reunited front

1

The Avengers are reunited as one after the Rouges were deemed pardon, thanks to Tony Stark. One downside the billionaire is the lack of knowledge of Sargent Barnes happens to be among the group. Despite that setback, there's a part of him who's glad that they're under one roof again.

Thankfully, Rhodey's around so the chances of him going complete apeshit tends to go down. Well, he's working with the Air Force this week but will be back next week.

He looks over at Natasha who already had taken advantage of one of his old M.I.T. hoodies.

Natasha sits on the counter. "Tony, you're being uncharacteristically willing to share."

Tony looks at her with his mug of coffee in hand. "I can't be killed right now; I'm looking after a kid."

His smile infects her as she lets a small smile slip to her features.

"Where's everyone else in your party?" He asks.

"Out in the city to reintroduce themselves to the outside world." 

"Ah, I see. I'd figured Rogers would have enough of that." Tony says with a snark edge to his voice. 

Natasha looks at him and looks down. "Tony, I'm sorry for never telling you. I thought Steve was going to, but he didn't. I know how much that hurt. Also, I'm sorry for abandoning you the way I did."

The billionaire goes silent for a few moments. "I considered him a friend of mine, but he never considered me as such. Does that hurt? A bit, but neither of us can change the past. And I forgive you because you were in a difficult situation as the peace maker. Steve was in a difficult situation too, I get that, but there was time to tell me. Would I've appreciated it if you did tell me? Yeah, that way I'd still be oblivious in a way." 

With that floating in the air, the elevator dings revealing a teenager with his backpack. "Hey, Mr. Stark! I got an A on my robotics test!"

Tony's smile grows instantly upon hearing the boy's voice. "Great job, kiddo! Give it to me, so I can put on the fridge."

Natasha smiles at the pair. "Hi, I'm Natasha but you can call me Nat." 

The boy's eyes widen as he lets out a small squeal. "Hi," he stammers. "I-I'm Peter."

Tony ruffles Peter's hair. "How was school, bud?" 

"It was okay. Flash is still a jerk."

"Who?"  The genius asks, tilting his head. 

"Some kid in my class," Peter explains. "It's no big deal, Mr. Stark."

"If he's bullying you, it is. I'll just have him sit for a talk from those Captain America tapes." Natasha pipes in. 

The teen lets out a laugh, "Thanks, but I'll be okay." He pulls out the test from his folder and hands it to Tony. 

Tony smiles at the paper. "You're going to be smarter than me one day."

Natasha finds herself grinning at the two interacting. She watches Tony send the boy to his room to get some rest, leaving the two adults in the kitchen. 

"It suits you." She speaks up. 

"What does?"

"Being a dad."

The man takes a breath. "I'm just doing what I wish Howard did for me." 

"Yeah, I know." 

                                                                         _________________-

The rest of the team returns later that evening with boxes of pizza. Steve is the first to call everyone to the lounge room. 

"Nat! Tony! We're back! Come and get some pizza!" Steve calls. 

Moments later, Nat shows up to the lounge. "Tony will be in here in a few minutes." She takes a few slices and places them onto a plate before sitting down on her favorite recliner. 

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah."

It doesn't take long for Tony to arrive to the lounge with a teen in arm's length. "Go eat. kiddo. Then Happy will take you home for the night, okay?"

"Sounds good to me!" Peter agrees cheerfully and instantly goes for a plate full of pizza. 

Tony sits at the end of the couch, distancing himself from the team. 

"Tony, you should eat something." Steve chimes in. 

Tony looks over at Steve and stands to grab himself a slice when he notices a metal hand close to him. He glares at the arm cautiously and makes eye contact with the owner of the arm, Bucky Barnes. The genius grabs a piece and moves slowly back to his seat. 

"I didn't scare, did I?" Bucky asks. 

"No." He covers his arc reactor quickly. 

Steve notices the action and looks down at his feet. 

Tony sticks around the team long enough to see Peter go with Happy to return home before he makes his break back to his bedroom. He would go to the lab, but that's in construction at the moment. 

But no one catches Natasha's eye on him the whole time.