Father Mine
(New Avengers Facility’s Meeting Room, Upstate New York)
“Honey Bear?”
“Heya, Tones,” Rhodey answered casually as he strode into the empty, sans Tony, conference room.
The other man quirked his eyebrow and smirked. “Not that I’m not happy to see my braces getting your glorious ass up and about, but what’s with the getup?”
Obligingly, he mock-posed to Tony’s wolf whistles. “What? Can’t a man flaunt his well-earned uniform once or twice a week?”
“Not when the man calls his uniform monkey suit when he thinks no one is looking,” Tony replied with a grin.
Rhodey snorted and took a seat beside Tony. “Well, the council likes the uniform even more than you, so there’s that. Hurry up and call them already.”
“Pushy,” Tony answered as he pressed a button on the desk with an eye roll.
A massive holographic screen lit up in front of them, showing 10 council members sitting in a long desk that somehow reminded him of the time he crashed Tony’s senate hearing.
This time, he’s got his back.
“Council members, thank you for agreeing to this conference call,” Tony opened glibly, face shifting into his usual professional one.
Councilwoman Moore from Australia, a genial middle-aged lady that Rhodey really liked, answered with a smile, “Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes, good to see you both.”
“I take it your mission was successful, then?”
“It was,” Tony agreed, before launching into a detailed report of everything that happened since the photo of Harley and Tony hit the news.
The council was pensive, which was to be expected. They were prepared for Ross to be convicted on a myriad of charges: treason, bribery, illegal imprisonment. Hell, Hulk and Abomination’s case proved that he’d stoop to illegal experimentation to get his ways.
But to discover that he would do that to a child? And then use said child as a hostage?
Rhodey could see the murderous glint in several men and women in front of them.
“That man will pay for his deeds. No offence to your country, gentlemen, but this coddling of a single politician must end. Now,” said a man with graying hair in the far end of the table. Swiss delegate, if he’s not mistaken.
“He will, Councilman Rechsteiner. The older sister of Cassidy Crowley, Tracy, has agreed to not only testify against Mr. Ross, but also cooperate with the Council on further investigation and hearing regarding her part in this incident.”
The man nodded. “And the boy himself? How is his health?”
Tony tapped his feet once and that was all the prompt Rhodey needed. “Physically, he’s almost healed. Among other things, his powers include enhanced healing, and Dr. Cho was very thorough with his treatment. Mentally, however….” Rhodey hedged uncertainly
Now it’s the elderly woman on the other side of the table, Councilwoman Acharya of India, who gritted her teeth. “Do we have records on what kind of torture that monster cooked up for him? Poor boy, will he be well enough to testify? Should we conduct an individual interview?”
“I think it’s better to let him tell the story in private, Councilwoman Acharya,” Moore answered before Tony or himself could answer. “We already have the older sister to tell the people what happened, no need to scare the boy even more.”
Murmur of agreement came from the rest of the Council. “Very well. According to your record, Ms. Crowley had been injured heavily in a scuffle during the mission, Mr. Stark. Will it be amenable if she stays in Avengers’ Medical Facility for the time being, then? Just until her council hearing.”
“That’s fine, Councilman Rechsteiner. We’ve got the space.”
“Good. That’s done, then…. Moving on, your report regarding the rogue Avengers. Are they on the move?”
Rhodey froze. Wait, I didn’t know about this one!
“My A.I., F.R.I.D.A.Y., intercepted the Black Widow just as she got off the plane at New York’s JFK. She called for Red Notice Alert and kept her under surveillance for around 12 hours - essentially keeping her in a tag game with airport security.”
Acharya’s eyebrows lifted to her hairline. “That’s… commendable. What happened after the 12th hour?”
“She, I’m quoting my A.I. here, ‘raged quit back to Venezuela’. I guess she got tired of playing the mouse.”
“And the timing, too…. Do you think she was targeting Mr. Keener as well, Mr. Stark?”
Rhodey managed not to growl at Moore’s words. Barely. That bitch so much as breath in Harley’s direction, she’s dead.
“I think she might be under the impression that she could strike a deal with either the council or me if she rescued him.”
Councilman Chiba from Japan piped up for the first time, “Which is definitely not going to happen. So, the question is, what are they going to do about it?”
