Homecoming
“It’s amazing we’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s amazing you’ve never seen it before. You’re the super spy extraordinaire here.”
“What are you two talking about? Tony? Natasha?”
“It’s uncanny. I don’t know how we’ve missed it before.”
“I think it’s the hair. And the general aura of awe and admiration we all feel whenever we’re near Steve. We generally feel the opposite of admiration and awe if we’re anywhere near the other one.”
“Yes. Annoyance and incessant eye rolling would be the usual reaction.”
“Can somebody please tell me what the hell you guys are talking about?”
“Language, babe.” Tony snickered at Steve’s annoyance.
“Tony,” Steve shot him a look of annoyance, and Tony placated him by pressing a light kiss to the corner of his lips. “What are you guys talking about?”
“This new look of yours,” Natasha explained, “makes us realize just how much you and Johnny Storm look alike.”
“Johnny Storm? From Fantastic Four?” Steve quirked an eyebrow in confusion, “Really?”
“It’s the shaved head, babe.” Tony told him, “Ever since the accident and they shaved all of your hair off, the resemblance is starting to be more noticeable than usual.”
“Hmm,” Steve rubbed his chin in contemplation, “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Okay, here we are, Captain Rogers.” the doctor declared after he finished unwrapping all of the bandages that were covering Steve’s left eye. It had been the last thing to recover and regenerate after the blast that took out most of the skin on the left side of his body. It has been two months since the accident now, and finally, finally , his body had finished healing and he could go back to the Tower.
The skin grafts and the serum did their job well and Steve looked as if he never went through the accident in the first place, apart from the shaved head.
“The super soldier serum is amazing. On a normal person a wound of this caliber would take at least six months to recover. You did it in less than 3 months, Captain.” the doctor said again.
“Thank God for that. I think if it took any longer he might just run through the wall of medic wing and run all the way to the Tower.” Tony teased him, Steve rolled his eyes and bump their shoulders together.
“While you seem recovered, Captain, I do suggest you still keep with the agility exercises for your fingers and hands. Since you do a lot of hand-to-hand combat, it’s necessary to make sure that the new epidermis has been properly incorporated by the rest of your limbic system.”
“We’ll make sure of that, doctor.” Natasha answered for them. Steve was busy looking at his reflection in the mirror they provided him, trying to find the resemblance to Johnny Storm like Tony and Natasha declared earlier.
“Seriously, uncanny.” Tony said from behind him, laying his head on Steve’s shoulder, “I feel like I just robbed the cradle. That kid is like, twenty years younger than me.”
“And Steve is fifty-two years older than you,” Natasha added.
“Oh, God. I’m robbing the cradle and the retirement home at the same time.” Tony moaned in dismay.
“Tony, come on.” Steve rolled his eyes at Tony’s antics.
“Still the best looking grandpa out there though.” Tony smooched his cheek.
------
“Why is Johnny Storm in our living room? Tony, did you exchange Steve for a newer model?” Clint asked as he dropped down on the couch next to Bucky for movie night, a big bowl of popcorn on his lap.
Steve shot him with his “Captain America disapproves of your life choices” look. He was holding Joe to his chest. The boy was fascinated by the lack of hair on his father’s head. The rough bristles of Steve’s growing hair was scratchy when he would run his fingers through it and the boy seemed determined to keep running his finger over it. Currently, he was repeatedly patting Steve’s head and giggling when the short hairs scratched his fingers and drooling on Steve’s head.
“Please, like you could exchange Steve for anything. He’s one of a kind, obviously.” Tony sauntered in to the living room, Ulysses on his heels carrying a small bowl of popcorn.
“Papa, Papa, Papa! Where did your hair went, Papa? Will it ever come back?” he excitedly asked Steve, climbing on the couch to nestled in close to Steve. Ever since the accident, both boys have taken to clinging to Steve, following him wherever he went in the Tower. Ulysses and Joe have been sleeping in their beds for the last two months now, afraid that if they took their eyes off their Papa for a second, he would disappear. They wouldn’t let up even after Tony and Steve told him it was never going to happen.
So they haven’t been alone for the past two months, which made having sex difficult. And a pregnant Tony has always been a horny Tony. Well, hornier than usual.
“I’m sure it will come back soon, A stor .” Steve patiently answered his son, stroking his son’s messy brown hair. He had Ulysses occupying his lap and Joe in his arms. When Tony sat next to him his world felt complete.
“What are we watching?” Tony asked. He had a jar of pickles and a tub of Miracle Whip with him. His cravings have started.
“Blackfish.” Bruce answered from his position on the loveseat, sitting next to Thor.
There was a collective groan from the team, except Steve and Bucky who didn’t understand the significance of Blackfish in pop culture.
“Oh come on, Brucie. Anything but that. I guarantee you this movie night will end in disaster.” Tony told him.
