Something Wicked This Way Comes
(Keeners’ New Apartment, Queens, New York City)
“Okay, so I get it that you don’t want Miss Potts dropping in, but you can ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. to alert you for that,” Tracy said as she made herself at home on his sofa.
“Yeah, I know. But I kinda want to give Peter some quality time with Dad too, you know. He seemed upset about… well.”
Tracy winced in response, but quickly sobered up to grip a steadying hand on a tripping Hailey. “Alright, Cassi, no pushing. We’ve talked about this.”
Cassidy looked down, appropriately chastised. “Sorry, Trace.”
“I’m okay, Tracy! Thanks!” Hailey quickly jumped to her new friend’s defense.
“Yeah, yeah. Go on with your play date now, the adults got some super serious stuff to do.”
Harley smirked winningly at her. “Oh, so I’m an adult now? Gee, thanks.”
Tracy rolled her eyes. “The adult and a brat,” she retorted.
Harley opened his mouth, but the bell rang before he could speak.
“Yoo-hoo, anyone home?” a woman’s voice called.
“Adults,” he said with a grin and hurried to open the door for Major Naomi and Major Leo. “Hi! Thanks for coming!”
“Not everyday you get invited to Tony Stark’s sons’ super secret stuff,” Leo answered kindly.
“So, are we waiting for anyone else?”
“Just Vision, Rhodey and Happy. Miss van Dyne said she was busy doing science stuff with her dad,” Harley said as he stepped aside to let them in.
Naomi’s eyes went wide. “Wait, we’re waiting for Major General Rhodes?? I’m wearing T-shirt!”
Her friend guffawed loudly, already walking to the living room. “Seriously? We’re off-duty, girl. Grab a bag and get it all together already.”
“You shut your mouth, Leo. This is serious!”
Leo ignored his panicking friend, and introduced himself to the amused looking Tracy. “Leonardo Verde. Air Force Major and Avenger… I guess.”
Tracy, the thot, eyed the tall (and admittedly attractive) man appreciatively. “Tracy Crowley. Hopefully an Avenger, and available as fuck,” she purred with half-lidded eyes and fluttered eyelashes.
Leo chuckled. “Sorry ma’am. I don’t swing that way.”
“He likes the D!” Naomi called from behind the couch.
“Aw, shucks,” Tracy mumbled nonchalantly, if a little awkwardly, already shelving away her sultry act.
Harley barely stifled his laugh.
“Flattered, though. Thanks,” Leo offered.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the prettiest of them all, Verde.”
“Aw, thanks, Lim. Really warms my heart.”
Harley watched, smiling. Somehow, he just knew that this new team of superheroes would take good care of his Dad. Something told him that this team won’t turn to hell the way the old one had.
Another ring of the bell broke him out of his reverie.
“Heya! How’s home?” he asked immediately when he saw Vision, Rhodey and Happy.
Happy’s eyebrows furrowed, half concerned, half confused. “Honestly? I think he’s sulking way harder than he should. He certainly didn’t lock himself down the lab when he offered Pepper strawberries… again.”
“He’s not going to buy Peter 5 pairs of heels, right?”
“Honestly, I’m not even sure at this point.”
Rhodey walked in with a whir of his braces. “I’d give him some more credits, though. Therapy’s really helping him.” The man ruffled his hair affectionately. “You help too, Harl. Thank you.”
He ducked his head, hoping to hide his blush. Quickly, he ushered everyone into their seats, and cleared his throat. “Okay, so first of all, thank you for coming.”
Several hums of agreement answered him.
“Second, if you don’t know, we’re going to plan Tony Stark’s proposal to Pepper Potts.”
Several brows were raised, but nobody said anything.
“Third, it’s going to happen in exactly… 30 hours from now.”
All hell broke loose, and it was at this moment Harley knew… he fucked up.
(Stark Towers, Manhattan, New York City)
“Dad?”
“Go away, Pete.”
“Please….”
“No.”
“I’m so so－”
“Don’t you dare apologize for me being a shit－”
“I won’t have to feel like I should apologize if you’d just tell me what’s wrong!”
“I don’t even know your－I don’t－”
“Big deal, Dad! We’re not always this close, and then stuff happen, and you have other stuff to worry about, it’s fine, Jesus!”
