Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

AN: So, I am back, I did consider going back to Woven Together by chance, strengthen by love, but after a re-read I realise I didn’t explore things in early chapter as much as I would have liked to, so I decided to start a new story, I am considering using ideas I had for future chapters of that story in this one.

For the purpose of this I have changed the timeline a little. The key changes that have already occurred are:

• Natasha was born December 3^rd 1979
• Yelena was born January 1984
• The Ohio Mission that Natasha and Yelena were involved in occurred from: May 1987- September 1990 (so five years earlier than cannon)
• Wanda (and Pietro) were born in 1993 not 1989, their parents were killed in late 2003 (why I have made that change will become clear during the story)
• Natasha joined SHIELD in October 2003
• Iron Man took place February- May 2009

The other key changes will become clear as the story goes on, but I wanted to make these ones clear from the start.

Hope you like this story, please let me know what you think. Next chapter will be out day after tomorrow my time.

June 2^nd 2010

Just like Tony Stark was expecting making Senator Stern present him with a medal was worth agreeing to consult with SHIELD, even though that is something he told himself, many years ago, he would never do, which is exactly why he pretended to have no idea what SHIELD was when Phil Coulson first approached him.

As he and James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, have received their awards, and all the ceremony things that go along with that has occurred, there is a banquet being thrown in their honour, but Tony has no intention of staying for it.

“Heading out already?” a voice asks, and Tony turns to see Rhodey.

“You know me, I always cut out early,” Tony jokes.

“We both know that’s not true,” Rhodey says, walking over to his friend. “You going to see her?” Rhodey asks curious, both of them knowing who he is talking about even though he is purposely being vague.

“Of course, she would literally murder me if she knew I was in DC and didn’t come to see her,” Tony says, completely serious about that.

“Oh, she would,” Rhodey says amused, knowing that Tony is right about that. “I assume you’ll go straight to New York after you see her?” Rhodey asks, as that is what he assumes, but wants to check.

“Yeah, for a couple of weeks, then we’ll all come back to LA,” Tony explains, knowing the partially destroyed mansion is going to make that difficult, but he’ll figure it out.

“Then I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” Rhodey says, sticking out his hand for his friend to shake, and Tony grabs it and pulls him into a hug. “Don’t worry, Pepper and I will handle everything so no one questions where you are,” Rhodey says, in a quiet voice, knowing that Tony will not want to be interrupted over the next couple of weeks and that it is the least he can do is to make sure Tony gets what he wants.  

“I know you will, thanks Platypus,” Tony says, and once the two of them break apart Tony heads to his car, while Rhodey heads straight to the banquet. As he isn’t really paying attention to his surrounding Tony doesn’t even realise that Natasha Romanoff is watching him, and as he drives away, she decides to follow, feeling curious about where he is leaving a banquet being thrown in his honour to go to.

Not long after he left Rhodey Tony is walking through the halls of an Age Care facility. As the staff have all been vetting for security concerns, know he visits often, and are under NDAs not to talk about him or the person he is visiting, no one gives him a second glance as he makes his way to a specific room.

Once he gets to the room Tony takes a moment to himself, and desperately hoping today is a good day, he puts an over the top grin on his face, and walks into the room.

“And how’s my favourite person today?” Tony asks, as he walks into the room and finds, his mother Peggy Carter-Stark, publicly known as Peggy Carter, sitting up in her bed.

“A little bored,” Peggy admits, as Tony, who feels relief when he realises, she seems to be having a good day, walks over. “And we both know that there are two people who are actually you’re favourite,” Peggy says, as Tony sits down next to her.

“I’d say all three of you are joint favourite,” Tony says amused.

“Good to know,” Peggy says, sounding a little amused. “Aren’t you meant to be getting a medal today?” Peggy asks her son.

“I already got it,” Tony says, taking the metal off his chest and showing his mother, knowing better than questioning how she already knows about that. “It’s just like the one I stole from you when I was a kid,” Tony says, as when he was a child, he liked to steal his mothers’ medals to ‘inspect’ them.

“It is,” Peggy confirms, as she has received more than one medal of valour, not that she ever cared about medals. “And how do you feel about that?” Peggy asks her son, as she knows that receiving a medal like that can lead to some complicated feelings.

“I don’t know,” Tony admits, looking down at the medal. “It doesn’t feel like I deserve it,” Tony admits, showing his mother and vulnerability he only shows those closest to him, the exact kind of vulnerability that most of the world would believe he wasn’t capable of showing.

“Take it from me, you never feel like you deserve it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t,” Peggy tells Tony.

“Good to know,” Tony says, as he puts the medal in his pocket. “So, Pepper and I kissed,” Tony reveals, wanting to change the subject, and that is something he wants to talk to his mother about so he decides it’s a good choice.

“Oh really?” Peggy asks interested, as for Tony to actually tell her that then the kiss was more than just a simple kiss.  

“Yeah, moments after the battle ended,” Tony reveals, and Peggy can’t help but smile at that, being reminded of all the time she kissed the love of her life after a battle, when they could sneak away. “It was nice, but…” Tony starts to say, but he trails off, not sure exactly how to explain how he felt.

“But what, Anthony?” Peggy asks her son in a gentle voice, encouraging him to talk to her.

“But… I’m not sure I want it to go more than that,” Tony admits, doing so for the first time. “Don’t get me wrong, Mum, Pepper means a lot to me, she’s amazing, but I’m not sure I want to be with her,” Tony admits, as he loves having Pepper as a friend, and trusts her completely with Stark Industries, but he isn’t sure he wants them to be more than that.

“Then you have to talk to her Tony, you have to…” Peggy starts to say, but then trails off as she looks at the door with an odd look on her face.

“Mum? What is it?” Tony asks concerned, looking between Peggy and the door, realising that she has realised something he hasn’t.

“Someone’s out there, listening…. A woman,” Peggy says, sounding concerned, and she goes to reach under her bed for something.

“Mum, it’s okay,” Tony assures her, as he suspects he knows exactly who is listening. “You might as well come in, Romanoff,” Tony says, and Natasha Romanoff walks in the room, and even though she is surprised, realising exactly who Peggy is, she doesn’t let that show. “We seriously have to talk about the weapon you keep under your bed, it makes the nurses uncomfortable,” Tony tells his mother, ignoring Natasha for a moment, as this is something he has been meaning to talk to his mother about, as he has had more than one call about the weapons his mother has ‘obtained’ and keep in her rooms.

“Well, it makes me uncomfortable not having it near,” Peggy responds, like there is nothing wrong with that.

“Didn’t you once tell me that you could use anything as a weapon?” Tony asks Peggy, trying to get her to see that having hidden weapons isn’t the best idea.  

“That was when I was younger,” Peggy responds.

“Pretty sure you still could,” Tony tells his mother, having no doubt about that. “You don’t…” Tony start to say.

“You must be Natasha Romanoff,” Peggy says, looking at her, making it clear she is not going to discuss having weapons in her room with her son anymore, nor is she going to stop hiding weapons.  

“Yes Ma’am,” Natasha confirms, finding the dynamic between Peggy and Tony fascinating, especially considering she has seen the way Tony is around others over the last couple of weeks.  

“How do you… are you even actually retired?” Tony asks his mother, as despite her medical condition there are times when he has his doubts.

“Of course I am, but I keep informed,” Peggy tells her son.

“Right,” Tony says, not sure he completely believes his mother. “So don’t tell me Fury still has you following me?” Tony asks Natasha.

“No, I saw you leave the ceremony. I was curious about where you were going,” Natasha admits. “I am sorry for intruding,” Natasha admits, as she did not expect to discover something so personal, something which was not in a single SHIELD file, likely by design.

“It is quite alright, you are not intruding,” Peggy assures her. “I have actually been wanting a chance to talk to you,” Peggy admits, as ever since she learnt about Natasha being recruited to SHIELD, knowing where she came from, she has wanted to talk to her.  

“You have?” Tony asks surprised, and Peggy nods, gesturing to another seat in the room for Natasha to sit down, and as she is feeling incredible curious, she does just that.

“I let you, and others like you down,” Peggy tells Natasha.

“I’m not sure how that is possible, Ma’am,” Natasha says, trying to follow Peggy’s line of thoughts, but she currently can’t.

“Please, call me Peggy,” Peggy requests, as she really doesn’t want things to be so formal. “Many, many, years ago I knew someone who went through an early version of the Red Room, her name was Dottie,” Peggy reveals.

“You told me stories about her,” Tony remembers. “You were friends,” Tony says, trying to remember what his mother told him, though he does have to think back over a lot of stories.

“Eventually, we start out as enemies,” Peggy admits. “Dottie defected to the US, and she did everything she could to try and bring down the Red Room, she gave her life to that… I thought she was successful,” Peggy admits. “I am sorry that I didn’t realise she wasn’t successful, I am sorry I could not protect you from what you went through,” Peggy says to Natasha, a level of guilt in her voice.

“Peggy, you have absolutely no reason to apologise; it’s the fault of the KGB, no one else,” Natasha assures Peggy, though she does appreciate the words.

“I appreciate you saying that,” Peggy tells her, as a look of understanding passes between the two women. “So, how did you and Tony meet?” Peggy asks interested and Natasha isn’t sure how to respond to that as she doesn’t know if Tony has told his mother that he was dying. “I thought you were still determined to have nothing to do with SHIELD,” Peggy says looking at her son.

“I was, can you blame me?” Tony asks, as he has very specific reasoncs for why he was determined to keep a distance from SHIELD, reasons his mother is very aware of.