“It would be a good learning experience. I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for awhile. Besides it’s my turn to pick the movie for movie night. If I have to watch Die Hard for twenty seven times, you guys can stand to watch Blackfish once.”
“What’s wrong with this movie, anyway?” Bucky asked them.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Clint sighed.
“I, for one, am looking forward to watching this movie you picked, Bruce,” Thor beamed at Bruce, eliciting a blush from the brunette scientist.
“Of course you are,” Clint muttered under his breath. Natasha elbowed him in the stomach, hard causing to cough incessantly, “Ow, Nat! What?!”
Steve surreptitiously tried to catch Tony’s eyes, asking silently with his glance if he missed anything when he was recovering. Tony shook his head, signaling to his mate that he’d tell him about the whole thing later.
Two hours later, they came out of watching Blackfish with a crying Asgardian and a crying spy/master assassin, two broken coffee tables courtesy of two furiously indignant super soldiers who were outraged by Tilikum’s treatment, a sleeping Russian spy who wasn’t concerned in the slightest at what she was seeing on TV because she, as a Russian knew more than anyone just how hopeless and futile life was, and Sam, who just flat out left the room in the middle of the show. Tony just counted himself lucky that nobody punched out the TV. he was getting tired of having to replace the TV every time somebody got upset or lost a game of Mario Kart.
“I told you it was a bad idea,” he muttered to Bruce who was consoling Thor, who was trying to hold back his tears so he didn’t appear weak in front of Bruce.
“Sorry, guys. I need to watch it for research.”
“Promise me, Tony. Promise me we’re not ever going to have anything to do with SeaWorld.” Steve impassionately told him, his fist still smarting from punching the coffee table, splitting it right down the middle. The boys were sleeping peacefully on his lap, undisturbed by the amount of crying and painful moaning their uncles were exhibiting.
“Of course, sweetheart.” Tony placate him, “no going to SeaWorld or any other aquariums with captive killer whales.”
It wasn’t the worst movie night they ever had. And hey, Steve breaking the coffee table kinda counted as an agility exercise for his hand, and Thor got to have Bruce’s attention on him for the remainder of the night. It was pretty much a win-win situation for them all.
------
“Babbo, is the new baby gonna be a boy baby or a girl baby?” it was breakfast time at the Tower. Tony was making the usual blueberry waffles for Ulysses and Joe, when Ulysses asked his question. Ulysses had been ecstatic to have another sibling, telling everyone all the games that he and Joe could teach the new baby when they arrived.
“Hmm, I don’t know, baby. Which one do you want?”
“I want a baby brother again.”
Steve paused from feeding Joe his breakfast of baby biscuits and milk to tune in to his son’s question. “Oh. Why’s that, bud?”
“Because then we can finally be the Powerpuff Girls!” Ulysses cheered, lifting his hands up high in the air.
“What? Powerpuff Girls?” Tony laughed at his son’s assertion, “how did you know about the Powerpuff girls, baby?”
“Yesterday, me and Uncle Sam were watching cartoons. And then-- then the Powerpuff Girls came on. And they were so cool, Babbo! They’re little, like me and Joe, but they have super powers, just like you and Papa and the ‘Vengers! Uncle Sam said that real men watch Powerpuff Girls.”
“I can certainly see that.” Tony nodded his assent. Steve still look puzzled until Tony told JARVIS to bring up the 411 on the Powerpuff Girls. Steve studied the cartoon for awhile before asking Ulysses, “So which are you then, Uly?”
“I’m Blossom. Duh! I’m the commander and the leader.” Ulysses stood up on his chair, planting his hands on his hips.
“Of course. My apologies, Commander Rogers.” Steve conceded, a smile on his face indicating his amusement at his son’s antics. Tony laughed again at Ulysses’ self-proclamation as the leader.
“So Joe is Bubbles?” Tony asked him again.
“Uh-huh. It fits! Because Joe also has yellow hair and blue eyes. And he’s the joy and the laughter because he laughs a lot.”
“And your new baby brother would be Buttercup, then?”
“Yeah! He’ll be the toughest fighter. And together we’ll save the day! Yaay!”
Ulysses excitement was infectious as it prompted Joe to squeal and laugh too, banging his hand repeatedly on the counter top and spraying liquid baby biscuit everywhere.
“Powerpuff save the day!” Ulysses started running around the kitchen, arms held aloft like Superman. His parents laughed at his antics and let him run around for awhile until Steve caught him in during one of his rounds and deposited him back on the chair, Ulysses laughing and squirming the whole time.
“Is that why you refuse to have a hair cut? So you can grow your hair out like Blossom?” Tony placed a plate of waffles in front of him, already cut up in bite size squares.
Ulysses nodded, “Yeah! She’s the best!”