“It’s not!”
“This is ridiculous, you’re blowing this out of proportion!”
That did it. Tony stomped to the door and pull it open with way more force than necessary. “’Out of proportion’?” he hissed. “Did you know that the only birthday party my dad ever bothered going to was my 13th? And that he brought a card that said ‘Happy 12th birthday’??”
Peter backed away with wide eyes, and immediately anger drained out of him like air out of a punctured tire.
“I’m… I’m sorry Kiddo, I shouldn’t have yelled.”
But Peter just shrugged it off and flung himself into a hug that he gladly returned. “No… I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t know it was such a sore point for you….”
“Course you don’t know, Peter, I never told you. Never told anyone, really.”
“Well, thanks for telling me.”
They held each other in a hug for a long, long time, but neither of them protested. Perks of having enhanced physiology.
“You’re not him, Dad,” Peter whispered finally, still clinging to him for dear life. “You’re better than he ever was.”
Tony tried to swallow through the thick lump in his throat, but when he answered, his voice still came out hoarse, “I’m trying, Peter… I’m trying really hard, but I keep fucking up. First with Harley, and now with you….”
“Peter tightened his grip around him. “Harley wasn’t on you.”
“I should’ve done more. I should’ve protected him.”
“And you did. But you can’t plan on every single contingency. You’re Iron Man, not Batman.”
He let out a shaky laugh. “Hold my… non-alcoholic beverage.”
“You still got nightmare? About Harley?”
“And you. And Hal. Perks of parenthood, I guess.”
“Oh.”
“So apparently I don’t like the idea of you getting buried alive. Surprise.” Tony sighed. “You guys should really learn a few things from Hailey about not giving me heart attack once every other quarter.”
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault. Ross’ a dick.”
“How come you can say that to other people but not to yourself?”
“That a rhetoric, Kid?”
“No. I’m asking for real.”
He paused, surprised. “I… I guess it’s habit by now.”
“Well stop it. I don’t like you beating yourself over something that you don’t have anything to do with.”
“You’re one to speak. You apologize for everything.”
This time, it was Peter’s turn to pause. “I… guess? I never really thought about that too.”
“Aren’t we the pair.”
“If I say I’m going to work on that, will you work on your self-blaming problem too?”
Tony didn’t hesitate to answer, “Yes.”
“So… I still get to have a party tomorrow?”
The party.
Shit.
With a jerk, he extracted himself from the hug. “Shit. I forgot to cancel the dri－your present!”
Peter, bless his obliviousness, scrunched his nose in confusion. “I told you, Dad, you don’t have to get me anything…. And why do you need to－”
“Welp, look at the clock! So much to do, so little time. Shoo. I have bribe some people.”
“Dad!” Peter whined as Tony practically stuffed him in the elevator.
“Kidding. But it’s for your birthday. Which we’re totally still celebrating.”
“Wait!” Peter held a hand to the elevator’s closing door. “Just so you know, you’re proposing at my party, OK?”
“What?!”
“Bye Dad! Good luck!”
That little shit.
(Keeners’ New Apartment, Queens, New York City)
“Not to rain on your party, Harley, but does Tony even know?”
“I’ve seen promposals planned with way more time than this.”
“I don’t wanna be that girl, but…”
“Yeah, this is… pushing it a little bit too much.”
Harley let out a big sigh. “Look, he’s ready, okay? And if we keep pushing the date back, he’s just gonna get more nervous and second guess everything.”
Happy, always the cool dude, studied him carefully, looking for a trace of uncertainty. The man must’ve find none, because he just nodded and slid Tony’s ring to the coffee table. “Well, this kid’s brand of crazy always seemed to work in the past. I’m down.”
“See? This is why you’re my favorite.”
“Pep’s your favorite, Kid. Stop sucking up.”
Rhodey eyed the ring with rapidly widening eyes. “Holy shit. Isn’t that his mom’s? I thought it was buried with her!”
“Nah, he had it custom-made. Sappy, I know.”
“That might just be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” Trace said. “Should I be concerned that you remember his mom’s engagement ring, General?”
