Avengers Stories //Oneshots//

Farmhouse Blues (Part 2)

I honestly could have just made this story into a Wattpad book, considering there is over 7,000 words and the story isn't even done yet. Instead of the two parter I said this was going to be, it will be three. I hope you enjoy!!

Tony didn't go back to sleep that night, instead opting to clean up a bit. With the chaos of the night - thinking up battle strategies and trying to get the kids settled - there hadn't been much time to clean. He did so as silently as possible: sweeping the floors, wiping down flat surfaces to free them of grime or dust, and cleaning the load of dishes from dinner.

Most didn't believe that Tony Stark had ever picked up a broom. They were wrong. When living int the manor, he had his own list of chores given to him by his mother and he got even more practice when cleaning up after his bots. He had someone clean his houses when he wasn't there, but otherwise he cleaned.

By the time the first morning rays of sunlight were peeking in through the windows, the bottom floor was spotless.

As it was nearly six in the morning and they had such an exhausting past few days, Tony didn't think anyone would be up that early besides himself. Steve was the only person who regularly woke up extremely early for his runs, but a quick check in the guest room proved that the man was still asleep. For once.

Tony knew he should probably have gone back to sleep. He needed to be ready for battle, but he just couldn't risk someone finding out about his nightmares. There was no telling if Lila saw anything and put everything together. He also knew that his continued shaking wasn't usual. He had calmed down from his nightmare, but he was shivering occasionally with chills. He wanted to bundle up on the couch and sleep for a while, but the cold would only remind him of inside those Afghan caves.

Currently, he was fixing a broken window in the kitchen to try and keep his mind off everything. A small cough had developed not long before and he tried to stifle it in case he woke someone up. Maybe waking someone would have been a good thing, but he really didn't want to disturb them. He just hoped this cough would leave soon.

"Tony?"

It wasn't Lila's voice that startled him this time, but Cooper's. It took him a moment to realize that the sun was higher in the sky than it had been what felt like moments before. How long had he been staring at the corner of the window? He turned and saw the two Barton children at the threshold. "Hey kiddos. What are you doing up so early?" He didn't think any child would get up this early willingly, especially after being up so late.

Cooper shrugged, making his way over to the counter. "We always get up at seven or earlier. It's usually when Dad is awake and practicing with his arrows outside. We usually go out there with him, but he's not up yet." There was a note of confusion in his voice.

"Your parents were up pretty late last night and had an exhausting day, dealing with a house full of superheroes and whatnot," Tony said. "Us three are the only ones awake that I know of."

"Why are you up so early?" Cooper asked with a raised eyebrow. The question caught Tony off-guard and before he could offer a most likely flimsy excuse, Lila intercepted the conversation.

"We should do something for Mom, Dad, and the other Avengers. Uncle Tony, can we make breakfast?" She asked excitedly and Tony had to shush her gently.

"That'd be a good idea, buttercup, but if we really want it to be a surprise, we can't make much noise." The girl nodded and skipped over to the cupboards. Cooper went over to the pantry and opened it.

"What will we make?" The boy asked, looking over his shoulder at Tony.

"Pancakes? That's literally the only breakfast dish I know how to make," the genius said. He rifled through the cabinets as quietly as possible before he found four boxes of pancake mix. "The fact that your mom has this many boxes is bizarre, but lucky." He dumped them on the counter. "Get as giant of a bowl as you can, kitchen minions."