Chapter 1
“You are the least subtle person I know Steve. Your ‘I have a secret’ vibe is literally visible from the moon.” Tony told his ex-teammate. He wasn’t sure why the man was currently in his penthouse, after the events that had lead to Steve leaving with Bucky about 3 months ago, he was sure that nothing could bring the blond back, and Tony wasn’t sure that he was ready to forgive his one time friend.
Steve shifted uneasily from foot to foot, nervous energy needing to escape. He really didn’t want to be here right now, knew that he wasn’t wanted, knew that the news that he needed to give wouldn’t go over well, even knew that he wasn’t very good at keeping secrets which was the reason that he was here now. Sighing and steeling himself for what he was about to say, Steve decided to just rip the metaphorical band-aid off.
“Tony, I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to come out and say it. We somehow have a son. Together. I’m not really sure of the science around it, but we found him when we were taking down a HYDRA bunker last week.” Out of all of the reactions that Steve could have expected, Tony laughing in his face was not one of them.
“You’re kidding right?” Tony asked once he caught his breath. It really was laughable. How was it even possible for the two of them to have a child together. The last he checked neither one of them had been pregnant, and that was most likely due to the fact that they were both men. “Man Cap, I really needed that. Thanks for the laugh, really I appreciate it. But you don’t have to soften me up to tell me something. I totally understand if you want to come back to the team, we’ll figure everything out and even find a way to get Bucky in the clear. I’ve done a lot of thinking and just want everyone back together, we’re stronger together.”
“I’m serious Tony. His name is Peter and he’s eight years old. He has your eyes and smile, but my nose, and the cutest mop of brown hair you’ve ever seen. I have his file, just look it over. I understand if you want to do a DNA test, I would actually like to see the results myself.” Steve set the file on the table between them, knowing that Tony wouldn’t take it directly from his hand.
Tony picked up the file and started to flip through it, noting the picture of the kid that Steve was claiming was theirs, he read the notes and was sickened by what he saw. Experimentation, on a child; he knew that HYDRA was sick, but this was just wrong. After skimming the file Tony had come to a decision, it didn’t matter if what Steve said was true, this kid was going to be his, and he was going to spoil the shit out of him.
“Bring him in, we’ll run the test and see where we go from there. If he is my- our- kid, we’ll figure it out then.”
“Well… that’s the thing… When I said that I was going to leave him behind to come talk to you, he kinda freaked out… So he’s downstairs in the lobby with Sam. “ Steve waited for the hot-headed reaction that Tony was known for, the man didn’t really like surprises and this whole situation was jut one big surprise that was being thrown in his lap.
“Oh….Okay then, lets get him up here and we’ll get this straightened out. That’s good actually, better to just get this done with than just drag it out.” Tony turned to head to the lab, leaving Steve to wonder what was going through the billionaires head, not that he ever had any clue. Steve called Sam on his cell and told him that Tony was going to meet with Peter and do the test on him and that they should head on up.
Steve thought that it would be best to wait for Sam and Peter to make sure that the young boy would be okay in the new environment. Judging by the nervousness practically radiating from the small boy in Sam’s arms, that had been a good call. Steve immediately took Peter, the boy seeming to relax jut a bit, he didn’t know if it was just the aura around him that put Peter at ease, or if the boy somehow knew that Steve was his biological father and that he would protect him no matter what the cost.
Heading back to the lab to meet up with Tony, Sam followed closely behind him. Sam hadn’t thought that this was going to be a good idea, then again he was still a little salty about being thrown in a superhero prison. He had argued that If they took Peter to Tony, the man would either reject him completely, or take him away from them, something that Sam was not willing to let happen. The whole team that had gone with him when they split had grown attached to the little boy that had come into their lives and managed to steal their hearts in such a small amount of time.
All seemed to be going well, Peter was beginning to relax in Steve’s arms as they walked through the penthouse, until he caught sight of the lab. One look at the sterile room and the boy went nuts. Peter started screaming and crying, trying as hard as his little eight-year-old body could to get away from Steve, who could see his eyes rolling in terror.
“Hey, buddy. It’s okay, just relax. We’re just going to see my friend Tony, remember him? The one I told you about that was going to help us?” Steve tried to soothe the child. He held on as Peter continued to thrash, his larger muscles no match for the him.
Hurrying into the lab before he could lose his grip on the boy, Steve made sure that Sam closed the door behind him, the falcon deciding to stay in the hallway, to watch their backs. Tony hurried towards the two, noting that the child-Peter- did indeed look like him in some ways, wanting to help if he could.
“Hey Kiddo! What’s up? I’m Tony, nice to meet you by the way, you must be Peter!” Tony said with enthusiasm, making sure not to reach for the frightened child. Peter immediately turned his attention towards Tony, the obvious new threat to him, still trying to get out of Steve’s grip, but notably calming when he noticed that the man was dressed in an old T-shirt and faded jeans, not what the other scientists had worn at the other place.
“Peter, Tony is just going to make sure that your okay, is that alright with you?” Steve told the boy, who had stopped fighting at this point. “Remember, I told you I had to talk to him about you and make sure that everything was okay?”
The small child nodded his head, he didn’t really get what was going on at the moment, but the sense that he usually got when they were in the other lab wasn’t present here. It was like the feeling he got around Steve, that everything was going to be okay as long as he was there, he was getting it from this new man, Tony. The boy was nowhere near relaxed, his small body still tense, but at least he wasn’t freaking out anymore.
“Okay kiddo, I just have to take this swab, and rub the inside of your cheek, will you let me do that?” Tony held up the swab for Peter to see. Peter looked at the swab, still not speaking, but slowly nodded his head, opening his mouth in permission.
Tony quickly collected the swab, immediately turning to put it in the machine that would run the test and judge it against the samples that JARVIS had on file. After that was done, he decided that he was actually kind of hungry, and mentioned this to his guests and decided that they were going to order some take-out from the pizza place on the corner. Tony gave JARVIS the their orders, telling him to make sure to order something for Sam, and sat down to talk with Peter and Steve while they waited the hour that it would take to do the DNA comparison.