“I remember the diamond’s shape. Say what you want about Howard Stark, but if a man cut a diamond himself for your ring, that’s dedication.” Rhodey paused, and his face darkened. “Too bad he didn’t have the same dedication to his own son.”
Everyone in the room fell silent, each with their own reaction. Happy eyed the ring with a mixture of melancholy and bitter smile. Rhodey closed his eyes and breathed slowly, as if trying not to curse out loud. Vision looked a little lost, like he was struggling to reconcile the idea of a parent not loving their child with the image of harmonious, if a little unconventional, family that the synthetic being had been a part of. Leo was staring at his hands, clenched so tight the knuckles turned white. On his side, Naomi rubbed his arm soothingly.
Tracy was facing away to where her brother and Hailey was, obliviously, playing, but what little of her face that Harley could see was suspiciously red and watery. “At least he’s taking his past back,” she said after a while. “He’s not letting it control him. That’s the best case scenario, I think.”
“You’re right,” Rhodey answered. “Tony’s gonna be a better husband than he ever was.” He looked at Harley, eyes bright with pride. “He’s already a better father after all.”
“Well,” Naomi said, voice uncharacteristically soft, “what can we do to help?”
Harley’s grin widened. These really are all good people. Tony’s in good company this time around.
“Alright, so…”
(New Avengers Facility, Upstate New York)
Pepper walked into the main hall, fully expecting it to be decorated in a way only superheroes could pull off. When she saw that the room was not only bare bone, but deserted as well, she frowned in confusion. She was sure that Tony told her the party was going to be in the compound instead of the tower like he originally planned. To clear the air from Rogers’ stench and all.
“F.R.I.D.A.Y.? where’s everyone?” she asked.
“Down in the lab, Ma’am. I believe Boss is waiting for you to reveal Peter’s birthday present. You, and I’m quoting, “have at least 12% credit on the idea.””
Laughing softly to herself, she stepped into the open elevator. Tony had wanted to outright buy Peter a new car, which she had vetoed immediately. Even as close as Peter and Tony was, the boy still had the reservation about receiving expensive gifts, even if said gift wouldn’t even make a dent in Tony’s pocket.
Tony’s next idea was a little more sedate: A learner’s permit, or at a promise to help Peter get said permit and drive the car that followed the permit. It was maybe one of Tony’s brightest ideas. A present that costed next to nothing, but resulted in a father-son bonding time that Peter craved more than any physical gift that Tony could buy.
Of course, that was before the man was thrown out of the loop so hard because of a misunderstanding gone wrong.
To be fair, none of them, safe for Happy, knew for sure about Peter’s actual age. When Peter introduced himself as 15, nobody was expecting the “I’m almost 15, but what’s a few months, right?” kind of approach would backfire and hit Tony in his daddy-issues later. Tony’s regress was so quick and unexpected, but thankfully the man called her a few hours later and explained the whole deal with Howard and his damned birthday card.
Pepper sighed. The more she heard about Tony’s father, the more she became thankful that Tony got his personality - the real one, not the asshole-billionaire facade - from his mom instead. The real Tony was loving, selfless, fiercely protective - a perfect image of how Tony always described Maria Stark.
A stab of melancholy struck her as she realized that she would never know if Tony’s mom would actually approve of her relationship with “bambino.””
But the elevator’s door dinged cheerfully, and opened to reveal a strange view. The lab was lavishly decorated with strings on strings of red and blue ribbons, balloons, and small spider-shaped drones that occasionally squirted silly strings and confetti from above. The lab desks was clear for the first time in forever, and instead of scientific equipment and metallic knick-knack, mountains of chips and sweets and sandwiches piled on them, enough to feed more than just 2 people in the room: Tony and Peter.
Weird.
“Happy birthday, Peter,” she said anyway, schooling her face into a neutral smile to hide her confusion.
“Thanks, Pepper!” the boy answered cheerfully, blissfully unaware of her questioning gaze to the man beside him. Conveniently so, if she had to say.
Tony ignored her unspoken question and clapped Peter’s shoulder instead. “Well, since the 12%－”
Pepper cleared her throat.
“Fine. The sole holder of the copyright of your present is here, can we open the mystery box already?” True to his word, Peter’s gift was “wrapped” in a big box, standing in the middle of the room, wrapped in baby blue wrapper with “it’s a spider!” printed all over it.
