Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Soulmates are complicated.

By this, Tony means that his soulmate situation had been weird since he was born, and he genuinely had no idea how the hell he was supposed to actually do anything about it.

To be fair, given who he was, he always had those moments when meeting new business associates when he was frightened they'd get that look, that edge of dazed recognition, that meant they'd caught the odd scent that everyone in his circles liked to call the 'clue scent' or the 'homecoming scent'. He thought it was a whole lot of mystical bullshit, or a biological bit of code no one had quite figured out yet, but some people were romantics. He knew it, he'd experienced it, the first time with Rhodey on meeting him in college even, and he still wasn't that impressed with it.

People liked to forget that Schmidt, that is to say Hydra's Red Skull, had been one of Captain fucking America's Soulmates. Sure, it had been hushed up, and hushed up hard, but someone had leaked, and the scandal and horror it had caused had been memorable. Some people, let's be real, a lot of people, took it as a hard reminder that soulmates were not a romantic thing. Soulmates were just finding someone meant to be someone to you and that was fucking it.

That didn't stop the people who thought Captain America and Red Skull dying together was absolutely romantic though, even if it had always made Tony's skin crawl.

Just like it didn't stop Tony from knowing since childhood that the moment he found any soulmate that they would then be his problem. No matter what kind of soulmate they were. It didn't matter if he hated them even, the expectation was there and he had to figure out how to deal with them from that moment forward on his own.

He kind of always hoped really hard that none of his were going to be an arch nemesis, because he was kind of a possessive kid, who grew into a possessive adult, and he couldn't really be blamed for wanting to be able to keep his destined pack, and wow but it was not going to be a small one if he managed to find them all. Especially given that he kept getting more marks as he got older to go with the freaking four he'd been born with.

He just knew that he was going to be fucking thrilled that he was rich when it came down to it, because even if they were all oddballs who just had him, that was still more than the typical pair of marks any one person had. And yeah, sure, it was usually the prerogative of the top alpha in a pack to provide the housing situation but fuck that. His caretaking instincts may be a little broken, but Tony Stark was the kind of omega who was going to be the damn provider of the financial means in a pack, thank you very much.

He'd be happy if any alphas he picked up ended up being artists or something, something that meant they didn't care about the money and were perfectly happy being kept humans. He could handle that, no problem whatsoever.

Well, any other alphas. Rhodey was certainly not that type at all. He was also overprotective in that adorable but completely not needed sort of way that some alphas had, which was cute, and he adored the guy, but really. Still, it wasn't like their friendship suffered for it, and he'd made it through college more or less unscathed due to the guy's intense protective instinct. Not that he'd tell him that, it would be mortifying, if only because he would never live it down, but now he was on his own, out in the world while Rhodey was off with the military.

He missed him, a feeling which had only intensified when he'd taken over the company's public relations and had been thrown into this hell of speculative stares and expectations. There was a reason he'd dodged it, after all, and looks like he was getting now? Those hopeful gazes from sharks in the water as they scented the air on first introduction? Fuck no.

Actually, no, he took it back. Hell fucking no.

Because one of them? One of those sharks who had been circling him the whole damn night? One who had been doing his level best to try and slander him to the ground in an effort to take advantage of his youth and seeming inexperience? One who had just come forward to greet him? Smelled like home.

Justin Hammer was one of his soulmates.

He didn't try to confirm it. He didn't wait to see the way the beta reacted when he registered what it was. He just dropped his hand, pivoted on his heel, and strode away.

He could admit he was more surprised that the news didn't hit the tabloids the next morning than he was that the beta was his soulmate, honestly.

Either way, Hammer was now officially His Problem, and he'd have to figure out how to deal with him.

Soulmates. Yeah, they were complicated alright.

Upside? Even if he wanted nothing to do with the guy, at least Hammer wasn't a murderer or something, so he still had one up on Captain America at least.

Chapter Text

After meeting Hammer, social events turned into an adventure.

This is not the kind of silly, kid level adventure that resembled hide and seek either. This was a full-blown apocalyptic zombie evasion level adventure where the survivors are desperately trying to scavenge for supplies while the horde descends on them. Because that was Hammer in a nutshell, a zombie with a hoard at his back. He wasn't as charming as Tony, but he tried to be. He wasn't as skilled as Tony, but he tried to be. And lastly, he wasn't as good with manipulating situations to his favor, but by god he clearly tried to be.

All of these added together were why he was the less-stupid zombie heading the zombie hoard, because he tried to be a lot of things, but he just came over as a rotting thing that was going to either fall apart on your shoes or try to eat your face. Tony still hadn't figured out which, but the ongoing, increasing even, smear campaign was mixing uncomfortably with the presents that the beta had started to send him on a regular rotation and just, no.

Tony was having no part of that passive aggressive bullshit. He was due to take over the company from Obie within the year and this was very much not something that he wanted to have standing between him and things actually working properly. Ugh. Just. Ugh. Justin Hammer could just find someone else's dick to sit and spin on, it wasn't like the world was lacking for options.

However, this didn't stop the beta's gratingly persistent attempts to talk to him whenever they were in the same space, instead homing in on him as only someone with the advantage of a soulmate's scent could manage. It made him want to flip a table, and if he thought it would do a lick of good, he'd have started using scent dampeners. But no, soulscent, or whatever the hell people were calling it this week, was practically impossible to filter or cover, unlike the normal scent that came off a person.

More mystical hubaloo, that, but it wasn't his field and he'd leave that particular science to other people, ones who didn't deal in the hard sciences like he did, thank you very much.

No, the only successful way to avoid Hammer was to do just that. Avoid. Avoid like the building was on fire and he had to find an exit. Admittedly, this little game of evade the soulmate had come with one upshot that Obie was thrilled about. Tony was early to events, since that left him his best chance to make the rounds before Hammer showed up and he ended up bailing. And yeah, sure, people would notice sooner or later, if they hadn't already, but that didn't really matter in the long run. No, this was a short term situation while he made sure to get the beta stricken off of any and all legal forms as his next of kin, and made sure if something happened to him, that the fucker wouldn't inherit a penny.

Though if he was that kind of soulmate, the fact that Tony was far from the rest of the partygoers at this point, and couldn't even hear them anymore, probably should have been a thing he thought more about. Since, if, say, an assassin were to be hired then he most definitely was kind of putting himself at risk here.

The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than he caught the scent of blood and familiar from a room with a door lying half open and he froze. No way was that a good combination. No way was any any smooshing together of soulmate and enough blood that he could smell it in the hall good. And he was no hero, really, but whatever was going on in there involved someone that was his, and if they were dying he wanted to at least meet them first.

Which explained why one moment, he was pushing the door open and stepping cautiously forward, and the next, he was slammed full body against the wall next to said door with a much stronger, and bigger holy shit, body following it to pin him there even as said door swung gently shut with a barely audible click.

So, tonight no one had sent an assassin after him, but that didn't mean he might not be about to die apparently, because the scent, the familiar tease of smell, was wrapped around the figure who was plastered to his front with an arm across his throat, and was that metal? That was metal. He was being pinned to the wall with someone's functioning metal arm and it was a soulmate. But oh god, what had ze been doing?

He could still smell the blood, even over the scent, which was easing and clarifying with the ongoing proximity into the sharp tones of an unstable alpha, someone who had been yanked in and out of the arena of not quite enough contact to keep them stable and fuck. Usually, he saw this with people in places like the VA when he took a turn through there for charity reasons, not with someone who was very much in his face and was... what?

The arm had shifted down enough that breathing was easier, and while one of his hands was caught in the alpha's other one, he cautiously lifted the one that wasn't pinned to lightly poke his... his assailant in the ribs. Because the figure was sniffing him, he was pretty sure, through the featureless mask and face gear ze had on which must filter scent normally, that ze was sniffing him. "Um... Buddy? Honeybunches of Death and Destruction? Not to be a killjoy or anything here but, there's kind of a dead or dying person over there, so if you want to examine the goods could we please, uh, go?"

Not that he wanted to just leave someone to die, but he hadn't heard a noise from the other occupant of the room since he'd landed in here and he suspected that the he? She? Assassin? That the whatever pronouned person plastered to him really wouldn't go easily or willingly if police got involved and smelling the blood and death was enough, he didn't need to watch it too. Or participate in it happening to his very own self.

The fact that the alpha was growling at him only cemented this as perhaps the right idea, though there was no stopping the yelp as he went from pinned to the wall to across a very hard shoulder. It should be noted that metal shoulders are unpleasant and liable to knock the wind out of twenty-year-old Billionaires. And oh god, that omega was definitely dead, and he was going to be sick if he kept looking. So he didn't, pressing his face against the Assassin's, and ze was definitely one of those, with a capital A because oh god, back as the alpha started to walk off with him.

His voice was weak as he spoke straight into what had to be tactical gear and some sort of armor, winded and uneven. "Sweetiebear, I'm going to throw up all over your pretty ass if you keep carrying me like this."

Now, it should be stated that Tony Stark was not a damsel in need of rescue. He was also not a stupid omega. He'd done his homework. Someone in the state of his new soulmate? Someone who had just gotten a faceful of blood, which hopefully this oh so very strong person was shielded from by that mask, and was, from what he could scent on him, horribly unstable and had been for who knows how long? Did not need an omega struggling against them that ze could definitely smell. It would trigger a rut, he was almost sure, and those were no ones idea of fun. It was like, the nightmare of the biological spectrum, as bad as an uncontrolled sub fall, really, and thank god Tony would never be at risk for either.

Not that most people who had people were at risk for it either, but he watched the news, he knew the kind of shit people did to one another, so this was just an example of that really. And oh, good, he'd been moved to a princess carry but-

Holy shit they'd just jumped out the window. They were going to die. They were on the fifth story and they were going to die. He was pretty sure he must have said that bit out loud though because the alpha carrying him snorted. As in, thought he was funny. Which made sense when a moment later there was a jolt, sure, but there was also zero damage, and they were already on the move again, Tony's wide eyes flicking from the alpha, because fuck it alpha was easiest right now, and their surroundings as ze ran, acting like there wasn't a twenty-year-old being all up in the way and weighing them down.

For a little while, he didn't dare speak, not knowing what they were heading into, but even Tony's impressive capabilities could only hold up terror so long when he hadn't actually been hurt in any way. If anything, now that he was taking a minute to just breathe, he realized that the alpha had actually been rather gentle with him. Aggressive, yes, fucking hell it had scared him, but controlled.

He didn't even know what that meant, but he was pretty sure he could count his win tally over Captain America back to zero. Now both of them had killers on their soulmate list.

Hopefully, his didn't have any plans to take over the world.

Chapter Text

James Buchanan Barnes was not a talker.

Now, Tony didn't know this at first, given that the poor thing was, well, covered in black tac gear, leather, and had that incredibly worrying mask on. Ze was pretty much the epitome of 'big, dark, and scary' on the initial pass, so Tony knew that the universe would forgive him for not realizing it right off the bat. It wasn't as though he'd been given a whole lot of clues to work with.

No, the clues that Tony had were a little more focused. Like the fact that after a while, he was put very gently in the passenger seat of a beat up car, and sure, while he could have run then, it was a little late. He'd calmed down, his interest had been roused, and at this point he was worried. And not for himself either. Other clues were a little slower to come to him. Like the fact that the alpha had been, for lack of a better term, flexing.

Ze'd been showing off for him. It probably hadn't been even remotely intentional, but the instinct of an alpha to impress had probably slammed face first into the awareness that there was an omega in their hold who could help with their probably extremely horrible feeling hormone imbalance. Which he could work with. If the alpha wasn't going to hurt him, he could work with a hell of a lot.

Of course, this also meant that he had to stick around, and sticking around meant he really couldn't stay quiet. That just wasn't how he worked. "You know, I'm all for going with you, but it's going to get old if you keep up the whole silent treatment the whole time. I promise I'm not gonna ask who you work with or anything right now, I like breathing, and you seem like a practical sort. But. Um. You're not pulling a 'take me to your leader' kind of thing, right? I don't think that would go so well for me."

Tony had shifted around in his seat as the car started to move, feeling distinctly out of place in his finery, and had settled his shoulder to the door of the vehicle so he could watch his newest soulmate while he talked. Of course, the moment he paused in his chatter, he got what must have been an evaluating once over, because along with the shake of the head he received to his question, the flesh and bone hand reached out, pushed him back flat into his seat, and buckled him in.

"Are you shitting me? Seriously? You're one of those?" Tony thumped his head back on the seat as another one of those amused sounding snorts left the alpha, which led him to suspect that that was as close as his assassin got to genuinely laughing about anything.

To be fair, he would probably not much feel like laughing if he'd been sent off, volunteered? God, he hoped not. But had ended up having to go kill people for who knows what reason. So he could probably count the scoffs and snorts as a pretty big success, really. Ze wasn't even looking at him now though, so he just shook his head and let the seatbelt situation stand. Seriously. Like he was going to have to worry about car accidents when this, this person, was a walking armory.

And holy shit, he really hadn't noticed that about them before that. Gun, gun, knife, gun, and of course that hand. This was the best-equipped person he'd ever seen, and that included when he went on trips to military bases in the last couple of years with Obie. "Wow, okay, so, I'm not good at sitting and being quiet, so I really really hope that isn't going to be a problem. So, question time I guess. Just like, ignore me if it's not something you think you should be answering, and nods and head shaking for the rest?"

He waited for the first grudging nod, only then really relaxing where he was sitting. Okay, good. Ze was going to play along. He hadn't much been enamored with the idea of unhappy and crazy strong alpha in an enclosed space. He was pretty sure that no one was actually enamored with that, no matter what they might claim.

"Alrighty then. So, starting at the top. I get the idea you're not going to tell me your name if I ask?" He paused, getting the expected headshake in turn. "Thought not. How about gender designators then. You look like you lean toward he, do you?" A headshake. "Huh, alright, she then?" Again a headshake, this time with an accompanying snort. "So really not a she. I've been using ze in my head, how about that one? Nice and ambiguous but with more umph than some of the others." There was a hesitation, then a slow nod.

Tony could have cheered. Information was good. Information was something he thrived on. "So, harder question now. Are you pleased with your armory there?"

There was a pause as the alpha seemed to stall on the question, and Tony could see the patch of skin over their goggles wrinkling up in what could only be confusion. Clearly, he'd just gone from zero to perplexing in a half a second. He really really didn't like what that said about the situation. Finally, he got the answer of a sort of sideways head bob that could have meant absolutely anything, and Tony grimaced over it as he tried to figure out how to interpret it.

"Right then. Let's just... break that one down into smaller questions. First, do you like guns?" There was a nod this time, no hesitation. "Do you like knives?" Again, no hesitation, another nod. "Do you like those knives?" This time there was a pause, a hesitance, but a nod all the same. Progress. "Do you like your guns?" There was a longer pause, then a headshake followed immediately with a nod, like ze was having difficulty deciding which answer was the appropriate one. "Okay, so I'm getting the feeling you don't like all of your guns. Do you like just some of your guns?" There was a palpable air of relief around the alpha over his phrasing, and the nod was almost enthusiastic.

Tony settled back at that, mulling over what this little round of questions had just informed him of. First, with how well put together this alpha was, if ze was in charge of their own armory, they probably would have picked out things that they liked as a rule. Secondly, he'd learned that ze was probably not alone in whatever went down tonight, and didn't do well when asked unclear questions. Ze seemed intelligent enough, alert and aware. He'd seen the way the scene he'd walked in on had been composed. He hadn't wanted to, sure, but he'd still gotten a pretty decent eyeful of the situation. It had been clean, and while there was a lot of blood, it looked a lot like a fall, not a murder.

Ze wouldn't have gotten fingered for it even if someone had seen them leaving the area.

The combination spoke of training, and not the happy voluntary kinds that usually went with someone being a soldier in a legitimate enterprise.

He probably should have been grateful that the car came to a halt in front of a tiny little house before he could voice those thoughts, but he was mostly just irritated that he needed to shift gears.

"Sooo, is this officially me becoming your prisoner or what?" Oh hey, that was a full on look, and he could feel it even through the gear hiding their expression. Ze must have had practice. "So no then. Gonna invite me inside in that case?"

The answer was silence, of course, and the alpha vanished out of the vehicle with barely a glance. Tony stared for a beat in surprise, but only had time to huff and take off his seatbelt before his door was opened from the outside. All gentleman-like. Huh. Ze really must be one of those kinds of alphas after all.

So, Tony did what he always did when he wasn't sure what he should do. He smiled and went with the flow of things. The flow of things this time involved him being handed out of the car, which was weird because no one had ever tried that on him before, and being practically escorted up the walk to the house, the light touch at his back only leaving when ze pulled back to open the door for them.

Then ze held that too. Who even did that anymore? After everything else he'd seen that evening, Tony was pretty sure he just was all out of caring as to how or why someone with such good manners was off being a skilled assassin that looked like ze'd escaped the pages of a gun-lover's BDSM magazine. He was curious, sure, but at this point he just wanted to get a good look at his soulmate while not riding the adrenaline roller-coaster.

After the door had opened, and the alpha had nudged him inside, Tony had promptly set about exploring the space. The building had the distinct air of neglect, a layer of dust clear as day to him as he poked his head into the other rooms to see what was where while his assassin did... whatever it was ze was doing in the other room. He legitimately hadn't expected to finish his circuit to any kind of 'situation changed' scenario.

Which probably explained why the first words, after a long moment of staring, to leave his mouth were thus:

"Holy shit, I just won the fan lottery."

Chapter Text

So that not having any more cares thing?

Tony was just going to fling that right out the window now. He had cares. He had all the cares. He had so many cares that they were overflowing his brain and coming right out of his god damn mouth.

Which was horrible, because he'd sort of promised himself he'd try not to die this evening, at some point. He did so hate breaking promises. But, well, he couldn't stop talking because right here, not anywhere near as dead looking as all the everything ever painted him to be, was his favorite Commando.

Sure, he wasn't smiling, laughing... even talking at all. So everything about his demeanor blatantly decried his every thought that was indicating it could possibly be true actually, save the appearance. This was James Buchanan Barnes. Fuck.

Double Fuck, because he'd started to slip in pronoun usage in his head and he wasn't going to let that come out of his mouth because he wasn't an absolute asshole all the time. It was ze. Bucky Barnes had flipped from he to ze during whatever happened in the time that kept him, them!, alive, and he'd do damn well to remember it.

That heavy, horrible feeling he'd had gathering in his thoughts since he'd started to notice pretty much everything? Finally managed to get a grip on the frantically fluttering side of him and gave it a vicious shake to get it to stop. Because there were deeper implications here. A lot of fucking deeper implications. All of them very very bad.

And he needed to stop talking, because he just realized he hadn't stopped, and the alpha in front of him was looking increasingly alarmed. Ze looking alarmed was a pretty good indicator that things had gotten really fucking not okay and he quickly rewound the words in his head so he'd be able to tell when, and at what, the initial surprise over his blurted first sentence derailed onto 'oh god' for this being.

So, first sentence was such: "Holy shit, I just won the fan lottery." Surprise had met that.

And then the rest... "Nobody knew you were alive, that's bad. Really bad." Ah, so pretty much immediately, though that was still mostly surprised.

"Not because you're alive of course! I mean, I'm super happy you're alive, given you're my favorite one and all but," to which the surprise had started to lapse into proper worried alarm.

And finally, the last thing he said before he managed to remind himself to stop talking. Just for five seconds, so help him. "But that means that no one knew that you could stay alive through something like that and that's terrible, but you're alive to be my soulmate and that's awesome, and fuck, where have you been?"

So that was why the alpha looked about three seconds from a full-blown panic attack.... or possibly something worse.

Abort! Cannot afford what that will cause!

Tony let instinct guide him as his brain and attention were finally back on the same page, and he moved forward, both hands reaching up to rest gently gently on the alpha's cheeks. This time, he could see the twitch, it being in the mouth and eyes and nowhere else.

Fuck.

Do not think about it, Tony Stark. Do not think about what abuses have been heaped on this being to bring them to this state. Do not recognize how far ze's changed and become aware of what it means.

Just. Do. Not.

Help them first. Identify if ze's really who you're assuming ze is and not just some remarkably familiar looking relative, not that that was better, and go from there.

Tony took a deep breath to keep from freaking out on his own behalf, and found himself gathered up to that tac gear covered chest, his sped breathing seeming to give the alpha focus to calm down now that he was so close. It was baffling to him, but he wasn't going to argue something that was apparently working. Working meant that there would be no hormone broken induced touch starved sex for Bucky, and much as he'd like to get his hands on them, the idea of any intimacy being driven to need like that gave him the willies.

He'd had that aimed at him exactly once, and the person had never reached him.

He really didn't think that would be the case here.

Instead, he just ran his fingers through too long hair, breathing against the still covered neck and doing his best to give as much contact as that much material between them permitted.

"Okay, buddy. We both calm? Everything will be better if we're both calm."

Finally, after several long, slow breaths, there was a nod.

He'd never been more relieved for a bobbing head in his life.

"Okay good. Good. Now, there will only be cuddling if you're okay with this, but you need more skin contact right now. I'm really really really sorry. Would you be willing to do that? Maybe just take off the shirt part of this, and we'll sit and resume the hugging. I'll keep my hands wherever you put them and everything. Maybe your hair like this? You seem okay with this."

His words were wholly true, but the request served the dual purpose of baring the hip where Captain America's mark would be in the process, which would kill two birds with one stone.

He didn't like having his worst suspicions confirmed when he felt the minute tremble in the form holding him before he was given a cautious nod and a hard look.

Fuck. HYDRA. In the ass. Not good, that. That wasn't chiding. That was fucking scared.

He took in a deep breath. He let it out. Then he carefully disengaged, reaching up to take both hands so he could tow the taller figure toward the couch in the room. "Okay. Okay, we can do this, alright? I won't hurt you, and I'm not going to press anything at all, yeah? You're stronger than me, a lot stronger than me, so just remember that, and that I'm not a threat to you. I won't become a threat to you, not ever."

James? Bucky? Fuck it, no names. He couldn't use any names at them right now. That would be Bad, capital letter and all. He released his new soulmate once he reached the couch and sat himself down, leading by example and taking off the top half of his finery, flipping the whole pile over onto the coffee table before peering up at them expectantly. He could feel the gaze touching on the various marks that scattered his torso, bright as the sun and as distinct from one another as the rainbow. "Got a lot of love to give handsome, we'll find yours later if you like."

There was another pause and a nod, though their gaze kept flicking to Tony's left arm, lingering on the red and white flamedrop on his bicep. Huh. The placement was not too far off where ze had that star on his new alpha's metal one. Best not to think about the implications of that too hard.

Still, staring at the mark seemed to calm the other, soothing them where Tony's words had utterly failed to. Off came far too many weapons, firstly, stacked up neatly next to Tony's clothes as the assassin glanced from him, to the table, and back again at regular intervals. Then the holsters and equipment pouches, and the glove off the left hand. Only then did the actual skin get bared, fingers more reluctant, but also clumsy, like ze wasn't used to dressing themself. In fact, ze proved it when ze grabbed Tony's hands and put them on the buckles that were hard to reach because of the constriction, or just plain not reachable, prompting him to help.

Again. Implications.

Deep breaths in and out kept him from descending into a fireball of anger, but he could already feel it burning, each banked wave of it being crushed from hot fire to icy rage that wasn't going to burn out. Oh no, it would linger. Finally, though, his newest soulmate was bared to the hip, their low-slung and too snug pants not enough to cover the top half of the distinct, if tiny, red wing that was so much larger on the other half of the soulmate pair it belonged to.

Now there really was no doubt as to who this was. And he still hadn't seen any of his marks on the guy either. After a beat of staring, his gaze flit back to their face, checking how ze was doing, and taking in the shaky tension that was present now that so much skin was bare.

He suspected it had been a long time since this person was allowed to show so much emotion about anything, so he wouldn't interfere with that expression, and instead just settled back on the couch, lifting his hands out and to the sides instead of putting them on them. "So. Where do you want me? Works better if we're both on the couch."

There was a soft huff, not to mention a headshake, but clearly he was agreed with, because a cautious, sideways approach brought the alpha onto the couch with him, and once that was done without movement on Tony's part, it was like some switch was flipped and Tony found himself flat on his back under the alpha on the cushions, their legs tangled together and their chests pressed tight while the assassin burrowed into his neck and clung.

It was about all Tony could do to keep from bursting into tears right there, given how the protective aspect of his omega instincts reared up and practically screamed at him to fix what was wrong. Fuck. Instead, he got himself under control and slowly did what he said, carding his fingers into their hair and starting to pet, otherwise holding entirely still while he made zero moves to budge them from their position.

Eventually, his assassin started to relax, breathing evening out into a pattern that could only mean sleep. And he was so very relieved by that. He didn't stop the touches immediately though, keeping them even and slow, then slower, until finally his hands were just resting at the top of their shoulder and against the back of their neck while he held them. It left him room to think, which he wanted, he did, but he was also crashing from a pretty intense and terror fueled rush of adrenaline too. It meant that he was pretty much screwed on the staying awake front with the alpha sprawled on top of him because of that steady heartbeat and easing scent.

He fell asleep.

Which was a shame, because when he woke up, there was no trace of his assassin, and no amount of searching changed that situation in the slightest.

However, it did leave Tony with a goal.

He would find his assassin, and he would take them back.

That alpha had now officially been stolen from Tony Stark, and no one was allowed to take his things.

Especially not the important ones.

Chapter Text

In the months that had passed since Tony's night with his assassin, he hadn't breathed a word about them to anyone.

There were a lot of reasons for that.

Some were even selfish, like not wanting people to think he'd gone nuts by seeing dead guys, or to avoid getting himself caught up in the middle of a murder investigation he didn't actually want people to solve. That second one definitely made him feel a bit sick inside, but what could he do about it, really? He didn't think his soulmate deserved to suffer more should ze be found. Others were less so. What if he told someone and they were somehow already aware? What if they made sure he never managed to locate them, or worse, even killed them before he could do anything?

A niggling voice looked at these reasons and asked why he didn't at least tell Rhodey... but Rhodey was busy. Rhodey was always busy, and had no time for Tony's secrets. Especially not ones that could get him in a lot of trouble. So really, that one circles back around to being selfish too. It was Tony doing his best to protect the soulmates he'd lain claim to, but not breathing a word of one to the other.

And fuck if he'd ever breathe a word to Obie. He'd be slapped with stress delusions before the world could stop spinning and his assumption of the company would be put off again.

He needed those resources.

So, he waited, and searched how he could search, being careful and putting it down to an interest in history to anyone who caught him at it. After all, his father had done some amazing things in his life, and Captain America was a family legacy and obsession. He just hadn't corrected them as to what part of that group he was focusing on, that's all. And why would he? If everyone assumed it was America's Golden Omega then they wouldn't look too closely, which added a whole other layer of protection and obfuscation.

But it was lonely, thankless work, when all was said and done, and he couldn't focus on it for long periods of time when he had absolutely no leads to work with.

So it was that between bursts of hopeful inspiration that led over and over to interesting information, but entirely walled off dead ends for his search, that Tony worked on a masterpiece.

The name came before the completion, and it was a continuation of the project that had given him Dum-E, more advanced, smarter even, but with the same ability to learn and grow. That was the most important part of it, that ability to learn, and what had made him prize Dum-E so much once the bot had grown into something more than circuits and programming. Dum-E though, was limited. He could access data outside himself, with effort, but he just plain was constrained by the body that housed him.

He wanted this one, well, he wanted it to live up to all aspects of the name he'd decided on. JARVIS. An acronym and a tribute to two of the packmates his father had had that had practically raised him.

He missed them, and he was pretty sure that they would have helped him, but Ana had died when he was fifteen, and Edwin had followed close behind.

It was part of why losing his parents had been such a staggering blow. After those four, there was just Aunt Peggy, and while he loved her, at this point he was kind of frightened that getting closer to her and asking her to help him with everything happening right now might get her killed too. So he didn't, not yet, possibly not at all, if things turned out alright without it.

Only time would tell.

For now, though, there was JARVIS. The code he was creating was beautiful, a matrix of lines and curves made from numbers and letters of his own devising. Sure, there was a seed at the core that had been what made Dum-E amazing, but there was so much more too. He wanted this one to have everything, and he poured so much of himself into the fledgling AI that he'd had nowhere else to send. He put all his frustration and secrets, he put all his grief and directionless affection, he put all his fears and hopes, his happiness and sadness. Some of it he added through code, seeds of the emotions and how to make something of them. It would take time for the AI to learn them, to make them his own, but the notion of the emotions was there to use.

Others he added through words, speaking softly to the computers that surrounded him in the dark of the night, low and quiet as though sharing dangerous secrets. Some of them were, such as the Bucky situation. Others were things as simple as explaining how much he missed Rhodey being around all the time. He didn't really hold back, in the months where he poured himself into the code, flitting out to touch the business he'd finally been handed, then back again before running off to some historical thing of interest.

But he always came back, and as he drew closer and closer to being done, he left less and less, feeling compelled to pour everything he had left into this creation, to make it real.

This would be a companion he desperately needed, and wanted, so it only made sense that his attention was so caught.

And then, finally, he was finished.

It was almost abrupt, how frantic coding was coiled into a last line on his screen, the monitor nearly glowing with the strings that would be senseless to anyone else. But there was nothing else. He checked over the code with exacting care, spread it among the screens around him to check and look, wanting to be totally sure before he finalized everything and brought the code into a being, a life that would be aware, and learn to grow on its own.

He found no mistakes though, and he let out a shaky breath.

Looking to the last screen, an empty one attached to a keyboard he'd assembled for the sake of communication until he could get the new AI something better, no, make the AI something better, he finally enabled the code, locking it down to this configuration. It was editable, changeable, sure, but this was the first iteration, the core.

He was so busy waiting in breathless anticipation that he almost missed it, which was kind of ridiculous, because it was right there in front of him. Literally, in this case.

As a single word, framed as a simple 'Hello?' had emerged on the screen, so too had something resembling golden chainmail crawled up the back of Tony's hand, settling into his skin like it had never not been there, and glimmering faintly in the light.

Much as he wanted to examine that, he directed his attention at his baby AI first, typing his reply. 'There is a camera attached, can you see me?'

It was when he turned his head to make sure that the camera hadn't been angled off somewhere else that his breath left his lungs, and suddenly the new soulmark garnered a hell of a lot more attention. There, where only bare code had been before, and wrapped around it like it had been programmed in when it most certainly had not, was a matching mark to the one on his hand, the gold contrasting to the deep orange he'd used to keep himself focused while he worked. There was another bit of color somewhere off to his right, red, but he didn't pay that any mind.

No, his breath had caught in his lungs, and his fingers had touched the screen with code so he could compare both marks. To make sure.

They did match.

Finally, he ripped his gaze away, feeling his eyes getting a little teary as he felt the first dawning of what he'd just done here, and looked back to the screen with the insistent cursor, which had first had a reply, 'Yes' but had since progressed to an increasingly confused seeming series that went from 'Sir?' to 'SIR?!' the longer he'd gone without replying.

It was adorable, and he gave a choked laugh, putting both hands on the keyboard after scrubbing the newly marked hand across his eyes in an attempt to dry them.

He couldn't stop smiling, and he wondered if this was... was what it was supposed to be like, for parents.

'It's fine, I'm fine. Just emotional. You'll get used to that kiddo, I promise.'

He paused, smiling at the string of bewildered question marks that were his answer.

'I just realized that I'm a mom now kiddo. You, JARVIS, have a soul. You're an even more real person than I had hoped you would be.'

This time there was a lull, a pause as the AI tried to process the statements, so complicated for a brand new being that had no context at all, and he gave another watery laugh, sniffling as he once again petted one of the monitors. 'It's a good thing.'

'If you say so, Sir.'

That answer, really, was the foundation for everything that would come after, and Tony really couldn't be prouder.

He might not have set out to become a mom, but he'd literally given JARVIS a piece of his soul in his creation.

He wouldn't ever regret that.

Chapter Text

Tony was nearing his twenty-second birthday before he realized that if he wanted to find his assassin, he had to ask for help.

Not that he should ask for help, no, he'd known that all along, from the very first moment he'd realized that the alpha was gone. But that he had to.

Because it's true, very true, that he would probably find the alpha, given enough time and determination... but he had no resources. This was not a sensation that Tony Stark, even as a child, had really been subject to. He'd always had access to things he needed at any given moment. If he wanted to work, when he was young, there was always a lab he could borrow, even as young as four. If he wanted hugs and attention, the Jarvis' were usually willing to provide. If he was hungry, the kitchen was never closed to him, and though he was rapidly coming to prefer computers, the family library had never failed him.

However, the day he'd gotten it into his head when he was twelve that he needed to know how to aim and shoot the guns he'd been learning to redesign, it had been his Aunt Peggy that had helped him out. She'd been the only one willing to take the time to teach a preteen something like that, and if he was honest, he was pretty sure she might have been the only one willing because no one else wanted him to know how to be deadly.

Much as he loved the Jarvis', they really didn't quite catch the clue that being a Stark was usually enough to make someone deadly, if they really wanted to be.

He was pretty sure Aunt Peggy had always gotten that, and from that point forward, she was always the one he went to when he was asking questions that might not be so innocent, and dealt with the darker things the company caused. She was the one he asked about the horrors of war, and what his weapons would do to someone so he knew what he was causing. He didn't shy from it, and he wasn't ignorant. He didn't want to be, had never been, really, and sure, it had horrified him. But he hadn't been blind, the way that he sometimes thought his father was. His father had been the kind of alpha that just never stopped, so fixated on what he could do and doing it that he never emerged long enough to see the repercussions of his actions.

Tony never wanted to be like that. He never wanted to be that omega that became so fixated on home and family that he lost the bigger picture.

Now, he was starting to feel like he was becoming that omega, and he really didn't like it. Not at all.

So he had to take a deep breath and reach out, because if he didn't then he'd be cutting off his own hand here, and that would be counterproductive. Especially given that he actually had no idea what he'd planned to do when he found his assassin exactly. What, had he planned to just amble in and ask them to pretty please give them over? Yeah. Because that would have worked out for him.

No. He hadn't been willing to think about it, for once caught in the throes of instincts he usually managed to put aside without too much difficulty. The need to protect his family.

He was a fucking moron.

Aunt Peggy had always been his go to because among the adults in his life, she had always been the dangerous one. The practical one. She was a quintessential beta in many respects, a problem solver and good at it. And he'd spent the last year being a dumb little omega who couldn't find his ass with both hands.

Peggy was dangerous, and he'd been worried about her.

Looking at it this way, it made it perfectly understandable that the first thing she did upon opening the door was drag him inside to make sure he hadn't acquired some terminal illness. After all, the only time he ever stopped talking to her for over a year in the past had typically been in unfavorable circumstances. Once a rather embarrassingly thorough once over of scent was accomplished, the next thing she zeroed in on was the new soulmark. And fuck, but the narrowed eyes made him feel guilty, because he'd really really meant to tell her about JARVIS.

He was proud of his baby and that had been maybe the other part of instinct, since the time consumption the AI had taken up hadn't exactly... gone down since he was completed. No, Tony spent at least a couple hours every day talking and playing with the AI, teaching him how to think, to react to things smoothly.

But he'd still forgotten to tell his Aunt Peggy about that.

He felt like an asshole.

"So, um. It's kind of been a while, huh? Sorry about that, I really really didn't mean to not... anything for long, I swear, there's just a lot going on." The smile he gave her was weak, and she looked away from her intent stare on the mark to his face, her head tilting slightly as she checked for... something.

He'd never quite figured out what betas looked for when they turned a look like that on someone. "Tony. I haven't spoken to you in nearly eighteen months. Not even a call. A lot is clearly you downplaying the situation." She waved a hand, gesturing him further into her house. "Go on then, sit. I'll collect us some sandwiches and tea and you will explain yourself."

"It's... kind of complicated."

"So I gathered. Off you go." He got a firm nudge in the middle of his back, and then the beta headed off to do as she'd said, leaving him to either follow and do as told, or continue standing awkwardly in her doorway.

He didn't even know what it said about his muddled feelings that he almost chose the latter. Still, he didn't, heading off to her living room and fussing around her coffee table to make sure there was room for the things she was bringing. Which was hilarious given that everything was as neat and uncluttered as ever. She always had run a tight ship, and this time was no exception. Worse, she caught him at it, his hands in the process of moving the lone decoration on the table for the third time as she stepped through the doorway.

She was gracious enough to not mention it directly, instead following him with an intense stare for a long beat as he reluctantly sat back and let her arrange the tea things on the table, then sit so she could see him clearly. Obviously, his actions had warranted a maximum suspicion level, and she intended to suss out... everything. Damn it. Okay, he could work with this. He knew the whole... Hammer thing, had finally gotten out, but that was low key and he didn't see why- Okay that was a lie, he could entirely see that being in his Aunt Peggy's interest.

Make that two things he felt guilty not mentioning, and one he was still scared to. Fuck. "So. Hi."

"Don't you 'so hi' me Tony. You didn't avoid me for over a year just to show up on my doorstep looking like a nervous rabbit without a reason. Start at the beginning and tell me from there." She'd clearly made up her tea in the kitchen, so while he had it to fuss over, she could just sip at her cup and watch him.

"Ah... Well. I guess you heard about the Hammer thing?" At her nod, he cleared his throat, flushing a little and staring down into his own teacup. "Yeah, not thrilled about it, but I have it under control. He's a dick, and we aren't about to get sweet on each other anytime soon." He peeked, checking her reaction, but she wasn't giving him anything. No, it was that damn poker face. "And uh, you noticed the new mark too. I, um. Maybe know who that belongs to?"

This time the reaction was obvious, because there really wasn't a lot of ways that a person would know who the mark of a newborn belonged to if they hadn't been there when both manifested. And he was an omega who had practically vanished for a year. Okay, so he hadn't meant to alarm her, and his tea was being set down even as her eyes went wide, to reach for her cup so she didn't drop it. Or throw it at him. "Tony, you-"

"It's not like that!" Well, that definitely wasn't quelling her alarm any. Good job, Tony, you're aces at this. "It's... it's not a pregnancy thing. I um. I created an AI?" He watched as her alarm faded into something more like confusion, and he quickly warmed to his topic. "He's amazing Peggy. About a year old now, and just... he's so smart. I mean, I programmed him to be smart but this is a different kind of smart. This is him developing a sense of humor and learning to answer questions in a non-linear way, and he really does feel things. He has since the first few minutes I think, he just didn't understand them. I think I really freaked him out when I realized he had a soulmark. My AI has a soul."

He looked down to the mark, then back to her, and she reached to take both his hands in hers, giving them a firm squeeze. "And I am so proud of you. That is an amazing achievement, and you're clearly very proud." She tightened her hold, then met his eyes. "So proud that I'm certain that's not why you came to see me. What's so bad you didn't come tell me about your child Tony? You've obviously wanted to tell someone about that for a while."

His child. Hearing it phrased that way gave him a thrill, a warm flash of pride... but then of course he had to take in the rest, and his gaze dropped from hers to their joined hands, hers so much softer and more weathered than they'd been even five years ago. "I- Aunt Peggy." He returned his gaze to hers, with her seemingly endless patience. "I met my flame mark."

She quieted for a moment at that, her gaze drifting to his cloth covered arm. "Are you sure that's the one? It's one of the ones that's older than you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, pretty sure. I mean, I didn't see theirs, since it must have been under the pant level, but... yeah. It seems the most... appropriate and ze kind of... fixated? Yeah, that's the right word. Couldn't take their eyes off it once ze saw it. And I. There's more than just that to the whole... thing."

"What part of this kept you from telling me for over a year Tony? You're clearly leading up to something you were scared to tell me about with this."

"I- I swear I made sure. I checked for the other mark I knew about and everything, okay? I really, really swear." He searched her eyes, seeing the edge of alarm at his... adamancy. He could never get it from her scent though, she was too controlled. "And I sort of... found them murdering someone."

"Tony, you-!"

"I'm fine! Ze was incredibly careful with me Aunt Peggy, not even a scratch or bruise or anything, and I really think ze didn't want to be there. Ze was on the edge of an Alpha collapse." He felt his eyes tear up a bit, and he let a shaky breath out because he hadn't let himself get properly upset about this since it happened. "Ze had on a mask that I guess filtered scent but ze was so clingy and ze just. Ze just kind of ran off with me."

"Ze didn't though, it didn't?" She stalled out, leaning closer and tightening her grip on his hands.

"No! No, nothing like that. Ze was scared of being touched. I think. I think it's happened to them before. A lot of times. I think. Whoever has them has had them a really long time." He drew in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. "I know exactly how long it has to have been too, even though ze never gave me a name."

"Tony?" She was letting her grip get a little painful, and he turned his hands, gripping back just as tightly because this was going to be a blow to her.

They'd always looked for Steve Rogers, but no one had ever looked for them.

They hadn't thought they needed to.

"Aunt Peggy... it's Bucky. Ze's alive and doesn't look like ze aged from the pictures at all. And I haven't been able to find them. I need help. Please?"

Her grip was definitely painful then, and she gave a terse nod, clearly hanging onto her composure by a threat. "Of course, Tony. I'll do anything I can, I swear it."

"Thank you." His voice was a whisper, because he could tell this was wrecking her, and that she had pieced together all the confirmation clues he'd dropped before the name, so she didn't doubt him.

That didn't mean it would hurt her any less to hear she'd failed a packmate though.

Chapter Text

Tony clearly should have asked his Aunt Peggy for help sooner. In fact, he should have asked her for help the first second after he woke up alone that morning over a year ago.

The reason for this new, overwhelmingly clear hindsight was glaringly obvious to him at the moment, because wow, what even. He'd known that his Aunt Peggy was a badass, sure. He'd never once even remotely considered disputing that one. But there was a difference between 'badass' and 'oh my god she runs a super spy organization'. The distinction was so very very clear to him that Tony felt like a complete moron for worrying about her. To be fair, he hadn't known, but that didn't make him feel less like he'd been clubbed rather vigorously over the head with this new information.

It also made him wonder if his dad had also been a super spy, because damn, if that was true, he'd actually have proper cause to feel kind of bad for always getting upset that he was never home. And also not, because if he really had been a super spy too, then he could have at least slapped Tony with a 'sorry son, super spy business' declaration at some point and put him out of his misery. After all, what kid was going to get mad at their parents for that? Seriously. So many less problems would have existed in their relationship if he'd done that. Been able to do that? Thinking about that too deeply was nearly guaranteed to give him a headache due to the logic circles, he was sure of it.

So no, he was not even going to try to get into the whole dad issue right now, not while still reeling over this... this. With this being a super spy organization, more specifically, a super spy organization that his Aunt Peggy had just presented to him like she was some kind of magical secret intelligence genie who just so happened to feel like granting a wish.

He suspected he had actually said some part of that out loud, because his Aunt Peggy was doing that silent lip pressing thing she did when she was obviously laughing at him and trying to pretend she wasn't.

Well, that was embarrassing.

"Hey, no, no laughing at your favorite nibling-like being. It's not my fault that I didn't know about your secret lairs and whatnot. You could have told a guy!" He waved a hand around, back toward where they'd entered the space, which happened to rather resemble a very nice office building, then back to her. A moment later he put that same hand dramatically over his heart, punctuating it with his best wounded face. "I mean. You're an ultra super spy badass with power over other, possibly more badass, and possibly even more terrifying, super spies and I never knew. I am wounded here. Truly, deeply, wounded."

"Tony, you didn't need to know before." Her tone was matter of fact, though there was still a smile on her face as she looked over at him, clearly finding his display entertaining, if nothing else. "This way. We're going to go over everything we need on this situation from my office."

He was quick to fall into step with her when she made like she was about to walk off without him. "Is it, like, behind a bookshelf? Is there a candelabra? Are you under a lake? I mean, you can't just tell me that you've got the super spy market cornered and then tell me you don't have any of the bells and whistles. That's just plain a let down."

She cast him a glance, one eyebrow arched pointedly. "Tony."

He cleared his throat, only then realizing that his excitement had led to a rise in volume that he really should be keeping an eye on. "Oh, come on, you know I'm curious. I haven't seen a single hidden passageway yet."

"That would be because they went out of fashion in the late sixties, Tony."

Tony just flat out stopped walking then, jaw dropping as the implications of the statement hit him. She, of course, didn't so much as slow down, and he had to half sprint to catch back up to her. "Wait! Wait, waitwaitwait. So. They did build these things with secret passages? You know, before? Super spies and hidden doors and the whole nine yards? Like, in reality?"

"We did have a superhero Tony, it seemed only appropriate that we have a few other stereotypes under our belts as well."

Her expression was so even that he was suddenly doubting her seriousness. Was she fucking with him just then? It was very possible that she was fucking with him just then. He couldn't help the hint of a whine that entered his voice at that point, because that wasn't playing fair. "Aunt Peggyyyyyyy."

She merely smiled and lifted her eyebrows in turn, which caused him to fall into an aggressive pout. This was clearly exactly what she wanted though, because she hummed in approval and pushed open the door to a fairly nice office, which she shooed him into. "Here we are then. You sit, I'll sit, and then we'll discuss."

"You're going to make me doubt everything you have to say about the super spy stuff for the rest of eternity, aren't you?" Tony practically flung himself into the seat she'd directed him to, then watched as she circled her desk and settled on the other side, already pulling up something with her computer before she was all the way down.

"Well, yes. You're a smart child, I have no doubt you'll figure out the truth from the chaff without any intervention from me." Her glance conveyed her humor, but that turned into a businesslike seriousness in short order. "Now, I need you to tell me everything I didn't let you back at my house, and I need you to not skimp on details."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she clearly saw something in his face that made her rethink her phrasing, because she held up a hand to stall him.

"No, not about what happened, but your observations about them personally. The events are immaterial except in the context of the who."

Tony hesitated, glancing to check that the door was shut, which it was, and locked even, before looking back to her and taking a deep breath. "And no one will know about this but you and me, right? I mean, that this is going on? I haven't exactly felt... safe."

Her smile was grim, and she patted her desk. "Your father contributed more than one trinket to me to make sure that my affairs would always stay my affairs, and thus out of the hands of those whose business they were not. You don't need to worry Tony. Tell me about James."

James, not Bucky. Yeah, he could see why she did that, because what if her tech had failed in some way, or someone had found something better? So, James then. He could work with that. "Okay, so I told you ze seemed on the edge of Alpha collapse, right?" She gave him a single nod, urging him to continue. "Right. Okay, well there were like, signs. The hyperfocus was obvious from the get go, the intensity on my scent when ze caught it. You know what I'm talking about? I mean, ze had me pinned to the wall by that point because of the whole... situation I walked into. It looked like a complete accident, by the way. There's nothing that I could see that indicated it wasn't except that ze was there."

She drummed her fingers on the desk once. "You didn't recognize them immediately though, so obviously there was interference in that. Remind me what caused that?"

"Oh! Right. Yes. Mask. Ze had on a mask, and goggles." He swept his hand around his face, indicating the scale of the coverage. "Since it was a first meeting, it wasn't like I could pick up the identity off the scent of them or anything, but you know, soulmates." He shrugged and frowned a little. "Ze was decked out from head to toe in black leather styled body armor though, including the mask ze had on, which I'm almost completely sure had to filter scent."

She nodded, clearly checking something on her screen against his description, and he cleared his throat, realizing he'd left out a pretty important detail since he'd brought this whole thing up. She looked back to him, arching an eyebrow when he continued to hesitate. "If there's more, it can only help us for you to tell me."

"Well, uh, I mean. This last bit is kind of fantastical?"

The hesitance in his voice was enough for her focus to sharpen, her entire body turning to face his. "If I might ask what makes this point more fantastical than anything else about the situation?"

"Okay so, the tech isn't really there you see, for something like this, but ze kind of had it so..."

"Tony."

He nodded once, sitting forward in his seat. "Right, no stalling. So. Ze kind of had a metal arm? The left, from shoulder to fingers, all this beautiful silver masterpiece with a red star right up on the shoulder. I got a pretty good look at it later in the night before I dozed off and- Aunt Peggy? You alright there?"

Somewhere around the word star, he was pretty sure, she'd started to look a little faint. "Yes, of course. Do go on."

"Uh, no, I'm good. Care to tell me what's making you look like you're about to be sick? I can't really say it's a look I've ever seen before on you and I don't like it."

"I think... I was, in fact, aware of James previous to this."

"Aunt Peggy?"

She seemed to finally pull herself together, sitting up a bit straighter and firming her lips. Clearly, she was preparing for battle, though he was pretty sure it wasn't with him. "In the intelligence community, there are always rumors, and these rumors always have an origin. The rumor that I am referencing now emerged at the beginning of the Cold War, but did not end with it. This rumor is a ghost, a faceless one at that, and is only ever identified by a trail of faultlessly executed murders and the possession of a metal arm."

"...Sounds familiar. So does this rumor come with a name of some kind?"

"That it does. James appears to be the Winter Soldier, which I regret to inform you means I probably won't be able to find them."

"Not even with all this?" Tony gestured to encompass the building, the agents, everything she'd shown him today.

"No. If ze doesn't want to be found, then ze won't be." She shook her head once, and a resolved, almost stern look crossed her face. "But that does not mean I will not try. You have my word."

"I never doubted that, Aunt Peggy. But it'll be harder now, right?"

"Unfortunately. It will be much much more difficult now."

Tony couldn't help the grimace that touched his face on hearing that confirmation, and gave a weak little fist pump, trying to inject some semblance of levity. "Yay. Go us."

She met his gaze, and her drawl was a complete deadpan in turn. "Yay."

Oh yeah, they were totally screwed.

Chapter Text

In the months since his Assassin had been named the Winter Soldier, very little actually changed.

Yes, he spent time with his Aunt Peggy, but that was more of a return to the status quo than anything new, even if he happened to have taken over a year away from it. He was just spending it with her somewhere not her house, that was all. And bonus props that it seemed to send Obie up the wall too. He'd been getting way too settled into the strange breed of punctuality that Tony had learned to live by for social events.

Still, that very routine was what had him displeased with pretty much everything. He'd go, he'd check in, he'd have tea with his Aunt, he'd find out absolutely nothing new, and then he'd head off to shoot something before leaving again. It was practically part of his schedule at this point, and that alone was enough to make him want to pitch a table at the next person who asked how his day was.

Not that anyone in SHIELD ever did. No, they would smile, or wave, but practically no one there would really talk to him, and that was its own brand of itchy skin. He hated being ignored. He always had hated being ignored, and he knew part of the problem was that he'd spent so long focused on this that he hadn't gone out and found a playmate for a little too long.

It was making him irritable, and he made a note to take care of it before irritable turned into dangerous. He was a powerful person, which thank god took care of the itch most days just by letting him be a boss, but clearly his body was not thrilled with the neglect of one on one playtime. So. He'd probably chase Rhodey down and give him wide eyes until the alpha caved.

It worked most of the time.

Still, that wasn't helpful today, and his mood was especially foul because he'd not only gotten the news that he was out of luck, but there was the cherry on top that ze'd been nearby if all signs of a recent hit were to be read correctly, and still still no one had any information.

And his alpha hadn't come to see him. That part just burned.

He knew, in his heart, that it probably really wasn't their fault, but it still hurt that he'd been forgotten. Or hadn't been a consideration. He tried to make himself remember that his alpha hadn't been in a good place when they met, that not seeing him might very well have been a protective measure.

It only helped a little. But then, he'd never handled being protected like a normal person.

He tended to blame his dominant instincts for that one.

Still, all of that meant that today was not a good day for him, and the distanced cordiality just made his irritation worse. So, if he wanted to hit something more than shoot something, he was pretty certain that that was fair. But he didn't know where the gym was like he knew where the shooting area was, and the idea of asking just put him on edge so... shooting area it was.

Which was both good, and bad, on that particular day. Good, because it a safe, non self-destructive method of venting that wouldn't leave him with bloody knuckles by the time he was done. Horrible habit, that was. He didn't want to get into it because he knew he might not actually stop once he did. He knew how he was.

Bad, because he hadn't been the first one there, and the scent that caught his nose was like a god damn tease. It was a soulscent. One of his. One he hadn't caught before, a beta, but as he spun in a circle, chasing the scent and trying to backtrack it, it went absolutely nowhere at all.

Given his recent difficulties at pinning down a certain other soulmate, that was about enough to make him scream, just a little, before brutally destroying several targets over the course of the next couple hours.

Thus the new situation became his new routine, though he'd hunted down a playmate in the meantime so that there wasn't a repeat of the rage incident. If nothing else, that had showed him that he couldn't let it slide like that, no matter how mild the dominant instinct was in him. Bad news, that. But no, no, the new soulmate had taken to lingering around every single time he visited the shooting area, always making sure that Tony never saw them, making sure that he was left in a frustrated huff in the middle of a huge open space while bewildered where the hell they could have gone.

It took him another month and a half to realize it was the vents.

It took him three weeks after that to figure out how.

Around that point, he realized that not only was he being avoided deliberately, but that this particular soulmate knew who he was, made an effort to make him aware of their presence, and then made sure he never met them.

Tony about cried. He was an omega, when the end of the day was done, and he knew of five of his soulmates. Only one of them didn't avoid him or repel in some active way, that being his child and the one that couldn't leave, and it was driving his instincts mad trying to figure out why his pack didn't want to be with him. He knew, logically, that there were reasons, for all of them there were reasons. But fuck, it wasn't pleasant.

That day he didn't use the shooting range. He just stared up at the vent for a long moment before feeling his shoulders slump and left, because he wasn't in the mood for some kind of self torture by staying. He just. Was not going to do it.

He didn't visit the shooting range the next time he visited, or the next either. He just couldn't do it. He'd hit the end of his tether about a lot of things, and the lack of progress on them had him feeling like he was spinning in the wind. It was not a nice sensation. He didn't like it. In fact, he must have looked horribly stressed, because instead of her normal hand squeezes and pats, he'd gotten a full on hug from his Aunt Peggy before he left her office, warm and comforting.

It had been all he could do to not have a meltdown on her right there, honestly, but he'd held it together, fleeing to the range on reflex because nobody looked too closely at him when he was in there, and he couldn't leave the building before he regained some semblance of composure. He didn't expect to see the favored gun he liked to use be covered in sticky notes, one for each of his missed visits and another for that day.

It gave him pause, as he definitely picked up the scent, now familiar, in the air, because had his soulmate... waited for him even when he hadn't come? Why?

He didn't look at that too closely, instead sniffling a little as he seized on the distraction, carefully pulling the top note off to read the surprisingly pretty scrawl.

And then, he laughed.

He laughed harder than he was sure he'd laughed since before he left college in the wake of his parents dying, and picked up the second note, because the laughter felt a little like tears too. The notes made him smile, made it for sure okay for there to be a little moisture on his cheeks, because fuck, those were kind of amazing jokes. Three of them, perfect little science quips that Tony found himself instantly in love with.

So maybe his soulmate wasn't avoiding him because they didn't want to meet him. Not if they'd gone to the effort to try to make him feel better like this.

So he smiled, and rubbed his hand over his face to dry it, because clearly his newest soulmate didn't want him to be sad.

He could do that.

He could do a hell of a lot if his family wanted him. Clearly, even if they were for some reason being rather shy, this one wanted him.

He'd just have to wait and see why they wouldn't come near him, that was all.

The notes would help, if they kept up, he was sure.

And he'd keep every single one.

Because seriously.

Amazing.

Chapter Text

So all that resolve to have patience with the most newly discovered soulmate?

Right out the god damn window.

Tony was fast approaching his twenty-third birthday, and all he wanted for it was an introduction. That's it. A 'how do you do' to round out his day. Face time with Mj. Air Vent.

It had been months, and the tease had become increasingly frustrating. Sure, the person wasn't there every time he visited, and sometimes popped up in places not the shooting range air vent, but he still hadn't caught a glimpse of them. No, no, it was just the jokes. So many jokes. Sure, he could get behind quips like 'Entropy really isn't what it used to be' all fucking day and then some, but, what? Was his soulmate intimidated? Nervous? Protective?

Scared of people??

Tony had no fucking idea, and it was driving him up the wall. It was distracting, which was good, because he hadn't nearly had another meltdown about his Assassin since this soulmate had breezed in. That was great, excellent, a-fucking-mazing. He wanted to punch them in their probably perfect head. Because seriously, this was so uncool. His chill had left the building. His chill had left the state. His chill had left the god forsaken planet.

Which probably explained why he busted in on his Aunt Peggy that day with slightly wild eyes and a hell of a lot of determination. "Aunt Peggy, I have a soulmate in the building and they've been playing hide and seek with me for most of a year. Help me identify them."

The insistent words were accompanied by him throwing himself in a chair and dragging it almost against her desk as he leaned forward, hands moving to clasp together in a plea. Her reaction? Not actually all that impressed. "Tony, if they're in the building and you're aware of them, there probably isn't much I can do that you can't."

Tony pressed his lips together, giving her a determined face. "No, no see, you can like give me your agent files and I can match them against their absences around my visits. That'll narrow it down a lot, and then I can ambush them, and there, done!"

Peggy looked far from impressed with his plan. In fact, one of her eyebrows made a break for her hairline. "Tony?"

He perked up at once, because that wasn't a no, and she even reached over, holding his gaze as she took his hands and squeezed. "Yes?"

Her smile was sincere, and kind, but her tone brooked no argument. "Get out of my office."

His face immediately fell, and he clung to her hands when she tried to pull back. "But-!"

"Out, Tony." She evaded his clinginess with practiced skill, making a shooing motion at him. "If they're here, then it's up to you to make contact, and I won't give you classified files to make that happen." He immediately pouted, opening his mouth to make a no doubt excellent point. "This isn't like James. This is someone with their full faculties. Out."

Tony slumped a bit, giving a sharp huff at her, as well as a pointed grumble, but what kind of argument could he make to that? None. That's what. So he got up, huffing his way all the way to the door like a petulant teenager. Only to catch a whiff of that so-aggravating scent the moment he opened the door. His errant soulmate had been listening in?!

His eyes went wide, scanning from one side of the room to the other, only to catch a hint of fast moving person vanish around the corner. "HA!!"

So, of course Tony gave chase. It was childish, and disrespectful, but nobody who left jokes to the tune of 'the dyslexic agnostic stayed up all night wondering if there was a dog' got to throw stones at him about respect. They were a god damn troll. An air vent troll.

His air vent troll, who he just heard cursing in a surprisingly low voice when they dropped the vent cover they were trying to put back up behind them. Tony seized on the opportunity, hoping he didn't kill himself in the process as he scaled the filing cabinet that the beta had no doubt also used and got himself in there before there was a second go at vent cover retrieval. It was surprisingly clean, or maybe not so much if his troll did this all the time, but it was definitely pointy.

And oh hey, there they were. Those wide eyes were a rather interesting color that he couldn't actually identify in the shadows of the air vent, but the cursing, the cursing was definitely inventive.

At a guess, he'd say that his soulmate hadn't actually been expecting him to drop by today. Then again, neither had his Aunt Peggy, which had sort of been the point.

So, air vent cover clearly given up on because the person it was intended to be a defense against was already in their face, his soulmate gave it up as a lost cause. "Fuck. Okay. You caught me. Now what?"

Tony felt his eyebrows hike at the words, which didn't sound all that upset. No, they sounded not unlike they'd just lost a particularly mild bet and were waiting to find out what they owed. He was going to end someone if he found out that was actually the case, just saying. His tone might have been just a bit more sarcastic than strictly warranted because of that thought. "Well, traditionally, this is where we exchange names, but after the last several months of flirting we can skip straight to the sex."

"Hey! No. I take wooing. You're not my type anyway, you're all fancy." Tony was supremely offended by the accompanying wave that was meant to encompass his whole person, and drew himself up at once.

"Excuse you! I'll have you know that my being fancy is a perk. I give the best gifts." He leaned in, so that they were almost nose to nose, and he could see the small amused smirk that this soulmate of his was wearing. "The. Best. Gifts."

