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Stephen and Peter were sprawled out on the couch and dozing when the Rogue Avengers arrived at the tower. Actually, it was more like Stephen had nodded off after laying out on the couch while reading a book (which was resting on his chest), and Peter had wiggled himself between the doctor's legs and the couch and threw his own legs over Stephen's hips before passing out himself. They both had the Rogues' attention though. They didn't recognize either of them and it had Steve looking between the couch residents and behind him at the rest of the Rogues. Natasha had a curious look though. As if she had a suspicion but wasn't one hundred percent sure about it.
"Cap." Tony says as he rounds the corner from the kitchen.
"Tony." Steve nods to him. "Thank you for letting us come back."
The engineer stuffs his hands into his pockets. "It's not just me you should be thanking...but that can wait until later. You can all have your floors back." Steve opens his mouth but Tony continues. "Barnes can stay with you on your floor when the Wakandans fix his triggers and release him back to us."
The captain shifts from one foot to the other. "...when?"
How much longer until Barnes would be with Steve again? The two obviously had a history and just when they were properly reunited, Bucky was taken again. At least this time it was to help him.
"Within a week." Tony tells him and thankfully, Steve accepted that with a nod.
No arguments. Just simple acceptance. What Tony had hoped would have happened in the first place when he went all the way to Germany to confront him.
"Uhh...that's great and all," Sam starts and everyone looks at him. "Who are the couch crashers?"
"Boyfriend and kid." Tony replies plainly and Sam gapes at him while Clint's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.
"You have a kid? Since when?" The archer asks in surprise.
The billionaire makes a show of looking at his watch. "About six months now?"
Wanda tilts her head. "A random kid?"
"Oh yeah. Have you seen Annie? Kind of like that. Was just doing it for good publicity but ended up liking him so I adopted him!" Tony explains as he motions wildly.
Natasha narrows her eyes with a look that said she had read through his bullshit. "He's Spiderman isn't he?"
The engineer deflates. "You're no fun Romanov."
So after Steve had his mental panic attack about kicking Peter around, Tony had told them that he only dragged Peter into their fight because he knew that even if they did end up fighting, it wouldn't be to seriously harm. He also explained that the kid was fighting crime in pajamas when he found him and gave him a proper suit that gave Tony the ability to keep an eye on Peter. Then he told them that Peter's last remaining relative had passed away recently and that's why the teen was living with him in the tower now.
Then Steve asked about Stephen and Tony actually smirked.
"Just a random guy I found. He was such a good lay I decided to keep him around." His remark immediately earned a book thrown at his head from the direction of the living room. "Ow!"
The Rogues snicker as Stephen carefully extricates himself from the couch, so not to disturb Peter, and walks over to join the group. "Seeing as I will be fighting alongside them in the possible future, I think it's safe to tell them."
Tony grumbles. "Yeah, alright."
Stephen turns to the small group. "Doctor Stephen Strange. I am a master of the Mystic Artes and until recently I guarded the Sanctum over in Greenwich Village. I visit the Sanctum on occasion but I reside here now with Tony and Peter."
Steve holds his hand out but Stephen doesn't reach out to shake it. Before anyone can say anything though, the sorcerer holds up his scarred and trembling hands and the captain drops his own hand in understanding. Stephen's hands were sensitive at the moment and while he could probably shake hands with those who were not enhanced, he didn't want to risk it. The only enhanced person that was allowed to touch his hands was Peter. The teen knew to be gentle.
"It's nothing personal Captain Rogers." Stephen assures.
"I understand, and please, call me Steve."
Proper introductions were made, Scott being introduced as their newest member, and after the promise that they would all be meeting Peter at dinner, they went down to their personal floors. Stephen had told Tony that dinner with the team would further help break the ice and Tony had agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly, but he remembered what the doctor had said to him months ago.
Mind control is a terrible thing, Tony. You have to ask yourself what you would do in Steve's shoes though. What if Barnes was Rhodey? Happy? Pepper? Or even Peter? Wouldn't you do anything to protect them?
Tony hated to admit that Stephen was at least right about that, but it would still take him a while to forgive Steve and Bucky. The captain had shoved his shield into the engineer's arc reactor (something he finally had removed so all that remained on his chest was a scar), and Bucky had killed his parents.
Dinner came around later that night, and before they sat down, Steve had actually apologized for what he had done. Tony accepted his apology but also told him that it would take some time to forgive the captain and Steve had understood. They all sat at the table in the penthouse, and the majority of them had watched Peter eat in fascination. He was eating as much as Steve and somehow still managed to talk between mouthfuls.