“No, I don’t, My Darling,” Peggy says, in a gentle voice, as she reaches over and takes his hand, squeezing it in a comforting way, knowing that those reasons are painful for her son.  “What changed?” Peggy asks curious, feeling that there is something big she is missing, especially considering it seems like, to her at least, that she hasn’t seen Tony in a while, though she knows there is the possibility that she forgot a visit. “Anthony?” Peggy asks, knowing her son well enough to know that there is something he is hesitant to explain to her.

“Um so, the last few weeks have been… complicated,” Tony admits, deciding that that is the best way to explain the way things have been. “I had made a few reckless decisions, and Fury assigned Natasha to assess the situation, she was pretending to be my…admittedly very effective, assistant,” Tony admits, choosing his words carefully as he doesn’t want his mother to worry about him, but he also knows that his mother still has the ability to get the truth out of him.

“I always do a job well, even if undercover,” Natasha tells Tony.

“Good to know,” Tony says amused, while Peggy frowns.

“For Fury to assign someone you would have been doing a lot more than just making reckless decisions,” Peggy says, knowing that. “What was going on?” Peggy asks concerned, and for a moment Tony debates how to answer.

“Dad saved me, Mum,” Tony admits, still dealing with the emotions that have caused in him.

“What do you mean?” Peggy asks confused, and Natasha feels like she is definitely intruding on this situation, but she isn’t quite sure if she could excuse herself right now.  

“I was sick… really sick, and Fury gave me an old trunk of Dads things,” Tony explains. “Inside I found a message from Dad,” Tony reveal, and Peggy feels shocked about that, as she thought she already made sure that Tony had everything that belonged to Howard. “He discovered a new element, decades ago, but he couldn’t fabricate it, I did,” Tony reveals. “And I was able to use it to replace the palladium in the arc reactor core… which may have been poisoning me,” Tony admits, purposely avoiding looking at his mother as he admits that.

“Anthony Edwin Steven Carter-Stark, you told me the arc reactor was safe!” Peggy tells her son, calling him by his full, non-public, name as that was something she asked him soon after he returned from Afghanistan.  

“I didn’t want you to worry,” Tony explains, as he feels like his mother had more than enough to worry about.

“You’re my son, my son who flies around in a metal suit putting himself in danger, to protect and save people, I am always going to worry about you,” Peggy tells him. “You don’t have to protect me, Tony, I protect you,” Peggy tells her son. “You should have told me,” Peggy tells him, very much hating that he felt like he couldn’t.  

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Tony admits. “I’m sorry, Mum,” Tony says, as while he is sure he made the right choice he can see that she is hurt.

“Are you sure you’re okay now?” Peggy asks her son, wanting to make sure of that.

“I’m sure,” Tony assures his mother.

“I can verify that, I saw the readings,” Natasha tells Peggy, wanting to help her feel a little better about the situation.  

“Good,” Peggy says, sounding glad about that. “You are so much like your father,” Peggy tells Tony, who isn’t sure if she means that in a good way or bad way. “He would keep things to himself, lie, keep up the mask of what people expect, then only let it down when me, or Jarvis, or Ana Jarvis, would push back,” Peggy admits, feeling that as amazing as Peggy and Rhodey are neither of them push back against Tony’s ‘persona’ like she knows he needs. “I know I’ve taught you to keep secrets, but I never wanted that for you,” Peggy tells her son, as just as a consequence of who they are she had to teach Tony to keep secrets, but she never wanted that to become such a huge part of his personality.

“I know, it’s okay, Mun,” Tony assures her, not wanting her to blame herself for the way he is, because from his perspective he has the best mum.

“Um, sorry, I should go,” Natasha says, deciding it is the best time to excuse herself, as they are getting into very personal territory. “I have to get to New York,” Natasha explains.

“Oh, what a coincidence, Tony is going to go to New York, you should drive together,” Peggy says, and despite her tone of voice both Natasha and Tony are both sure that it’s not a ‘suggestion’, not that either of them are going to admit that.

“I’m sure Romanoff won’t want my company,” Tony says, wondering what his mother is up to.

“You’re not so bad,” Natasha tells him. “But I would understand if you wanted to spend more time with your mother,” Natasha says to him.

“You’ll come see me again soon, and I still expect you to call more than you have been,” Peggy informs her son.

“Yes Mum,” Tony says.

“You should go now,” Peggy tells her son, as she can feel herself becoming more worn out and she doesn’t want Tony to worry about her.

“Yes Mum,” Tony says, before leaning forward and hugging her. “I love you,” Tony says, in a quiet voice.

“I love you too, I expect you not to be alone when you visit next,” Peggy tells her son, in a quiet voice.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be,” Tony assures his mother, kissing her cheek, and once the two of them break apart Tony stands up.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Peggy,” Natasha says to her, as she also stands up.

“It was a pleasure meeting you too,” Peggy responds.

“See you soon, Mum,” Tony says to Peggy, and he and Natasha both head out of the room.

After leaving Peggy’s room Tony and Natasha make their way through the halls in silence until they finally get outside.

“We don’t have to drive together, I won’t tell Mum,” Tony assures Natasha once they get outside, not wanting her to feel like she is forced to do something she really doesn’t want to do.  

“Peggy Carter asked me to do something, there is no way I’m not going to do it,” Natasha says, as like she is to so many others Peggy Carter is an inspiration to her, to Tony’s amusement.

“Okay then, who’s car do we take?” Tony asks, realising there is no point in arguing.

“Mine, and I’m driving,” Natasha answers, knowing that Tony leaving his car where it is will lead to less questions than her doing so.

“Then I control the radio,” Tony says.

“Deal,” Natasha says, “Come on, Shellhead,” Natasha responds, and the two of them make their way to Natasha’s car, Natasha knowing that it was a big deal for her to have discovered what she just discovered, while Tony isn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Natasha has discovered something he desperately tries to keep hidden, but he does know that it is going to be an interesting drive to New York.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

AN: Un, yeah, so I know I said I wouldn’t update until tomorrow, but I am already working on chapter 6, and am working overnight which means I will have plenty of time to write, so I decided to. As I have to go into the office Monday, and won’t be able to write all day, I won’t update the next chapter until I get home from work Monday night my time, please let me know what you think of this chapter.

About an hour has passed since Tony and Natasha left DC, and other than the radio they have been driving in silence. Even though Natasha is a master spy Tony has spent enough time around people wanting to question him that he can tell that there are, unsurprisingly, questions that Natasha has.

“You can ask,” Tony says, deciding to break the silence, as he figures it would be better to get the conversation done with.

“What’s her diagnosis?” Natasha asks, and even though it isn’t the question Tony was expecting her to ask first he is still going to answer it.

“Alzheimer’s, she was diagnosed three years ago, today was a good day,” Tony reveals, having done enough research to know that the amount of good day Peggy has will decrease, but he is doing his best not to think about that as it is too painful.

“I’m sorry,” Natasha says sincerely.

 “I never wanted her to be in a facility,” Tony says, feeling the need to talk about this. “When she was first diagnosed, she moved in with me… we were making it work, but then…” Tony starts to say, before trailing off.

“Afghanistan happened,” Natasha supplies, assuming that was the case, and Tony nods.  

“My cousin did everything she could, Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey even helped, but it wasn’t freezable for her to stay where she was,” Tony admits, knowing that part of that reason was because no one knew if he was coming back. “As soon as she got sick, I set up the funds to make sure no matter what she was looked after, so my cousin, who is based out of DC, made sure she was placed in the best place,” Tony explains, as while Peggy inherited a lot when Howard died he wanted to make sure his mother was looked after so he set up an account for that, and Natasha is curious about his cousin, but decides not to ask at the moment. “By the time I got back she was settled… I didn’t want to disturb her again,” Tony says, as while he would like his mother closer, he knows she was settled, and familiar with DC, so he decided it was best to leave her where she was even if it wasn’t what he wanted.

“But it was still a hard decision,” Natasha realises.

“Incredibly,” Tony admits, as he looks out of the window.

“Carter-Stark, that’s your real name?” Natasha asks, feeling that changing the subject to a less painful one would be best.

“Yep, Anthony Edwin Steven Carter-Stark,” Tony confirms. “Very few people know that though,” Tony admits, and considering everything that doesn’t surprise Natasha.

“I assumed as much,” Natasha admits. “Fury knows, doesn’t he?” Natasha asks, as that would help to explain why he was so interested, so concerned, about Tony.

“Of course, he worked closely with my parents before they were forced out of SHIELD,” Tony explains.

“Forced out?” Natasha asks curious, as while she knows that Peggy and Howard left SHIELD in the late eighties she doesn’t know why, and from what she knows it doesn’t seem like it is well known within SHIELD.

“Yeah, I don’t know the full story, but what I do know is that neither of them actually wanted to leave,” Tony admits, as it is a story his parents didn’t tell often, and he was off doing his own thing at the time. “From what I understand it was some kind of politically motivated thing… but I don’t know for sure,” Tony admits, though he has been curious about it.   

“You could ask your Mom,” Natasha reminds him, and Tony shakes his head.

“It’s something that is painful for her to talk about, I don’t want to cause her more pain, not now,” Tony admits, and Natasha decides to see if she can find out more for him. “But like I said, I’m not completely convinced she isn’t still apart of the intelligence community,” Tony admits, as his mother seems to still be pretty well informed.

“She probably is. She’s a legend, an inspiration, even if she was forced out, I don’t see someone like her cutting ties completely,” Natasha admits.

“That sounds about right,” Tony says amused, though Natasha can also hear the pride in his voice.

“So, um, who was Maria to you?” Natasha asks curious, as from the little Peggy and Tony talked about Howard, she didn’t get the idea that they had a bad relationship, so she isn’t completely sure about who Maria was.