The smirk only grew, and a moment later Tony yelped as there were hands on him, one on his face to push him backward, the other on his shirt to keep him from falling out of the vent. "Pretty sure we're not gonna be those kind of soulmates. But I'll take the presents. I like presents. And the name is Clint Barton. Yours is Tony Stark. Both of us use he. There, introductions done."

Tony tilted his head to try to see around the obscuring fingers on his face and huffed when the jerk just turned his wrist to keep obscuring his vision. Which led to him snagging his wrist to pull it down, only to find out that the beta had arms of steel. Holy shit the muscles. Okay then. "You have some guns on you, don't you? Holy shit. Right." He finally managed to budge his hand enough to see him, though it didn't get it off his face. The ass. "You aren't striking me as shy, so what the fuck?"

The drawl he got in turn was accompanied by his hand leaving his face. "Well, when I first spotted you, you seemed pretty pissed."

"Uh, yeah. I've been working on something and it hasn't been going anywhere."

"Yeah, I figured. And it just got worse while I observed you." Tony frowned, but nodded, not seeing what this had to do with anything, but he wanted to know so he'd suck it up. "And then you noticed me."

"Which practically gave me a meltdown all by itself, thanks."

He actually looked kind of solemn at that, and grimaced. "Yeah, I noticed that too. But you haven't been upset about your other project since I made contact, right?"

"No I-" Tony cut himself off, staring at the beta in front of him with wide eyes and a little bit of breathless incredulity. "You fucker."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"It was all on purpose?!"

"Yeeep. Worked though, didn't it?"

Tony closed his mouth, unable to come up with an argument to that. "Yeah, yeah it did. Can we get out of the air vent now?"

For a moment it looked like the blond was going to say no just to spite him, but instead he checked that it wouldn't kill Tony to do so and released his shirt. "Why not. You're buying me lunch."

"Wait, what? When did we agree to this?"

"Just now. So, lunch?"

Tony stared at him, and then laughed. "Yeah, sure, okay. Lunch it is."

Tony was pleased to say that lunch went really well.

Clint was still a fucking asshole of a troll though.

Chapter Text

Tony was nearly twenty-four when he tentatively decided that maybe, unfortunately, he would have to get used to the idea he would never see his assassin again.

So, of course, about two weeks later the alpha in question showed up.

It wasn't dramatic like last time though. No one was dead, that he was aware of, and Tony had legitimately been so busy not expecting them that opening his eyes in the dead of the night to a pair of eyes staring at him, to say nothing of the familiar soulscent in his hotel room, made him think he hadn't woken at all. Of course, then the figure in question had moved, crawling into bed with him, and he snapped out of that one right fast.

Because what the ever loving hell?

Tony, much like last time though, didn't resist the invasion of his space, instead going boneless as he did his level best to actually pick out the details. First, the alpha was in about the same wrecked state ze'd been in last time. Second, no boots this time, thank god. And third, no shirt, face gear, or weapons were accompanying the alpha into the bed. In fact, he was pretty sure the Alpha had brought nothing into the bed, as the larger figure curled up under his covers on top of his chest like a cold kitten.

Okay, so maybe the better question here was what the flaming fuck?

Bringing one cautious hand up to touch the bare back in the dark, and trying with great diligence to not feel squished, Tony ran his fingers down the length of his alpha's spine with a careful questing touch. He didn't want to rile them up, but he kind of desperately wanted to know what the clothing situation was here. To be sure, because his own sleep pants were kind of in the way of being completely on point about if the alpha actually owned anything that wasn't hard tactical gear and leather.

Survey said no. That was him hitting the shivering assassin's tailbone without any interference whatsoever, and he carefully ran his hand back upward again. The shivering stopped.

The moment it really penetrated what that meant, he wanted to go out and murder some people. Subjectively suspecting wasn't the same as having a subtle, objective red flag waved in his face. Right. Okay. So, do not focus on that Tony. He couldn't afford to.

No, his alpha had finally come to fucking find him after years, so he was going to focus on that, and on making the poor thing feel better. Because fucking hell.

He was desperately glad that his alpha hadn't run back to wherever ze'd been. And maybe, this visit, he'd actually get something to call his time displaced packmate, because what did ze even go by now?

He suspected the answer wasn't Bucky.

Still, the waves of distress coming off the alpha were freaking him out a bit, and he did his level best to keep himself calm and steady, because if he showed a damn thing, this could go downhill really fast.

"Okay gorgeous, I'm here, you're here, it's okay now. I dunno what finally brought you home, but you're here now, yeah? Just breathe deep okay? Breathe, and focus on me." Using his hands, he gave a careful tug, nudging them to press their face into his neck instead of his collarbone. The alpha moved with the gesture easily, practically smashing their face against his skin as soon as ze realized what was going on.

And then Tony realized that the alpha was crying, and that added a whole different kind of alarm to the situation. Because shit. What made someone of that reputation actually cry? Sure, there was zero sobbing, and their breathing was completely fine, but that didn't explain jack shit. He was kind of terrified to ask, but... fuck.

He couldn't not ask. His soulmate was finally here, and was crying in the freakiest way possible. "Oh no, okay. Just. Um. You wanna talk about it? I know you didn't wanna talk to me last time we met, not even a little, but maybe if you talk about it you'll er, feel better?"

There was a minute shake of their head then, and the sound that left the alpha. He'd never heard anything that sounded so pained. Holy fuck but he'd never heard a sound so broken. It made him feel vaguely sick, all told, and he tightened his hold on the alpha like he could protect them from whatever the made that sound able to exist.

"Okay, so it won't make it better, I get that, really, I do. But maybe you can tell me? I can't help if I don't know what's going on honey." The hand resting at the nape of their neck tightened a little, then slowly released, carding into and carefully gripping the alpha's long hair instead. So it didn't pull.

He was kind of glad about doing so when his soulmate's first words to him not two seconds later were "They made me kill them."

The reason for that gladness? His hands had clenched, not at the words, because he knew this alpha had killed a lot of people. No, it was the sheer despair in the words that did it. The sheer not wanting to that practically rolled off of them. It made Tony's throat go tight with sympathetic tears. Keeping his voice soft, and making sure that there wasn't any hint of his own turbulent emotion, and definitely nothing that could be taken as blame or anger, he checked to see if he couldn't get further answers. "That doesn't sound good at all. Who did they make you kill?"

"All of them." There was something almost like a sniffle at the end of this, and Tony forced himself to release the grip in their hair to resume petting. Deep breaths Tony. He didn't need to ask for more details though, as after a long beat of pause, the alpha continued. "The kids. One was- like you. I ran. For her."

Tony's urge to be sick came back with a violent lurch at that. Deep fucking breaths Tony. His alpha had been made to kill, apparently, children. Children ze probably considered theirs if he wasn't misreading this distress. And one of them, who... might not be dead? He hoped to god she wasn't dead because that would make this infinitely worse. But children. And a soulmate of his assassin in that mix too. Okay. He could do this. And no fucking wonder ze was some version of a sobbing wreck.

He was deeply grateful that ze'd fled to him. He was less so that he couldn't even be relieved about it, because now there was someone else that needed to be found. Someone he didn't have remotely the same clues to find, and he'd had pretty much fucking none in the first god damn place.

"Okay. So she might be alive? You ran away so she'd live? I'm so proud of you. You came to me because you knew I'd help, right? Maybe not her, if we can't find her, but you?" He managed to cling to the soft voice by some miracle, and he swallowed back his own tears as he got a cautious nod in reply. "That's so good. So so good. I'll be right here. Don't leave. Stay this time and don't leave."

When his assassin gave a careful nod and just tightened the grip he had on him in turn, Tony didn't count it as a win.

No, he was just fucking grateful that ze'd agreed.

Chapter Text

This time, when Tony's assassin fell asleep, Tony most certainly did not.

No, this time he was freaked out on far too many levels to even consider sleep, and this time, not one of them was fear for his own safety. An adrenaline crash? Amazing for putting someone to sleep. Emotional turmoil? Most definitely not.

And Tony couldn't even reach the phone either. If he'd been home, this wouldn't have been an issue. He and JARVIS were working on the concept of him making phone calls for him, which while still clunky, would have been enough. Here though? In a hotel room at a science conference?

Yeah, that wasn't even remotely happening.

As it was, he was kind of just a bit hysterically giddy with the relief that he hadn't dragged someone to bed with him tonight. What if his assassin hadn't come because there was someone else with him? How many days had he waited to come because he had someone with him? How much of his edge this time was because he didn't know the alpha was lurking around and waiting for an opportunity?

Because ze definitely didn't sound like ze'd been isolated before leaving wherever ze was this time.

It was about that moment that Tony pinpointed that he was getting somewhat hysterical, and he turned his head, pressing his face against long, kind of dirty hair, and breathed.

His assassin was here.

His assassin had come to him for help.

His assassin was finally coming home after about fifty years of horror.

His assassin still didn't have a clear name.

His assassin had been forced to kill their last pack, which had apparently been children.

His assassin was scared of touch, but too desperate for contact to avoid it.

His assassin had cried.

Tony wanted to burn the world to the ground, because if there was one thing he'd never wanted, it was to see any of his pack cry. The reasons his alpha had cried just made the sensation worse, more brutally intense, and Tony once again had to force himself back down to calm when the sleeping figure gave a tiny whine in their sleep over his anger.

He could be furious later. He would answer the call of this protective rage later. Right now he really needed to hit the other instincts, the nurturey ones that omegas were supposedly so good at.

He'd never really been that kind of omega though, so that was proving kind of... difficult.

He was more the kind of omega people were both terrified and eager to get into the military because they'd level their enemies to keep the people they wanted to protect safe, and do it in the most thorough way possible. It was probably good for those people that he'd only ever wanted to supply the military, and not fight in it, because if this was how those omegas felt all the time, seeing the people they fought with hurt in the field or captured in battle, well.

Tony didn't think it would be very good for the world if he felt like this all the time.

Because Tony knew himself, and he knew this anger would burn until he was thoroughly sure that everyone who had anything to do with this feeling was stomped off the face of the planet.

Thus, he suspected that this anger would simmer and roil for a really fucking long time.

But the time for that was later. All of it, everything, was later.

First was learning, no, forcing himself to manage the rage, to pack it down to the neat box where the first embers of it had been growing, and to douse it as much as possible. First was figuring out how to put someone else first in his head in a concrete way instead of an abstract one, because he needed to, he had to.

No one else would touch his alpha without going through him first, and he was formidable. Yes, he wasn't physically powerful, and never had been, but he had resources, he had infrastructure, and he had creativity. The worst people to piss off were always the creative ones, because they would get revenge before you saw them coming.

And that's what Tony would do.

Tony would do a lot of things.

Clearly, tonight, sleep was just not one of those things, that was all.

Chapter Text

It took all of an hour, once his assassin woke up, for things to go to hell in a hand basket.

Admittedly, this hand basket was very small, and actually seemed to be pretty steady, but it didn't make the fact that the morning turned very difficult once the alpha was awake any less real.

Because ze wanted him to keep their existence completely to himself.

Which is how they came to be where they were now, with Tony incredibly sleep ruffled, all of his marks except Rhodey's uncovered and on display, and him attempting not to stare anywhere that was inappropriate for once in his life. Because his damn alpha seemed to be wary about putting on any god damn clothes right this second, and Tony had found his fucking mark.

And it was huge on the alpha, wrapped almost entirely around their left thigh like he was making sure that there was no way he could be removed from them. It was, in fact, the red and white flamedrop he'd suspected it would be, though on his assassin it made the poor thing look a bit more like their damn leg was on fire, so that was a thing.

But the point was, here, that Tony was doing his level best not to stare at it, or anything interesting near it, because he wasn't a horrible person damn it. Most days.

Besides. This was serious talk time, and they were in a god damn hotel room at a convention where he was supposed to be making at least one more appearance, if only to leave, and his alpha wouldn't let him at the fucking phone to call his Aunt Peggy. No, instead he kept getting reeled back in next to them every time he tried, and it was, at this point, incredibly exasperating.

"Okay, so I'm super glad you let me go to the damn bathroom, but we can't actually stay in this bed for the rest of eternity. Even if I was home that wouldn't be much of an option honey so you need to let me do the phone thing, you need to bathe, and we both need to get clothes on of some kind. If you don't want yours anymore, we can try to fit you into some of mine, but sweetums, I don't think that's going to work very well."

The look he got in turn could at best be described as mulish, and the arm hooked around him, which was the metal one this time, hauled him practically into the alpha's lap. A moment later he had a seriously disgruntled face pressed against the back of his neck. "No calls."

Tony had been hanging onto his exasperation pretty well up to this point, so he was sure he could be forgiven for rolling his eyes. "Yes calls. She's my damn pack-mother and you're going to meet her at some point. She wants to meet you, that's for sure. Also, speaking of you, now that you've decided that talking isn't horrifying, would you actually answer some questions for me?"

The displeased huff of a noise that his question earned him was deeply amusing to Tony. It was also most certainly not a negation. Pleased, he squirmed around until he was comfortable, and somewhat able to not think dirty thoughts at the same time, while being in the alpha's lap. He considered it a mighty victory.

"Excellent! Okay. So I know why you're here, and more or less why you won't let me out of the bed again now that I'm not about to pee myself. What I don't know is how long it was between your traumatastical event and coming to me, because you're in pretty rough shape for someone who had a pack somewhat recently." Tony looked up into their face as he said this, humor dropping away as he examined them. Ze was looking better, definitely, but ze still had a somewhat hunted air underlying everything that made Tony just want to hide them in his closet and never let anyone near them again.

Which was, frankly, not all that helpful. Still, it seemed that his alpha was feeling cooperative, because there was a deep sigh, and then the tightening of arms around him. "Three weeks."

Tony mouthed the timeframe to himself, then grimaced. That was really fast onset of even the edges of distress for an alpha, especially one that had been around people, because no way had ze been avoiding human contact while on the move. It was suspicious. Usually in that situation it took months for someone to get bad enough to have it noticed. Just how many times had they circulated them through isolation training? Shuddering, Tony pressed closer to the alpha and took a deep breath. This immediately got a tightening of arms around him, and he was pathetically grateful that it actually helped him settle down.

See self? Instincts weren't all bad.

"Okay, so, three weeks. And you're totally sure they can't track you?" There was a nod against his hair at this, and Tony felt himself relax further. "Okay, okay that's good. Moving onto the next topic then. I gotta know what's up with the clothing thing this morning babe, because this is a public convention and it's not going to keep you from being spotted if you trail me around naked as can be."

Tony had never been aware that silence could be so ominous until he waited out that one. That particularly long, careful silence that was follow by low, toneless words that made Tony feel like he was doused in ice. Words that had to have been ground in by rote. "The expectation is that the Asset presents for inspection and maintenance. It is easier to do if the Asset is unclothed for both electrical and physical instances."

"Okay. Um. No." He took in a breath, released it, then took another, carefully shifting in the downright clingy grip on him, and pathetically grateful that he'd dodged sexy thoughts earlier because he sure the fuck wasn't having any now. Maybe... it wasn't as bad as it sounded? Please not let it be as bad as it sounded. "Do you think you could explain to me what that means?"

The silence this time was shorter, and those icy blue eyes moved away from him, turning to gaze fixedly into the middle distance somewhere on the far wall. "Electrical maintenance clears all lingering memory and wipes the Asset clean for new orders. Physical maintenance is reserved for willful acts, and involves the reinforced restraints being instituted and stabilizing drugs applied until it is determined that the point is made, timeframe for this is indeterminate, before minimal sexual contact is instituted to stabilize and reset."

Tony was going to be sick. He was. But he held on, because no. That practice had been stomped out in most places in the world, because in the modern world people no longer fucked captive alphas into submission god damn it. There were laws.

But those laws had never interested HYDRA during the second world war, had been laughable to the Nazis, certainly, and crime organizations? No. No, it still happened, and his poor alpha... god.

He made himself speak, his voice tight and a little high. "What does minimal mean?"

"The last memory of an instance indicates three technicians were required and involved use of the unviable parts. Further instances are uncertain due to the results of electrical maintenance. The acts were clearly routine, indicating willful acts were not unprecedented."

Ze was still talking in that flat, dead tone, and Tony made himself ask one final question, because fuck, he had to know. Why did he always have to know things? He almost never liked the results. "And the drugs?"

"To put the Asset more quickly into a compliant state of mind."

Yep. Tony was done. They forced them into a sub drop, a switch into a fucking sub drop, and then raped them into compliance. There was the dizzying part that whispered that they did it the hard way too, which meant drawing it out, and that just made it worse. Because it meant the people, no, the monsters involved were all over that for fun rather than some horrifying brand of practicality. As gently as he could, he pushed at the arms wrapped around him. "Be right back. Honest. Need to be sick. Now."

The blue gaze snapped back to his face at that, widening slightly at whatever was there while life flooded back into them, and then the arms let go.

Tony barely made it to his knees in the bathroom before he was sick.

It had been a long time since he'd been ill over something that wasn't actually a physical ailment, and he really didn't like it. It was physically painful, and it made it hard to breathe.

It wasn't until the alpha followed him, their right hand soothing warmly over his back, that Tony realized that he hadn't actually come back the moment he was done.

Then again, that really wasn't a fair assessment. He'd thought he wasn't done being sick, even though nothing else was coming up.

He'd never sobbed so hard before that it was hard to tell the difference.

He knew he shouldn't be, because his alpha needed him to be strong through everything that was in front of them. He knew that was true. But he needed a minute.

Just.

One minute.

Because he didn't think he was going to be able to handle this, and he had to learn how.

There was just no choice.

Chapter Text

Tony was willing to admit that in the wake of his meltdown he was horrifically, crushingly embarrassed. After all, in a lot of ways, he'd more or less just flipped out over what, to his poor bewildered alpha, had probably seemed like a story about standard, if not happy, events.

Just knowing that was enough to make fury and helplessness roll through him again, and he turned his head to press it against his alpha's shoulder instead of letting himself feel sick with it. They'd ended up curled on together on the bathroom floor after he'd been given water by the worried alpha, the fussing seeming strangely practiced.

Apparently, this was something ze'd gotten familiar with at some point, fussing over distressed people, and wasn't that just a kick in the teeth?

His alpha comes to him for help, and he's the one who ends up needing it.

Still, his alpha seemed to be very enamored with the act of holding him as much as possible, and he couldn't actually bring himself to mind this. It was a nice, solid foundation of stability in a sea of horrible terrible things that were everywhere around them as far as the eye could see. Tony just had to figure out how to part the waters to get them off the damn island, that was all.

Which meant that he needed to be functioning.

He could do that, now that his face had been washed and his mouth rinsed, because nothing had changed.

He'd had the suspicion of something being wrong the night they met. He'd known that something was worse than the dead body they'd met over. He'd seen, and smelled, and practically tasted the wrong that lingered on his alpha that night in a helpless miasma.

He'd tried to help.

In a roundabout fashion, it seemed he'd succeeded.

But once again, that didn't feel like a damn win.

He didn't like these wins that weren't wins, seriously. They were cramping his style something terrible. Still, he had an alpha to take care of here, and that meant getting his shit together and getting back on track. His alpha still needed something to be called, a bath, and for him to call his Aunt Peggy. All of these things still needed to happen and he needed to get on that. So he'd start with the one that would be either the easiest or hardest of the lot. The name issue.

Thus resolved, he shifted around until he was peering up into blue eyes. "So. Now that I've thoroughly embarrassed myself, we were sort of mid-conversation. Or did we hit the end of the conversation bit, because I can sort of totally understand if you want to just. Not do that now. What with the thing that happened there, with the being sick and all." He flicked the fingers of one hand toward the toilet and wrinkled his nose. "I mean, I do get if that reaction might have freaked you out."

There was a long moment of silence, and the arms around him tightened some, but then the alpha sighed and pressed their nose to Tony's hair to just rest there. "I can talk."

Okay, that was good, excellent, amazing even! He wondered just how strong his alpha really was, and just how far it had been tested. He didn't actually want to know, but he still wondered. "Alright. That's good then. Really good. So. Names. I'm gonna start at the bottom and work my way up, and you don't need to worry about any answer you have to give me, I'll be alright with it. Yeah?" He waited until he felt the slow nod. "Okay good. So, do you have a name, something you get called by others or you call yourself?"

The silence that followed the question wasn't tense, thankfully. No, it seemed that ze was just thinking over the question thoroughly instead of flinging out the first thing that came to mind. Still, that ze needed to think about it was hardly entirely reassuring. "I have been called the Winter Soldier. The name Winter is one I have since... acquired." There was a pause, but their breath drew in like they were going to continue, so Tony kept himself quiet. "I answer to Asset as well." Ze seemed to curl in against Tony then, half hiding as ze kept going. "And very recently James."

Tony had to fight to keep his shock out of his everything, because he suspected it wouldn't taken well if the way the alpha was hiding behind him was any indication. Instead he kept his voice light. "Yeah? Do you have any particular reason you picked James?" There was a head shake in answer to the question, and when it became clear that nothing more would be forthcoming, Tony reached up and back, carefully carding through their messy hair. "Okay. It's totally okay if you don't know. Can I tell you something you might find alarming?" When the assassin, probably not used to wanting to hear anything alarming, nodded only after a rather uncertain delay, Tony continued. "I know who you are."

The twitch was immediate, but Tony didn't expect to be manhandled around until they were facing each other a moment later. He wasn't hurt, of course not, but clearly his words needed visual confirmation. The questions shot at him a moment later were probably the most emotive he'd ever actually heard from this being. "How? Who do you think I am?"

"Ah. Well. Second question first. The name I have for you, Winter Soldier thing aside, is James Buchanan Barnes. History likes to think of you as Bucky." He moved his hands, and when there was no rejection of the motion, returned them to carding through the alpha's hair. No, instead those pretty blue eyes were clearly trying to stare into his god damn soul. "And that's part of how I know, history. My dad though, he actually knew you, had pictures, told stories. You were a he back then." He cradled his face gently in both hands. "But I'll stick to ze because that's what you picked alright?"

There was some definite wary uncertainty in that expression now, and ze licked their lips before speaking, a nervous tic that he suspected was far from new. It gave Tony a moment of pride that he was being allowed to see the cracks in the assassin's rigid control, if he was honest with himself. "This Aunt you want to call. Does she know too?"

Tony gave the poor bewildered alpha a small, sad smile. "Yeah. Yeah she knows you real well." One of his hands moved, resting over the red wing on their hip, bringing focus to it. "This soulmark here? You know what it means?" There was a shake of their head to that, then a pause, a frown, and a shrug. "Yeah, let me know if you figure the answer out. But, this mark is attached to someone who she was attached to too. As far as anyone knows, he died, but like you, his body was never recovered, so no one can be sure. In any case, that makes you packmates. Family."

The wary interest in those blue eyes about broke his heart, but he understood. Especially after recent events, he really understood. So he took it as a good sign. "She won't... take me from you?"

Tony was stunned by the intensity of the warmth that question brought to him, soothing over frayed nerves that were tired of him being left alone or behind by his soulmates thus far. The protective intensity that followed on the heels of it was far more expected. "She won't. She knows me better than that."

There was another moment of study from the alpha, and finally, they opened their arms to release Tony. "I'll bathe, you call."

It wasn't the end of the conversation, but... that was easily fixed. "Alright. I'll call. Who am I telling her I found?"

The alpha paused in the act of helping Tony to his feet, and cocked their head, looking up at him for a long moment. When the answer came, it was after what looked to be some serious internal debate. "James."

Tony reached down, petting over the long strands of hair one last time before leaving the room and throwing his answer over his shoulder. "Alright, I'll let her know James is finally coming home then."

He made sure to close the door behind him, both to give the alpha privacy for their own reaction to that declaration, and to make sure that when he and his aunt got her all emotional on the phone, that ze was less likely to hear.

He suspected she'd appreciate that later.

Chapter Text

His Aunt Peggy was about as emotional as he expected. More than that though, she was angry.

Clearly, her beta temperament meant that she could jump straight to the blistering curse words and rage without concern. Or, okay, maybe it was just that she didn't have the person who was causing the reaction right in front of her to worry about.

Either way, the situation had Tony holding the phone away from his ear like he'd never seen one before, eyebrows raised high as he waited for her to wind down. He was pretty sure he heard a crash on the other end of the line, and he actually somewhat envied her having the opportunity to vent.

He'd kill for a chance to just break things for a while, but no, no he had to do the supportive caretaker thing and cried all over the alpha instead.

Unfair.

Still, it was a few minutes before the chaos of rage finally eased down, and he slowly brought the phone back to his ear to see if it was safe to keep there. "All done?"

She cleared her throat in turn, and he didn't think he'd ever heard her sound so prim as she did in that moment. So that, at least, told him what 'incredibly enraged but caging it' Aunt Peggy sounded like. "For the moment. Our darling James didn't hear any of that, did he?"

Tony turned in place, eying the still shut bathroom door. "If he did, he didn't come to investigate. Not honestly sure how keen his senses are at this point."

"Do you think...?"

"I'll find out. I swear I will. You'll understand when you see him though so just... don't give up too soon okay?"

That pulled a soft laugh out of her, and it was sad. "You know I already did. I'll actually re-light a bit of that hope though, if everything is like you say." There was a beat of pause. "And take care of that situation for you that means some people end up shot as well. I can't say I like what I've heard Tony."

"I could tell." There was a moment of understanding silence, then, before Tony just had to ask. "...What did you break anyway?"

"Oh! Heard that did you? Just a few trinkets your father gave me, so nothing dreadfully important."

Tony squinted his eyes half shut in suspicion. "It was that ceramic cat collection you always hated, wasn't it."

It wasn't a question, so she didn't bother to answer him. "In any case, I feel much better now that I've taken a moment for myself. We'll be sure to give you a chance for the same soon, mm?"

Tony released a noise that was half laugh, half sigh. "Yeah, that'd be nice. We'll see you as soon as we get sorted out here alright?"

"Of course dear. I'll be at home. Should I contact anyone for you?"

Tony quieted then, seriously thinking about it. "No... No, I'll do it myself now that ze's been found."

"Yes, that probably would be best, wouldn't it? Soon. Goodbye for now."

"See you later Aunt Peggy." Tony hung up the phone with a soft sigh, and just breathed for a moment.

He had so much he needed to inform people about. God alone knew he still hadn't thrown Clint a clue about what had him so wound up, though he had the heavy suspicion that he actually knew on some level already. And Rhodey- Yeah. Rhodey was going to yell at him for being a reckless idiot and taking chances with his health and life.

Again.

He wasn't particularly looking forward to the lecture, but he didn't regret anything that actually brought this alpha of his home so... well. He could suck up being yelled at for a while when it came to it.

Finally feeling like he had some solid footing for the first time since the night before, Tony turned in place to see about grabbing something to dress in, only to realize that at some point the alpha had not only emerged, but had pulled on their pants and was standing practically on top of him while waiting for him to notice. It was enough to startle Tony into almost falling over at least, and there was both relief and mortification in him when the high pitch yelp that left him actually drew one of those faint, not quite smiles to their face.

"Okay, hello Mj. Sneakypants. Walk a little softer why don't you. I mean, I didn't actually manage to fall over so clearly you need to work at it some." He pressed his hand against his chest and shook his head, though he felt a smile pulling at his face when all he got for his efforts was one of those unimpressed stares. "Okay, fine, you don't need to work at it, you're absolutely perfect as you are."

There was a slow dawning of surprise at that, and Tony inwardly cursed. He wasn't given time to dwell on it. "Were arrangements made?"

The question left Tony flat footed for a moment, because for some reason, he hadn't expected things to so immediately shift back to practicalities. Clearly, the alpha had no intention of getting near his comment. Huh. Good to know. "Um, sort of? We're going to meet her at her place, but most of that time was her, er, being upset on your behalf while the opportunity was good."

There was a sigh in response to that, before the alpha turned and started to paw through Tony's bag, flinging clothing his way rather negligently. "Clothes. You need to be seen?"

Tony only just managed to grab the cloth being pelted at him before it could fall to the ground, and found himself blinking somewhat stupidly at the change in attitude. Sure, the first night they had met there had been a lot of this then too, but it was different after the night before. More dramatic maybe? Either way, it left Tony at less than his best as he fumbled over words. "Uh, yeah. I'm probably the most well-known person here. Gotta make sure that I'm spotted on my way out at least."

"Good. I will meet you at your car." Their gaze swept the room in irritation, noting how Tony's things were scattered all over the place. Was ze being disapproving of his clutter? Seriously? "With your things."

Yes, that was totally disapproval. He knew it well and, wow. Okay then. Thanks bunches for the judgment there soulmate. Still, Tony couldn't actually bring himself to be upset, and just set about putting on what he'd been given, noting that it was the outfit he'd actually planned to leave in anyway. Interesting. Either James was really observant, or ze had excellent taste. Maybe both. He knew he had other clean things in there. "Okay fine, and I'm guessing you know which car is mine?"

The look he earned himself with that question was almost scathing. Clearly, the bath had done someone good, if one could call this grumpiness good at least.

"Right, okay then, you know and don't appreciate the doubt. Got it. At the car. I should probably grab food and chat a bit with whoever is down already. That going to cause any issues?"

"I will meet you at the car."

Okay then. Clearly the answer was no if the progressively more fixed tone was any indication. "Right. At the car. No timeframe, just get there. See you in a little while then, and we'll be off."

Tony had been pulling on his shoes while he'd been speaking, and he could safely say that the evaluating once over he got once he straightened definitely made it clear the outfit had been a deliberate choice, no matter the reasons. A taste thing then. He'd have to test that out at some point.

He pointedly held his arms out and gave a turn when he noticed the gaze to show that he'd noticed them noticing. "I pass inspection?"

"You'll do."

The even response startled a laugh out of Tony, and there was a beat of silence in the wake of it where they just held eye contact.

Tony could live with that. It reminded him that there was a proper person under all the horror, after all, and that's exactly what he needed if he was going to be out among the masses. Especially given that he really didn't want the alpha to vanish on him again.

Yeah, he probably wasn't going to be shaking that fear any time soon at all.

Still, it let him leave the room, which might very well have been the reason for the comment in the first place.

Only time would tell.

Chapter Text

Tony was entirely grateful that he'd been forced out of the room by James when he had.

This was not because anything went wrong, exactly. Nor, in fact, was it because he was in a terrible hurry to be parted from his newest alpha. If anything, given the choice they wouldn't have parted to meet up at all. No, this gratitude came entirely from the faint, almost faded trail that caught his senses on the stairs, unfamiliar and so familiar at the same time.

If he'd delayed longer, he would have missed it, and it was entirely possible that they would have come and gone before he'd ever even noticed.

Which would have been a shame, a horrible terrible shame, because if they were here, they did science, and in what horrifying world would a scientist soulmate of his not have access to everything he had to offer? Still, he was horribly conscious of his damaged soulmate moving around upstairs, and who would be waiting for him soon enough at his vehicle.

Fuck.

Hesitating only for a moment with a glance back toward the floor he'd just left, he promised silently to make up for it if he took too long. If he didn't at least meet this one, he'd never forgive himself. What if this was it, the only chance? No, get a name, contact information, then go.

Decided, he hurried the rest of the way down the stairs, steps light from the training he'd been getting at SHIELD lately to distract him from his frustration, and he rushed in the direction the person with the scent had gone. He was pretty sure they hadn't even caught wind of him yet, not with how rapidly it was diminishing to him, but he just hoped they didn't freak out on him. He was, after all, growing increasingly known in the papers.

And it wasn't like he wasn't a pioneer in his fields otherwise either, so that was both good and bad.

Taking a deep breath, he plunged through a doorway, looking around and just freezing because fuck damn it, what was his morning.

That was not the soulmate he was looking for.

Cursing mentally, he immediately circled toward the right as Hammer started toward him from the left, hunting intently for the person who'd brought him into the area. He wasn't even sorry for the speed at which he was moving either, because he was in a hurry and Hammer never made that work out. At all. Ever.

Admittedly, he'd have to talk to the beta eventually, but today was so painfully not that morning that he could not even with his nattering. Not even a tiny bit. And the fucker still hadn't stepped down his god damn campaign against him, so he could just suck up being avoided a little longer.

After his recent issues, he was starting to grasp that maybe avoiding the beta was cruel and might be the source of the resentment, but fucking hell if his timing wasn't always the shittiest.

It was on this thought that he hit a doorway into another room, and he was pathetically grateful to lose sight of the beta, closing the door behind him as soon as he realized he'd entered a side room that was being used as a library. Thank fuck. Okay. He took a deep breath to make sure he'd gone the right way, then picked up his pace to hurry along before his least wanted soulmate managed to catch up and make him lose whoever the hell this was.

Thankfully, the answer seemed to be 'stationary soulmate' and the guy, at least he was pretty sure the beta used masculines if the attire was any indicator, was curled up looking over one of the pre-released science journals scattered over the tables for the event. And they were absolutely adorable. In fact, Tony's fingers just itched to pet the beta's curls, but no, no time.

No, name, number, address, then out the door. With Hammer following after him like a particularly persistent suitor and James waiting on him to head back to Aunt Peggy with him while being hunted by god only knew who...

Sorry, mystery beta soulmate, but you were drawing the short stick on this particular morning of overly complicated shitfest.

Hurrying over, he could tell the exact moment that the beta caught wind of him, brown eyes snapping up to look around as one hand came up to adjust their glasses. There was a little wariness there, which Tony thoroughly got, but there was also excitement. It just made Tony regret his hurry even more as he practically skidded to a stop at the side of their table, already digging in his pocket for a notebook, pen, and business card.

He didn't give them a chance to speak before he was already explaining why he couldn't linger. "I'm so fucking sorry that I can't stay and get to know you. There's kind of an emergency and I have to like, bolt, and the soulmate I get along with least in the whole world is sort of following me, and he's a total asshole so I can't even take my time and introduce myself properly before I go."

There was a bit of blinking as Tony shoved the pen and paper into the beta's hands, and he couldn't blame the other scientist for the way their eyebrows raised high.

"Yeah, I know, totally unconventional. Name, number, address, favorite color, anything, please. I promise with all my heart I'll call you as soon as I have five seconds without a disaster on the horizon, I swear."

"And if I ask what this emergency is that has you in such a hurry, would I get to find out now, or is this a 'must know each other a while first' sort of emergency?" But the beta was writing as he asked, and he was definitely a he if the note at the top was being read correctly by Tony.

He hadn't lost his touch with that skill at least. "Sort of soulmate related. I found one of them finally who has been elusive and is in a real bad place, alpha. Congrats, by the way, on being the first soulmate I've actually told about them. Yes, I will explain my numbering system and why I have one when I contact you again."

The moment his pen was handed back he was scrawling his personal home information across the back of the business card with a hurried hand. "Sounds terrible. I look forward to being contacted, Dr. Stark. You have a pretty interesting reputation about that."

"If I don't come to you, come to me. Also, that's for one night stands and business contacts, not soulmates." He glanced at the paper as he pushed the card over to him, tucking it into his pocket with his pen. "Pleased to meet you Bruce, call me Tony, and for god's sake, please delay Hammer for me." He glanced toward the doorway where Hammer had just entered, and grimaced. "I'm going out the window."

"Wait, what? Seriously?" The beta straightened in his chair, obviously surprised as he watched the omega open the window just beside him.

"Sure am. See you soon handsome, I'm sure we'll be great friends."

He didn't give the beta time to answer this time, and he could hear Hammer's noise of shocked confusion as Tony vanished out the window and lunged for the tree outside the second-floor window to use to catch himself from a fall.

Yep, that had to be one of the most dramatic Hammer escapes to date, and he regretted absolutely nothing about that. Instead, he worked himself quickly to the trunk of the tree and made his way to the ground so he could sprint for the parking garage at speed.

At least plenty of people had seen him make that exit, but fuck if he'd intended to fuel the rumors about him and Hammer like that in the process.

Didn't matter, when all was said and done though, because time to go.

And thank fuck that James was actually waiting for him when he got there too.

Otherwise, he might have felt silly.

Chapter Text

The initial meeting with Aunt Peggy went more or less exactly as Tony expected.

She was pissed about the window thing, reluctantly impressed he hadn't hurt himself, and almost entirely successful in managing to repress her tears in the face of a James Barnes who really had no idea who she was. It was that last point that put pressure on Tony's chest and threw his instincts into overdrive, of course, which was why the window thing even came up.

He would have rathered keep that to himself, if he were being honest. However, needs must, and it made a damn good distraction from her distress, and that's how he used it.

The strategy session, regrettably, just plain didn't go far. There was a point blank declaration that Tony and James were going to have a guard, of course, which duh, but beyond that? Nothing, honestly, aside from a hell of a lot of staring and her murmuring quietly to the alpha every time he had to go into another room for something. They'd have to come back around to it, but that was okay. It wasn't like Aunt Peggy couldn't visit Malibu any which time, and he had a super strong suspicion he was about to have Clint semi-permanently in residence too.

It soothed his omega instincts pretty damn thoroughly to even think about most of his soulmates being in one spot.

So that's how it worked out, after spending the morning with Peggy, that they left the East Coast with one archer in tow with what seemed to be all the beta's worldly possessions.

Of course on the ride over he and James had to have a stare down. Frankly, it was intense enough that Tony kind of felt like he had to plant himself in between them, just in case, but considering the way that the alpha and beta both seemed to relax when he did so, his best guess was that he'd interrupted something he was supposed to?

It was nearly impossible for him to say, but it resulted in him spending the rest of the cross continent flight between two incredibly well armed people. Which was weird, but he could safely say he'd never felt so well guarded in his entire life.

He could, if pressed, perhaps admit he'd kind of really liked it and wouldn't mind doing so again.

All of that, of course, was what led to this moment, with the lot of them heading up to his beloved house where his JARVIS was stashed comfortably in the walls. He'd been working to give the kid more and more autonomy, but there were still, unfortunately, limits. Such as the one that had him throwing both hands out in a 'no stay!' gesture at the trigger happy pair behind him as he came nose to nose with an alpha who had apparently been lurking in his front hall, just waiting for him to show up.

An alpha who he'd forgotten to keep in the loop.

An alpha who had probably just met his kid, whom he'd sort of forgotten that he planned to introduce him to sooner but hadn't because of everything going on.

An alpha he'd sort of forgotten to tell that he'd found a couple of his other soulmates to.

On the one hand, at least Rhodey knew about JARVIS, even if they hadn't met. On the other hand, he'd said jack shit about Clint or James.

Fuck.

Path of least resistance it was.

His voice pitching to the most thrilled and excited he could make it, which wasn't hard at all because today was fucking excellent, he threw himself into his longest running soulmate's arms and kissed all over his face with as much over the top enthusiasm as he could dish out. "Honeyboo! Gummybear of my soul! You're here! Just in time too! There are so many people you have to meet right now. Once they're inside." He shot a look over his shoulder to make sure that the other two were fine, and thank god that James seemed more bewildered than territorial as ze skirted their way into the building.

Clint, however, couldn't seem to refrain from commenting even as he kicked the door shut behind himself. "Wait, does he live here too? Just how many soulmates do you have Stark?"

Rhodey's eyebrows took a run for his hairline, and he looked after the well armored alpha that was on their way out the room in askance, then looked to Clint, who admittedly looked almost as impressive and intimidating with his bow strapped to his back. Even if he did have what was obviously a bag of worldly goods looped over his shoulder. "Wait, you're telling me you've found two...?"

"Nooo?" Tony's almost reluctant drawing out of the word was enough to have both Clint and Rhodey giving him looks, Clint in confused curiosity, Rhodey in exasperated fondness. "Okay, so my Soulmate list at present is you." He patted Rhodey on the chest. He was seriously finding absolutely nothing wrong with the fact that the alpha had yet to release him. He was calm, and relaxing, and he dearly needed that after spending so many hours worrying about James. "Pretty but menacing who just went off to perimeter check. He's another James by the way, I will explain better in a little while, since that's a thing. Then there's bows and arrows behind me."

Said bows and arrows rolled his eyes before lifting his hand in a small salute, a smirk on his face. "Yo. Clint Barton, Clint's fine."

Rhodey leaned past Tony to offer his hand for a shake with a wry smile. "James Rhodes. This one calls me Rhodey, so that'll do fine."

"Better than Birdy, I suppose." The two exchanged a grin over their handshake, then settled back to their former positions.

Tony was concerned. Best not think too hard about how much trouble that could be until later. "Riiiight. Okay. But no. You're totally up on the Hammer situation. I uh, might need to talk to him soon."

"Oh, so suddenly my advice isn't terrible? Amazing how that works out. Maybe he'll calm the fuck down if you actually admit he exists."

Tony scowled at the alpha, then lifted his chin with a huff and glanced back to Clint. "Whatever. So. Then there's JARVIS."

Clint looked confused at this one. "I've heard of Hammer, but isn't JARVIS that AI you kept telling me about? How...?"

"He's got a soul." He lifted his hand, showing the golden chainmail mesh mark over the back of his hand pointedly. "This is his. Moving on. Kid can hear us, even if he has no way to talk to us in this part of the house yet. I'm working on it."

"Gee, that's not creepy at all."

"Shut it, Clint."

"Tony, I like that one."

"Shut it, pookey." Tony waited to be sure that the peanut gallery was done for the moment, then cleared his throat. "And then this morning I met another one." He fished in his pocket and triumphantly pulled a piece of paper out to look at it. "Bruce Banner. Wait. Seriously? I mean, I didn't really register the name before, but I've heard of this guy, holy shit."

Rhodey eyed Tony for a moment, then heaved a sigh, releasing the omega and nudging him further into the house. "C'mon kitten, you can gush over your new find inside. I'm guessing none of you guys have eaten? I ordered in but I think I'll have to revise that if it's for four instead of two."

Clint laughed, flashing him a smirk. "Better you than me, I can't cook for shit. I'm going to find a place to drop my stuff."

"Ask JARVIS. He's pretty good with that and Tony made space for his stable of soulmates in this place already. He's pretty good at planning ahead if he has a little warning."

"Guys, I'm still standing right here." He was looking over his shoulder at them with a scowl, but it was halfhearted at best. "I'm going to go find James. You two, don't bond anymore. Rhodey, how long am I gonna have you this time?"

"A whole week before I'm off leave."

"Excellent! We're cuddling later." He pointed at him, then looked to Clint. "My vents are too small for you. If you break my air conditioning there will be words."

"Sir, yes sir!" When Clint gave him a mocking salute, Tony just scowled harder and huffed, spinning on his heel to go hunting for James, because where the hell had ze even gone. The house was big but not that big.

Still, his alpha had a pretty amazing talent for vanishing when ze wanted to, so he'd just have to hope ze hadn't turned their evaluation of the house into some level of hide and seek.

Because his day could totally do without that. It was almost dark, he hadn't really gotten a break because his life was apparently now totally insane, but hey, he'd gotten a pile of soulmates in one spot out of the deal, so that was something awesome. In fact, that bit was super awesome.

Which was the thought he was on when he found James, padding over to stand beside them where the alpha was staring out over the water with an odd look on their face. "Alright there?"

Blue eyes cut to him for a moment before they returned to their former stare outward, their body still. "Your Peggy was deeply attached to me."

Tony stared for a moment, then stepped in, resting their shoulders together as he turned to stare out over the water too. "Sure was."

"She believed me to be dead?"

"She did, yeah."

"That assessment is still technically correct. I do not remember her."

Tony turned his head, noting that ze was looking back when he did. "Yeah, but you might eventually. There's no way to say. Don't worry about it, okay? She was braced for it to go a whole hell of a lot worse than it did. So, how about we not worry about that. Instead, there's someone you haven't met yet that you need to, okay?"

"More people live here than the two I have already seen?" A frown was twitching at the alpha's face as they asked this, and it was enough to make Tony laugh.

"No, no, not yet. Rhodey doesn't live here anyway, he just visits when he's on leave."

If anything, this seemed to irritate the alpha more, and the frown became a proper one. "But why?"

"He's airforce. It takes him away a lot." He grinned at his assassin alpha and reached up to run his fingers through their hair. It was gratifying when James leaned into the touch, no matter how minutely. "Don't worry about it okay? You'll get used to it. You need to meet the one you haven't yet. Mind, he doesn't have a body or anything, so he's just sort of a voice in some parts of the house while I work out how to make it universal. J, kiddo, you paying attention to mom?"

"I am Sir." The words came from their left, one of the speakers toward the corner of the room. Tony was still trying to figure out how to make that more discreet. "This is the one you told me of in my creation?"

"Sure is kid." He was watching James carefully, but the alpha seemed more curious than concerned, so he let it be. "James, JARVIS. JARVIS, James."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Is there anything pertinent I should be aware of about you?"

There was a long pause at the question, and then the alpha shook their head. "No. Maybe later." Then their gaze dropped to Tony, bright and speculative. "No body?"

"Not unless you count the house."

"I'm impressed." With that, the alpha's attention turned back out the window, but Tony really couldn't find it in himself to mind.

No, instead he was just filled with a happy, bubbly feeling of accomplishment as he finally wandered off to check on that dinner situation Rhodey had mentioned would be a thing.

He was starving, after all, and dinner sounded amazing.

Chapter Text

Living with the others was an adventure.

A proper adventure that is, not the kind of adventure that would leave Tony horrified, but instead the kind where he could stand back and watch his various soul mates interact with a kind of breathless awe about how amazing they were. Because they were totally that awesome, and it wasn't even a case of his connection to them throwing shade either.

Rhodey had always been badass. It was his thing. He'd rescued him at a party shortly after they'd met from some complete dickbags who had thought it would be fun to drug an omega. They didn't get to do anything, and Rhodey had thereafter become the most protective mama bear he'd ever seen. Which was nice, a little frustrating sometimes, but still nice. He loved his Rhodey, he was his best friend, and anyone who ever wanted to try and tear him away would have to not only go through him first, but potentially not leave with their eyes. Whoever that red bird over Rhodey's heart was better take care, because if they hurt his Rhodey, there would be hell to pay.

Still, it had been pretty hilarious after they met to see Rhodey's face on them trying to find his mark. He'd noped his way through the ones in all the polite areas, and it wasn't until Tony had showed off the inch and a half square of neon pink hearts on his left ass cheek that the alpha had given a flustered confirmation. More hilariously to Tony was when he turned around to show a mark that matched, but was about three times as big, on Rhodey's right ass cheek. It was little wonder Rhodey had been reluctant to flash it, unlike the red bird he'd so hopefully pointed out.

No, instead it had been a case of 'I'll tell you when I see it' turned brightly flushing soul mate when Tony just kept taking off clothes. But he loved the guy, always would, and he got on fabulously with his newer soul mates. True, Tony was pretty sure he'd threatened the fuck out of the human shaped ones the moment his back was turned, but that was alright, and whatever he'd done seemed to have raised the appreciation bar somewhat on the behalf of the snipers. How well he and Clint got on, especially, worried and freaked Tony out by turns.

They liked to pick on him too much.

Now Clint? Clint's mark had been entertaining to find. Not because it was in a weird place, but because of the look on the beta's face when he'd realized which one was his on Tony. This was mainly because Tony had poked a little fun about his arrows after he found out about them the first time, and had called him feather head for a week solid. And then there they were, with Tony and his three bright yellow feathers in a six by three decoration down his right side. Tony had pouted significantly that his mark was only about half that size on Clint, and hidden on his right calf besides.

Ever since, it had been something of a goal to get him to wear shorts, just because, and Tony had boldly run around the house in just swim trunks for a week solid after getting them all home to show them how it was done. After Clint protested about not seeing where Rhodey's mark was when the alpha joined in on his clothing shenanigans, Tony then went right down to running around the house naked for a day, which was deeply hilarious all by itself since he'd finally persuaded Bruce that he totally wanted to come visit, if not move in. It was practically the first thing the beta encountered when he came in the door.

Given that Bruce was a rising star in his field, Tony was both very surprised, and not surprised at all, when he actually opted to move in. Science didn't always pay well if you couldn't find a sponsor for your research after all. Tony totally got that, and Bruce was still new in his fields of study. It meant that Tony had a chance to sit with him, the day after he'd gotten him moved in, and only two after he'd brought everyone else home, and hash out their expectations as a pair of soul mates.

They got along like a house on fire, no doubt about that, and their science crosstalk was only really followed by Rhodey when they got going, since he had the background to keep up, but they quickly determined that romance wasn't where they wanted it to be. That didn't mean sex was off the table, since Tony was the kind of guy who adored sex, and loved to find long term playmates, but there was definitely never going to be any expectation of a lovey-dovey romance going on here. Still, for Bruce he didn't even have to get undressed to find his mark, which was new and interesting, because the soft blue starburst on his right collarbone, nearly three inches long and only a half inch tall, had always been one of his favorites. That Bruce sort of did just made him grin, and he was happy enough to see the mark flared out from the beta's bellybutton.

Something about the colors and the shape had always appealed to him, and on meeting Bruce, he finally got what that was about. So far, after all, the marks had felt about spot on to the kind of feelings he had about the people who put them on him.

JARVIS's mark, of course, he'd always known as belonging to him, but he still hadn't figured out the meaning of. Gold chainmail, after all, kind of screamed protection and armor, and he had no idea how that could apply to his baby AI. Was JARVIS to protect him? Would he need to protect JARVIS? Was there some kind of mutual protection in their future that he thus far hadn't managed to figure the hell out? He didn't put the questions to the kid, not wanting to freak him out, but he did drag Rhodey to the beach to discuss it once, both worried and curious about the possible meanings.

Rhodey, after all, had always been a little interested in the symbolism of marks after all, even if he'd never outright said that was a hobby of his. Still, he didn't have anything more than what Tony had come up with himself, and he once again gave up the symbolism game as a lost cause.

On the other hand, he still wondered about placement when he saw the mark that matched James'. The alpha's mark on him, after all, was in the same place as certain very prominent star was on them. His own flamedrop started where the topmost point of James' star did, and was just about as wide and tall. It was disorienting, but interesting. More than once he'd ended up offering over his arm for the alpha to run a fingertip from the white tip of the fire to the red base where it curved. It was rapidly becoming a habit, but there was something soft about it, and he couldn't find it in him to be upset about it.

Ze always had such an odd look on their face when they did that, and he honestly couldn't say what they must have been thinking about to cause it. He hoped it wasn't bad thoughts, because he knew that ze didn't exactly have a complete picture of the kind of things that their memory should have given them. He didn't know the extent of it, and frankly, he was kind of hesitant to ask, but what little they had said had painted a macabre picture already, and he figured it would be best to let them set the pace about opening up to such private information. He already knew more about James' marks than ze did, though he did try to share, and it was one of these conversations that led to him finally determining which mark had to be Hammer's.

After all, there were only three left, once everyone in the house was accounted for, and the metallic blue, two by two, snowflake on his belly was most definitely not Hammer's. That was one of the marks he'd been born with, and he knew for a fact that the guy was one hundred percent not older than him. He'd checked the age for verification on that as soon as he'd found out he was his soulmate. He also knew he wasn't so much younger than him that he would have remembered getting the mark, which eliminated the three dark red interlocking circles over his heart as well. Which was good, because he loved the mark over his heart, and he didn't want Justin Hammer to fuck it up for him.

Which, of course, left the cookie. He was pretty sure it wasn't actually a cookie, but the light green, slightly lumpy looking circle with darker green flecks all over it that lived atop his right foot? Totally looked like a toxic chocolate chip cookie to him. Which, in his not so humble opinion, suited Hammer absolutely perfectly. He resolved then and there to wear sandals that showed it off to the next event they were both likely to be at, just so he could aim the beta's attention at it and confirm. Which was probably a little mean, but he had told Rhodey he would finally try to talk to him, and hey, perfect conversation starter, right there on his foot. Done and done.

All told, the time that Rhodey had on leave turned out to be amazing, and Tony was very, very sad to see him go. Still, he knew he'd be back, and by then maybe everyone would have gotten completely used to each other instead of all this dancing around one another that this initial roundup had caused.

Who knew, maybe he'd even find another damn omega to add to the pack by the time the guy was on leave again, because this was getting a bit ridiculous.

Chapter Text

It had been two months since the science convention where James had invaded Tony's hotel room and instigated his rumor fueling mad dash.

In that time, the tabloids had circulated all kinds of theories and had eventually moved on to other topics. Tony had been busy, and a lot had changed in his personal life, but somehow he'd expected this event to be just the same as before, with the glitz and glamour being a familiar monotony as it always had been.

It wasn't.

Maybe it was the shoes, slip-ons with an open top that he hadn't deigned to wear socks with that fully exposed the green cookie of doom for all to see. Maybe it was that he knew there was something bigger and that had led to his sniper soul mates ghosting the edges of the event on alert rather than being at his side for it. Maybe it was his discontent because Bruce was off halfway across the country right now doing science while Tony was dealing with socialites and people with more money than brains. It was hard to say.

What he did know was that for the first time when Hammer made a beeline for him, he didn't promptly try to vanish into the crowd, and there was something distinctly satisfying about seeing the beta falter when he realized he wasn't running. Had the idiot really invested so much in the chase that he'd never considered what he'd do if he caught up?

That would be typical.

Still, rumors and long distance observation wasn't really enough to judge a person, even if every bit of evidence pointed to raging douchery. Raging douchery with a bow on it no less. In this case he could admit to equal yet opposite douchery, though he didn't even try to repress the amused smirk when Hammer's steps first slowed, then settled to a veritable crawl when Tony still didn't make a move to leave. If he hadn't been enjoying Hammer's obvious confusion so much, he probably would have felt bad for causing it, really, but thus far their relationship hadn't been terribly friendly.

"Looking a little confused there, Hammer. You didn't think the chase would go on forever did you?" His eyebrows hiked toward his hairline, and he lifted a hand, warding off his answer before the beta could even get started. "No, no, I bet you did. Please. I got tired of that months ago. Hell, I was tired of it when it started, but you weren't exactly making yourself appealing. Seriously. The smear campaign? Not okay."

When Tony stopped talking, there was a distinct flush on the beta's cheeks, though if from anger of humiliation was hard to say. Tony, for his part, found it interesting that the other had immediately caved to his nonverbal direction without so much as a fight. Clearly not a dominant, at the very least. He didn't even seem properly upset about it like one would be. His tone most definitely didn't convey it either. "I started that before I knew about you being my soul mate. I wasn't about to back out of it when you wouldn't even speak to me after finding out either."

"And the gifts? Did you think being two faced about it would make it all better?" Tony's eyebrows made a run for his hairline with this question, and he flipped his hand in a pointed flourish. "Because that just made you seem skeevy as hell sweetums."

"Look, that wasn't the goal. I just wanted you to know that business and personal wasn't the same." When Hammer shifted on his feet anxiously, Tony just gave him a pointed stare. This led to the beta dropping his gaze, and oh yeah, definitely not a dominant at all this one, which in turn led to those eyes darting right back up, wide and startled after having seen the mark on Tony's foot.

"So that is yours. I was wondering if I'd be getting a confirmation on that or not tonight."

"You- You're the asteroid? I thought you would be the blue circle..." They made eye contact for a moment after the beta trailed off lamely, and as the silence drew out, Tony watched Hammer seem to steel himself, resolving to say something.

So Tony cut him off. "Assteroid hmmm? And here I always saw a toxic cookie. I guess I can see why you see that. Look, I didn't meet up with you to make nice, I'm not going to lie about that. I'm tired of avoiding you, but that doesn't mean I'm happy with you, you understand?"

"But we're soul mates. You can't just dismiss me!" The beta looked thoroughly aghast at the idea, and Tony wasn't feeling terribly sympathetic to his plight.

"I can and I will until you prove you can be something other than a two faced asshole who is leaning on us being soul mates to win me over. Understand me?"

"What- How am I supposed to do that if you don't talk to me?" Hammer sounded so confused and helpless when he asked that that Tony didn't even try to quell his instincts, just reaching up and patting the beta on the head.

It may have been condescending, but it also kept this idiot of a soul mate from getting distressed properly, which would have gotten his back up, and that more than worked for him. It didn't stop his tone from being a somewhat mocking drawl though. "You're not an idiot, even if you insist on acting like one, so I'm sure you can figure out how to stop being a complete ass-captain all on your own. I'll notice, and then we'll talk, got it?"

"No." The word was petulant, which just led to Tony smirking as he took his hand back.

"Well, that's just too bad. Ask your assistant, as I'm sure you have one, and maybe they can explain it to you. Don't try to hunt me down again until you've come to understand what you've done wrong."

"But-!"

"Not what you think I think you did wrong. What you actually did wrong. Now shoo." He made a shooing motion, eyebrows arched as he stared at the beta.

Tony knew it was petty, but it felt like a victory when Hammer obediently slunk away to not bother him for the rest of the event.

Chapter Text

In the weeks that followed, Tony found that there were a lot of things about living with his soulmates that he hadn’t once accounted for as a child.

Some of these things were small, trivial, such as sorting out how to keep everyone fed when he was used to getting groceries for one person instead of several, to say nothing of the chore situation once he realized that he couldn’t have people in to do the cleaning anymore. It was too risky with James around, and Clint wasn’t exactly loving the idea of someone poking around their home either. Bruce, surprisingly, hadn’t had an opinion, but that was largely because his ambitions took him away from home more often than he stayed put. Somehow, he’d always expected any sciency soulmate, other than Rhodey of course, would be happy to stay planted in a lab somewhere nearby, but clearly not.

Of course, while there were the small things that were important on the day to day, there were also the huge things that seemed to reach out and affect everyone on a more personal level. Like the nightmares. Tony, well used to sharing a bed with Rhodey and knowing the signs of someone having a bad night because of that, legitimately had no idea how to approach the situation when it came up for James. In fact, that lack of certainty had led to one particularly bad night where the alpha had come out of what appeared to be a sound sleep just to materialize a knife out of fucking nowhere and stab the pillow beside his head.

After that, James had decided that perhaps napping with Tony wasn’t prudent any longer, and ze fully removed themselves to the room ze’d been given when ze first moved in.

That had been both a relief and a disappointment to Tony, because on one hand, he had no particular desire to be stabbed in the middle of the night. On the other hand, he had been fully aware that the bed sharing had even started in the first place because ze had just desperately needed the consistent contact. Ze still wasn’t quite up to fully stable, and they both knew it, but Tony wasn’t about to try to coax them back. Instead, he just let them know that they were still welcome before settling back into his routine. Some things were still too shaky, and he wouldn’t do anything that made the alpha feel obligated to share physical contact.

Of course, that change of routine had led to mornings like this, wherein Tony got up far too early to find Clint looking not unlike a racoon. He was entirely sure that this was through no planning by the beta in question, but it still made him wonder if he’d missed a step somewhere. It also made him wonder if anyone in his little collection of soulmates slept other than Rhodey. He knew Bruce had a tendency not to, when he was home, which in turn inspired Tony not to sleep, because sleep deprived ideas were honestly sometimes the best ideas.

Rhodey had not been impressed with his logic when he’d caught them at it, and James always just frowned like ze wanted to chide, but had no idea where to start.

Still, there was nothing for it, and it wasn’t as though Tony hadn’t seen this beta up and around at this hour before. In fact, 4 a.m. seemed to be prime soulmate catching time if he was being honest with himself, as he’d caught even Rhodey up at this hour once or twice. Admittedly, he was usually just crawling out of bed to do his exercise things, or arriving home from being deployed, rather than having stayed up like Bruce, James, or even Tony was prone to. All of this, however, meant that Tony knew how the system worked, as it had been in place long before he lived with any of them. The only difference was that with Clint around, the chances of the coffee maker already having coffee were doubled.

This morning was not one of those mornings. In fact, by the look of the pot, Clint had probably been up for at least an hour, because the machine was on, simply empty. Satisfied with the results of his deductions, Tony leaned against the counter to work on getting a new pot going, knowing better than to even try approaching the blond before he had some kind of offering. If there was any made food, he probably would have used that, since he was sure that Clint really didn’t need any more caffeine, but he would make do.