“Councilman Chiba is right. This group has been proven to be reckless and highly dangerous. Now that their one chance of gaining leverage is gone, will they act rashly in retaliation or will they duck their head and continue to lay low?” Councilwoman Acharya agreed.
“Most likely they will continue to lay low, if they still have a semblance of common sense left,” Tony answered airily, but Rhodey sincerely doubt that they did. “But regardless, the public will still catch a whiff of them sooner or later. A major international airport of the US just got shutdown for 12 hours because of a red notice - things like that don’t just happen every other Saturday.”
The council members looked at each other uneasily and began talking between themselves. Moore was the one to put an end to all of that. “Well, there’s not much we can do about the past, so I say we just go with the flow and cross that bridge when we get there. Should the public suddenly ask for their return - which I highly doubt, at least for people in Aussie - we still have an ace up our sleeve for that kind of situation.” She looked at Tony with an apologetic sort of look. “Although I’d loathe to let you pay the price for that move, Mr. Stark.”
Right. That damn video.
Tony, for his part, waved his hand in an image of nonchalance that Rhodey easily saw through. “It’s fine, I’m ready to do what I have to. Besides, I’ve been talking to Ms. Crowley about my upcoming press conference, and she’s told me about the possibility of some reporter broaching that subject. It’s kind of infuriating to admit, but she’s got a knack on the court of public opinion.”
Moore offered a smile and nodded. “Ah, yes. We shouldn’t keep you waiting, then. On to the last of our list? Colonel Rhodes?”
This is it.
Rhodey straightened up in his seat, pointedly not looking at Tony’s questioning stare. “I’ve received the proposal for the addition of Majors Leonardo Verde and Naomi Lim, designations Harrier and Peregrine, to the Avengers’ active roster. But I think the team should discuss that possibility after we see their result for this Vulture mission.”
“Those are the guys you send to help the FBI?” Tony asked the Council.
“Yes. US Air Force decided to restart the EXO-wings project, so they made the proper contract with us. We think it’s better for American enhanced to deal with American villain, so we sent them to help the FBI. But that’s not all, is it, Colonel?” the woman’s eyes shone with mirth. “Why don’t you tell Mr. Stark here about the rest of proposal?”
“Sour patch?” Tony asked uncertainly.
“Well… Air Force also offered me a promotion to Major General, but－”
“He accepts.”
Rhodey blinked confusedly. “What?”
“He accepts,” Tony repeated slowly, as if he was saying ‘duh.’
“I… was kind of waiting for my spine to complete the healing process?”
Tony waved his hand impatiently. “You can use the remote control armor in the mean time, Rhodey. Seriously, you’ve been waiting for this since you still have full hair! What the hell are you doing, waiting around like this?”
They stare at each other for a full minute before exploding in a fit of laughter, totally ignoring the Council Members that stayed silent during the whole ordeal. “Okay, okay. I guess I’m gonna have to call General Lesley about that, huh?”
“Perfect. We’ll come up with the appropriate paper work. I think that’s all for today, Mr. Stark, Colonel… or Major General? I wish you good luck with your press conference. Good afternoon.”
Without waiting for further small talk, the call was cut and suddenly Rhodey had an armful of Tony Stark hugging the crap out of him.
“I’m so proud of you, Honey Bear!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, even while he smiled. Together, they walked to the door and open it, only to suddenly came face to face with Vision.
He’d jump back in surprise if he could. “Jesus Christ, Vis, have you been floating there the whole time??”
He stared with a lost expression. “Yes? I believe I did. Congratulation on your promotion, Rhodey.”
Tony exhaled audibly. “Vision, I already told you, I’m fine.”
“I would rather be safe than sorry, Tony.”
“Look, if no one else noticed after all this time, then I could probably get away with it for a little while more, right?”
“Your assessment is highly illogical. We are dealing with the unknown, all precaution must be taken.”
Rhodey was starting to feel like he was watching a tennis match. “Okay, back up. What the hell happened, Tones?”
The younger man fidgeted under his glare, which made him even more suspicious. “Not now, Platypus… we’re kind of on a tight schedule, so－”
Rhodey shut him off with his best glare. “Spill, Tony. Now.”