“Dad’s bodyguard,” Tony explains, knowing that became necessary the ‘bigger’ SHIELD became. “Before Maria became Dad’s bodyguard Dad would go to events, or just in public, with SHIELD agents, or even mum in different disguises, it added to his playboy image,” Tony reveals. “But after he and Mum got together that’s not who he was anymore,” Tony reveals. “Dad wasn’t perfect, he made a lot of mistakes, but he loved me, and mum,” Tony says, knowing that without a doubt. “He would shut himself off sometimes, push us away, but mum never let him get away with that for long,” Tony reveals, it feeling really good for him to talk about this, as he hardly ever can, and as she realises that he needs to talk about it Natasha just lets him talk. “The public, the media, they saw what he wanted them to see, the persona he created of who he once was, but I could never tell them otherwise, never tell them that it wasn’t who he was anymore, even after he died, mum always says it is necessary to keep us safe,” Tony says, pain in his voice, and so much about who Tony is, who he appears to be, falls into place for Natasha.  “As long as I can remember I was taught to keep secrets, to hide things… I guess mums right and I still do that without even thinking about it,” Tony admits.

“You do, but considering everything it’s not surprising, I do the same thing,” Natasha says, turning to look at him, knowing that her reasons are different, but it is something they have in common, something she never would have considered until now.

“You do, don’t you,” Tony says, and an understanding look passes between them as they drift into silence, both realising they have more in common than they would have believed.

Less than two hours after Tony and Natasha talked about his father, less time than it would normally take to get to New York from DC, Natasha stop the car outside an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan that Tony directed them to.

“This apartment isn’t in your SHIELD file,” Natasha notes, feeling curious about that, and also feeling surprised that out of all Tony’s New York property holdings, and she knows he has a lot, he directed her to one that is clearly private.

“Good,” Tony says, sounding glad about that as he has purposely tried to keep this particular location hidden, so he is very glad he has apparently succeeded. “Do you want to come up?” Tony asks curious.

“I’d….” Natasha starts to say, but before she can finish her comment, her phone goes off so she checks it. “Can’t, I’ve got to go meet the Commander,” Natasha explains, reading the message she just got from Maria Hill.

“Next time then,” Tony says. “I’m going to be in New York for the next couple of weeks, it’s an open offer,” Tony says, not thinking through the consequences and what other revelations that would lead to.

“I’ll remember that,” Natasha says, being pretty sure that it is a big deal for Tony to make her that offer.

“Good, see you Romanoff,” Tony says, getting out of the car.

“See you, Carter-Stark,” Natasha responds, and Tony smirks back at her, appreciating that she is calling him by his ‘true’ name.  

After Tony leaves her car Natasha waits until she watches him walk inside before she speeds off.   

About an hour after Natasha dropped him off Tony has spent a little bit of time at the apartment she dropped him at, making sure everything was okay, before making his way to Queens. As he approaches an apartment Tony feels excitement raise inside of him as he is very much looking forward to seeing who he is about to see. Even though he has a key when he gets to the apartment Tony reaches out and knocks, the door opening a few seconds later reveal a woman in her forties.

“Hey Tony,” the woman greats with a smile.

“Hey May,” Tony says, giving her a brief hug before walking into the apartment. “How have things been?”

“Good, Ben’s still at work but he wanted to apologise for what happened at the expo,” May Parker admits.

“It’s okay, we’ve talked, it wasn’t his fault,” Tony admits. “I don’t blame either of you,” Tony assures her.

“Thank you,” May responds, though she knows that she and her husband still feel guilty. “Peter, Tess,” May calls.

Moments after May called, she and Tony both hear hurried footsteps and two children one, an almost nine-year-old boy with brown hair and brown eyes, and the other a recently turned seven-year-old girl with auburn hair and blue eyes, run into the room.

“Dad” The boy Peter says excitedly at the same time his sister, Teresa who goes by Tess, says “Daddy,” as they run towards Tony, who squats a down a little.

“Oh, I’ve missed you,” Tony says as he hugs his kids, knowing he came so close to not being around to watch them grow up and because of that he isn’t going to take a single moment with them for granted.

“Missed you too,” Peter says.

“Me too,” Tess says, as Tony continues to hold his kids, holding them tight as he memorises every detail, something he does every time he sees them after they spent some time apart, and after a few moments they break apart.

“So, are you ready to go?” Tony asks the kids, both of whom nod. “Then go get your bags,” Tony says, and both Peter and Tess run out of the room, and less than a minute later they both return, holding a school bag and another bag each.

“Ready to go, Dad,” Peter says when he and his sister return to the room.

“Okay, then say goodbye to Aunt May,” Tony says, as he takes the bags from the kids so that he can carry them.

“Bye Aunt May,” Peter and Tess say as they both hug their aunt, and after a few moments they break apart.

“Let’s get going,” Tony says, once the trio break apart. “Thanks May,” Tony says to her as they head out.

“Daddy, can you show us the Iron Man suit again?” Tess as her father as they make their way out of the apartment.

“Yeah, I think we can do that,” Tony responds, as he closes the door behind them.

A little while after they left the Parker apartment in Queen Tony, Peter, and Tess are back at the apartment Tony had Natasha drop him off at earlier, all three of them in the workshop looking at the version of the Iron Man suit that Tony created to store in a suitcase.

While Peter is looking at the mechanics of the gauntlets Tess is looking at a computer screen, looking at the software, it being perfectly clear that both are fascinated by what they are seeing, while Tony is standing between them, watching they study the technology.

“Did you change the repulsor mechanism?” Peter asks his father, as it seems different than the last time he studied it.

“I did,” Tony confirms, impressed that Peter noticed that. “I altered it on my regular suit to make it more efficient, but then when I tried to put the changes to this suit, I ran into some problems due to the need to make it collapsable,” Tony explains.

“So, you shorted the wires, and changed the mechanism so it could be more manoeuvrable,” Peter realises, looking closely at it.

“Exactly,” Tony says, rustling Peter’s hair, feeling proud, though not overly surprised, that he understood that.

“Um Daddy,” Tess says, and both Peter and Tony look at her. “I’ve been reading the code, and I think this line could be a problem,” Tess says, highlighting what she is talking about and feeling curious Tony walks over to have a look.

“Which line?” Tony asks, and Tess points it out, and as soon as she does, he realises the problem. “You’re right, it could lead to someone hijacking the suit remotely,” Tony says, knowing that could lead to a huge problem. “Thanks Tess,” Tony says kissing the top of her head as he starts to type.

“I helped?” Tessa asks, feeling proud.

“Yeah Sweetheart, you really did,” Tony assures her, as he continues to type.

“Nice Tess,” Peter says to his sister, clearly proud of her. “So um, is that what happened to Uncle Rhodey’s suit at the expo? Someone else took control of it?” Peter asks curious.

“It was, and we’re going to talk about what happened at the expo in a minute,” Tony says, and quickly finishes typing to fix the problem Tess noticed. “Okay done,” Tony says, and once he does, he lifts Tessa up, so she is sitting on the bench, before doing the same with Peter, so that the two siblings are sitting next to each other. “Pete, I know we’ve talked about this a little, but I wanted to talk to you more about what you did at the expo,” Tony says to his son, as while they had a brief phone call on the topic he wanted to talk to Peter in person.   

“I wanted to help,” Peter explains.

“I know you did, Buddy, but it was dangerous,” Tony reminds him. “You ran away from Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and your sister, anything could have happened,” Tony tells his son, trying to hide how terrified he is about that, but at the same time wanting to stress how serious what Peter did is. “You could have been hurt,” Tony tells him, knowing that was his first thought once he learnt that the little kid that was wearing an Iron Man mask and tried to face a rouge suit was his son.  

“But I wasn’t, you kept me safe,” Peter says, looking at his father who is his hero.

“But I almost didn’t,” Tony tells his son, knowing he would have never forgiven himself if he didn’t. “I know you are both incredibly curious about everything, which is incredible, and you want to help, but I need you to be safe,” Tony says, as he looks between the kids. “When you’re out somewhere whether it be with me, or Aunt May, or Uncle Ben, or even Aunt Hope or Sharon, or Aunt Pepper or Uncle Rhodey, or Uncle Happy, it is incredible important that you don’t go off on your own, that you don’t leave whoever you’re with,” Tony says, knowing that, now that Peggy isn’t okay, they would be the only people the kids would be with without him.

“Yes Dad,”

“Yes Daddy,”

“I’m serious this is really important, I just want you to be safe,” Tony says as he looks between the kids, hoping they understand how serious he is about this.

“We know Daddy,” Tessa tells him.

“We really do Dad, I’m sorry,” Peter tells him, and in response Tony hugs him kids.

“I know, I love you so much,” Tony says to the kids as he holds them tight, kissing both of their heads before he breaks apart from them. “So, let’s talk about summer plans,” Tony says to the kids.

“Are we going to LA?” Tess asks curious, as she finds the LA house very cool, plus being so near the beach is pretty amazing.  

“We are,” Tony answers, causing both the kids to grin. “But we’re also going to go see Nanna first,” Tony explains, and both siblings grin upon hearing that.

“Cool, I found a book that talks about her, I wanted to show her,” Peter says, sounded excited, as he really loves his Nanna.

“I’m sure she’ll find that interesting,” Tony admits, though he knows that she likely already knows about it. “When we get to LA, we’re going to have to do some work on the house, and I was thinking we could start to plan any changes we want to make,” Tony explains to the kids, as this is the exact kind of thing, he wants them to be included in.

“Can we add a slide that leads to the upper floor to the pool?” Peter asks excitedly as that is something he really wants, and is an project he has been wanting them to work on for a while.