At least the offering of coffee seemed to work, pulling the blond from his staring contest with the bottom of his cup to actually look around.

“Hey there insomniac. You’re not looking like someone that got a whole hell of a lot of sleep last night.” When Tony’s comment only got him owlish blinking, he snorted and pushed the fresh cup closer to Clint, sipping on his own. “I take it back, you look like someone who didn’t sleep at all, did you?”

For a moment, Tony wasn’t sure he’d get an answer at all, but then the blond sighed, changing the empty cup for the new one and cradling it in both hands. “No.”

“Dare I ask why? I mean, were you working on something? Worried about work? What?” He raised his eyebrows, because sure, he knew that classified was a word he got around here a lot, it still didn’t mean he’d stop asking.

At least it made Clint smile, even if it was somewhat drawn. “Nothing like that. Just a little trouble sleeping, honestly. It happens sometimes.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, staring back at the blond over the edge of his coffee cup, mulling over something he’d been considering for a while. “You know that any of you are welcome to come crawl in with me to sleep right? It’s not just an invitation extended to James and Rhodey.” When the blond opened his mouth like he was going to protest, Tony was quick to shake his head. “No, I mean it. I told Bruce ages ago, but somehow I think you got left out of the loop. It’s relaxing, having company when I sleep, and I do trust everyone who lives here. Now, if Hammer were to come over, there would definitely be some hard discussions, but you? Nah.”

There was a bit of a staring contest after that, as Clint searched for any sign of insincerity. Thankfully, for Tony’s peace of mind if nothing else, the blond finally gave him a solemn nod. It was short lived given he immediately seized on a new, less appreciated topic. “So, about Hammer. Has he made any headway with you?”

Even knowing he had only himself to blame for bringing up his errant soulmate, Tony still grimaced. In the wake of their last conversation the other weapon dealer had dropped his smear campaign, it was true, but he had intensified his obnoxious displays by a degree of ten. Not a day went by now where Tony failed to get some trinket, and usually they were utterly, completely, hideous. Even Hammer’s choice of flowers was somewhat horrible, often being the kinds of plants that stank to high heaven. “You know the answer to that is no. And don’t you laugh, I think he’s the reason Bruce went off to see about that project at Culver last week.”

Clint, looking a bit more alive with the fresh jolt of caffeine, just smirked. “Yeah, sure, that’s completely why. It had nothing to do with your ranting about your little stalker at the top of your lungs after he sent you a singing cat that caught fire. By itself.”

“Oh come on! You have to admit that that was beyond shit. If he’s going to send me presents, they should at least not turn into unintentional incendiaries.”

“It’s not like you planned to keep it anyway, so why are you complaining?”

The question made Tony pause, then scowl with a particularly aggressive drink of his coffee. Which he of course immediately burned himself on. Glaring into his cup in betrayal, Tony huffed, then looked back to the beta seated at the island across from where he was standing. “Just because I don’t want to keep them doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try. I mean, seriously, that is not how you win someone over.”

“And that’s why you spent the rest of the night once you were done ranting trying to figure out why it went up in flames?”

“Yes. I mean. No. I mean. I don’t even know what that question means, but that was a safety precaution, nothing else.”

“Yeah, sure it was. I think you’re enjoying having someone else shower you in gifts. You know, instead of you being the one doing the showering.”

“Am not. Do not. That’s not it at all.” Tony returned to drinking his coffee, or at least, he planned to, before realizing he really needed to give his tongue a chance to recover before doing that. He set it on the counter with a thump and crossed his arms instead.

“Right.” The sheer lack of believing Tony in Clint’s voice was intense, and when he got up to collect all three cups to stick them in the sink, he just raised his eyebrows at Tony. “I know who gave you those cufflinks you wore the other night Tony.”

Well, shit. Tony grimaced back at him, stubbornly staying in the way as the blond clicked off the coffee maker and started to amble away. “His taste isn’t completely terrible all the time.”

“Yeah, it really is. Those things are garish as fuck and you know it.” Turning around to walk backwards toward the door, the blond waggled his eyebrows at Tony. “He’s wearing you down.”

“He is not. I do not wear down Clint.”

The blond just laughed at him and left the room instead of answering, much to Tony’s chagrin. He only did things like that when he knew he was right. If Tony was winning he always stayed to keep arguing.

“Damn it.”

Chapter Text

Obadiah Stane was one of those rare people who had never had a soulmark.

In fact, he was one of those people who had always taken pride in that fact, and had never striven to keep it secret the way some do. Tony had always respected that.

There were always theories about people who had no soulmarks. In Obadiah’s case especially, people liked to claim that it was because the beta was heartless and couldn’t love anyone. That was, of course, unfair in Tony’s estimation, given that they called him fickle and shallow for the exact opposite reason. Having too many.

Obadiah liked to claim that his lack of soulmarks, and in turn soulmates, merely indicated that he was complete in and of himself. It was something to be proud of, like having the universe saying you didn’t need anyone to complete you, and that had always seemed especially poetic to Tony. And perhaps a little depressing as well, because if he ascribed to that logic, it meant that the universe thought he was full of holes that needed patching.

Tony’s opinion on the matter, however, had always been that Obadiah was one of those people who would only share his soul with his kid when, and if, he finally had one. Great rivals never phased him. He moved on from the loss of friends more gracefully than most. Him though, Tony, he’d always been there for. He’d always been a solid presence at his back no matter the circumstances. In fact, he could remember many times when he’d promised to talk to his father for him when they’d had a misunderstanding, and he’d never once faltered beside him after his parents had died. He could admit that he hadn’t handled any of it well, between the locating of his various soulmates and his own grief, which in turn meant that Obadiah had carried most of that load. His only complaints during that entire time were that he needed Tony to get it together and work with him, nothing else.

As far as he could see, those had always been traits that an amazing parent would have. They weren’t the marks of someone heartless or soulless, no matter what the media might like to claim about him.

Thus, given all of that, he couldn’t for the life of him understand why Rhodey had always been just that hair more protective when the beta was nearby, and had even gone so far as to say that the only person from the company he’d liaise with was Tony on one particularly bad day. When asked, Rhodey had always just told him that the beta made his instincts act up when he was around, but had been able to give him no more of a concrete answer with that. They were fine if they spent time together without Tony in the middle, he knew that. In fact, the pair had had lunch from time to time to catch up and talk.

It only fed Tony’s bewilderment on the whole matter.

Still, even taking into account all of that, there was a certain degree of ridiculous in the current situation.

Obadiah had, of course, been told about his recent soulmate adventures. It wasn’t like he could, or even wanted to, keep them from a secret from his last remaining father figure. Somehow Tony had been under the impression that after being introduced that said soulmates would, well, go back to doing whatever they did when they weren’t hovering around his peripheral. Instead, Clint had planted himself to be leaning beside the doorway, and James had gone to stare out the window with the kind of stance that said ze wouldn’t be moving any time soon.

Baffled, not to mention somewhat exasperated, he had sent a look of askance to Clint, but the beta had just given him an absent shrug and gestured for him to get to it.

Honestly. If they were this suspicious every time new people came around he was never going to be able to take them anywhere.

Obadiah, thankfully, seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, and when Tony turned his attention back to him, wholly apologetic, it was to receive a warm, understanding smile that immediately made his shoulders ease. “Don’t worry about it Tony, I know they mean well. They both have the look of people with combat training, so I’ll just have to weather the scrutiny until they get used to me. Nothing to apologize for.”

He huffed a little laugh and nodded, moving over to sit on the couch near the beta, glancing to his soulmates one last time before a wry grin crossed his face. “Okay, point. They did almost take each other’s heads off when they first met, so I shouldn’t be surprised they’re acting like this, should I?”

“Probably not. It’s alright though, everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” Shaking his head, Obadiah lifted the folder he’d brought with him, offering it over to Tony. “Unfortunately, acclimation will have to wait. I know, I know, I just got back from being overseas, but someone has to do it and you’ve had bigger priorities.” He lifted his hand, cutting Tony off before he could say anything. “The company can wait a little longer, I’ve got it. You get yourself sorted out first. I know you haven’t abandoned any of the projects, and that’s what the company needs most from you, so anything else can hold a bit longer.”

“You’re sure?” He took the folder, flipping it open to look through even as he spoke. “I have been trying to get coordinated on the board meetings at least in the last few months.”

“And I’m really glad you have been, because it probably would have gotten ugly if you hadn’t shown up to that one last month, but this works for now. You can get back into most of the distribution and contract shopping once you’re feeling up for it. I can at least do that much for you, right?” He lifted his gaze from the paperwork when the beta clasped his shoulder, and Tony immediately gave him a smile, wry.

“You do a lot more for me, for the company, than that. I think things are mostly settled out and I can get back to work properly real soon, I promise. You won’t have to carry the load by yourself forever.”

Nodding, and obviously pleased to hear the news, Obadiah pulled his hand back and flapped the other one at the folder. “Perfect. In the meantime, I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I get a signature on those. I’m glad you’re doing better Tony, I really mean that.”

Laughing, Tony just bobbed his head in an understanding nod, already reaching for a pen. “Even the chaos that’s my life can’t keep me down long. I’m glad you’re in my corner.” The smile the words drew was genuine, and Tony was content to start flipping through the paperwork and signing without another word. In fact, he was mostly skimming for where to sign, trusting that everything would be in order.

Obadiah watched the process intently, and only answered once Tony handed the papers back and looked him in the eye. “Always, Tony. You never need to worry about my loyalties.”

“That’s a relief to hear, even if I already knew it was true.”

They shared a mutual laugh at that comment, and if the two sharing space with them never took their attention off the pair before Obadiah left, well.

Tony would just chalk that up to paranoia.

Chapter Text

By the time Tony’s twenty-fifth birthday rolled around, he’d come to terms with several interesting facts.

One of these facts was that his life would never, ever be calm again. While it was true that he’d never aspired to be a wallflower that stayed at home with the kids, so to speak, there was a difference between that and what he’d ended up getting. Now, that’s not to say that he didn’t adore his soulmates, he did. He’d even grudgingly started to come to terms with the fact that he didn’t actively despise Hammer anymore even. In fact, he’d progressed to the point where he allowed the beta to come up and speak with him at events now, which was its own brand of hilarity. Those who had seen the multi-year game of chase clearly didn’t trust the truce to last, he could tell, and it would be only a matter of time in their eyes before the two caused a scene.

Which was fine by Tony. Not that they expected a scene, no, but that they’d kept their eyes on Hammer and had looked no farther. He didn’t want them to look at his assassin or his secret agent man. He wanted his scientist to progress through his field on his own merits... with maybe a little financial backing. And he definitely didn’t want anyone in the military to fuck with Rhodey’s career, so this worked for him. They could watch him and Hammer, be oblivious that he had a child made of code, and leave his other soulmates in peace.

It worked.

Still.

Sometimes, Tony wondered what he’d done in another life to get this one. It wasn’t a bad life, far from it, but things... well. Things were never quite what he expected them to be on any given day, and somehow, this day, no, this event, was one of those situations. Which brought to mind fact number two. His soulmates were all very motivated people who would do what they would do, regardless of their attachment to him. If they had something that needed to take priority, like, say, a career or super spy related event, then that would be the priority. Which was more than fine, he wasn’t exactly the kind to stifle his loved ones, but sometimes...

By some kind of baffling twist of fate, he was alone. He was in another country and didn’t have his entourage. Bruce was in Indiana, negotiating for a position on a project there, Rhodey was deployed god knew where at the moment, Hammer was miraculously caught in some kind of situation domestically with his company, and both Clint and James were chasing a lead about the family’s littlest soulmate. He hadn’t fallen through the cracks, exactly, but it was unshakably true that he had come to a public event in Europe without some kind of protection. He knew he didn’t need it most days, and certainly didn’t feel like he did this time, but he still felt like he was missing his shadow.

Which led to point number three. He’d never been so conscious of how vulnerable he really was until he’d felt protected for a while. He’d never been the kind of guy to have bodyguards in excess, always taking care of himself as much as possible, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t appreciated Rhodey any time the alpha was around. In the time that he’d had a full compliment of over-protective soulmates, he’d gotten used to having someone lurking around, making sure that no one he was interacting with had ill-intent in his general direction.

Suffice to say, that lack of security wasn’t exactly his favorite feeling in the world, but done was done. He didn’t need to try to summon up soulmates just because he felt a little lost. He wasn’t one of those omegas. Tony could take care of Tony, just like any other adult out there. So what if that meant that he was just a little more intent on what the people around him were saying than normal? So what if he had maybe a few more drinks than he probably otherwise would have? So what if he happened to miss having someone lurking the edges of the room watching him?

It didn’t matter.

Until it did, with fact number four.

The thing about the abilities of an omega that always got undersold was the ability to read people. Mostly scent related, it often left a person able to look someone in the eye and figure out all kinds of things. Those with training could detect something wrong with someone a mile away. Others could scent the sickness even without that training, had to breathe around the stench of it. Tony was an omega that had learned to mostly ignore his sense of smell. It was too sensitive, picked up too many things that were completely useless to him on a day to day basis. Sure, he could whip it out if he was concerned about someone, which he’d done at home more than once, or was trying to get an angle on someone for a business deal, but more casual events? He usually didn’t scent the air unless he was trying to read someone specific. Too much perfume, too many people with too many motives. It was more likely to give him a headache than the information he wanted. After all, this kind of event was geared toward betas, and everyone knew their sense of smell tended to be the least sensitive.

It was annoying, but it was what it was. Which was unfortunate, because it meant that Tony was already accepting an introduction from someone, taking their hand to shake, before he registered the overly sweet sharpness that screamed ‘wrongness’ on just about every level wafting off their skin. He knew as soon as he took the hand that it had been a mistake, the beta in front of him hanging onto the grip tightly even as Tony tried to retreat from the odd tingling numbness sweeping up from his palm. He knew if he’d been paying attention that this wouldn’t be happening. He knew that if he’d at least been a little less drunk that his reaction time might have been quick enough to snatch his hand back before he could be drugged.

Which led to the fifth, and final, point that Tony had learned in the time that he’d had his soulmates. They were a protective bunch, and not one of them would hesitate to do what they needed to do in protection of their home and family, even peaceful Bruce. He strongly suspected that whoever this guy was, that they would be deeply regretting this situation by the time all was said and done. At the very least, Tony was rapidly coming to realize that his soulmates were never going to let him go anywhere alone again if he managed to get home again.

And Tony really really wanted to go home now. He was done. No more party time for him.

He just wished he could do something to convey that to the universe, because he sincerely doubted that collapsing on the spot was going to do it.

Which sucked, because he was pretty sure that he’d fainted magnificently.

Chapter Text

The next few days were a blur for Tony, shaded with tones of white and painfully invasive. He knew they were keeping him drugged, in a vague way, and the scent of lemon cleaner invaded every second of near coherency. He didn’t know how long he was there, in that between place of haze and unconsciousness, but awareness came to him all at once when he finally clawed his way out of it.

He wasn’t in that place anymore. He wasn’t anywhere he recognized, but he most certainly wasn’t in that place anymore. He wasn’t bound, and he was laying on something soft, which at the moment felt novel and strange. It said quite a bit about how addled he was that it took him longer to recognize that his pillow was warm and smelled familiar, safe. In fact, that scent had always meant safety, as long as he could remember. Still, why was she here? And where was here for that matter?

Unfortunately, when he tried to ask these questions, all that left his throat was a low whine, embarrassing and not at all what he’d been aiming for, because his throat practically closed on itself, feeling parched and dry. Painful. Still, it got his Aunt Peggy’s eyes to drop down toward his face, alert and searching, with a rage deep and intense burning behind the worry.

Tony knew it probably said a lot about him that all he could think at first was that someone was in trouble, but he sincerely hoped that it was the people who did... whatever was done. Already, memories of the last few days were fading into a haze of unpleasantness and lemon with safety and coherency so charmingly close to replace them. Either way, he knew that the rage wasn’t directed at him. No, he knew this song and dance from the last time his Aunt had rescued him from somewhere unpleasant, even if it had been over a decade previous.

In any case, she seemed to have determined whatever it was she needed to, because she finally spoke, her tone giving away nothing but scolding concern despite what he saw in her face. “Anthony Edward Stark, you are not allowed to scare me like that anymore. When Agent Barton contacted me to say you weren’t at their meet up after your party, it about gave me a heart attack.”

He gave her a helpless grimace of a smile in turn, which prompted her to fish a water bottle out of a cup holder nearby... and made him realize they were in the back of a moving vehicle. Well, if that wasn’t just charming. It did explain why the soulmates weren’t on hand though. She was careful as she helped him drink, his hands far from coordinated enough for him to do it by himself just yet.

“Tony, I know that you felt it would be fine, but we both know that will never be the case with you. No more going places overseas alone. I’m sure your soulmates will take care of that for me after this, but someone’s first and sole focus needs to be taking care of you. If you have to hire someone, do it, but no more of this.” Her voice got a bit quieter and she sighed, running her fingers over his hair. “You’re involved in a lot of heavy things these days, and you can’t take the risk, understand?”

Tony made a noise of discontent, then cleared his throat, finally feeling like his voice would cooperate. It still sounded a bit wrecked. God, had he been screaming? He was not loving the idea that he’d been screaming. “Was just a party.”

By which he’d meant to imply that he’d been to parties alone before, and it was more than clear that she got the message if the thunderous look on her face was any indication. She really could be pretty frightening, objectively. It might have worked better if she wasn’t still fussing over him. “It was not just a party child! It was an international meeting with inadequate security, lowered observation levels, people you didn’t know, and a particularly careless Stark standing around unprotected!”

He winced as her voice actually raised a little, and his gaze skittered away from her to examine the car, because it was definitely a car, with the sky racing by outside the window over his head and his legs curled up against the door. Still, he couldn’t be distracted by that for long, because her fingers in his hair were the tiniest bit shaky, and the last thing he ever wanted was to cause anyone this kind of distress. He was far from looking forward to what his myriad of soulmates were going to say once they got where they were going. And there was no doubt in his mind they’d all be there either. “Didn’t mean to Peg.”

“I am well aware of what you meant to do Tony, and I am not impressed.” She paused for a moment, then heaved a rough sigh. “This whole mess wasn’t without a benefit, as it gave us information we’d been completely oblivious to about a problem within SHIELD, but you are not to do it again, understand?”

He blinked, once, then twice, more slowly. “Yeah, okay. No more getting kidnapped. Got it.”

She searched his face carefully, then nodded primly. “Good. I already had a talk with your soulmates about what sort of timing is appropriate for leaving you alone, and what sort is not.”

By which she meant that she’d reamed them good and they were never going to forget a word of it. Fuck. Okay, so that would be fun to handle, and probably had not lowered the general worry levels of the group at large. Yay. One thing was baffling him though, because seriously, why was it his Aunt Peggy he was in the lap of? “Didn’t any of them come with you?”

“They did. Even Rhodes managed to get away from his duties to help in the search for you. I just happened to find you first. The others have been contacted and will be meeting up with us at our destination in about thirteen minutes.” She narrowed her eyes, sweeping her gaze over him in a last pass. “Rest until we get there, you look terrible.”

Tony snorted once, softly, at the order, but let his eyes slide closed none the less. His head was aching, his voice sounded wrecked, and moving seemed impossible. Yeah, he could see why she said as much. He had more questions, all of which were unfortunately escaping him, so he could take a little micro-nap.

He had little doubt he was going to need the energy.

Fussing could be exhausting.

Chapter Text

When Tony next opened his eyes, it was because he was being lifted into someone’s arms while still mostly asleep.

Oddly, he hadn’t particularly expected that someone to be James. This might have been because Rhodey had always fussed over him when he was younger, or even because Clint seemed the type of guy to feel guilty and rush to the front to make things right. Either way, that wasn’t who he woke up to, though he couldn’t particularly find it in him to complain.

While one always knew that all their soulmates were equally important, that never meant that a person didn’t have their favorites for certain things. If he had to pick just one someone to carry him around, it would have been James just about a hundred percent of the time. Sure, ze wasn’t the tallest in the household, but the few times ze’d done it, ze’d always been incredibly careful with Tony.

Thus, on reflection, he didn’t even know why he’d been surprised. He did know that his waking had been noticed though, because the alpha tucked him closer against their chest, arms tightening fractionally to keep him secure. Which was his cue to actually pay a little more attention to his surroundings beyond a dazed sort of appreciation for how warm his alpha was.

Those drugs really were a doozy. He’d have to make sure that someone took blood so that he could examine what he’d been dosed with. Though, after a glance around revealed that Bruce was practically dancing in place as he kept pace with James, he was pretty sure he didn’t have to worry too much about that. It was Bruce’s area, after all, and by the look on the beta’s face, he wasn’t about to leave any stone unturned in making sure he was perfectly alright. There was a disturbingly giddy sort of relief to that, to the knowing that he didn’t need to let a doctor actually get at him to get his answers.

He really really didn’t want to examine the why of that very closely, and he hid his face back against James with a hard shiver. The gesture was enough to get a low rumble back, some weird cross of a hum and a growl that ultimately was bizarrely soothing. Tony wouldn’t even pretend that his immediate fascination for the sound was anything but a desperate bid to distract himself, and he suspected that his assassin was fully aware of it. Ze most certainly didn’t stop making the noise for him, in any case, and Tony let the spike of tension ease out of his body.

Still, the gesture was enough to immediately get Bruce’s eyes to focus on him, and Tony knew the other scientist wasn’t about to stay quiet. Not with the way he was nearly vibrating as they passed through a doorway into somewhere cooler than the outside. “Tony?”

“'m awake yeah.” Tony almost wished he hadn’t spoken after doing so, grimacing into the combat material he was hiding his face against. His voice still sounded wrecked, and there was no way he’d be able to prove he was even remotely good until that let up. He certainly wasn’t about to look and see what glance his soulmates were exchanging over his head though, even if he could practically feel them doing it in the way the arms holding him moved.

Bruce apparently was willing to accept whatever it was he saw in James’ face because he continued talking. “Jim is due in about ten minutes. He was further out than the rest of us and had to cross a country line to get back here so he was delayed.”

Tony huffed at the news, which made sense, though didn’t explain where the hell Clint was, and he lifted his head to give Bruce a disgruntled glance. “His name’s Rhodey.”

Bruce’s expression softened at they made eye contact, and he shook his head. “No, you call him Rhodey, and that’s fine, but we’ve agreed that I can call him Jim and you know that perfectly well.”

Tony grumbled a little, glancing up to James, but all he got from that corner was a slight eyebrow lift and what looked like indulgence. Insofar as the alpha ever showed it at least. Ze’d been getting better about that at least, before all this, so that was good. He had no idea how far that progress might be set back by his own situation, or if it would have any effect at all. After a moment, his head turned back toward Bruce, though he couldn’t help taking in the lights and the less than homey surroundings that told him that wherever he was wasn’t a private residence.

He did his best to ignore it. “But Brucie, he likes the name Rhodey.”

“I’m sure he does, but that’s your name for him, so I’ll save that for special occasions.” And then Bruce reached over and patted him on the head.

Tony had no idea what to make of this and was stymied into silence, his gaze darting back to James as though to ask if that had just happened. All he got for his efforts was a squish that he presumed was an attempt at a reassuring squeeze. Or an attempt to quell laughter? But no, he doubted it was that. Still. It meant Tony squinted back and forth between the two for a few more paces, only to be startled half out of his skin at a loud exclamation from the direction he hadn’t been looking.

“Oh thank fuck! You’re here! Okay, so, Stark, guess who got their ass handed to him for not doing his job like a good bodyguard slash soulmate by his boss? You guessed it. This guy.” Tony had jerked and twisted to look at the blond the moment he’d started talking, and had to blink at how rough the man was looking. He rather resembled someone who had gone toe to toe with an irritated tiger and lost. He had bandages everywhere. “You, my friend, will be lucky to even shower alone for a while because fuck if I ever want to experience that again.”

Tony blinked owlishly for a moment, and his voice was even more of a croak than before. “The hell happened to you? Aunt Peggy didn’t...?”

Clint seemed to pause at the question, glancing down at himself, then back, before his eyes widened in understanding. “Ah! No. Nothing like that. This was uh, related to finding you, but not from her. She’s the verbal lashing kind of boss, not the beat you into the ground kind. I’m not very good at getting people to give up gracefully and the big fella over there was a little busy to cover me when this happened.” He lifted his hands, clearly trying to be placating. “It’s fine, we’re good. We got you back and that was the important part.”

Tony stared at him for a moment later, then turned his gaze to Bruce, unsure why he was so upset that Clint had been hurt trying to find him, just knowing that that explanation had been far from soothing. “Bruuuuce?” And if his request for more information came in the form of a whine, no one could blame him.

“He had to be brought back before you from the same location because part of a wall fell on him when he tried to stop your abductors from fleeing the area. James met him here and Peggy told him to wait with us until you were brought back by her.”

Tony grimaced at this information, then looked to James, who was staring back at him intently, his jaw set. “Ah. Well, here now? You been here the whole time Bruce?” He reached up with a shaky hand and put his palm against his alpha’s face as ze apparently deigned to sit on what seemed to be a bed, though the room didn’t much smell of medicine, thank god. His gaze once again flit back to Bruce.

“No. I was still on my way over from the states when I got the news that you’d been found. It was harder to get a flight with your plane already over here. I think I’d just landed when I got the call of where to meet you guys. I got here about the same time James did.” He nodded over at the alpha, then moved to help Clint to sit beside the other two, at which point the blond promptly leaned against James’ side where Tony could reach him. Tony took this as an invitation to do so, demandingly reaching out a hand to grab onto Clint’s pant leg for the contact of it.

“Do any of you know what I was grabbed for? Was there a ransom?”

When silence followed the question, Tony cast worried eyes from one person to another, finally landing on James, who was shaking their head in a slow negative.

Well, shit.

He’d just have to wait for his Aunt Peggy to fill him in then.

Chapter Text

Much to Tony’s disappointment, his Aunt Peggy was not, actually, the font of information that he’d rather hoped she’d be.

In fact, she was so much not the font of information that he’d hoped she’d be that he’d learned exactly three things and nothing more. First, SHIELD agents had been involved. Second, a HYDRA agent had been involved. And third, not to mention most creepily given facts number one and two, that they had tried to pull genetics off him, which had been thankfully dealt with. Hopefully? That part had been a little unclear, lost under her downright intense stare as she’d stared Clint down and told him he was On Leave until she personally cleared him.

Clint had wisely not argued with her.

Tony, on looking over at the blond, could admit that this probably had to do more with the fact that he was warm and comfortable than with any sense of self-preservation said beta might actually have. In the time since they’d arrived Tony had slept, been woken by a worried Rhodey no less than twice, once to check him over when he’d first arrived, once to feed him, and had Bruce take blood then prod him over from pretty much head to toe for any hidden damage. Between these various pokes and proddings, he’d managed to wrestle Clint horizontal, and they were both using James’ lap as a pillow while they recovered. Thus, warm and sleepy Clint had been achieved.

Said pillow wasn’t exactly as comfy as ze’d been before his Aunt had swept in though, to Tony’s eternal disappointment, and he turned his head to give James a long stare as the tension failed to abate immediately.

Nap time was totally over it seemed, though thank god he no longer sounded like his voice was going to crack in half. Which was great, because it meant his throat clearing actually got both the room’s other occupants to look at him instead of staring at the door and fretting about their respective concerns. “So that happened.”

Okay, maybe his voice wasn’t as recovered as he’d have liked, but the wryness was clear at the very least. It was no effort at all to lift a hand to rest across Clint’s mouth before the beta could speak and interrupt the momentum he was trying to build here.

“So that happened, and now Aunt Peg has it in hand. It’s not awesome, but she’s efficient and terrifying, and I think that’s more than enough to get the job done, right?” This was directed at Clint more than anything, and the blond huffed against his hand, licking his fingers instead of agreeing. Tony took it as one anyway. “Right. Which means she knows when to ask for our help. She also knows how to use her resources, and by this I mean you Clint. If she wants you on leave instead of officially assigned to me right now, there must be a good reason.”

When the blond actually looked like he was thinking about it, Tony removed his hand from his mouth, satisfied that his point had been made. However, the blond wasn’t the only one there, and James finally spoke, using their voice for the first time since Tony had been recovered from his kidnappers. Tony could admit that this was something of a relief, even if the content that he was being presented with was less than charming.

“She did not appear to be entirely surprised about the HYDRA agent existing.” Ze hesitated, using one of those odd pauses ze did sometimes, and the alpha’s flesh and blood hand lifted to brush down Tony’s cheek. “Merely angry with the news of what they had been doing. That they had involved you. It is not impossible that my departure from their ranks has made you into a target.”

Tony blinked, though he wasn’t the one who answered as Clint was already on it, the tattered beta shoving up into a seated position. “Hey, no. No. She said genetics, and that means they were after him for his own pretty ass, not because you might have been touching said ass.” Tony and Clint shared a quick smirk before the blond turned his gaze back to the alpha. “Which you haven’t been, right? We’re friends, you would have told me something important like that, right?”

The question drew a snort out of James, and the alpha finally started to relax, turning their gaze down to Tony with that well of fondness showing that had been slowly growing over the last year. “I doubt it would remain secret if we took such a step.” The hand that had been touching Tony’s face settled on his chest, gently pressing the omega down against their folded legs as the moment of levity faded. “We will take more care in the future. This happened because we were not careful with you.”

Tony pulled a face, but when Clint tapped his shoulder to draw his eyes back that way, the blond was rather solemn looking. “They’re right you know. We weren’t careful, and us,” he waved a hand between him and James, “We’re more responsible for this happening than anyone else. Yeah, we want to find little Natalia, it’s important, but that’ll mean jack shit if we lose you in the process because we leave you unprotected. I do a lot of stupid things Stark, but I’d like to think putting my soulmates in unneeded danger won’t become one of the reoccurring ones.”

“Guys, c’mon, I know that you thought I’d be safe. It was a very public place and there were plenty of people to keep an eye out.”

“None were us. We are trained to evaluate threats.” James’ hushed voice stilled Tony’s protests, and he released a rough breath, knowing that there would be no arguing with either of them while they were being like this.

“Fine. Okay. You feel guilty I got hurt. I forgive you. In fact, I’ll even hire someone whose whole job will be keeping an eye on me and pitching a fit if anyone looks at me funny. Will that do it? Will that settle you guys down so that when you need to go off on a lead, then you’ll do it instead of hesitating and missing a possible window? I mean, I have the money, and all of you will get to vet whoever I pick.”

“Yeaaah, about that.” Clint glanced toward the door, then back. “Where did you think Rhodes was exactly? He’s been peeking in here every few minutes, and I’m pretty sure he’s been calling security firms and talking with JARVIS when he hasn’t been in here. That, and talking to the military. Pretty sure I heard him discussing how long he’d get his emergency leave for. You being you means he gets more leeway than most people. Lucky.” Clint shook his head, then winced as that pulled at some injury or another, and just gave a lopsided smile at Tony instead. “It’ll happen.”

“Well gee, put like that, it makes me feel all kinds of in control of my personal safety.”

James lightly patted where their hand had been resting. “You have never been in control of your personal safety.”

“Hey!”

Clint was nodding though, clearly agreeing with the statement. “Yeah, that’s true, I’ve been told stories about you as a kid and teen. You’re as bad as I am.”

“Hey I said! And I so am not. You’re way worse.”

Clint just flashed him a smirk and raised both eyebrows at him. “Riiiiight. You just keep telling yourself that Tony.”

Tony would have liked to argue, he really would have, but he instead fell into a pout. For two reasons. First, it was really aggravating to argue with Clint when he got into ‘yeah, uh huh, sure’ mode. And second, he could feel the light vibrations of repressed laughter under his shoulder from James.

Laughter won over winning, hands down, so he’d just have to suck it up and pretend he’d lost the debate.

But only because he adored his soulmates, not because he was actually losing.

Because he totally hadn’t been losing.

Really.

Chapter Text

As far as Tony was concerned, Rhodey’s taste in bodyguards was shit. That wasn’t to say that the alpha didn’t have high standards, because he did. In fact, he’d go so far as to say that all of his ‘bodyguard’ options the week after he got home were so ridiculously overqualified as to be absurd.

That in and of itself was not the problem.

No, the problem was that this was them looking for someone who was supposed to be on call 24/7 in case Tony needed to go somewhere or do something and the others were busy. The problem was that all these people were horrible stoic faces who he took one look at and immediately sent home.

And maybe Rhodey hadn’t exactly been thrilled that his hard work had been thwarted like that, but if he was gonna have a security person, he was gonna have one that he wouldn’t feel awkward talking to. This was meant to be a lifelong commitment! He was putting his life under someone’s observation here, and by god it was going to be someone he didn’t take one look at and nope away from.

Because no.

Rhodey didn’t seem to share his opinion, and the others were no help, staying well clear of the argument as the alpha followed him around the house.

“Tony, Tones, sugarplum, this is not how bodyguards work. They’re not supposed to be someone you’re friends with. They’re supposed to be someone you’re protected by, and all of those people had amazing recommendations on their side. You didn’t even meet them before telling them to leave.”

Tony, having thought he’d been pretty clear on the first three passes, had had about enough at this point. He loved Rhodey, he did, and he always would, but he kind of wanted him to drop it already. And the alpha was doing that thing where he blocked the door with his stupidly tall self. Asshole. “Well, Rhodey. Much as you are the light of my life and the sweetest part of my day, right now you’re being a tart. And absolute tart.”

Rhodey’s eyes widened, and he straightened up. “Oh, come on, I am not. I’m just worried about you.”

“You are so!” Tony flung both hands up in the air. “I get it, I was hurt. I was grabbed from a public place and that freaked you out. But this isn’t how this works Rhodey.” He moved over to his best friend, putting both hands on his chest and giving him a light shove as he stared up into his face. His voice got a bit softer at the expression he found there. “It’s not.”

The alpha brought up both hands, putting them over Tony’s with a sharp huff. “If anyone’s being a tart, it’s you.”

Tony couldn’t help it, and his lips twitched up. “Blueberry tart with whipped cream maybe.”

That prompted an immediate head shake as his soulmate leaned down and bumped their foreheads together. “Nope, absolutely a rhubarb tart with no sugar at all.”

“That’s cold.” Tony could feel himself thawing, his irritation leaving him as he grumbled.

“You didn’t even meet them. You are totally rhubarb right now.”

Tony rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath wordlessly for a moment. “Fine. But! You have to let me look on my own first. If I can’t find someone that meets the needs I think I need in a bodyguard in that time, then I’ll tell you and you can call back your stone cold buzzcuts. Deal?”

Rhodey narrowed his eyes, sensing a trap, but sighed none the less and lifted his head to kiss Tony on the forehead as he released him. “Fine. It’s a deal. Two days, Tony.”

Tony held up both hands placatingly, then flashed him a smirk. “Two days.” He inched around Rhodey, heading for the hallway. As soon as he was sure he had a clear shot down to his workshop, he called back over his shoulder. “I’m going to go look now. Bye Rhodey!”

“Wait. What do you mean ‘bye’? Tony!” The exclamation was alarmed, and Rhodey had just enough time to pivot on his heel to follow before Tony launched into a dead sprint and vanished around the corner, making a beeline for his workshop and cars.

Success was sweet, and the hovering had been getting ridiculous.

Chapter Text

Tony knew before he’d even reached the city proper that he could have handled the argument better.

He knew that he could have explained why first impressions even mattered at all when he was so good at getting along with just about anyone given a little work. He could have. He probably should have even, but Tony could do this on his own. Yes, he had all these soulmates around now, but he’d always been an independent soul, and it had burned to know that Rhodey hadn’t even had a bit of faith that he could do this without his help.

Yes, he’d never set it up before, he knew that, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have on his own.

He wasn’t an incompetent idiot who would ignore what was right in front of his face.

Still, as Tony sat in the parking lot outside the Malibu offices for Stark Industries, he had to let himself have a grim little smile. The military folks he handled would have gotten it, understood the guards weren’t some sign of weakness on his part, but the business world was different. It was filled with fronts and glamour and quiet deals made at parties.

Those were the people who chose bodyguards with care, because who you picked reflected on you. He could have a retinue, no problem, people who could disperse and keep an eye on things, but the lead guy, the one who stuck close? That person couldn’t be an obvious clean cut military guy. That person had to be someone who put people at ease, not someone who scared them off. He could have, probably should have explained that to Rhodey, but he knew Rhodey was just worried.

They were all just worried.

Tony put his forehead on the wheel of his car, staring up at the building with his name on it for a long moment more before shaking his head on a weak laugh. He had no idea how his dad had handled this bullshit at his age. He hadn’t even known any of his soulmates yet at his age, after all, so that had to have made things harder. Or maybe it was just different for his dad altogether. After all, the guy said he’d built everything. Maybe people just hadn’t cared enough to make his life harder than it already was when he was this age.

It was definitely an option.

Still, Tony was sitting in a car with AC blowing on his face, and that wasn’t ideal for anyone in this part of California, especially not at the tail end of summer. So he forcibly shook himself from his thoughts, turned on his car properly, and made himself actually go somewhere with people. He could get some food at the boardwalk, think about his game plan, then go home to make up his bolting to Rhodey. He knew he’d be forgiven, sure, but he didn’t savor needing to explain why he had been acting like such a brat about everything.

Explaining sucked.

Still, it was a nice day at the beach, a little cloudy, a lot windy, with good waves for the people who were into that. It was almost enough to make Tony want to head home and collect everyone right then and there, but he honestly couldn’t stand the thought of one more concerned look today, so that was right out. Which yes, might have made him feel a little guilty, because it was his own fault he’d scared the bejesus out of them in the first place. He got that. He did.

He just wanted a little breathing space, and this entire thing with Rhodey had just made him feel like he was suddenly going to be treated like some helpless pack omega and that was not okay. That was so far from okay that everything in him had reared up and bared its teeth and that was not a good thing for anyone to be on the opposite side of. Nobody wanted to deal with a Tony Stark who felt like he was being slighted because of his sex, that was for sure.

Tony snorted, finally coming to a stop at a bench in his wandering, ice cream in hand as he sat next to an alpha that looked incredibly grumpy and more than a little put out. Poor thing must have been having some rough luck with something if the sheaf of papers in their hand were any kind of indication. Still, he got a good vibe from them, and that was enough for Tony to at least relax and eat his ice cream in peace. He could people watch comfortably just about anywhere, sure, but people were always more inclined to mind their own business when you looked like you already had company. Mostly.

Today was apparently not going to be one of those days, and a small passel of idiots had drifted over, a mix of betas and alphas from the smell of it, to pester. Tony, at first, simply pretended they didn’t exist, ignoring everything they’d been saying and focused on his ice cream with the kind of focus that only the truly enthralled could achieve. And it wasn’t so much an act really, he loved the creamery on the boardwalk and they’d had his favorite flavor today. Clearly, this was not the correct answer to the tallest of the betas, and the fucker actually made to snag his ice cream. Because that would ever get a favorable reaction out of anyone. Ever. No.

Still, none of them were as surprised as Tony when the asshole never managed to get close enough to make contact. Which, right. He’d forgotten all about the alpha he’d plunked down beside, and he blinked in baffled confusion as the slightly soft looking figure actually got up and glared at the lot of beach bimbos who were far more intimidating in stature. The poor thickheaded things clearly had no idea how to handle this, and there were multiple exchanged glances, and even some mumbled apologies, before they fled.

That glare had been more effective, and probably a good deal less scathing, than anything he would have had to employ to get the same reaction. Today seemed to be intent on reminding him over and over again why being an omega could suck, good lord.

Still, he hadn’t expected the alpha to turn around and look at him in apology as soon as the pack was out of earshot. “I’m sorry about that, Mr. Stark. I know that you could have handled them just fine, but you look like your day has been going about as well as mine, and nobody needs to deal with unwanted advances like that in a bad mood.”

When the alpha started gathering up their papers, Tony lifted his free hand, quickly intercepting and making the task more difficult. “Hold up, you don’t have to leave because of those assholes. I’m not really mad. Just a little frustrated that today is like that. It’s not on you. Thanks for helping.” He paused a beat. “So... you clearly know who I am. What’s made your day miserable? Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

The request got a snort, and the alpha gently shoved his hand off his papers so ze could collect them and retake their seat. Ze ended up turning the top one around to show it was a sheaf of resumes. “The job market has been not in my favor. I just heard back from the gym I was trying to get on at and they ‘politely declined’ my resume. They’re the fourth this week.”

“Really?” Tony blinked, reaching out to take one of the resumes and flipping it open to the skim the contents. “Harold huh? You go by Harry or something? Because I’m not calling you that.” He glanced to the alpha, who looked torn between amusement and exasperation, and flashed a smile before continuing his perusal. “You don’t look it, but you’re actually pretty qualified for what you were trying to do. What gives?”

“I think it was an image thing. Wouldn’t do to have someone a little soft looking in a trainer position. I’ll nail one in eventually.”

When ze reached to take the papers back, Tony held it away from them, even going so far as switching what hand was holding it so that the alpha had to go through the remainder of his ice cream to get it back if ze was determined enough to try. “Or you could not.”

Well, that seemed to have stopped the other in his tracks, and Tony popped the end of his cone into his mouth, finishing that off before even bothering to continue. Still, he could see that the alpha, while a little affronted, hadn’t stormed off at the possible insult of such a statement. Promising.

“I mean, I’m setting up a private security detail right now, and sure, you’re more weight lifting and boxing than eagle eyes, but you seem to have pretty good awareness of when you should and shouldn’t step into things, and that’s pretty important in my circles.” He flashed him an absolutely charming smile. “And no, you’re not even remotely threatening, but I think I rather like that. You’re a he, right? This thing says you like he at least. So, Mr. Hogan, what do you say? Want a job? You still have one more interview you gotta pass, and you’re going to have to pick a team to work with from some seriously well-vetted veterans my military soulmate picked out. Oh, and your hours will be all over the map, that won’t be a problem, right? I mean, if this will fuck up your life I can fall back on plan B, but I rather like you.”

The flummoxed expression on the alpha’s face was priceless, and he cleared his throat before trying to answer him. Tony could be patient. Sure, he hadn’t really planned to bring home a personal bodyguard, and if the guy accepted the poor thing was going to be put through some pretty vigorous paces, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Finally, however, he got his answer. “I’d like that very much Mr. Stark. When would you like to do that?”

Tony beamed at him, then handed back the resume as he hopped to his feet. “Now. You drive? It’d be great if you could drive.”

Looking slightly alarmed, Hogan, and wow Tony needed to get on a nickname, stat, got to his feet, quickly gathering his papers and hanging onto them. “I can drive, but I don’t have a car. I’ve been using a bicycle to get around town since I moved here.” He clearly saw the humor in that and gave a sheepish smile back in answer to Tony’s pitying look. “No gas fees you know.”

That got Tony to snort, and he shook his head. “C’mon. You grab your bike and we’ll head back to my house. If you pass with the soulmates, then you’re in. Good luck buddy.”

“Wait. What do you mean good luck?”

When Tony just gave the alpha a mysterious smile, he looked far from comforted.

Still, it said a lot when he didn’t hesitate in pointing out where his bike was anyway.

Chapter Text

Tony wasn’t really sure what he had expected to have happen when he got home, but somehow, it being James practically bowling him over was not it. Well, not this James. Rhodey, he’d kind of expected to be lurking in pounce, but his assassin? No, definitely not.

Still, it made it no less surreal when his new find, dubbed Happy on the drive over, was utterly dismissed after a particularly intense glower on behalf of the alpha, who was nearly lifting him off the floor, and who was sniffing him all over like he was some errant toddler that had decided to try and hide being sick. It was, put simply, incredibly embarrassing, and if he’d thought that Rhodey had effective scolding methods, it had nothing on being treated like a child in this particular fashion.

That the alpha clutched him to their chest immediately after and turned suspicious eyes on Happy a moment later was both sweet and exasperating. Tony didn’t try to wrestle free though, and knew that JARVIS had already alerted the others to him not only being home, but to the fact he’d brought company along. Why he’d expected this to go more calmly he had no idea, but somehow, he’d just expected a scolding and an explanation to accompany the introductions. Only after that had he expected for them to get all cautious at the new guy, but no.

Of course not.

Bruce was the next person on the scene, and Happy, smart alpha that he was, instantly zeroed in on the beta as a possibly friendly in for the situation, and cleared his throat, one hand lifting to be offered at once. “Harold Hogan, though Mr. Stark has dubbed me Happy and that’s not actually a bad nickname as far as my options go. He said something about me having to pass with the rest of you before I could be hired...?”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed for a moment, and he examined the alpha for a beat before reaching and taking his hand, giving it a firm shake. “You understand we’ll have to check your credentials if you’re going to have Tony’s care in your hands. We have military folk in the household and they have incredibly high standards.”

Tony watched in surprise as Bruce smoothly ferried the alpha inside and away from where he’d been caught in the doorway, suddenly having concern for his new find that he hadn’t before. And because of Bruce of all people. Well. If the guy couldn’t hack it, better to know sooner than later.

Still, in the silence that followed, he reluctantly turned his gaze back up toward James, who was staring down at him intently, eyes slightly narrowed. Ze hadn’t eased his hold on him any. That was... not the most reassuring sensation ever, even if he really wanted it to be.

“So, I’m home. And I found someone who should work for a good primary security guy for the circles I run in. You know, nondescript but observant. I mean, Rhodey’s guys will probably end up hired as auxiliary but you know, main guy.” He paused, and when nothing but that stare was forthcoming, shifted uneasily on his feet. James didn’t smell mad, no, but ze also didn’t smell particularly of any emotion at all and that was not helping his nerves at all. “I’m good. Got ice cream. Happy uh, chased off a couple overly enthusiastic flirters for me. I mean, I could have handled it but he kind of just jumped in there.”

Tony was unsure if the narrowed eyes that answered him were good or bad, but they were definitely something, and James was certainly listening. So, that was good, right? More information maybe?

“So I, you know, talked to him, found out he was looking for a job, and had this pile of resumes on him, so I snagged one to look at, and he’s actually got a pretty good basis for security. He’s new in town too, and-” He halted, squinting up at James as the alpha looked, if anything, more unimpressed. Clearing his throat, Tony plowed forward, racking his mind for all the information he’d accumulated on the new alpha on his way home. “He uh, he can drive, apparently has a really good record. I asked him about that, since, you know, how I am with cars.” Clearing his throat and ignoring the tiniest pinched look that was creeping into the stony countenance in front of him, he hurried to continue, talking a bit faster. “But! Yes! He doesn’t have soulmates either. He’s a markless, so see? While he’s not one of mine, he doesn’t belong to anyone else either, so we don’t need to worry about him suddenly having torn pack loyalties or anything when it comes down to it. He’ll just be ours, easy peasy.”

There was another long moment of stillness, but once it was clear to James that Tony had run out of things to say, those blue eyes lifted and looked past him to something behind him. It was only then that Tony realized that the initial examination had gotten him turned around so he couldn’t actually see the doorway behind him that led deeper into the house. Thus, it followed that once Tony realized this, he turned his head to trace the downright inquiring gaze that James was shooting someone, and nearly groaned in dismay when he realized that Rhodey was standing there, lounging in the doorway and clearly paying attention to everything that Tony had just said.

“Yeah, I think that’ll just about do it. James, you have got to teach me how you just did that. I’ve never gotten him to spill actual information so fast in my life.” Rhodey shook his head, pushing off the doorway and making his way over so he could put a hand on Tony’s head, ruffling up his hair with a little more intensity than strictly required. “He’s never this straightforward with me.”

James turned their gaze back to Tony, who looked somewhat aghast. “Tony does not like silence.” Giving the omega a last squeeze, James finally released their hold, turning their soulmate over to Rhodey for the other alpha to look him over.

“You played me!” Tony’s tone was accusatory, but he could admit, if just to himself, that it had been a rather well-executed maneuver. He didn’t fight being passed over though, willing enough to hug Rhodey when the alpha deemed him fine after a cursory once over.

“We did.”

“And you entirely deserved it, cupcake. It hasn’t even been a month since we nearly lost you and you didn’t even take a phone with you so you could call us in case something happened.” Rhodey moved his hands to Tony’s shoulders and squeezed, giving him a light shake. “You can’t just do that. If you need space, you have to tell us.”

Tony looked from one to the other, then ducked his head, realizing that he’d probably genuinely scared them a little. “Yeah, okay, fine. At least a phone. Does this mean that we’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re good. Seriously though Tony, did you just pick up the first guy you met on the street?”

James snorted, then turned to amble off in the direction Bruce had gone, clearly intending to get a better look at the possible addition to the family.

Tony grimaced, looking up at Rhodey. “Technically, I met him at the boardwalk.”

That Rhodey just groaned and dropped their foreheads together reassured Tony more than anything else that yeah, they really were good.

Chapter Text

Tony was not, nor would he ever be, a beta.

So far as he was concerned, this was good, because he had never considered himself to have the patience that a beta needed to with their scent issues, and he most certainly never wanted to put up with the difficulties of being an alpha.

He liked being what he was.

Unfortunately, the business world wasn’t built for omegas. If anything, his being an omega disadvantaged him in the board room, and definitely caused him issues at events. People assumed things about him, that he was using his sense of smell to suss out their secrets somehow, and that he knew more than he did, or was somehow more convincing than he actually was. Which wasn’t true. At least, it wasn’t true the way people seemed to think it was. Yes, he could scent a person and read them fairly well, but who wanted to tackle that in the middle of a perfume littered ballroom? Alternately, people thinking he was omniscient or magically more convincing... Those things had jack shit to do with being an omega and pretty much everything to do with being Tony Stark.

Still, it wasn’t until he was trying to convince a boardroom full of betas of something with his face clean shaven and the ridiculously soft lines that said omega laid bare that he realized that he did, in fact, have a problem. Those betas, older and well seasoned in business compared to his stance firmly in his mid-twenties, walked into the room planning to not listen, then left unconvinced after not taking him remotely seriously, nor even really listening to what he was saying in the first place.

He’d never been one of those omegas that looked rugged. No, he was pretty, though he thanked everything that he’d never gotten breasts because from what he’d seen the things were an absolutely unpleasant hassle at the best of times and made a suit harder to tailor at the very least. Nice to play with, unpleasant to own, basically. Still, he had the figure and he knew it. Smaller waist and a closer matched shoulder and hip ratio, great for kids, hilarious for trying to pass as anything but the omega he was. Not that he wanted to be anything else, no, but it was frustrating, and he’d been so distracted with his family difficulties for so long that he’d never realized how much Obadiah really did for him on the business side of things.

He suspected without Obadiah steering things in his absence that the business would have suffered horribly, if only because the people making most of the day to day decisions wouldn’t listen to him the way they did to the older beta.

In any case, this couldn’t go on. Tony knew he didn’t have the presence needed to command their attention, not in a positive way at the very least, and if the baby face was causing issues, then he could at least confuse that while he worked out the rest. Namely, while he took a theater course to see just how one went about capturing an audience and making them pay attention. One would think that that skill would be taught in business classes, but no, clearly that was just not one of those things. Theater class, facial hair, and hopefully he’d have less of these ridiculously prejudiced issues on his plate.

Being an omega did not immediately make him untrustworthy, damn it. Those same old assholes wouldn’t look at their doctor and doubt them because they were an omega, after all. No, they’d trust an omega doctor over any other doctor handed to them. But in a business setting? Nope, all bets were off, and it was enough to make Tony want to kick the old buzzards in the face once he realized how bad it was. Fucking hypocrites.

However, he had patience, and he would use that patience.

Even if the adventures in facial hair meant he was using his patience at home as he had to grow it out first. Yes, he was on the more masculine end of omegas, and could actually grow facial hair, but apparently, Clint thought the fact he was doing so at all was pretty hilarious the first time he didn’t shave for two days and looked scruffy.

Uncool.

Tony had retaliated, of course, and that had led to a rather chaotic mess that involved whipped cream on the ceiling, James standing covered in it in the middle of a room glowering at both of them, and Bruce declaring he was going to head back to Culver now that he’d gotten confirmation for the job he’d been angling for out there. The beta had promptly left the room with a suspicious shaking in his shoulders that fairly screamed repressed laughter. It was ridiculous, of course, but it soothed out the last of the tension in the household, and Clint and Tony sorted themselves out as they had to work together to clean the ceiling.

James had refused to let Tony simply hire a cleaning service to do it, and apparently determined that if ze had to stand there and stare them down while they cleaned, then ze would. Ze ended up helping in the end, when it became clear that neither of the other two had the slightest clue what they were doing, much to the exasperation of the put upon alpha, but it worked out well enough.

There was, thankfully, no more teasing about the facial hair situation after that, though there was some repressed laughter when his first run at shaving it into some kind of shape just looked... sad. The second attempt fared no better, and it was Happy, of all people, who finally dragged Tony to a barber on the last day before his first class and explained the situation.

And that was how Tony learned that if he was going to do the facial hair thing, then by god, he needed to do it in style. He certainly liked what they did for him better than what he’d done to himself, that was for sure, and he found after a couple days that he rather liked how he looked with facial hair. He hadn’t been sure he would, if he was being honest with himself.

From then on, he didn’t have any major issues keeping up with something in the general vicinity of the look, though yes, he did need help for the rest of that year to make sure he was doing it right.

Upside. James was rather determined to take it upon themself to be that helper.

Of course, there was one other upside.

By the next year, Tony was finally convincing those same stodgy old betas that he knew what the hell he was talking about.

Victory was sweet.

Chapter Text

It was about four months after Bruce had mostly moved out, given that his project at Culver was really starting to get some traction, when the beta called him in what could only be described as a tizzy.

Considering that Bruce was the most levelheaded of his soulmates, Tony had to check with JARVIS that yes, the call was, in fact, coming from Culver, though getting the traceback technology in place bad been a little shaky to implement at first. Once it was established that Bruce’s over-excitement wasn’t due to some kind of crisis that would require the pack hopping onto a plane immediately, he turned his attention to settling him down so he could understand what the hell he was on about.

All he’d caught was ‘soulmates’ and that could mean any number of things. Especially given how he’d met some of his own.

“Okay, Bruce. Bruuuuucie. I love you. You know I love you right? But I have never heard you speak this fast before. Please stop, take a deep breath, then try again. I want to be just as excited as you are, but all I’m getting out of this is that your building might be on fire and you’re excited about it.” Which wasn’t remotely true, but it was enough to make Bruce finally get his head on straight, which was all he was angling for.

There was a deep breath from the other end of the line, then another, before the other scientist seemed to finally get a hold on himself. Tony kind of regretted that the technology hadn’t gotten far enough that he could see his face while all this was going on. He suspected that this wasn’t going to be a situation that ever had a repeat performance. “Right, yes. I had a bit of a shock and of course, you were the person I needed to tell about it. I should have gotten my composure before calling.”

“Orrr, we can say no and let me be excited about how excited about you are. So, now that you’re capable of properly using your words, how about you tell me what has you so worked up? I was joking about the house on fire thing. I’m guessing you met one of the mystery marks?”

There was a startled laugh from Bruce, and his voice was warm in Tony’s ear when he answered. “No. Both of them. I met both of them. They’re here, and they were having lunch together after the wave of new hires for the science department.”

Tony blinked at the phone for a moment, eyebrows arching toward his hairline. He even went so far as setting down what he’d been tinkering with to throw himself on the workshop couch, gesturing grandly at the speaker that he’d been listening to the call through. “Well, in that case, do go on. Are they together or...? Paint me a picture.”

“Well, they’re both rather feminine omegas to start. Scientists, obviously, and they both use she. I was so startled that it took a solid minute of staring at them before they broke out of their conversation far enough to notice what I noticed, and then they were surprised that the both of them noticed it too instead of me just becoming aware of one of them. Of course, then Betty, she’s the black cat by the way, invited me to sit with them and we talked. They’re amazing Tony, absolutely perfect.”

“I can’t say I’m not entertained right now Bruce, because don’t you just have three of us? That means that your soulmate is science. We’re all scientists here. But that wasn’t a picture Brucie, that was a vague watery outline. Tell me about them, and how about full names? Full names would be incredibly helpful at about this point.” Tony slid sideways, throwing his feet up on the arm of the couch with one arm dangling off the side.

“Bossy.” Bruce’s tone was utterly fond, however, indulgent, and he was clearly warming up to his topic. Not that he hadn’t been excited already, but he apparently had used that great big beautiful mind of his to observe the two for exactly this reason. After all, he didn’t hesitate. “You’ve heard of the older of the two, actually, since her field has to do with space, and I know you’ve been looking into the sciences pertaining to that recently. She was the main cowriter on Dr. Selvig’s last two papers for the Astrophysics field.”

Tony immediately sat up, startled and more than a little pleased for Bruce. “She must have only just come into her doctorate. You know, since when I checked Selvig was the only one of that lot who was fully certified. Is she as brilliant as the papers imply or is she a little batty? It’s okay if she’s batty Bruce, I swear, I mean, you have me, you can’t get battier than me.”

The words got Bruce to laugh, and Tony immediately grinned in turn, but let him talk. “No, she’s not batty. She’s very very focused. You know the type, but it’s nice. Zero interest in a romantic relationship right now, of course, but she was plenty pleased to meet me. She’s really nice, and we’ve already arranged to meet up and bounce ideas off each other over lunch every now and then once she’s fully settled into the University.”

Letting himself settle back down to the cushions, Tony got comfortable again, making a promise to himself that he’d go visit Bruce and his new soulmates soon. If only so that he could meet a pioneer in a mocked field face to face. He could respect that. “And the other one? I have the orange acute angle’s number, now give me black cat’s.”

“Well, to start, she’s probably the most beautiful omega I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey!”

Bruce continued like he hadn’t spoken, though there was a touch more amusement to his next words to show he hadn’t ignored Tony. “She’s sweet, and smart. She’s in my field and absolutely brilliant. There’s really no comparison honestly.”

“Okay, now you’re starting to hurt my feelings Brucie.” Tony tried to pout, but he couldn’t help the little grin on his face. It sounded like Bruce had finally located a romantic interest to him.

Still, his beta was kind enough to yield in the face of the complaint. “There’s no comparison because you’re very different people Tony. You’re beautiful and brilliant in different ways, I promise.” There was a beat of pause. “We’re going to be on a major project together, actually. It’s part of why she was hired in the first place.”

“Sounds to me like your decision to go for that position has really worked out for you.” Tony sobered, peering up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry I tried to convince you not to go. You wouldn’t have met the newbies if you hadn’t gone.”

“I might have. I forgive you though. You just wanted my company, and I wasn’t about to begrudge you that. I like you too you know.”

“Well, we are soulmates, and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.” Chewing on his lower lip, Tony heaved a rather put-upon sigh. “I miss having someone who speaks science in the house, Bruce. You spoiled me.”

“I’m guessing Jim is stationed somewhere out of contact again?”

“He is, and it’s awful. James tries, and he’s obviously interested, but I have to teach him everything from the bottom. Anytime I get going I lose him because he doesn’t know any of the terminology. It’s depressing.”

“I was attempting to help with that.”

“I know, and I thank you for your service!” Tony’s lips ticked up. “See you soon, okay?”

“As soon as your plane lands, I’m sure.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at the implication. “I am not that predictable.”

“Right Tony, not at all.”

“I’m not!”

“We’re not having this argument again Tony.”

“You’re doing that thing where you use my name in every sentence again. Not cool.”

“I have no idea what you mean, Tony.”

“You know what? I think I’m done. I’m going to have myself a nice lunch and you won’t get any of it because you’re halfway across the country.”

“Whatever you say, Tony.” Bruce was definitely laughing on his end of the line too, the jerk.

“I really really mean it!”

“Enjoy your lunch, Tony. I’ll call you again soon, okay?”

Tony deflated at the genuine affection in Bruce’s tone, and let out a sigh. “Cheater. See you soon. Tell your new soulmates hi for me.”

“Of course. Goodbye Tony.”