(Peter’s Room, New Avengers Facility, Upstate New York)
Tony’s ears were still ringing from Rhodey’s yelling when he walked into Peter’s room. Peter’s room - complete with nerdy posters, and drawers full of LEGO bricks and sets, and shelves of Star Wars models. If there were any deities out there that reign over humanity’s self-control, they’d be having a cardiac arrest when Tony decorated that room himself.
At least he only splurged on this one room instead of a whole floor like he did with the Keeners’ suite back in his tower.
Hesitantly, he opened the door and stepped inside only to have his field of vision obscured by the fluff of Hailey’s honey-colored hair.
Tony wrapped his arms around her waist to support her weight. “Hello to you too, squirt,” he chuckled. “I didn’t know you and the kids are here, Hannah.”
The woman in question rose from a chair near Peter’s bed and strode over to him with a strangely wet eyes. “Yeah, Harley’s convinced that Peter will try to get up from his bed if he doesn’t sit on him.”
He raised his eyebrow and peeked over to Peter’s bed. Sure enough, there laid a disgruntled looking Peter with Harley stubbornly sitting on the only patch of his torso that wasn’t bandaged.
“Fri, take pictures and send it to my private server.”
Peter pouted even harder, and glared at him in what, Tony thought, was supposed to be betrayal.
“I have videos of how that happened, if you want,” May Parker’s voice suddenly rang behind him.
Tony barely suppressed his flinch as he turned around, fully expecting her to rake him across the coal for getting Peter hurt. But her eyes, while puffy from crying, were not glacial nor infernal. They were… grateful.
“Thank you for bringing my idiot nephew back alive. I don’t want to know what would happen if he wasn’t wearing your suit.”
“He wouldn’t get hurt in the first place, if he wasn’t there.”
“Yeah, I know. Which is why he’s grounded for 2 weeks starting now.”
Tony blinked at her. “Um….”
“You told him to lay low, and he didn’t. Thus, grounded.”
“But Aunt May!” Peter whined.
May glared at her nephew and he shrank back. “Do you want it to be 3 weeks instead, Peter?”
“No, Aunt May,” Peter mumbled dejectedly, pointedly ignoring the cackling Harley on top of him.
Tony wanted to snicker at him as well, but Peter looked at him so pitifully with his eyes all wide and pleading, and Tony faltered immediately.
Damn this boy and his puppy dog eye.
“Put those eyes away, Peter. I grounded you, not Tony.”
Peter grumbled and looked away to the window on the other side of the room.
Things were awkwardly silent for a minute until Tony cleared his throat and broke the silence. “Anyway… I’m not just here to check on you, Pete…. I have something to tell you before the press conference. I guess it’s better this way with all of you here too… I can just do this once and be done with it.” Everyone in the room stilled and looked at him curiously. Even Hailey sat straighter in his arms to look at his face better. “It’s about Siberia. It’s time for you to know what happened.”
Hailey looked at him questioningly and spoke for the first time, “Siberia? What’s Siberia, Daddy?”
Tony choked on his spit. “W－What?”
Hailey immediately looked worried at his hesitance. “That’s what Harley and Peter called you… so that must be true, right?”
Peter called me what in front of his Aunt? Does he want me to die?
“Why… why would you think that?”
“My teacher said Daddies take care of us, play with us, teach us things… that’s what you do, right Daddy?”
At that moment, Tony realized that this girl never even met her father. Harley’d been very young when his father left, but he at least remembered a little about him. Hailey, however had been a newborn when that happened… which meant that she grew up not even knowing what a father was supposed to be.
Tony never hated Harris Keener more than he did now.
“Is that… is that wrong? I can’t call you that?” Hailey asked hesitantly with a wobbly voice. Tony immediately tightened his hug and pet her hair with one hand.
He wasn’t going to let this girl down - even if his quintessential daddy issues screamed at him to stop claiming these children as his own. “If you want to, you can. I’m honored you see me that way, Hailey.”
Hailey didn’t say anything and just hugged him back, but he could feel her smile pressed against his neck.
“This is heartwarming and all, but… Siberia?” Harley interrupted the sweet moment impatiently. Judging by the glare the boy received - and ignored - from everyone else in the room, he was not the only one that was annoyed.