“Maybe,” Tony answers. “We’ll have to figure out the angles and calculate potential velocity to make sure it would be safe,” Tony tells his son, as he won’t install something like that, which his kids would use, until he is sure that it is safe for them.

“Can we do that now? Or do we still need the measurements?” Tess asks curious.

“Um, J? Do you have the dimensions of the Malibu house?” Tony asks curious.

“Of course, Sir,” JARVIS’s voice answers, and Tony is pretty sure that Jarvis almost sounds insulted that Tony considered he wouldn’t have it.

“Great, bring it up for us on the wall,” Tony requests, and JARVIS does just that. “Let see if we can pull of a giant slide,” Tony says, and both kids look excited, and together the three genius’s start to work out some of the changes they can do to the house when they get to LA.

After spending a few hours planning the changes they are going to make to the malibu house Tony, Peter, and Tess have all had dinner, and the kids have gone to bed. Even though it is quite late, and he is feeling pretty tired Tony doesn’t head to bed, instead he heads to Peter’s room, and quietly opens the door before spending a while watching him sleep. After spending a while watching Peter sleep Tony goes to Tess’s room and does the same thing, and as he watches his kids Tony thinks about how much he loves them, that there isn’t nothing he wouldn’t do for them.

June 5^th 2010

Three days have passed since Tony returned to New York and ever since he has been trying to spend as much time with his kids as possible, but because they still have school, he hasn’t been able to spend as much time with them as he would have liked.

It is mid-afternoon on a Saturday and having no idea the shock she is about to receive Natasha is in the elevator on her way up to the apartment she dropped Tony off in front of three days earlier. When the doors open Natasha steps out of the elevator, and nothing could have prepared her for the sight, of Tony playing twister with Peter and Tess, that greats her.

“Who are you?” Tess asks, being the first of the trio to notice her.   

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

AN: Um, so I am already on chapter 10 of this story, so I think I am going to be able to update every day, or at least close to it (Friday is probably going to be the exception as I have to go into the office again, but we’ll see) Please, please let me know what you think as I am really enjoying writing this.  

“Um, I’m Natasha,” Natasha responds, still trying to deal with her shock, as Tony, Peter and Tess all move so they are no longer bent over the twister mat and face her.

“Romanoff, what are you….” Tony starts to ask, then he realises. “I invited you,” Tony realises, cursing himself for not realising that this was likely going to be the outcome of giving her that invitation, something which he doesn’t regret doing.

“You did,” Natasha confirms. “But I should have called,” Natasha realises, being pretty sure that when Tony invited her over, he didn’t expect this to be something she discovered.

“No, it’s okay, it was an open invitation,” Tony assures her, though he does feel a little nervous about someone else knowing about his kids. “Um, this is Peter, my son, and Tess, my daughter,” Tony introduces. “Pete, Tess, this is Natasha Romanoff, we’ve been working together lately,” Tony explains, feeling that that is the best explanation to give, at least it is the one he is willing to give as he has no intention of telling his kids that he was dying.

“Hi,” Natasha greats, looking between the two kids and trying to comprehend the fact that Tony Stark has two children.

“Hi, are you a scientist?” Peter asks, trying to figure out why Natasha has been working with his dad.

“No,” Natasha answers, and she glances at Tony who gives her a slight nod telling her it’s okay to explain. “I’m an Agent,” Natasha explains.

“Like Nanna?” Tess asks, and the fact that it is Peggy who Tess brings up as being an agent even though she knows about other people being agents both amuses Tony and makes him feel sad.

“Exactly like Nanna,” Tony confirms.

“Cool,” Tess says, and both Natasha and Tony tense at that, and Tony knows there is a future conversation he will need to have with his daughter, he just wants to avoid it as long as possible.

“It was nice to meet you, Tess, Peter, but I should go,” Natasha says, as Tony spending time with his kids is exactly something she definitely shouldn’t intrude on.

“You just got here,” Tess says, frowning slightly.  

“You should stay, Dad cheats at Twister, we could use another person to call him out,” Peter tells Natasha.

“I do not cheat,” Tony objects, putting an over-the-top insulted look on his face, which tells Natasha that he definitely does cheat.  

“Yes, you do!” Peter and Tess say together.

“Well now you have to stay, witness the fact that I don’t cheat,” Tony tells Natasha, being pretty sure that she will be able to beat all of them at Twister. “Unless of course you have somewhere to be,” Tony adds, giving her an out, but making it clear that he doesn’t mind if she stays.

“I don’t,” Natasha confirms. “I guess I could stay for a while,” Natasha responds, as she can tell that Peter at least definitely wants her to and she wouldn’t want to let him down.

“Cool!” Peter says, sounding glad as it’s not often that he and his sister meet someone new who is friends with their father.  

“Shoes off Romanoff,” Tony says, and Natasha does just that before walking over to where Tony and the kids.

“Who’s turn is it?” Natasha asks, once she is close enough.

“Mine,” Tess says, she uses the spinner to give everyone the next direction, and the group of four proceed to play Twister together, Tony’s suspicion proving to be true when it is perfectly clear that Natasha is much more flexible than the rest of them.   

“Okay, I think were done,” Tony says, as he once again falls onto his face, hours after he, Natasha, Peter, and Tess started to play twister together.

“We don’t have to be,” Tess says to her father, as she really wants to continue to play.

“I think we are kiddo,” Tony says. “That’s if you two still want to do movie night,” Tony says, as he looks between his kids, knowing that that will get them to stop.

“I do!” Peter confirms.

“Me too,” Tess confirms.

“Then we better get started on the food,” Tony tells his kids, as he gets back to his feet, and he helps both Tess and Peter back to their feet as well.

“Natasha, are you saying for movie night?” Peter asks curious.

“Um, I’m not sure,” Natasha admits, having been able to tell that while Peter is warming up to her Tess is still a bit shy and she wouldn’t want to intrude, wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

“You can if you want,” Tony says, as even though he has noticed, like Natasha, that Tess is shy he knows his daughter well enough to know she is not uncomfortable, and that more time with Natasha will help her be less shy as she takes time to warm up to new people; something which isn’t surprising considering she doesn’t meet new people often.

“Um, sure,” Natasha says, feeling that she can’t turn down an offer like that, even if it is the last thing she expected.

“Great, then in that case Peter, Tess, go wash up, we’ll meet in the kitchen,” Tony tells them.

“Yes Dad,”

“Yes Daddy,”

Peter and Tess say together.

“Race ya,” Peter says to his sister, and once he does the two of them go running, both trying to beat the other, as the two siblings are quite competitive.

“Help me pick this up,” Tony requests, looking at Natasha.

“Sure,” Natasha says, and the two of them start to clear up the remanence of the game.

“I know you have questions,” Tony says as they start to clean. “We can talk when the kids are in bed,” Tony explains, feeling that the conversation they need to have is one best to have when they can’t be overheard by little ears.

“Sure,” Natasha responds. “I really don’t want to intrude,” Natasha assures Tony.  

“You’re not intruding, plus Peter really wants you to stay,” Tony says to her, being able to tell that.  

“Tess doesn’t,” Natasha responds, feeling worried about that.

“Tess is shy when she meets someone new, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want you to stay,” Tony says, knowing that once she gets to know someone Tess is extremely extraverted it just takes her time to warm up to them, while Peter doesn’t need any time, he loves meeting new people. “Trust me, if she really didn’t want you here, if she was uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have invited you to stay,” Tony assures Natasha, showing how protective he is of his daughter.

“Okay,” Natasha says, feeling reassured by Tony’s words, and the two of them drift into silence as they continue to clean up.

A few minutes later Natasha and Tony have finished cleaning up the mess made from playing twister and are walking into the kitchen where they find Peter and Tess waiting.

“Okay, first movie night rule, go,” Tony says to the kids.

“Any strange combination of food we make we have to eat two bites before throwing out,” Peter says, as he knows he, his sister, and his father all have a habit of making strange food combinations and then not liking it.

“Correct,” Tony tells his son. “Tess, second rule?” Tony asks his daughter.

“Now throwing hard candy during a food fight,” Tess answers.

“Yep,” Tony confirms.

“Interesting rules,” Natasha says amused.

“They’re necessary,” Tony tells her, and that does not surprise Natasha. “Okay, pizza, ice cream popcorn, what else?” Tony asks the kids.

“Cookies!” Tess says.

“French Fires, and Garlic bread,” Peter answers.

“Can do, can do,” Tony confirms, and Natasha wonders if there are going to be any healthy options.  

“Daddy, can we save some of the cookies to take to Nanna when we go see her?” Tess asks curious.

“We could, but how about before we go to DC, we make cookies just for Nanna,” Tony suggests.

“Yes please!” Tess says, thinking that is a very good idea.

“Great,” Tony says. “Okay, make sure you check with me or Natasha before you use the oven,” Tony tells his kids, both of whom nod. “And let’s get to work,” Tony tells the kids, and the four of them all get started on making food together, Natasha realises that Tony actually knows what he is doing when it comes to cooking, something which she didn’t expect, as his ‘public’ persona is a horrible cook, there is records of that.  

Many hours, many different kinds of food, and many movies later both Tess and Peter, both of whom are in their pyjama’s, are fast asleep on the couch while Natasha and Tony are still awake.  

“They’re both completely out,” Tony says, as he turns off the movie they were watching.

“Not overly surprising, not only did we watch three movies, but we did engage in a pretty intense food fight,” Natasha reminds him.  

“Yeah, it was great,” Tony says with a grin.