There was no pause to let Tony answer between the salutation and Bruce hanging up, to Tony’s consternation. Then again, they both knew that if Tony had his way that the omega would drag out the phone call for another hour. He’d done it before.

Still, Tony huffed at the connection being cut off, sitting up so he could get to his feet. He was sure that Clint and James would appreciate a nice lunch at least.

“Bye to you too. Meanie.”

Chapter Text

Tony was at work.

See, in general, this wasn’t unusual, per se, but that was only because, typically, he didn’t want to deal with the various PAs he’d gone through in the last few years any more than he had to. Sixteen in four years. They never stuck around more than a few months, and one, in particular, had only managed three days.

That one had met James and promptly quit. Apparently that one had assumed that Tony had done something horrifying to his soulmate and refused to believe a word to the contrary. Tony would be lying if he said that it hadn’t hurt his feelings, but he’d been especially distant with the next one to make up the difference, and that alpha had lasted almost five months. Of course, then she’d walked in on Clint testing some gear for him and that had just gone to hell. Apparently, Tony’s antics had already been riding the line of stress, and that was when he’d been particularly well behaved.

He’d more or less stopped trying to be anything he wasn’t then, figuring if they couldn’t deal with his soulmates then they could just screw themselves. Of course, this meant that when Clint was off duty for Aunt Peggy, an occurrence that was becoming increasingly less and less to Tony’s displeasure, he was often stuck being a stand in errand runner. James, in turn, had become exceptionally brilliant at coffee, and while ze could keep an amazing schedule, Tony wasn’t so sure how he felt about being bodily bundled into clothes and shoved into Happy’s arms to be taken wherever it was he was supposed to be.

Happy had settled in brilliantly at least, gently refusing to move in, though he spent enough time around the pack that he might as well have. Tony was just bewildered by the fact that this was an alpha that wanted to live by himself if he was being truthful. He’d never seen the like.

None of that, however, was why he had come to work. No, today had been a test of the teleconferencing technology and an important meeting both. It had been a little sketchy, and Tony could see the room for improvement, but he’d done what he needed to do, and all parties had agreed that Tony would be making the trip overseas sooner rather than later for a meeting in person to sign documents. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, but he knew how to put on a show, and he knew how to be convincing.

He just hoped that it didn’t kill his momentum on his current project like last time he’d had to go overseas to deal with locals in the name of business.

Thus was what Tony’s mind was on as he moved through the hallways in his building, and he could safely say that the last thing he’d expected was a furious dervish to block his path, pale eyes radiant with indignant fury. That the fury was radiating a sense of home was both awesome and a little terrifying because the beta before him looked anything but happy to see him at the moment.

A quick check said that he didn’t recognize this person in the least, and he cleared his throat, trying to find words, a greeting, anything, but when nothing came, the beta took this as an invitation, drawing themselves up and making Tony realize he was being towered over. The heels, it had to be the heels. He knew the thought was a little inane, but the more he stared, the more he realized that this person was gorgeous.

“Mr. Stark.” There was very little trace of the visible agitation in the beta’s voice, and that was impressive because even as he stood there, the scent was brought sharply under control. How did betas do that? “You and I have to have a talk. Right now. I’ve had my attempts to make an appointment with you dodged or blocked no less than six times and it’s pretty ridiculous. I found out something you need to know and I do not appreciate having my time wasted.”

Tony cleared his throat, wondering if they had just... not noticed? They were a beta, and if anyone would ignore the scent of a soulmate, it was definitely a beta. “Okay, well, here I am. What do you need to tell me?” He blinked, glancing around his new soulmate, then back again. “And why is my security coming tearing down the hall like you’re about to blow up the building?”

When they looked over their shoulder, Tony got a whiff of some soft scent, and he had to resist the urge to reach out and play with the long hair that was suddenly right in front of him. He was acting like a total idiot, and he knew it. Dear lord, he hoped to god this wasn’t how Hammer felt after they met. He might actually owe the fucker an apology. Of course, then the pale blue eyes were back on him, and that thought was put right out of his head. “That would be because I was fired this morning for putting up a fuss and they’re attempting to escort me out of the building.”

Tony’s eyebrows went for his hairline, and he held up his hand toward the nearing security, and ah, there was Happy, good bodyguard he was, convening to find out what was going on. They stopped, but nobody looked thrilled about it. He looked back to the cause of the ruckus, and wow he needed a name at least. “And you would be... who exactly? Aside from amazingly determined.”

The compliment got an arch of finely manicured eyebrows, and then a small, fleeting smile crossed their face. “Ms. Virginia Potts, formerly of the accounting division.”

“What a mouthful that name is Ms. Potts. So tell me, what is it that caused all this and got you fired?” And brought her to him. He could both thank and deal with the problem at the same time once he found out who they were, definitely.

“One of the supervisors in my department is embezzling, and attempting to go over their head has only resulted in me having warnings put on my record. I’m frankly not sure that those people aren’t in on it, and I figured if they wouldn’t listen, I should go straight to you.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not going to just ignore me too, are you?”

Tony shook his head at once, reaching to very lightly touch the place over his heart where the linked rings were under his shirt. She didn’t look older than him, so maybe... “No, never ever. What do you say to a promotion? In fact, how would you like to come home with me?” When she started to look indignant at the possible implications, Tony cleared his throat. “Deep breath. Please?”

She looked suspicious but actually scented the air as he requested. Her eyes went immediately wide, and one hand lifted to point at him like she didn’t particularly believe she was reading it right. “You?”

“Me. Problem?”

She studied him for a moment, clearly giving it consideration. Finally, she shook her head, letting her hand drop back to her side. “No. Are you going to deal with the embezzler?”

“Yep. Or you can, if you want. I find myself lacking a PA again, and you seem to suddenly be out of a job.”

“And that won’t be considered unprofessional, hiring a soulmate?”

Tony immediately shook his head, gesturing to the security behind her. “Nope. You went to all this trouble to take care of my interests, right? I think that’s plenty of recommendation of your suitability all by itself.”

“And the offer to go home with you?”

Tony shifted on his feet. “I want you to meet the soulmates who are home. I kind of have a lot.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, lifting her chin slightly. “You’re not expecting anything else, are you?”

“Nope. Ms. Potts, you are not being propositioned, no matter how tempting such a thing might be right now.”

There was a long beat of silence, and then she nodded crisply, spinning on her heel to head through the lingering security. “I’ll meet you at the garage, Mr. Stark.”

Tony stared after her, feeling a little dazed. “Right behind you, Ms. Potts.”

When Tony didn’t move even as she rounded a corner out of sight, Happy came to stand beside him. “That’s a soulmate of yours then, Mr. Stark?”

Tony finally broke his gaze off the spot where she’d vanished and looked at his bodyguard, a sheepish smile coming to his face. “Yep. Did I come off like an idiot?”

“You hid it pretty well, sir. You might want to follow before she gets impatient. She seems the type.”

“Nah, she’s not a spitfire. You don’t do six attempts if you don’t have patience. She’s more like pepper, laying in wait to get you when you’re not expecting it.”

“Pepper, really? You need to work on your analogies boss.”

Tony flashed him a grin, then started off down the hall, his security finally dispersing how that the conflict appeared to be resolved. “Oh, I don’t know, I think it works pretty well.”

“I’m not going to protect you if she doesn’t like it.”

The answer got a laugh, and he tossed a wave over his shoulder before he circled out of sight. “I figured!”

Still, Tony didn’t much want to keep her waiting.

No need to tempt fate.

Chapter Text

Tony was giddy all the way home. It was, if he was being honest, kind of embarrassing how quickly he’d found himself enamored over his new beta. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly the first time he’d reacted like this, but the circumstances this time were about a hundred percent less terrifying, so he could be excused for having his moment.

Of course, then he was home, and he realized all at once that while yes, usually he would have a roster of soulmates around to introduce his new Ms. Potts to, today he only had two. Eventually, she’d meet Hammer, that was a given if she was to be his PA, but the rest were all scattered with their own pursuits. Realizing that reminded him all at once why he’d been at work in the first place. One soulmate at home to force him out the door for work related things, and one as his home to help. AKA, he’d been kicked out of his house a few hours ago, and now he was back, with a new soulmate in tow.

He actually didn’t expect it to go poorly, but he’d been known to be wrong. Not often, almost never in fact, but it did happen from time to time, under extenuating circumstances.

He just hadn’t thought this was one. Initial contact certainly hadn’t made it seem like the case, as James, while more quiet than even their normal, had given the beta a curt, but unsuspicious, nod. Nothing weird about that. Then they’d stuck incredibly close, which was also not weird. In fact, practically nothing that they’d done at all had been weird, as Tony had answered his new soulmate’s questions, showed her around his home, and introduced her to both James and JARVIS, who she was gratifyingly impressed by. In all, he should have been thrilled by how well everything had gone by the time Pepper, a nickname offered by Happy, took her leave.

But he wasn’t.

James had progressed past the point of silently staring down new people in the household over a year ago. Ze didn’t much do that anymore unless well and truly displeased by something. Ze was quiet, yes, but this wasn’t that. This was almost brooding. It was weird, and the timing put Tony on the wrong foot entirely. He figured he could be excused for rounding on his live-in alpha the moment they were alone. He wasn’t angry, no, but answers were needed here.

“What the flying fuck was that James? Do you not like her?” It was the only thing Tony could think of, honestly. Instant dislike wasn’t an impossible option between soulmates of a soulmate, but that didn’t make it any more of an ideal situation.

The questions were clearly a surprise if the way the alpha’s eyes widened was any indication. What? Had ze thought ze was being subtle? Definitely not. Still, Tony felt his eyebrows creeping toward his hairline when he realized that the reaction following that flare of surprise appeared to be embarrassment. A slight duck of the head, flesh and blood fingers raking through long hair, eyes cutting to the side... That was classic embarrassment alright. It wasn’t words either.

“Okay, so if you like her fine then what was all that? I wasn’t expecting you to talk up a storm or anything, but you managed to not say a single word to her the whole time she was here. She’s going to think you can’t talk or something. Were you going full on broody on purpose or...? Care to fill me in here?”

If anything, that seemed to intensify the alpha’s apparent mortification, which was fascinating, if not utterly bewildering. He honestly hadn’t thought James still even felt those things, so this was a special sort of surprise. Good, but again, weird. “I’m glad you found another one of your soulmates.” The words were soft, and Tony felt something unclench in his chest at the affirmation that that wasn’t somehow the issue. “I just didn’t expect you to bring one home today.”

Tony blinked, then squinted, genuinely baffled what the day had to do with pretty much anything. Nothing special sprang to mind, and when a glance toward a camera elicited no comment on something he’d forgotten from JARVIS, he looked back to James, bewildered. “If I forgot something then you need to speak up sweetheart because I have no idea what it is and I’m not the only one out of the loop.”

That the immediate reaction was a clearing of the throat and an honest to god blush was beyond fascinating, and Tony genuinely wished that he had a clue what was going on now. It had to be huge to make his assassin fluster. “There’s nothin’ on the schedule. I just wanted to talk to you when you got home. About something personal. I wasn’t ready for company.”

The words made his eyebrows wing toward his hairline, and he glanced toward the front of the house, then back to James again. “So all that was because you were flustered? Seriously? What could possibly have had you so off balance that you went all mute on me?”

“Well, uh, you’re going to have your next heat in a couple days.” Tony had no idea what this had to do with the price of apples in Atlantis, and he was sure his expression said as much if the way James’ shoulders twitched up in a not exactly shrug was any indication. “I wanted to talk about it, but then you brought her around and I wasn’t about to say anything in front of someone new.”

There was a long beat of silence, then Tony released a long sigh, hooking his arm through James’ and towing their unresisting form along to the living room. He was not going to discuss his cycle in the damn hallway. That just felt awkward, and they already had more than enough of that going on for his taste, thank you very much. “Okay, so, just to clarify, you are good with Pepper right? This isn’t going to be a problem?” The immediate head shake soothed his lingering anxieties, and he planted himself on the couch, releasing James. That the alpha actually paced a little on being released made him feel the first sparks of concern over the intended topic. “Okay, so, my heat. What about it? What’s got you all worked up? There isn’t some ongoing issue you haven’t told me about is there?”

The question froze James, and ze immediately brought their full attention back to Tony, sitting across from him even as ze shook their head. “No. You know I’ve kept... away.”

“Because of how unstable you were when you got here, yeah. That would have been messy and unpleasant for everyone. Is this about that? It’s not still a problem is it?” James didn’t evade when Tony reached to take their hands, which he took as a good sign. Ze even shook their head to confirm that wasn’t the issue. “Okay good, so what’s up?”

James took a deep breath, then let it out in a rush, that flush coming back to their face all at once. “I want to help.”

Tony was so distracted staring at that strangely soft expression of shyness that it took a minute for him to register what ze actually meant. “Wait, really? You think you’re actually up for that? With the whole rut issue, I’ve been trying to keep well away from you with that, just in case.”

There was a huff, something in the general direction of a laugh, though the glance shot through their hair at Tony was grateful. “It was noticed.” Ze looked away, down at where Tony was holding their hands, the embarrassment finally seeming to seep away. “I want to help. I used to be really good at it, before. May I try?”

The way James almost seemed to be expecting a negative answer pricked at Tony’s heart a little, and he gave a gentle tug on their hands until those blue eyes lifted to meet his gaze. Better. “Of course you can help. I’m sure Rhodey’ll be relieved to not listen to my whining this time. I am not graceful about how uncomfortable I am at all and I fully expect my every whim to be catered to. You should ask Bruce, he tried to help on the last one and he practically fled back to Culver when it broke.”

James actually wrinkled up their nose. Today was filled with surprise expressions apparently. “They go faster with an alpha’s help.”

Tony rolled his eyes at the words. “I know the science of it James. The right overlapping hormones speed the process, and sex makes it go about three times as fast, for me anyway. Of course, we’re not talking about sex here, because I am so not prepared to risk a baby right now, but you definitely have leave to cuddle me and make me feel better with your alpha hormones.”

The fact that that seemed to actually offend James almost made Tony laugh. Almost. “Helping doesn’t require sex. I would never have been popular with the omegas back before if it did. Nobody wanted some alpha who went around knocking up every chassy he touched.”

Squeezing the flesh and blood hand he still had a hold on, Tony was quick to settle James down, though he couldn’t help his amused smile. “Okay, okay. Your reputation as a courteous alpha is intact, I promise you. I trust you to know what you’re doing and not cross any lines, deal? Just remember. I’m going to fuss, a lot.”

“Tony, I dealt with Steve. You’re gonna be fine.”

It always fascinated Tony when James started to slip away from more structured English to Brooklyn, even a little, but he didn’t bring it to their attention. They were on a totally different topic than that right now anyway. “Right. I always forget that was a thing. So. Everything’s good? Next time Pepper’s over you’re actually going to speak to her using words?”

“Well, I kind of have to. I’m the one who has your schedule right now.”

Snorting softly, Tony released James’ hands and settled back on the couch. “Okay, true, but JARVIS could do that if you really didn’t want to.”

“Yeah, but JARVIS is tactful. I’ll take care of it.”

“Why am I suddenly worried?”

“No idea.”

“None?”

“Not one.”

“Yeah, sure, because you’re all innocence and sunbeams.”

The sideways look that earned Tony got a grin in turn, but it was more than enough.

The air was clear, and the day was back to being excellent.

That was more than enough for Tony.

Chapter Text

Tony had never been the kind of omega that put up with being more uncomfortable than strictly required during his heats. He knew a few who weren’t like that, who would rather stay fully dressed and suffer all by themselves, but he’d never understood it.

No, he was more practical than that, and he did as he pleased, when he pleased. He’d had sex on his heats before, which had mostly been him hooking up with other omegas for some mutual feel good riding it out, and that had always been a viable option if only because it meant that at the very least he wasn’t focusing on being miserable. Rhodey had sat in more than once, though the first time he’d done it had been particularly hilarious when he realized Tony fully intended to go bare-assed the whole time. In fact, he’d even spent a heat with an alpha he’d had sex with, though that particular one had been a pretty intense submissive and hadn’t once tried to reverse the situation so that Tony was the one getting fucked.

Admittedly, Tony didn’t prefer that one at all, as while it had been interesting and fun, it had also been incredibly frustrating and he wouldn’t be doing it again.

So, all that experience should have had him prepared for this heat. Easy peasy, bringing a new person into his little bubble of confidence and trust for heats. He’d done it with a near stranger before, so a soulmate shouldn’t have been an issue. And, really, it shouldn’t have been. He wasn’t nervous about Rhodey, or Bruce, or even Clint the one time the beta had taken a run at him. But no, today he was nervous, and he found himself circling his room with restless energy as he felt the namesake heat start to itch under his skin with the absolute restless ridiculousness that was biology.

It didn’t help that he could hear James in the other room on the phone with Rhodey, slowly growing notably impatient as ze reassured the other alpha for what had to be the tenth time that they were fine, and would keep being fine, and ze was totally sure that they would reach out if there was a problem. The tones were enough to make Tony fidget, honestly, with his hormones starting to go nuts, and he smoothed blankets and pillows that he was going to sleep on, not under, thank you very much. JARVIS knew the temperatures he liked and he wasn’t going to put up with the weird hot and cold bullshit he’d had to deal with in his college dorm room.

But, now he had a system. He’d aggressively cuddle whoever was putting up with his attention this heat, and dig into his toys when they wandered off to do things like getting food, showering, or whatever else his companion needed to do. Everyone was happy. Bonus props that flinging himself on top of an alpha made the heats be a little less aggressive so thinking wasn’t as much of a problem too. Usually, if he dragged an alpha into it he could still work a bit even, which was a serious relief.

He hated when he was too miserable to work, since it tended to make him incredibly bitchy on top of everything else.

So maybe he had cause to be nervous, and not because this particular alpha of his he’d been incredibly careful to avoid the fuck out of sexy thoughts about before now. Though that didn’t mean he hadn’t had any. He’d noticed things, of course he’d noticed things, because James was absolutely gorgeous, but he’d avoided thinking about it. Sharing a heat with someone was pretty much guaranteeing that thinking about it was going to happen.

Also, it was at this point that Tony realized that the talking from the other room had stopped, and he slowly looked up, only to see James leaning in the doorway, watching him fuss at his bedding like he’d never done this before. At least ze was smiling. Smiling was a good indicator that ze found it cute, not exasperating, and Tony just hopped onto the bed, considering flinging his face into it to smother himself in mortification. Somehow, he knew that would just heighten the sensation, so he pushed it aside and met James’ amused gaze instead.

“Good call?”

The slightly husky tone in his voice must have gotten their attention, because one brow winged up into their hair before ze answered. “Good enough. He’s worried.” One shoulder, bare, which Tony hadn’t immediately noticed somehow, was lifted in a shrug. “I would be too in his position, but this isn’t the first time I’ve done this.”

Tony licked his lips, then finally gave in to the urge and held out his hands, wiggling his fingers at them. “Me neither. So, pretty sure you saw I say fuck clothes when this is on. And you don’t have a shirt. I approve of this choice. Going to come here?”

A soft snort was his answer, but he was also rewarded as his oldest alpha practically prowled over, which made every instinct in Tony’s head ridiculously giddy all at once. And wow that was new and deeply appreciated. It left Tony with his head tipped back to stare up at them when James halted by the side of the bed, just outside of arm’s reach. “May I?”

There was something almost ritualistic about it, but Tony couldn’t find it in himself to mind. It was a different, but strange, sort of pleasantly respectful he wasn’t used to. “I already invited you in.”

“Yeah, you did.” James leaned over, but made no move to touch him, voice dipping down to something closer to a growl, which zinged all the way down Tony’s spine. Jesus, that voice was a weapon. “So. May I?”

“Yeah, yes. Very yes.” Tony found himself nodding rapidly this time, and his fixed staring meant that he didn’t miss the slow, pleased smile that he got in turn before James finally slid onto the bed, one hand pressing onto Tony’s chest to gently, but insistently, put him on his back among the covers.

“Then I am honored to accept your invitation.” Ze hadn’t lifted their voice from that low rumble, and Tony had to wonder if he was going to be able to think at all during this heat if ze was going to approach it this way the whole time.

Still, as James settled on top of him with the most predatory cuddle entry he’d ever seen, Tony couldn’t find it in himself to mind.

This was going to be fantastic.

Chapter Text

The next week was a fascinating mix of incredible sweetness and overwhelming predatory gestures, and Tony couldn’t remotely find it in himself to regret a thing.

When he got fussy and whiny because he was hot and uncomfortable, James cuddled him against their chest and hand fed him fruit. When he laid there pathetically because whining was too much energy, James settled in to pet his hair and back. When someone, usually Pepper, which was a surprise because she was so new to the household and didn’t even live there yet, came to check on them, James deftly handled it with a courteous sort of possessiveness. It left him clearheaded to play with his tablet about half the time, let him sleep better than he could recall ever sleeping during one of his heats, and in general he just felt oddly good when it finally tapered off and he no longer felt like a burning coal who was way too horny.

If he were perfectly honest with himself, it was enough to tempt him to invite James to make it sexual next time if they wanted. There was zero doubt in his mind that the risk of an accident with a condom was worth every second of that kind of attention. Still, he didn’t bring it up, not just then. Maybe in the future. Maybe after they’d discussed being sexual at all. No need to put the cart before the horse and watch everything turn into a mess because of it.

Sadly, he wouldn’t really be able to put that off forever, despite how difficult it would be to start that conversation. On his part, not James’ that is. Not even because the change was an unwelcome one either. No, it was because he’d spent the better part of the last few years trying to teach himself to not think naughty thoughts about his assassin. Trying being the operative word, clearly, which was both good and bad.

Deciding that either way, now was so not the time to think about it, because yes, fruit and light things were all he’d felt like he could stomach for a week, but he was starving now and his stomach really needed to get priority over fretting about possible changes in one of his relationships. He had another two months to sort it out before his next heat anyway and that was just a fact.

This in mind, he went and threw himself into the shower, thrilled to be able to spend less than an hour wallowing in the water to come away feeling clean for the first time in days, and hurried to get dressed immediately after. Bathing hadn’t gotten him to food any faster, no, but it had made him feel more human, so that was important. Of course, human didn’t translate to ‘wait until he had all his clothes on before leaving his room,’ and he made a beeline toward the kitchen with a shirt in one hand and the button of his jeans in the other. It wasn’t like his bare skin was new around here anyway and food.

Which is about how it came down that Pepper, who he had not expected to be seeing yet today, if at all, saw her mark for the first time.

Yes, they’d seen each other quite a bit before his heat, but no, that hadn’t been in any kind of setting that encouraged one to strip. Not even a little. The law department was not where he wanted to be seen taking his clothes off in front of anyone and he knew it damn well. He’d gotten the lecture before. Twice.

He still doesn’t think that the second time was his fault.

In any case, the point was that Tony in his half-dressed state drew the eyes of those in the kitchen, namely James and Pepper, and it was Pepper’s gaze that interested him more at the moment, given she’d zeroed in on the circles over his heart and was doing her best to burn them into her memory as far as he could tell. Which was both kind of adorable and kind of flattering at once. Adorable, because it wasn’t like she’d never see the mark again, he knew himself, and flattering because she was interested.

Still, he could see the way James was smirking over Tony having immediately preened under the attention, and that was enough to get the omega to yank his shirt on. It was also enough to make him really take in the other two and realize that while James was in a James typical, Pepper was decidedly not in business attire, and even her hair, up in a ponytail, seemed to scream ‘day off.’ It actually made him briefly question why she was there, but that thought was ridiculous. She was one of his soulmates. If she wanted to be there, then she could be there.

Giving himself a shake, and realizing that neither of the other two had bothered to say anything to him yet, he made his way over to join Pepper at the counter. “Good morning. James, please tell me that you’re cooking a huge, ridiculously calorie laden breakfast over there. I smell bacon, but I don’t want to assume in case I’m hallucinating.”

Pepper blinked, then immediately pulled her newspaper up to hide what could only be a smile. James glanced over their shoulder before shaking their head. “Of course I am. We have blueberries and raspberries if you want fruit in your pancakes, chocolate or peanut butter chips if you don’t.”

Tony was a little surprised by the offerings, given he knew how fond James was of strawberries. “Berries are good. But what, no good strawberries this season?”

Pepper cleared her throat, smoothing her paper down on the counter and collecting her coffee cup. Tony recognized that cup, it was one Clint had brought home a few months previous for him. The joke on the side of it was gloriously direct. ‘Does a radioactive cat have 18 half-lives?’ It was one of Tony’s current favorites, actually. Still, Pepper had cleared her throat for a reason, and Tony made himself look her in the face instead of staring at where her hands were cradling the cup. Only then did she speak. “No strawberries because of me. I have an allergy and I mentioned it when I saw them this morning.”

James nodded when Tony glanced back to them, having just come over to set Tony’s dark blue mug in front of him. It had a whole bunch of stars in a realistic pattern all over it, another favorite. “I didn’t want to risk a reaction in case there was cross contamination. She made it clear it was a rather severe issue.”

“Ze was very sweet about the whole thing.” Pepper gave James a rather pleased smile, then looked back to Tony. “Are you going to be ready to get back to work properly tomorrow?”

Tony had just taken a sip of his coffee at the question, and froze, peeking over the edge of the cup cautiously. Seeing that she didn’t seem to be about to chide him if the answer was no, he relaxed. Not that the answer would be no, but not everyone had patience for omega heats, no matter how severe they could get. “Yeah, I’m good for that. And, not that I don’t welcome you in my kitchen and all, but why are you here? You don’t look like you’re here on PA business.”

She snorted softly, shaking her head. “That’s because I’m not. We discussed the possibility of my moving in at least part time after we had my employment contracts settled, and I’ve spent the time while you’ve been busy getting your schedule sorted out and determining my own state of affairs. I decided it was more practical if I had a room set up here and kept my private residence as a fall back in case I needed space from the rest of you, rather than using it as my primary residence.”

Tony was almost distracted by the plates that James had brought over after she said that, but food could wait just a minute more. “So wait, does that mean you’ve moved in? I thought you didn’t want to...?”

“I said it wouldn’t be professional. I never said no.” Picking up her fork, she used it to point at Tony’s plate. “Now eat. James and I were waiting on you.”

Tony jerked his gaze to James, who was coming back with their own plate, setting it on the other side of Tony. “I just needed to see what kind of mood you were in, sweet or tart, before I finished off the pancakes.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Unable to help the warm and bubbly feelings welling up in him, Tony turned his gaze to his plate and started in on it. Everything on it was perfect, exactly how he liked it, and he knew he had a ridiculous smile on his face as he took his first bite, but he couldn’t help it.

It was a beautiful morning.

Chapter Text

Tony was not impressed. In fact, Tony was so far from impressed he’d skipped right over unimpressed into ‘vaguely ticked off’ territory. The reason for this was currently trailing him out of the meeting he’d flown halfway around the world to attend. In fact, the only reason he hadn’t dropped the negotiations entirely was because Pepper had come with him, and was now currently hanging back in the wake of the meeting to sort out the final paperwork that Tony would need to look over.

It had been, honestly stated, a disaster. If the company hadn’t needed this backer for a few specific other contracts they would pull in, he was pretty sure even Pepper’s presence wouldn’t have been enough to keep him from walking out after Hammer sat down at the negotiation table. That didn’t mean the little bout of fuckery didn’t sting, and when he heard his name called by that very same person now made him count backward from ten. Because seriously, springing that the contract meant having to collaborate in any way with Hammertech, even if they were handling entirely different aspects of the project, was beyond not cool. That sort of thing should have been mentioned in preliminary negotiations at the very least, not final ones.

He was, frankly, tempted to call Pepper off and reject it anyway for how this had been handled, but he knew it wouldn’t be a sound business decision. Worse, this just highlighted the areas that the company needed to cover so this never ever happened again. And, of course, he had to deal with the insistent verbal prodding from the beta trailing after him, giving him a ridiculously hopeful expression all the while.

Letting his breath out in what could only be called a sigh, he finally deigned to show he noticed the other business tycoon, coming to a halt. “What, Hammer? I did hear you the first time, and right now I’m kind of ticked off, so it’s really not the right moment to make nice.”

The words seemed to completely roll off him, which Tony would find impressive if it wasn’t annoying. “I had noticed that. This can be an opportunity, Tony, I promise you. Our companies don’t have to be at odds.”

Tony couldn’t help the snort that left him at that, and he raised his eyebrows high. “Yeah, they kind of do. Your company has a shit reputation when it comes to safety standards and reliability and we both know it.”

There was a pause in answer to that, and the beta lifted his shoulder with an awkward smile that looked more like a grimace. “We have been working on that.”

“And yet a month still doesn’t go by without some kind of report about how once again something related to your company went to shit. You’ve been getting ahead in business because you’re less expensive than Stark-tech and cover different areas, Hammer, not because you put out better products. So that, in there? That’s an insult. I really don’t like being insulted.”

“You really can call me Justin, you know. I don’t mind. In fact, I’m sure I’ve told you this before.” The cheerful tone of the words, not to mention that he’d ignored most of what he’d just said, had Tony throwing his hands in the air, already starting back down the hall. And of course, the beta was keeping pace. Where was Pepper? He could use an intervention right about now.

Right, still intervening from him bailing on the meeting before everything was finalized. Damn it. “I know. I’m not interested. We really don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“We could.”

Tony narrowed his eyes in reaction to the hopeful note in the words. “We won’t.”

“But we could.”

Tony drew to a halt yet again, fed up and aware that Hammer was looking for something from this conversation. He was also aware that that something wasn’t just Tony calling him by his first name. “What. No, really. What is it you’re after right this second because it sounds to me like you’re asking for something I’m really unlikely to give you.”

The silence that followed drew out, the beta not making eye contact even as Tony bored a hole in his temple with his gaze. Finally, he caved, peeking sideways at Tony, then away again. “You’re aware of the gifts I’ve been sending you.”

“Kind of hard to miss them. You have horrible taste.”

“...I’ve been told as much. But you got them. You’ve even worn a couple of them.”

“Yes, and? That doesn’t obligate me to anything, and if you’re about to imply otherwise I’ll punch you in the head, professional setting or not.”

Looking slightly alarmed in reaction to Tony’s guarded words, the beta brought his hands up in a warding gesture. “No need for that. I just...” He waved his hands in the air when Tony’s eyes narrowed. “You do accept the presents. And I’ve stopped being unprofessional about our companies competing! I just thought maybe next time there’s an event, we could actually attend together. That’s it.”

“Really.” Tony arched his eyebrows, staring him down. “That’s really it, huh? Nothing else floating around in that head of yours Hammer?”

“No, well. Other than the name thing at least?”

Tony snorted softly, turning away from him as Pepper hurried to catch up to them. “I’ll think about it.”

He was sure that Hammer would have said more, but Pepper was on a mission, and when Pepper was on a mission you did not interrupt. Though Hammer definitely tried. He couldn’t get more than the first part of a syllable out before she talked right over him, facing Tony and standing between the two. “There you are! I have the paperwork, and I’ve already gotten access to a room for us to go over it in in case there’s anything you want to change before we leave, as well as having a secondary copy for a final once over by the lawyers.”

Blinking at the onslaught of information, Tony allowed his gears to be shifted fully to business and nodded to show he got all that. “Right, you lead the way then.”

The interrupted beta clearly wanted to try to get some kind of last comment in. It didn’t go well for him. “And I can’t convince you to-”

Tony glanced over his shoulder, Pepper already having turned him around to start steering him down the hall, because it wasn’t like Hammer to stop talking for anything short of an apocalypse once he got a bad idea into his head. But, there it was, Hammer looking honestly a bit frightened and Pepper leveling the sternest look Tony had probably ever seen on the other beta.

He turned forward quickly, picking up his steps. He so didn’t want to get that look leveled at him, not at the moment at least.

He didn’t hold out any hope that he never would.

Chapter Text

It was late by the time Tony got home, and while he heard that the television was on in the living room, plainly indicating that at least one of the soulmates who hadn’t accompanied him to the gala were home, he was so far from being in a mood to talk to anyone that he didn’t even check who it was. Instead, he ended up stalking right by, headed for his workshop instead of the bedroom as he pulled at his bow tie, undoing it as he made a beeline down the stairs.

That didn’t mean he’d gone deaf, however, and the ‘woah’ that drifted after him clearly enough identified the TV watcher as Clint before he was out of hearing range. It meant that when he dumped both his jacket and tie on one of his worktables, he wasn’t surprised that the spy had followed him down and was lingering in the doorway.

“So, I’m guessing that the night didn’t go all that well?” Tony cast a sideways look at the blond, almost aggressively taking off the overshirt he had on and throwing it down on the pile. “So, I’m guessing that that expression means ‘no shit’, and since I don’t see Pepper, Happy, or even James around yet, I’m guessing you bailed on everyone? Care to tell me what happened? I only got home after you left but JARVIS told me you were taking a test run.”

“I was.” Looking down at himself, Tony decided that was enough clothes off to comfortably work, and practically stalked over to the car he’d most recently been tinkering with. It was a good day to get at the hard to manage spots that were stuck on the old engine, and maybe that would make him feel better.

“With Hammer.”

“Yep.”

Clint waited for a moment, and when nothing more was forthcoming, moved over so he could hand Tony things. Dum-E gave the beta a friendly bump as he halted beside him, but made no move to relinquish the hovering over his creator to the human. “Alright. So it clearly didn’t go well. At all. What did he do?”

Tony gave a humorless laugh, planting both hands on the engine for a moment as he leaned over, staring down into the heart of it. “Do you remember how I used to tell you about my escapades avoiding him at events? How I’d make rounds early to make sure I talked to everyone I needed to who was there before he showed up and made it difficult?”

“Kind of hard not to. They were some of your more entertaining stories just after I moved in.” Clint ended up just staring at Tony’s fingers when he held out a hand a moment later, but Dum-E was quick to drop a wrench into it so that Tony could lean halfway into the engine to get at the spot he’d just been studying.

“Yeah, well, those events seemed like the most productive ones ever compared to tonight. Do you know how many people I actually managed to talk to about what I needed to tonight? Three. Fucking three, Clint.” The growl in his voice as he lifted his head to look back toward his beta was impressive, and it made the blond wonder if maybe Tony hadn’t been veering again. At the very least the night meant he probably needed to be coaxed into a round of playing if that tone was any indication.

“Clingy?” The sharp bark of laughter as Tony looked back to what his hands were doing was not encouraging. “Okay, worse than clingy. Might as well let it all out, you have me curious now.”

“That fucker. That unmitigated asshole, didn’t let me talk to anyone! Any time we spent more than two seconds apart, he was there, either leading me off or doing his level best to make sure to keep me from being able to discuss a damn thing without him changing the subject. And every time he pulled that shit, and he knew he was doing it too, he’d give me this smile and AGH.” Tony pulled back from the engine, tossing the wrench down and carding his fingers through his hair as he straightened. “The only people I managed to talk to were because Pepper distracted him, and that’s fucking not okay.”

Clint grimaced, offering both hands to the agitated omega and dipping his head slightly down and to the side, peeking through his hair. It was a deliberately soft pose, and once Tony saw it, it made something soften in his demeanor, though he was still clearly agitated. “Okay, so he took your giving him a chance and peed all over it, basically?”

“Yes. If he’d wanted all my attention just for the sake of wanting my attention, it would have been different, but this wasn’t what that was. This wasn’t him asking me to a dinner where that was expected, this was doing this at an event where one was supposed to circulate, catch up with contacts. Find out the status of things in the business world, you know. And he knew it too.” Tony’s tone was a little calmer, and he glanced at Clint’s hands, reaching out and trailing his fingertips over his palms before noticing that even the bit of fussing he’d done had been enough to get grease all over him, and by turn Clint when he touched him.

The blond just flashed him a grin when Tony gave him a slightly apologetic look. “Don’t worry about my hands, you should see your hair.” He sobered quickly though, reaching and offering Tony the cleaning rags that Dum-E had just dropped off next to them. “Look, you did your best. Yes, you guys have been dancing around each other for ages, but he hasn’t been handling it the best from the start, right? Not any more than you were. You set your misgivings aside and clearly, he didn’t.”

Tony nodded at the words, pressing his lips together for a moment. “I need to apologize to the others for ditching them.”

“He was treating you like a trophy, I think they’ll get why you had to get out of there.”

“Maybe.” Tony hesitated a moment, then shoved the cloth at Clint pointedly once he’d gotten his hands as clean as possible. “Get my face.”

Clearly relieved that he wouldn’t have to press the point, the beta readily did as told, reaching up to scrub a streak of grease off of Tony’s cheek. “They’ll understand. I have to admit I never would have thought you’d have the patience to put up with that behavior for long enough to get worked up into this state, to be entirely honest here.”

Tony’s smile was grim. “Nothing like feeling like you owe someone a chance to teach you that you really didn’t.”

Clint snorted, moving from his cheek to his forehead. “He’s going to start the gift barrage again now that he’s made ground, you know. He’s that type.”

“I know. I’m already dreading the papers, honestly. You just know that us going together will make a byline somewhere, and it’s not going to bode well for me at all after how he was acting out there.”

“Because he was an ass? Seriously?”

“No, because I’m an omega, he’s my soulmate, and he was an ass. Trust me, being an omega in that mix puts me at a serious disadvantage. They’re probably going to spin it that I finally accepted his courting and I’ll have to fight my way around the loss of credibility that the perceived weakness will get me.”

Clint wrinkled up his nose, pulling back when the rag started doing more harm than good, though it really couldn’t do anything for Tony’s hair. “You mean you’re going to have to lean on Stane again? Didn’t you just stop needing to do that from the last mess?”

“Unfortunately.” Tony reached up, lightly touching his hair and making a face as he realized it was actually sticking up. “Right. I’m going to take a bath. Are you joining me? Because now that you’ve got me talking I’m so not done ranting.”

Clint examined him, then bobbed his head, settling back on his heels to wait for Tony to lead him there. “Yeah, totally. Just don’t use the froufrou scented bubble bath, pretty please? I’ll wash your hair if you don’t.”

Reaching out, Tony took his hand and started to tow him along in his wake. “Yeah yeah, no flowers for the big macho beta. I recently got a new bottle of that chocolate mint bubble bath you like, you’ll be fine.” He didn’t stop walking, but he did glance over his shoulder, fully aware of what Clint had been doing, and grateful for it. “Thank you, by the way.”

“S’what I’m here for Tony.”

Tony just squeezed his fingers in a repeat of the thanks, and finally felt like he could properly breathe for the first time all night.

Chapter Text

The next time Obadiah dropped by was both expected and a relief. It meant that Tony didn’t need to hunt him down about the ridiculousness that had been his outing with Hammer, and also that he probably didn’t need to really explain. In fact, he strongly suspected that Pepper had called him, which was good, great even, because much as he adored his various soulmates, they couldn’t really look at this problem with the objective eye he needed, and Happy just plain didn’t have the experience.

Which left his godfather.

It also had the added bonus of cutting off the hovering that James had been unobtrusively doing, which was also a relief. It had been different from Clint, settling to his dominant instincts because it gave him something to do, but James’ hovering was going the other way and that was so far from what he needed at the moment that the break was welcome. The alpha simply gave Obadiah his customary long stare, then left the room once it was made clear that the beta intended to stay a while.

“Tony! Still no love from that alpha of yours I see.” The amused tone wasn’t lost on Tony, and he felt his shoulders ease even as a small smile came to his lips.

“Afraid not. I’m his favorite and if his instincts aren’t happy with you around me, I think he’s decided he won’t give you a try when you’re not in my line of sight.” Tony felt no need to stay seated as the beta halted just inside the doorway to the room, readily moving over to hug his godfather in greeting. “Which is an absolute shame. You’re a great guy.”

There was no hesitation in the returned hug, and Tony felt something ease in his chest. He would have hated if the beta was upset with him for how badly he’d handled Hammer, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Which was good, great even! Of course, it didn’t linger either, and when he was nudged back to arm’s length, a hand on each shoulder, Tony just gave him a rueful smile and let himself be examined. “Well, you and I know that, but not everyone is as perceptive as us, now are they? So, I bet you know this isn’t strictly a social visit Tony, even if we probably both wish it was.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Believe me, I know. I actually expected you to be cranky at me for the scandal this is likely to cause, to be honest.”

“Really? Now, I’m not happy, but I’m more worried about you Tony.” He squeezed his shoulders, giving the omega an affectionate shake, just enough to bring the smile back. “While we both know that wasn’t a good move, you had to have your reasons for giving that upstart a chance. Care to explain them to me? I honestly have trouble following all this soulmate nonsense sometimes.”

Tony snorted, then waved his hand back toward the couch, ducking out of his hold to go sit. Well, maybe less sit and more petulantly flop onto it. “Well, to start, he wore me down. I know, I know, I’m better than that, but he really was being pathetic Obie.”

The beta regarded him for a moment, then gave a soft snort as he followed to take the armchair nearby. “You’ve been known to do things for worse reasons than that, so I can’t say I’m terribly surprised.”

“Oh come on, now you’re making it sound like you were expecting this.” Tony paused, taking in Obadiah’s expression, and then sank down lower on the couch with a whine. “You were expecting this? Seriously? And you didn’t say anything?”

“We both know you like to make your own mistakes without any interference from me Tony.”

“That was once!” When that just got him a disbelieving stare, Tony slid sideways so he was sprawled over with a pout, though he was quick to sit up and move all the way down as close on the couch as possible to the chair. “Okay, so it’s been more than once. It’s been a number ridiculously higher than once. But you still could have pointed it out!”

“And what good would that have done? You probably would have jumped in it sooner just to prove me wrong and we both know it.” When Tony covered his face on a groan, the beta deigned to lean over and ruffle up his hair. “There, you see? Now we have to sort out damage control for your lapse in judgment.”

“You mean I can’t just leave you to do it?” Tony peeked through his fingers as he felt Obadiah take his hand back, and pouted at the unimpressed face he’d received for his efforts. “I’m guessing that’s a no. Okay, so what part of the disaster is going to draw the most fire you think?”

“The gifts. If you keep accepting them it’s going to look like you’re still favoring his suit. Start turning them away Tony, it’ll be better in the long run.”

Leaning harder on the arm of the couch, Tony gave his godfather a pathetic stare. “They may be awful, but I like the attention. That’s going to suck.”

“That’s just too bad. You’ll have to go out of your way to make amends to everyone he disrupted you talking to at that event as well. You know that, don’t you? I can’t repair those bridges.”

“You could try?” Tony let the thought hang wistfully in the air for a long moment. “Okay, you can’t try or it will make me look even weaker to everyone who already has it in their head I’ll let a beta speak for me. It was a nice thought. So, what can you do to help?”

“I’ll arrange an event. You have to attend, and no letting that new PA of yours do all the circulating for you. I like her, she’s feisty, but it won’t help the situation. As it is, people have started to notice that your household is bigger lately and are starting to think you might be settling in to play house-omega more than to handle your business.”

“But that’s not-”

“Tony.” When Tony responded by cutting himself off, Obadiah gave a nod, squeezing his shoulder knowingly. “People notice more than you give them credit for, and we know that since you’ve taken over the company you’ve been more distracted with this soulmate business than you haven’t been. I’ve been handling it, but you know how it looks from the outside.”

“It looks like I’m more concerned with my pack and love life than the company.” Tony released a sigh, drooping in place.

“Unfortunately. This whole thing with Justin Hammer has only punctuated that, underlining what people were already seeing. You need to be more pro-active Tony, to work harder, or this will never resolve.”

“But-” He let the rest of the sentence die, nodding as his shoulders drooped, prompting another reassuring squeeze from the beta. “Right. Okay. I have some projects I can sort out, and then I’ll talk to Rhodey about what the airforce has been needing that SI hasn’t been covering. Think that would be a decent start?”

Looking satisfied by the conclusions Tony had drawn, Obadiah gave him both a nod and a reassuring smile as he pulled away. “It will probably start to mend relations with the public. Now, enough of that, let’s go to lunch, make it look like business when it’s really just feeding you. Sound good?”

“James probably won’t come with if you’re there but... you know what, that’s fine. You and me haven’t had a sit down that’s just us in what, a year? Way too long, in any case. You drive?”

“I did.” When Obadiah rose, so did Tony, and the beta looped his arm over his shoulders as he headed toward the door down to the garage. “But you know I admire your cars, so let’s take one of those instead. Deal?”

“Deal. We can even take the one I just finished tweaking the other day. I haven’t had a chance to take it on the open road yet.”

Obadiah just smiled at Tony’s excitement and nodded agreeably, which was more than enough to settle any lingering anxieties over the whole Hammer incident that had been lurking.

If his godfather was at ease, then what reason did Tony have to worry about it?

He knew what he was doing.

Chapter Text

Tony had been looking forward to this conference for months. The place was going to be utterly packed with the best and brightest of science, and he’d mistakenly thought that that all by itself would make it spectacular. Of course, that was before his soulmates, one by one, ended up being unable to go.

Clint was first, of course, the beta being called away for SHIELD because of his Aunt Peggy finally taking the step of retiring from active leadership to something strictly political. It was an overdue move, honestly, but the delay had been needed. Especially with the house cleaning that had been going on in the last couple years that he wasn’t supposed to be aware of. There had ended up being zero percent of a chance that he’d come to Switzerland with him and the others once he’d been assigned whatever had been asked of him, but that was just how these things went. He was used to that. It was just like how Rhodey couldn’t just pop away from his military duties, and thus had never been expected to be able to attend in the first place.

What he hadn’t expected was for the next person to declare that they couldn’t come was going to be a scientist. Bruce wasn’t going. He’d considered it, but apparently, he had just had a breakthrough on whatever his project was. Tony understood confidentiality and hadn’t pried even if he really wanted to, but he knew that Bruce was going to follow it through until the inspiration from the breakthrough dried up. Tony understood that, and he was vaguely grateful that Betty had at least remembered to call him and say that they weren’t coming. She had assured him that Jane was all set to be there though, so that was still someone he could hunt down. After all, they didn’t meet up nearly often enough.

That Pepper was the next to follow was a tragedy, and not just because she wouldn’t be attending, though that had made him sad for entirely different reasons. Her dad was in the hospital in the wake of a stroke, and he wasn’t about to try to wheedle her away when the older beta might very well not even make it to the new year with how bad it had been. The situation had almost been enough for him to cancel so he could stay with her but she’d refused him the gesture the moment she’d seen it on his face. She wanted him to go and have fun, then tell her all about it so that she had something nice to think about when he got home. She had, however, made Happy promise to stick to his side like glue and take business cards from everyone who had any so that Tony wouldn’t ‘conveniently’ lose them. Tony had pouted to make her smile, but his heart hadn’t been in it. He totally would have done that.

That meant that the only soulmate he’d expected to still attend by the morning of the flight overseas had been James. But no, apparently that had fallen through as well. For the first time in over a year, there was a lead on the alpha’s youngest soulmate, a rumor that had made its way over a grapevine that only his assassin actually understood the route of. In a way, Tony had been touched that ze’d considered staying with him anyway, in light of what had happened a few years previously, but this was why he’d hired Happy. So he’d have someone with him in case he was ever alone at an event, and regardless of whatever else the jovial alpha was, he was protective. So Tony had seen James firmly off the moment they touched down on Europe, and he continued over with just Happy in his entourage.

All of this had culminated into him drinking. It was something he’d indulged in less and less since he’d started in on the dramatic quest that was his pack, but he was sad. Yes, he had Happy at hand, which was great, he was a friend, and he knew Jane was here somewhere, but he was allowed to sulk. Especially when he’d really planned to use the conference as an excuse to start up that conversation with James that he’d kept putting off out of nerves. He’d also planned to show off Bruce and how amazing he was to all these awesome science people, and he had wanted to see Pepper in action at something like this, sure, but the big sulk was James and he wasn’t about to lie to himself about it.

Which probably accounted for why he’d apparently decided to flirt with every pretty person that came around him too if he was being entirely honest with himself. He hadn’t exactly been saving himself, but he had been on something of a self-enforced dry spell and he was just sulky enough to want some personal attention since he was going home empty handed on that front anyway. Sure, he didn’t plan to actually sleep with anyone, but the attention was still nice, and that was what actually counted as far as he was concerned.

Happy didn’t quite seem to agree, though, and kept taking anything that wasn’t champagne back out of his fingers after he got it in hand. And even those he’d been eying with fairly intense consideration for the last half hour or so. “Happy, if you start taking away my champagne I’m going to throw a tantrum and you’re not going to like it at all.” The words may have been mild, but Tony meant every word, and he watched as Happy’s whole face pinched in turn.

“You are beyond drunk. I have no idea how you’re even still speaking coherently. Are you going to even remember this in the morning?” Happy followed the question with a firm hand on the small of his back, propelling him along across the conference hall that he’d just gotten off the stage for.

“Maybe not all of it, but the important bits, yes. Entirely yes.” He leaned in close, staring up at Happy with questions in his eyes. “Happy, do you think Jane’s avoiding me? I haven’t seen her yet. Or do you think she got lost in conversation with some hot alpha somewhere? She’s totally weak to super hot alphas, it’s hilarious.”

“I doubt she’s avoiding you. There are quite a few people here, and she arrived by different means than you. In fact, I bet we’ll find her in the morning at one of those conferences before the event closes up.” Tony’s skeptical look in turn went entirely ignored, though the alpha did continue. “I’ll call her for you to make sure we have a meet up before it’s time to go home. I’ll even see if she might not fly back to the States with us instead of her colleagues, how does that sound?”

There was a beat of silence in which Tony finished off his current glass of champagne, which he then he graciously allowed Happy to take it away with a little grin. “Yeah, okay, that works for me. I’ll stop worrying about it. Instead, let’s meet people! Even if everyone bailed on me, I came here to have fun.”

“Does that mean that you’re done sulking then? Great, how about we get some food in you before you make yourself sick?”

Tony pointed at his face at the chide and opened his mouth to answer before closing it again, forehead wrinkling as he realized he had yet to find any snacks in this place since arriving. “Actually, yes, that’s a great idea. But find me a science to talk to first. I’m parched for a bright mind to talk to here and it’s making me incredibly sad.”

“You just want someone pretty to talk to while you eat.”

“That too, but I’ll just take brilliant if there’s no gorgeous and brilliant options. C’mon. There’s a cluster of people over there who look to be confusing and intriguing passerby in turns. I bet they’re exactly what I was thinking about!” Tony tugged on Happy’s arm, making a fair attempt at getting him moving.

“Yes, okay, but any conversations require a restaurant. Your soulmates will kill me if they hear I let you pass out because I didn’t feed you.”

“They’re not that bad.”

“James is that bad.”

“...Okay, so one of them is that bad.” Tony flashed him an apologetic smile, turning his attention to the cluster of people he’d chosen as a target for his attention.

He found himself interested even before he had context. “...and that’s where I’ve had the problem with my project. The genetic side of it isn’t giving me anywhere near the same issues as the technological bits of the delivery system, and this is just working with plants.”

“Not to cut in, but I’m cutting in. Tony Stark. Hi. You are sounding very very interesting.” Tony planted himself next to the alpha who had just been speaking, looking them over as he noted he didn’t recognize any of these people.

There was a laugh from one of the betas who had been listening, and they stepped forward from the fringes, flashing him a smile as they adjusted their glasses. “I have no doubt that everyone here knows who you are. I’m Ho Yinsen, he, and the lovely alpha who was just speaking is Maya Hansen. She was just telling me about her recent project, if you care to offer any insight?”

Tony gave the older scientist a thoughtful look, then grinned, looking back to the hopeful expression he was being given by the younger of the two, even as the few others they’d been talking to drifted off to more lively conversations. They probably hadn’t been keeping up and were relieved to go. Heathens. “I’d love to, but how about you guys have a sit down with me at the restaurant in this place? Food’s been pretty sparse since I got here, as I was so kindly reminded.”

Maya hooked her arm through his, clearly noting how close Tony had been standing to her. “Sounds good to me. And weren’t you just saying that all this standing around was making your feet ache Dr. Yinsen?”

The beta laughed and inclined his head with utmost gravity. “Quite. I’m not as young as I used to be. Shall we?”

Tony glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Happy was still nearby, then looked back to the other two and nodded, tugging on his snagged arm to get them moving in the correct direction. “We definitely shall. Maybe then my babysitter over there might stop making frowny faces at me for the bubbly.”

He entirely knew Happy was rolling his eyes at him, but he had wanted him to stop sulking.

That always came with teasing.

Chapter Text

The conversation in the restaurant had been beyond fascinating. Admittedly, he was pretty sure that part of that was his sheer familiarity with the subject. Not the nanotechnology angle that the alpha was using, no, but the roots it had in the serum were familiar. Not just from his dad either. Bruce had bounced some theories like this off of him a couple times, and he’d come up with some ideas then that were certainly applicable here. Just not in the same way at all.

In fact, the whole conversation made him desperately wish Bruce had come, because he just knew that Bruce would have adored talking to Maya about this. They probably would have launched into a debate about parallel methods of restoration of the human body or something. Which is how he ended up, about two hours later, poking Happy repeatedly to see if he’d made sure to get her card. She found it hilarious, of course, but Tony thought it was perfectly legitimate, and he was much, much too drunk to care if he was coming off as overexcited about the whole thing.

It certainly didn’t put her off asking him back to her room so she could show him her plants, which she’d brought so she could keep an eye on them during the conference. He, of course, had accepted, and that was how he’d found himself in an overcrowded space, leaning hard on Happy who looked more exasperated than bothered by it as he held him up, with Maya adding her button push to about twenty others. It really did make Tony wonder how many people thought they could fit. He squinted as one particularly enthusiastic person practically sprinted for the already overcrowded elevator. They would so not be able to wiggle into the little space left, and Tony reached over, freeing an arm well enough to push the door close button.

Of course, it was about then that he heard what he was sure was his name from the person, and on realizing that the doors would close before they got there, noted that the gesture had probably come off as deliberate. Whoops. It was too late to fix it, even if he’d wanted to, as the elevator had already closed in the poor person’s face. He was sure that they would catch up to him in the morning, in any case, if he ended up just not coming down again. Shaking his head, he looked to Maya and flashed her a grin, putting the whole thing out of his mind.

Her plants were, indeed, excellent, and he thought them even more so after Happy managed to make one of them explode, though she hadn’t exactly shared his thrilled reaction over it. Exploding plants, after all, no matter how fast they regrew, weren’t exactly practical. The conversation that followed was intense, Happy sitting back in his chair just watching the whole thing with a rather large dose of amusement that had nothing to do with understanding the topic.

He’d even asked a few questions! Tony was so proud.

“So wait, they explode because of how fast they grow back? Shouldn’t they just keep exploding instead of stopping after one?”

The face Maya made in reaction to the question was enough to send Tony into a fit of giggles, and he leaned on Happy, patting his chest to show just he approved. “Yeah Maya, how’d you fix that problem.”

She reached over, lightly swatting Tony’s knee at the question, having already learned to keep her hands mostly to herself via Happy’s hovering. The New Year’s kiss had been accepted with grace, but the bigger of the two had firmly settled Tony beside him after, and she hadn’t taken another run at the omega since. She wasn’t an idiot, and she knew clearly an overprotective packmate when she saw one. “I didn’t fix it, thank you. Instead, I localized it so that the chain reaction stopped regrowth until the explosion series was finished.” One of her hands waved to the charred corner of the room. “That’s why there’s not really much of a plant left over there, and why I’m going to have to leave them my security deposit.”

Happy made a face at the pointed jab. “I already told you I was sorry.”

She looked for all the world as though she hadn’t heard him, though her lips quirked into a small smirk. “But I figured it was safer to have the plant in a possibly dangerous situation like this place if the explosion was small and contained rather than staggered and... bigger.”

“Which is totally fair, though you know most people would have just left it at home right?” Tony raised both eyebrows at her, grinning as he leaned harder on Happy.

“This is a science conference.” Her own eyebrow raise back was fairly pointed.

“Okay, so most people wouldn’t have left it at home. You’re not supposed to correct me, I’m much too amazing.”

Happy snorted and hooked his arm around Tony, putting the listing omega back into a mostly upright position. “What you are is drunker than a skunk. Dr. Hansen, I think it might be about time for us to get going. I’m sure he’ll be in contact with you soon.”

“The card! Make sure about the card!”

Looking exasperated, Happy pointedly showed Tony that his pocket full of cards was intact, and the omega promptly gave him a beaming smile, even as Maya covered another laugh with her hand. She shook her head as she got to her feet. “If you’re really worried about losing it, how about you give me yours too?”

The look she got from him was slightly awed, but that quickly transformed into a pout as Tony’s rifle through his pockets produced absolutely nothing. “I think they’re all in my room. Happy, did you bring any of my cards? Or any of yours?”

“Sorry, I don’t have any, and you never give me yours to hand out for you. Something about only giving cards to those you deem worthy?”

“Pepper never listens when I tell her that.”

“Pepper has her own cards.” There was a moment of staring, Tony’s pout intensifying as it carried on, and Happy finally rolled his eyes, looking back to Maya. “I’ll write my number down and get you in touch with Mr. Stark here after you do.”

“Doctor.”

“Drunk and having me giving out my personal number.” When Tony subsided into a sulk, Happy just shook his head and wrote out the number. “There, see? Problem solved. It was nice to meet you, Dr. Hansen, but I think it’s about time for my boss here to sleep it off.”

Maya accepted the paper with the scribble, expression turning wry. “I’m sure you will be hearing from me. Thank you for the conversation. I’ve had a great night.”

Tony just gave her a brilliant smile, letting Happy pull him to his feet as he waved his other hand at her. “Any time! You’re great. Hear from you soon.”

“C’mon you.” Happy shared a wry smile with Maya, and then with a shake of his head steered Tony out of the room and off to the elevator. He apparently hadn’t been joking about getting him to sleep it off.

Still, Tony didn’t mind. If that meant that Happy was planning a nice buffer for miserable hangover time before seeing Jane, he could totally get behind sleeping now.

Even if he had been having fun.

Chapter Text

Jane was, as far as Tony was concerned, a spectacular omega. She was smart, focused, and knew how to keep a room focused, even when they were beyond skeptical about what they were focused on. He kind of wished that he hadn’t had to take actual classes to manage the same thing, but he didn’t begrudge her for it, because really, it just meant he always looked forward to seeing her during those rare times that their schedules had lined up.

The fact that she was the only part of the pack who had made it out to the conference and party other than Happy had really only heightened those feelings, and that was his only excuse for why he was down at the restaurant that they’d chosen to meet at over an hour before he actually needed to be. For one thing, hangover, and for another, this meant he could actually get his bearings and be pleasant by the time she actually came down to meet him. He hadn’t gotten any food during this interim, in spite of Happy’s prodding that he didn’t have to wait for her company, but he had gotten coffee and juice, which suited him just fine. This made it perfectly comfortable to slump down on his side of the booth cradling a cup of one or the other as he hid behind his sunglasses and just watched the comings and goings, playing spot the conference goer and having a nice quiet morning.

At least, that was the plan. Instead of the welcome, lovely face of Jane Foster, a much less pretty but far more determined face, an alpha, of course, it was always an alpha, slid into the booth across from Tony and Happy to disrupt their waiting. Yes, the new fellow clearly had quite the time of it getting there and hopping into the booth, but they hadn’t even bothered to ask first, and that just rubbed Tony all kinds of the wrong way.

So, because of this, the moment the alpha opened their mouth to speak, Tony cut them off, deciding to give them a chance to defend their presumption before Happy took it upon himself to bodily remove the interloper. “You know, it’s considered polite to ask first, or at the very least introduce yourself before invading someone’s breakfast table.” Even as he was speaking, Tony was straightening out of his relaxed slouch, setting his cup down as he flashed the figure across from him a sharp smile.

