Secrets Don't Make Friends

Chapter 5: Let's Just Call it a Truce

Chapter Five:

The dynamic in the house changed drastically. The Avengers breathed life into the cabin, their squabbles and jokes ringing through the air like a tolling bell. There was constantly someone around whenever he walked into a room.

The packhouse only quieted down late at night, after everyone had gone back to their respective homes. Sometimes there were sleepovers, but not often. Clint, perhaps, spent the least amount of time at the packhouse, as he had a family that lived about a mile up the road.

Tony had made that discovery quite accidentally when he was out exploring the grounds, eager to get out of the house that was quickly becoming suffocating.

 His eyes had alighted on the two story farm house in the distance, wide wrap around porch with a scattering of children's toys in the yard. There was a small pink bike with glitter tassels in the handle bars and a white wicker basket propped up against the porch, a blue one left haphazardly in the grass by the driveway. Baseball bats and soccerballs were left discarded on the porch by small, careless, hands. He could, even from a distance, hear the happy laughter of children playing, followed by the deeper cadence of Clint's voice.

He was playing with his children, and it was clear that they loved him. Some unnamed emotion made his throat tight, his chest hurt, and his eyes prick. He had about faced, heading off into the woods in the distance instead of following the dirt road that would lead him past Clint's home and further up into the mountains.

He had spent an afternoon exploring nature, not dwelling on the more recent happenings of his life, and instead allowing his brain to overrun with concepts, upgrades, and formulas. His fingers itched for a computer screen, tablet, keyboard. Rogers had been adamant that he avoid any such pursuits.

"I've seen your twitter, Stark." Rogers said only that morning with an apologetic shake of his head. "And I get that you want to go online but our pack is still new and vulnerable. We really can't afford any bad publicity right now. The recommendation from the higher ups at SHIELD was to lay low for a little bit. Let this whole mating thing blow over. They don't want to give the media fuel to add to the fire, you know? If it makes you feel better you're not the only one who has to go dark."

Tony had ground his teeth together and asked for a tablet or laptop that did not have access to the internet. Something personal that he could just... use. For solitaire, e-reading, journaling or whatever.

Steve had given him an inscrutable look. "I'll look into it for you. I don't have anything like that here, but maybe Bruce can come up with something. Or even the IT guys at SHIELD."

Yeah, blow some more smoke up my ass, Rogers, Tony had thought vindictively.

Tony was wise to the ways of Alphas, and he knew that (like a child) Steve was telling him maybe to avoid an argument. Not that they argued much. Tony was still unsure of his position in the pack. Hell, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was at the bottom, but he wasn't sure what he could get away with yet.

And after only a little over three weeks since the last incident... Tony wasn't feeling particularly brave enough to find out.

So he had given Rogers a tight smile and nod, and backed out of the room. Opting to go for a walk instead. He would have to head back soon to start lunch... not that he was pulling huge crowds with his meals.

For some reason, they just didn't seem to like his cooking. A smirk tugged at his lips.

Considering that he could barely stand it himself, he could relate.