Problematic Revelations
Tony watched on a projection in the lab as Sage greeted her former foster brother in front of the tower with a hug. She told him that she’d suggested meeting by the tower, using it as a landmark. Something told him, though, that she knew he’d pull up the CCTV footage and check on her from time to time as she waited outside.
The boy looked normal enough, if a few years older than Sage. He had caramel coloured hair curling past his shoulders, and a dark, alternative-type style to counter Sage’s own soft, neutral palette. His wide grin, however, nearly outmatched the one stretching across her face.
They embraced for several seconds, and then parted enough to speak at a comfortable distance before Sage looped her arm through his and they started down the street.
“She won’t return any sooner if you continue to stare at that screen, my love.”
Tony turned around and smiled softly at the sight of Loki nestled into the corner of his lab couch, book in hand and surrounded by Tony’s bots. The visual was reminiscent of they time Sage would spend down here after school, and his heart fluttered in his chest at the reminder of his own family that he’d brought together. “I know, I know. I’m just paranoid.” He blew out a heavy breath and closed the feed. “Happy will let me know if anything goes wrong. They won’t be back for hours anyway.” He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “I can’t do anything productive like this. Can’t sit still. Spar with me?”
Loki looked up and his grin grew feral. “Gladly.”
---
“So, I”ve taken you to brunch. Has is been long enough for me to ask about your new foster family yet?”
Sage laughed, her eyes bright. SHe and Sam had been in Francesco’s for a good hour and a half, eating and catching up. She was surprised that he’d lasted for this long without asking. “Yeah, go ahead.” She rplied, eyes darting over to where Happy was sipping coffee in the corner of the cafe. She wondered how long it would take Sam to notice him.
“So, what are they like? Rich, poor, liberal, conservative, democrat, republican? Come on, you’ve gotta give me something!”
“Okay, okay, okay okay. Um. Well first of all,” she smirked at his eye roll but continued, “You know it’s two guys this time, right?”
“I think so? You tweeted about it or something. I’ve got all your post notifications on, but you have been tragically sparse in the details department. I know you’ve got tea, so spill it.”
She laughed again. “Right. Okay, so my foster dads, Tony and Lo...ki….?” She paused, wondering if Sam would recognise the name of Thor’s younger brother, but he didn’t seem to have put the pieces together yet. “They’re super chill, I love them a lot. They actually like went to Lakewood and made sure that I got to switch my second semester class schedule so that I don’t have to take Chem next semester, but I don’t lose the science credit either, so that was super nice. I was soooo thankful. I told you how bad that was.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Wanted to punch that dickwad of a teacher in the throat.”
“You and Bruce both. Uh.” She stuttered suddenly at his questioning look. “Bruce is one of Tony’s friends. He hangs around the house a lot. They actually have a whole bunch of friends. We get great games of Dutch Blitz going.” She added, eyes twinkling.
Sam groaned. “Ugh, now I see why you’re ditching me for your new family. It’s because they’ll play that damn game with you. I told you, my mind just doesn’t recognise things fast enough for me to play with you when you feel even remotely competitive. I can’t keep up.”
“I know. I don’t blame you for that. I wish you could keep up, but I get it.” She laid a hand over his and smiled softly at him. “I still love you anyway.”
He smirked. “Enough to tell me more about your foster family?”
She giggled and shoved his hand away. “I was going to tell you anyway, but now….”
“Sage Colette Ahlers! I haven’t seen you in nine months. The last time we got together you were still living with Paul and Cindy.” His face screwed up as he mentioned the names, like he’d tasted something bitter.
“At least Paul and Cindy let me go out with you, offensive as they were. Your parents barely let me set foot outside the house because god forbid I find someone attractive and they weren’t cis.”
