Broodmare

<I don't know what's more annoying. Typing this in Google docs and having to capitalize the first word after a quotation mark, or typing it on my laptop with no auto correct. #firstworldproblems>

BTW, keeping track of kids is hard.

GAH

<I don't know what's more annoying. Typing this in Google docs and having to capitalize the first word after a quotation mark, or typing it on my laptop with no auto correct. #firstworldproblems>

BTW, keeping track of kids is hard.

GAH

*edited on 5-14

________

T’Challa grasped the container with both hands.

“Are there any more?” He asked softly.

“No, he made sure he got everything they had.”

He turned to Shuri but he didn’t have to ask really. “I need permission to destroy the remaining samples. We need this one to prove their existence, but the rest, I must insist upon destroying myself.”

Winter nodded. “Yeah, here, you can do whatever you want with them. We just wanted to make sure they couldn’t make anymore.”

“Wise decision.” He led Shuri over to the rucksack and dug out 6 more containers that held ten beakers each. She took them over to the fireplace, opened the partition, turn the fireplace on and threw them into the fire with all her might.

Once she could tell they were all alight she closed the partition but turned up the fire.

T’Challa could not take his eyes off the samples in his hands. “This is what broke you? The possibility of having to do it again?” He asked softly.

“He couldn’t do it. He can’t have five more kids. He’s only 25-26 years old and he’s already given birth to six and had a handful of miscarriages. It’ll fucking kill him.”

“So you made a plan.”

“Yes. A stupid plan. But it’s all we had. You remember what I said about the arc reactor?”

“Yes.”

“The kept the first one. The second one, the one in his chest, is more powerful at least 100 fold. But the first one… it’s nothing to sneeze at. He started to fabricate an armour. Originally the plan was for me to pilot it, but Tony’s an idiot sometimes, and he made it too small for me. He made it just right, for him. There were three rucksacks that we made. One acted as a bladder for water. The second held all the books and plans, all his blueprints and chemicals he has invented over the last 8-9 yrs that he couldn’t destroy without harming himself or others, and the third was for the kids. The plan was for me to get the attention of the guards and to take them out.  I was going to lead the way pulling the other two rucksacks while he had the kids, take them outside, attach it to sand glider* (I think I just made that up) and get the hell out of dodge.”

“But it didn’t go as planned.”

“Of course not. He made a fourth rucksack.” He swallowed hard. “A body bag.”

Just then the intercom this office phone gave a chime. “Your majesty, the patient’s heart beat has increased and shows signs of stirring. As requested we have left the room.”

“Thank you, Rowena. We will be down momentarily.” They all rose to their feet but T’Challa too special care to lock the samples away in a safe behind a portrait of his father. He turned to Winter and said. “This conversation is not over.”

Before they left Shuri insisted on him reattaching his arm. She had a feeling he would need it.

-------

It was a familiar nightmare. The guards were going for the kids, somehow they'd figured out that the kids were special and they were going to take them away. They were going to weaponize his pups.

He was running down the all too familiar corridor, but the floor was like quicksand and no matter how fast he went or how hard he tried it wasn’t fast enough. And when he could find his footing the hallway seemed to elongate until they were so far ahead of him.

But they weren't so far ahead that he couldn't see them cut through Winter like a razor through wet paper.

And there stood Amadeus and Kamala blocking the door, the literal last line of defense.

He raised his hand out to tell them to run but a hand caught his arm. A soft, warm but calloused hand. And then a voice whispered into his ear. “.... safe now. No one can hurt us. We're safe now. No one can hurt us. We're safe now. No one can hurt us.”

Winter. His Winter. Not crumpled in the floor next to the door in a motionless heap as a dark puddle spread beneath him. No. Whispering into his ear.

“... safe now. No one can hurt us.” He whispered softly. “No guards. No catacombs. Safe now.” The words were music to his ears, brought tears to his eyes. Could it be? Could they be safe?

The hand on his arm moved up and down in a comforting and soothing motion. “Comeback to me. Comeback to me.” The voice whispered urgently. “Comeback to me… please.”

With a sharp inhale and a full body jerk the hall disappeared and was replaced by ocean blue eyes staring at him intently, filled with such concern.

“There you go. Close your eyes. Let me talk for a bit.”

He gave a hoarse groan. “Pups…”

“Ssssh… they are safe, and bathed, and are sleeping close by. So we have to keep it low.”

