Strays
Tony Stark has a huge heart. Anyone close to him will tell you that, even if he doesn’t exactly want them to. Of course, this leads to him “attracting strays” as Steve Rogers so eloquently puts it. Although, to be fair, Steve is one of his original strays. Tony has been providing a place for people to stay ever since he began making real friends. That is, when he wasn’t avoiding his father. Now that he’s got the tower? He practically begs people to stay there. Truth be told, construction started on new floors the second he opened Coulson's files.
If Loki didn’t love Tony so much, he would hate this particular habit. If he hadn’t benefited from said habit, even more so. Of course Tony agreed to let Loki stay at the tower after Asgard pardoned him. Everyone was wary of the god at first, particularly Clint, which was understandable. Except, they’d all welcomed Clint back, and Loki was mind controlled too. Why not give him a place to crash until he became weary of the Avengers?
Except, Loki hadn’t left, and that had led to one of the most surprising turn of events that Tony couldn’t have expected. Loki had stayed, and he’d become rather infatuated with a particular member of the team. Now Tony couldn’t imagine where he’d be if Loki had decided to leave after he’d taken him in all those years ago.
But Loki and the Avengers weren’t the last to benefit from Tony’s inability to turn anyone away. First, there was the twins. Sure, Wanda and Pietro had fought against them at first. But if they could learn to accept Loki living with them, why not two superpowered kids? And Pietro was so hurt at first, to turn them away would be nothing short of cruel. Then, there was Peter. Granted, Peter didn’t actually live at the tower, although he and his aunt had almost gotten an invitation. Luckily, together Peter and Loki convinced Tony that he and May were fine in their apartment. Peter not wanting his aunt to know that he was Spider-Man may have played a role. Tony wasn’t happy about it, but he was willing to let it go. Then, they brought in Bucky. That was a long, hard, struggling trip, but they made it. He was safe to be around. They worked out all his trigger words, and Steve was overjoyed.
The thing is, it didn’t stop there. No one was quite sure where all these superpowered people were coming from. They just kept appearing, and no one knew why. Tony was pretty sure Agent knew. Anyway, the point was, enhanced people were coming out of the woodworks. Most of them weren’t criminals plotting ways to start robbing the Met. Hell, some of them were kids. Of course, there was a stigma though. And of course Tony found out the minute a special foster system was created for powered kids. Of course he immediately turned to Loki with his best puppy dog eyes and started to beg.
“Anthony, for the twentieth time, no. We do not need a child. Neither of us would even know how to care for it.”
“Aw, that’s bullshit. I can take care of a kid. You can take care of me, so obviously you can take care of a kid. How hard could it be?”
“Taking care of a child who has been run through the foster system is difficult enough. But a child who is now in a new foster system due to powers it may not even control? Is this really a question?” Loki cocked an unimpressed brow at his lover and continued making himself an omelet. “You don’t even know that the courts would see you a fit parent. And that doesn’t even address the unlikelihood that they would grant you and I, two men, custody of a child. Things on this planet have come far recently, but not that far, my love.”
Tony pouted at him, resisting the urge to whine. “I’d be a great parent, what are you talking about? I’m great with Peter!”
“Indeed. A fully grown teenager who is nearly a legal adult and lives with his aunt. I’m not saying that you would not make a wonderful father, Anthony. I am just stating facts. Due to your… unfortunate habits in your younger years, it is likely that any judge looking at your record would not deem you a fit parent. Of course, due to your celebrity status and your overwhelming amount of wealth-”
“I am not that rich, come on!”
“You may be able to convince them in your favour, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“What are we talking about?” Clint dropped down from the vent above the island and sat, cross-legged, in front of Tony, giving him a shit eating grin.
“Nothing, Hawkass.”
“Anthony wants to foster a child.”
“Hey!”
Loki shrugged. “I don’t see why you would specifically keep this from Barton. Aside from you, he’s one of the most childish people here.”
“Rude.”
“No one asked you, Clint.”
The archer stuck his tongue out at Tony. “Why’d you want a kid anyway?”
He pouted again, shoving Clint toward the edge of the island. “I don’t expect any of you to get it, okay? Let’s all just forget I said anything. Whatever. It’s not important.” He turned toward the elevator, a little bit hurt, but ignoring it for now.
Loki looked up from his omelet, suddenly worried. He’d thought they were past this stage. “Anthony-”
“I’m fine, Lokes. Just gonna do some inventing.” Tony turned around and flashed Loki a quick smile, turning back around as he entered the elevator, trying to ignore the clenching feeling in his stomach. “The workshop, J. Lock things up a bit once I’m down there, okay?”
“Of course, sir. Shall I call Ms. Potts and inform her of your desire to possibly foster a child with powers?”
Tony winced, thinking back to how adamant Loki had been that they not get a kid. “Nah. It’s not that important. Besides, if Loki says it’s a bad idea, it’s probably a really bad idea, huh?”
“As you wish, sir.”
If Tony didn’t know any better, he’d say his AI sounded troubled. Oh well. He shrugged, walking into his workshop, his face lighting up delightedly when chirps from his bots greeted him.