Sam chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. That’s fair. Seriously though. You’re holding out on me. What’s the deal here? Usually you tell me everything and post your whole life online. Spill. No. Wait.” He narrowed his eyes at her and grabbed
both of her forearms, pulling on them so that she was forced to lean closer to him as he leered at her across the table. His eyes darted all over her face, scrutinizing before he let her go and slowly leaned back against the booth they were seated in. “You’re not telling me things on purpose. Because there’s things you can’t tell me. You don’t know how much you’re allowed to tell me. You haven’t mentioned a single last name associated with the family you’re being fostered by yet and you’ve mentioned three people already. Tony, Loki, and Bruce. Your eyes lit up more than they have been when you mentioned Bruce, and you cannot seriously expect me to have forgotten about your ridiculous nerd crush on The Doctor Bruce Banner that you’ve been harbouring for years. You couldn’t fake that excitement. And if you’re going to Bruce Banner for help on chemistry homework, which holy shit, congrats, then that means that you’re being fostered by Tony Stark. Now that, in itself, hot fuck. That’s insane. Like that is ridiculously cool, but you also said Loki. Now, hook up with me if I’m wrong, but several years ago, Thor Odinson’s moody little brother tried to take over the world through New York. If I’ve done my mythology research, which you best fuckin’ believe I have, Thor Odinson’s moody little brother’s name is Loki. You’re being fostered by Thor’s moody little brother. Holy shitfuck. Mother of fucking damn holy shit god fuck. You probably know Thor!” He gasped, hands actually drifting up to cover his mouth. “That’s why you met me in front of Stark tower!”
Sage groaned and buried her face in her arms. “Goddamnit, Sammy. You weren’t supposed to find out! Fuck! Why do I make such smart friends?!” She peeked over at Happy, who looked a bit alarmed, but thankfully Sam’s freakout had been fairly quiet, and the cafe was rather empty. No one had heard anything. They were fine. Except for-
“You HAVE to introduce me to Thor.”
- That.
“Not a chance in hell.” She glared the boy down. “I’m finally settling in with these guys. You will not blow my chances at finally finding a place where I belong with people who accept me by storming in and fawning over Thor and shattering their trust of me. I- look, muffin.” She begrudgingly tried to soften her tone, backing off to one of their more familiar nickname sets. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I didn’t mean that. I just-” She turned pleading eyes on him. “The only family that I’ve clicked with like this, ever, was the Wilimans. I couldn’t have a life with them, but that wasn’t any of our faults. I want this, Sam. I want to be a family with them so badly. I know I always want it, but… you don’t get it. With the team, I don’t need to fit some… pre specified mold that I don’t know the parameters of. They weren’t expecting anything when they got me, but… They got me. And they’ve excepted me. And I’ve got… people to play Dutch Blitz with.” She looked down to her wringing hands as tears started to gather in her eyes. “I’ve never had a whole family unit support me like this before. I know I’ve had you, and I’ve had Tami, and yeah, I’ve never been without some semblance of a support group, but this is different you know? I know you’ve never had anything like this either, because I’ve met your parents bud. Fresh out of unconditional love and acceptance there. I just… I need to know that I won’t wake up some day and have this all be fake before I let you meet them, okay? Because you meeting them would make it… It would make it feel permanent. And I want that, but I still can’t shake the feeling that really soon I’m going to say something, or make the wrong move, or fuck something up so badly that they kick me out. And I know that if I let you meet them, you’ll get attached and it will be hard for you when I’ve got to leave too. So just… Can we have a nice day today, if I promise I’ll introduce you to everyone next time we get together? I know I’ve been with them for months already, but I-”