He nodded, his arms itching and the back of his hands were heavy. He reached up to slap whatever was away from but Winter caught them mid air.

“You're on an IV, Tony. They got monitors all over you. Don't panic. Take a deep breath. Let it put slow. Remember: safe.”

“Safe.” He repeated softly. “Safe.” The word felt so foreign to his tongue.

“Yeah, safe. In Wakanda.”

“Wakanda…”

“Yes. Why don't we continue this conversation in the tub.”

Tony's body went rigid.

“Shower. The shower. There's a seat and I'll be right there with you, and I can explain everything. ”

His entire body sagged in relief. “No water in face… please…”

“Gotcha. I'm just gonna take these,” he grunted softly, “leads and monitors. They can put the IV back in when you're done.”

He swallowed a groan when the tape was ripped off quickly. There was no point in screaming. They wanted him screaming. That gave them some sick pleasure, made it all that much worse.

Eventually his body was free of all the fancy contraptions and Winter had turned them off before they could blare a warning.

It wasn't long before Winter picked Tony and carried him to the lavish bathroom and sat his limp body in the shower chair. Winter removed the hospital gown and flung it to the side before stripping down to his boxer briefs and tank top.

“Open your eyes, Tony.” Winter said, his voice returning to normal volume.

He complied, blinked, and was so dumbstruck by what he was seeing that he rubbed his eyes of the grit and sleep and looked again.

There, before him; like a vision, was Winter, his Winter… but cleaner. Skin no longer the color of the dust combined with sweat, hair free of grease and oil, and his face… almost completely shaven. He wasn't sure how old he thought his Winter had been… but he hadn't thought him to be that young. Gods, he hadn't thought he could be so young, not much older than himself.

He looked like an angel. A dark angel, an angel in a black tank top and black boxer briefs.

Reaching out to touch his face was the first thing he did and he did it without thinking. The beard was real, and coarse, and and… he couldn't think of more words. It was real. It wasn't a mirage. And when Winter chuckled it startled him.

“I know, it feels as weird for you as it does for me probably… lemme get the shower going and as I wash you, I'll explain.”

Wash? ...as Winter walked around him he looked down at himself and gasped. Filth. He was filthy. There were spots that had been cleaned and even stitched, but his filth went deeper than that. His filth went beyond the layers of dust and perspiration and other bodily fluids.

He would never be clean, and he knew it.

As if reading his thoughts Winter appeared before him as the soft, blessedly warm water started to hit his back.

“Hey… they cleaned what they had to for medical reasons, okay. They weren't looking at your body for any other reason than medical examination. Apparently Wakanda is big on Omega Autonomy.”

It made his stomach clench. Autonomy, what even was that? He hadn't had that since the day they sent him running through a literal minefield for shits and giggles. God, that was so long ago.

A hand pulled his face up. “Hey, you with me?” Winter asked softly.

Always so caring and kind. He didn't deserve him. He didn't deserve his pups. He didn't deserve to be clean. He didn't…

It must have shown on his eyes as they well up with tears because Winter dropped to his knees, the soapy sponge falling to the floor.

“Hey, whatever is going on with you inside that head of yours needs to stop. What you went through… what happened… everything you've gone through. None of it your fault. None.”

Winter picked up the lathered sponge and very carefully let it glide over the plains of his face, the ridge of his nose, the furrow of his brow, and his soft cheeks.

Tony, even as unreligious he was, felt as though it were almost a baptism; washing away the old, making him new again. Anointing his skin with water and soap, washing away the last 10 years of hell.

For Winter it was different. It was like unwrapping a present that had been held just out of reach for so long. It was like discovering an entirely different person underneath all the grime. Without all the dirt, sweat and grit Tony looked… God he looked so young. All the years had washed right down the drain as though they hadn't happened.

He only wished it were that easy.

“What… what happened…” he asked his voice gravelly.

“Here, drink it.” He opened a bottle of water and handed it to Tony. “Slow. Don't chug. Don't worry about throwing up. Just try not to do it on me. As for what happened… well…” he trailed off as Tony gagged mid sip, turned his head and threw up.

Winter patted his back until Tony was able to turn back to him. He gave Tony as sympathetic look as he glanced at what had been thrown up.

A scab. That was going to have to be reported to the doctor.

“It's okay. Rinse your mouth out and take a smaller sip. And…” he opened the shower door and grabbed a small plastic baggy. “Crackers. Nibble on them. It will help settle your stomach.”