“Fine. Fri, PG version?”
Peter’s TV flicked on with the edited version of the video - one without the gore and snuff part. He’d watched this video a thousand times, both using B.A.R.F. and during his therapy, but he still felt his heart beating a little faster still. The room was silent during the video, and he couldn’t help but chew on his lips in anxiety.
Finally, 5 minutes after the video ended, May Parker whispered with a broken voice, “How could he?”
Hannah broke into sobs and Hailey twisted in his arms to check on her mom. “Mommy? Why are you crying? I don’t understand, why did Captain America hurt Daddy like that? Who is the guy that looked like Jesus? Did he kill Daddy’s parents?”
The woman continued sobbing, and May made the decision to pluck Hailey from his arms and gave her back to her mom. “Go on, Hannah… Hailey’s going to need a little more explaining from her mom.”
Hannah nodded and walked out, clutching Hailey close like she was afraid to lose her. It was then that the boys decided to finally open their mouths.
“Where are they?” Peter growled, already struggling to sit back up because Harley abandoned post to fume around the room instead.
“This is the asshole that grilled you for not telling him about your personal project??” Harley seethed.
“Harley…”
“No! He almost killed you, Dad! After he lied to you! Did he find out after S.H.I.E.L.D. fell? Jesus, did he use your money to look for your parents killer?!”
“I should’ve killed him,” Peter muttered darkly. “I should’ve done something.”
“Peter!” Tony and May shouted together.
“I thought you fought over the Accords! I didn’t know you almost died because he was a fucking coward!”
“Kid…－”
“Where are they??” Peter yelled.
“Why didn’t you kill them?! You have missiles and lasers, Dad!” Harley screeched.
“BOYS!” Tony snapped finally, and the boys shut up immediately. “Sargent Barnes was brainwashed by HYDRA when he killed my parents. Blame where blame is due, kids.”
Harley glared right back at him. “Well, he was brainwashed by HYDRA when he duked it out with his bestie, but I guess Captain America is always a special snowflake. Fuck the rest of us, puny mortals, am I right?”
“Harl, you’re not being fair right now and you know it.”
“Not fair?! I’m not being fair because I’m saying the truth??”
“He wasn’t the Winter Soldier in Siberia,” Peter pointed out spitefully.
Harley pointed at Peter and shouted, “Thank you! And you know what? Fine, let’s say he’s innocent during all that for now. I wanna talk about Rogers. Where the fuck is he, and why the fuck is he not dead?!”
“Barnes was defending himself, Harley, but sure, let’s talk Rogers. First of all, watch that mouth, second, Venezuela, and third, I’m not a god damn murderer.”
For a heartbeat, the room was silent, but Harley gathered his wits soon enough. “You punched Rogers in the face, and then Barnes pointed his gun at you. If anything, you’re defending yourself from him. Also, Venezuela? What?”
Peter, who was mostly stewing in silent anger was fiddling with his web-shooters (where the fuck did he even get those?!) and was looking downright murderous.
“Peter, put those down! Jesus, kids, I’m showing you those so you don’t get a heart attack in case some reporter ask me about that later, not so you can go all gung-ho like this!”
“He almost took you from me before I even had the chance to know you!” Peter was screeching now, his usually bubbly expression gone and replaced with red hot anger.
May, bless her heart, took it as her cue and sat beside her nephew to pull him into a hug. “Peter, I know you’re angry right now. Believe me, I’m furious too. But we can’t let this anger control us, Pete…. Walk it off, buddy. Don’t stoop to his level.”
Seeing May handling Peter so skillfully, Tony decided that Harley could use his help more. So he moved in closer carefully, not wanting to spook the angry teenager. But as soon as he was within an arm’s reach, Harley melted like butter and latched on to him almost automatically.
Tony did not want to think about when even was it that he first became this okay with hugs and cuddles.
“You’re missing the point here, tiger. I’m not telling you that it’s wrong to be angry over this, that’s hypocritical. But holding on to it is just going to hurt you in the long run. You don’t need to forgive them if you don’t want to, god knows I won’t. But this? You getting so angry you can kill a man? I don’t want that, Harley….”
Harley sobbed against his chest, “How are you okay with this, Dad? He hurt you! He almost killed you!”