Peter eagerly unwrapped it, obviously trusting her choice to not be over the top. But when the boy opened the box to reveal a bunch of metal parts, he blinked confusedly.
“Uh… thank you?”
Tony laughed, loud and warm. “Take the biggest piece out, Kid,” he directed.
Peter dug out a piece of metal that Pepper believed was called an engine block, turning it around to check it until an emblazoned letters caught his attention.
Stark Car Mk. 1 - Spider’s Wheels
The boy’s eyes went wide, and Pepper swore she could hear a boyish gasp from somewhere behind her.
“Is… is this what I think it is?” Peter stuttered, holding the spare part like it was some sort of holy artifact.
Tony’s eyes crinkled at the corner with his smile. “Your very own DIY car kit? Yup.”
Peter gaped at him. “I－I don’t know anything about car building though….”
Tony rolled his eyes at his son’s shocked face. “What am I? Chopped liver? Greatest Engineer alive, Kid. I’m pretty sure I can build a car just fine.”
“You’ve made one before?!”
“Nope. This is my Mark 1.” Tony grinned at Peter’s awestruck reaction. “Well, your Mark 1. We’re gonna have so much fun, Kid.”
Peter flung himself at Tony, mumble of gratitude muffled by his father’s suit.
Another shuffling noise from her back, and this time Pepper did turn around in suspicion. It sounded distinctly like someone getting their mouth muffled.
“Okay, I’ll bite. Where’s everyone?” she asked after the noise suspiciously disappeared.
Peter looked pointedly at Tony, and, after putting the engine block back into the box with great care and adoration, shuffled backward silently.
“Tony?”
“Um….”
Tony floundered, opening and closing his mouth silently. A beep interrupted them, and they both stared at Peter, now holding a video recorder.
“Uh… don’t mind me?” he tried.
Someone slapped their forehead at the corner of the room, and Pepper knew that it wasn’t just her imagination.
“Okay, is this the part where you－”
“CodewhiteCrowleydoitnow!” Tony blurted out in a breath.
Silence.
“Wha…－”
Suddenly all decorations vanished, leaving the room empty for a split second. Electric blue sheen glided over the surface, and she recognized it as Tracy’s power. The light dimmed, Floating orbs of light danced around them, subtle scent of rose and jasmine wafted through the air, and in the distance, she heard a music box tingling the love theme from the Godfather.
Despite everything, she still gasped in surprise.
Shadowy figures moved around her, and she recognized Rhodey’s whirring braces just as well as the new Avengers, Leonardo and Naomi’s unfamiliar frames. Her pencil skirt and blazer glowed blue, and it changed into the dress she wore on her first date with Tony - complete with the ketchup stain on the waist fold that only Happy knew about, because he was the one who had bought the instant stain remover stick that only made it worse.
Whirring noise on her left notified her of Rhodey’s arrival. She turned, only to see a chair, a perfect recreation of the one from the restaurant, had already been set for her. Tentatively, she sat down, and immediately, Leonardo and Naomi leaped into action, setting a dining table, complete with a flower bouquet that Naomi arranged on the spot. All around, tables popped into existence, and the room slowly transformed into the beautiful Italian restaurant they never went back to because it was destroyed during the Chitauri Invasion. Vision glided down gracefully, and set down one final flower to Naomi’s arrangement. A lone rose, red and dewy.
The music morphed into a distinctly 2008 love song playlist, and one by one their friends and family filled the tables around her, pointedly ignoring her wet eyes. Rhodey, Happy, Hannah and May sat the closest. On her left, the Vision, Tracy, Leonardo, Naomi, and even Hope van Dyne huddled close, throwing encouraging smile at her. Peter, Harley, Hailey and Cassidy was nowhere to be seen, but excited noises from the ceiling told her that they were all watching, suspending upside down on Peter’s web, probably with recording devices on hand.
She saw Tracy’s eyes glow blue once more, and the glowing orbs shifted to the chair in front of her. Tony, clad in his atrocious, pre-avengers red and gold suit and tie, appeared out of the darkness like a mirage. The man was smiling, nervous but genuine and determined.