“All of you would look very cute as the Powerpuff Girls, Uly.” Tony told him, pinching one of his chubby cheeks. “But I’m afraid it’s not up to me and Papa whether we get a boy or a girl.”
“Why not?”
Tony and Steve looked at each other, debating whether or not they should start explaining developmental biology and genetics to their 4 year old.
“It’s not something we can control, buddy.” Steve finally told him, stroking Ulysses long brown hair, “we can ask for it, but at the end of the day it’s all up to chance whether we get you a baby boy or a baby girl.”
“Oh, okay.” Ulysses conceded and started eating his breakfast, “I guess a girl would be fine, too.”
Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Thank you for understanding, buddy. You’re the best big brother anyone could ever have.”
“I know. Joe thinks so too.” he simply said, tucking in to his breakfast with more gusto.
“Subtle too, just like someone,” Steve said under his breath, earning him a jostle from Tony.
------
Dr. Rosenberg came over to the Tower to check up on Tony. At this point, he already became part of the family after taking care of Tony and delivering the boys. The news of Tony’s third pregnancy came as a surprise to him, but the doctor seemed to be taking it all in stride.
“Alright, Tony. Everything looks good. The baby is growing as expected, reaching all the appropriate milestones. Your blood pressure is also very good throughout this pregnancy. We don’t have to worry about pre-eclampsia rearing its ugly head.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Steve told him.
“Now, it’s that time of the pregnancy again. We can tell the baby’s sex, now. Do you want to know?”
“Of course!” Tony nodded in excitement.
“Okay,” Dr. Rosenberg turned back around to the fancy ultrasound machine Tony built to accommodate him during his extended period of bedrest with Joe, “and...it looks like you will be having…” the doctor paused for dramatic effect, peering at the photo then turned back to them, “another boy!”
Tony let out a sound that was a mix of laughter and a cheer. Another boy! They were having another boy! Steve looked floored, looking at Tony with glee and disbelief, “Tony, another boy…”
Tony laughed, “Looks like Ulysses got his wish after all. Powerpuff Boys, here we come.”
Steve squeezed his hand and kissed him chastely on the lips. “Three boys. What am I gonna do with three boys?” Steve shook his head disbelievingly.
Tony leaned his body closer to his mate’s. “Another boy. Oh, Steve. This time this one better look like me, or there would be no justice in this world.”
Steve kissed him again, heart bursting with happiness and anticipation. Since the beginning, he wished to have another little boy, one that looked like Tony, a mini-Tony for him to spoil and to love to his heart’s content. This time he might finally have his wish granted.
------
Since its reconstruction after the Chitauri invasion, Avengers Tower has become something of a tourist attraction. Anyone who came to New York City for a vacation would always stop by the tower and take pictures, whether it was the outside view or the lobby.
To further bolster its status as a tourist attraction, Tony provided free high speed internet for anyone who visited. And lately there was another reason why Avengers Tower’s popularity as a tourist attraction increased.
After the fall of SHIELD, the superhero community, which was mostly the Avengers, had needed some good press to bolster its reputation, to make the people feel that the Avengers were there to protect them, have their best interests in mind and that the Avengers were the last line of defense between Earth and any intergalactic threats that has been proven to exist. So the Maria Stark Foundation, on behalf of Tony Stark, commissioned a sculpture piece of all the six original Avengers to be displayed in the lobby of the newly christened Avengers Tower.
The sculpture was a masterpiece. Made of white Italian marble it depicted all six Avengers in various fight poses against the Chitauri army. Tony was represented by the Iron Man, hands aloft, ready to fire the repulsor. Thor held Mjolnir in his hand, ready to strike down his foes. Bruce as the Hulk was depicted in mid-roar. He was covered in some of the Chitauri army but was successfully ripping them away from his body. Steve was in his Captain America uniform, shield displayed prominently in his hand and he was posed as if he was in the process of throwing his shield at an unseen enemy. Clint had an arrow lined up in his bow and was aiming it at an enemy and Natasha with her batons was beating down a Chitauri goon.
All in all, it was a fucking impressive statue, fit to be displayed in the Louvre or maybe the Trevi fountain, if Tony said so himself. The artist, a local New Yorker who went to Steve’s alma mater, did an amazing job at sculpting their likeness and with picking the poses so they looked very dynamic though they were stationary. Adding to the majesty of the statue was the thousands of origami paper cranes suspended above the statue symbolizing the people who lost their lives during the Invasion. At night, the cranes would become illuminated with fairy lights, lending a more solemn, hallowed countenance to the whole display.
The lobby of Avengers Tower has always been a major tourist attraction for the presence of the Avengers statue and site of the Battle of Manhattan memorial. But after September 23, it became famous for another reason: it was the place where Tony Stark gave birth to his third child, Peter Benjamin Stark Rogers.