“Oh, Harl... c’mere,” he hauled his boy up and brought him back to Peter’s bed.
“Please don’t make him sit on me again,” Peter joked weakly. Tony thanked the stars for May Parker.
“Don’t leave the bed and I won’t have to. Now listen, both of you. I am not planning on letting any of them off the hook, okay? I’m not bailing them out, I’m not running interference for them, and I’m not going to offer to help them. But the I’m also not going to play judge, jury, and executioner. Let the court deal with them.” Both Harley and Peter looked mulish, but thankfully neither of them objected. “No more getting protective over me, ‘kay? That’s my job, not yours.”
“I think that’s kind of sweet, actually,” May tried to lighten the mood. “Minus the death threat, of course.”
They sat there in easy sort of silence before Peter started to fidget.
“Pete?”
The teen looked at him uncertainly and chewed on his lips nervously. “Can I－can I hug you too?”
Man, I’m whipped. “Yeah, sure, bud. Come and get it.”
Peter leaned in and Tony found to his delight that he could hug Peter with a little less restraint than with anyone else. Judging by how quickly Peter tightened his grip, he wasn’t the only one that noticed the fact.
“Is it－is it okay if call you D－D－”
“Dad?”
Peter nodded.
Oh, fuck it. Might as well.
“You tell me, Peter. You know I’m basically collecting children at this point. I’d be honored if you see me that way…. Question is, are you okay with that?”
“I… yeah. I think my parents and uncle would be happy for me. I think they’d like it if I have someone to step into that role, and, well… May already said it’s okay, so….”
May did? He thought to himself, barely sparing enough attention to see May smiling softly and them both. “You didn’t answer the question, kiddo. Are you okay with that?”
“I am.”
“Even if I’d probably fuck up sometimes?”
“Who doesn’t”
“Even if you’d probably get hounded by the press too?”
“They won’t catch me.”
“Even if I don’t even have that right, legally speaking?”
“I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me you love me.”
“You’re one stubborn kid, aren’t you.”
Peter chuckled. “Takes one to know one.”
They broke the hug and just stared at each other, grinning like maniacs. Tony felt something fluttered in the space where his arc reactor used to be. Something that felt like bliss, fear, and warmth, all at once. He wondered if this was what fatherhood felt like.
Not a bad feeling.
Until Pepper came rushing in, of course, and the magic vanished. “Tony, why is Vision standing outside like a lost dog? Oh… did I interrupt anything?”
He groaned loudly. “Oh, for god’s－yeah, you did. Is it time already?”
“Yeah. Where’s Hannah?”
“I’m here, I’m here…. Do you think I can cover this with concealer?” Hannah said, gesturing to her puffy eyes with her free hand.
“You just told them about that now?” Pepper griped. “Told you that stupid protocol’s just going to bite us all in the ass later. Come on, Hannah, let the make-up artist take care of that one.”
Hastily, Pepper ushered Hannah away, fussing over her all the way. When they were both gone from view, Vision, looking exactly like a lost dog, peeked into the room and said, “Is it the right time to talk, Tony?”
“Vis, Jesus, I told you I’m fine!”
“But I’m worried for you, Tony….”
“Uh… why is Vision worried?” Harley asked uncertainly.
Vision opened his mouth to answer, but Tony wasn’t having any of it. “Nothing! Not now, Vis, I got to get ready for the press.”
“Dad…?” Peter tried
“Not now, Pete. Seriously, I really need to get ready. Pepper’s going to kill me if I’m late for this.” He stood quickly and pressed quick kisses on top of his boys’ head. “Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone. Peter, do not move from the bed. Harley, sit on him if you have to. May－”
“Yes, yes, I got them. Go!”
He waved a small bye and rushed out, but Vision floated with him, phasing through obstacles like a ghost. “Tony, please, I’m really worried. I… I don’t know what else to do.”
He sighed, but didn’t slow down. “Fine, you can come. But really, Vis, I’m fine. You don’t need to hover like this.”
“I’d rather not take my chances.”
“Well, for what it’s worth… thank you.”
He didn’t wait for Vision’s response as he practically dove into his suite’s bathroom. Different battles requires different armors, and Tony was planning on bringing his best for this one.