Crackers, saltines. They might as well been manna from heaven as far as he was concerned. The first nibble was paradise. The little salty wafers of heaven, the texture and taste dancing on his once abandoned taste buds. He closed his eyes, savored the taste and nodded. As Winter talked Tony nodded at the bits he remembered and listened intently to what he didn't.

“The body bag…”

He cringed. It had been for him. He hadn't thought the suit would actually work. It made him worry that the suit was still…

“.... I dragged that damned bag with your fucking suit.” Winter grumbled, but his voice lacked the heat of anger.

Tony almost fell off the seat. He had saved the suit. Oh thank God. That suit in the wrong hands would have been catastrophic … especially if they were to actually figure out how to power it… he shuddered at the thought.

Winter talked more as he shampooed and conditioned his hair before moving on to his arms and legs then rinsing his hair.

It felt like heaven. Warm, but not quite hot water on tensed shoulders and mangled back, calloused hands and soft sponge washing away the accumulated layers of filth from his body… even the scissors he used to cut his hair in the back….Heavenly.

The front they kept short enough to put prettily behind his ears, his beard was neatly trimmed short enough but still grabable, but from any hair beyond the sideburns was for yanking and pulling. They liked that. He shuddered at the memory and Winter stopped momentarily.

“I'm not cutting it too short. Don't want to confuse the young pups. Give them time before going any shorter. Still long enough for a pony…” he trailed off remembering none-too-fondly what they used to do with his hair in a ponytail.

“Good…” he whispered. “I like ponytails… gives Nova something to play with.” he whispered fondly.

Winter nodded, Nova did love to fiddle with their longer hair.

There was a long pause before Winter turned off the shower head and knelt in front of Tony again.

“Lemme have it.”

Tony looked at him with genuine confusion.

“Tony, you have 9 and half, almost 10 years of bullshit under your belt. Let it out. Please. Please let out whatever you need to know so that when we go back out there it doesn't happen in front of the pups.”

Tony's lip trembled.

“Tony, you have fucked up stomach muscles that's going to need surgery. One of your tits shriveled and the other is half withered and you don't know if it'll go back to normal or can even be fixed. You've been bred, bled, tortured and experimented on. You have six kids by six different Alphas, and raised a seventh; all of which have some fucked up power. And don't say Riri doesn't have some power. You know she does. You see it in her eyes and we both know it. You….”

He stopped abruptly when Tony threw himself at his chest and let out a strangled sob. He sobbed and he screamed and he blubbered nonsensical things until his voice gave out and his body sagged limply against Winter’s chest.

Winter pulled him back and lifted his chin with a crooked finger.

“This isn't over. From here on out it's an uphill battle.” Winter said softly, Tony nodded, weakly wiping away his tears.

“But you're not alone. Not by a long shot. Ain't no Alpha taking your pups. Not on my watch.” He combed his fingers through his newly cut hair.

Tony felt like he could have stayed in that shower, in that seat, with his Winter, for the rest of his life. It was safe. It was warm. It was clean… but he couldn’t… he wouldn’t do that to his pups. They deserved so much better than that.

Eventually Winter decided that if they stayed in the steamy shower any longer, they might turn into prunes and carefully led Tony to sit on the sink. Tony, for his part, looked around quizzically at the bathroom as Winter dried him off with a soft hand and taking care to be gentle around the worst of the shallow wounds.

“Heh,” he snorted humorlessly. “This room is just a tiny bit smaller than our…” he trailed off. He had almost used the word house.

“Yeah, the kids noticed too.”

“The lights…”

“Are low. Your eyes, their eyes, need to slowly adjust to the lighting.” What he didn’t say was ‘The sun’. It didn’t have to be said, Tony knew it, and it hurt his chest to think about it.

“But your eyes?”

Winter shrugged. “Whatever they gave me to make me what I am adjusts quicker I guess.”

Winter dressed himself and helped Tony into boxer briefs; blessed blessed boxer briefs, a loose pair of hospital pants and a baggy henley that was dark enough to hide the arc reactor. He would never take clean clothes for granted ever again.

Winter smiled softly at him a smile that faltered slightly as he cast his gaze down. “Okay, now, for the moment of Truth.”

“Tru…” Winter pulled Tony off the counter and stood him in front of the mirror. He gasped in horror at his reflection. It had been almost a decade since he’d scene his own face in anything but a reflective surface or his pups eyes.