“It was,” Natasha confirms, as it was the kind of fun, the kind of freedom, she doesn’t let herself have often, the exact kind of thing she was deprived of for so long. “I guess we should clean up the mess,” Natasha realises.

“It can wait to tomorrow,” Tony says, as he looks between the sleeping kids. “Can you help me carry them to bed?” Tony asks, as while the couch is perfectly comfortable, he knows their beds are even more so, plus he wants a chance to talk to Natasha without the possibility of the kids overhearing.

“Sure,” Natasha says, and they both stand up.

“I’ll take Pete, you take Tess,” Tony says, Natasha nods, and they each pick up a child. “Follow me,” Tony says, and Natasha does just that as she, as carefully as possible, carries Tess.

A few minutes later Tony and Natasha have put Peter and Tess back to their respective bedroom and are walking back into the living room.

“Do you want a drink?” Tony asks Natasha, as he knows that for the conversation, they are going to have he is going to need it.

“Sure,” Natasha says, as she walks back over to the couch, and Tony grabs two glasses and a bottle of scotch which he uses to pour them both a drink before walking back over to Natasha, giving her one of the glasses before sitting back down next to her.

“Where do you want me to start?” Tony asks, once they have both taken a drink.

“Wherever you want, I am the one who intruded,” Natasha tells Tony, having no idea how this conversation is going to go, but feeling very curious about a lot of things.

“You didn’t, you were invited… I just didn’t think through that would mean when I gave the invite,” Tony admits.

“Tony, I won’t tell anyone,” Natasha assures him. “Your secrets are safe with me,” Natasha tells him.

“Appreciate it,” Tony responds, feeling that he can trust Natasha, even if he isn’t completely sure why, and he takes another drink, which tells Natasha that what they are going to talk about is painful for him. “Peter’s nine next month, Tess turned seven back in April,” Tony reveals, and as he does Natasha realises something.  

“That means…” Natasha starts to say, but then trails off, not completely sure how to express what she has realised.  

“That I spent Tess’s sixth birthday in captivity… yeah,” Tony confirms, realising what Natasha would have realised. “I’ve tried so hard to make it up to her for missing her birthday,” Tony admits, guilt clear in his voice.

“Tony, it wasn’t your fault,” Natasha assures him.

“It feels like it is,” Tony admits. “Their mother died when Tess was a day old, the doctors said it was an embolism, a rare medical complication,” Tony admits, having no idea that it wasn’t just a ‘complication’.

“I’m sorry Tony,” Natasha tells him sincerely, having no idea how hard that would have been for him, and the kids, and Tony give a slight nod.

“She was a SHIELD agent,” Tony reveals, to Natasha’s surprise.

“Really?” Natasha asks interested, wondering if this has something to do with why Peggy said he wanted nothing to do with SHIELD.

“Yeah, Mary and I met at MIT, were together for a little while, but then after she graduated, she joined SHIELD, and I had spent a lifetime watching my parents, I didn’t want to date an agent,” Tony admits.

“Understandable,” Natasha admits, knowing that considering how Tony grew up he would have a firsthand experience of what it would be like to date an agent, and how difficult it would be.

“We stayed friends, and after Dad died, she was there for me,” Tony admits, that having mean everything to her at the time. “For a long time, we were on and off, but then we became serious,” Tony admits. “Six years later, in 2001 we had Peter, it was the most incredible day,” Tonys says fondly, as he still remembers every detail of the day his son was born. “We named him Peter Anthony Bejamin Parker,” Tony explains.

“Paker? Not Stark or Carter-Stark?” Natasha asks curious.

“Considering everything I knew he would never have a completely normal life, but I wanted to give him a life as normal as possible, at least until he was old enough to understand,” Tony admits. “Mary may have been a SHIELD agent, and she spent years in the field, mainly working with the same two agents, but she had taken a step back to lab work before Peter was born so giving him her last name was the safer choice,” Tony explains, and Natasha can’t help but wonder if she knows those agents, but something tells her not to ask their names. “Though I felt like a bit of a hypocrite considering the number of times I have fought with Mum about her insisting I still go by Stark and not Carter-Stark,” Tony admits, knowing he and his mother have come to an agreement about that, one that is not currently relevant.

“You’re not a hypocrite, you were trying to protect your kids,” Natasha tells him.

“Everything I do is to protect them,” Tony admits, and Natasha can see that. “Twenty months after Peter was born Tess was. Mary got to hold her, gave her the name Teresa Elizabeth Margret Parker, and then suddenly she was gone,” Tony admits, fighting back tears as Natasha reaches over and places a comforting hand on his leg, getting a grateful look in return. “After that I was a mess,” Tony admits, feeling the need to continue with the explanation, and Natasha isn’t overly surprised by that, as she cannot imagine what that was like for him. “I didn’t want anything to do with SHIELD, Mum even stopped talking about her old missions with me,” Tony explains, as anything to do with SHIELD reminded him of Mary and that was too much for him when he was barely hanging on. “Mary’s old team kept reaching out, but I ignored them. After the funeral I took Peter, and Tess, and we went away,” Tony explains.

“Your missing year,” Natasha realises, knowing that there was a year in early 2003 to early 2004, where no one seemed to know where Tony was or what he was doing, not even SHIELD, at least there was nothing in his SHIELD files about where he was.

“That Obidiah used to sell weapons, and counterfeit versions of our weapons, and designs, to our enemies,” Tony says, as he discovered that after he discovered that Obidiah was behind his kidnapping, and he still feels guilty about that, which Natasha realises.

“Tony what Obidiah did when you were being there for your kids, when you were grieving, isn’t on you,” Natasha assures him.  

“It’s my company, it is,” Tony says, knowing that he is still trying to track down all the places, and people, Obidiah sold weapons, or weapon designs that were later counterfeited, too. “I needed to get us away, it was the only way I could handle what happened.” Tony admits, and Natasha can tell that it is still painful for him to talk about. “Only four people knew where we were, but I should have paid more attention to what was going on at the company,” Tony admits, and Natasha isn’t completely sure of who those four people were, though she assumes Peggy was one.

“You were grieving, sounds like you did the best you could,” Natasha tells him.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Tony says. “I could have stayed away from everyone, with just Pete and Tess, forever, I considered it, but it got to the point where I knew I had to go back to reality,” Tony admits, knowing that it was more than one conversation with his mother that led to that. “I spent a long time considering what going back to reality would look like and I knew that I wanted Pete and Tess to be safe, to have a level of normality, of stability, and I realised that they only way they would get that would be if they didn’t live with me fulltime; I realised that that would be what was best for them,” Tony admits, and Natasha can tell that it was an incredibly difficult decision for him to make, one that it seems like he is still questioning.

“They live here in New York,” Natasha realises.

“In Queen’s with Mary’s brother and his wife,” Tony confirms. “Before Afghanistan I would spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in LA, fly to New York Thursday night, spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in New York before flying back to LA, everyone was used to me being unreliable, so it wasn’t questioned,” Tony admits, knowing he used that to his advantages to hide his absences so, as far as he knows, no one has ever considered the possibility that he has a secret family. “After Afghanistan I have spent as much time in New York as possible, while also keeping them safe from what my life looks like now,” Tony admits.

“That can’t be easy,” Natasha notes, not envying the balance he would have had to try to find, though from the look on his face Natasha can’t help but wonder if he is considering having the kids live with him fulltime, as that’s what it seems like to her, though she decides not to ask.

“It’s not, but I would do anything for my kids,” Tony admits, and considering what she has learnt about Tony recently Natasha isn’t overly surprised by that.

“You know I didn’t recommend you for the Avengers because I saw that you take things personally and I was worried that if you were a part of the Avengers you would destroy yourself trying to make everything right, trying to make up for perceived mistakes, trying to be whatever you were needed to be, even if you hid that beneath the mask you wear, and I’m not talking about the Iron Man one, Natasha admits. “I guess I was right,” Natasha realises knowing that when she wrote that report she didn’t realise just how right she was.  

“You might have been,” Tony responds, and the two of them drift into silence as they sit together, Tony feeling rather impressed that Natasha managed to see through the mask he has spent such a long time developing while Natahsa feels both sad for, and impressed by, Tony now that she knows a little more about what he has gone through.  

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

AN: So, there isn’t much Nat in this chapter, but don’t worry from next chapter she is in it a lot.  Hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think.

A week has passed since Natasha learnt about Peter and Tess and while she and Tony spent a long time just sitting together, they haven’t talked since then as Natasha got called away on a mission. It’s early evening and Tony, Peter and Tess, the ladder two having just finished school for the year, are in the kitchen of Tony’s secret New York apartment together.

“So, how does it feel to finish another year of school?” Tony asks his kids, interested to know what they are going to say about that as unlike Tess’s first year at school they were at different schools this year, something Tony still isn’t sure is a good idea, as while Tess completely loves her brother, and looks up to him, she didn’t want to be in his shadow.

“Good,” Tess admits, with a smile on her face.  

“Yeah, it was good, I’m going to miss Ned over the summer though,” Peter admits, as while he loves going to LA, he loves getting to spend more time with his father, he does know he is going to miss his friend Ned Leeds.

“Yeah, I’m going to miss Kate too,” Tess says, speaking of her best friend, Kate Bishop.

“Well, I promise you can call them as much as you want,” Tony assures his kids, as he knows how much their friends mean to them.

“Thanks Dad,”

“Thanks Daddy,”

“Are we leaving first thing tomorrow?” Peter asks curious.

“Yep, we’ll go to DC first and then LA,” Tony tells his kids. “So, I want us to get everything we want to take with us ready tonight,” Tony explains, and both kids nod. “But before we do that, cookies for Nanna, what are we thinking?” Tony asks curious, wanting this to be the kid’s choice.

