Chapter Text
“Howard was such a great man, I don’t know where it went wrong with Tony. I mean you’d think he’d be as good as his dad, but he isn’t. It’s a shame too, Howard was amazing!”
“Well, you know how it is. He’s a spoilt brat, who got everything he wanted. That only goes to show what cushy childhoods can do. They just make you spoilt and arrogant for the rest of your life.” Clint murmured to Steve as the two stood in the kitchen making some lunch for themselves. Before they could continue, the Avengers alarm sounded. Neither of them realised that Bruce and Tony had been listening to them as they had come up from working in the hopes to get some coffee (well, tea in Bruce’s case).
——LINE BREAK——
Things were going well until they weren’t. Something happened to Tony and he was unresponsive as Bruce left early with him on the Quinjet, still in the Iron Man suit. The others heard nothing about Tony’s wellbeing and soon they defeated their villain and were on their way to a debriefing.
“What’s wrong with Stark?” Steve was the first to ask when the Director entered the room rubbing at his temples,
“Poor baby get a boo-boo?” Snarked Clint, unaware of how close he was to being right.
“Uncle Nick! Brucie, come on!” Came a child’s voice, it echoed through the hallway and soon the door opened showing a four or five-year-old boy breathing heavily, making it clear that he had been running away from Bruce, who walked in seconds later panting after running after the surprisingly fast child. Fury didn’t bat an eye and merely crouched down to pick the child up, “I missed you.” The boy mumbled as he buried his face into the man’s neck,
“You saw me ten minutes ago.”
“But then you left.” He whispered and Fury rubbed the kid’s back in an apology.
“You asked about Tony Stark…well, you’re looking at him.” Fury answered looking at the others before stepping back to let Bruce explain the situation.
“From what I can tell, Tony -adult Tony that is- was hit by a chemical solution by our most recent villain, it seeped through the suit in liquid form but somehow it instantly turned into a gas once inside the suit meaning he breathed it in. Thankfully, there was just enough of the liquid solution left for me to analyse and dissect, therefore meaning I will be able to cure him. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to work it out within a week and no longer. I may have to consult the villain and if possible, someone needs to go to his house slash lair slash whatever and get me his notes assuming they weren’t destroyed. We’re going to be in charge of Tony until he’s back to normal. He recognised Director Fury and myself so I can only assume that whilst he has no memory of us, he does recognise us.”
“But he called the Director ‘uncle’.” Clint pointed out,
“That’s because I was the kid’s uncle when he was this big.”
“But you’re…so mean to him and he’s so disrespectful to you.” Steve added,
“No. We have a professional working relationship. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about each other. Back to the matter at hand.” The change of subject wasn’t in the slightest bit subtle, but it wasn’t useless,
“Anyway, we’ll be looking after him, like I said, however, I won’t always be around due to you know finding him a cure. That means we’re” Bruce gestured to himself and Fury, “going to have to trust you to look after Tony. He is a child and has no recollection of being an adult, remember that.” He narrowed his eyes at Steve and Clint as he recalled the conversation the two had that Bruce and Tony had overheard before everything had happened. Before anyone could respond to the doctor, he had turned away and was looking at Tony from behind Fury as the child was hiding his face. “Tony, can you tell everyone how old you are?” Bruce asked and Tony mumbled intelligible words into Fury’s neck,
“Come on, kiddo, you’re going to have to face the music sooner rather than later,” Nick stated turning Tony around so he was facing the group,
“I am four years, ten months and twenty-seven days old.” Thor smiled softly at Tony and walked closer,
“Wow, you’re a big boy aren’t you?” Tony grinned at him and nodded albeit shyly,
“Can I hold you?” Fury didn’t look too happy with the request, but Tony nodded once again and hesitantly reached out for the god.
“Be careful.”
“Your feelings of concern towards me holding Tony are unnecessary. Back on Asgard, there is a tradition that annually, the Queen will hold a banquet inviting all mothers of children born that year are invited to. My mother took me to one because I was curious and I kept going with her. What I am trying to say is that I have experience with children. In fact, a good friend of mine used to have me babysit her baby girl. I understand that Midgardian’s are more fragile, but worry not, I can and will look after and protect young Anthony.” The child tensed slightly in Thor’s arms, but the god said nothing about it, planning on mentioning it later in privacy.
“No one was insulting you, Thor.” Bruce murmured with a small smile, “I trust you to keep an eye on Tony along with making sure the others treat him right.” Whilst the comment was to Thor, it was a blatant nudge towards the others,
“Miss Potts has been told about this and by the time we return to the tower, Tony will have a room set up along with some fitting clothes and toys.” And that was that.