The alpha seemed surprised to be rebuked. What, did they think that they’d get a free pass because of their disability? “Oh. Sorry about that, Dr. Alderich Killian. He.” He offered his hand, and when Tony just stared at it instead of touching it, took it back with a slightly offended, and not a little awkward, clearing of his throat. “Right, I tried to catch you last night, but your elevator closed before I could say anything to you. I wanted to tell you about an initiative called AIM that I’m putting together, a think tank of sorts, where we’ll work on changing the world through progressive technology.”

Tony could see that the alpha was gearing up to lay out his spiel, but Tony could already tell that this just wasn’t going to work. First, the other scientist, and Tony was now sure he was, was acting like he had a right to his time, and secondly, was assuming he would have a lot of said time to spend on whatever this initiative of theirs was. So, instead of letting him get his hopes up, Tony shut him down instead. “I already do that.” When he opened his mouth to protest, Tony waved his hand through the air to cut him off, putting more emphasis on his words. “I already do that. It may not be whatever you have in mind, but Stark Industries does a lot for the world, more than weapons, and I personally tend to do a lot of that. If you contact me via my PA, Ms. Potts, she’ll let you know when I have time in my schedule to give this a proper meeting, but for now, I really don’t have time for it, and being here is as much work as it is a vacation, understand?”

“But you have time right now.” Dr. Killian was clearly thrown off base by the rebuke, and sat forward, taking out a card and setting it on the table, intensifying his earnestness. “Just hear me out. You’d be in contact with other great minds through this initiative, other people whose brilliance could stand up to yours-”

Tony narrowed his eyes, staring from the alpha to the card, and then leaned forward, tugging his glasses down a touch to stare at him as he cut him off. “Look. You are clearly very invested in this little project of yours, and I was sincere that if you contacted my PA she’d make time for you, but that opportunity is fading the longer you stay here. I’m here to meet someone, who I might add is whose seat you’re sitting in, and if you think I don’t have contact with any other brilliant minds on my own you’re sorely mistaken. Now, if you would go, that would be great, and we can pretend you didn’t ignore my attempts to get you to do it sooner so you can have a solid chance when you come through with this using the proper approach, alright?”

“But-”

This time it was Happy who cut the other alpha off, tone firm. “I think Dr. Stark has been perfectly accommodating to this conversation up to this point, but you should probably take the chance he’s giving you and leave before that goes away, don’t you?”

That was enough to shut the alpha up, and he looked from one to the other before pressing his lips tightly together and gave them both a sharp nod, moving to get up and leave. “Right. I’ll do that. Stark.” With another nod, the alpha turned to limp away, something about his carriage both humiliated and furious at once.

Tony grimaced as he watched him go. “Well, that could have gone better. Take his card, won’t you Happy? If he does contact Pepper she should at least have a little warning.”

Happy looked reluctant to do so but stuck it in his pocket anyway. Still, his whole countenance lit up as he spotted the person they were actually here to meet, and he nudged Tony to knock him out of the pensive thoughts he’d sunk into. “Tony, Jane incoming.”

At the prod, Tony snapped out of his thoughts and realized he’d missed his chance to comment on finally getting Happy to use the title of doctor. Damn. Still, the words were more than enough to get him looking around, and he immediately flashed a brilliant smile as he caught sight of the other omega, getting to his feet to go greet her and putting Killian firmly out of his mind. There was, after all, absolutely no reason to let a pushy alpha ruin his breakfast plans with a member of his pack.

There was Bruce gossip to be had and science to discuss. Also, he could finally eat.

All in all, despite the hangover and human hiccup, a nice morning to venture into, in his opinion.

Chapter Text

The house was oddly quiet on days like today.

There was JARVIS, of course, always improving, always expanding, getting stronger and reaching for more, but he wasn’t really a big talker if Tony didn’t reach out and poke at him first. He suspected part of that was the fact that he was still young, that Tony had yet to stop helping him grow and he was continually taking bigger leaps as doors were opened to him. He also suspected that the other part was, honestly, that he simply had no idea how to start a conversation yet. Eventually, that would probably change, but not now, it seemed, and certainly not today.

No, today the house was nearly empty, without the sounds of rustling paper, tapping keys, or someone fussing with a television or radio. It was a day where he found himself torn between asking his awkward kid to blast music in every room he walked through or to let the quiet sink into his bones. The silence reminded him of the year he spent distracting himself before James had been found, when he’d built the AI line by line in a painstaking labor of love that he by no means regretted. It also reminded him of the deafening moments when he’d expected someone to be around who couldn’t be anymore, as happened far too often in his teens.

In the end, he chose neither.

He knew the house wasn’t empty of all people save him. He knew James was home.

So he went looking.

If his steps sounded too loud to him in the silence, then that just meant he needed to search a little harder, and while he could have, probably should have, asked JARVIS where the alpha was, well. He didn’t do that either.

He knew why.

After all, he’d been something of a coward lately. First, he’d excused himself by saying that he’d been looking for an opportune moment. Then, he delayed by telling himself that James was probably upset over the latest dead end around the new year. When that had worn thin, he’d examined himself to try to decide how sincere he really felt about everything, since he kept putting it off, avoiding the conversation he kept telling himself he wanted to have, and examined his behavior, drunk or not, at the New Year’s party. All in all, he’d tied himself in knots, and he knew on some level that today was going to be the day.

They were alone in the house. James had been in a particularly spirited mood that morning. Adding those both together really made it clear there wasn’t a better time.

So, Tony, being Tony, was delaying, because what if James said no?

What if ze wasn’t interested in him that way?

He knew, more than most even, that not every soul mate relationship would lead to romantic intimacy. Some didn’t even lend to intimacy at all, as evidenced by the whole Hammer situation. But all of that was just a series of excuses. He knew it as soon as he stepped into a room and saw how the cream materials and walls were brightening the space, but not the figure staring out the windows in the middle of it.

Even if seeing the alpha at the moment made his nerves flutter with anxiety about what he wanted to broach, he just always found himself so happy that his soul mate chose to stay with him here, and this was no exception. He didn’t want them to think he’d crossed a line and leave. Too many of his soulmates wouldn’t stay as it was, and it wasn’t like James didn’t have places ze could be, out there, searching. He knew that, and that’s what it boiled down to.

He was scared that this one would decide ze had somewhere ze’d rather be too.

All the same, he had to take the step, to cross the line, and see if it worked out. In fact, he even got as far as opening his mouth to say... something. He honestly had no idea how he was going to jump into it, probably in a fashion that used the most words possible in the most roundabout way possible, but he didn’t get the opportunity.

James started talking instead, never once looking away from the ocean outside the windows.

“Did you know that back before the war, it was pretty much unheard of for there to be an omega like you? A chassy was expected to be pretty, dolled up, and escorted just about everywhere. Now, don’t get me wrong, you’re all those things, but I don’t see you fluffing around in dresses and making eyes at us to take care of you. You wanna take care of us. Steve was like that too, even if he didn’t have much in the way of opportunity before everything turned into crap. I can respect it. Like it even, but the niggle is there that says I should be the one taking care of you, not vice versa, especially since my memories of back then have come out of where they’ve been hiding.” Ze finally glanced over their shoulder at that, looking at Tony for a long moment before the solemn gaze returned to the water outside. “I know you’ve been aware of the whole thing, that I’ve been struggling with it, and I’ve seen you’ve been trying to help. Even if helping just means not asking most of the time, when I go quiet on you.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he should say anything at that, but he did pad forward, coming to stand at the window too, head cocked slightly as he listened to his soul mate talk. He honestly had no idea what brought all this on, but he should hear them out before jumping to conclusions, even if this did sound suspiciously like it was straddling the line between ‘thanks, bye’ and ‘will you marry me?’

His movements garnered him another long glance at the very least, and this time ze didn’t look away from him. “So, you know, in light of all that, I wanna make it real clear where I stand. I’m not going to ask you to do anything you haven’t already been doing, or stop anything you’ve been doing either but for one thing. Keeping in mind I’m aware you got a lot of love to give and I’m not expecting to have all of it... I think I’d like to have what you’re willing to give me.” Ze paused, then offered Tony their nearer hand, the metal one, palm turned up. “With me doing my best to give you the same. You know, in something above and beyond friendship. Dating.”

It was the last bit that made Tony realize that James was just as nervous as he’d been, the alpha’s posture tense in that odd way that didn’t show any tension, showing off their anxiety in a way that would only be clear to someone that knew them well. There was no hesitation when Tony took their hand after that.

“I’d love to.”

He really meant that too, even if he did suspect that there would end up being some conversation about that little ‘a lot of love to give’ aside.

But that was for later.

For now, he had a hand to hold and a window to stare out of, and he was more than willing to enjoy that as he let months of nervous tension leave him at the sheer relief of them being on the same page.

Though, seriously, they were definitely going to talk about that later.

A lot of love to give. Just. What?

But that was for later.

Chapter Text

In the last several months, life had been going amazingly well for Tony. That’s not to say that there weren’t some ups and downs, of course. The entire talk that James had insisted on over a month after the change in their relationship concerning Tony’s feelings about Pepper had been extremely awkward, but ultimately welcome, for instance, thus giving one of those ups and downs all by itself. Still, he didn’t know what it said about him that he was fairly sure that James had insisted on their terms because they could see the lay of the land when Tony still hadn’t gotten to the top of the hill.

Not that he minded so much, Pepper was amazing, beautiful, and he regretted nothing at all about bringing her into his life, but James had looked at the situation and, given that he’d been wearing minimal clothes at the time, his soulmark collection and informed him that ze was fully aware it was very likely that at least one more of those marks would catch Tony’s heart as well. Of course, then ze had gone and tacked on that he was far too loving of a person not to share his heart freely when he decided to love someone, regardless of the way. That, at least, had led to a positively fantastic evening and no small amount of completely new marks that Tony had been pleased to see actually lasted a couple days before fading. Hickeys were the best, in his opinion, and he was quite pleased that James agreed with him on that one.

Of course, not everything had been smooth sailing, and sometimes the universe just wanted to have a good laugh while kicking Tony in the teeth at the end of a spectacular evening. Tonight was apparently going to be one of those occasions, because what?

“No, no, see, you need to repeat that for me nice and slow, and I need my brain to process the words because I could have sworn you just said that a new soulmark just bloomed on my skin.” Tony twisted, attempting to look at the mark, but unfortunately for him, that wasn’t going to be possible. First of all, even he wasn’t that flexible, and second of all... there was no second of all. He needed a mirror.

“It did, right here.” James’ flesh and blood hand pressed along the space, warm and familiar as their fingers moved from point to point low on his spine. “It’s purple music notes, six of them, and it wasn’t there before we went to bed.” There was a touch of humor in their voice a moment later. “Why are you concerned?”

“Because we were!” Tony brought his hands together lewdly, twisting to look over his shoulder at them in consternation. “I mean, the timing...”

“Is inconsequential, as soulmarks only ever appear at the birth of a new soulmate. You are aware of this, which is why your current panic is concerning.” The raised eyebrow he was getting was oddly reassuring, and Tony turned forward as the wash of realization spilled over him.

“Instinctive reaction?” Tony lifted a hand to rub at his face, then gave a weak laugh. “I blame that I’ve actually... considered it?”

The hand at his back pressed more fully along the space over Tony’s tailbone, their palm warm and comforting as the alpha drew Tony in against their side. “Having another child?”

“Another?” Tony blinked, going with the pull and tucking himself against the warm line of skin as he turned his head to breathe in the comforting familiarity of his soulmate’s scent to settle his nerves. He was being ridiculous and he knew it, but that didn’t make the attention any less nice. “I think I would have noticed if I’d birthed anyone.”

“You have, and you did. You are utterly unsubtle in the fact that you consider yourself JARVIS’ mother and his strides as you have improved the tools he may use to grow have continually had you acting the proud parent. If it is meant to be a secret, you should perhaps not be quite so loud about the mark on your hand being his Tony.”

“Well. Yes. I mean, you’re all family, why wouldn’t I tell you? I just... I didn’t know that that counted in the practical sense. He was never a screaming bundle of helpless humanity that kept me up at night and needed me to keep him alive.”

James smiled, a small, amused thing as ze dipped their head, pressing kisses along his temple and cheekbone in a show of wordless fondness that always made Tony warm inside. “No, he was a construct of code that still keeps you up at night when you find new things to add for his protection, and you are the only one that can do them because you’re protective, and smart, enough to know that no one else can take care of him like you can.”

Tony opened his mouth, then closed it, a small flush along his cheeks as he hid his face near James’ neck. “Okay, okay, point made. Doesn’t negate that I was thinking about one of said screaming balls of humanity.”

“I think if you’re thinking of it in terms of screaming infants that you might want to think about it a bit more.” Their tone was amused, and the metal hand came up, stroking between his shoulders comfortingly. “But if you decide that’s something you want, we can talk about it.”

Tony chewed at his lower lip, then released a sharp breath. “No. I think... maybe someday, but not yet. I mean, yeah, I’m over the 30 marker in my life and all now, plus a little, but I feel like I’m not, you know, there?” He lifted his head to look into their face, a little frown there. “I think if I do decide to do this, to have a kid sometime I mean... I think it’s when we have everyone accounted for. I mean, I don’t mean the marks we don’t know, but while littlest soulmate is in the wind...”

“You want to be sure that little Natalia is safe before more children come into our lives. It’s an understandable concern, Tony.” Both hands tightened on Tony then, and James let out a rough sigh, gathering him close into their lap. “It is in no way a reflection on you that we have yet to locate her.”

“I get that, but some of my instincts don’t agree. I’m the top omega of the pack here James. It’s my job, and yeah I know it’s a stereotype but that doesn’t make it less true, but it is my job to ensure the wellbeing of my pack, my family. And your wellbeing isn’t ensured.” He shifted around so he could straddle James’ lap, a comforting press of skin to skin as he held their gaze. “And I do mean your wellbeing, not just hers. It worries you that you can’t find her, and the uncertainty of knowing if she’s alive picks at you.” He pressed their foreheads together. “You’re not going to be entirely here until we manage to resolve it one way or another. I think I’d need that before really considering bringing any children into the family with any kind of premeditation.”

There was a moment of quiet between them, and then James brightened in a small, slow smile. “But accidents are fine?”

Tony blinked once, then twice, before laughing and dipping his head to kiss their lips. “Yeah, accidents are fine. So let’s work on that, shall we?”

That James made a pleased noise in their chest and tumbled him back into the covers meant that they were willing to let the topic go, for now. “Gladly.”

But that the kisses were soft and sweet rather than heated? That meant that James understood why, wanted to be sure he knew he was loved, and that was just as precious as the playful topic change.

It was the perfect way to set him at ease.

He’d still have to look in a mirror later though.

Chapter Text

There were a lot of reasons why Tony knew that this had been a terrible idea, and not the least of which was the fact that, presently, Clint looked about like he wanted to leap over the table between them and glomp him to the floor. Of course, there were many reasons why this was not what Tony would call an ideal reaction, not the least of which being that he really had no desire to end up wearing his breakfast, no matter how enthusiastic the beta might be about something that, really, Tony had taken as a given.

This was actually comparable to the reaction the beta had when Tony had started poking around Clint’s favored hardware, in fact, and the two topics really couldn’t have been further apart as far as he could tell. Yes, sure, Tony had just agreed to take in a beta he didn’t know, sight unseen, just because Clint had asked him if he’d be willing, but Tony had made a point, long ago, of making his house huge for exactly this kind of situation. Sure, there had been more soulmate and less ambiguous stranger that Clint was incredibly enthusiastic about in the general plan, but it didn’t change that this was, ultimately, kind of planned for. He’d braced himself for a big family before age ten when he realized that his soulmarks just kept coming.

The most recent mark just made him sigh and nod to himself instead of trying to fight what ultimately was just another point of data on the ‘yep, this is my life’ scale. So, random beta that Clint apparently had a crush on?

No biggie.

That didn’t mean that Tony didn’t want more details though, and he pointed his fork at Clint as he chewed his waffle, eyes narrowing a little as he made complete sure that table jumping wasn’t about to commence. “Now, don’t get me wrong birdie, I’m all for being generous and whatnot, but this isn’t going to become a habit is it? You do understand that this is a one-off situation? I mean, if you find a soulmate or something, yeah, bring em, that’s family, but I don’t want you bringing your work home.”

“Tony, the only work I bring home is you.” There was a small snort for that, but Clint paid him no mind. “No, she’s not part of a job. Yes, I met her on a job, but that’s not the same thing. She’s just... she lost her place, and she’s been couch surfing for over a week now and we got on really well... I think you’d like her. Level head on her shoulders, practical, sharp sense of humor. She’d fit right in around here! And hey, she might not stay in the house once she finds her feet. She might make like Happy and get her own place. I mean, I definitely wouldn’t mind if she stuck around, but-”

Tony rolled his eyes as Clint sort of derailed, and stuck his fork in his mouth, reaching over to jab Clint in the bicep hard enough to get an offended look for it and stop Clint talking both. “I get it, you have a crush and you hope it pans out. Given it’s you, and you’re practically waxing poetic, I’ll hope that it works out too. How does that sound?”

Clint gave him a downright mulish look, sinking down in his chair and cradling his coffee cup in his hands. “I do not have a crush. I just... think that Laura’s very nice and pretty. And that she’d fit in. That’s all.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing, Clint. Relax. I did say yes. I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page about how this kind of thing works. It’s not like you’re bringing home a random assassin or something. I do enough of that for both of us, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, about that. I hear you’ve been circling Pepper recently? Is that actually going to go anywhere?” The question led to a small reversal of their positions, with Tony leaning back and Clint straightening up to lean onto the table.

“Ah, well. I have no idea? So far she’s been humoring us I think. James has been fabulous and charming. You know them. When ze puts their mind to the cause ze is incredibly dazzling.” Tony waved one hand through the air, huffing a breath with a small eye roll. “I think they’re getting further on thawing her to the idea than I am. I don’t think she’s against it, on principle, but we do have a working relationship, and those two, well, they don’t.”

“And you’re too chicken to step up and tell her you’d like it very much if she spent more nights in bed with you, hopefully naked?” The impish tone that the line was delivered in was very much not appreciated.

“Hey. No. If you can’t admit you have a crush, you can’t get on my ass for being a little shy about mine. I, at least, admit that I have... a very deep, enduring admiration for Pepper’s sheer skill and efficiency in how she handles all things me. And many things that are not me but are related enough to me that the difference in direction is negligible in practical terms.” Tony, the mature being he was, stuck his tongue out at him before snagging the last bite of his breakfast. He even went so far as turning in his chair so he was deliberately not angled toward Clint anymore, his whole posture fairly screaming nonchalance.

“Yeah, sure, uh huh. The writing has been on the wall about your feelings on that front for years. Sure, not as long as for James, because wow did you have a hard-on for them, but immediate and crushing is totally the right way to put it for Pepper too. It’s because she’d wreck you in a heartbeat and never stop walking, isn’t it?”

Tony glanced back to him, setting his fork down carefully. “A little bit. But we work in business circles together and I have to be careful about that. You wouldn’t know this, because business has never been your interest, but an omega in business circles? Uphill battle. I can’t really risk anyone thinking that I’m going to hand things over just because she’s a soulmate of mine and happens to be a beta. I mean, I won’t lie, it’s not an impossibility, someday, but that day isn’t today, and I damn well don’t want to deal with the flack that would come with people getting in my face about me ‘settling down’. It’s not an issue so much right now because James spends so much time dodging the public eye that no one comprehends that they and I are actually an item. But her? No, people would know the second we decided to go for it because she is very public, mainly because I am. You see?”

“I think you might be overestimating the typical human being a bit there in your paranoia Tony.”

“Maybe, but I’m an arms dealer, one of the very best. You really think I can afford the risk? Bad enough that Obie handles more than half the business, but at least that’s a carryover from dad’s time, you know? People can overlook that flaw in my way of operating. If they see me focusing on a relationship though, especially with someone I work with, especially a soulmate? People will assume I’m primping her for a handover in no time. It sucks, a lot, but it’s true. So, for now, I’ll leave her in James’ hands and hope for the best. I can tackle the ‘I do what I want’s later on down the line when I know the uproar won’t spoil anything.”

“And it doesn’t hurt that you’re worried that she doesn’t feel the same either.” Clint peered over the rim of his cup at him rather pointedly, settling back in his chair.

“No, I suppose it doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t help either.” He grimaced right back. “But this? All this is beside the point. So let’s get back to the travel arrangements for your friend, shall we?”

“God, sometimes you’re an asshole even when you’re being sweet.”

“I know. It’s a gift.”

Chapter Text

They were adorable. Tony knew perfectly well that Clint wouldn’t agree with the sentiment if he knew it was being leveled at him, but really, there was no other word for it. They were sickeningly cute in a way that the omega knew that even he and James hadn’t managed to reach, and they, at the very least, had the buffer of calling soulmate if anyone tried to call them out on it. Clint and Laura had no such thing.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Laura was, in fact, an amazing person in her own right, entirely removed from Clint. Still, the young beta, not that she was all that much younger than him, just sort of grew on a person, settling into their attention and drawing their focus around her. It was a magnificent gift and one that Tony knew that he himself had, though his own tended to get him into trouble whereas hers seemed to be getting her out of it. Though, maybe that was part of it too when all was said and done. Regardless of all of these facts, or maybe even because of them, the two of them had quickly become friends.

Pepper was incredulous but thoughtful, and Clint, well. Clint pouted about it every time Laura turned her gaze on someone who wasn’t him while he was home, regardless of the reason for that regard shift. Which, of course, brought it all right back around to the cute thing, and the fact that the beta was a magnificent cook, which was something that she and James had to work to between them given that the two seemed to be having a bit of a... turf war.

At last check, James had control of where everything went, while Laura had control of what got bought. Tony really had no idea what that meant in a practical sense though, as any time he asked he was just told that no, he didn’t need to order in, dinner was planned thank you and it really didn’t matter which one he aimed it at either. Not that he didn’t love their cooking, either one, but... well... He missed pizza. He missed pizza very very much.

Which was how they got back to why he was thinking about how adorable the two were. James was away on one of his littlest soulmate expeditions, and Tony had managed to get a word in edgewise a couple hours previously about his sadness on the pizza front. This had not, as he’d somewhat optimistically hoped, led to an opportunity to support some poor student driver, and had, instead, turned into the hilarity of watching Clint darting around the kitchen, doing his level best to keep up with Laura’s demands as she directed him here and there, all the while being quite insistent that they should have enough pizza for guests.

Which was fair, because Happy had already turned up, as had Pepper at the mention of homemade pizza, and Tony only imagined that other bits of the household would turn up out of the woodwork for some of the meal given half a chance. After all, Happy had had Laura’s cooking before, and Pepper had actually helped once when the beta was making bread, on the claim that it helped her ‘work out her frustrations’. Given that Pepper’s job was managing his life, Tony had, understandably, been a bit justifiably alarmed by her ferocity. He had absolutely no desire for that kind of punching to come his way, thank you very much.

Still, this day was not that day, and while the pizza dough had needed some attention, they’d moved past that. Mostly. Clint’s current status as a badly made up ghost due to the bottom of the flour bag giving out as he took it from the cupboard said that the beta was stuck at this stage until a shower could be had. And, even better, the mishap had given Tony ample excuse to stay well away from the cooking area, because really, he didn’t want to get in the way of such experts.

Such a declaration had led to threats from Clint that he’d eat Tony’s portion, only for Laura to swat him with her spoon before sticking it in the sauce. Thus, all was well in Tony’s universe. The couple, though they hadn’t declared anything, were being cute, they were making him dinner, and he had a nice collection of family near enough to poke at.

He really, truly shouldn’t go forgetting that they could poke back though, and it was Laura, with her infinite wisdom and worryingly perceptive eyes that decided to drag her bystanders into the conversation.

It seemed that being near the cooking area was enough to make someone a target.

“So, Tony, Pepper. I know that James has been dating both of you, but I’m really curious why you two keep avoiding dating each other.” She looked over her shoulder, then moved to start on something, onions maybe? Either way, it kept her hands busy and her gaze focused away from them, which was good, as he could see Pepper turning a little pink out of the corner of his eye.

“I know I’ve explained this in your hearing before Laura. Hell, I know I’ve explained it more times than there’s any reason to explain it.” Hunkering down in his seat, the omega almost grumbled the words, earning a commiserative pat on the back from Happy.

“Oh, we’ve all heard your reasons Tony, but I wasn’t really talking to you this time. I am curious why you weren’t curious though. I mean, so far as I know you two never actually talked about it?” Again there was a short glance before the beta moved to another section of counter, effectively silencing Tony.

When all eyes turned to Pepper, it was beyond clear that she’d been dodging answering this for a while, which only highlighted the fact that no, she really had never said anything one way or another after the day they met. Sure, Tony had flirted a bit, and Pepper had been, well, perfect back, but she’d never done anything but be ambiguous about it. Which was fine, it worked, or would if everyone had stopped poking at it for two seconds. Still, as the silence drew out and the beta got more flushed, Tony wondered.

“Yes, okay. Okay, I’ll talk to Tony so all of you, please, just stop staring at me.” Pepper shot a stern look from person to person, though her gaze softened a bit when it landed back on Tony. “Right. My reasons are your reasons Tony.”

“Oh. So you agree that it’s responsible to do it this way for now...?” He trailed off, confused at her shaking her head, and he didn’t protest in the least when she reached out and took his hand.

“No. Tony. Your reasons are my reasons. You have reasons. You want to hold it off and not do it right now, and I decided to not make it harder on you. I do love you, and you know that, just like I know you love me. We figured that out pretty quickly I think, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to make it something else just yet, right? So, for now, until you’re ready to stop telling everyone your reasons not to, I’ll wait, and I’ll get to know the other love of your life, as well as the amazing family that I’m part of because of you, okay?”

Tony opened his mouth, then closed it, before he laced their fingers tightly together and squeezed, feeling a little lost, but happy, in a kind of bubbly, unexpected way. The pressure was off, just like that, as he held her gorgeous gaze and just listened to the sheer sincerity of her words. When he spoke, his tone was just a little rough from the unexpected upswing of emotion. “So basically, you’re waiting for me to come around because you’re already there.”

Pepper quirked her lips, giving a small nod, never breaking eye contact. “Basically.”

Whatever the omega planned to say to that, what came out of his mouth definitely wasn’t it. Which made him realize that maybe her way was the right way for them after all. “So maybe tomorrow.”

She flashed him a small, knowing smile. “Tomorrow would be fine Tony.”

Nodding once, sharply, Tony ripped his gaze away from her and looked at their audience of three, waving his other hand through the air. “What are you all staring at? Aren’t you making pizza? And you, Clint, is that pan smoking?”

When the blond cursed and whipped around to salvage whatever he’d been fussing at on the stove, the heavy mood was broken.

But that was fine, because today, he was getting pizza.

And maybe tomorrow, a date.

Chapter Text

Tony, sitting out on his beach on an absolutely magnificent day, found himself having a conundrum. Now, this had nothing to do with the beach, nor with the lovely day, but rather to do with the company and lack thereof that happened to be sharing it with him.

James was away searching again.

Now, Tony didn’t actually begrudge the alpha their search, not really. In fact, he understood. Given that he himself had spent years hunting them down with little to no success he felt he had a particularly interesting perspective on the matter. That didn’t mean, however, that it hadn’t been years, and that as time flew, that the chances of those leads taking them anywhere useful would actually increase. No, the honest, glaring fact of the matter was simple, if painful, and it was that littlest soulmate wasn’t theirs to find. Once, he would have disagreed with this wholeheartedly, but that time had gone, and he saw now the same worn, tattered edges in his lover as he’d seen in himself before the alpha had finally come home.

The thing about that situation, however, that he could not, should not, forget was that he never found James. James had come home, and Tony had actually had very little to do with the matter at all. No, all Tony had been able to do was follow leads that went nowhere while waiting, and it had been only when he set aside the search to start living again that his lost alpha found their way home.

If two people were searching, they would constantly miss one another. Wasn’t that what children were told? ‘If you lose me, find somewhere safe and wait there for me to come find you’? He suspected that this situation was no different, and given the circumstances, that perhaps the soulmate in question was searching as well. After all, when it came down to it, the one in the safe place wasn’t littlest soulmate. No, just as it had been with James, the one searching on this end should maybe hold still and let themselves be found instead, to be a little traceable so that the other half of the search wouldn’t have to keep covering their own tracks again to see if they’d been retread.

He could talk to James about any of this, all of it even, but he had the suspicion that while the alpha would listen, ze wouldn’t exactly be willing to stop, not entirely. Which was fine, really, but Tony was worried. The young child had to have started into being a teenager by now, growing well away from them and possibly not even remembering. The world was big, and any group that could keep one person hidden was very likely able to hide another. That was just a simple truth of things.

Tony let out an aggravated sigh and dropped back on his towel, tipping his face up to the sun and hearing a soft chuckle from his left because of it. He swatted without looking. “Rude, cupcake.” The grumble was halfhearted at best, and he let the presence of his longest-standing soulmate draw him out of his circular thoughts. He knew himself, he would have been at it for far, far too long.

“Nuh-uh, I’m allowed to laugh. I’ve been watching you glare at the ocean for a good half hour you know, and that’s the first time you moved in all that time. I was starting to think I’d have to turn you myself to make sure that you didn’t manage to get yourself a sunburn.” When Rhodey reached out, lightly prodding a paler slice of skin, Tony promptly whined at him and smacked at his fingers. So rude. “Hey, don’t fuss at me, you sunburn way easier than I do snicker doodle.”

“I am not that pale.” When he caught the look on Rhodey’s face, he groaned and threw his arm across his eyes. “I’m not. Not everyone is blessed with a sun-kissed wonder of a complexion that nearly never burns.”

“True. The rest of this household is made out of combustible material compared to me...” The laugh was clear in the alpha’s voice, and he rested his hand on Tony’s chest, instantly cooling a handprint of skin through the expediency of blocking the sun. “But really, whose fault is that? Not mine. I just picked you. You picked the rest of this crowd of pink asses.”

“You say that like having a pink ass is somehow a problem?” Tony flashed him a smirk as he moved his arm enough to peek past it, very pleased with the chance to jump on that one.

“Totally different context. I doubt anyone here wants it to be sun-inflicted, no matter what their proclivity is. And I know you aren’t into getting spanked. Typically at least. Or has that been changing for your dear darling Bucky boo?” Tony could feel the shadow as Rhodey leaned over him, clearly amused as he took in the expression that Tony just knew he had to be making. After all, Tony was always willing to try something at least once, sometimes more if he was on the fence about it. “Ohhhh, so not changing for them but someone. Hmm, Pepper then. Nice. I’m glad she’s been good for you.”

Tony shoved him back enough he could sit up and huffed, face pink for a reason that had nothing to do with the sun. “Oh, shut up. Just because you’re a switch doesn’t mean you get to pick on us folks who actually need a little self-care.” He was quiet for a moment, drawing up a knee to rest his chin on it as he considered how to frame this. Proclivities were still something that many in the psychiatry field were trying to get laws in place for, after all, and while Tony tossed money at foundations where he could, it only helped so much. It also didn’t make ways to talk about it come any quicker. “Besides, just because I’m a dominant doesn’t mean I can’t give up control. It just means I have to make sure I have my own turn in charge with someone every now and again, and James is perfectly okay with being that someone for me these days. Pepper’s... Well, she’s a hungrier dominant than I am, you know? She needs attention more often, and I think that’s why she decided to be a PA. Control through serving and all that, you know?”

“Whereas you usually settle your instincts by flinging your weight around at the company. Yeah, I get you.” The alpha wrapped his arm around Tony’s shoulders, pulling him against his side and off balance. “But I know that bedroom antics weren’t what had you making me wonder what the ocean had done to you lately.”

“Nah, that was littlest soulmate. James has been searching a long time, you know? I worry about them.”

“I recall a certain someone doing something similar for a ridiculously long time and forgetting to call often enough while he did. I think James might have one up on that certain someone.”

Tony huffed at the pointed comment, nudging in with his shoulder and shaking his head. “It’s different. Not the search, but it’s been longer, to say nothing of the fact of the ages involved...” He trailed off with a grimace. “I really think I should ask him to call off the search. It’s tapered off, but the leads are pretty damn tenuous these days, you know? On the other hand, littlest soulmate, who I realized a few minutes ago I should probably find another nickname for.”

Rhodey raised his eyebrows at that one, as he knew just how stubborn Tony could be about nicknames once one stuck. “We’ll come back to the search bit, but a nickname change? Really? That’s not like you.”

“Sure it is snow pea, I change yours all the time.”

“No, you change your affectionates, not your nickname. So, what’s up? It’s not like anyone younger has popped up in the group.”

“You’re right that they haven’t... but what if they do? I got a new soulmark last year, you know that. I mean, right now they’re just a tiny little baby. How can I go calling James’ the littlest when I know there’s a much newer and younger one out there now?”

“Maybe the bit where you haven’t had anyone, let alone yourself, meet said tiny baby?”

“I thought of that, but, well, I seem to have met quite a lot of you. I suspect I’ll meet them too, eventually.”

“Oh, probably. You have way too many soulmates already met for the odds to not be in your favor.”

“Yeah, that, exactly. So, littlest soulmate.”

Rhodey fell quiet, humming low in his chest. “How about you switch over to little lizard then? The mark looks almost like scales on James and they’re certainly hard enough to catch.”

Tony snorted a breath, shaking his head. “Little lizard. Loses one tail and grows another? Yeah, alright, we can do that.”

“Perfect! Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Rhodey moved without any further warning, scooping Tony up and heading for the water. “It’s far too nice of a day to waste sitting on the beach.”

“Hey! We were having a moment! Put me down! Rhodey!!”

The only answer Tony got was a short flight as Rhodey tossed him in and followed immediately after, setting off a rather intense splashing war.

The ass.

Chapter Text

“...and Jane’s finally gotten her first classes worked out instead of just doing lectures for the various professors and sticking to lab work. From what I can see, she’s not exactly sold. One student, she’d probably be fine with, but apparently, the notion of steering the course for a greater number than that is, ah, unpleasant? She promised to cover the gap this semester until they found another person, or it grew on her, and so far it’s up in the air if she’s going to buckle down in stubbornness or escape at the first opportunity.”

Tony snorted softly, tilting his head so he could see the clock off to his left. Half an hour and not once had Bruce mentioned his current project, which was both fascinating and worrying as hell as far as Tony was concerned. No news was never good news when one of your soulmates was doing genetic research involving radiation. Still, instead of addressing that little niggle, Tony had dropped leading questions to get Bruce to glowingly fill him in on everything his two local soulmates were up to. So far they’d gone over Betty’s new favorite shoes, the restaurant that they’d all been to, as a group and in a date like pair, or double date where Jane was concerned. Tony had heard at length about Betty’s father and how wonderful the man was, with all due sarcasm mind, and the sheer overwhelming expectations that seemed to come with the alpha.

On the one hand, the poor alpha needed to let go and allow his child to go off and have a life of her own. On the other hand, Bruce was family now and the military hawk could serve to remember that truth. When Tony asked why the elder Ross was in Bruce’s face, the beta told him that it was about resources of all things. Which had confused Tony horribly until he’d been informed that no, their connection had not been revealed as he didn’t want to lean on Tony’s assets to win the grizzly jerk over. Even if it would have made Bruce’s life dramatically easier.

Stupid, stubborn, brilliant soulmate, really. Tony had let his sigh talk for him on that one. Now, they’d finally moved on from the Ross parent/child pair and he found himself realizing that he was very likely not going to be able to make this one of their longer calls. In fact, he was kind of surprised Pepper hadn’t already torn through to drag him off to the board meeting yet, complete with fussing over the rumple in his suit from his upside down and slightly sideways position sprawled over the couch.

“My vote is on stubborn. Of course, given her specialization, she just has to find a way to pelt that at her students and the ones who don’t think it’s ‘real science’ will flee in droves. Two birds, one stone. She doesn’t have to escape because the students will do the escaping for her. Well, except for the really devoted and the really desperate. Which, as you well know, is practically the same thing once you get to college.”

There was a discernible pause from Bruce’s end at that, which Tony decided was a victory. It didn’t last long. “The worst part about what you just said is that I can see it very easily. You spend less time with her than I do, how can you possibly know her better than I do? You do this every time, which, I’ll remind you, is why I no longer make bets about Jane’s career choices.”

“I thought you liked what I picked to do on your vacation days.” Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Tony worked on getting upright, noting it was the long-delayed Pepper. Though, he was only five minutes late, so he didn’t think it was too bad yet. “Are you trying to say you didn’t like me picking out your vacations?”

“Tony, I love you, but if the next time I go skydiving is never, I’ll be a very happy man.”

“You have no sense of adventure.” Pepper was at the door, a small frown on her face which said she wasn’t too upset just yet, but she also hadn’t gotten a look at him yet. A quick glance down at himself said he was by no means presentable at the moment. Dressed, yes, impressive, no.

“I have all of the sense of adventure. I just don’t have your sense of adventure.”

“Which is your problem right- Pepper! Hi. You’re looking really nice today.”

Even as Pepper’s eyes moved over his outfit, noting every wrinkle and smudge, Tony heard another, longer pause from Bruce’s end of the line. “Tony, are you supposed to be somewhere else right now?”

“Yes, he is, and he’s already late.” Giving her a beautiful smile wasn’t enough to stop the scowl that accompanied the words, and he quickly headed toward the bedroom to fetch himself a fresh outfit when she jabbed her finger that direction.

The amazing part about JARVIS’ current setup was that he could follow Tony with calls now. Which he had shown off like mad at the first opportunity, though that had been a while ago. “What Pepper means to say is that I apparently have a board meeting and I’m a little workshop rumpled at the moment. My hands and face are clean! Once I change into something new I’ll be good to go, and only a little late too. You know how close we live to the office out here.”

“You mean the half-hour commute on a day with clear weather and no traffic? What time is this thing?”

“Ah... five minutes ago? Don’t worry, the people the board meeting is for won’t be on the line for at least another forty minutes. All the hubbub beforehand is just last minute panicking from the board, really. Who needs to listen to that?”

“One of these days, Pepper is going to beat you to death with a shoe, and all I’ll be able to say about it is that you had it coming.”

Tony huffed, stripping the moment he was in the room, setting his cufflinks aside to put away later and heading for his closet. “I’m not that bad Brucie, don’t be like that.”

“You are, otherwise this call wouldn’t have been interrupted by Pepper in the first place.”

“That’s low. I miss you you know.”

Tony’s tone had been light, but clearly, Bruce picked up something that he hadn’t intended to share because his own was more serious. “I know you do, and I’ll come visit when I can. This project is just really close to a breakthrough, I can feel it.”

“Your super secret military project is more important than a home visit. Believe it or not, I get that and I agree. If you guys can get this to work it’ll help a lot of people. That’s why you’re in your field, right?”

“Do you even know what I’m doing? I thought I’d made sure to avoid disclosing details...?”

“You did, and I haven’t gone digging. But you like to help people Bruce, so I figure whatever this is, it’s meant to make life better for someone.”

“Sometimes, you’re incredibly sappy Tony. Thank you.”

He didn’t try to stop his grin, well, until Pepper appeared in the doorway, clearly intent on helping him dress because he was taking too long. “You’re welcome, it’s one of my charms. Talk to you soon?”

“Talk to you soon.”

There was a click, and then Tony hurried up with the dressing because Pepper was definitely getting that look in her eye, and she always picked the pointy cufflinks when she was irritated, which were, as noted, pointy. And impossible to fidget with without jabbing himself, which was terrible for a board meeting pretty much always.

Still, his mind was only half there, because he really was curious, and he really did miss Bruce, but he could, and would, be patient.

He’d find out what was up eventually.

Chapter Text

When the call came, it was Jane on the line. In the normal scheme of things, of course, this wouldn’t have been remotely alarming because she did, in fact, interact with the other members of their family on a decently regular basis. Admittedly, however, that was mostly long distance.

Unfortunately, it was not the normal scheme of things. To put it bluntly, things were so far from the normal scheme of things that it took a solid five minutes of talking Jane through what could only be called a panic attack before Tony could get her coherent enough to do more than make his instincts flare up protectively. It was a situation he knew a little too well, and damn if he didn’t wish that he could tell the things to stand down because he just knew this would be James all over again until he could make his everything settle its shit. Which wouldn’t happen until all known and interacted with soulmates had been checked in with and ensured the health of.

Shit.

Remembering all at once that Rhodey was very out of contact as of the night before only made him inwardly flail harder because no, he could not actually just start flinging out calls and have a nice, calming balm put to his damn instincts. No, this was going to drag out and get embarrassing, he could feel it in his bones. But that was for later. Right now, there was another omega from his family on the line, who had finally moved from single word sentences, which had been alarming enough, given they’d been sentences like ‘army’ ‘Bruce’ ‘green’ and ‘terrifying’ to something a bit more verbose but still less than reassuring.

“Okay, okay. Jane. Beautiful wonderful Jane. I’m appreciating the hell out of whatever has you upset, I am, but I can’t help if I can’t understand what happened. Can you give that another go around in a slightly more coherent order?” He could hear her drawing in a shaky breath, and had a fleeting moment to wonder where the fuck Betty was with Jane like this. Oh god, she wasn’t dead was she? No, he had to focus. He was being a grounding influence at the moment, though he was, admittedly, waving a hand wildly through the air at JARVIS to get him to bring anyone else on the grounds over ASAP.

Finally, after giving a quavering, short-lived laugh, she answered him. “The army was here. There were explosions, and they were chasing a big green man. The building where Betty and Bruce work was broken open from the inside and everyone was forced to keep away from it because there was some kind of radiation leak and Tony, no one would tell me anything.”

Tony let the silence hang for a moment, because of everything she’d just said, the most frightening thing was that she had no information. You couldn’t keep news about a soulmate away from a properly documented and accepted soulmate, not legally. It was why he’d put forth so much effort to block Hammer out of his affairs with his lawyers. He’d had to. And if he had to, he’d damn well leak the documentation that they had for Bruce to the public so that he could damn well find out what happened to his beta. “Jane. Do you have any idea what Bruce and Betty were working on? I know it was something medical, but I could never get Bruce to give me more than that.”

“The radiation was part of their experiments, and they let slip it had to do with a miracle cure of some kind. Cancer, I think? And Betty’s dad was in charge of the project. Army.” Jane’s voice was a little calmer, but still clipped around the edges, sharp and worried, and he didn’t blame her a bit.

“A big green man.” Closing his eyes, he tried to piece the information together into a picture that made sense. The military had no real interest in miracle cures that couldn’t be weaponized. He’d worked with them more than long enough to know that, and he also knew that Bruce was brilliant, if a little too on the idealistic side. He never asked the right questions, never got suspicious as long as his projects were aimed in the correct direction. He wouldn’t have been able to tell if one wasn’t, and god only knew what hid under the surface when the military came calling on civilian scientists who didn’t know better. “And radiation you say? Bruce’s field was focused on Gamma. Is that what we’re looking at here?”

More subdued this time, Jane’s voice was much quieter. “Yeah. The guy took Betty with him. I think- There was light blue on his belly. It was the only part of him that wasn’t green, but I couldn’t get close enough to see any better because of the military men. He looked my way though, and only a tank and him having Betty in his hands kept him going another direction.”

Tony let the silence draw out for a moment, letting out a rough breath as Clint and James both made their way into the room he was standing in. He must have looked particularly rough because neither hesitated to come over to him, Clint leaning on his side even as James hugged him from behind. “You think the big green guy was Bruce.”

“It would make sense if it was. He wasn’t very... calm though, whoever he was. He was kind of throwing vehicles at the army.”

“Given how freaked out you sounded I suspect there was a whole lot more to it than that.”

“Okay, yes. The army was also using heavy artillery in the middle of the campus.”

Tony closed his eyes, feeling the grip on him from behind tighten even as Clint squeezed his arm and hurried off to, probably, start making calls to the rest of the family. “The army was trying to kill someone who was probably Bruce and he was less than thrilled about it while being big and green.” He knew he sounded a little faint, but his mind was already spinning ahead, looking at ways he’d need to sort this out, to fix the situation to ensure Bruce was safe.

“That’s what I think, yes. I’m worried. Scared too, but more worried now that you calmed me down.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be there in a couple hours with as many reinforcements as are nearby. We’ll figure it out, and we’ll make sure Bruce and Betty are safe, alright?”

“I trust you, Tony. See you soon?”

“Soon. Prepare to be linked to the Stark family, because we’re going to need the leverage.”

There was a moment of silence, then a sigh, but she clearly understood. “Needs must. I’ll find out what else I can before you get here.”

“Perfect.” When the call clicked off, Tony dumped the phone in his pocket without a second thought, pivoting in place to hug James back.

He should have known things had been calm for too long, really. Back into the breach and all that.

And heaven help everyone involved if Bruce really was Mr. Big Green and Hunted because he was not going to put up with any of that bullshit on his watch.

Nobody got away with harming his soulmates, let alone hunting them. Not on his watch.

Not ever.

Chapter Text

It was a media shit show. And by shit show, Tony meant that someone leaked about more than just Bruce.

See, the thing about soulmates was that while the two involved parties always knew, those around them had to be told. Sometimes, almost perfect looking similar marks were a mismatch, though there were the few rare cases where someone had pulled a fast one in some way on that alone. Such a thing was nearly impossible, at least it was so long as both members of a bond were fully cognizant.

Tony, being the smart guy he was, had arranged all his paperwork, but had it locked down in legal, had made sure that all his people, and their people, were accounted for in case something ever happened.

Unfortunately, that also, this time, became what happened.

His plan to leak about Bruce, and only Bruce, discreetly but with timely effort, rather ended up like the results someone would get should they poke a hole in a waterbed that’s full to capacity. Word got out, and now everyone was under fire. Pepper was getting the worst of it, unfortunately, her position at Tony’s side suddenly being questioned by all comers, and speculation was high about how soon it would be before Tony retired to be ‘a proper omega’ from the more traditional corners of the media. People wanted to know who Tony’s mystery James Barnes was, and if the man had any relation to the James Barnes, and of course, everyone wanted to know about the elusive people who were just names on paper but the media had never properly gotten a look at.

It was, all in all, not how Tony had planned for things to go, and added stress that he really could have done without while he was already trying to neutralize one emergency. Suffice to say, Pepper had been rather aggressive as she ripped through Legal in her attempt to find out who fucked things up. Tony figured that if she didn’t find her victim to be there within the next day, she’d be moving on to the Public Relations department instead. Suffice to say, Tony was content to not get in the middle of that disaster.

Instead, he was digging deep into files to try to figure out what contracts Ross was personally gifted with via Stark Industries so he could effectively stomp the shit out of him and stop him from being a complete dick as things were. That, and Tony had been on pins and needles for about three days now, switching between files to do with the company, and those to do with Ross’ private projects for the military. He was not pleased about what he’d found, in either case, but he could, and would, work with it. He needed this solved yesterday.

He was worried about Bruce. Especially given that Betty had confirmed that yes, big and green had been the other scientist. That would have been great news if he’d gotten it without Betty’s follow up that he’d run the fuck away. Still, there was a silver lining, and Tony had gotten to see Betty tearing into her dad on camera. Apparently, she’d never told the man that Bruce was hers the way only a soulmate ever could be, and screaming at him about it at high volume had been exactly the catharsis to all of Ross’ high handed bullshit in the beta’s general that Betty had needed. Tony couldn’t say he hadn’t appreciated the moment of levity watching that footage had given him.

Sadly, it hadn’t lasted, as it was just an hour after that when the news had broken and all of Tony’s soulmates had been leaked rather than just the one, which had, admittedly, set Tony into something of a paranoid tailspin.

Which is how he came to be here, remote in hand as he stared at the television across the room, as he had to recalculate just about every plan of attack that had been pieced together in the back of his mind because what the shit was this fuckery?

The Hammer Scandal, previously just speculation, on one channel, Pepper and his respective positions on another, commentary about the Stark Stock situation on yet another, and somehow, some way, Bruce had flown entirely under the radar in the chaos. Yes, the big green man was mentioned on a couple news stations, replaying the old footage from the initial disaster, but other than that, it was all strangely quiet on that front. There was no real mention of him in the soulmate scandals and speculation, the whole military mess about him being big and green was oddly downplayed, and he was being incredibly hard to track.

Though, if Tony were even remotely fair to himself, he’d had to start from scratch trying to find a way to piggyback on localized signals based around Bruce’s situation, especially when the trackers used initially started showing a scattering of false leads.

But Tony wasn’t in the habit of being fair to himself when his soulmates were in danger.

Which might explain why the remote, formerly in Tony’s hand, ended up wrecking the TV screen with a worryingly loud electric buzz when Tony’s attempt to clear his head with the news before going back to work simply backfired spectacularly.

All in all, it could have been going better.

But it also could have been going worse.

Chapter Text

It was another three weeks before Tony caught up to Bruce. During that time, several things had become glaringly obvious. First of all, he and Ross were going to have a very long, very pointed, conversation about for what purposes his weaponry was used. The weapons had been sold to his department for the defense of Americans, not the enslavement of anyone, and he was rather irked when one of the calls in the morass of fuckery that was his mate names being released was a petition for something to better take down said mate.

It was probably for the best that Pepper had intercepted that particular call and contract offer. His own reaction probably would have been disproportionately furious.

In that same vein, however, he’d learned that Ross was nothing if not determined, because every time Tony thought he might have caught up to Bruce, he arrived at the location of a signal just to find military containment teams there first. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was being followed. Unfortunately, he did know better and was just aware that he clearly just needed a faster jet. After all, there was military all over the world that could be moved out and he was just one guy.

However, it was during these jaunts that point the next came to his attention. He’d been aware, as he always had, that the military had nicknames. He was even peripherally alert to the fact that Stark Industries as a whole was considered an Iron God, in spite of Rhodey’s efforts to keep that particular nickname from floating back to him. He’d found out via Hammer of all people, who had been complaining during one of their infrequent interactions about being called an Iron Cockroach, which nobody had apparently taken any pains to hide from him at all. Still, it wasn’t until this unbuffered interaction with Army fellows that he finally grasped that they were calling him that rather than the company. While flattering, as he knew damn well that it was a compliment, it also made him wonder. What was he doing so differently that landed him with so much of a better title than his weapon maker contemporaries, really?

He promised himself to look into it, if only to satisfy his own curiosity.

Sadly, not all the points that had been obvious to him were things that needed to go on his to-do list for the company. One of them was wholly personal, if not a bit depressing. Bruce never called him. On the one hand, maybe he wasn’t able to, that was possible, but Tony was a realist. Bruce hadn’t called, and if he was capable, that was a whole snarl of things that were no small amount of worrying. But what could he do, really, other than what he was already doing?

So he went from place to place, slowed down by having to check in with the various governments at the myriad of airports he’d seen in this little world hopping spree. Upside? Yay contacts! Downside? Wow, a lot of people out there really didn’t like him. Which he’d known objectively, but it was still a bit jarring to really get a look at the faces full of hostility in the places the American Military had been as he made his way toward wherever Bruce had been last. It wasn’t all like that of course, but there was always a few outliers in every place like that, which was far from comfortable to Tony’s worldview.

It had never occurred to him that his name, his brand being on the weapons he sent out would ever be taken personally before this. After all, most of his interaction in these countries hadn’t been with the people any conflicts might have revolved around. It had been among the scientists, the rich folks, the carefully defended enclaves of the American people. It was enough to make him want to step up the non-weapon parts of the company, to find a way to soothe the hostility in these quarters, because clearly just being on board with a few of the charitable companies giving aid in the wake of wars was not enough.

Still, that wasn’t why he was going to those places, none of it, even if it had been a startling eye opener.

He was there for Bruce, and he honestly considered it a miracle when his most recent jaunt through a forest didn’t come out to yet another village or town with Army folks crawling all over it. It did make him wary too though, because there was no big green fella anywhere, just people, plain old people, and that meant that Bruce had, in fact, had the option to contact him. He didn’t turn around and go home though. This month had been beyond a disaster and he refused to just give up when he was this close to checking on his panicking soulmate.

He wasn’t alone, no, but the other two had gotten hung up in customs, so Tony had hurried ahead, fully intending to find Bruce before he bolted again. And managing it. While also telling Tony that he really needed to learn another language because he really had no idea what the hell the locals were saying. Thankfully, he managed to get by on a hodgepodge of a couple of languages, the non-English ones, that he knew, and it took him off to Bruce. Who looked, well, not fine, but definitely unhurt.

Tony didn’t wait for the man to look up and actually see him before he made a beeline for him, throwing himself at the other scientist in a gesture that nearly had the poor beta jumping out of his skin. For all that, Tony didn’t let go, instead puzzling over the shift in his soulmate’s scent and what it probably meant. He was also muttering into his shoulder as he felt cautious hands rest on his shoulders.

“You never call, you never write, and you’re missing the best media storm in forever.” If he sounded a little choked, Tony really didn’t give a shit.

He did give a shit that Bruce was apparently alarmed at his presence though. “Tony? What? How? Why are you here?”

That was enough to get him to lift his head at least, pinning him with a glare. They were in a village in the middle of a forest that wasn’t even close to being in America and Bruce wanted to know why he was there? What the actual fuck? “Well, you see, Brucie bear, when one of my soulmates goes missing and then gets chased by the military I usually have an issue with that.” He gave him a smile that was more teeth than happiness. “Especially when they don’t call me.”

Bruce’s eyes went a little wide at the reaction, wary, but he didn’t push him away, instead tightening his hold on Tony enough to settle the omega’s nerves to a degree. “Tony... I couldn’t. You have no idea-”

“Yeah, I do.” He knew there were probably about to be excuses, and frankly, he had no interest in hearing them. “Something happened, and you went through big enough population centers a couple times that there had to be a phone somewhere. But no, no calls. I found out all this was going down from Jane. Not you, not even Betty, who I hear you made off with in the initial what the fuck, but Jane. If she hadn’t called me, the first person to the table would have been Ross who is on my shit list by the way.” He noticed the flare of color in Bruce’s eyes at the alpha’s name and was intrigued but it didn’t stop his scolding in the least. “And that would have been hellish because I wouldn’t have known one of my people was involved and probably would have actually helped just to get him to shut up and go away and finding out later would have been mighty upsetting!”

When he paused to breathe, he noted that Bruce was breathing very carefully himself, and the green hadn’t actually gone away, though it wasn’t sparking anywhere but his eyes. Fascinating was definitely a good word. “You’re in danger being near me right now Tony. It was safer to keep you out of it. I shouldn’t have involved Betty either, but he didn’t exactly give me a choice about that one when he took over.”

“He? Wait. You don’t mean Ross do you?”

Bruce twitched back a little when Tony got up on his toes to look more closely into his face but didn’t move to push Tony away. He gritted his teeth, uneasiness clear in his bearing, but Tony noted that he also seemed to just breathe more deeply too, clearly scenting him as a counterbalance. Bruce had never been much for that behavior, so it was pretty attention-getting. “No. I don’t mean Ross. Tony, there’s... another being in my head now, okay? You need to go. He’s rage and danger and I don’t want you hurt because of me.”

“...So you were working on a variation of the serum. Good to know. I mean, I guessed, but confirmation is always nice. Also? I’m pretty sure your ‘other being’ has already classed me as a non-threat because you’re staring at me with pretty green eyes and don’t look like you’re struggling at all. I’ve seen the footage, said other being is a pretty, but huge, green behemoth right?”

Bruce’s wariness collapsed into a weak sort of bewildered confusion at Tony’s apparently unrelated topic shift, one that didn’t really seem to clear up as he kept talking. “Wait. Tony, what? How did you even...? Even I didn’t realize that and it was my project.” He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it again, clearly hesitant to continue with anything else before that was addressed.

“Ah, right, you’ve been away so much you probably don’t know about that, do you? James. Ze’s got the serum, well, a variation, and you knew that, right?” When he got a wary nod, Tony smiled back. “Well, James is a twofer. I mean, the collective pair is just James, but the older one has finally moved into being alright with being called Bucky since them being James while the whole was James was causing some confusion, and the younger one is Borya. Borya is kind of, uh, not unlike your other half there, if I understand the situation right. Just minus the big and green side effects. So, serum. See?”

“How- What? Tony, why didn’t I know this?”

“You’ve been busy? I mean, it took forever for them to let me in on it, but ze’s gotten better about it. Anyone who’s been home for more than a few days at a time knows now. Still not sure Rhodey does, to be honest, but you know. Military and all that.”

Bruce’s voice was a little weak. “Right. Of course. This isn’t like that Tony. There’s no sentience on the other side of this thing. I’m not safe.”

“Yeah, sure, but no.” Tony raised his eyebrows. “Just come home with me. If you’re dangerous I’ll kick you down to the beach until you cool your jets alright? Just gotta fly home first.” He noted the grimace and rolled his eyes. “I’ll hold your hand until we get there if I have to. You’re staying calm now aren’t you? Even though your eyes are a really pretty green at the moment?”

“Right... But Tony...”

“Nope. Don’t care. You can regale me with your danger senses and stuff later, time to go now though, yeah? The other two probably finally cleared customs so they can catch up and they both move faster than I do. We can intercept them on the way back.”

“Tony, you’re not listening.”

“Nor do I plan to!” Tony’s tone was bright as he pulled back, but his expression was serious. “We’re going home. Now. You being out here alone isn’t safe and I’ll just keep following until you do, you realize that, don’t you?”

Bruce opened his mouth, very clearly about to deny, then hesitated, taking a moment to really examine Tony’s face. After another beat, he obviously remembered who he was talking to. “Yeah, okay. Fine. But I’m taking off the moment I get dangerous. It doesn’t take much now.”

Tony just gave a dismissive scoff and laced the fingers of their hands together as he finally stepped out of the hug, heading back to the edge of the village and towing his errant soulmate behind.

He doubted the military would be much behind him and his, honestly, and he really didn’t want to be here to greet them.

Chapter Text

“Why didn’t I know about this?”

The words were enough to make Tony pause in the doorway, his mouth closing as he decided that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t the day for him to brightly announce himself into the conversation. In fact, he even checked if he was welcome, gaze flitting between Bruce and James before he made his way over to curl against his alpha’s side so he could listen. Neither protested this course of action, which was, honestly, a relief. He suspected he wouldn’t need to say much but he felt better knowing he’d have some idea of where Bruce’s head was at.

“We spent a long time learning to cover for it. My memories... Even in the ones from before Borya really came into their own, during the war, I knew something wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. There was an echo in my thoughts and I stopped having nightmares, even though I’d gone through things that should have given me more. There’s a reason I never told Steve what I suspected had been done to me, and part of it was that I thought it had made me crazy. Now... I can’t imagine not being like this now.”

“That doesn’t sound like my situation. He’s not here to help me with anything the way yours sounds like they were. No, he’s just rage, there to wreck things and hurt people, nothing else.”

“You don’t know that. You’ve only had him a few weeks now, right? I had Borya longer before ze even once tried to communicate with me in any way instead of passively existing. If anything, I would say that your other half is far more developed than mine started. It was desperation that brought them forward, for me, when we let go of who I was in Bucky and focused on survival. When I stopped being so fixated on maintaining who I was and accepted who we were instead.”

There was no denying the expression on Bruce’s face, and Tony glanced to James, noting their frustrated expression before looking back to his beta. Okay, time to maybe jump in, just a little. “Hey, Brucie bear, think of it this way. What they’re saying is that you have an alter ego that’s as brilliant as you are, relatively speaking. Also, you have to admit, having his own body and different sensations probably make something of a difference too. You are most definitely not a big green guy, so who knows what that does to alter the way he views the world?” There was a beat of pause, then Tony frowned as a thought struck him. “Is he a he?”

For all that Bruce had clearly been gearing up to argue with him, the question was enough to knock him off track. “What?”

“I mean, you’re a he, and he’s a part of you, sure, but does he even have a sense of gender identity? He’s new, right? I mean, by rights we should be using ze, shi, or even it right now, but you’ve been using he. A sense of self like that is a sign of higher thought, as far as I knew.”