“Sweetheart, you need to calm the hell down.” He laid a gentle hand over her fidgety ones, and a gentle finger on her chin lifted her eyes to meet his. “You aren’t hurting my feelings. I’m sorry that I got all worked up. I was… excited, yeah, but I didn’t think about the fact that this is still pretty new for you too. I don’t need to meet your new family either this time, or the next time, or even the one after that. I’m not here for your new family. I’m here to see you. I would love to spend the day with you. We can go troll a thrift shop for a few hours and then go for ice cream. I’ll even walk you back to the tower if you like. If Tony Stark’s head of security wouldn’t mind.” He winked suggestively at Happy over his shoulder, and Sage giggled when the older man flushed dark red. “You obviously need someone to talk to who’s removed from your family but knows the details and stuff, so tell me as you’re ready. You don’t have to spill any major tea today, whether yours or someone else’s, but- hey, hey.” He caught her gaze before she tried to look down and away. Sam knew that Sage wasn’t always comfortable with extended eye contact, but this was a point that he knew he needed to drive home. “I am and always will be your big brother, okay? I got an apartment in the neighborhood as soon as you told me whereabouts you were moving. So, if you ever need a place to crash or just destress, I’m a text away. I’m not your therapist-” a pointed look and an answering guilty, downward glance told him what he’d been suspecting- “But I can act as a sounding board for you when you need to process things. Now.” He retracted the hand still in the vincinity of her face, and moved it to hold her hands instead, because Sage’s love language was physical touch, no matter what she said. “Tell me about the nerdgasm that was you meeting Doctor Bruce Banner, if you’re not going to dispell some of your anxiety with retail therapy right away.”
She threw him a smile, eyes a little damp, but began recounting the story of her first night in the tower.
---
“Sir, there is an incoming communication from Mister Hogan.”
Tony and Loki paused in their sparring, both sweaty and panting, and the inventor had to quell the instantaneous flare of panic in his chest. “Yeah, go ahead, J.”
“Hey, Tony?”
“Yeah, Happy, what’s up? Something wrong? Is Sage okay?”
“You’re daughter’s fine, Tony… I think. Um. The kid she’s meeting with figured out who you guys are. I don’t know if that’s a problem or not. That’s up to you. He seems alright to me. I’m sure Pepper ran a background check on him. Anyway, that’s not why I called.”
“Okay, what is it Happy, we were kind of busy.”
“Well, was listening into their conversation for a while, and I was somewhat concerned with some of the things Sage said. They weren’t exactly… but, I just… I want that girl to be happy, Tony. I want her to feel like she belongs with you guys and to realise how much you guys love her, and-”
“Yeah, I want all that too, Happy, what’s your point?”
“Uh, JARVIS, you’ve been recording their whole conversation, right?”
“Yes, Mister Hogan.”
“Could you just… play the section from Samuel figuring out Tony and Loki’s identities to when he suggested ‘retail therapy’?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Wait, Happy, I don’t-”
“Just… listen to what she’s saying Tony. They’re getting ready to go to the thrift shops, but pay attention to your girl. Don’t let her eat herself into a hole of worry. I’ve got to go.”
Tony stood, frozen, staring at the recording pulled up on the screen from what looked to be the camera in the new phone he’d gotten for Sage. Apparently JARVIS monitored her conversations now. He needed to do some coding work. First though, apparently he needed to eavesdrop on a conversation between his foster daughter and her previous foster brother.
“Anthony, I don’t know that we should intrude like this.”
“It’ll be okay, Lokes.”
“If Sage knows you breached her privacy, do you have any idea how long it will take for her to trust you again?”
That just about stopped Tony’s heart in his chest. “Loki, I-” he spun around to face the immortal, and bit his lip. “Happy’s worried about her. He wanted me to listen to it. I can’t let my baby girl suffer, Lo’.” He sighed. “We’ll listen to it, and see what we can do about it, and then we’ll delete it and I’ll rewrite some of JARVIS’s code so that he doesn’t do this anymore, okay?”
The god nodded slightly, the set of his jaw begrudging. “Fine. But do not come to me when this blows up in your face.” He dropped into a lotus pose on the sparring mat, looking unhappy, but unwilling to leave.
Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat and began the video.
“‘Sage Colette Ahlers! I haven’t seen you in nine months. The last time we got together you were still living with Paul and Cindy.’...”