She never saw a more beautiful sight.
“Hi Peps,” he said, voice tight with emotion.
“Hi Tony,” she answered, voice tight with even more emotion.
“Sorry, I know you hate this suit. For the sake of immersion, though….”
“I don’t remember the bouquet.”
“Ah, yeah…. Naomi said we should use appropriate flowers for the occasion.”
“The occasion?”
Tony gulped, but his eyes never left hers. “You know what I used B.A.R.F. for, right?”
“Memory modification, right? Guilt and trauma reconciliation?”
He nodded. “That’s the closest thing I could get to changing the past.”
Pepper looked around her, recognizing the parallel. “Since you still wear that horrendous suit I guess you don’t really regret that?”
“It compliments my eyes.”
“It really doesn’t.”
“But yes, that’s not what I want to change from our first date.”
Pepper inclined her head, but said nothing.
Tony took a deep breath, reached into his suit’s pocket and took something out, but hiding it in his palm. “I was late to the dinner,” he said.
“You were.”
“Because I went somewhere first.”
“I gathered.”
“Do you know why Happy took so long to buy you that totally useless detergent stick?”
Pepper felt her eyes began to mist with tears again. “I think I do.”
Tony offered her his still-closed hand. Slowly he opened it, and revealed a beautiful ring that she just knew match her finger perfectly. “The jeweler didn’t have time to finish the custom box, but my hands were shaking too much to stuff it into my own pocket. It’s been in Happy’s since then.”
Pepper knew that she was full-on crying now, but she didn’t care.
“Even then I knew that you were it for me, Pep. I knew that it’s either you or no one at all,” Tony said, voice shaking, but unflinching. “I wasn’t ready, though. That’s why I didn’t propose.”
“Not because it’s bad move to propose on first date?” she teased, even when her voice shook just as much as Tony’s.
“Yeah, that too,” he agreed, eyes glittering under the illusory lighting. “I wasn’t ready then. I wasn’t good enough for you. But hell if I regretted not doing it every time death brushed past me. Never again, Pep. I’m ready now. I’m ready to work my ass off to deserve you for the rest of my life. As your husband.” Tony stood, walked to her side, and instinctively, she stood in front of him too. Tony smiled and went down on his knee, holding the ring hopefully. “Pepper Potts, I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. You make me strong, you make me kind, you make me better. I just want to be the same for you, if you’ll give me the chance. Will you marry me, Pep?”
“Yes.”
The room erupted in cheers, spider drones returned and showered them all in a storm of confetti. But all her attention was directed at how Tony carefully slipped the ring into her finger, and gently kissed it. He looked up, grinning like she just gave him the best present in the world instead of the other way around. She dragged him up and kissed him, ignoring the wolf whistle and children scream that threatened to bring the building down.
“Party time!” Harley shouted from the ceiling, and Tracy’s illusion gave way to one final decor change.
* * * * *
She went around the room in a daze, thanking each and everyone with Tony on his side, still grinning. She distantly registered Rhodey’s and Happy’s fierce hugs, as well as Hannah’s and May’s tearful ones. Hope van Dyne, Vision, Naomi and Leonardo opted for a more professional, but no less warm, handshake. Tracy grasped her hands tightly, mischievous smile bellied by her twinkling eyes. The kids’ embrace was messy and allover the place, and Pepper couldn’t help but imagining her own child, her first and Tony’s fourth, joining this hug in an immediate future.
“Can we go back to Peter’s new car, though?” Harley asked excitedly after he extracted himself.
“My almost-a-car, you mean?”
“We’re totally putting spider web decal on it!”
Hailey scrunched her face at that. “Ew! No! Do kittens!”
“Oh! Puppies!” Cassidy joined in excitedly.
Peter just smiled and shook his head, “How about none of the above? Maybe I want a black car with… flames and stuff.”
Harley snorted. “You’re not that cool.”
“Hey!”
They bickered for a while, unaware of the few amused glances the party-goers threw their way. Pepper, for her part, simply stepped back, her fiance in tow, and watched as the scene unfolded in front of them.
This is nice.
“I’m really sorry to interrupt, but…” F.R.I.D.A.Y. called timidly from the speaker. “Boss? It’s an emergency.”