——LINE BREAK——
Clint and Steve stayed away from Tony that evening (and kept their distance for the next few days). They merely watched from the corners of the room as Thor showed Natasha how to hold Tony without dropping him. It was interesting and very surprising that both the woman and the child were hesitant and nervous about the situation. As night fell and dawn inched closer, a Disney movie played quietly in the background as Natasha ran her hand absently through a sleeping Tony’s locks. Thor could be heard snoring on the other couch and truthfully, the redhead seemed seconds away from sleep given the slowing of her hand. At some point, Bruce had appeared and thrown blankets over the sleeping trio before he wandered back down to the lab with a cup of tea to continue his work in curing Tony.
——LINE BREAK——
“Good morning young Anthony! Shall we have breakfast or shall we change your clothes?” Thor asked as he appeared next to the bleary eyed child, who brought his hand up to hide his yawn before rubbing at his Bambi eyes. In other words, he was being too adorable to comprehend and Thor was struggling to hold in his cooing. Then he turned his wide cinnamon eyes to Thor and the god almost lost it.
“Could we have breakfast first, please. Jarvis always did that then got me dressed.” His r’s came out like w’s making him even cuter, much to the downfall of Thor.
“If that is what you wish, then we most certainly can have breakfast first. Also,” Thor crouched down in front of him on their way into the kitchen, “let’s not tell Bruce that you slept on the couch instead of your bed.” He winked and Tony let out the cutest giggle, pressing a finger to his lip,
“It can be our secret.” He said in a child’s ‘whisper’. Of course, Bruce did know as he had placed the blanket on them and Thor still got the look but the doctor didn’t mention it as he joined the team for breakfast.
“Let us go get ready for the day, Anthony.” Thor murmured waiting several minutes after the young boy had eaten, once again he noticed the slight tensing of his full name and was reminded of the question he had to ask. Picking the four-year-old up, they wandered off to find Tony’s room, apparently (and according to JARVIS) it was set up on Thor’s floor. “What would you like to wear?” He asked gesturing to the closet that was surprisingly full, Tony looked a little lost, “It would appear that Miss Potts hides her joking side beneath her professional attitude.” The god murmured as he spied a lot of Avenger’s merchandise. Tony wandered into the closet, looking around with his wide eyes before grabbing what he wanted. He chose a Captain America t-shirt and some dungarees. He looked adorable. No surprise there.
“Mista Thor.” Tony whispered shyly looking down at his red socks, “What are we doing today?”
“Well, I think we’ll be staying here today at home. Is there anything you’d like to do?” The response was from Natasha who had snuck inside a few minutes ago, she was staring at Tony with a gentle smile, her hand absently moving across her stomach as a sharp pain echoed through her body. The young boy startled at her presence, but answered her question,
“I…there’s nothing I would like to do Ms Nat.”
“Alright. But is there any hobbies or things you like to do in your spare time?” She asked picking him up and placing him on the bed before she sat beside him, leaving Tony in the middle of her and Thor.
“Daddy says I’m not supposed to do anything but work. He says I’m not allowed to have fun.” Whilst their bodies didn’t physically show their disgust and horror at the revelation, especially as they took note of the hidden meaning beneath the child’s words, their eyes did meet and expressed their feelings clearly. Before either could say something, Tony continued, “But…I…well, I enjoy building…Jarvis and I build things with Legos. I…also draw things I want to build when I’m bigger and older…also…people find this silly…but I really like completing maths books and science ones too. Like workbooks!”
“Why do people find that silly? You merely enjoy solving things.” Tony just shrugged in answer to Thor’s question and they left it at that.
“Well,” Natasha drawled, “I do believe Miss Potts got you some books, so we can have a look to see if there are any maths or science ones. If not we can order some.” The child’s eyes lit up with glee as he expressed his gratitude and glee through his rambling. The two got up and took a look around the books, handing them to Tony as he made a little pile of the ones he wanted to use that day. Once finished, they put the other books back and took a seat next to the grinning boy. They sat in silence for a good few minutes before Thor took a deep breath and asked the question that had been on his mind since he first spoke to the boy.
“Before we go, I have a question for you, young Anthony.” Tony stilled and looked down at his lap,
“Yes, Mista Thor?”
“Why do you tense when I call you by your full name? You need not tell me if you do not wish to. But would you rather I stop calling you ‘Anthony’?” The boy said nothing and the two adults stood, preparing to leave the conversation like that and get on with their day. Yet as they stood a voice so quiet it was nearly inaudible made them freeze.
“Please don’t stop. I like it when you call me ‘Anthony’, it reminds me of Jarvis, he always said my name nicely and lovingly like you do, Mista Thor.” He whispered before looking up at the pair, cinnamon eyes darting between the two as his fingers played with the corner of one of the books, “I…I tense up a bit because I’m not used to anyone but Jarvis and Daddy saying my name. When Daddy says my full name, he isn’t nice like you…he shouts at me and his voice is always mean. I asso…”
“Associate.” Natasha murmured and received a small smile,
"That word with Daddy telling me off and…I tense up because it’s scary and sometimes…well…I normally expect something to be thrown at me…when he uses my full name.”
“I see.” Both adults murmured in quiet unison before putting on smiles and carrying Tony to the communal floor.