“Do you think we could make English shortbread?” Tess asks curious. “Nanna misses British food,” Tess says to her father, as even though Peggy spent so long living in the USA, she still misses a lot of things from England.

“I know she does,” Tony says, knowing he does his best to get some of the food his mother misses for her, but he does have some issues. “And I think I have an old recipe of Jarvis’s around here somewhere,” Tony admits, both kids knowing he is not talking about the AI.

“Awesome,” Peter says, sounding glad. “Dad, do you think Nanna is well enough for us to go on a trip to England? So, she could see it all again?” Peter asks, as he is sure that would mean a lot to her.

“Honestly Pete, I’m not sure,” Tony admits, as he knows that would be very complicated, but he also knows that it would mean a hell of a lot to her I they were to go. “But I’ll think about it, see if it is freezable,” Tony says, knowing that if they were to make a trip like that then it would have to be soon, while Peggy still has more good days than bad.

“I hope we can, Nanna would love it,” Tess comments, knowing her nanna well enough to know that.  

“Yeah, she would,” Tony confirms, and a slight feeling of sadness takes over the room. “Okay, let’s focus on the cookies, or I guess we should say biscuits,” Tony says, not wanting to dwell on the sadness. “JARVIS where are the old recipes I haven’t scanned in yet?” Tony asks curious, realising he should probably get around to doing that.

“In the cupboard above the stove, Sir,” JARVIS answers.

“Thanks J,” Tony says, walking over to where Jarvis directed him to, and to his relief he finds the recipe he was hoping to find, and he, and his kids, can get started on making it.

While Tony is making biscuits with his kids Natasha is a SHIELD locker room with Clint Barton, her professional partner, getting changed. Honestly, since learning about Tony, about his kids, and his true family, she has been thinking about him a lot, but she has been doing her best not to let that distract her.  

“So, I think it was a success, we finish too much, didn’t destroy too much, all in all, I think we did pretty good,” Clint comments, and as he does, he realises that Natasha isn’t paying attention to him. “Nat? are you listening?” Clint asks curious.

“Sorry what?” Natasha asks, as she was distracted by wondering if Tony and the kids are still in New York or if they have gone back to LA yet and realising that she is clearly distracted by something Clint frowns and takes a step closer to her.

“Why don’t you come to the farm for a few days, have a bit of a break,” Clint suggests, keeping his voice quiet.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay,” Natasha assures him.

“Are you? You’ve been quiet lately… quieter than normal that is,” Clint admits, clearly a little worried about her.

“I am, and I appreciate the concern, but it’s not needed,” Natasha assures him. “What I really need is a nice long bath, so I am going to go do that,” Natasha admits.  

“Okay, If you change your mind, it’s a standing offer,” Clint says, and Natasha can’t help but feel amused as she knows she now has two standing offers to spend time with people with their secret families.

“I know, night Clint,” Natasha says, before walking away from him.

After a night of making biscuits and making sure they had everything they needed for LA Tony, Peter, and Tess have gotten up early and Tony has flown them to DC. As they walk towards Peggy’s room Tony stops and turns towards his kids when they are a few doors down.

“Okay, remember, sometimes Nanna may forget things, sometimes she may even seem different than the Nanna you know, but she loves you both, she’s still your nanna,” Tony says to the kids, giving them the warning as he knows that when Peggy is having a ‘bad’ day she is completely different and that can be painful to witness.

“We know Dad,” Peter tells his father, and Tess nods in agreement with her brother.

“Okay, come on,” Tony says, and hoping it’s a good day he leads Peter and Tess to Peggy’s room.

As the trio walk into the room, they find Peggy sitting in her chair, and for a second, she doesn’t acknowledge them, then her face breaks out into a smile, and Tony feels relief as he knows it means that she at least recognizes them at the moment.

“Nanna!” Tess says excited.

“Oh, come here my Darlings,” Peggy says, opening her arms, and both Tess and Peter hurry towards Peggy and hug her. “It’s so good to see you,” Peggy says, as she hugs the kids.

“We made you cookies,” Peter tells his nanna, as they break apart.

“Biscuits?” Peggy asks, looking at Tony.

“Jarvis’s old shortbread,” Tony says, handing the tin he is holding over. “Hopefully they good,” Tony comments, as while he thinks he got the recipe right Peter and Tess wouldn’t allow a single one to be eaten as they were ‘for Nanna,’.

“I’m sure they will be,” Peggy says. “So, I want to hear everything about school, about what you have been up to,” Peggy says, looking between the kids, who excitedly explain to their Nanna what they have been doing, and to Tony’s relief there are only a couple of moments where Peggy seemingly forgets something or is confused.

After spending hours with Peggy, a visit that only ended when it became clear that Peggy needed to get some rest, Tony has flown himself, Peter, and Tess to LA, and the three of them are walking into Tony’s malibu mansion.

“You weren’t kidding when you said there had been some damage,” Peter notes, as he looks around.

“Yeah, we’ve got some work to do,” Tony admits, knowing that while there is damage the house is safe, he wouldn’t have brought the kids there if it wasn’t. “But it’s good, we could all use some changes,” Tony admits.

“Does that mean I can paint my room blue and purple?” Tess asks, as she has been wanting to do that for a while.

“It definitely does,” Tony confirms. “In fact, I was thinking we could get the paint tomorrow to paint both your rooms,” Tony explains to his kids, knowing that both their rooms haven’t been destroyed as they are up on a floor that is only accessed via a staircase that very few people know about.

“Awesome,” Peter says, sounding glad about that. “Dad, can we work in the workshop this afternoon?” Peter asks curious.

“Yeah, if you two want,” Tony says, looking between the kids, both of whom nod.

“And get tacos for dinner?”  Tess asks, as she always loves having tacos in LA.

“Yeah, I think we can do that,” Tony admits. “Go put your stuff upstairs and then we can meet in the workshop,” Tony tells his kids, both of whom nod, before hurrying upstairs.

Hours after Tony, Peter and Tess got back to LA, the three of them have had a Taco dinner like Tony wanted and just like Peter wanted the three of them are in the workshop together. While Peter is working on an Iron Man suit with Tony, Tess is sitting on one of the benches on her dad’s laptop, as while Peter likes creating things mechanically Tess likes working on codes and software.

“The red and gold are really cool, but are you going to make suits in other colours?” Peter asks curious.

“I’m not sure, maybe,” Tony admits. “What colour do you think I should make one?” Tony asks curious, and for a moment Peter is looking like he is considering it, as to him it’s a serious question.

“Red and blue would look cool together,” Peter tells his father.

“I’ll remember that,” Tony responds, and he looks over at Tessa who is clearly concentrating on something. “Tess, what you up to?” Tony asks his daughter curious.

“I am seeing if there is a way to increase the protocol so that the suit is assembled quicker,” Tess explains, as she is clearly fascinating by what she is reading on the laptop.  

“Do you think you can?” Tony asks his daughter, as he knows he has been working on that, but because he knows what the look on his daughter face means he knows he will leave it to her.

“Um, I’m not sure,” Tess admits. “But I want to try,” Tess admits, sounding determined.

“Okay, you go ahead and try, but don’t implement the changes you make until I have a look,” Tony tells his daughter.

“Yes Daddy,” Tess says, and Tony is just about to ask Peter what he wants to work on next when he notices Pepper walking down the stairs, and moments later she walks into the workshop.

“Hey Pep,” Tony greats.

“Aunt Pepper!” Peter and Tess say excitedly, and they both hurry over to her, Tess needing to jump down from the bench she is sitting on, and once they are close enough, they both hug her.

“Oh, I’ve missed you both,” Pepper says, as she hugs them, and kisses the top of their heads, and after a few moments they break apart. “So um, I have to talk to your dad, about something, can you give us a minute?” Pepper asks the two kids, and both Peter and Tess glance at their father.

“We’ve got that Ice cream in the freeze, how about you two go get started on it, and I’ll join you soon,” Tony suggests.

“Sure,” Peter says, and both siblings head upstairs, and once they have closed the door behind them Pepper turns to Tony.

“So, I have handled everything at Stark, and I will continue to do so, continue to be CEO, but there is a meeting you have to be at on Tuesday,” Pepper tells Tony, having wanted to give him as much warning as she could.

“Okay, thanks, I’ll figure it out,” Tony admits, knowing he will see if Rhodey can stay with the kid, or if not him then he has a couple of other people he could call to make sure the kids are looked after why he attends to Stark Business. “I’m glad you’ve decided to stay CEO,” Tony admits, as he walks over to Pepper, as honestly, he is pretty sure that the company is in better hands in Pepper’s than his.

“I’m glad too,” Pepper admits. “Tony about what happened on the roof…” Pepper starts to say.

“I think it should be a one-time thing,” Tony finishes, as he has been thinking about it a lot since talking with his mother and that’s what he realised.

“I think so too,” Pepper admits. “Tony, you mean a lot to me, you’re my friend, my family, and I love Peter and Tess, and I want you in my life, but I don’t think we should be together,” Pepper admits.

“I don’t think we should be either,” Tony admits. “I want you to be in my life, I definitely want you in Peter and Tess’s, but I think it would be a mistake for us to be together; it’s not what I want,” Tony admits.

“It’s not what I want either,” Pepper responds, and as they come to a decision about their future together there is an awkward moment for a few moments. “So um, do you want me to fill you in on how we’re dealing with the fallout from the expo?” Pepper asks.

“Sure,” Tony responds, and Pepper starts to explain exactly what she has been dealing with due to what happened at the expo.

