I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 9

As soon as Tony, Bruce, and Shuri make it to the lab, Shuri starts explaining things.

"Before I started to work on removing the mind stone from Vision, I downloaded his matrix into our computer database."

"It is good to see you again, Mr. Stark," A voice says from the ceiling.

"Jarvis?" Tony says in disbelief.

"Not exactly, sir, I am Vision."

"Of course you are, sorry." Tony rubs his face, When was the last time he slept again?

"I am going to do what Ultron did, but better." She smiles. God, she reminded him of Peter. "Construct cells from vibranium. Ingenius, really." Tony is there, but she is talking to herself, tapping a 3D panel in the air.

They work in silence for a long time. Shuri retracing neurons and Tony assembling the mechanical body.

"Tony," Shuri's voice says. "It is night, let's get food."

"I'm good," He says, attaching two wires.

"It wasn't a request, Stark."

There was no point in arguing, so he follows Shuri to the kitchen. Rhodie is sitting on a couch, talking to Nat. Bruce is reading a book, his eyes trained on the words. Steve is in the kitchen, cooking.

Steve looks up from the bowl he is stirring and looks up at Tony, a small smile spreading across his face, but it does not reach his eyes. He hands Tony a bowl of food wordlessly.

Tony decides to sit near the window, watching closely out it at the dark night covering the trees like a woolen blanket. He zones out, a memory coming to him.

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"What movie do you want to watch kid?" He asks Peter, who is holding a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

"Let's watch Alien." He says with excitement.

So they sit on the couch together, eating ice cream and watching the movie, but Tony isn't really paying attention to the movie. He watching how Peter is mouthing the character's lines because he has seen it so many times. Watches how his whole face lights up when they make a joke, and how he jumps a little at the scares.

Halfway through the movie though, Peter is looking sleepy and he crawls closer to Tony. He rests his head near Tony's shoulder and Tony is not quite sure what to do. Peter has never tried to do this before, but he can't say he doesn't like it, so he wraps his arm protectively around Peter's shoulders with a happy sigh.

After a few minutes, he can feel Peter's chest rising and falling in sleep. Tony smiles as he strokes Peter's hair and turns off the TV. He could get up and take Peter to his own room, but he decides maybe he should stay here with Peter.

Tony falls asleep with Peter curled up to him. He doesn't have any nightmares that night.

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Tony blinks his eyes, realizing he hasn't touched his food and it has gotten cold. He's not hungry anyway. He stares out the window again, taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

Tony has to blink because he thinks he sees a small ship landing on the field.

"Guys," Tony says, looking behind him. "There's a ship."

The Avengers are on their feet in seconds, grabbing the nearest weapon and running outside, ready for an attack. The door opens painfully slowly, and the Avengers draw nearer.

What stumbles out of the ship is not a hostile invader, it's Clint Barton.