He shakily reached a hand out and wiped away the condensation from the mirror and cringed. He was 26 yrs old now, not 16. The baby fat was gone, and the goatee he had just started to grow was now a full on beard… he’d fix that. But with the pups present. He didn’t want to mess with their object permanence. Cutting off most of his hair was one thing, but walking out looking like a completely different person… he couldn’t do that to them.\

But the most alarming thing was how skinny his face and arms were.

“Oh God. I look like the night of the living dead.”

Winter’s face screwed up in confusion. “That’s one of those things I don’t know about.”

Tony let out a strangled laugh, which turned into a strangled sob. Before his legs gave out beneath him Winter caught him and easily sat him back on the sink counter.

“Hey, hey, you look…”

“Horrible.” He muttered into Winter’s chest.

“I was going to say ‘like you need a sandwich and some tender loving care…”

Tony let out a half sob half laugh into his chest that was cut off by semi-frantic soft palm slaps against the door.

“Boba?” The muffled voice called out.”Boooobbbaaa.”

“Nova.” They both said softly.

“Go on, let him in.” Tony sniffled as he wiped away the tears from his cheeks. “First test… do I resemble myself enough for my pups to recognize me.” God I hope I do. He prayed internally.

Winter nodded as he headed towards the door. “Here we go.” He muttered as he opened the door and was met by the watery smile of his son.

“Boba?” He asked with a chirp.

“Yeah yeah, he’s here. Let’s get you to em.”

Nova clapped his hands and held his arms above his head to be picked up.

He picked up Nova, closed the door, and blew kisses on his cheek until the boy was squirming and giggling and pushing his face away. When they turned to face Tony he stopped short.

Tony’s face was already covered in tears, hand over his lips in shock and awe. His baby, all washed up in clean water. His skin all pink and cheeks all rosy. His unruly dark hair clean and disheveled.

Tony held his arms out for his baby and wiggled his fingers greedily. He needed his baby, he needed to hold and feel and squeeze his youngest to make sure it was real. Nova reached out for him at the same time and Winter hesitantly put him between Tony’s legs.

He stood back and watched as Tony squeezed him and peppered his face and head with butterfly kisses until Nova quietly squealed and squirmed in his arms. Tony pulled away just long enough to get a good look at his baby. His skin was so clean and he smelled like baby powder and the unmistakable scent that comes from babies that you can’t quite identify. His deep ocean blue eyes, just like Winter’s, were wide and inquizzitive as he took in everything about his Boba’s face.

Nova scrunched his nose and put their forehead together and giggled when Tony’s eyes went from two to one. Next he combed his fingers through his hair and tangled them at the nape of his neck, just above where it had been cut.

“So, do you approve of your Boba’s makeover?” He asked and watched as Nova squinted at him, as though deeply contemplating his new look, before nodded and chirping and throwing his arms around Tony’s neck.

“I take it he approves.” Winter chuckled softly. But came closer and squeezed his knee when Tony was too choked up to answer.

“C’mon, let’s get back out there and into bed before the whole lot of them start knocking.” Winter said as he put a hand on Tony’s elbow. Tony nodded, slowly slipping off the counter and resting against his Winter. Winter grabbed the water bottle and the saltines before leading them out of the bathroom and back to the main room.

They stopped at the threshold of the and blinked owlishly. All the cots and the hospital bed had been removed and replaced with one bed; one giant bed. It was the biggest bed that Tony had ever seen. And in that bed were all his pups. Amadeus was sitting up against the headboard asleep on one side with Kamala curled up in his lap with Peter in her arms. On the other side was Riri with Miles curled up next to her and Gwen in his arms. And in the middle was enough room Tony, and on the other side of Riri was enough room for Winter.

Tony relaxed at seeing them; all his pups, all so clean and pink and brown and black, all so clean and dressed in fresh clothing. It was enough to make his heart burst.

Winter guided him forward and watched intently as he settled sitting up against the headboard with it’s vertical pillow; Thank You T’Challa, closed his eyes, and fell asleep with his baby’s surrounding him. He looked even younger when he was asleep and content. It was like all the years had slipped away when he was surrounded by the ones he loved the most.

As he situated himself on the other side of Riri he couldn’t help but notice Amadeus had one eye opened just a slit and watching him as he sat up against the headboard and let Riri settle against him.

Amadeus smiled and relaxed again back into sleep once he saw that Tony had dozed off.

This was his family.

This was their family.

And he’d be damned if anyone try to tear it apart.