About ten minutes later Tony has been filled in on what is going on at Stark Industries, said goodbye to Pepper, and is walking into the kitchen where Peter and Tess are both sitting on the kitchen island earing ice cream eating out of the same ice cream tub. 

“Is there any left for me?” Tony asks, as he approaches the kids.

“Yep!” Tess assures him.

“Good,” Tony says, pulling up a stall so that he can sit near his kids. “Not too much more, okay,” Tony says, as he picks up the spoon that is on the island, and both kids nod.

“Did Aunt Pepper not want to stay for Ice Cream?” Peter asks, being reasonably sure that his father would have invited her.   

“Not today, but she is going to come next week for lunch and pool fun,” Tony assures his kids, Tony having asked Pepper to do that as after what happened in Afghanistan, he isn’t completely comfortable in water, not that he would admit that, especially not to his kids, as he doesn’t want anyone to worry.

“Cool,” Tessa says, sounding glad.

“Dad, are you and Aunt Pepper dating?” Peter asks curious, as saw a magazine that said that said that when they were in New York. 

“No, we’re not Pete,” Tony tells his son, not overly surprised by the question, as he knows there have been media speculation and that’s not something he can completely protect his kids from, though he does try.

“Do you want to date her?” Peter asks, trying to understand what is going on.  

“No,” Tony says, shaking his head. “We’ve actually talked about it, but we decided not to, that it wasn’t what either of us wanted,” Tony says, answering Peter’s question honestly as he tries not to lie to his kids, even if he has to keep things from them sometimes.

“Oh,” Peter says, looking down at his ice cream.

“Pete, what’s wrong?” Tony asks his son concerned, feeling worried that Peter is disappointed that he and Pepper aren’t dating.

“Are you lonely Dad?” Peter asks, as from his perspective, his dad hasn’t been with anyone since his mother died, though the truth is he has had more than a few one-night stands, and even a couple of two or three nightstands.  

“No, not at all,” Tony assures his kids.

“But you’re alone,” Tess says to her father, as being around her friends at school, and seeing how they all have parents who are together or have parents who are dating has made her realise that that’s not something her father has.

“Just because I am not dating anyone doesn’t mean I’m alone, I have the two of you, and Nanna, And Sharon, and Aunt Hope, and Uncle Rhodey, Uncle Happy, Aunt Pepper, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, I’m the furthest thing from alone,” Tony assures his kids. 

“Do you think you’ll ever date anyone again?” Peter asks, and Tony takes a moment to figure out how to explain what he wants them to understand.  

“If I find the right person, a person I want to be with,” Tony admits. “But I want you both to know that even if I do date someone else, if I marry someone else, that doesn’t change how much I loved your mom. It doesn’t change what she meant to me, it just means I found someone else I love too,” Tony explains. “Do you understand?” Tony asks, looking between them, hoping he explained in a way they would be able to understand.

“Yeah,” Peter says, and Tess nods.

“Daddy, can we look through the photo album tonight?” Tess asks curious, and Tony knows exactly what album she is talking about, an album full of photos of Mary.

“Yeah, I think we can,” Tony assures his daughter, and the three of them drift into silence as they eat a little more ice cream.   

While Tony is eating ice cream with his kids in LA Natasha is the Triskelion in DC and as she is works on paperwork Natasha gets an alert about Tony start, something she set up when she was undercover that she hasn’t gotten around to turning off.

Opening the alert Natasha sees that one of Tony’s planes has been tracked going from New York, to DC, to LA, and because she knows he wouldn’t have been alone on the plane Natasha, without hesitation, deletes the log and makes sure that no one else has been alerted, feeling that it is the least she could do.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

AN: Thank you for the support, hope you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think.

Two days have passed since Tony, Peter and Tess returned to LA and in that time the three of them have been working on the mansion together while doing their best to enjoy their time together.

Not overly far away from Malibu Natasha, who decided to keep the alert she has on Tony active, is with Clint, in an office in a SHIELD field office when Phil walks into the office, looking annoyed, and carrying a black file case.  

“I know that look, what’s wrong?” Clint asks curious, knowing it takes a lot to annoy Coulson.  

“Hill has files and paperwork for Stark, that she wants him to have as soon as possible, which means I have to take it to him,” Coulson says, sounding annoyed, as he really dislikes having to deal with Tony, at least he does most of the time.

“I’ll take it to him,” Natasha says, knowing that Tony has the kids with him, which he wouldn’t want Coulson to discover.

“Really?” Coulson asks, feeling surprised as he didn’t think that Natasha got along with Stark.

“Yeah, if you finish my paperwork,” Natasha says, as she stands up, wanting to make it seem like going to see Tony isn’t exactly what she wants to do.

“Deal,” Coulson says, feeling that is a worthy price to pay if it means he doesn’t have to deal with Tony.

“I’ll see you later then,” Natasha says, walking over to Coulson, and taking the file case he is holding and heading out of the office, Clint being reasonably sure that Natasha just got exactly what she wanted, but he isn’t sure why.

Not long after she took the file case from Coulson, Natasha, who made she wasn’t followed, is walking up to the malibu’s houses front door.

“JARVIS, can I just walk in, or do I have to knock?” Natasha asks curious, as she gets to the door, glancing up at the camera above the door, having no idea what access she still has.

“You can just walk in, Agent Romanoff, you have been given full access,” JARVIS reveals, and as she spent enough time undercover with Tony, she knows how much of a big deal that is.

“Wow, thanks Tony,” Natasha mutters before walking into the house and as she does, she sees Tony, Peter and Tessa running around the living area, all three of them carrying pillows which they are clearly using to have a fight.

“Well, this looks like fun,” Nastasha comments, and Tony, Peter, and Tess all turn to look at her.

“Natasha!” Peter yells excited, and he hurries over to her. “It’s good to see you,” Peter says to her.

“It’s good to see you too,” Natasha assures him. “Hi Tess,” Natasha greats, looking at her over Peter’s head.

“Hi,” Tess responds, still sounding a little shy, but less shy than she was during the movie night.

“Romanoff, bit late for a visit, isn’t it?” Tony asks, wondering what she is doing, but admittedly happy to see her.

“Yeah, well it was either me or Coulson who were going to visit, I figured you’d prefer me,” Natasha admits, making it clear without actually saying it that she has come over for SHIELD business.

“Definitely,” Tony confirms. “Okay, Pete, Tess, bed, you can read for a little while, but no computers, no tablets,” Tony says, looking between the kids, and Natasha has to fight a grin a she knows, without a doubt, that most of the world wouldn’t believe that Tony has this side of him.

“Yes Dad,”

“Yes Daddy,”

“I’ll come up to check on you soon,” Tony says, looking between the kids.

“Night Dad, night Natasha,” Peter says before heading upstairs.

“Night Peter,” Natasha says to him.

“Goodnight Daddy,” Tess says. “Goodnight Natasha,” Tess says, looking at her.

“Goodnight Tess,” Natasha says, and Tess follows her brother upstairs.

“See, told you Tess doesn’t dislike you, that she’s just shy,” Tony says, once the kids are upstairs.

“You were right,” Natasha admits.  

“So, what fun do you have for me now?” Tony asks curious, as he walks over to the couch, and sits down.  

“I have no idea,” Natasha admits, as she also walks over to the couch. “All I know is that it was given to Coulson to give to you, and I knew the kids were here, and I figured you didn’t want anyone else to know,” Natasha admits, as she sits down too, across from Tony on the half circle couch.

“I really don’t,” Tony admits. “Thanks Natasha,” Tony says.  

“You really don’t have to thank me, I figured it was the least I could do,” Natasha admits. “Tony, I meant it when I said I will keep your secrets, I will do everything I can to make sure no one else finds out about Peter and Tess,” Natasha assures him.

“I believe you,” Tony responds, and Natasha knows it’s not often people say that to her. “You know it’s funny I’ve never really fought with Mum, not even when I was being an idiot teenager, it was Dad I would argue with, but the one thing we do fight about is her insistent that I go by Stark and Not Carter-Stark,” Tony admits. “She always said that she wanted me to be safe, that she didn’t want me to be in danger because of her, and I hated that,” Tony admits. “I’m proud to be her son, and I want to admit that, but she won’t let me, not while she is still alive,” Tony admits, as the agreement he and his mother have is that he won’t reveal his true name to the public until after she is gone because then she won’t have to witness the danger he is in because the world knows he is her son. “We’ve fought so much about that, I’ve hated it so much, and yet I am doing the same to Peter and Tess,” Tony admits, not sure how to feel about that.  

“You are, for the same reason as your mom, you want your kids to be safe,” Natasha says. “Tony you’re not only the son of SHIELD’s founders, but you’ve also built Stark Industries into what it is, and you’re Iron Man,” Natasha reminds him. “There are countless people, and organizations, that wish you harm, and if they knew about Peter and Tess, they wouldn’t hesitate to use them to cause you harm,” Natasha says, knowing that without a doubt, and Tony tenses at that, as while he already knew that it’s different to hear someone else actually say that. “I think you’re making the right decision keeping them secret, maybe in the future things will change, but right now I think it’s the right choice,” Natasha admits.

“I do to,” Tony admits. “Even if Peter and Tess are angry at me in the future it’s worth it to keep them safe,” Tony admits.

“Speaking of keeping them safe, here,” Natasha says, leaning over and giving Tony a folded piece of paper, which he unfolds and reads.

“A phone number?” Tony asks, feeling confused about why Natasha is giving it to him.

“One that I will always try to answer,” Natasha explains. “If there is ever anything I can do to help keep Peter or Tess safe all you have to do is call,” Natasha explains, as she has seen first hand what the world does to little kids, little girls especially, and because of that if there is anything she can to too protect Tess and Peter from that then that is what she is going to do.