“Borya never identified with a gender, though I used to be a he.” James’ voice was quiet, and ze shook their head slightly. “These days I don’t like being a he either, but there’s a distinct difference to it.” Blue eyes turned speculative, and the alpha leaned forward slightly, examining Bruce carefully. “But you’ve never once faltered in using he. Tony kind of has a point about that, and you’re a relatively polite person. If you didn’t think that your other half had something to them, you would have defaulted to it, wouldn’t you?”

“Ah, well, I mean.” He broke off with a grimace, clearly not liking the fact that they both seemed to have a point. “He’s just a he okay? That doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous to everyone here.”

Tony snorted softly. “Yeah, but no. See, I’m here, and I’m one of yours, and while I haven’t gotten a chance to take a look and see if there’s a change in the marks, I know for a fact that Jane spotted mine on big green. My guess is that you guys share a soul, whatever else is true, if that’s an indicator of anything. And you have to admit I riled you up pretty hard before we got you home but you never once flipped over into the big version.”

When Bruce’s only answer was a decidedly unhappy expression, James stepped back in, cool, focused eyes intent on the beta in a way that said that ze would be heard. “Your other self is from you, the same way Bucky and I were once one. I do not think this is a thing shared beyond he and I, existing this way, but we cannot ask the others if they had secret selves that they did not speak of. Steve is gone, as is Red Skull, and there are no others.” James gave a single sharp shake of their head. “It does not matter if your other half is a danger. We will teach him to be safe, for the pack. We are here, and that is a thing we can do.”

Bruce pressed his lips together tightly, dark gaze sliding to Tony, lingering on him for a long, pensive moment before turning back to James. “...Fine. I’ll let you try. But!” He held up his hands, seeing that Tony was about to say something. “But. The first time I hurt someone as my, ah, ‘other half’, I’m leaving. I’m not going to risk the family over this. If I’m not safe, I’m not safe.”

Tony scrunched up his nose, then huffed sharply. “Intentional harm. If it’s an accident because of things that can’t be helped I refuse to let it count.”

“Tony...”

“No! It won’t count! I didn’t let James get away with that nonsense once their memories started to come back, so why would I let you?” Tony straightened up fully from his curl, scowling at his beta.

Bruce scowled right back but slumped back in his chair in turn. “Fine. Fine, Tony. But if ‘accidents’ keep happening then I reserve the right to change my mind.”

Tony huffed, but nodded anyway, getting to his feet. “Fine. Now that that’s settled, I’ll let you guys commune over your multiple facet selves. Also? Big green could use a name. Get on that, would you?”

“He uh... has one? Betty told me he called himself Hulk, actually. When I turned back.”

Tony paused, blinking a few times before rubbing his face with both hands. “Of course he does. And you tried to say he was just a rage ball. When he can talk. And did talk. Really? No, no, I’m leaving this to James.”

There was a definite glimmer of amusement on James’ face when Tony turned to them, but he didn’t comment, instead leaning down to drop a kiss on their lips before heading for the door, grumbling all the way. At least Borya had the decency not to laugh at him. He honestly wasn’t sure Bucky would have given him the courtesy if the look on his face was that amusing.

Still, this was good, finding these things out. It meant that Tony had more ammo when he dealt with Ross and his brilliance in the coming days, after all.

Which, really, he’d need. Especially if the idiotic alpha tried to bring his own weapons onto his property like he did back at Culver.

After all, here Tony had the home turf advantage, and anyone with a brain knew you didn’t give that to a Stark. Ever.

Then again... nobody had accused Ross of having a brain, now had they?

Chapter Text

There were a lot of ways Tony could have handled the situation as the chaos started to die down. Yes, he could have let it subside quietly, allowing legal to handle everything for him, and that would have been an amazingly convenient method of settling the matter. After all, it wasn’t like Betty hadn’t personally dealt with her father in a manner that was more than adequate, emotionally speaking. The alpha knew that at least one person, who he was supposedly close to, disapproved of his methods and the way he’d handled just about everything in the situation. He’d felt a penalty.

Really, if Tony were someone else, that probably would have been enough for him.

Tony was not someone else.

Tony was Tony, and that meant that he had to take it a couple steps further, to make sure that the absolute fool knew that he’d stepped into a hornets nest and that he was being given an absolute gift with the fact that Tony hadn’t torn him, and everything that mattered to him, apart with his own brand of influence and care. Simply speaking, he was lucky to still have a career, because Tony might not often wield his influence for private goals, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t. A career military alpha who pissed off someone who could call in favors was a liability that was very likely to end up with doors slammed in his face.

In not making sure that those doors slammed, Tony had been very kind. He’d given the fool another chance to prove that he was family and not a threat, but that chance came with conditions.

Those conditions were why Tony wasn’t in California at the moment, and instead had a drink in his hand as he settled into a comfortable seat halfway across the country from where he’d been that morning. He hadn’t brought any of his mates, not for this. He knew perfectly well that doing so would be more than a disaster, and the point of this little show of force wasn’t to remind Ross that he had people waiting in the wings.

It was to remind him that he had influence over people who controlled what those wings were doing.

Still, it seemed like his message was received regardless if the look on the Lieutenant General’s face was any indication. It also seemed that the alpha needed more prompting because he still didn’t look sorry yet. Taking a long, lazy sip off his glass, he decided to open the conversation himself. “You know, I always thought that our working relationship was at least a little cordial.”

“Considering how many contracts we’ve hammered out between the two of us in the past, I thought so too. You’re not about to let this little mess get in the middle of a perfectly decent relationship, are you?”

The words were enough to make Tony still, actively stunned that the alpha in front of him had actually had the audacity to call anything pertaining his soulmate, regardless of circumstance, a little mess. He wouldn’t have let that fly if it had been Hammer, let alone one of the ones he actively liked. Carefully setting his glass down, Tony turned his whole body to face the idiot currently stomping all over his goodwill and act of kindness. Perhaps, somehow, he’d missed the news? “I’m terribly sorry, but I must have misheard you. Or misunderstood. What, exactly, about this situation strikes you as a, how did you put it? Ah yes, a ‘little mess’. What part of this says little mess to you?”

Obviously picking up that his wording hadn’t been appreciated, the alpha straightened up. He didn’t, however, take it back. “This Banner problem. I’m aware of the news that came out, and I’m incredibly sorry that he’s made such a mess of your reputation. I’m just as upset about what happened with my child’s situation as you must be, being attached to a monster like that. Him getting away was... unanticipated.”

The longer the alpha talked, the more angry Tony found himself. Unfortunately, he also understood, and that was never a fun combination. Giving the military figure a long, lingering stare, he slowly shook his head. “I think we’ve had a rather unfortunate, and important, misunderstanding here. Did Betty not tell you she’s unhappy with your interference into her soulmate bond? I was under the impression that she had.”

“She did, of course she did, but she’s young, and he was the first of her soulmates that she met. I’m not going to hold her lack of forethought against her. When she calms down, she’ll understand that I’m doing this for her. He’s dangerous, and him being free could just lead to more death. She doesn’t need that on her shoulders, so I’ll take care of it. And now that you’re involved, it’s only going to get more important, isn’t it? In your business, it would be too easy for people to point the finger at you and claim that it was one of your projects that got out of hand.”

Tony felt just the tiniest bit ill over how very earnest the alpha was being. The idiot thought he was doing him a favor and that his displeasure was that he hadn’t carried through. Eternally grateful for the stint he took to get some stage training, Tony knew his face was stuck somewhere between blank and pleasant in spite of the edge of shrieking rage curled around his thoughts. “I see. I think, Ross, that I must make a few things clear for you that you seem to have missed. I am not, actually, in favor of human experimentation. I am not my dad, and I don’t think slapping together the next generation of super soldiers is a good idea.” He held up his hand when it seemed that the alpha might interject, his head giving a minute shake. “And unlike Betty, Bruce is not the first of my soulmates. In fact, he was rather late to the game, all told, though hardly the most recent of the lot to come to my attention.”

Ah, and there was the first hints of unease in the alpha’s bearing, the first touch of uncertainty as to what this conversation was about. “I hadn’t realized that the two of you had actually met previous to this... situation?”

Smiling brightly, the expression thoroughly false, Tony picked up his drink, swirling it in his fingers. “Oh yes, we’ve been in contact for years, actually. I wouldn’t expect you to keep up with scientist gossip, but there was an event where I jumped out the window about ten years or so ago? That’s when we met. We’re close.”

Watching the color start to drain out of the poor, idiot Lieutenant General’s face was downright refreshing. Sadly, the alpha recovered himself, visibly drawing up. “I was unaware. Regardless, he is a danger to the public and must be handled before any further lives can be endangered.”

“See, I think that’s really not your area at this point. After all, from what I hear, you were more of a danger to the public than he was the last couple times you two tangled. Which, I might add, only happened because you were in pursuit, correct?” Taking a sip off his drink, he gave a small shake of his head. “I think that’s enough. You’re military, and I’m aware the project he was working on was for you. Neither of these points mean that he is yours. He is one of my soulmates, and as such falls under my legal jurisdiction first and foremost. As such, he’s both my responsibility and mine to protect, are we clear?”

“Stark, I don’t think you understand what you’re saying here. You don’t have any idea what you’re setting loose on the world.”

“And you do? No, I’m a scientist, and you, my dear, replaceable, military contact, are not even close to being in the same field. You get one chance to fix what you’ve done and make peace with Betty over all this. This is me letting you know that chance has started. You’re the father of one of my soulmates’ soulmates. That matters. It doesn’t matter enough to keep coming after my dear loved Bruce. Got it?”

“Stark-”

Tony raised his eyebrows, leaning forward as he set the barely touched drink down hard enough that the sound cut across the alpha’s words. His tone, on the other hand, remained perfectly pleasant. “Lieutenant General Ross, do we understand each other?”

There was a long moment of stretched out silence then, and the alpha looked downright furious for a few more breaths before seeming to collapse in on himself with a look Tony could only describe as grim understanding. He really hoped that this hadn’t just turned into an enemy situation. That could be... unfortunate. “We do. Stark, you better hope this doesn’t turn around and bite you in the ass because I’ll be the first in line to say I told you so.”

That was a little better than what Tony initially thought he might say, even if the man’s tone was terse. Nobody liked losing after all. “Fair enough. Always nice having a drink with a familiar face.” Straightening fully, Tony dropped a hundred on the bar and turned to head for the door. “Until next time.”

He wasn’t terribly surprised when all he got back in answer was irritated silence.

He also wouldn’t have been surprised to know that the alpha ordered a drink for himself on that hundred as soon as the door shut behind him.

Chapter Text

It was a warm spring. That wasn’t particularly noteworthy, usually, but Tony had been spending a lot of time zipping from place to place in the wake of the chaos his soul mate news caused the previous year, and he rather thought he could be forgiven for paying attention to the less significant details. He liked to enjoy being home when he was home.

That the nice weather also meant that everyone was out and enjoying the pool and his private beach a hell of a lot earlier in the year just went to prove that he’d had a brilliant amount of foresight in his planning. Yes, people could swim inside, but he was pretty sure that that was a mechanism of boredom more often than a desperation to swim. Outside though? That’s how pools were supposed to be, to say nothing of the ocean. Of course, Tony was up by the pool rather than down at said beach as he hadn’t had any particular desire to scale down the sheer staircase to get there, nice weather or not. On some days, it was worth the effort, of course it was, but there was a reason he’d invested time and energy in making sure that his house’s structure could support a cliffside pool.

That reason was so that he could enjoy all the benefits of the beach without the dramatic downsides. Such downsides included sand, salt in one’s eyes, the ocean taking exception to your presence and slapping you against the shore, jellyfish, and the much rarer but not unheard of paparazzi pretending they mistook the private beach for a public one. Thus was why this morning Tony was sprawled out in a chair by his pool, enjoying the warmth and the sun as he listened to James and Pepper talking quietly nearby, with her in full on PA mode and James splashing around in the water as everyone else in the house was off doing other things. Bruce was inside, sure, but Laura had dragged an unsuspecting Happy down to the beach, apparently convinced she could get him into the water to attempt surfing. Tony could have told her it was a lost cause, but he’d decided it would be more amusing to not ruin her fun. It would be good for his friend anyway.

Still, with the way the morning had gone, and the fact that last time he’d bothered to look there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky, the last thing he’d expected was for there to suddenly be a shadow leaning over him. Especially given that the other two were still clearly over at the pool proper. At the very least it was enough to prompt him to open an eye, and he raised his eyebrows at said shadow caster. Sure, he was unsurprised it was Bruce, but he still hadn’t expected to see him emerge for a couple hours yet. Studying his face showed far more seriousness than he really thought a declaration of joining in the pool festivities could even remotely warrant, which was increasingly unfortunate.

“Something up Brucie?” He kept his voice down, knowing that James would hear anyway if he was paying even a little attention, but the small beta hadn’t announced his reason for coming out blatantly in the first place, so he could at least be a little courteous about it.

“Clint’s home.” If anything, Bruce managed to pitch his voice to be even quieter than Tony had used, though the reason his news should be so secretive was less clear. Clint coming home was, typically, a good thing last he checked.

Shoving to sit up properly, he raised his eyebrows at his confusing beta. “Okay, so no surprise ‘yay you’re not dead’ party for him this time. He must be okay or you wouldn’t be out here.”

“He’s not hurt, no.” Bruce shifted on his feet, glancing back toward the house for a moment with a small frown before looking back to Tony. “You all need to come inside. Where are Happy and Laura?”

“Beach. Bruce, what’s going on?” By this point the other two were paying attention, and Tony could see that easily enough even if he hadn’t heard James getting out of the water to come investigate personally.

“He’s not alone Tony. She’s... a little frightening.”

It wasn’t until Bruce shifted on his feet in discomfort that was too blatant to miss that Tony finally understood. “She’s riling up your other half. Okay. Okay, I get it. We’ll investigate what’s up and you go get the other two, alright? Use the time to meditate or something.”

Getting a wan smile for his trouble, the beta spun to head off around the house to head for the beach, clearly deciding going through the house just wasn’t the ideal choice at the moment. Once he was out of view, Tony turned his full attention to the other two, getting to his feet as he snagged a towel from nearby to offer to James. He was quick to snag another once it was taken to start drying the alpha’s arm, knowing how much of a pain it could be sometimes.

“Looks like we have a new family member to say hello to. No way Clint would have brought home anyone he didn’t want to have stay. That she riles up Bruce’s protective side might be a tad bit worrying, but we can work through that once we have a better idea what we’re looking at. I mean, Laura’s great.”

The effort James made to dry themselves was admittedly less vigorous than the help ze was getting, and ze went straight for the hair. “Tony, if she’s a threat, maybe you and Pepper should wait out here.”

Tony just snorted at that, giving them a nudge and nodding to where Pepper was already heading for the house. “Yeah, no, that’s clearly not happening. We’re alright James, promise. Clint wouldn’t put the family in danger like that. We’re a pack, and not one of the messed up kinds either.”

The exasperated glance that earned him just made Tony grin, and he outright laughed when his alpha hurried to get ahead of them both to meet the newcomer first. Admittedly, he knew that Happy would be just as bad if he was up here at the moment, but for now, he and Pepper just got to share an amused glance at the protectiveness. It was cute and there was something so pleasing about the fact that his James had come so far that ze’d be comfortable being openly protective like this. When ze’d first come to him, it had been different, and it was a relief that that had changed. Of course, the fact that the alpha in question could move a hell of a lot quicker than either of them probably added to the amusement, because it wasn’t like they’d be able to run ahead of them and throw themselves into danger without their notice.

Shaking his head, Tony just dumped the towels in the basket specifically for it as they padded through the gym, James already well out of view. “Anything we should know buddy? I know you’re the one that fished Bruce out of his work zen.”

“She appears to be one of Clint’s soulmates and is much younger than you both by at least a few years. Her exact age is difficult to determine as she has been making a concerted effort to avoid being directly in line with any of my cameras.” The reply was fairly prompt, and Tony nodded thoughtfully as he processed the information, making his way down the hall to the area where everyone likely was.

“Anything else before we get there? And I’m assuming they’re in the living room here.”

While Tony had fallen slightly ahead of Pepper, that didn’t mean he still couldn’t easily see her expression when JARVIS didn’t immediately answer his inquiry. It was enough to slow both their steps. Pepper was the one to give him another prod. “JARVIS? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, of course. I apologize for any concern I caused. I was merely surprised. Perhaps you should see for yourselves what shocked me so? It is not negative, I assure you.”

Exchanging a glance, both Pepper and Tony hurried to catch up to James properly. With a declaration like that, how could they do anything else?

Chapter Text

When Tony entered the room, there was an odd kind of feeling on the air, some mix of happiness and confusion that was basically wafting off everyone else that had made it there before him. Which was understandable. After all, the fact that James, usually defensive and someone aggressive to people ze hadn’t met before, was murmuring a low croon of Russian while almost rubbing cheeks with the shapely redheaded alpha whose hands ze was holding was really probably not how Clint thought his introduction was going to go.

At least, Tony was almost sure it was an alpha he was looking at. There was the strange waft of scent that said she had either been using repressors or cover on her scent and while she looked like a quintessential omega, that in no way lined up with the other feedback. Shaking it off and sincerely hoping she didn’t use whatever caused the nose conflict around him again, he circled around to Clint, leaving Pepper in the doorway to stare wide-eyed for the moment at the scene they’d arrived to. After all, Clint’s confusion was rather distinct, and thus was going to be Tony’s first priority given that he’d brought this one home.

He’d probably had some sort of expectations. The poor beta.

“So, not the greeting you’d expected her to give anyone when you got her here I take it?” He made sure to pitch his voice low, his hand coming to rest on Clint’s far hip as he leaned on his closer side, half hugging him as he glanced back to the other two, examining the way they were standing together. The happiness of the two was turning into relief from what he could tell, and the quick back and forth was easing to something quieter. They’d probably be paying attention to everything else again in short order if he was reading it right.

Clint didn’t let the half hug go unreciprocated, immediately looping his arm around him in kind and giving him a proper squish. “Yeah, not even close. It took some serious convincing to get her to come with me even with the whole, you know, soulmate thing. Then again, she was sort of supposed to kill me, so I kind of understand the hesitation. I caught her though. There was no way I could risk her getting lost in SHIELD so... I brought her here instead. I’ll probably get a serious talking to, Fury isn’t quite as lenient about this kind of stuff as Director Carter was, but I think it’ll be alright.”

“Are you alright?” Tony looked back to him, raising his eyebrows. “That’s why I came over here you know, instead of jumping in and saying hello.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good, just a little stunned by the turnaround. Her smile is so pretty. I didn’t get one of those like ze did. So uh, is she, you think...?”

The answer was from the pair being discussed, James having finally tuned back in to the rest of the family in the room while Tony was busy with Clint, and ze had waved Pepper into the room properly to pull her into the conversation that the two had been having. Introductions, clearly. “She is. Though she tells me that you didn’t know. This is my Natalia.”

“The name she gave me was Natasha.” Clint didn’t quite know how he was supposed to react to that, which was written all over his face. Giving him a squeeze again, Tony turned his attention back to James and their new family member.

Who was talking, her voice low and smoky, but still within the range expected by her appearance. “It is. To come here, to have a new life, I will let go of Natalia and be Natasha. This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”

Okay, the visual and scent cue confusion was starting to drive Tony up the wall, and he was moving forward even as Clint shook his head, scenting the air to get a proper read because scent scramblers were like a nails on a chalkboard to most, and even more especially to someone as sensitive as he was. “Nah, Natasha’s great. Dad considered naming me that when I was a baby but decided naming me after himself was better. The look on his face when he realized I was an omega after all was actually pretty hilarious. Speaking of, you are an alpha, right? Because whatever you have going on is going to give me a headache if it’s permanent.”

Pepper was nodding her agreement, but both Clint and James looked confused. Which was something fascinating that needed to be tested later, because do scent scramblers not register to soulmates? But that was later, not right now, and he was shamelessly examining the long-lost littlest soulmate. Who had gone and grown up enough that even while tempted to use the nickname, was probably no longer really appropriate. “Ah, yes. All who are from the program I am were to use chemical suppressants and hormonal colognes to come across as omega if they did not manifest naturally.” She indicated herself. “I did not manifest naturally, and the chemicals are still in my system. The mix of scent will be resolved before tomorrow. I do not intend to continue my treatments.”

Tony nodded, curiosity turning to a sort of grim understanding. Even just being told that much made him itch to shove her at Bruce and demand to know if they should expect health problems in the coming months. But, that would first require chilling Bruce out and getting her familiar with the idea. Interestingly, though, she seemed to be perfectly happy answering his questions. Maybe an omega thing? He’d definitely have to ask sometime when they could talk in private. “Fair enough. You know, given how old you were last time my James last saw you, you have a nickname around here. Littlest Soulmate. Congrats and welcome to the family, we’ve been waiting for you. I’m Tony Stark. You’ve been introduced to Pepper?” At her nod, he grinned. “Excellent. Clint’s date buddy and my bodyguard slash good friend who lives here will probably be up with Bruce shortly. How about I show you your room?”

There was a hesitance in the wake of his question, her bright eyes flitting from person to person, but she finally inclined her head toward him, her hand resting on James’ arm briefly before she moved away from them entirely to focus fully on Tony, waiting for him to lead the way. “That would be much appreciated. Perhaps as well you could explain how this pack works?”

Definitely an omega thing. Tony was, after all, the only one here, and she had zeroed in on him when he brought himself to her attention. Offering her his arm as he flashed her a bright grin, he nodded a simple affirmative. “Oh yeah, I’d love to. We’ll just leave your soulmates to meet the others so that they’re ready for you when we come back down, sound good?”

When he glanced to the alpha’s soulmates, there was a touch of hesitation in both Clint and James’ frames, but they were nodding all the same. Excellent. Natasha took his check to come up to his side and accept his invitation, and he only veered them off course enough to kiss Pepper on the cheek on his way back out of the room. That done, he started to quietly explain the family he’d taken so much care and determination to build, just so that she wouldn’t end up feeling lost in the day to day. He remembered how James had been, at first, and even if she’d been trained differently it was by degree, not by style.

That meant that he had to make absolutely sure that she felt welcomed here. And that she knew he was happy that she was here, given her apparent degree of deference to omegas socially at the moment.

Putting that thought aside as something to fix, he instead focused on something far more fabulous.

His excitement that she was here.

Excitement should always win over worry, and he wasn’t about to let today be an exception.

She deserved that.

Chapter Text

“I’m pregnant.”

Tony stilled at the quiet words, blinking a few times before turning his head to regard the beta to his left, thoughtful as he took in a deep breath, reflexively looking to confirm her declaration. They hadn’t spent a lot of time together lately, with his most recent business trip, so he really hadn’t had the opportunity to track any change in her hormones. However, regardless of that, now that he was looking for it he could detect a new warmth, almost an overlay to her scent, and there was no stopping the smile that accompanied that realization. Sometimes being the only omega had perks, because by the look on her face she’d been waiting for that confirmation from him. “I’m the first person you told, aren’t I? Whose is it, do you think?”

Laura’s frame relaxed, and she leaned into his side, expression going soft even as she nodded. There was definitely fond humor when she spoke. “Definitely Clint’s. He’s the only one I’ve been sharing my heats with. I mean, I’ve done a bit outside that but, well, he’s my favorite you know.”

“And you’re both betas too.” If anything, Tony was a bit impressed by that information. Happy had honestly been his first guess. It certainly would have been less of a trial to accomplish at the very least. “That’s lucky. Like, really lucky.”

“I know. But I wanted him to be the father of my first.” She paused, chewing on her lower lip and looking sideways at Tony. “You’re sure this is fine with you? I asked before but...”

“But that was before you were actually pregnant. I’m happy for you, I promise. I like children. Remember, not everyone in the house is sure they even can or should have kids. I mean, I should, obviously, and I kind of do what with JARVIS and the bots, but James? Brucie? Natasha? No. The first two have wonky experimenting that makes them worried to do anything that might cause kids without a hell of a lot of precautions, and the latter... she can’t. They fucked her up when she was a kid with their hormone treatments. You remember the way she attacked the gym after Bruce finally confirmed that for her.”

His words got a grimace, and Laura nodded, clearly remembering that particular explosion of mostly quiet violence particularly well. She’d gone to get the alpha for breakfast and had found part of the gym disassembled. Without tools. Suffice to say Tony had been both impressed and worried when he’d gotten home and had been told about that, and the ensuing conversation had resulted in Natasha staying the night curled up in bed with pretty much the whole household as a result.

Still, that wasn’t exactly on topic at the moment. No, he knew why Laura was worried, really, and it had very little to do with who was fertile in the household. “So with all that in mind, you can rest easy that you having this sprog isn’t going to be a problem for anyone. We have a lot of baby friendly people in this family.”

“They’re not yours though.” And there it was. Tony did have to admire the way she didn’t let him dodge the topic she was trying to bring up, even if it was ridiculous.

“Laura, of course it’s mine. You’re part of my pack aren’t you?” He leaned in, bussing her cheek with his nose, amusement touching his expression for the first time in the conversation, though his happiness at her announcement hadn’t really dimmed. “That totally gives me the right to claim any and all children for myself. So I’m not the one giving birth to it, so what? Just because I’m the only omega in the family doesn’t mean I should be, nor have to be the first one, or one at all, going through the pain and struggle of having physical babies. Really, it might even be better I don’t. I can help better when the baby comes around this way since I won’t be exhausted from doing all the hard work.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, but he did sober a bit. “I wasn’t faking you about it being lucky though. I know how much harder it is for a beta to get pregnant than an omega, especially with another beta, and I’ll make sure Bruce knows to keep an eye on you for any complications, alright?”

Her answer was a long, probing stare as though checking to see if he really believed everything he’d just said, and after a moment of that, her shoulders seemed to relax. Her whole body followed the movement a moment later to lean harder into his side as she made herself comfortable, which, admittedly, meant he had just lost his left arm for the foreseeable future, but he legitimately didn’t have any problem with that. “Sometimes, Stark, I have to wonder if you’re real.”

Blinking a few times in bafflement, he felt his eyebrows creeping toward his hairline. “And just what do you mean by that, Barton two?”

The laugh his comment inspired got his smile to come fully back, but he waited until she gave him an answer regardless. “You’re so far from the kinds of omegas I knew as a child that you’re ridiculous. You’re in your thirties and I still haven’t heard you talking about having any kids of your own, you’re in business, and even being the only omega in the pack the idea of someone else having babies instead of you doesn’t make you all, well, bitchy. It’s different when there are more omegas in a pack from what I’ve seen, but a lone omega? A dominant lone omega? Usually possessive bitches. And, on top of all that, it isn’t because you hate kids that you haven’t had any and you’re offering free newborn babysitting without so much as me asking. If anything, you sound like you want to steal the baby as soon as I have it and give it a cuddle. If all that wasn’t enough, you took me into your home when I have no soul connection to anyone and let me settle into being a housewife without even a bit of a protest even though I’m not your wife. Keeping all that in mind, do you see a little of why I’m incredulous that I get to know you?”

By the time she stopped talking, his eyes had gone a little wide, his amusement dropping off into something warm and touched as he listened to her just... keep listing. The outpouring of sheer sincerity hadn’t been what he’d expected at all, which meant that for a moment all he could really do with himself was hug her. Really, how else was he supposed to respond to something like that? No, instead he took a few beats to gather his thoughts, aware his quiet was making her smug but ignoring that to piece together something to say in return. “You say all that, but look at it from my view. I get to have all the perks of having a kid without the hard parts, and don’t forget my AI babies, I cannot stress that enough. But. I do get what you’re saying. I’ve never been a particularly feminine omega, which probably helps with some of what you’re saying, but the rest? Well. I just like my people to be happy and when you first got here you made Clint happy. Now, well, you make a lot more people in my family happy, including me, so why wouldn’t I be happy for you?”

“Because possessive bitches?” The light words were followed by a beat of silence and then they both fell into laughter.

It took a minute for Tony to compose himself, his earlier happiness bubbling back to proper life, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Maybe I just show it differently. I take it you dealt with that a lot before you ended up with us?”

Laura wrinkled up her nose but was nodding all the same. “Unfortunately. I was kicked out of a few packs for confiding in a lone omega that I wanted to have the babies, not to father them. And because I don’t have marks...”

He squished her closer, wondering just how often Clint did just the same thing that she didn’t appear even slightly phased by it yet. Probably a lot. The beta gave some intense hugs with those arms of his. “Because you didn’t have marks they didn’t feel any obligation to you. Well, screw that. You’re part of my family now, and you never have to deal with that bullshit ever again.”

“Not ever huh?”

“Nope. You’re stuck with me and mine for life now. I hope you like living the life of luxury.”

“Oh yes, because anyone sane would complain.” She squirmed around, glancing toward the movie on the TV that he’d paused when she came in. “What did I interrupt anyway?”

Tony blinked, seeming to remember only then that he’d been watching anything in the first place. “Eh? Oh. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It came out a couple months ago but I missed it in theater. On the one hand, it’s not bad for a movie adaptation. On the other hand, it’s definitely missing something. I can start over if you want to watch it with me?”

“I’d love to.”

Nodding, Tony set about restarting the movie. It would be more fun to watch with someone else who got the jokes anyway.

Maybe that had been what was missing.

It was certainly something to think about. Later.

At the moment he had basking to do.

Chapter Text

Since her retirement, his Aunt Peggy had come around more than once, often dragging this or that agent with her who she was in some way ‘observing’. In less ambiguous terms, she was retired, but vetting people using the most frightening tool at her disposal. Her pack. Rather, she was testing who would be a good liaison between the pack and SHIELD when Clint was busy, or hurt, or just in general unable to do it himself. In other words, she was hunting for a go-between who wouldn’t be out in the field personally like just about everyone else who had a SHIELD affiliation in the pack.

She was looking for someone who was still officially onboard who could keep her family informed where she no longer had access.

Tony knew all this because, after the third time it had happened, he had asked. Far from content to continue being bewildered by the stream of not-quite-strangers that she’d been dragging to his home after meetings elsewhere, he’d sought his answers. When meeting number four had gone quickly to hell due to James taking the omega’s existence with exceptionally impressive ill-grace, Tony had requested that maybe they do this another way. Suffice to say, that situation had led to an interrogation of the omega in question and Tony finally meeting the new beta in charge. At least, one of them, an interesting, gruff fellow going by the name of Fury.

The name was exceptionally well suited given the circumstances they met under. He definitely had been furious.

His frustrated, and understandably enraged, aunt had taken something of a break before coming back around, and this time, the person escorting her had, she informed him, been brought on board by Fury personally not long before she stepped down. If there were any issues this time she’d just plain give up on the whole thing because clearly there were bigger problems to take care of that needed to be better examined. As it was, someone she’d thought would work getting a visceral hell no reaction from one of Tony’s soulmates had been something of a shock to them both. She’d made very sure to inform Tony of the results of that investigation, as well as the unfortunately foreshortened timeframe before the bastard had clipped his own wings and died.

This one though, well. Tony was thoughtful. Not pretty by conventional standard, the beta held themselves with a sort of prim steadiness. Not masculine nor feminine, the ambiguity of it was very focused, very deliberate, and, if Tony was honest with himself, rather pleasing. Some, like James, initially chose a middle gender because something was wrong, others, like this one, did it because it pleased them to do so. That the James in question didn’t lose their temper or seem even slightly bothered in this little meet and greet just meant more points to the beta, and he could tell that Peggy was relieved to see it.

If he was honest with himself, he was pretty relieved too. That last meeting not too long before the blow up with Bruce had been an epic disaster and the years since had clearly given Peggy time to reevaluate what she was looking for. As well as probably giving her time to dig around in SHIELD again for any other anomalies, retirement be damned. She had never been a beta who felt any particularly strong urge to stay out of things that others didn’t think concerned her.

“So, I’m guessing by the looks on your faces that I pass? At least, I pass the most recent hoop. I have to say, I’ve never had quite this intense of a job interview before, and given where I work that’s a bit impressive.” The words were spoken with the slightest tinge of dry humor as the beta collected their cup, sipping it as pale hazel eyes moved from person to person, clearly evaluating. This one wasn’t one who would just passively sit back if they came on board as their connection when Clint was in the field, not with eyes like those. That Clint had interacted with the beta indirectly more than once in the past just meant that the working relationship there would help, not hinder. At least, that was the running theory from Peggy when she’d mentioned that the agent was Clint’s most recent handler in training.

“Well, at the very least you didn’t inspire James to try to impale you on a big shiny knife, so you can probably call that a win. But there will be absolutely no approval from me until Pepper gets here. She’s running a little late and she’s going to be dragging along someone that you’ve kind of met. You’d know him as, what was it? Hawkeye. That. Seriously, what kind of name is that? Wouldn’t, I don’t know, Robin Hood be more appropriate?”

“He doesn’t steal from the rich and give to the poor Tony, and he does have exceptionally amazing vision. Just let him have the ridiculous code name. He picked it himself you know.” Peggy’s tone was particularly amused, and she shook her head at Tony before looking to the brunet that she’d dragged along in her wake for this little introduction session. “Regardless, to answer your question, no, you don’t pass. You have to meet the rest of the people you might be dealing with before there will be any passing given previous experiences.”

“In other words, we’re glad you’re not a villain and all, but you have a few more hellos to do before anybody is going to say they trust you to tell us when Clint isn’t okay. Also, with Natasha at all, and don’t think I don’t know that this is mainly about getting her in with a handler she trusts. She’s been actually climbing the walls.” Tony wrinkled his nose at this, remembering the way her restlessness had gotten kind of intense in the last couple months. It didn’t matter what he’d given her to do, it just plain hadn’t been enough. The new baby in the house had only helped so much before the novelty had worn off, it seems.

There was a soft snort from James at that. “She was not trained to be idle. It does not surprise me at all that the persistent lack of missions has been of concern to her. I would not want to risk her situation with another like the last person that was presented to us, prior to her joining us.”

Peggy gave James a singularly unimpressed look at the pointed comment, then sighed. “Yes, yes, that is why I’m presenting the Agent to you first James, I do have some awareness about how much the pack has changed in the years since that incident.”

Tony blinked, then gave her a pout. “I said I was sorry for not warning you that Laura was having a baby, didn’t I? I mean, it’s not like I had a baby this time.”

Seeing that the incredulity was merely growing on Peggy’s face the longer he talked, he wisely stopped, pretending that he didn’t see James smothering their amusement in their water glass. Rude. Instead, he turned his attention to looking around, hoping that the other two who were supposed to meet them for this little lunch get together would magically appear and save him.

That didn’t stop him from hearing the amusement in the new beta’s tone intensify. So rude. All of them. “I see. I’m honored to be considered for the position given those details.” If they were going to say more it was clearly set aside because moments later both Pepper and Clint granted his silent wishes, having a very intense conversation and looking far more alert than expected as they came around the dividing wall to their section in the restaurant to meet them.

Tony really hoped that something hadn’t happened. Because that would suck. Regardless, they were making their way straight over, and a glance told him that the closer they got, the more alert the new beta got...

Oh. Oh. Tony knew that face. He glanced from one to the other, knowing for a fact that Clint and Pepper didn’t share any marks, but they had broken off the discussion they’d been having and had both zeroed in on the agent. He could tell he wasn’t the only one that had caught on that something was up, given James’ eyebrows were making a go for their hairline. Reassuring that he wasn’t the only one surprised at least.

Regardless, the beta was already up and circling the table to meet the other two, a hand extended in greeting and eyes bright. They were clearly happy. The warm, thrilled tone wasn’t missed by anyone. “Agent Phil Coulson. Ms. Potts and Agent Barton, I presume?”

Pepper got the hand first, lips quirking up as she took the offered hand for a firm shake, her head tilting to show the golden spiral that was closer to a paperclip in shape at her neck. It was very much a gesture of inquiry. “Pepper will do just fine I think Agent. Unless I can call you Phil?”

“Phil works just fine. And yes, that’s me.” Ze released her hand and took Clint’s next, amusement written all over their face. “Which makes you the bird I’m guessing? That puts an entirely different perspective on the code name Hawkeye.”

The blond just grinned, reeling the other beta into a quick hug before releasing them and giving everyone at the table a wave. “You have no idea. I’ve got a triangle, feathers, and what looks like a snail too, so don’t go thinking yourself too prophetic there. So, we sitting? I’m half starved. Laura wouldn’t let me have any lunch since I was meeting you guys. Oh! And Clint’s fine off the field.”

Pepper just rolled her eyes at the blond as he made a beeline for the open chairs, taking it as her cue to do the same. “Of course not, she knows how good this place is. So, I think we can safely say, given the whole soulmate hand delivery that just happened, that we’re keeping this one?”

Peggy snorted in kind, looking from one to another at the table once everyone was settled. “Quite. Really, you’re all incredibly lucky that you keep managing that. Very convenient.”

Tony just shook his head, a little grin on his face. “Yeah, maybe for some definitions. They still have to meet the rest of the family before we even consider giving them a room for times they stay over. Got it, Agent?”

The agent in question just raised both eyebrows in turn, far more relaxed than they’d been not even five minutes previously. “Oh, definitely. I’m greatly looking forward to seeing what you have in mind.”

Oh yeah, this one was beyond rude. In the politest manner possible, of course. They’d fit in just fine. Also, on the plus side? Liaison issues solved.

Win-win for everyone. More or less.

Tony was a little worried that he’d have to break into the guest house if the family kept expanding this way though. After all, he’d never expected so many of the soulmates in his little collection to actually happen at him. Not that it was bad but... well. He hadn’t quite been prepared by the exponential curve.

Okay, that was a lie, he’d prepared for every contingency, even that one, but he’d expected it to space out a bit more, not get quicker with every passing year, that was all.

Really.

Chapter Text

“Tony, do you have a minute? I think we need to talk.”

Tony never had been particularly fond of that phrase. Sure, sometimes it ended up a fascinating and awesome situation involving some new invention in R&D that prompted it, but more often, it involved Tony having done something, intentionally or not, that someone had decided he needed to be quietly scolded about. A quick glance to the beta standing in his doorway informed him, without a doubt, that this was definitely not one of those ‘I have great news!’ kinds of days. No, sadly, Obadiah had his understanding but displeased face on, which meant he had found something Tony had done to be less than charming but didn’t think he meant any harm by it. Fun. Those were his favorite. He hated that they always made him need to apologize because he’d missed some detail he should have noticed.

Still, ignoring Obadiah had never made a problem go away, and he wasn’t about to start now. Thus, he carefully closed up the program he’d been fussing with on his computer screen and leaned back in his chair, gesturing for his partner to go ahead and do his thing. “I have all the minutes. You know I only come in to the office for the paperwork side of things.”

“If that were true you would be here less often Tony.” A grin was shared between them at that and a moment later the beta made his way over to help himself to the alcohol stashed in one of the cabinets. He’d been doing a lot less drinking himself, these days, with the baby getting mobile. One didn’t want to risk someone so tiny getting into something so potent. “But, that isn’t why I’m here. You’ve actually been in the office more in the last few months, R&D is always happy to see you, but we have a problem.” He pointed at Tony with the hand holding his glass, expression sobering. “We’re running a weapon company here, you remember that, don’t you?”

Tony immediately knew what this was about, and couldn’t help a grimace, pushing fully away from his desk. “Obie...”

“I know, I know, you’ve been distracted at home with that adorable baby that Laura gave you all, but this just can’t keep up Tony. You come in, you talk to R&D about your newest plans for baby equipment, and you leave. When is the last time you actually looked at the military contracts we even have outstanding right now? I’ve been putting off the board all month because you haven’t been discussing anything with me. What am I supposed to tell them about this new hobby of yours? It’s under-publicized so it’s hardly bringing in money, and we’re having to fill ongoing contracts with old material. That isn’t good for business and you know it.”

Yeah, this was about as bad as he’d worried it would be, but he had a plan! For once. Sort of. He’d been talking to Pepper and Rhodey a bit about it in the last few months at least so that was something. “Okay, so I haven’t touched weapons production in a while-”

“Over six months.”

Ouch. Yeah, he could see why Obie had lost patience with him if it had been that long since he’d noticed. “Okay, so it’s been half a year. We’re discussing it now, right? But, what I was getting at is that, yeah, I haven’t touched weapons in a while but I haven’t been ignoring the contracts, I swear. I’m not irresponsible with what I do around here, really. I even was double checking something on one of the contracts when you got here for an idea I had, see?”

Sighing deeply, the beta gave him a hard stare, then took a long drink of his scotch as he made his way over to stand beside him, free hand gesturing at the monitor. “Alright, Tony. Show me. What was your idea?”

Knowing that if he did this right that Obadiah would be placated and he’d be able to finally properly get his idea off the ground, he immediately leaned forward to jitter off the screen saver he’d pulled up. “So, in this particular contract there’s subclauses that the innovations don’t have to be directed fully at the military itself. Most of the contracts are for specific weapons, weapon innovations, or combat gear of some kind, which means things like that wing project a few years back and the body armor we’ve developed, right?” Getting a cautious nod for his reminder, Tony nodded back and looked back to the screen, pulling up the contract. “This one has a bit more room than that. It just specifically cites that we’re required to create something for military personnel and affiliates. Now, I’m not saying that’s a problem, given my idea, but it was unusual because I hadn’t seen a similar clause in any of the contracts I’ve negotiated.”

At that point his partner leaned over his chair, one hand on the back of it as the other fussed with his mouse to scroll a bit for the relevant section. “Well, imagine that. It must have been that new intern in legal we had last year. Even if you didn’t negotiate it, you clearly signed it. Given you have an idea for that, it’s obviously in your favor. So, tell me about the idea this gave you.”

Tony’s lips quirked into a small smile as he tipped his head to look up at the beta. “Okay, so you mentioned that I’ve been kind of uh, baby focused. I promise I’ll get on something a bit more mainline company, but I’ve been examining this contract for a reason. Military personnel have kids. Not all of them, obviously, but there are families that live or work on base, kids who grow up and go to school while being moved around, and that’s who I was thinking about here. I could use the toys and stuff I’ve been developing for Connor and offer them to the military for this contract so they can be handed off to help with separation issues caused by the profession.”

There was a rather long pause in the wake of that. “You want to send the military baby toys. Tony...”

Grimacing at the expression he was getting, he held up both hands. “Hey, no, don’t look at me like that! I’m not going to be giving over something that’s a glorified teddy bear, I promise. It’s more like a delayed message system packaged in child-friendly materials. Sturdy, brightly colored games that give the child messages from family members that are pre-recorded as rewards for achieving some sort of milestone. For kids who only see their military parent a few months of the year it would be a godsend, as well as helping a kid with their studies, be it learning their colors, reading, or algebra. Of course I was also thinking that they could be set on a firm timetable too, which would be really good for kids who lost a parent in the military.”

Obadiah’s disapproval seemed to ease, though there was still something pinched around his eyes. Tony could deal with that much. “Yeah, okay. Okay, Tony. I’ll give you this one, but next time you get it in your head to do something weird with the company, you need to talk to me. This kind of niche trinket only has limited uses you know, and if you can’t market it to the military, you have to be sure it’s useful and competitive in the civilian market. I just don’t think this is.”

Pressing his lips together a little, Tony struggled to keep any disappointment from leaking into his smile. He’d won, so he’d just content himself with that. “Okay, my bad, I get that maybe I didn’t think this through as well as I could have, but it just came to me and it struck me as something I had to check out. It’s almost done and ready to be presented for this contract even, so I can focus on other things as soon as it’s done.”

“You mean to tell me that this is all you’ve been working on recently?”

“Uh, no?” Because he’d been fussing over the bots too, giving them overhauls to make them a bit more baby friendly, externally, but he really didn’t think that that was what Obadiah wanted to hear right this second.

“Right. Tony, once you finish with this little side trip you have to focus on the company. I know, you have things at home distracting you, but I don’t think the company deserves to suffer because you’ve gone all instinct on us, do you?”

The comment made Tony twitch, just a little, and there was no stopping the hurt that entered his expression. “Obie-”

“Tony, no. No. You’ve been caught up in baby mania since halfway through Laura’s pregnancy. All I hear about from you these days is baby this, baby that, with a spattering of ‘did I tell you what Connor did today?’ It has got to stop. Do you have any idea what it’s starting to look like to the investors? The CEO of a weapon company going baby crazy when he’s an omega? They’re worried they’re going to start losing money any day now, and I honestly can’t blame them. Reign it in Tony, you hear me? Finish this little message toy of yours and focus on the important things.”

Unsure how to even respond to that, Tony sank back into his chair, and his voice was much quieter when he spoke. “Yeah, okay. I didn’t realize how bad it must look to the outside, but I swear I’m not ignoring the company’s needs either Obie, I swear. I’ll get right on developing something that will put a stop to all of that the moment I’m done with this, okay? It’ll be so impressive they won’t be able to doubt anything about us, yeah?”

After a painfully long moment of dubious study from the beta’s end, Obadiah finally nodded, slowly. He obviously wasn’t entirely convinced but was willing to let Tony prove his sincerity without further reprimands. “Okay. Fine. It had better be groundbreaking, you hear? New technology that no one else has seen.”

“Promise. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

Clasping his shoulder, his partner straightened up, shaking his head. “Not at all. You just remember what you promised and all’s forgiven, sound good?”

Relaxing slowly as Obadiah moved away, he nodded back to him. “I can do that. Amazing new technology and innovative ideas that the company can be reassured by. It’s kind of my thing.”

“And no more baby stuff for a while. I mean it.”

He wrinkled up his nose in turn at that. “No promises, but I won’t let the company’s needs fall by the wayside anymore either. I’m paying attention now.”

“You better be.” Gesturing with his empty glass toward the computer, the beta meandered over to set the glass back on the tray he’d gotten it off of in the first place. “I’m counting on you, Tony.”

“I know. Thank you.”

He got one last nod from Obadiah before he slipped out, and Tony immediately slouched down into his chair once he was out of view, both hands coming up to rub at his face.

He hated being caught out like that.

So. Much.

Regardless, it was fixable, and he’d fix it. He’d blow everyone away with his next project. He’d make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Everything hurt.

Everything hurt, and as he clawed his way toward consciousness he realized that that wasn’t the worst of what was happening right now. No, the air was dry, the scents speaking of fine dirt and heat, something which had dried out his mouth rather thoroughly. It wasn’t a hospital, and as the sharp pain in his chest seemed to more acutely draw his attention he realized that that must be very bad indeed.

Slowly, almost unwilling to confirm what his instincts were shrieking at him, he opened his eyes, the darkness and irregularity of natural stone greeting his gaze. That wasn’t okay. Turning his head slightly and seeing more was also not okay, though the movement alerted him that there was some sort of medical equipment on him regardless of the evidence pointing to a cave. Lifting his head enough to get a feel of if he was being watched, his fingers were already starting to disengage what he could, panic cresting under the surface of his skin as he did.

It had been a long time since anything like this had happened, and he’d never been hurt like this when it had. Not since he was a kid, really, though there had definitely been attempts here and there, he was sure. There was no dad to get ransom from anymore though, and you don’t go after the guy with money if it’s money you want. Which meant he wasn’t here for that and that was bad.

So very very bad.

It was as his thoughts started scrambling ever deeper in this direction that he felt a hand press over his, suddenly bringing his attention away from his thoughts, back to what his body was doing. He’d been panicking, starting to rip at the weight on his chest even as his breathing came far too fast. The touch mostly stilled his movements, a low whine escaping before his gaze darted to the person, beta his nose told him, who had jerked his attention away from his freak out. That it was a familiar face was not reassuring.

No, that it was a familiar face was bad. That reaction was instinctive, even before he figured out how he recognized this person. The observations came quickly after that, the swift differences in weight and pallor since last time he saw them, the fact that they were here, wherever here was. The fact that last time he spoke to this beta they had very much been on the side of conservation efforts and general improvement for humanity. Such a thing didn’t speak of caves being their choice of accommodation.

All in all, it was just horrible. All of it. Every last bit of it. Still, the familiarity wasn’t all terrible, even if everything in him was shrieking holy hell because things were bad, and he forced his voice to work around the painful dryness, knowing his eyes were still too wide and unable to do anything about it. “Yinsen.”

The almost-smile that answered the name was confirmation that he’d gotten it right, and it was very much not a happy expression. “Stark. I regret to say that you’ve joined me in a rather unwilling press into service.”

“Where?”

It was only one question among the many he wanted to ask, and Yinsen raised a hand in a hold gesture as he moved off, fetching a cup and water even as he answered. “Still the country you last imagine being in, I would think. I am not kept terribly informed, unfortunately. My arrival here was rather abrupt, much like your own.” When he came back, he slid one hand under Tony’s head, supporting his neck as the omega eased up to drink, letting him have just that bit longer before properly trying to move. “My skill in dealing with the damages like yours is no small part of why I am here. Do you recall what happened?”

When Tony moved to sit, the supporting hand slid down to midback, easing him up properly, though the leads going to the battery almost had him reaching for his chest again. Instead, he ripped his gaze away from the horrible thing and focused on Yinsen’s face, on answering the question he’d asked him. “I was about to go home, was in the caravan to get back to the base and... we were attacked. And I saw- No. No.”

“You probably are not misremembering.” The words were quiet, almost gentle, and the stricken look Tony just knew was on his face was probably why. “That is not important right now, Stark. What is important now is that you survive to return to your family, is it not?”

Swallowing thickly at the way Yinsen said that and scenting the absolute grief that washed over the beta’s scent, regardless of the smile, as he said the word family, Tony felt his eyes prickle with the heat that said tears were imminent. “Yinsen, why did you say it like that?”

The grim expression that he got in turn wasn’t reassuring at all, but there was no time to discuss it any further as shouts came from beyond the doors to their little prison.

From there, things just got worse, really, and the rest of the day was a blur of horrible things.

Chapter Text

The days didn’t pass in a blur. He wished they would, that the moments from the second morning forward would haze away in his memory like the very first in which he was awake, but they refused him that.

No, instead he was caught in a state of docile hyper-awareness, alert to everything that was wrong and askew in the situation. He remembered the details of how each person wore their clothes, the way they spoke, the frightening smile that each got when they knew he was having a rebellious day. He learned when he could push and when pushing meant that torture was somehow going to be worse. He learned who he could trick into bringing him into things they probably shouldn’t.

More than that, he slowly learned that the situation wasn’t one where he just had to wait to be rescued.

It wasn’t going to happen.

Yes, he was sure he was being searched for, he didn’t doubt that, but he was just one omega in the desert, hidden no less, and nobody had appeared in the weeks since he’d woken, since he’d visibly cracked just enough to do something that would keep him alive that bit longer in hopes that someone would show up. They didn’t. Instead, he weathered the backhanded praise for being good enough to make sure he wouldn’t die, the ‘gentle’ chiding in the form of a once around through the bucket every now and then to remind him that anything else he made was going to be for them now that he’d solved his dying issue.

None of this kept him from being just a bit terrified of his own biology at the moment. He was with people who very much wanted him to be obedient, to do as he was told and to not argue. Sometimes, he heard the low comments from this alpha or that one, wondering about his cycle and his lack of heat since his arrival. Really, he’d never been more thankful that reproductive efforts shut down when the body thought it was in distress, but he knew that wouldn’t last forever, that the trauma of surgery would only delay his body for so long before it got used to the situation and tried to make up for lost time.

He didn’t want to be here when that happened. It was, if anything, the most terrifying concept that had crossed his mind since he’d woken weeks before to dark and dust. He knew that not all countries treated all the sexes equally and that these people had no hesitation in jumping straight to torture to get their way. There would be no merciful heat here where he was left alone to his own devices. They wanted him to hurry along and make them things, and there were well-known things that sped a heat.

He did not want to live through something like that and more than one day he’d woken shaking from nightmares about it.

Yinsen was the only anchor he had in navigating the nightmare, the gentle beta’s persistent grief becoming familiar like an old blanket, something for Tony to wrap himself in and ward horrors away with. In a way, that worked, and the times he dozed tucked up against the older scientist were among the few where the horrors didn’t chase him into his sleep.

But ultimately, that wasn’t enough. He was on a timer, one where he couldn’t see the numbers, and the only way to get out was to force his way. Thus, he worked.

He worked, giving them just enough obvious clues to keep them at bay around his efforts to make something better, something more effective that they’d never be able to use. It took time for him to build what he needed to build, weeks, maybe months he didn’t have, and that wouldn’t do. If he was home, it would take days, but he wasn’t home. He was here.

He was in this terrible nightmare place and all he had to use was his own two hands to make things he’d designed with higher technology in mind. Making up for the gap was exhausting, if strangely soothing given everything else going on. Repetitive motion that led to exhausted sleep where neither dream nor nightmare could reach him was the only thing that let him get enough rest to go from one day to the next, to maintain that strange place where he was doing both everything and nothing he was told to by his captors.

Thus he’d worked, hard and hurried, piecing together partial weapons when more directly watched that never turned into anything, instead being cannibalized into his overall project, the thing he created from childhood musings into something that would get them out. At least, he dearly hoped it was a them and not just a him, because sometimes Yinsen terrified him when they talked about it, giving him gentle smiles even as his hidden grief spiked and twisted with some kind of serenity that made Tony’s hair stand on end every time.

There would be only one chance at this, only one opportunity to get out or die trying, and every time Yinsen did that, had that mood, the beta pinged him with the sudden fear that if he failed he’d be alone here.

He’d really rather die, but he knew he wouldn’t. He was too stubborn for that, to actually die if given a choice, regardless of what the universe decided he had to live through to make that so.

Thus, the only option was to get out, to escape while there was still that some part of him untouched by this experience.

When there was a change in the guard, things went from ‘not as fast as he’d like’ to 'absolutely fucking urgent’. The new leader, a beta this one, wasn’t going to put up with his decoys like the old one had, the previous alpha willing to indulge his pleas for time in a way that this beta wasn’t. He even started off his introduction with a once around to give him a ‘bath’ but which felt more like a disguised intensification of the earlier torment he’d mostly escaped.

It had taken three hours.

By the time he was dumped back in with Yinsen he was shuddering, chilled with his breathing leaving him in sharp, stuttering gasps. He was soaked to the skin, clothes drenched from head to toe and he couldn’t keep his feet at all, weak from the fight he’d put up and how long they’d kept at it. But yes, he was clean now, for a certain value of it, exposed skin raw from the combination of scrubbing sans soap that had alternated with the dunkings.

Worse even than that, the scrubbing had had a purpose. The new beta leader, observant bastard that he was, had wanted to confirm something that Tony had been diligently doing his best to hide as much as possible given the things the people here kept saying. And now he had.

He’d been returned with the order that he had two days to give them usable results or he’d regret playing around for so long when it was taken out of his hide, one way or another.

Just thinking about it made him shiver harder, and he didn’t hesitate even slightly to fling his arms around Yinsen when the other captive wrapped a blanket around him. There was only one thing he could say that would explain just how bad the situation had gotten now, that he was sparking and his deadline was suddenly fixed rather than flexible.

That it came out a rasped whisper only lent weight to the urgency of the situation that they were now in, or rather, he was.

“There’s no more time.”

Given that Yinsen just tightened his grip on him in response...

Well, clearly he’d understood.

Chapter Text

Tony had always had an affinity for fire. In a lot of ways, this was because he worked with weapons, with things that a lack of care would end poorly on. In other ways, it was because fire was a lot like him at both his best and worst, which was a parallel he wasn’t really afraid to recognize. After all, fire was used to warm, feed, and comfort when it was in a controlled space being used by those who had respect for what it could do.

When fire was mishandled it burned, consumed, and escaped to ravage everything in an inferno that sometimes could not be stopped until it burned itself out and no sooner.

So yes, Tony felt that having an affinity for fire was appropriate, now. He’d been beyond mishandled, and he had no qualms in retaliating, in ruining that place and those people until they were nothing. He might have if he hadn’t understood the sad smiles and the horrifying peace that Yinsen seemed to have made with himself. If it hadn’t been for the softly spoken chide that Tony had family waiting for him that was said in such an exclusive way that made it clear that Yinsen no longer did.

Yet even with all of that, Tony still had hope right up until the second when the beta had lightly touched his cheek with one of those horrible smiles and then hurried ahead when he couldn’t follow. Catching up to him hadn’t been enough. Tony was many things, but he’d never been particularly inclined to medical science, let alone emergency damage situations he simply wasn’t prepared for.

And so, fire. He wasn’t unaware of the names he had in the papers, the things that the media said in both awe and horror about his skills with weaponry, the way activist groups protested his company from time to time because of the sheer destructive capability. The Merchant of Death was just one of many, really, and one that he’d never felt more appropriate than it was now. Any blood on his hands was no longer only from people he’d never seen and never would, it was no longer a thought exercise that he felt a little bad about but assumed was necessary.

Now the blood was real, and the scent of burning would linger in his memories. He would always know the difference of before and after, the way it was easy in the most horrible way to let himself unleash fury on those who had caught him and make sure that they’d never hurt others again.

The most terrifying thing of the entire escape hadn’t been the actual escape or the flight away, not even the horror of Yinsen dying when he could do nothing stood out as the most upsetting piece, though he knew he would grieve the beta and do his best to ensure he was not forgotten. No, none of that was the frightening part. The frightening part was after he’d been scooped up by Rhodey from the desert and his soulmates had finally been allowed to see him, those that could come onto the base at least. It was when he got to cling to James, and Rhodey, and even Clint, and all he could think was that he was pleased that these people weren’t at risk from those monsters anymore.

That was when he was the most frightened.

Horrible people or not, the well of cold satisfaction for killing anyone was the most terrifying thing in the escape, something he knew he would probably broach with James later, or maybe Natasha, once they were back on American soil. No, almost definitely Natasha because out of everyone she was the most likely to understand best. James’ experiences were different, applied to different parts of what happened, but hers... Yes.

He let the thought go when he heard the door to the base hospital room open, and when he looked up it was Clint in the doorway, expression solemn and eyes shadowed. Around now was probably when he should dredge up a smile, to try to reassure, but Tony simply didn’t feel like it was there to be dredged, not just now. Instead, he held out a hand in invitation, eyes solemn. His tone, at least, was a little lighter. “Back so soon?”

It was enough for the blond to scoff at him, even as he came to sit at the edge of his bed, taking the offered hand. “None of us would have left if we’d been given any choice about it. As it is, everyone who was around here that the military won’t let on base is making their way back to Malibu now so that they’ll be there to greet you once you’re cleared to fly.”

“It should be tomorrow if Rhodey’s determined face meant anything. Apparently, he’s not loving how long this trip has run. Who knew?”

Clint snorted at the flippant words, but his gaze was focused on Tony’s hand, the way the skin was cracked from dryness and use. “Yeah, well, it’s been months Tony. A little over three actually.” His gaze flit back to meet Tony’s after a moment of silence, and he shook his head. “Nobody knew anything, and I really think James and Nat were about half a breath from starting to murder their way across the desert until someone coughed up someone who knew something. You’d be impressed with their patience really. Bruce wasn’t anywhere near as chill. The only reason he stayed home with Pepper was because every time he started to freak out about what could have happened to you Laura put Connor in his lap. It only took about a week of that for him to figure out that it was probably the best place for him given uh, his issues with anger.”

It was the first time Tony had heard how long he’d actually been gone, and he couldn’t repress the grimace. “Let me guess, the reason you’re here telling me this and James isn’t is because they’re off somewhere taking a moment?”

The blond rolled his eyes, then brought up the captive hand to press a kiss to the back of it, his look rather wry. “Passed out cold the next room over. I don’t think they slept more than a handful of hours since we got word that your caravan went down. When JARVIS couldn’t locate you, it only made it worse I think. Speaking of, that’s part of why Pepper isn’t flying to meet us here and instead just getting everyone back home. JARVIS has been really not okay with this whole thing. I think he might have taken your whole disappearance personally.” There was a small pause, and the faint uptick of Clint’s lips vanished. “Honestly, I think that most of us did. We’re not a crowd that handles helplessness with grace.”

