at each other.
Then Tony’s phone rang.
Tony glanced at it before he let out a sigh and excused himself. Harley looked at Peter, who just shrugged and returned to the remains of his ice-cream. Bucky watched Tony walk out but otherwise didn’t seem bothered.
“Alright?” Bucky asked when Tony came back in.
“As it ever is,” Tony said with an easy grin. “We do have to get going though.”
“Do you have to?” Harley whined.
“Unfortunately.”
“But it, we were having fun!”
“Harley!” Bucky said, standing sharply. “We can’t dictate other people’s lives because we’re having fun.”
“But it’s stupid! He’s always working!”
“Harley…” Peter said quietly, looking a bit wide eyed. Harley looked at him, sucked in a sharp breath and ran out of the shop.
“Sorry, I have to-”
“It’s fine,” Tony said. “He’s not wrong. Go get him.”
“He’s all kinds of wrong,” Bucky grumbled, hurrying after him.
“Sorry about that buddy,” Tony said to Peter, taking his hand.
“You know he didn’t mean that, Harley really likes you,” Peter said.
“I know, and I know it can be frustrating when I have to work.”
“I mean, maybe sometimes but I don’t mind, and Harley doesn’t usually. He gets having to work, because his Dad works a lot too, so I don’t know why…”
“Sometimes that can make it worse,” Tony said with a shrug. “Besides, I have been working a lot lately so I’ll have free time when Rhodey gets here. Let’s just get home. Then you can call Harley. I’m sure Bucky will let you talk to him to make sure he’s ok.”
“Okay.”
Conclusion: …
“Why am I grounded?”
“You know exactly why,” Bucky said, guiding Harley to his room with a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s stupid.”
“Don’t even start. You made accusations and tried to start a fight with Peter’s Dad. You upset both of them.”
“I don’t care,” Harley said petulantly.
“You will,” Bucky said with a sigh. “Go to your room.”
“Fine.”
Harley stalked off and Bucky waited until the door shut to speak again.
“Not a word Steve.”
“Problem with Peter’s Dad?”
“His name is Tony, and no, there was a problem with Harley.”
“Harley’s not really a trouble maker.”
“Have you met him?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Unfortunately,” Bucky said with a roll of his eyes. “Listen, Steve, I know you’ve got your opinions about Tony but he’s a good dad. I don’t need you telling me who to hang out with or how to parent my son.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean that,” Steve said, grabbing Bucky’s shoulder and pulling him around.
“I know, sorry, it was just a long day,” Bucky said with a sigh. “Seriously though, you should cool it with Tony.”
“Well, you should get some rest,” Steve said, pulling Bucky into a quick hug. “I’ll heat up some left over’s for you and Harley.”
“Hey, how many cobwebs are there at your place?” Bucky asked as he pulled away, grinning. “Must be a lot since you spend all your time here.”
“Shut up, jerk.”
“Punk.”
Project Relationship
Attempt #4: Carnival
“Time for Honey-Bear to win me a teddy bear,” Tony said, eagerly pulling Rhodey towards the carnival games.
“Well I’m confused,” Bucky said with a grin as he approached.
“Oh, hey Bucky,” Tony said in surprise as he turned just in time to see Harley going past him to join Peter. “Harley, always good to see you.”
“Hi Tony,” Harley said brightly.
“I think he might have a homing device on Peter,” Bucky said with a roll of his eyes.
“No, would have found it by now,” Tony said with a grin, ignoring Rhodey’s snort. “Just you two?”
“Nah, the other two are herding Clint,” Bucky said, gesturing behind him to the approaching Steve, Natasha and Clint. “How about you? Just you two and Honey-Bear?”
“James Rhodes,” Rhodey said, stepping forward and offering his hand. “Lieutenant Colonel.”
“James Barnes,” Bucky replied easily, accepting the handshake. “Former Sargent.”
There was a moment a quiet as they just gripped hands and smiled at each other.
“Alright!” Tony said, perhaps a bit too loud. “That’s great, we all know each other. Great. Someone still owes me a giant stuffed prize.”
“Shouldn’t you be winning toys?” Clint asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Rhodey always wins dad a prize,” Peter said brightly. “He says its better when someone else gives it to him because it means they’re thinking about him.”
“We’ve been doing it since college,” Rhodey said. “Tony loves carnivals.”
“Who doesn’t?” Bucky replied with a tight smile. “Well c’mon then, let’s win some toys.”
“Hell yeah!” Clint said loudly. “Bet I can win the most prizes.”
“That sounds like fun,” Rhodey said, following after him with a pointed glance at Bucky.
“It sure does,” Bucky agreed.
“Oh, I have a bad feeling,” Tony said quietly, then turned to smile at Steve. “Looks like we’re on kid duty, huh.”
“Looks like,” Steve said flatly. Tony’s shoulder’s drooped as he followed Steve and the kid’s towards the others.
“Great.”
…
Tony dropped the prizes he’d been given and grabbed both the boys as soon as he saw Rhodey shift. Steve’s friends weren’t quite fast enough to stop Rhodey from hitting him, but Bucky and Clint both grabbed him before he could get his own swing in. Tony pulled the boys a bit further back and adjusted his grip for a better hold partially to keep them out of the way and partially because he was mildly concerned they were going to start throwing punches next.
“What the hell man?”
“How dare you!”
“Let’s just calm down.”
“You had no right to-”
“Rhodey!” Tony said sharply. “I think it’s time to go home.”
“I’m not going to let him talk about you like that.”
“And you didn’t, got a good swing in, but I think we’ve all had enough excitement for now. Let’s go home.”
Rhodey looked for a moment like he’d argue for a moment before he let out a sigh; “Fine.”