Jinxed it.
“Didn’t I tell the Council that the Avengers are having a break?”
“You did… but it seemed like the situation in Hong Kong is critical.”
“Wait, hold on. What situation??”
“It appears that the… minor magical disturbances in London and Bleecker Street are linked to this attack. two groups of these magicians are fighting against each other in the middle of Hong Kong.”
“Okay? didn’t China have their own super secret boy band?”
“They have their hands full with citizen protection, Boss.”
Tony and the other Avengers stood up, looking grim but battle-ready. “I need visual,” Tony said.
A holoscreen popped up, showing a scene of mass panic in a crowded street in Hong Kong from a bird’s eye view of a drone. A group of people in red and orange uniform were scrambling all around, trying to block off stray attacks while at the same time corralling the panicking citizens. But one group of the magicians, the attacker, seemed to be inclined towards total destruction, and they were actively attacking both the defending group and the bystanders alike.
They were fighting an impossible battle.
“The Council?”
“Chinese government seemed hesitant to call for help, Boss.”
Tony let out some very creatively disguised curse words. “Emergency protocol is in effect! Who’s their first contact?”
“AERA. But their rank is spread too thin. Half of them are busy with the rogues, the other is still in covert mission in Madripoor.”
“PIERA?”
“Circumventing a volcanic eruption in the Pacific.”
“Damn it, call someone! People’s going to start dying before－”
Suddenly, a man made a slashing gesture towards one of the last few standing defenders. They all flew backward, and slammed into the building behind them. The man made another set of hand gestures, shouting maniacally about world without time and immortality. The building tumbled and crumbled in a smoke of dust.
Gasps filled the room as a portal suddenly opened in Hong Kong air, bigger and more menacing than the one that once filled New York’s sky. Another explosion, this time on the streets of Hong Kong, and bodies went flying everywhere.
“Fuck it. This is Level 10 emergency. Avengers, Assemble!” Tony yelled.
Armors and wings barged into the lab, ready for their users to don them. Hope opened a briefcase hurriedly, and took out a small doll that grew into a full-sized mannequin of her Wasp suit. Tracy rushed into the corner of the room and put on a leather jacket and a belt full of daggers.
Pepper just stood there, stunned.
She watched helplessly as her friends and family prepared for war, just minutes after her proposal. She stared back at the screen, frowning when yet another portal, much smaller and circular in shape, opened and spat out two men into the ruins.
She gasped when she recognized one of them. “Dr. Strange?!”
Tony whipped his head around. “Who??” His mouth fell open when he saw the unmistakably goatee of the former surgeon. “Holy shit, that’s him.”
“F.R.I.D.A.Y., enhanced visual. Read their lips,” Rhodey commanded.
“The Sanctum’s already fallen,” F.R.I.D.AY. read the Doctor’s lips.
“The dark dimension - Dormammu is coming. It’s too late, nothing can stop him.”
“Not necessarily,” the Doctor said after a beat.
The caped man made a strange gesture, and a green light lit up from an artifact in his chest.
“No.” the attackers’ leader whispered, leaping to action, but But Doctor Strange pushed his hand forward, a mandala glowing green in front of his palm.
And then multiple things happened at once.
Vision suddenly yelled, “No!” and flew into the middle of the room. The stone in his forehead glowed bright yellow, and a bubble of the same color spread outward from it. Pepper yelped in alarm, reaching for Tony who already made the same motion, but suddenly, she felt like she was moving through molasses. Her movement was slow, like she was in a movie’s over-dramatized CGI. Tony’s eyes went wide in alarm, but he was obviously caught in the same position as her.
It was as if the very time itself was stopping.
But Vision’s bubble of protection kept growing and growing, and after a while, she too was enveloped in it. The time started to move again.
“What… what was that?” Tracy asked with a trembling voice.
“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” Peter asked, still hovering protectively in front of the younger audiences.
“Her core is too far away. I cannot reach it from here,” Vision said with an obvious strain in his voice.
“What is this, Vision? What’s happening?”
The android turned his gaze toward her, but she knew instinctively that at that time, it was more than just Vision that was talking. “Brother awakens,” he said. “Five revealed, one yet left to slumber. The end game approaches.”