“Wow, thanks Nat,” Tony says, calling her Nat for the first time, and feeling completely touched. “It means a lot to me that you care that you’re willing to help protect them,” Tony admits.

“Kids are innocent, they should get to keep that innocence,” Natasha admits, and as she does Tony is smart enough to read beneath between the lines of what she is saying and realises that that that is something incredibly personal to her.

“Do you want a drink?” Tony asks curious, suspecting they could both use a drink.

“Definitely,” Natasha responds, and Tony gets up and heads over to the bar. “Do you have any vodka?” Natasha asks, as considering what they are talking about she feels the desire for vodka.

“Of course,” Tony says, and while he pours himself some scotch, he pours Natasha some Vodka and walks back over to her. “So, did Coulson say what he wants me to do with all this paperwork?” Tony asks curious, deciding to change the subject, as he hands her the vodka.

“No, but I assume he wants you to read it,” Natasha admits, in an ‘that should be obvious’ tone of voice, as she takes the glass.

“Smartass,” Tony says amused.

“You’re one to talk,” Natasha responds, and the two of them exchange amused looks. “So, the house is looking good, you’ve managed some repairs,” Natasha comments, as she looks around.

“Yeah, we’re also making some improvements,” Tony admits. “Peter really wants up to put a slide that goes from the upper level into the pool,” Tony explains.

“Tony that’s a really bad idea,” Natasha tells him, being able to imagine all the ways that could go wrong.

“Maybe not, we’re still working on the math,” Tony admits.

“Of course you are,” Natasha says amused. “Good luck, I think you’re going to need it,” Natasha admits.

“It’s math Natasha, we don’t need luck,” Tony responds.

“Whatever you say,” Natasha responds, rolling her eyes as she finishes the drink.

“Do you want another?” Tony asks.

“Nah, I should get going,” Natasha responds, before standing up. “See you, Tony,” Natasha responds.

“See you Nat,” Tony says, and Natasha heads out of the house, leaving the paperwork Coulson gave her behind.

A couple of minutes after Natasha left Tony makes his way upstairs, and then up the hidden staircase that leads to the floor where Peter and Tess’s bedrooms are. Getting to the upper-level Tony heads to Peter’s room, knocking on the door once he is close enough.  

“Come in,” Peter’s voice responds, and Tony walks into the room.

Walking into his son’s room Tony sees that Peter is sitting on his bed flickering though what Tony realises is the photo album full of pictures of Mary.

“Pete? Are you okay Bud?” Tony asks concerned, as he walks over to his son, knowing he must have had a reason to decide to look through the album.

“I don’t know,” Peter admits, and Tony sits down on the edge of his son’s bed. “I don’t really remember mom,” Peter admits, looking between the photos and his dad, as Tony tenses.

“That’s not surprising you were really young when she died,” Tony admits, as while he always knew that Tess would never remember her mother he always wondered if there was a chance Peter could remember, even though he knew it was unlikely.

“I know… I remember feeling safe, and being heled… but nothing else, I can’t even remember her face,” Peter admits, looking down at the photo.

“I’m really sorry, Pete,” Tony tells his son. “You should know your mom loved you so much, from the moment she knew she was pregnant with you, she was so excited to know you,” Tony admits, a sadness to his voice as he glances down at the picture. “And I know it’s not the same, but I will always tell you any stories you want to know, and so will Uncle Ben, and Aunt May, and Uncle Rhodey, and even Aunt Hope and Sharon,” Tony says, knowing they are the people who knew Mary.

“What about the agents Mom worked with? Could they tell me stories?” Peter asks, looking at a photo of his mother with the two agents she used to work with, Melinda May and Laura Rossi who unknown to Tony is now Laura Barton, as he wants to hear stories of what his mom did as an agent, he wants to know about the people she helped, and he assumes they are the only people who could tell him about that.

“Honestly Pete, I’m not sure, it’s been a very long time since I’ve talked to them, I don’t know how to contact them anymore,” Tony admits, as he hasn’t talked to them since he left with Peter and Tess after the funeral as at the time he needed to cut ties as any SHIELD reminder was too much for him, honestly, he doesn’t even know if they are alive.

“Couldn’t Natasha contact them?” Peter asks, knowing that she is an agent too.

“Maybe,” Tony answers. “I’ll think about it, okay Pete,” Tony says, not making any promises, as he’s not sure that is something he wants to do as they were so close to Mary, they spent so much time together, that reaching out to them just seems like something that would be painful to do.

“Okay,” Peter says, and before he can ask his father anything else they both hear Tess scream.

“Stay here,” Tony tells his son, before running out of the room as fast as he can, heading straight for his daughter.

Runing as fast as he can, feeling terrified about what could have happened to his daughter, Tony bursts into her room where he finds Tess sitting up in her bed, with a look of terror on her face.

“Tess? What happened? What’s wrong?” Tony asks, as h hurries over to his daughter’s side.

“You died! At the expo you died!” Tess says, tears rolling down her face, devastation clear in her voice.

“Oh Sweetheart, it’s okay, it was just a dream,” Tony assures his daughter as he wraps his arms around his daughter, holding her close. “I’m okay, it was just a dream,” Tony assures her.

“I can’t lose you Daddy, I can’t lose you,” Tess says as she clings to her dad.

“Oh sweetheart, I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure you never loose me,” Tony assures his daughter, and for a few minutes the two of them sit together, Tony doing his best to comfort his daughter who is still crying.

“Can I stay in here tonight?” Tess asks curious, as she doesn’t want to let go of her father.

“Yeah, I think I can do that,” Tony assures her, as he kicks off his shoes. “JARVIS, tell Peter we’re having a sleep over in Tess’s room if he wants to join,” Tony requests.

“Yes Sir,” JARVIS responds, and about a minute later Peter walks into the room, carrying his pillow.

“Tess, are you okay?” Peter asks his sister concerned as he climbs onto the, very large, bed.

“I am now,” Tess assures her brother, as he climbs over her and sits on her other side.

“Good,” Peter answers, as he was extremely scared when he heard his sister yell.

“Okay, move over a little,” Tony tells his kids, and both Peter and Tess move a little as Tony moves the blanket, so it covers all three of them, and within a few minutes both Peter and Tess are fast asleep, but Tony’s not, he is just watching his kids, something which he does for a while until he finally succumbs to his exhaustion and falls asleep as well.

June 20^th 2010

A week has passed since Tess had a nightmare about losing her dad and ever since Tony has been doing his best to reassure her that he has no intention of going anywhere. It is Sunday morning and Tony is actually enjoying a sleep in when he hears footsteps, and then the light in his room turns on.

Opening his eyes Tony sees Peter and Tess walking into the room, Peter carrying a tray with what looks like breakfast on it.

“What’s all this?” Tony asks, as he sits up, and looks between his children.

“Father’s Day breakfast,” Tess explains.

“Happy Father’s Day!” Peter and Tess say together.

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Tony says, feeling touched, but then he realises what is on the plate. “You used the stove alone?” Tony asks concerned.

“JARVIS supervised,” Peter reveals, as he hands his dad the tray, as his sister climbs onto the bed.

“There were no issues, Sir,” JARVIS’s voice responds.

“Good to know,” Tony says, though he still feels a little nervous, as he looks down at the plate. “Did you try to make Iron Man shape pancakes?” Tony asks, as that is what it seems like to him.

“We tried, they didn’t really turn out well,” Tess admits, as her brother climbs onto the bed.

“I think they’re perfect,” Tony assures his kids, looking between them. “Thank you,” Tony says, as he looks between his kids.

“You’re welcome,” Tess tells he father.

“So, because you could buy yourself anything you want, our gift is us, the three of us doing anything and everything you want today,” Peter tells his father, knowing he and his sister went back and forth about what they were going to give their father for Father’s Day.

“We want you to have the perfect day,” Tess explains.

“I am with the two of you, that already makes the day perfect,” Tony assures his kids, both of whom smile.

“There has to be something you want us to do today,” Peter says, and for a moment Tony looks like he is considering it.

“Well, I’ve been thinking we need to remove that wall downstairs, so how about we use the spray paint we have to paint all over it before getting the sledgehammers out,” Tony suggests.

“That sound cool,” Tess comments.

“Really does,” Peter confirms.

“Then that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Tony says, leaning forward and giving each of his kids a kiss on the head. “And there is no way I’m eating all this alone,” Tony tells his kids, and together the three of them start to eat the breakfast together.

Many hours after he was woken by his kids Tony has spent an incredible Father’s Day with his two kids who are now in bed asleep while Tony is in his workshop.

“JARVIS call Natasha Romanoff,” Tony requests.

“Yes Sir,” JARIVS responds, and seconds later the call connects.

“Hello,” Natasha’s voice answers after a couple of rings.

“Did you miss me?” Tony asks.

“Tony,” Natasha says, trying to hide her amusement. “You need something?” Natasha asks concerned, and Tony knows what she is really asking.

“Nah, we’re all good,” Tony assures her, and Natasha feels relief about that. “So, I finished that paperwork you brought, do I keep it, or do you need it back?” Tony asks, normally he wouldn’t bother to check but Natasha did him a favour, so he doesn’t want her to get in trouble because he was careful with classified info.

“Not sure, I’ll check with Coulson,” Natasha responds.

“Great, let me know,” Tony responds.

“Will do,” Natasha responds, and Tony goes to hang up. “Oh Tony,” Natasha says, before he can hang up.

“Yeah?” Tony asks.

“Happy Father’s Day,” Natasha tells him, being sure that Tess and Peter would have done something special for him.

“Thanks Nat,” Tony says before hanging up.