"Damn kid. Do you ever stop talking?" Sam asks as he piles some mashed potatoes onto his plate.
Peter blushes lightly. "If I stop talking then I'm pretty sure it's going to get awkward."
"You never answered my question by the way." The Falcon says and Peter looks at him quizzically. "About your webs. I asked if they came out of you but you just kept rambling."
"Oh! Nope! Just a formula. Not bodily fluids." Peter says with a grin as he stuffs his mouth with chicken.
"Thank god for that." Sam mumbles and Tony snickers.
"He took me down with a movie reference." Scott reminds them and Tony and Peter high five each other. "Are you seriously encouraging that?!"
Tony grins. "Hell yeah I am! It worked didn't it?"
Clint looks toward Stephen who's calmly eating his dinner as if the two didn't just high five in front of his face. "Hey Strange? Why would you willingly move in with these two?"
"They have their redeeming qualities." The sorcerer replies naturally.
"Which are?"
Stephen's smile spoke of secrets. "You'll have to find that out yourself."
Peter swallows the food in his mouth and points at another bowl on the table. "Hey Mom, can you pass the bread rolls please?"
When Stephen grabs the bread and passes it to the teenager beside him, Natasha was the one who choked on her drink. It took a lot to surprise the woman and even when she was, she never showed it. Peter calling the sorcerer Mom had come from so far out of left field that even she couldn't keep control of her reaction. The Rogues stared while the rest of the Avengers continued to eat their dinner as if nothing was amiss. As if what they just heard was completely normal.
Of course, Nat spit-taking with her water had Tony and Rhodey giving her a weird look.
"You alright there Triple Agent?" The billionaire asks.
"Did Peter just call Stephen his mom?" Wanda inquires with a hint of disbelief.
Rhodey chuckles and looks back down at his plate. "Oh yeah. Inside joke."
"I want in on it." Clint declares with a grin.
So with a shrug, Tony and Rhodey told them the story of when Peter came home from patrol half asleep. The teen himself kept his head ducked to hide his blush as he finished dinner, and afterwards the engineer had FRIDAY show everyone the recording of that night. As soon as the Rogues were howling with laughter, Peter made a break for his room and refused to come out for the rest of the night. Stephen took it in stride though. Well...he just gave off the semblance that it didn't bother him (which it didn't) by reading a book. In all honesty, he was just glad that the Rogues' return hadn't started another fight. Tony may have been laughing with them but he still had his defenses up.
Then Barnes came a few days later like Tony had promised and the engineers hackles raised a little more. T'Challa and Shuri had reassured them that the Winter Soldier would not be controlled again, but Tony stayed vigilant. At least until Peter properly met Bucky. Then everyone's defenses lowered quite a bit because the teen had asked Bucky about his arm like an excitable puppy and the other man had just burst into laughter. He then humored Peter by letting him stick magnets on his arm.
More of the ice had broken.
To Tony's surprise, Bucky had apologized about his parents. He admitted that he didn't remember (something the engineer wasn't sure whether or not to be angry about), but he did see the video in Siberia and felt genuinely awful about it. Tony was able to calmly muster up a 'Just give me some space and time', and Barnes did. He only went up to the family floor if one of the three residents invited him, and if it was Peter and Tony came home, he would just go back down to his and Steve's floor.
It took a couple of months for Tony to start telling him he could stay. Like now. Bucky and Peter were watching a movie in the living room when Tony got home and the soldier immediately stood to leave, but the engineer just waved him down.
"It's fine Barnes. Finish your movie." Tony taps away on his phone to finish his e-mail and Peter perks up.
"Hey Dad! Can we order pizza tonight?"
"No can do Underoos. We had pizza last night. I thought Mom was cooking tonight."
"He got called away."
Tony groans. "We've had take-out all week. I could really use a home cooked meal especially after my day of boring, endless meetings."
"I can make dinner tonight if you want." Bucky says quietly and the other two stare at him.
"You can cook?" Tony asks him dubiously.
"It helps." The man says, and Tony instantly knew what he was implying.
It helped with the guilt. The nightmares. Barnes's PTSD in general. Bucky found a hobby that was therapeutic and Tony was actually kind of glad for him.
"Full disclosure, depending on how good it is, I will either ban you from the floor or wrangle you up here to cook more often." Tony says half seriously and Bucky chuckles.
"I'll take that risk."
"You can finish your movie first."
So, after Peter tortured the man with Star Wars, Bucky had cooked dinner for everyone and Tony was impressed with how good it was. The man even made a cheesecake, and deep down, the engineer forgave Bucky just a little more.
Not because of the cheesecake though. That would be simplistic and dumb. It was just part of the reason.
No one needed to know that though.