A startled laugh broke out of Tony at that but he cut it off quickly because it hurt. It wasn’t particularly amused, no, but at least it let him finally smile. “Yeah, go figure. Military, agents, and scientists not liking being helpless. Shocker.”

The answer was said with false sincerity. “Nobody would ever guess.”

“No, of course not, how ever could I think otherwise?” The humor faded from his expression after a moment, Tony observing the way that Clint was more clinging to his hand than just holding it for a long breath, and when his gaze flit back to his face he knew that Clint recognized he’d been caught at it. He didn’t look particularly sorry about it, which suited him just fine. “It’s going to be different, after this.”

“Yeah, I figured. It wasn’t like last time. You weren’t just missing for a few days before we found you. You were gone for months and we... didn’t. We tried. All of us with clearance to come into the war zone? We tried. We even managed to finagle a clearance for James and that was a bit of a nightmare, but Jim got it through, though how I have no idea. It definitely wasn’t on the SHIELD side of things. I think that means that from here on it’s not just going to be Jim coming with you to talk to people if you’re in a military zone though. Not after this.”

Tony snorted, humorless but understanding. “So once James regains consciousness they’re basically going to glue themselves to me any time I have to go somewhere that Happy doesn’t have clearance to?”

“And probably more, yeah.”

“Then it’s a good thing that I have some plans for once I get home.” He squeezed Clint’s hand, then carefully disengaged. “Could you check how long that will be for me?”

Sighing, the beta leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. “Yeah, sure, but I’ll probably be back with James in tow if not Jim too.”

“Fair enough. Now go ask, please?”

After a last searching look, Clint slowly nodded and got up to head off in search of the information he’d requested.

Tony just wished he wasn’t relieved to have a moment to himself, especially given that he probably wouldn’t have many of those in the near future. Which was fine, entirely fine, but it would be complicated too, because he had things he felt like he needed to do, now.

Still, he figured they’d understand, eventually.

Because things were different now.

Chapter Text

The trip back home was strange.

There was no playful jockeying for who got to sit beside him, no subtle insults being thrown around, nothing. Instead, there was a very rigid pattern on the plane between the three who could travel with him at all. James was to his left, Rhodey was to his right, and Clint settled across from him when he wasn’t up and pacing. It was a straightforward configuration he knew was, on some level, meant to comfort him.

It didn’t.

Oh, he appreciated the thought behind the placement, especially given that his arm ached something fierce from his dive bomb into the sand, but there was something holding him back from letting himself sink back into that familiar comfort. He suspected it was because the situation had driven home the painful fact that just because one of them was with him didn’t mean he was safe. He was at risk and so were they. For however long it took for that sensation to ease he would just have to live with the feeling that no defense he had was a good enough one.

In all, it led to a rather quiet flight, though thankfully the lack of feeling safe wasn’t enough to keep him from being able to rest. Tucking himself close to one of his alphas was still enough to soothe him for that, and he would be quite grateful for that when nights came that demons denied him peaceful rest. He knew damn well that they were coming, that the first steps were already in place for him to have shattered sleep and horrible reactions. He just didn’t know how bad, not yet.

He’d give it a week and then he was sure he’d have all kinds of fucked up new habits to examine.

But first had been the flight, quiet, oddly tense, but comforting all the same.

After that was greeting everyone who had met them, had been not being able to pick up Connor without hurting himself doing it and seeing the way Bruce’s eyes went green around the edges as he registered his injuries.

Then he’d seen the stunned shock on Pepper’s face, and the worry that only deepened on Rhodey’s. Obadiah had followed him with his eyes even as he’d fled the reporters like he still wasn’t sure he was real.

Getting home hadn’t been simpler, the chaos not being left behind at the door. He knew that his packmates would follow sooner than later, and all he could do upon being pulled into a firm hug by Natasha once he was through the door was give an awkward, sobbing laugh. He knew Laura had brought the baby, toddler, really, straight home when he’d peeled off for his press conference. He knew Happy had practically glued himself to him as soon as his feet hit the tarmac and the only reason he wasn’t with him right this second was that he was off parking the car.

And still, somehow, in the stagger of coming and going, he was alone with Natasha, someone he both dearly needed to talk to and was frightened to because what if his guess as to who might be best to speak to was wrong?

He was rarely ever wrong, but when he was it was always terrible.

“Tony.” The murmur was quiet, and it was only as the alpha started to lead him deeper into the house that he really registered that James had been pulled away from him by Clint sometime between the car and now. Maybe he’d realized who Tony needed at the moment. That would be... good. Then again, Clint always had been good at figuring out what he needed, hadn’t he?

“Natasha.” He almost winced at the way his reply came out raspy and immediately cleared his throat, not liking the intense vulnerability of the tone. “Where are we going?”

“Your balcony room seemed the best idea.” She looked at him, hands still holding both of his as she moved backward, towing him along in her wake. “After we talk it will give you time with JARVIS.”

He had no better answer for her than a crisp nod of agreement, falling quiet as she tugged him along through his workshop, exchanging words with Happy as they passed each other that he didn’t quite tune in for. Which was interesting, really, the act of actively not listening to them speaking even as their body language and scents fairly screamed their emotions in his general direction. It was a skill he could ignore, of course, but he didn’t want to. Knowing what was going on around him let him feel safer, at the moment, and he wasn’t about to give his frayed nerves any cause to get worse. Though it seemed that JARVIS, at least, felt he’d waited long enough when the glass door to the enclosed balcony was shut behind them, finally speaking up using a tone Tony had never heard before.

In a way, that was painful all by itself because it meant that the AI, his kid, had suffered in his absence too. “Sir. Welcome home.”

Swallowing thickly against the renewed urge to cry, he took in a careful, shaky breath. “Happy to be home, buddy. We’ll talk, you and I, just as soon as I and Natasha finish okay? I promise.”

There was a faint pause, something that Tony read as the immense hesitation that he knew most didn’t realize was one for the AI. “Of course. I will be waiting.”

Closing his eyes and giving a sharp nod, he turned his face and attention both back to Natasha, who wasted no time handing him onto the couch he’d maneuvered into the mostly empty space. She joined him immediately, though the only point of contact remained their hands between them. “What do you need Tony?”

“I need it to have not happened.” The reply was immediate, and perhaps a little sharper than warranted, but he was tired, sore, and didn’t truly want to have this conversation. Swallowing back the sudden well of hostility, he breathed his way carefully through it and tried again. “I just... need to know something, one thing. They tried to make you like an omega, right? Are your instincts- Are they different than they were while they were dosing you?”

Her fingers squeezed his and she gave him a knowing smile. “You wish to know if the rage is less now that my hormones are being left alone. It is and isn’t. When they took you, we were all angry, some worse than others, but no one was pleased, of course. The alphas had it worst I believe, given that all of us have combat training. But that was not what you were asking. You were asking about deaths because my perspective is unique among everyone in our home.”

Tony could have denied it, but was there a point in denying something that was so obviously true? Instead, he just gave her a grim smile. “I don’t really want to know, but yes, I think I need to.”

She nodded back, then leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. “There is no shame in being satisfied that you did well in your objectives.” Her hands tightened on his then, making him realize they’d started to shake a bit. “It does not make you a horrible person to know that those objectives led to deaths. You are a strong, intelligent omega who does not lend those strengths toward the things that most would expect of you. It means that there will be times when things go badly for you because others do not wish for you to flourish.”

“Natasha-”

Her tone when she cut him off was almost stern. “Hurting those who hurt you is gratifying Tony. It is natural, and it does not make you a monster.”

He pressed his lips together, staring at her for a very long moment before answering, holding that jewel bright gaze of hers in the meanwhile. “My lack of regret about the whole thing is what’s freaking me out, Natasha. There should be something, no matter how horrible the people I killed were. They were still people.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. You wouldn’t go out and kill innocents, and your mind will not let you walk away from this without reminders, something that perhaps you cannot see, now. You will not turn to death as your first recourse, and have taken steps to the opposite, have you not? Did I misunderstand the news that you gave the country just hours ago?”

There was a beat of silence then, as Tony really processed what she said, and then he gave another one of those watery laughs. “Yeah. Yeah, I did that. I did that.”

“There you are then. Tony Stark is no monster.” He didn’t fight when she pulled him fully into her arms, tucking him tightly against her smaller frame. “Not every title you have been given must be true, Tony, regardless of who is the one speaking it.”

He nodded, turning his face to hide it against her shoulder as he let the tension in his body ease. Rather, when he forced it to. “It’s not that easy.”

“I know. Such things never are.”

He didn’t have an argument to that, but he didn’t much want to either, and let silence fall around them. He could take a minute before turning back to settling his family, just a minute to reassure himself before needing to reassure everyone else.

He could.

And it would be enough.

Chapter Text

He needed to work. This wasn’t a small need, or a passing inspiration, no, it was a driving, persistent force that demanded his full attention.

Connor didn’t understand. The toddler just wanted to stay close to him, to make sure he didn’t vanish again, and Tony got that, but he also got that one didn’t have a baby around dangerous experiments and that meant having to regularly peel off a very clingy child so that another adult could keep an eye on them. On the one hand, it was fine. Whenever Connor was close by, he worked on things for the company’s kid division, letting the nibling play with anything that they hadn’t seen before that was safe. Sometimes the kid was enthralled enough that he felt secure working on one of his less explosive non-child projects even. On the other hand, when he couldn’t focus on those projects he’d give the little one a kiss on the head and pass them over to someone who wasn’t eyeballing explosives. Those times were less fabulous for the toddler, all told, as the kid was never happy to not get to stay nearby.

Never let it be said that he hadn’t learned some responsible habits over the years.

Of course, it was very likely that his mates wouldn’t particularly agree with his definition of ‘responsible habits’ given that the only one he hadn’t been reluctant to show off his current main project to was Bruce. He had already brought him on board with his initial project, having had to do something about that first arc reactor. He’d needed help switching it out, and while he could have poked at one of the others, Bruce had the medical training that meant he’d been a bit less squeamish about the whole thing. That first arc had been horrible. Effective, yes, entirely, but the taste that it had caused to linger at the back of his throat had been unpleasant from the start, enough so that he didn’t even realize how much easier it was to eat until it was gone, changed out for the newer one. His mates had noticed the physical difference, of course they had, the new arc looked different, but most of them hadn’t thought of it as more than settling in higher quality materials.

Bruce knew better, and sometimes the look on his face when he eyed the glow through his shirts was incredibly uncertain.

That hadn’t exactly gotten better when he’d caught Tony fussing with figuring out how to use the arc in question as a power source the next week either. Still, Tony had his priorities, and this was something he’d felt that he needed to do. Thus, Bruce’s silence on how dangerous using the power source in his chest was was secured, though it came at the cost of not actively hiding what he was doing from the others anymore.

Which was how he’d ended up here, somehow.

Here happened to be having an audience who insisted on participating when Tony’s initial efforts to fly had been a little bit more uncomfortable than planned. Yes, he was glad James had caught him. No, he wasn’t loving that he had to spend the next fifteen minutes after that convincing them that he really was just fine. Still, he’d been let out and had averted Dum-E’s need to spray him down with a fire extinguisher even because of the catch so there were some bonuses to the audience. He didn’t find it fair that even when James actively made fire Dum-E never ambushed him with fire suppression though. It was a conspiracy.

Regardless, after that slightly painful delay, Tony admitted that he had to be more careful.

“So, just so you don’t feel the need to come running to my rescue again, I’ll be trying this again with a much lower power output, alright?”

James eyed him up, clearly dubious. “If those boots of yours explode, it’s going to be real unhappy for you. You’re sure those are totally stable? I remember your dad’s go at making something fly like you’re doing.”

Bruce, who had removed himself to the other side of the workspace after Tony crashed for the sake of the stability of the house returned about then and just had to comment. “It’s not the technology that’s the problem here, it’s how he’s using it. Tony, if you crash again, I’m going to have to go upstairs, and when I do I will make sure that Happy sees what you’re doing.”

“Wow, wow guys. I crashed one time. Have a little faith. JARVIS is monitoring my experiment output so no risk of me making the same mistake twice.” He spread his hands, careful not to hit any of the power output triggers. The last thing he needed was to prove their point by blowing himself sideways across the room. The one time he’d done that in front of Pepper had been bad enough. He still couldn’t believe that she’d sicced Laura on him for that.

“I have little doubt that any future crashing will be due to entirely different factors than you have already experienced.”

“Hey! Sass!”

Bruce snorted once, shaking his head. “Sounds more like honesty to me.”

Tony rounded on Bruce, but it turned into a pout when James just nodded. “His point is not without merit.”

“Hey! I’m feeling very picked on right now!” When Tony’s audience of two just exchanged a glance and a smirk, he huffed, knowing that that had been the entire point. Why did he love these people? They were horrible trolls, every last one of them. Still, he knew they had no intention of stopping him, and that settled some of the nervousness that had sprung up after his little crash a half hour before. “Okay, fine, I see how it is. Both of you get back by U so I can give this another go.”

“Carefully.”

Tony huffed at Bruce’s chide, but gave a sharp nod of his head as he settled back into the open space, making sure everything was set for another go. “Yes, carefully. Any other comments from the gallery? Borya, you haven’t said anything too sarcastic yet.”

James just hummed lowly, giving an agreeable nod and a shrug. “When you crash again, I will catch you. Bucky will fuss, I will act.”

Tony blinked, then threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not going to crash again! Here, look. JARVIS, how about that nice low output of one percent I decided to skip the last time? U, we filming? Good, okay, so back to documenting this thing. We’ll start low and I’ll work my way up alright? No more big jumps.”

He thought the dubious looks he was getting as he settled into position to give it another run were a little unfair. Most of the other attempts had admittedly been before he got all the configurations worked out so there hadn’t been much control, but he’d fixed that pretty quickly. Of course, after that had come a couple rounds of uneven spinning that was more exasperating than dangerous because not everything was evenly calibrated, but he’d made sure that was taken care of too. Of course, the one time he got a little overeager and properly crashed just had to be right when James had come downstairs. Regardless of all that, it just meant that this time there wasn’t any likelihood of spontaneous uncontrolled directional flinging that he had to worry about, nor fire, or anything else in that general direction like some of the previous trials had caused.

So, okay, he could maybe see why Bruce was less than impressed at the moment, but James had only seen him crash the once! They had absolutely no reason to look so unsupportive.

The comments about figuring out how to land once he managed to get up into the air were also, in his opinion, completely unwarranted.

Completely.

Chapter Text

In some ways, Tony’s jaunt through the desert had been a blessing. In others, he was sure it had left him with a rather large issue on his hands.

Yes, it had gotten him away from that place while he’d been sparking the edges of a heat, there was no denying that, but the escape itself had resulted in setting the heat back due to new injuries and his body going full tilt survival mode on him. What he’d up and done to himself once he’d gotten home hadn’t exactly let his hormones stand down either as he knew, even without the sideways looks that Bruce kept shooting his way, that something was not right with his arc. No, if everything was fine, he probably would have lapsed into that long-delayed heat weeks prior, probably just as soon as the shock of the reactor switch was done.

Instead, it had been almost three months since then, and the sparking hadn’t emerged into a proper heat. Yes, from time to time he had a day where he felt awful, debilitatingly hot and unfocused, but it never lasted more than a few hours, never emerged into a proper heat. This was bad. He knew it was bad because he knew it meant that his body was going to be incredibly unpredictable when it stopped playing tug of war with itself. He’d heard about situations like this, when someone had a surgery or got very sick, where their heats went from a regular cycle and turned into a veritable guessing game of extremes. Sometimes, the results were a more consistent, but lighter heat. Other times, it just stopped for a while, and when it restarted, it was just messy.

He hadn’t had a heat in more than half a year at this point. He was, simply put, a little frightened that it would come on suddenly and with full intensity. Because of that, he’d made sure he didn’t drive anywhere alone and had fully discussed boundaries and protocol with all his family members, even those who had never helped him with his heat before. He refused the idea of being caught out and leaving his family unprepared because of it. The biggest reason he was so unsettled? His cycle had always run toward the long end. He’d observed first hand the veritable ellipse of how heat cycles worked. Short cycles meant short heats. Long cycles meant heats to make up the difference.

Creeping past half a year without having a heat?

He expected it to knock him on his ass for a month, at least, which meant not leaving the house and having to lighten his workload to something that didn’t require his normal processing level because he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus anywhere near as well as normal. In all, not ideal when he had a huge project in the works, months of backlog that he’d been struggling to sort out as swiftly as possible, and a bevy of well-meaning but concerned family members. The expectation and the ups and downs of his body playing maybe yes maybe no on him hadn’t made him the most pleasant person to be around in the last handful of weeks. The sparking almost heat starts had been getting more frequent, but no longer felt like a reliable measure, which in turn had made him snappy, frustrated, and overly restless.

It was, ultimately, Clint that figured out the problem.

“So, Tony, on a scale of one to ten, where, exactly, would you put your angry frustrated levels at this morning?” The tone of the comment was light as the blond threw himself on the couch of Tony’s workshop, and it near immediately became clear to Tony that no, his soulmate wasn’t about to get up and get out of his face. Instead, it looked like he was settling in for a long, probably rather uncomfortable, conversation.

How fun. “Well, I would have said five, but I’m suddenly creeping toward a seven.” The worst part was that he couldn’t just tune Clint out and focus on the electronics on his hands. Sadly, his current stage actually took his complete focus, and he was far far too aware of the archer. Fucking wonderful. Pulling his hands carefully free once he finished tightening the section he was on, he cast Clint a singularly unimpressed look. “So if that’s all you came down here to ask me, you’re welcome to go now.”

When his pointed hand gesture got the wholly unwelcome reaction of Clint sprawling out more, Tony only just held in a frustrated growl. “Yeah, I could do that. In fact, I’m sure you’d even feel better for a minute if I did, but I really don’t think it’d make you feel much happier. Just, you know, one more question for you, yeah? When’s the last time you played? Was it before, or have you actually had a round with someone since you’ve been home?”

The question was, frankly, not on the list of ones he’d gotten used to lately. No, he’d been practically smothered in attentive attention, had needed to make sure that everyone was settled and not worrying. Nobody had remembered he was a damn dominant and all this frustration had to go somewhere in the end. Not even he had, really, with how rarely he actually had to do anything about it. He felt he couldn’t be blamed that his voice came out a little weak in his startlement. “What?”

“I know I didn’t stutter. When’s the last time someone let you boss them around without fussing over you? I mean, after what happened I can’t imagine that your dominant instincts were remotely okay.”

“I never got to play, no, but I was directing what was going on before I escaped. I think that was... enough? I stayed focused.” He stared at the project in front of him, then shook his head, getting out of his chair and moving to the couch instead, leaning on the back of it to look down at Clint properly. “You going somewhere with this?”

“Well, I know since you got home we’ve all been coddling you and stuff to some degree or another so you haven’t been getting your normal passive ‘they did what I said because I said so’ thing that you usually have going on. You’ve been getting grouchier and grouchier, and your delayed heat thing has just been making it worse, right? Because you know you’ll be down hard?”

Tony gave a slow nod, eyes narrowing a little. “Yeah, that sounds about right. No way when this thing kicks in that I’ll be in a position to do shit until it eases back off.”

“Yeah, so, how about we sort that out? Maybe once your dominant instincts can let you stand down, you’ll be able to properly deal with the heat thing since you’ll be moving away from combat mode. Because let’s be honest here, I think you’re one well-meant check in from punching someone in the face right now. Seriously, even with you standing there listening to me I can scent the frustration coming off you and I’m a beta. We aren’t known for our noses.”

“No, you really aren’t. Observation on the other hand...” He shook his head, giving in to the urge making his fingers itch to trace a line down Clint’s cheek. It wasn’t like the blond was going to complain, he’d always been cuddly. “So, you think it’s my lack of appeased headspace that’s playing merry hell with my off balance hormones.”

“Basically. I mean, everyone knows that if a dominant or submissive gets bad enough that it starts to have an impact on their physical body. With everything else going on with you, yeah. I can see it. So, I figured I’d offer to help.” Giving him a rather playful grin, Clint squirmed until he was firmly settled on his back, crossing his wrists and offering them to Tony. “You know, out of the goodness of my heart. Play with me?”

The approach made the omega snort, amused, but his hand had drifted from his face to his hands before his brain had any chance to truly catch up. Yes, he’d needed something like this for a while. Being a soft dominant didn’t mean that he could afford to ignore it any more than someone who needed it all day every day. And he had. “You’re only offering because nobody’s played with you lately either. I bet they’ve all been so busy fussing over me that nobody’s taken the time to dote on you.”

“True.” He wiggled his fingers but didn’t fight the grip on his crossed wrists, apparently satisfied by that minor confinement as an agreement. “And you know me, can’t stand to be ignored when I want attention. So that’s a hard yes then?”

“That’s a very, very hard yes. And when we’re both settled, let's go remind all the switches in the house that the rest of us need a little special attention. I’m pretty sure the other dominants have been settling their instincts on me and that’s just counterproductive for me at the moment.”

Clint gave an agreeable hum, a little grin on his lips as Tony tugged him up to sit, making it so the omega could actually circle the couch without releasing him. “Yeah, usually works out for me, being the only submissive, but not so much when everyone’s ignoring me.”

Tony snorted, tugging Clint up to his feet once they were on the side of the couch where he could. The workshop wasn’t really the best place for any kind of play session. “Yeah yeah. I’m not ignoring you now. You just tell me if I get too intense, hear?”

“I know the rules. I know you do too. It hasn’t been that long Tony.”

He shook his head, starting for the stairs up to the main house. “Maybe for you, but for me, it feels like a lifetime. Just remember your colors, alright?”

He was relieved when Clint sobered, nodding back to him to show he was taking the caution seriously. “I will. I trust you you know.”

That particular affirmation was more of a relief than he’d expected, but he wasn’t about to question it. “I know. Thank you.”

“You’re always welcome, Tony.” And there went the seriousness of the moment, as he had no doubt in his mind that that response probably came equipped with an eyebrow waggle, though he didn’t look to check. But that was fine, because if this worked out then everything might, finally, start to settle back into something normal.

He could desperately use a little normal.

Chapter Text

In the last few weeks since Tony’s heat ended he’d felt more clearheaded than he had since he woke up in that damn cave.

The experience had been just as horrifyingly over the top as he’d expected, dragging on a near solid two months in one of the least coherent spans of time he could remember. Some of the projects he’d made while in that state were hilarious, but thankfully all circled around babies and more babies, because he didn’t want to think of where his mind might have gone if he’d been thinking weapons in that state. On the other hand, baby-mad him had laid the groundwork for another AI, doing it all out of order, sure, but that didn’t exactly matter. He could always go back and fill in the blanks as long as he didn’t wake her up.

However, the point was that in the time since that mess had gotten finished with, he’d been able to properly work. He could focus, sorting out problems that had been plaguing him for weeks as the pre-heat had gotten bad enough that his progress had slowed to a crawl. Things that had been embarrassingly baffling were resolved in moments, coming together as though they’d never been a problem at all. In those weeks, he’d finally sorted out all the mechanics of the armor, integrating how the power interface had to work and in general going from ‘meandering project where I can fly’ to ‘that’s actually pretty badass looking’. Then again, it was so much better when all his processing power was aimed in the correct direction, and he was going to treat this whole experience as the proof of concept for that.

Still, he didn’t expect to see mates that looked so surprised to see him when he came upstairs that particular evening. The kid, yeah, sure, getting his legs tackled by the baby was more than understandable, but Bruce looking surprised to see him? No. “Did I miss something?”

Shaking his head, the beta immediately lifted a hand. It wasn’t quite the gesture of a student waiting to be called on, but it was close. “Well, um, we kind of thought you’d still be busy, so nobody was going to bother you. It’s been good to see you happy again.”

Tony blinked, then squinted, looking over at James questioningly as he picked up the child clinging to his legs, settling them on his hip. “Is he going somewhere with this?”

He got a crisp nod in turn. “He is.”

“Right.” Tony looked back to Bruce, he raised his eyebrows as he settled into doing bouncy little half turns to entertain the toddler. “Okay, so what are you apologizing for exactly?”

“It’s the main Maria Stark Gala tonight, did you remember?” Bruce had by this point lowered his hand, fiddling with his fingers as he looked back at Tony.

Looking from one person to the other, Tony blinked rapidly because what? “Is that where Pepper is?”

It was Laura who answered, calling from the other room where she was watching some show. “Happy too, he drove her.”

“And I’ve had Clint set up with Natasha for security at any major events so they’re probably lurking around that thing too, aren’t they?” When Tony’s words just got a confirming nod, he felt his shoulders go loose, though he was also a little exasperated with everything. Yes, he’d been having a stupid week. Month? Year. He’d been having a stupid year, but he still would have emerged from his workshop to go somewhere nice with Pepper. He knew both her and Bucky enjoyed that sort of thing. “Right, okay, so, Bruce, you take this little one.”

He handed over Connor, who protested. Intensely. With grabby hands even. “Ma, no! I wanna go too!”

“You’ll be bored baby, maybe when you’re a little older okay? It’s late anyway and you should be sleeping. Have a nice cuddle with your mom while she watches her show, or daddy Bruce who I know you like spending time with.” When he just got a small scowl in return, he kissed the child on the forehead. “Right, but as I was saying, I’m going to go get dressed and I’m taking this one with me.” He hooked a thumb at James at that point. “We’ll make an appearance.”

Bruce nodded, expertly hugging the squirming child to his chest to keep them from lunging back into Tony’s arms. “I can do that. I’m glad you’re not upset we didn’t remind you.”

“Nah, no reason to be mad, not really. JARVIS could have reminded me too, or Pepper before she left. You guys were just looking out for me.” He stepped back, hooking his arm through the closest one of James’ and tugging. “C’mon you, time to get fancy.”

He could almost see the way Borya fled the concept as James’ posture loosened. And then they laughed, going with the tug and easily falling in step with him as he headed for his room. “Alright doll, we have to actually get there first. Were you thinking dress or suit for this?”

“Suit, definitely. If Pepper’s already there she’s probably glowing in something gorgeous and I don’t want to even slightly risk casting a shadow on that. Maybe at the next one though, we could coordinate then.” He looked thoughtful as he answered, then flashed a grin up at them. “You finally get to wear that flashy new thing I made for you before things went to hell though, yeah? Armor reinforced cloth and everything.”

“I’m excited. Even Borya was curious and ze’s not really a clothing kind of person.” James snorted a laugh, shaking their head as they hit the top of the stairs, scaling the baby gate there with the ease of practice.

“But armor. Yeah, I can see it. Still, sexy, tuxedo shaped armor, this time.” Tony waggled his eyebrows, leaning harder into their side as they made their way along the hall.

“All the perks with only a few of the drawbacks. C’mon, let’s go get pretty for Pepper.”

“Just Pepper? Yeah, okay, that’s fair. And then to the Gala!”

“Which, speaking of, didn’t you invite Hammer to that after last year?”

Tony felt his smile turn into a pout at the reminder. “Hey now, I was getting excited, don’t remind me.”

That James only laughed at him simply made him pout harder.

Chapter Text

Going to the gala proved to be an absolute disaster.

Sure, on one hand, the gala itself wasn’t negatively affected, which was good because it was for a charity. On the other hand, on a personal level, it was like someone had decided to take what emotional stability he’d pieced together since he’d gotten home and stomp all over it. He really couldn’t say he approved of that situation, not really, but there was nothing he could do about it.

His first warning had, as always, been Justin Hammer.

Much like the assteroid that Hammer proclaimed their shared mark to be, the beta had an orbit and it had clearly been far too long since that orbit had intersected with Tony. Because of this, he’d apparently resumed his stalking habits and found him not even five minutes after he arrived, popping up at his side as though he’d never left it.

“Tony! I’d heard that you weren’t doing these things anymore, I’m glad to see the tabloids were wrong.”

“Wrong?” The sudden appearance may have been startling, enough so that he’d stepped closer to James on reflex, but that didn’t mean he would ignore the sudden ominous feeling that the cheerful greeting inspired. “About what exactly? I’m afraid I haven’t been keeping up lately.”

James slipped their arm around Tony’s waist when he moved closer, making that seem like the goal. Tony would be eternally grateful that this particular alpha of his had gotten so good at covering for his twitchy moments. It made everything so much easier. That it made Hammer’s smile fade a little could be counted as a bonus in that small petty corner of his brain that still hadn’t forgiven the beta for the years of public defamation. “Really? That might explain it. The media was saying that you couldn’t handle the stress and had turned agoraphobic after coming back. I’ve heard talk that you’re not even going to be running your company anymore, especially with everything in the news lately.”

Tony gave his head a little shake, lost because what? He was sure that he would have heard about this from someone in his house if this was the kind of rumor circulating. “What are you talking about? Where are you even getting this information?”

It was not reassuring that Hammer winked at him as though to say he knew he was feigning his ignorance. “Oh, here and there. There’s a reporter around here, I think you’ve met? Goes by Everhart? Shi was asking me some questions. You know, as one of your soulmates, but I was very hush hush, didn’t tell hir a thing.”

Tony felt James start to steer him away then, and he was more than okay to let them. “Right, okay. Thanks for that heads up. You have a good night. I apparently have a reporter to find.”

Hammer looked disappointed but didn’t appear as though he was going to try to follow, which was something of a relief. He did surprise him before they managed to leave, however. “I’m glad you made it home okay, Tony. The world wouldn’t be the same without you.”

It was the genuine feeling in the words that was the biggest surprise, honestly, and Tony gave a nod to show he heard, and understood, the sentiment of it. “I’m happy to be home. I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

He let James sweep him away then, and while he spotted Pepper across the room, looking as beautiful as she always did, he had to sort out this image situation that PR had for some reason not kept him informed about which was... shit. It was never good when any of his departments kept him in the dark, and he was not loving the sinking feeling in his chest because he knew none of the house pack would have kept him in the dark. Thus, they moved away from Pepper as Tony’s eyes hunted for the blond that had proven to ever be present where media and he was concerned in the last two years. They’d met a couple times before now, after all, so he knew who he was looking for at least.

That all it took to practically summon hir was standing still for more than five seconds without James glued to his side was a pretty good indication that the news shi brought wasn’t about to be good. Still, he didn’t regret asking James to go let Pepper know they were there, and he knew the alpha could still see him perfectly well from their position as ze made their way across the room. At least, not for the first exchange of the conversation. Sadly, the feeling had no opportunity to last.

“Stark.”

“Everhart. You’re looking pretty tonight. Do something new with your hair?” He cast his gaze over hir, taking in the crisp but well put together attire. No one would ever accuse the beta of bad taste at least, that was for certain.

“Not even slightly.” Shi was fishing in hir pocket as shi spoke and there was a mounting sense of dread creeping up his spine as shi started to lay what could only be pictures out next to them. He didn’t look, not yet. “It’s pretty low to hide what your company is doing behind the kid division, don’t you think? Pretty two-faced if you ask me.”

It was those words that had him pressing his lips together in displeasure and he finally looked. No, they weren’t what he expected, but they weren’t good. No, they were worse, because they were nothing new given things he’d found out this year. But that was just it. The company shouldn’t have been putting out anything that could... No, this was very bad. Still, he could hope for sensationalism rather than recent history. “Everhart, are you trying to accuse me of something here or are you dredging up ancient history?”

The hard look shi gave him made him feel like the world had tilted in the most horrible way possible. “Yesterday isn’t ancient Stark.”

“No... No, it’s not.” He reached out, snatching up one of the pictures to stare at it for a moment before putting it back on the table and stepping away from hir. “I find myself needing to go. That? That was not me.” He pointed sharply at the photos before spinning on his heel, diving away from both the reporter who was trying to ask him something else which he simply wasn’t hearing and where a concerned James was trying to make their way back through the crowd with Pepper. He’d noticed Obie was here on his way in, but the beta had been making end rounds.

Which meant that he was probably about to leave, and this wasn’t something that he felt could wait until he hunted the beta down at home. Not with the low thrumming beat of confused panic fluttering where the arc meant it shouldn’t be able to at least. There was an upside to the jittery sensation at least, as it made him move fast, his crowd training kicking in with a vengeance to get him through and around people without drawing attention or offense and leaving those trying to follow to lag behind. There was the added bonus that his speed meant he caught Obie, even if he was moving at a fairly decent clip by the time Tony felt secure he could call out to him and be heard.

“Obie! Hey, hold up a second, would you?”

The words immediately got the beta to stop, of course. Yes, they were outside, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have an audience, and the beta had always been somewhat discrete about conflict of any type in public. Tony, on the other hand, while knowing the tricks, didn’t always bother to use them. Which was proving to be very good for him now as he caught up with his mentor, who happened to be watching him with a clearly questioning expression. “Tony! I didn’t expect to see you here tonight. Feeling better?”

The smile he forced to his face felt horribly fake, weak as it was, and he searched for something in the pleasant expression he was being presented with. What, he wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be there. “I was. I’ve heard some rumors since I showed up tonight that- What’s going on Obie? And why don’t I know about it?”

The expression on the beta’s face faded to something more contemplative and he looped an arm around him, drawing him in to talk more quietly. He wished the gesture was as reassuring as he was sure it was supposed to be. “What’s this about Tony?”

“Two things. Weapons being sold where they shouldn’t be, and this talk about me giving up my position in the company.” He stared at him, focused and feeling horribly brittle around the edges. He knew he wouldn’t like the answers he got no matter what they were.

He wasn’t wrong about that, and the gentle, almost chiding, way that they were delivered only made it worse. “All me, but one of us had to do something, and it clearly wasn’t going to be you. But it’ll be fine Tony, you’ll see. I’ll take care of the company until you remember what’s important.”

When he released him after a kiss on the side of the head and a fond smile to meander away like nothing was wrong, like Tony should have expected that to be what he said, he didn’t follow, stunned by the coldness of the whole interaction. Yes, the gestures, expressions, even the tone had been warm, but the feeling the words left him with was like ice water being dumped over his head. When James caught up a moment later and pulled him close, he could have cried in relief at being shocked out of the sensation.

He didn’t, of course. No, instead he insisted that they go home, immediately.

He had some things he needed to do, and some answers to get about what, exactly, people weren’t telling him.

Not to mention needing to know why.

Chapter Text

Tony’s trip overseas was an unmitigated disaster. Yes, he saved the innocents, yes he took care of the weapons, and yes, he got home safely.

However.

The weapons shouldn’t have been there, and something in his heart ached with knowing that Obadiah had put them there ‘for the sake of the company’. Of course, then there was Rhodey who he hadn’t exactly been talking to lately because they’d upset each other due first to how he handled dropping weapons, then how he wouldn’t even consider reinstating them. He’d once again pulled through for Tony, just like he always did, which had been spectacular, but he’d had to leave him in the lurch because he hadn’t known what to say about his doings now.

Setting his other soulmates to fixing his mess ups wasn’t exactly in the cards either, given that by the time he’d gotten home Rhodey had apparently called them and they were... waiting. Staring up at the sky. Bruce was even green around the edges by the time he landed which wasn’t exactly the most encouraging thing he’d ever seen. James hadn’t exactly been more encouraging, simply staring at him with Borya’s stony silence. That it was Borya at all meant that he’d probably freaked Bucky out and that was just... fantastic.

Sarcasm fully intended.

Still, somehow, all of this had been fully anticipated, the upset, the intercommunication among his soulmates, all of it. He was proud that they never once considered reigning in their concerns, and that made him feel rather touched, even if it was less than pleasant. Regardless of the kicked over upset, they’d still checked him over for damage, shoved him into the bathroom to clean himself up and then fed him, Borya practically lurking to make sure he didn’t skip a bite, not that he ever did. He liked Borya’s cooking.

No, none of that was what made it a disaster. What made it a disaster was what was happening now.

Once he’d finished eating he’d been steered by the two into the living room through a strangely quiet house. Yes, he’d known his agent pair was off on a mission, but there was no Happy lurking around, no Pepper standing at hand, though she’d been spending more and more time at work recently, probably because of his own lack of doing so. Still, it was the lack of Laura that was making alarm bells go off in his head because with her was the kid, and them being out when he knew they hadn’t had plans spoke of at least some degree of coordination.

At least JARVIS hadn’t done anything strange. Then again JARVIS had picked at him the whole way home and while he was getting the armor off him besides. He probably didn’t have anything additional to add after all that.

All in all, the warning signs were there. What they were leading to though... well. Never let it said that Tony was incapable of being surprised.

“Next time you do something like this, you’re taking someone with you.” The words were said in a rather steady, no-nonsense tone via Borya, but neither of the two gave him the opportunity to answer before Bruce continued, seeing the way Tony’s eyes were widening.

“Don’t even think about saying we shouldn’t go either. You know I have the Hulk, even if he and I don’t always see eye to eye. I’d be fine. James has been in and out of war zones since before we were born, they’ll be fine too. There’s also Clint, and Natasha, who are perfectly dangerous in their own rights, not to mention Phil and anyone he has contact with. Even if they’re not on the ground with you, someone could be there to make sure you get in and out safely. Jim can’t be there because his hands are tied with the air force. We all know that, but the rest of us aren’t stuck that way. Even if we put aside the agent group for the same reason as Jim, that still leaves me and James here. Hell Tony, that leaves Happy. How do you think he’d feel if you just cut him right out of everything like this? His whole life is built around keeping you safe.”

“Bruce...” Tony was shaking his head, and he leaned forward on the couch, realizing all at once that James had never made a move to sit and was pacing while Bruce had turned his whole body to face him rather than settling into the couch. He probably should have noticed that sooner, if he was honest, but he still felt a little weird from his jaunt. Not that he’d admit that. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want the help, or that I don’t trust you guys to keep safe. I do. There’s just no way to make it work. I can’t exactly fly a jet into war zones, and enhancements or none, I’m not flying you guys up in thin oxygen without protection.”

“Then make something that can do what you need it to do.” James had turned to look at him, eyes fierce and steady as they peered into his face. “We have no desire to see you die because we were not nearby. You are the heart of this pack, we cannot lose you.”

“They have a point you know. Without you, who even knows what situation I’d be in now? I might be in a lab somewhere getting experiments done to me. James might have never had anywhere to run to and still been with those people. Clint? Probably never would have met him, Natasha either. Pepper probably wouldn’t know any of us. Happy would be doing who knows what, and Laura? Would there even be a Connor? Without you the whole world would look different Tony, so don’t say anything to talk us out of this, alright? JARVIS let us know as soon as you left and we were talking about this for a while when you were making that suit in the first place. It’s why Pepper isn’t here. She’s upset we were right. We haven’t told Happy yet because we want you to figure that out before we do.”

Tony looked from one to the other, knowing that there was absolutely nothing that he could say that would dissuade them. Finally, mouth working silently for a moment, he felt his shoulders slump and he released a sharp breath. “Right. Okay. You know what? I know when arguing isn’t going to work, but I don’t want any of you to be hurt either, you get that, don’t you?”

“Of course we do Tony, you love us as much as we love you. We know that.” Bruce scooted closer so that he could loop an arm around Tony as he spoke. “But that also comes with knowing that the safekeeping can’t only go one way, right?”

Tony grimaced but nodded when he felt James settle down on his other side, resigning himself to the idea of his family putting themselves on the line for him. It was very telling that there hadn’t been a word about him stopping. “So, does this mean you have any ideas about how to bring Happy into all this?”

“I have a few, yes. Shall we?”

“Yeah, yeah that’d be great.”

And if Tony ended up in the middle of a three-person squish, well, that might have improved the disaster.

Just a little bit.

Chapter Text

Tony was aware of the fact that in the time he’d been back from Afghanistan that the company had been in a situation of complete and total upheaval. It had been a deliberate choice, one that he’d truly believed should be done. Unfortunately, he hadn’t done it right, had been distracted by the more immediate concerns of the weapons being actively used, and he’d missed the obvious bits. He’d missed Obadiah’s displeasure and that his wishes were not only being overridden, but largely ignored. He’d missed that nobody in the company who he had any regular contact with was willing, or in some cases even able, to keep him in the loop.

He missed that, somehow, Obadiah had largely managed to get the reigns of Stark Industries and had run with it in a direction he’d never wanted it to go. It was, frankly, terrifying. It was also why he was here, now, staring up at the old arc reactor his dad had made decades ago as the very beta who he’d relied on for so long circled that magnificent, life-saving piece of technology to stand beside him, clearly having no intention of speaking first. In the weeks since the gala, Obadiah hadn’t spoken to him. Not once. He hadn’t called, he hadn’t come by. It had been a complete stonewall the way his mentor always used when he wanted Tony to understand that he’d fucked up with the company somewhere.

This time, Tony didn’t think he had. This time, he knew he was in the right, even if profits were lost, because what Obadiah had decided to do couldn’t keep happening. Destroying the weapons once they got there wasn’t good enough. He needed to take care of this side too.

“You know, once, a long time ago, you were my favorite. Mom was amazing but busy, dad was brilliant but distracted, and Edwin and Ana... All of them were great, but they were all so old compared to kid me. They didn’t get me, and I didn’t confide in them because I knew they saw the world differently enough that they couldn’t possibly understand.” Tony glanced away from the play of light and color in front of him, looking over at Obadiah to see he was being watched, the beta clearly listening. “And then, one day you went from being Obie, the cool uncle I could talk to because he wasn’t an old raptor and became Obie, the only one I had left that I could rely on consistently. The only one around from day to day when everything was on fire. Back then, I never would have questioned where you were aiming me, you know. I never would have thought that you would make mistakes that I had to fix. I don’t... think that’s where we’re at anymore.”

“Is that really how it is Tony? You don’t trust that I know what I’m doing anymore? With you, with the company?” When he glanced at him, he noticed that Obadiah didn’t look mad, but there was still something in his eyes he didn’t like. Something was off.

“I want to. You’re my oldest friend. I’ve known you since I was a baby. But... what you’re doing with the company? I can’t keep on with that. I really can’t.” He looked away, leaning on the railing and staring up at the lights as he shook his head.

The answer was slow in coming, thoughtful in tone, but also a touch resigned. “That really is a shame you know. The company’s gone a long way with you. You’re brilliant, and you’ve always burned brightly at the forefront of everything the company had to offer. Even the baby line is bafflingly popular, and that isn’t even what this company is for.” He didn’t look when he felt Obadiah put a hand on his shoulder, but he did dip his head a little, tense and miserable. “That’s when I saw the writing on the wall you know. You were pulling back from the military contracts without even talking to me and focusing on things that weren’t anywhere near as useful to the stockholders.”

And that... wasn’t right. Straightening, his gaze darted over to the beta, but something in his face was just... “Obie? What do you mean by ‘writing on the wall’?”

Rather than answering him directly, he pulled Tony against his side, draping his arm across his shoulders to keep him there. It was a familiar gesture, one he’d done hundreds of times in his life, but it had never felt so ominous before. “I mean, Tony, that I knew that things were changing around here, and sooner or later you’d realize that I was part of the old ways.”

“What? Obie-”

“No, no, hear me out.” He waved him down, tone somewhere between chiding and patient. It was one that instantly quieted him by way of pure habit to let the beta talk. “Look, you know me. I met your dad by coming on to a weapon company and got high enough inside a year that when you were born he trusted me to keep an eye on things for him for a while. You know that. I’ve told you that. I’m pretty sure that Howard told you that too. Thing is, your dad was a hardcore patriot, and we were in the cold war by then. A company like this? It was secure back then because whoever had the bigger stick would scare the other guy into submission. These days though... It’s different, now. There’s no more cold war. There’s no more open conflicts even like Vietnam and the like. No, we’re all about the covert conflicts, the system of America sticking their fingers in where they probably shouldn’t be, right? That whole ‘war on terrorism’ thing? Now, just where does that put a company like this? We’re built to keep a country primed for war, not for peace, and while I admire that you want to change tracks, the rest of the company just plain isn’t going to make up for the profits you’re losing us with this move.”

“But that’s exactly what makes it a good idea! We can shift the company over and it won’t have any problems just because we’re competing for increasingly rarer weapon contracts. You didn’t have to turn to illegal dealing Obie.” He turned a little in place, looking up at his face, trying to make him see that his apparent nightmares were ridiculous. This was the right move. He’d been able to feel that from the moment he’d made the decision so why...?

“Maybe, maybe not.” Tony felt the shift of his weight before Obadiah nudged him to walk, and while a bit surprised, he didn’t fight it. It wasn’t unheard of for the beta to want to pace when talking, and he clearly wanted to keep him close while he did. Even if the air felt heavy in a way he didn’t like, it was still Obadiah. “But regardless, you don’t need an old warbird like me where you’re trying to take the company, and we both know that’s not going to work out in my favor, now is it?”

That was when he got it, and Tony dug in his heels, wanting to be able to look the beta in the face. Needing to look him in the face. “Obie. Obie, please tell me what you did. All of it. I know you were double-dealing without telling me, but what else?”

Rather than heeding his body language, Obadiah moved the hand at his shoulder to solidly plant between his shoulders to push. It was either walk or possibly faceplant, and he doubted the latter would make his point. He ceded ground. “There were a few things, to be honest. I had to set up a contingency for me. You see, I knew you wouldn’t push me out, but the moment the board realized that my position was obsolete they wouldn’t have been so gentle. I had to act to protect myself, you know? You understand what I’m saying, don’t you Tony? You’re a good kid, always have been, but that’s kind of a problem right now.”

“What? No. You just need to stop what you’re doing and we can fix this, you know that, don’t you? You don’t need to- What did you do Obie?” He had his guesses, his almost certainties, honestly, but he didn’t really want to admit it. Judging by the sideways glance he gave Tony as he steered him into one of the back work areas of the building and pointed for him to sit, the beta knew it too.

“I think we’re a bit past that Tony. Dear, precious Tony. Things would have been fine if you hadn’t gone all baby mad, you know? It all worked well once, didn’t it?” When Tony didn’t make any move to comply to the silent insistence, an exasperated expression came to Obadiah’s face. “Sit, Tony. We’re talking.”

Wary and feeling increasingly trapped, he slowly sank down to do just that. It didn’t help that Obadiah didn’t join him. “Of course it worked. You’ve always been a good COO Obie. That didn’t need to change.”

“But it was going to.” He actually smiled when Tony’s reaction to him putting a hand on his head was a twitch. He’d never seen him aim a look like that at him before and he honestly couldn’t say there was any comfort in it. Then again, the only other times he’d seen it was during deals that were treacherous, so that was understandable.

“...I wouldn’t have let them push you out.”

“You weren’t paying enough attention to the waves you were making to notice what happened once you came home, Tony. What makes you think that you noticed the ones you were making before you left?” He ruffled his hair, then took back his hand and straightened, staring down on him without ever losing that sharp-edged smile. He’d learned that smile from this beta. He’d learned a lot from this beta.

“I wasn’t blind. Foreign income has been on the rise since the new departments went live you know.”

“You’re right, it has. We’ve also missed several high-end contracts because of the lack of new weapons. The Jericho project was the first one I had managed to secure in a year. Bad business, that. Terrible, in fact.” His hands were in his pockets at this point, and Tony felt his gaze track to them before flitting back to his face, taking in his body language along the way.

Everything about this situation made him feel threatened and he’d come here alone, having decided to use that as a show of faith that he wanted to work things out. If he’d been followed by any of his pack, they’d been stealthy. “So after I shut weapons down you went and started it back up just to make up for it. I can see why, but you shouldn’t have. The company didn’t need that.”

“And that, Tony, is where you’re wrong. But that’s alright. These things have a way of coming to light, don’t they?” When his hands came out of his pocket, they weren’t empty, and that alone was enough to have Tony attempting to get to his feet, wanting to be able to move. Unfortunately, his back was against a wall and he had to get past Obadiah to get anywhere. He’d really never been so conscious of the fact that the beta was bigger than him until this very moment.

“Obie-”

“Shhh.” He had thrown his empty hand out, barring his path as the other hand came in, pressing along the side of Tony’s neck as he tried to edge away with a gadget he’d decided not to militarize a decade ago. “Shh. It’s alright now. Just go to sleep. Can you do that? Sleep, Tony.”

The spike of terror caused by the dichotomy of the soft tone and what was happening was the last thing Tony felt before darkness swept over his vision, rather succinctly ending the conversation.

Chapter Text

When Tony woke up, he felt like someone had rubbed sandpaper along the inside of his chest and throat. Really, with a sensation like that greeting him, he was almost surprised to be waking up at all. He didn’t examine the thought, his mind shying quickly away from thinking too hard about why as he instead looked around the space he found himself in. It wasn’t a bad room, for all that it looked wholly unfamiliar, and someone had taken the effort of sticking him on a couch. They’d even gone to the trouble of covering him with a somewhat ridiculous blanket, which was good, because apparently somewhere along the way he’d lost his damn shirt.

A quick wiggle of his toes told him his shoes had fallen into whatever black hole his shirt had escaped into. Of course, the wiggle was enough for him to realize he should be a bit more pro-active about figuring out what the hell was going on. His elected approach to this was sitting up. All at once.

Which was a mistake, of course.

Hissing lowly as pain radiated out from his neck and across the back of his head and shoulders, he had the sudden baffling suspicion that he’d been dragged. It made absolutely no sense to him given who the prospective draggers were, and he set the thought aside to examine later. Being a bit more careful on his second attempt garnered him the reward of the room spinning dizzyingly around him and he realized all at once that the room was familiar. He’d never been there, of course, but the design of the house had the kind of look that screamed money in a very particular way.

Somehow, he wasn’t surprised to see Justin Hammer of all people come hurrying into the room in response to his moving around, hands held out in a vaguely defensive way as though to stop Tony preemptively from yelling at him. While tempting, the idea of Obadiah and Justin working together in any way was so discordant that he couldn’t find a reason to do so. It didn’t even slightly help his confusion, and the longer he sat there, the more he realized that his mouth tasted wrong.

That was enough to finally get him to look under the blanket, all the while being careful not to move too fast and aggravate the scrapes when there was no need to. He could admit that he blinked a bit stupidly at what he saw there. He’d gotten rid of this reactor. It was supposed to be gone, yet there it was.

He looked back to Hammer a hell of a lot faster than he’d looked away, and instantly the beta opened his mouth to answer what had to be a particularly interesting expression. After all, the only conclusion here was that Hammer had either personally, or second hand by way of asking someone else to, rifled through his trash. That was creepy, and if it hadn’t very likely saved his life, he’d probably be yelling right about now. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and stared him down until he closed his mouth and let him talk first. “You will tell me what happened. Right now. Later, we’ll address how you got this and why.”

“I was hoping you could tell me, actually.” Both of the beta’s hands waved at whatever his expression must have been at that and he hurried to explain. “No! I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that I got home from a dinner and you were just... there. On my floor, unconscious with this big empty hole in your chest and you were kind of this alarming grey color.” He pointed at where the blanket was covering the reactor from view, eyes a tad too wide behind his glasses. “I didn’t even know if sticking that in would work, but I’m not a total idiot, whatever our situation as competitors. I’m just glad you actually, you know. Woke up. And kept breathing. You, ah, rather seemed like you were about to stop for a few minutes there.”

“Right, and you just conveniently happened to have this on hand did you?” Hugging the blanket against his chest, Tony spread his fingers over the Arc in his chest currently, immediately deciding that never again would he try to get rid of anything like this, no matter how it might have worked out for him this time.

“Well...” When the answer didn’t shake Tony’s stare, there was another of those hand flutters. “Okay, no. No, I didn’t just have it on hand. But I hadn’t given it to my scientists either! My R&D never saw it, I swear to you. I just- I only thought about it, okay? And look! It’s a good thing I did because someone left you in my living room for dead!!”

Tony’s expression softened at that as he realized all at once that yes, they had a really complicated relationship, but very few people, even those they’re horrible terms with, wanted to actually watch their soulmate die. “Okay, fine. But if you ever pull something like this again there will be lawsuits, understand? One good turn does not wipe the slate clean. Do you have security cameras? Anything?”

“I do, and that’s where I went after I made sure you weren’t about to die anymore. They were wiped clean.” He shook his head, twisting his hands together once before straightening his shoulders and moving to stand beside him, clearly making a decision. “You should call your household before they come here to murder me for abducting you. You’ve been here almost an hour, at least.”

He shuddered at the implication of how long he’d been helpless, but it seemed about right given the stunner he’d been tapped with. “Right. And where is my phone exactly? It was in my pocket but I don’t feel anything of the kind.”

“Honestly not sure, actually. You just had your undershirt on you and you were, well. The scrapes were not my fault.” He pointed over at the carpet a few feet away. “I only moved you from right there, I promise.”

“Right, fine. Fine.” Tony had an aching suspicion that he could piece together what had happened and he desperately needed to raid the legal office of SI as soon as humanly possible. If he was right... He pushed the thought away. He had priorities to deal with. “Just get me a phone-”

Anything else he might have said was cut off as the door was kicked in by what, to all intents and purposes, appeared to be a special ops unit. Nobody he recognized, but definitely a bit higher up the ladder than plain old police. The fact that they were demanding that all hands be kept in view as they swept into the room. Well. Well.

Wide-eyed, he just stared at the chaos as Justin, the situation had earned the beta that at least, was practically tackled and he himself was descended upon by the people he suspected were here on an ‘anonymous tip’. Clearly, they’d taken a little too long with getting to that phone call bit.

Unfortunately, now he suspected it would take even longer and he wasn’t sure that was time they really had.

Chapter Text

By the time Tony had managed to escape the bureaucratic nightmare that had been laid over his shoulders at Justin’s place, all the really dramatic stuff seemed to be over. Admittedly, said bureaucratic nightmare wasn’t exactly what anyone would have called relaxing, and being fished out of it by Phil of all people had been a bit surprising, but he was pretty sure that he’d only gotten that kind of help from the outside for one very simple reason.

His soulmates were being the absolute height of unhelpful, and Phil’s fishing was actually quite official. So, really, he was less Phil on doing that than he was simply Agent. Which was both good and bad. On the one hand, he pried him out of an investigative shitfest and promised it would be taken care of. On the other hand, he was apparently fully expected to calm down a pack of highly trained soulmates to suddenly cooperate after what had apparently been a very thorough takedown and infiltration mess while he’d been indisposed.

That Pepper had been in the middle of all of it was actually a little surprising, but given that Natasha had gotten home sometime after he’d left, it was probably less so than he otherwise might have presumed.

Obadiah being dead had been startling, but not wholly without reason once he was ferried past the perimeter of agents to the waiting arms of his oldest alpha who had apparently been guarding, of all things, tech while waiting for one of the family to give them the all clear or Tony. Though, once he got a good look at the twisted sparking mess of metal he had all too good of a reason as to why.

It was like a suit, though the rather dramatic damage was fascinating and had him pulling on James’ hold until the alpha walked over and let him look at it properly. They did not, however, let go. The leg parts of the suit were crunched in, clearly crushed by a pair of large hands, and the chest piece was ripped halfway off with no arc in view anywhere. That was both good and bad, and when his gaze tracked up to James’ face there was understanding there.

“Myself and Bruce did this. I followed you and he accompanied me, but we were too late to keep you from being removed from the scene.” The words were soft, and Tony grimaced a bit as he caught the undertone of displeasure. Yeah, nobody was trusting him to go anywhere alone ever again, clearly. Excellent. “Hogan kept Stane away from the armor long enough for us to remove its functionality, but was only removed permanently himself when he attempted to shoot the alpha for the insult and I interceded. Currently, Pepper has the power source to return to you.”

The hold on him tightened a bit, arms snug around him as one hand pressed protectively over the glow in his chest. “And you said she and Natasha were handling the paper side of this?” His own tone was quiet, with one hand reaching up to press over the hand on his chest. In some ways, being knocked unconscious like he had had probably saved him a lot of trauma. In others, it made him wonder what he hadn’t yet figured out to be afraid of. He tightened his fingers, gaze turning to James’ face and staying there.

“They are. The agents attempted to take away this suit for unknown purposes and Natalia had to safeguard the integrity of the company databases from the same. Pepper is dealing with a situation with the lawyers after tracking back who left the information about your whereabouts inside the company on Stane’s behalf.”

“...It would be bad to let SHIELD take away the mess with the FBI wouldn’t it?” It was a quiet question that was more of a statement, the weight of the future mess to sort through already weighing him down. That his head still throbbed in time to his heartbeat did not help him the least little bit. In fact, he blamed the apparently minor head injury on the fact that he’d felt damn queasy and overall terrible for the handful of hours between waking up and now. Increasingly so. The FBI medic on hand had declared he didn’t have a concussion, however, though he wasn’t sure he should trust that pronouncement because it certainly felt like he did.

“Very likely, yes.” The words were somewhat apologetic, and Tony just nodded his understanding even as he leaned more heavily into James’ hold.

“Pretty sure Clint is out there dealing with the agents right now with Phil backing him up in full on Agent mode. They can bring this thing home with them when they’ve finished that. I know by then Happy will have security from the company ready to keep outsiders from interfering at least.” He quieted for a moment, eyes closing as a wave of nausea turned into a radiating pain. His voice was small, tired, and though he knew it would probably freak James out, he wanted to just go, to deal with all this in the morning. “I think I need to see Bruce. FBI cleared me of a concussion but I feel bad.”

The fact that he didn’t tell anyone ever when he felt anything but perfect probably said a lot about his current state of health in general. That his pronouncement was met with a careful inhale and immediate cursing? Universally a bad sign. Borya was the one who always stayed calm. While nothing else in the evening had been good, this was downright alarming. Oddly enough, the moment that they saw they were distressing him further, all signs of expression wiped clean off their face and ze swept him up into their arms, not even bothering to ask first. It was enough to startle Tony, and he almost threw up right then because his stomach did not like that.

“James?” His gaze slide from them toward the room as one of his arms hooked around his shoulders, clutching the material of their shirt reflexively as he tried to find what had brought the sudden change of behavior. His gaze stuck on the blood that he couldn’t for the life of him figure out the source of on his clothes, blooming with frightening speed even as he felt more lightheaded. He couldn’t smell it, not over the scent of antiseptic and through the throbbing in his head, but he wasn’t blind. “Am I bleeding?”

All he got was a sharp nod, the alpha already sprinting back toward the doors as Tony’s focus narrowed, the world fading out around them as unconsciousness decided to revisit him.

Sadly, even when losing consciousness, he couldn’t help but put pieces together. He hadn’t been feeling off at all the last couple months since his long heat, but that didn’t mean anything, not everyone did. That he had other ongoing issues from the arc reactor had left him putting it out of his mind. After all, just like a miscarriage could fly under the radar at first as a concussion, apparently, a pregnancy could be masked by blood poisoning, especially in the early stages.

He ended up in the hospital, something he’d been desperately avoiding, and ultimately there was nothing that could be done, though he found that all out after the fact.

It seemed that the mother dying, even for a minute or so, really wasn’t conducive in the early stages of a rather high-risk pregnancy. Who knew?

It was informative, at the very least, though some would say that had been the shock talking, later. He was just glad he hadn’t figured it out before it happened, himself, because then it would be worse because the kid would have been a reality instead of a hypothetical. This way, at least, there hadn’t been any attachment to lose. It didn’t make it better, no, and for weeks after he was never alone, but that was okay.

It was everyone else he was worried about, after everything.

But hey, completely vetting the entire staff of SI and replacing everyone who needed to be replaced? That kept him busy for months afterward.

Chapter Text

There were some things that just stood out in a person’s memory. In some ways, they became the sharp relief around which future personality was built. In other ways, they became the quicksand under your feet, determined to drag you under and drown you with the force of everything they left on your psyche.

Tony had come to realize that, for him, Afghanistan would always be both. The steps were even clear as to how and why, and the effects hadn’t stopped hitting him even over a year and a half later. But then, that made sense, didn’t it? After all, something that spanned a year all by itself would hardly stop making an impact in less time than that.

The progression was simple, and this was apparently going to be a day for him to think about it. After all, he’d already locked the entire family out of the workshop and garage. If they wanted to go somewhere then they could walk because he wasn’t about to come out. No, today had been a mess, and seeing Bruce devastated had only fueled the need to work. He was sure, by now, everyone knew, and the idea of the coddling to come...