“Hey, you can’t-”
“Shut up, Steve,” Bucky said, tugging sharply at Steve’s arm to pull him off balance.
“I can’t what? Stand up for my friend? Take down arseholes like you? Tony works so hard to look after Peter and do what’s best for him. To say he’s neglectful… You have no idea. No idea what Tony has had to-”
“Rhodey! Just, let it go, please?” Tony said quietly. Rhodey scowled fiercely but turned away and went towards Tony. Tony straightened up the kids clothes without looking up. He kept a grip on Peter and just smiled at Harley. “No fighting, ok?”
“I’m sorry,” Harley said quietly. Tony gave him a weak smile and Peter shrugged, curling into Tony who picked him up as Rhodey picked up the fallen prizes.
Harley watched them walk away with a sinking feeling. This was their fault. If they hadn’t pushed so much this wouldn’t have happened. The stupid project…
“Hey, buddy,” Bucky said gently. “We should probably head home too. We’ll catch up with Tony and Peter when everyone’s calmed down.”
“Ok, dad.”
Conclusion: The social sciences have too many variables to properly achieve the goal.
Harley poked morosely at his cereal. He’d try to call Peter last night after he got home but Peter hadn’t picked up. Eventually he’d gotten a message from Tony saying Peter would talk to him later.
There was a knock at the door.
“He can’t come in,” Harley said without looking up.
“We’re not banishing Steve,” Bucky said with a sigh as he got up.
“You want to.”
“We don’t banish people for their mistakes. Otherwise we’d be homeless.”
“Wouldn’t have Steve hanging around,” Harley grumbled. Bucky ignored him and opened the door. The surprised noise he made was enough to make Harley look up to see Tony and Peter at the door.
“Peter!”
“Hey Harley,” Peter said with a small smile.
“Hey, we wanted to come talk about yesterday,” Tony greeted. “Can we come in?”
“Of course, come in,” Bucky said, shutting the door behind him. “I’m sorry about Steve.”
“It’s fine,” Tony said. “Rhodey over reacted. He’s always been protective.”
“I don’t think it was an overreaction, come sit down.”
“Everything all right?” Harley asked Peter quietly.
“I think so,” Peter replied just as quietly. “Dad had a serious talk with Rhodey and Pepper. They’re helpful.”
Bucky led them all to the living room. Once they were all settled Tony took a deep breathe.
“So, Rhodey said some things yesterday and I just wanted to clarify. Peter and I have had some problems in the past and, I’ve got it easier than most single parents, I know, but it does lead to some other problems.”
Peter leaned into Tony’s side and Bucky wrapped his arm around Harley as he listened intently.
“I had to fight for Peter’s guardianship because so many people thought I wasn’t parental material and it was a public scandal and everything. Then, Stane… He was my Godfather, you know? He was around more than my actual father. When he, when he tried to stage that take-over Peter fell in as collateral. Things got, really scary for a while. We had to pull Peter out of school and we nearly went undercover and a lot of people used it as an excuse to start questioning my guardianship again.
“Rhodey was there through a lot of that and at one stage I got… I got hurt, protecting Peter and it was pretty serious. He spent some time handling the fight for me to keep Peter and I think it just kind of stuck with him so sometimes he reacts without thinking.”
“Tony, I am so sorry,” Bucky said slowly, eyes wide, “but I think I’m missing something.”
“What?” Tony said blankly while Peter and just looked at Bucky confusedly.
“Why was you taking your son a public scandal? What take over? Why were you going into hiding?”
“You don’t… you don’t know who I am,” Tony said with sudden realisation that immediately changed to confusion. “How do you not know who I am?!”
“Who you are? I don’t know we’ve never talked about it!” Bucky said, just as confused.
“I assumed Peter would have mentioned it!”
“Harley knows!” Peter interjected quickly.
“What does Harley know?” Bucky said, turning to look at Harley.
“He’s Tony Stark,” Harley said in his ‘are you stupid’ voice. There was silence for a moment before Bucky turned back to Tony.
“Your last name is Parker.”
“Oh my god,” Tony said, burying his face in his hands.
“Peter uses the name Parker so he doesn’t get harassed at school,” Harley said.
“You’re Italian!”
“On my mother’s side!” Tony said, rubbing at his face. “Oh God this was such a terrible idea. How did you not know? Oh God Steve’s gonna hate me even more.”
“Yeah, well, Steve can go fu-”
“Harley!”
“But, it wasn’t like dad was keeping it a secret from you,” Peter said hurriedly. “You’re not angry at him right?”
“Angry? Why would I be angry at Tony for my apparently being an idiot? It’s just… a lot to take in. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?”
Tony nodded mutely and followed Bucky with slumped shoulders. Peter and Harley exchanged a look before quietly following them and trying to listen through the door. They could hear their dads talking but couldn’t make out the words.
“Do you think it’s bad?” Peter asked nervously.
“No, dad said he wasn’t angry,” Harley said confidently before. “Did you really almost go into hiding?”
Peter shrugged absently. “Dad said hiding was better than me getting hurt. Are they still talking?”
“I can’t hear anything. Hang on,” Harley opened the door slowly and picked through. “Oh my God.”
“What?”
“They’re kissing.”
“What?!”
“They’re kissing!”
Tony and Bucky jumped apart as Peter and Harley ran into the room, shouting gleefully, and through themselves at them. There was some shouting and fumbling as the kids managed to make Bucky and Tony fall over almost on top of them.
“So, looks like that won’t be a problem,” Bucky said with a smirk.
“Small mercies,” Tony replied with a fond smile.
When Peter and Harley’s science project was finally revealed Bucky put his face in his hands with a groan and Tony laughed loudly. They didn’t win anything but Tony took them out for celebratory ice-cream anyway.
Ultimately they agreed; it was a success.