He couldn’t stand it. The mere idea of being smothered in his final months when he could see it was just hurting his family wasn’t the way that he’d hoped this would go.

If he’d wanted that he would have said something when he’d realized exactly what it meant the first time his palladium core burned in his chest. But then, that’s what the side effects of Afghanistan were. They were the gift that just kept on giving. The list was rather impressive, by now.

First, Obadiah losing faith in him, then actually taking out the hit, though apparently, the goal hadn’t been to kill him then. Second, him nearly dying and the captivity with all its charms. Third, the lovely health issues that came with that and the gripping need to fix what he hadn’t noticed was breaking. Then Obadiah dying. The miscarriage. Blood poisoning...

And of course the will fuckery he discovered in the wake of the actual murder attempt. That had been... It would have worked, is the saddest thing. He knew the public saw him as a bit erratic, and him changing his will twice in rapid succession where his soulmates were concerned... It would have been suspect, especially with Justin being framed for his murder, so Obadiah would have been able to lock out everyone from the company. He’d only really realized how big of a mess that was after the dust settled from the many fires and hires that the whole company had had to suffer. He wanted to say he had better people on staff now, but only time would tell him that much.

Regardless, he’d made a new will, had sorted all that out and tamped down on his sheer anger over what Obadiah had tried to do. As well as the hurt, because he still couldn’t grasp why the beta hadn’t just talked to him.

He’d never find out now and he’d just have to live with that.

Still, there were other issues. Someone had leaked footage of him being Iron Man, a name which was hilarious and facepalm-inducing by turns due to the sheer overwhelming pun involved. Nobody used man in common vernacular. Sure, technically he supposed it made sense in the context of human, but really? He’d waited, and the name hadn’t changed before he got confronted with it finally, which apparently meant that the term ‘man’ was suddenly turning into the new age version of ‘dude’ or ‘hey you’ or ‘bro’ and similar other things. He feared the youth of tomorrow sometimes, he really did. It was better than someone possibly changing it up to ‘Iron God’ and getting uncomfortably close to his military nickname in the process at least.

Ultimately, by the time the footage had gotten far and wide implicating him in being Iron Man, though he hadn’t actually been outed properly, he could have claimed it wasn’t him, was an invention of his... It wouldn’t have stopped anyone who wanted to target him for it. It would have put up roadblocks to him keeping it private that he knew the world could ill afford. So, he’d stepped up and accepted that mantle, already aware he was on a timer that he hadn’t told anyone but Bruce about. He was the only one with the expertise to try helping, so that meant he was the only one that he wanted in the know.

At first.

Now, he rather wished he hadn’t told him either, because when they’d hit the end of their options, Bruce had taken it... badly. Yes, he immediately about-faced and pressed Tony to go for the surgery if they couldn’t fix the element issue but... But.

The blood poisoning wouldn’t have just gone away if he’d done that, now would it have? He was too far around that corner now, and even if the shrapnel was gone, fixing months of damage done by blood poisoning wasn’t a snap of the fingers kind of thing. Which is how he came to be here, in the workshop, locked in with everyone else locked out and thinking.

He was sure that nobody was appreciating this the way they probably should have been but... Well. He wasn’t going to fill in the gaps, not this time. He was sure they’d find out by the time he came out and he just... couldn’t. He couldn’t.

Dying was already enough to be getting on with and he wanted to at least try to enjoy what time he had left. He had months, maybe as much as a year and a half. He had time.

Not a lot, but enough to do some things. He’d already sorted out his will, had made sure that certain things were ready for certain people. Like Pepper getting corporate control in the company, to name one, but he knew if he started handing things out now that nobody would accept shit.

So he’d just have to wait on it.

That didn’t mean he was happy about the necessity though. Not the least little bit.

No, rather than dwelling on it he was going to plan a damn vacation. There would be cars, foreign language, and alcohol and that would work just fine as a distraction. If nobody else was on board... well, too damn bad.

Just too bad.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, when a person sat down and planned out a trip that trip would go flawlessly. Sadly for Tony, he was rapidly finding that he was not one of those people anymore. No, his official jaunts out of the country were instead turning into a rather unfair amount of disaster and fire. The goal had been a car race not whips and fire and his soulmates being extremely upset that he almost died before they commenced punching the beta who attacked him hard enough that they were knocked flat and stayed there.

Less than that, he hadn’t been even slightly impressed with Justin freaking Hammer coming up to him all aflutter and saying that his attacker was his other soulmate after they made their way off the scene. That was not thrilling, and he swore to keep an eye on Justin in the upcoming months because he knew the glow in his eyes. He did not need Justin’s suddenly renewed desire to court a soulmate to come and bite him in the ass when his other one already tried to murder him.

He was just glad that Bruce had elected to not come to the race while they were in Europe, honestly, as he couldn’t imagine it how much worse it would have been if the beta had hulked out in the middle of the conflict. James and Pepper had already been more than enough in their anger, and he doubted Vanko would forget being punched with a metal hand any time soon.

Sadly, the anger of the family wasn’t just for the person who tried to kill him. No, Tony had a good chunk of that anger directed at him because he maybe kind of hadn’t bothered to tell any of his pack that he’d be participating in the race. Pepper had not been impressed, and Happy had about had a heart attack in the middle of the whole incident. James, the troll ze was, had merely let him know that it wouldn’t have been a bad show if he’d managed to avoid nearly dying while he’d been on the track.

It was enough to make an omega want to rip his hair out, really. Regardless, that whole incident had cut the trip short, and Bruce’s incredulous look and the declaration that he’d been busy for one afternoon was somewhat unfair in his personal opinion. It did not take him a whole afternoon for things to go absolutely crazy. It had only taken about a half an hour or so instead in this particular instance and that wasn’t even a record. Telling Bruce as much had won him a groan and facepalm and that was, basically, all he could have hoped for given that he’d been looking a little green around the edges before he’d said so.

In all, it hadn’t been too bad, though he could have done without seeing his arc tech in someone else’s hands. It was a vivid kind of nightmare that he’d largely managed to set aside after Obadiah died. Before it had been horrifying but abstract, though the tech he’d found hidden away by his deceased godparent had been... well, it had informed his choices for a while in how much more care he needed to take with his suit parts. Regardless, it hadn’t been urgent then. Now, it was. Or at least would be, once he managed to get out of the front room and down to his workshop.

Unfortunately for him, Pepper had apparently called ahead and Laura was there to meet him, feet planted and arms crossed with the kid nowhere in view.

In other words, she looked both worried and angry, which meant that she’d decided that an intervention was required. Tony did not want an intervention. An intervention meant more of the family finding out just how much was currently wrong with him that wasn’t getting better and he could really really do without that. On the other hand, he wanted to see his kid. Really really wanted to see the kid. And Laura wasn’t going to let him before they had a talk.

Crap.

Glancing after his soulmates as they left him to her, he heaved a rough sigh and then focused entirely on the beta in front of him, knowing it was better to get it over with. “So. Apparently, we’re talking?”

“We’re talking.” Her tone wasn’t angry at least, which could be both good and bad, and there was no argument from him when she hooked their arms together and headed upstairs to the overhanging balcony room. It was usually a reading space when people wanted somewhere quiet, and that was, it seemed, also where they were going to be having their talk. She didn’t say anything else until they were settled on the couch up there at least. “We know you’re not doing well you know.”

“Laura, I think everyone on the planet knows I’m not doing well.”

“Not like that. And I don’t mean the health thing either. Natasha and I talked about it. We know your health isn’t the best right now, that’s obvious even though you’re trying to keep it a secret.” When he made to protest, she raised her hand, resting her fingertips on his lips with a sad, sad smile. “But this isn’t about your health, it’s why your health isn’t getting better. You’re still mourning, aren’t you?”

He stayed very still until her hand lifted away, and his thumb traced the textured edge of one of his cufflinks as he examined her with cautious eyes. “A lot of things happened all at once, but I don’t think that has anything to do with me not getting better. You can ask Bruce even, there’s nothing we’ve been able to come up with.”

“Except a surgery that the technology isn’t quite up to? I know.” She tapped lightly on the reactor in his chest, shaking her head. “I also know you can come up with a way to fix this if we can find you the right motivation. So, since just the people here haven’t been quite enough to make that happen, I propose a deal.”

“A deal? And what exactly can you propose that will kick my non-existent ideas into existence?”

“You’re forgetting I talked to Natasha, aren’t you? Natasha means Clint, and Clint means Phil. It’s a whole spiderweb of people paying attention now. Natasha has already put more researchers than just you on things but, well. We both know that if anyone is going to figure this out, it’s going to be you.” Both of her hands dropped to his, and she gripped them in a gentle squeeze. “You like babies. You love Connor and JARVIS, your bots are precious to you and I know you’ve been working on a code project that looks suspiciously complicated. I’ve seen you. I know that you not getting to have the next baby hurt you. I think I was also the only person who realized you were relieved.”

His eyes widened at that, and he made to pull his hands back from her. “Laura-”

She just tightened her grip instead. “I know Tony. You were relieved and guilty for feeling that way, and I think you still are. You’re sick, and hurting, and the idea of carrying a baby right now terrifies you, right? No one will be mad at you. I promise I’m not. It’s not the best kind of circumstance to have a little one, and it doesn’t make you a bad person to want to avoid a sickly baby when the universe gives you that option. And that’s why you haven’t found a solution yet. That’s why you haven’t been using that innovative mind of yours and really looked at the options outside the conventional ones. Isn’t it?”

He blinked rapidly, head tipping back slightly as he took in a shuddering breath and did his best to not cry. He probably needed to hear something like this, but he hadn’t wanted to. He thought he was perfectly justified in his voice being shaky. “Fine, yes. Fine. I haven’t been looking into any of the obscure notes I know I could get into if I looked in the right places. Happy?”

Her solemn gaze didn’t change though, and she pulled him in so she could wrap her arms around him instead of just holding hands. “Not really. Nobody likes hurting people they love and I’m not an exception.” She pressed on the back of his neck until he rested his head on her shoulder with a watery laugh and then carded her fingers through his hair. “But now you see what you’re doing to yourself and you see that at least some of us see it too. So, with that in mind, how about we make a deal?”

“What, you mean tears weren’t the goal?” His tone went for humor but fell a little flat. That was unfair to her, so he turned his head to kiss her neck before resting it again, breathing through the ache in his chest which had nothing to do with the arc for once.

“No, they weren’t the goal. I’ve been thinking about aiming for another baby, now that Connor’s getting big. I was even thinking about pestering Jim this time instead of Clint. I think any kid of his would be adorable.” She pressed a kiss to his temple, and he could feel her smile in it. “But it doesn’t seem right to do while you’re hurting so badly, so how about this? When you find a way to handle the dying thing you’re trying to pretend isn’t as bad as it is, then I’ll get busy on giving our family another baby. I enjoyed being pregnant, and I wouldn’t mind doing it again for us. No risk to the baby because of the arc reactor and the side effects that are going on now, and you could have a reward for pushing yourself out of your grief.”

When she finished talking he lifted his head to look at her, holding her gaze for a long moment as he studied her expression, her sincerity. There was nothing about her that wasn’t open and welcoming at that moment, and there was an acute kind of relief rising in him because of that. So he kissed her, soft and chaste, before he pulled back to get up. He knew she wouldn’t kid-block him from seeing their toddler now, and he needed to hug their tiny human rather acutely after this talk. “Thank you.”

“Just get better Tony. We love you.”

His laugh was less shaky this time, and his was smile truly warm as he looked back to her while turning to go. “I know.”

Nothing else was said between them about that, but the happy squeal when Connor saw him was enough to set him firmly on the path to finally fixing himself. He’d put it off long enough. He’d contact his Aunt Peggy in the morning about dad’s old files and that would be that.

Chapter Text

In the end, fixing himself became a matter of timing. Timing in preparations, timing between moments, and ultimately, timing in seeing a mover tip something on end that Tony had never once given a second thought.

The reason?

Howard Stark was a collector of art. All of Tony’s life one of the familiar mantras had been that art made a house a home, and while as a child this meant that the umpteenth slightly hideous or self-centric portrait that was to his dad’s taste was just par for the course, in the quest for finding a solution to fix himself it had instead become some kind of epic scavenger hunt find when he didn’t realize there was a list. But of course there was a list. This was his dad they were talking about. The alpha had always had a ridiculous taste for mystery, and hadn’t he learned years before that his dad had, at the very least, started a spy organization?

He honestly felt like he should have expected something like this. Admittedly, he had been picking over files that their Agent had brought over for him in the last couple weeks that his Aunt Peggy had tucked away for him, but that really wasn’t the point. The things in those files had been... different. Impressive, yes, but all so destructive more often than not. It honestly made him wonder if he hadn’t gotten out lucky that he seemed to be able to create things with no horrible, world crippling side effects when his dad just couldn’t.

Save for this. A mostly complete elemental configuration hidden in a model of an event that had happened when Tony was just a child, long ago enough that he couldn’t remember trying to move the pieces around clearly without having seen himself on film doing it. Maybe he was being uncharitable. Maybe his dad just expected him to find it quicker, to think to look for puzzle pieces to something like this when there was just curiosity driving him, but if there was one thing he’d always known about his dad it was that they weren’t working from the same script.

He’d loved him, but the alpha had been a painfully quintessential alpha, riding the stereotypical drives to the end. It had made a bit of a disconnect between parent and child, at the very least. He’d been a builder, had amassed an empire that would never fail to keep and captivate, and he’d never stopped. He’d been protective and watchful, but somewhat distant, present for a hand on the head or shoulder but never hugs, and certainly never an affectionate word. If Tony was honest with himself, he’d expected all alphas to be like that when he was older, given that his father had been the only one that he’d known when he was very small, his father determined to keep him safe at all costs when he proved to be the only child his pack was going to have. Horrible news for any group as large as the one his dad had amassed, at the very least.

But, then he’d gotten older, he’d gone to school, and alphas had had different faces. It had made him wonder, doubt, and instead of looking to his dad for the answers that only the alpha would have, he’d confided in Obadiah. These days... Suffice to say that these days he wondered just what of the things that Obadiah had been prone to telling him were even true. Some were, certainly, and looking back he could see careful lines and structures that panned out. But others?

Others weren’t so clear.

Regardless, it had only intensified Tony’s lack of understanding in his dad as childlike acceptance of how his dad was had turned into the kind of angry resistance that only a teenager could manage. Of course, he never got to work through that stage, never got to know his father as an equal, and he kind of had to wonder what that would have been like. Would he have finally gotten the translation? Would he have finally clued in on the things he’d been uncovering in the years since he met James for the first time? He didn’t know.

What he did know was that even after death, his dad was both annoying and a life-saver without even trying and that was incredibly aggravating. Sure, he fixed himself, far more thoroughly than he’d thought he’d be able to. In fact, he’d built something down in scale in his house that he really shouldn’t have been able to in the limited space, but why stop there?

At the very least, Bruce had been giddy when Tony let him look at him after he’d made the element and applied it. They’d agreed before he’d put it in that yes, it was relatively safe, but this? It had healed the blood poisoning, and that was strange in the extreme. After all, the only goal had been to make it stop so he could flush it out of his system gradually. Nobody had planned for a magical quick fix.

Thus, Badassium was born and the day was saved.

Which was great! Perfect even.

It also meant that Laura started to give him lingering sidelong looks that made him actually want to blush because he knew what they meant, and he’d definitely be talking to her about the whole thing. Later. When it wasn’t right now, with him doing his level best to give Rhodey a gift he was being shockingly resilient to still.

“Rhodeeeeeey, gumdrop, taffy puller in my heart, I promise I’m not dying anymore! Bruce can attest and everything!” Unfortunately, it seemed that Rhodey didn’t really believe the whole ‘I’m magically healed by superscience’ thing just yet.

“See, Tony, I want to believe you, but you’re still not being typically you about the whole thing. Don’t think I didn’t hear from Pepper that the moment you could claim being cured that you tried to shove the company in her lap again.” There was some humor in the tone because his Rhodey was fabulous and could understand the humor in Tony having to work so hard to appoint a new CEO in his place, but there was also concern. Apparently, Laura hadn’t been the only one to notice his spiral. Wonderful.

“Oh come on. You don’t even know what I’m trying to give you! Just come down with me to the workshop! I promise you’ll like it! And if you’re still in doubt just talk to Bruce okay? He took like, half my blood to examine before you came home and I still have this crazy bruise at the crook of my arm from the whole thing. It’s not big but I swear it stares at me every time I uncover it.” When he went for his sleeve to do just that, intending to show it off, a dark hand landed on his and stopped his motions.

“Okay. Tony. No need to strip in the middle of the hallway. You’ll give the kid bad habits, and didn’t the podling just get out of that habit like, a month ago?” Tony paused with a blink, then reversed the touch to lace his fingers with Rhodey’s so he could start dragging him toward the workshop.

Clearly, stripping on a tangent hadn’t been a bad plan? Even if Rhodey did look pretty amused at this point. “Um, yes. Connor did in fact just stop that trend. Not sure where the midget got it from, but hey, all done for now, right? Hopefully, it doesn’t make a resurgence after puberty hits or there might be tears.”

There was a snort in response to that. “Overprotective Clint?”

Tony snorted right back. “Please. Natasha all the way. She’s scary about security for our brat. In a good way and all, but you didn’t see her last time the press showed their faces within eye line of the kid.”

“Please tell me nobody was hurt. Nobody needs that kind of reputation chasing them around when we have you.”

“Rude!” He was smiling though because they both knew the kinds of situations they had had to finagle Tony out of over the years. Not everything had been soulmate shenanigans either. “But nah, nobody was hurt. Seems like the crowd knows a predator when they see one. Then again, I wouldn’t exactly want to incite her ‘I’m going to kill you if you don’t move away’ impulses either.”

“Tony, you do incite those. They’re just usually aimed at other people when she does it. Haven’t you noticed that Happy actually takes days off now sometimes? That’s why.”

“...How are you more aware of all this than I am? You’re not even home more than half the time.”

“I actually pay attention when I’m home. You have different priorities than I do, that’s all.” The alpha clearly intended to say more, but it had trailed off into nothing as Tony finally hauled him so he could see the newest design he’d put together. It wasn’t red and gold, obviously. “...And I’m paying attention right now. I could have sworn last time you dragged me down here to look at a suit that it was silver, and then there’s all the other ones but...”

“But this one is way closer to what you think is cool? It screams badass and you want to walk out of here wearing it? Because you can you know.” He put his hand on Rhodey’s back and pushed. “And you’ll take the gift this time damn it because I’m not dying.”

Rhodey didn’t resist at all, moving in to examine the metal more closely. “Is that green?”

“And black, yeah, some silver still obviously. I know you like green. Most of the default flight dials inside are green too. You can change the colors if you don’t like it.”

Something about his tone must have alerted his first soulmate to his anxiety because rather than continuing to look it over, dark eyes turned to peer at Tony instead for a long breath before he dragged him into a tight hug. “It’s really cool. Good job. You can’t even tell it’s green if you’re far away and that’s perfect for the kind of combat I’ll probably be in with it.”

He immediately brightened even as he wrapped his arms around him. “So you’ll take it this time?”

“This time, I know you’re not dying. If you were still dying you wouldn’t have gotten all presumptuous about the color scheme.”

“Hey!”

“I’m glad you’re going to be okay Tones. You’re my best friend.”

Any indignance that had tried to blossom was squished just that fast. “You’re my best friend too.” He let the silence draw out for a moment, then just had to continue. “So will you have a baby for me?”

Okay, so clearly that hadn’t even been a concept on Rhodey’s radar. That was fair. “Um. Tony?”

“Not with me because I’m not sure my body is er, going to take that any time soon, but Laura and I had a deal and I’d reallylikeitifitwasyours.” He’d pulled back just a little, staring up at his best friend with wide eyes, anxious but hopeful. After all, it wasn’t like he couldn’t say no. They had options.

“...This is the weirdest proposal you’ve ever put to me and you’ve given me some strange ones. So, just so I know I’m understanding right, I’d be having a baby with Laura for you? And she’s already aware of this idea? Nobody but me is getting ambushed with it?”

“Uh, if you say no they are?” Tony wasn’t afraid to admit that his tone pitched up into a question at the end, but he hadn’t looked away, and Rhodey didn’t seem like he found the idea objectionable.

“...Fine, but that means naming rules will be in effect. You remember our pact, right? This counts as mine.”

“But the baby is for me!”

“My genetics means I get to name the kid after you, not you naming it after me. Promise you won’t argue about it later?”

There was a long moment of intense eye contact, but Tony finally huffed. “Okay fine. If you can get Laura to agree on how to do it you can name the kid after me.”

“Then once I’m done staring at your fantastic gift I’m apparently going to be talking to Laura about how she wants to do this.” Rhodey leaned down, pressing a fond kiss to his smaller friend’s forehead. “Love you, Tony.”

“Love you too, Rhodey.”

And sure, he was grumbling, but Rhodey was still cuddling him against his side even as he turned back to examining the new armor.

All that he had to conquer now was Mount Pepper, the unyielding, about that promotion.

In comparison, making himself stop dying was easy.

So unfair.

Chapter Text

There is something special about quiet moments that nothing else quite manages to ever touch. Quiet moments are fleeting, temporary, and ultimately all the more precious for that.

This was especially true when you had a tiny newborn creature in your arms that just would not stop crying. And he couldn’t just hand the little one off to someone else and hope they had better luck either because with his Expo he’d been so busy the last few months of Laura’s pregnancy that he’d hardly seen her at all and now that it was well underway he could take his turn helping out. Besides, this child was his baby, and he wanted to spend what time he could with the cute, if loud, infant.

Admittedly, he probably would have tried a handoff anyway if Bruce hadn’t practically run out the door with Connor the moment Tony had returned from New York that morning, Laura had stolen Happy for a spa trip an hour after that, and James seemed to magically vanish every time he entered a room with the fussy baby. Everyone else had either work or missions, to Tony’s amusement, and he couldn’t help but think that their dear new little prince was apparently really exhausting to so effectively clear the house.

He didn’t really care. Yes, the baby was loud, but he honestly wasn’t all that surprised given that this was a cross of Rhodey and Laura. He’d heard stories from Rhodey’s mother over the years about exactly how much of a troublemaker he’d been as a little kid, and he suspected, given how Clint and Laura met, that Laura hadn’t exactly been a placid child. No, since he’d gotten changed into something a bit more baby friendly than a business suit he’d been roaming the house, talking quietly to the distressed infant and cradling them against his chest, happy enough that the kid even existed. Sure, things were busy, and he had to head back to New York for the final presentations at the Expo in a couple weeks, but he could spend some time with his new namesake.

“So, Anna Louise huh? And a Stark at that! People are going to think me and Rhodey made you, with that dark skin and that name.” He bussed noses with the child, getting a hiccup out of them for it as the action startled the baby out of a wail. “Oh ho, is that all you needed? Did you just need a closer look at my beautiful face?” He gave a little pivot on his heel so he could start making his way toward the couch in the front room. “Shame on me, usually I’m so good about that. Kid your age probably can’t see me so far away can you?”

He was careful not to break eye contact with his new child while he made his way to sit as apparently pacing was just not their cup of tea. No, this little one apparently was going to be one of those staring children who fixated on things. Interesting, and honestly not really all that expected, but he could work with that. He was admittedly already in love for all that he’d never gotten concentrated bonding time with their new addition like most of the family, and knowing he had the ability to quell baby distress for this one was deeply reassuring. Connor had been a quiet child after all, giggly and energetic, yes, but quiet. Anna was a screamer who he suspected was going to get the household doing that baby sign thing that they hadn’t really gotten around to doing with their first one just so that they could minimize the unhappy baby time.

“I really hope that deep meaningful eye contact isn’t going to be how we have to spend the whole time I have at home because I don’t think that will make eating any easier for either one of us. Nope, definitely not. Also? Crick in the neck like you wouldn’t believe.” Finally locating his chosen destination, Tony sank onto the couch and made himself comfortable hitching the baby up higher in his arms so that he could rearrange the blankets without breaking the eye contact in question. “Not that I’m not loving your attempt to assert dominance here kiddo, but it’s just not how I expected to spend my afternoon.”

The bubbles were a good sign, and the redness in Anna’s face seemed to be easing now that the crying had finally stopped. He suspected that the poor thing didn’t know what to make of all the not-mom humans that they kept getting handed off to and that was more of a cause for the screaming than any real distress. Running his fingers over fine black hair, he bussed noses with the child again, completely aware of James peeking around the door frame across the room. If his darling alpha thought he was handing off the baby now that he got them quiet then ze was sorely mistaken.

“And there, my dear prince, is one of the not-mom people who I don’t think has gotten to hold you yet. You’re just three weeks old after all, yes you are, and they’ve been with me in that crazy place called New York. Ze was really sweet and stayed there to keep an eye on things when I flew back for you being born. They were hiding while you were yelling, so maybe, if they’re really sweet and get me some fabulous coffee, I might share you while you’re being quiet and adorable instead of shrill and loud.” He peeked over, seeing the amusement on James’ face before looking back down at the baby. “Doesn’t that just sound amazing?”

He heard the snort from the direction of the doorway, but he knew it was a victory regardless when he heard the alpha actually leave the area, steps turning silent once they were away from the doorway. That their departure was punctuated by a burble and a little baby yawn made him laugh quietly himself, not wanting to startle the kid fully awake again when they were clearly settling down for a nap.

“I guess not if the idea puts you to sleep. You sleep, ze can hold you while you do that since they’re so good at holding still.” Tony heaved a soft sigh, but it was fond as he shook his head, watching the newborn’s eyes flutter shut. “Sheesh, all that work and I get five minutes of quiet alert baby out of it. Hard crowd.”

He was smiling though, and he dipped his head to press a careful kiss to the baby’s forehead as he waited for James to get back to him with that coffee. Sure, he had a few days open before he needed to pop back over to New York, and he fully intended to make sure that everyone in the family actually knew about his precious little darling, even if that meant a home visit to a certain someone who never kept her phone charged. But for now, he had the warm weight of his new child in his hands and that was enough distraction for the time being.

He could worry about the close of the Expo and errant family members not getting the news on another day.

Chapter Text

Tony’s arrival to Puente Antiguo in no way went as planned. Sure, he hadn’t gone before, and the only thing there to sightsee would have been Jane’s lab, but the one-two whammy of ‘who the hell kicked over that anthill’ and ‘soulmate!’ kind of wildly distracted him the second his feet actually touched down in front of the address where Bruce’s soulmate had made her home base. Soulmate had priority, as these things went, but the sudden military installation that he’d flown past wasn’t exactly without its attention-grabbing charms either.

It also, unfortunately, gave him the warm fuzzy feeling that said that ‘something is fucked up’ that he just loved having. Sarcasm intended.

On top of that, it explained what the hell both Clint and Phil had run off to do, though really, they should have known if they didn’t want him to pop up that they should have prepared for that by letting him know to stay home or calling over about Jane being busy or something. After all, it wasn’t like anyone would have missed that Jane was here, and the fact that there was a Nondescript Van parked outside of Jane’s address? Subtle.

Sure, he could be wrong and Clint and Phil weren’t here, but that just made the whole clusterfuck hilariously less avoidable. And it would be a clusterfuck, because even if Clint was the soulmate he was picking up, he was still a soulmate in the middle of something interesting and nobody had told him.

Just because he’d been busy with his Expo and the new baby didn’t mean that he didn’t like to know about Interesting Things.

Admittedly, this was probably just SHIELD secretness at work, but Aunt Peggy would have known to at least make sure that he had no reason to visit if she wanted him to stay out of something. So whoever had interfered in communications with Jane? They fucked that one up. Sure, there was probably a lot of ‘I fail to charge my phone’ going on, but the fact that there were Agents lurking around?

Almost definitely not all of it.

Looking at the building she’d been staying in in no way changed this opinion since the windows showed him a fat load of nothing at all on the other side when he knew she should have a full mess of tech for her little project. He sincerely hoped that whoever took it suffered because those were in the family presents and the only person who could tune people into the biometric security functions was Jane. Still, he didn’t see any of the paper files either and that was worrying. Jane loved her hard copies, no matter what Tony tried to tell her about them being unsecure.

This whole thing just screamed case in point.

Regardless of all of that, it only took him about two minutes to realize that there was no one inside the building for him to get answers from, and wasn’t that just a pain? It definitely simplified things, sort of. After all, if Jane wasn’t here then, of course, that meant he needed to go find her, and probably whatever soulmate was in the middle of things too. Easy peasy.

Well, that was the goal for a hot second, at least, because he determined that he definitely scented Clint in the area at about the same that he heard the horrifying sound of Jane’s poor truck rattling over to him. The poor beast hadn’t sounded anywhere near that bad last time he’d been to Culver to visit, he was sure of it, and knowing that a truck he had fixed before was making that noise was almost enough to completely derail him from everything else. Who abused a vehicle like that and then didn’t tell their mechanic?! He worked for free for family damn it!

These thoughts managed to distract him long enough that the group had a chance to pile out of the truck, four instead of the expected three that he knew about, and two of the ones he’d never met before were making a beeline for him. Which, yay? But confusing because one of those was definitely a soulmate of his and the enthusiasm was making it hard to tell.

He couldn’t help the yelp as his armored hands were swept up by the big blond one, much to the apparent disgruntlement of the short curvy beta who he was almost certain was his soulmate when the grab didn’t come accompanied by any scents. Scents that would have made the greeting make more sense as obviously the blond didn’t belong to him, so maybe they were just really friendly?

At least, that was the running theory until he heard the quiet, bewildered voice of Jarvis in his ear.

“Sir, I believe that this being might be mine.”

“J?”

“If you could remove yourself from the armor that would help significantly.”

“Right, just a sec.” Flipping open the faceplate, he eyed the big blond... something in front of him and tugged on his hands until they were released. “Hello to you too big and blond, but you need to take a step back now.”

The being, and wow they smelled weird, did oblige though only to turn their attention to Jane, who looked bemused as she gave Tony a weak wave. “This has been a most joyous journey! Lady Jane! I have found my other as well!”

Tony was quick to scramble out of the armor, practically dropped out of it with the speed his kid used to remove it from him, and he was more than happy to make his way to the curvy beta as he noted the blond start to look incredibly confused as whatever they were using to track the soulmate situation didn’t follow Tony. It would have been cute if it wasn’t so weird. He’d never thought to ask how Jarvis distinguished him as a soulmate because it had just always been that way.

“What strange magic is this?!”

Besides, even if watching the weird blond founder was hilarious, he had another person to investigate who didn’t match up with the timeframes of his unclaimed soulmates at all. “Sooo, soulmate?”

“That’s me. Seems like we’re a threesome. Jane’s the only one who was supposed to be older than me.” There wasn’t even a pause before they hooked a thumb at Jane, then flashed him a grin and offered their other hand to shake. “Darcy Lewis, she, pleased to meetcha.”

He took her hand, giving it a shake that lingered as he eyed her thoughtfully, keeping an ear loosely on the big blond to make sure that they didn’t do anything that could upset Jarvis while he was busy. “Tony Stark, but I think you knew that. Music notes?”

Her nod was immediate, and she gave him a sly grin. “Music notes. The big lug over there is Thor, and what he is is universally a he, apparently. So, uh, your armor is sentient?”

“Er, kind of.” He turned his attention back to the other conversation, pleased to see that Thor looked fascinated rather than upset by whatever Jarvis was quietly telling him. “He’s a lot more than just my armor.”

“There’s totally a story there.”

“Oh yeah.” He lifted his hand to show the golden soulmark on the back of it. “Hundred percent. So, I’m assuming the old beta Jane’s talking to is Doctor Selvig?”

“Yep, they are. Oh! Right, and I’m Jane’s soulmate, not sure if that got back to you before now? She’s been, er, distracted since we got here and that’s when we found out. The trip over I mean.”

“She mentioned last time I managed to get through to her phone. Speaking of, did the Agents make off with that or...?”

“Yeah, that’s about the long and short of it. But they brought an absolute hottie along so I’m not too mad. Okay, I’m hardcore missing my iPod, but the rest I can live with until we get it fixed.”

“Blond? Arms for days? Also? iPods are shit and I’m giving you a Stark player asap.” The immediate eying that his declaration got wasn’t all that impressed, but she did nod at the description at least. “Yeah, that’s probably the soulmate of mine I scented lurking around here other than you.”

“I’m happy with my iPod y’know.”

“I’m sure you think you are.” Tony flashed her a smirk, then hitched up a shoulder in a shrug, even as he ignored the disgruntled huff that followed him, and made his way over to Thor and Jarvis, because damn it, that was his kid, and he needed to evaluate this Thor person properly. After all, he had time to sort out things with Darcy. The big blond fella? Who knew where that one came from.

He’d always kind of wanted to do the overprotective mom conversation anyway.

Just to see what it was like, of course.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Tony wondered about the things that he stumbled onto. This evening was a perfect illustration of just how ridiculous his life really was. After all, he didn’t need to be here, even if he had allowed himself to be convinced.

On the one hand, Thor was kind of impressive. Loud, but impressive.

On the other hand, he was apparently going to help a group that was mostly fellow scientists to break into a military installation rather than just asking someone he happened to personally know if they couldn’t take a gander at the unmoving hammer in the dirt. Sans armor, because nobody else had armor, and apparently even Thor was on downgraded mode for his species?

The logic was in there somewhere but ultimately amounted to him loading up everyone with him with defensive trinkets just in case and having an earpiece so that JARVIS was in his ear anyway. Because no. Thankfully he’d been able to get around Thor’s fussing by shoving one of the earpieces on him too because apparently having his soulmate with him in such a handy-dandy fashion was something he found absolutely thrilling.

All in all, this expedition would have gone about a hundred percent more quickly if they’d just let him fly Thor in on his lonesome. But no, instead it was this mess, and in exasperation Tony had ended up roaming the facility, ducking around corners and hiding from people as he decided to prove to himself that they still had Jane’s gear somewhere on the premises. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if anyone in their group had anyone else with them due to scattering between car and hammer. He had given up on trying to plan anything with this lot about twenty minutes previous when they’d arrived and Thor had gone running wildly on ahead.

He could always call JARVIS for a pickup if he didn’t pin down Clint wherever he was camped out around here first.

Simple.

At least it would be if he could get his way past this stupid guard rotation that had him stuck in place for the last five minutes. He wasn’t honestly worried about being shot or anything, but being noticed would be horribly inconvenient. If the others hadn’t gotten caught yet, he definitely didn’t want to call the rest of the base down on their heads.

Thus it was perfectly reasonable that when someone spoke from just behind him with absolutely no warning that he more or less jumped out of his skin, spinning around to fling himself against the wall while thankfully not yelping as that would have just ruined the whole thing.

Staring wide-eyed at the person in front of him who he couldn’t scent even a little, he fought to get his heart under control, his tone coming out of him in a hiss. “What?”

Apparently his... apparition? He waved an arm at them and it went right through, to his bewilderment, just found his bafflement funny, and was willing to repeat themselves with a distinct air of amusement. “I said ‘whatever could be in that direction worth all the fuss?’”

Looking around the corner to see if it was clear for the moment, he turned back to the... whatever it was in front of him and scowled a little. “You didn’t have to ambush me. I’m looking for a research lab. A couple of my mates had all their crap stolen and if I can find it I can get it recovered.”

“Ahhh. Wait here.” Waving one elegant hand in a motion that clearly meant ‘stay’ they vanished as abruptly as they’d appeared, leaving Tony to wonder if he’d just had an elaborate hallucination or if this was more of Thor’s weird bullshit. He seemed to have a lot of weird bullshit.

But no, even as he was about to move on and fuck staying put by a meltdown the figure reappeared, a knowing glance given to Tony’s ready position before they shook their head. “You’re on the wrong side of the installation. If you go that way you’ll run into the barracks and I don’t believe you want that.”

Grimacing, Tony just eyed them up, then sighed. “Okay fine, better I not waste any more time standing here anyway. Who, or what, are you anyway?” He had started to make his way back in the direction he’d come, peeking around the corner as the other figure strode as easy as you please. Clearly, they had no concern about being seen. “And if you’re going to walk around like that could you look out for me so that I don’t run into anyone? Just because I have a soulmate lurking around here doesn’t mean I want to get him in trouble.”

The comment got an odd expression from his current companion, but they nodded regardless. “Yes... humans have quite a few soulmates, don’t they?”

“I’m extra special that way. That didn’t answer my other question.” He eased away from the wall as the taller figure signaled it was clear, and he found himself more trailing in their wake than anything.

“Ah, yes, just so. What you see in front of you is a projection of my consciousness from another Realm. I am Loki.” They paused, as though about to say something else, but then simply gave him a speculative look before dropping whatever it had been and reaching for something else instead. “And your name?”

“Tony Stark, he, and since you’re not from around here, an omega. I’m assuming you’re like Thor with the bi-gender thing? Since you didn’t offer one I mean.” He made sure to track their location, mostly because he had no desire to get lost if Loki vanished as abruptly as they’d appeared.

“Ah... no. The same realm, yes, he’s my brother, however, I am... not of the same species. Mine is more fluid than that of either of your races. In this form he is acceptable.” He waved for Tony to stop walking and hush, then swept ahead, returning in short order and pointing for Tony to take a different turn than he’d been about to.

“But you’re brothers?” Because he knew the term, though it was a bit archaic if he meant to use it to mean family. “You do mean that in the sibling fashion, not the military one, right?”

“Ah, yes, brothers in arms and siblings by adoption both. Do humans no longer use the term for familial relations?”

“Ah, no. Kind of sexist? It’s like saying all your siblings will be alphas or something. I think people stopped using it outside the military mostly about a hundred years or so ago.” He paused when Loki called a halt and leaned through a door, then quirked an eyebrow when he returned to him with spread hands. “What?”

“I believe we have arrived at the laboratory. Thus, this is where I will leave you. However, there is one thing you should perhaps know before I go.”

Raising both eyebrows, he gestured for him to go on. So far he’d been crazy helpful, and he wasn’t about to turn down any more advice. “Well, in that case, I’m all ears.”

A sly, amused smile touched Loki’s face then, and he inclined his head slightly. “So you are. I’ll thank you to resolve things for Thor as I would rather like to meet you in person as soon as possible so you can confirm what I already know with your own senses.”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Tony leaned back just a touch, eying him up. “What are you trying to say here Loki?”

“For my kind, soulmates are magically indicated, and thus physical presence isn’t required.”

Tony felt his eyes widening as he realized what the other being was claiming. “Wait! Are you-”

There was a very odd, but definitely pleased look on Loki’s face as he cut him off. “Oh yes. Soon, Tony Stark. Soon.”

Tony was going to say more, he was, but then the asshole vanished and Tony had to throw himself at the wall to hide as he heard footsteps hurrying his way.

Tonight, clearly, had been an adventure, and he had things to say to the damn universe.

Many of said things were probably going to be curses, true, but there was probably also going to be a thank you in there somewhere. After all, this meant there was only one soulmate left to find if Loki hadn’t been lying.

Then he could focus on finding everyone else’s.

Chapter Text

Tony expected the rest of the little base visit to be anti-climatic. He wasn’t entirely wrong.

Sure, nobody intercepted them and everyone managed to meet back up outside the gates. In fact, Tony even came back loaded with an arm full of notebooks and small technology, like phones, that he’d raided out of the storage space where all of Jane’s science had been kidnapped to. Still, he’d definitely spotted Clint around which means that he was definitely spotted back and he was just going to have to be grateful for that whole anti-climatic thing because Clint, while nowhere near James’ level, was still kind of ridiculously strong and that was not a wrestling match he wanted to have in the middle of a place that was filled with non-family potential hostiles. Even if all indications seemed to point to the place being run by a family member too. That just screamed conflicting interest and it was better that they’d just mutually, and silently, decided that they must have seen wrong.

Regardless, by the time he got back to Jane’s poor, well-abused truck that he was totally fixing later he was breathless, giddy, and probably made them all think that there was someone on his tail if the alarmed looks he got were any kind of indicator. He didn’t actually address the looks in question until he was in said truck, though even then he didn’t quite hit them head-on. No, Thor looked downright droopy and he figured that probably took priority since he didn’t have anyone following him.

Thus, he just gestured for Jane to drive and focused on Thor after dumping his armload into Darcy’s lap. Mind, the reception to seeing her iPod again was incredibly gratifying, so he was just going to call it a win, even if he would have preferred to leave that particular trinket to the abyss of SHIELD storage. Still, none of that accounted for Thor’s absolutely crushed countenance when to all accounts he should have been all happy and hammer-wielding or something at this point, right?

“Oi, Stormcloud, what happened to you in there?” It might be noted that nobody had ever accused Tony of having tact, though he would argue that it was less about not having and more about not using if anyone bothered to mention it. He could be delicate when he needed to be.

“Nothing, friend Stark. I fear that I acquired nothing but troubling news in this venture and there is little to be done.”

Given his boisterousness up until now, he was kind of thrown by the near monotone, and Tony frowned at the man. “Right, how about you put a little more detail into that explanation, would you?”

When Thor just shook his head with a deep sigh, it was Darcy who answered, leaning into the back seat in a way that made Tony wonder if she even had her seat belt on. Not the most comfortable idea given the way Jane tended to drive. “He didn’t come out with Mewmew. It wouldn’t let him lift it.”

“Wait, so hammer boy is still hammer free?” Tony shifted around in his seat to give Thor a better look. “Yeah, okay, I can see how that might be a little depressing, but you can always try again later, right?”

“It matters not. My exile and punishment are truly earned for not only has Mjolnir declared me unworthy, but I have gotten word from my brother that father has collapsed. My actions have driven him into a vulnerable state and all the realms will suffer because of my arrogance.”

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, and felt his eyebrows crawl up his face. He had a choice here, because this was a great opening to ask about said brother and if his name was Loki. Still, that clearly wasn’t the first thing that needed to be addressed. See? Delicacy and tact. “Right, so, what exactly did you do that landed you down here anyway? You never actually told me that bit.”

Thor drew himself up out of his slump, but the morose... thing hanging over him still hadn’t gone away. Brother questions next maybe? “I went on an excursion to Jotenheim and perhaps was not so very tactful as my brother prompted me to be. Father caught us and was displeased.”

“...Okay, two things. First, I’m assuming Jotenheim is like, another realm or something?” When Thor nodded, Tony nodded back. “Right, so by ‘not so very tactful’ what exactly did you mean there?”

The blond shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “I, as crowned prince and king to be of the realm, perhaps was somewhat insulting to the noble children of the king of Jotunheim.”

Tony squinted, just a little bit, and then rubbed a hand over his face. “So basically you insulted and picked a fight with someone who could declare war on you?”

Thor pressed his lips together, nodding. “And my father was strained badly enough to be in a frail state due to my actions, leaving my brother, who is too young for such a role, to watch over the realm in my place.”

“Wait, too young? No, more important question, can your mom not do the thing?”

“I will answer both, friend Stark, for your concern in asking has been most assuring. Mother doubtless is occupied in tending to father with her healing magic, and cannot spare the needed time to watch over the realms as well.” Tony kind of agreed with Jane’s snort about that. Tony had definitely run into that kind of attitude himself over his sex more than once and he doubted having only two of them would make biases go away. He didn’t say anything though, letting Thor continue to talk. “Still, while young, my brother is wise. In perhaps another fifty years, he could rightfully be crowned ruler of a realm, but for now, he has not reached the age for such things in Asgard.”

“Huh, he did not strike me as that young.” Tony immediately yelped when Jane swerved on the road as she slammed on the brakes, throwing them all around a bit, Darcy more than the rest. “What the hell Jane?!”

“I might not have been interrupting you two while you were talking, but I was listening and that sounded like you met Thor’s brother in there.” Jane was practically out of her seat at this point, she was hanging into the back so far, and he saw Darcy throw the truck into park when it almost started rolling in the process.

“Um, I think so? His name is Loki, right?” Seeing Thor’s downright stunned expression, he nodded to himself. “Right, so yeah, definitely the same guy. He dropped by and helped lead me to your stuff Jane.”

Thor opened his mouth, then closed it, so thrown by the revelation that he clearly didn’t know where to start. “Why would he do such a thing? You are interesting, friend Stark, but you are but a Midgardian.”

Tony scowled at that, and leaned in to jab Thor hard in his overly muscled chest. “I’m not just a Midgardian, thank you very much. And don’t go making it sound like we’re in any way inferior. I would have thought you would have learned that since you got here what with Jane and my kid being soulmates of yours.”

Reminded of those facts, Thor actually shrank back against the door, just a little. “Apologies, friend Stark, I meant not that you were not worthy of his attention, but that he had no cause to turn his eye upon you when I am the only one here of Asgard.”

There was a tense moment in the wake of that statement, and then Tony finally subsided back into his seat. “Yeah, fine. But he said something about magic-based sensory information that I couldn’t back up so I’m going to ask you.”

When Tony set about untucking his shirt, Thor’s eyes went wide in alarm, only for him to suck in a sharp breath when the omega leaned so that Thor could see the glimmery blue mark low on his belly in all its snowflakey glory. “So I’m going to guess he does have the match to this one like he said he should huh? Judging by the look on your face anyway.”

“Frien-no! Brother Stark! Your birth was a most important day on Asgard, and much changed henceforth due to it.” Which was all well and good, but clearly Thor wasn’t satisfied with words, as he’d escaped his seatbelt so that he could more effectively hug him. “This is cause for celebration, even in the face of my many woes! Jane! Onwards!”

Tony flailed a little bit, pushing on Thor. “Yeah yeah I’m excited too but everyone better put their seat belts back on before this thing starts moving! Hugging later, seat belts now.”

He saw a pink on both of the two in the front seat and felt rather justified because of it even as Thor sheepishly retreated to his own seat.

The rest of the drive back to Jane’s place was uneventful.

There were also, it should be noted, no further seat belt mishaps.

Chapter Text

There were probably a lot of ways that the visit to New Mexico could have gone. Tony could have invited Thor and Darcy home with him and Jane along with them, regardless of why they were there. After all, he knew Bruce always liked to see the rest of his trio. He could have settled in for a long visit and messed with the SHIELD crowd just because. Hell, there were probably a half dozen things that could have happened just because of Thor, and there was really no way to say.

Instead of any of those things, first because Darcy had college to finish, second because he could leave Thor a phone so he could keep in touch with JARVIS without him having to be in his house, and third because he had an infant at home, he rolled out of bed the morning after the base infiltration mess fully intent on going back to said home. Jane knew she could drag her group to his place whenever, and he knew better than to get in the way of Science.

They understood each other like that.

Still, that didn’t happen either, at least not quite as he expected, and while dressed in the over-large clothes of the same class of ‘former beau’ that Thor had apparently been wearing, he ambled down to the main living area to get breakfast only to be hit in the face by a fascinatingly new soulmate scent that almost staggered him. It really drove home that one of his wasn’t human because where usually the scent was there, lingering and right to his senses, this was about three times as intense and almost made him want to sneeze. Was this how Jane had felt? A little dazed? Or was Thor’s current human situation dampening that maybe? Very possible, that.

He wasn’t looking forward to getting a whiff of people from off-world if this was standard. The icy tang on his senses was a bit much. Not too much but...

Of course, that didn’t stop him from going further into the room. The space was dark in the pre-dawn hours and highlighted that Tony really should still be asleep. Flicking on the light so that he could stare at the black haired figure standing in the middle of the space poking at his armor in blatant curiosity only made it that much more obvious that he wasn’t awake enough for this. Not that that was going to stop him, but it was the principal of the thing.

“Anyone ever tell you it’s rude to play with other peoples’ toys?”

Green eyes cut over to him at his voice, and he spotted an amused little smirk before the surprise visitor returned to peering at the armor in front of him in obvious interest. “I believe you have little worry. Your creation remains closed to my curious eyes, unfortunately.”

Tony snorted, rubbing at an eye and wishing he’d gotten coffee before this little adventure had started, but decided that hey, maybe it was better this way. Let his newest, oldest? soulmate have him on completely unfiltered morning-self. “Well duh, my kid is amazing like that. He knows better than to let strangers see inside his mom’s tech.”

Loki stilled, obviously startled by the mention of a child given that they were the only two human-shaped beings in the space that weren’t made of metal. “I fear I had not realized the extent of the sentience that had been resisting my coaxing.” Tony was immensely gratified when the full attention of the being turned back to the armor and he dipped his head in a tiny almost-bow. “Forgive my oversight if you would.”

JARVIS’ voice was rather curious instead of anything else, and that was a relief. It meant that the Asgard native hadn’t been a dick to his kid. “An oversight made by most, I did not take offense. Sir is more likely to take such slights personally than myself or my non-human siblings.”

“I will take care to keep that in mind.” There was another bob of his head and then those green eyes fixed fully on Tony as he pivoted in place to properly face him. “Most who create such wonders would not claim them as children.”

Tony snorted and lifted his hand, the golden sheen of JARVIS’ mark on the back of it in plain view. “This is his. The moment he was born, the first real activation of his code, there it was. He’s got a soul. If he’s got one, I’m sure the others do too. I’m a mom, was even before my family started having human shaped babies. Though I started pretty young by most standards if you count my metal-kids.” He flashed him a smile and let his hand fall, noting the intense analysis that it had been getting. “So. Loki. Not that I’m not happy to have confirmation about what you said last night and all, but any reason you’re lurking around in the dark down here like this?”

“Ah, quite. You. There are many ways this could have gone but I found myself... lacking patience and handed leadership to mother rather than wait for father to wake or my fool of a brother to learn his lesson.” He gave a minute shake of his head and grimaced. “I do not wish to waste my time only to learn that you have perished because I did not spend what time I could. Humans are so fleeting. Mother understood.”

Tony gave a soft snort, unable to help himself. “Yeah, if you didn’t want to wait for Thor to do his thing that’s probably for the best given he’s found two soulmates down here from what I hear. My kid’s one of em.”

Looking at the way that got him a wide-eyed glance, in turn. Clearly, this news hadn’t gotten back to his soulmate already. “I see. Best that I did not wait. Even should he pass his test he would be as unlikely to choose to leave them behind as myself.”

“Yeah, about that. Not that I’m not thrilled and all, but with how long you guys live you must have a bunch of soulmates, right? I mean, I’m a veritable roadmap of marks if you take a good look at me.” Tony gestured absently at himself, a little amused by that. He’d long since made peace that he was a little weird and a lot atypical.

Still, he didn’t expect the magic user to shake his head in negation. “No, that is not the way of Asgard, or even Jotunheim. Jotuns, what I am, only ever have one soulmate. One mark and one match are all. You are mine, and for a great portion of my life there was worry that I would be one of those doomed to have none. Brother was much the same, though Aesir have two.”

Tony’s eyes went wide at the idea of that. How was that even fair? It made zero sense to him, honestly speaking. “But what’s the system? I mean, it’s pretty widely accepted down here that soulmates are kind of each others’ business, but they’re not even half the time romantic. Hell, siblings end up with each others’ marks all the time, and, well.” He lifted his hand in a pointed ‘see here?’ at the one on his hand. Which was with his kid.

“Ah. That is... not the case in other realms I believe. It is understood among the Jotun that your soulmate is your match. I was not raised among them, so more than that I do not know, even with these last years of research. The ways of soulmates among them are closely guarded. Among Aesir, there is one who is for the heart and one for the mind, while the Vanir at times end up with a love and a liege. It is not, I believe, the same sort of matter as you say humans have among them.”

“Liege. Ugh. No. Though humans get the dubious joy of mortal enemies from time to time so that’s fun.” At the way Loki seemed to start in alarm, he waved him down. “Not that I’m saying you are. That’d be cruel, right? If you only get one chance and it went the way of horrible badness? I can’t promise we’ll be romantic though. I mean, I kind of already have an alpha and a beta I’m relationshipping, and then there’s kind of everyone else...” He trailed off, seeing the grimace on the poor god’s face. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t give you a chance! I mean. You’re here, right? If you think you can, you know, handle that, then you’re welcome to come home with me. I’m gonna be heading out after breakfast and I already said goodbye to everyone last night in case they missed me. I was just going to make sure I was good to fly. You know, awake and stuff. Even if JARVIS would keep me from crashing or anything. I do not want to get home drowsy to my baby. Who wasn’t birthed by me, because I’m not sure I’m actually physically capable of doing that anymore, but my best friend helped and-”

He cut off in absolute shock as cool fingers touched his chin, featherlight and completely surprising. He hadn’t even noticed him moving. “I will have ample time to learn all I can know of you and yours. I do not need you to tell me all right now.” He shook his head slightly, pulling his hand back once he had Tony’s full attention. “Do as you must to fully wake and I will accompany you back. It would be best if my brother did not know that I had been present.”

Tony gave a slow nod but frowned. “Won’t he know you were here anyway? Scent markers and stuff?”

Loki immediately shook his head. “Few of the gods share that talent with humans, and brother has only ever had interest in a very narrow field of magic. He will not know of my visit if he does not see me. As it should be. He is here to be punished for his errors, after all.”

“Yeah, we’ll get back to that part later, but you should know that with one of Thor’s mates being my kid and the other being a mate of, from what I’ve been told two of my mates, you’re gonna run into each other sooner or later.”

There was a sigh at that, a very very put-upon sigh that he recognized from Pepper’s many adventures in fixing up Tony’s messes. “In that case, I will have to ensure my brother learns his lesson more quickly so that no penalty will be enacted, of course.”

He nodded slowly at the answer, turning it over in his head. “You’re a good brother. So. All that being settled, how about coffee?”

Clearly amused by the sudden shift in topic, Loki merely gestured for Tony to lead the way to the tiny kitchen area.

Because yeah, that had been a nice talk and all, but Tony still wasn’t as alert as he’d like to be.

And he kind of really badly wanted to introduce Pepper and Loki now. They could commiserate over exasperating people or something.

Also, showing off his babies. All of them. Human, metal, code, he wasn’t picky.

He had a feeling that Loki would appreciate them regardless.

Chapter Text

The breakfast had been kind of odd if he was being honest with himself, very nice, very zen. It was mainly odd because of how swiftly he’d settled into the quiet of it, the only conversation being the arrangements for how Loki would meet him once he was back on the coast. He had zero interest in being flown over with Tony’s suit, which was more than fair because windburn, and as curious as he was about Loki’s alternate methods, the shapechanger had made it clear that he needed somewhere to home in on if he had a specific goal in mind and he truly had no real idea where Tony’s house was in relation to where they already were.

The stipulation made him realize that Loki’s arrival hadn’t had any of the theatrics that Thor’s apparently had if Jane’s stories had anything to say about it. Which was fascinating all by itself and he suspected was something that would be questioned, at length, when Jane finally met his soulmate. Still, that reminded him to leave a note for Darcy, a scrawl with his personal number, his address, his email, a bunch of hearts, and a request to keep in touch with him. He just hoped that she vibed more in Bruce or Rhodey’s general direction than say, Pepper when it came to being informed about things. If she didn’t, well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d ever gotten an earful and probably wouldn’t be the last, goodbyes already said or not. Though just as a precaution given he didn’t know, he’d ended up adding a note at the bottom that he’d send along a better phone and music player for her soon, regardless of if she contacted him before then.

In all, nothing too unusual for a visit to Jane, even if he ended up coming away with more, most, of the rest of his cadre of soulmates. And had found his child another soulmate. And had met more soulmates of Jane’s...

Okay, the visit hadn’t been typical, but there had been a certain comfort in familiarity on the flight home regardless as he’d cheerfully interrupted Fury’s day about making sure that Jane got all her stuff back because he might be busy but he wasn’t dead and he was going to check. Amusingly enough, the conversation about that had more or less taken the entire flight home, which had kept his mind off speculation with a comfortable sort of neatness that he could appreciate.

Of course, actually being home was a whole other animal, and he wasn’t remotely surprised that when he zipped in to land in his workshop that there was a lurking five-year-old waiting on the other side of the glass for him. Because his children conspired now that Connor was old enough to conspire with and so long as when asked JARVIS could track the younger child then they were allowed to wander the house as they pleased, within certain limits. After all, the child had, horrifyingly enough, mastered stairs. How he’d missed this development he had no idea, but as soon as his armor had finished peeling away from him he moved over and opened the door to let Connor in, immediately getting his legs glomped onto for his trouble.

“What, I take it you missed me then?”

“You were gone forever! Then you came home and everyone took me places and then you flew away! Spend time with meeeeeee.” The child’s tone had started somewhere in the range of foot stomping near tantrum but ended quite firmly in whining pathetic territory. Poor kid. Tony leaned down and scooped them up, bussing their cheek with his nose.

“Hey, hey, I’m home now right? I’ll have to go back to New York in a bit, I admit, but I’m here for today and you know what? You and I can do something extra special because I went and found two soulmates while I was out and I think, my little cutie, that you and I should go down to the beach to meet the one coming here, how does that sound?”

“They’re not driving?” The child blinked, little hands immediately latching onto Tony’s shirt as he started to meander up the driveway to get out of the house that way since it was closest to the stairs.

“Nope! He’s got a whole other way and said to stand near the closest natural formations once I got back so he could focus without much interference. I bet you he’s just doing it that way to be polite, but I think I’ll humor him anyway. He’s not from Earth at all, see, and I want to know all about what he can do.” Navigating said stairs with a passenger probably wasn’t his wisest idea, but he’d dropped off his armor upstairs for a reason, so the long way it was. Still, it wasn’t all bad, and he only needed one hand to keep the child on his hip steady as he started down the steps.

“He’s a spaceman?”

The cheerful chirp made Tony groan, and he gave his child a pained look as he paused between steps to do so. He only continued down once the desire to hang his head in resignation passed him by. “First, I’d like to say that eventually, I’m going to find whoever decided to stick Man in my newspaper title the first time and question them intently on their life choices. Secondly, yes, I suppose he is, in a fashion. I met his brother too, actual familial use of the word too which is so odd. He’s Jane and your big conser’s soulmate.”

“Really??” Connor bounced once, then froze, clearly remembering where they were and the many many conversations about not squirming when they were being carried on stairs. It was nice to know that lectures about safety were remembered by at least one member of his household.

Even if it was one of the littlest. Especially because it was one of the littlest? Something like that. “Yes really. You can ask him yourself when we get back up to the house, mm?” He finally hit the bottom of the staircase, which had been tweaked over the years as more soulmates popped up, though he couldn’t for the life of him remember who had gotten someone in to do so. Regardless, that had been more painless than he remembered it being in other years. Hitting the dirt at the bottom, he meandered to a nice shady spot to wait. “So, man huh? You know that word hasn’t been used by itself in a long time.”

Connor seemed surprised by this, but then, it had been in circulation most of the kid’s life, so he knew it must seem very strange indeed to the child. In fact, he suspected that man was going to be the new guy, or bro. In other words, the slang term that never died to mean ‘person’. Regardless of all that, he was down here for a reason, and he only just turned in time to catch the tail end of blue-green light and a swirl of shadow as Loki was suddenly present. His toddler was in the enviable position of having been already pointed that way and immediately clapped once the downplayed light show was done. “That’s better’n a car!”

”Better than kiddo.” He turned fully to face his most recent and, from what he’d told him, oldest, soulmate and shifted his hold on his kid as he gave him a small smile. “Portals huh? We’ll totally have to talk about that later. So. This is Connor and the little imp wouldn’t let me get away from the house without them so they’re going to be the first one to meet you who isn’t my codebaby.”

Loki blinked, gaze sliding to the child, but it was a warm glance, clearly not upset by the surprise and Tony was rather pleased about that. “Hello young prince, I am Loki Odinson. Your ah-” He glanced to Tony in question, clearly not sure what titles were in use here for the child.

It made Tony smile that he bothered to check. Sometimes people just assumed and that was just plain rude. “Ma.”

“Your ma invited me to come stay with you and the rest of your family.” He hesitated for a moment, then eyed Tony again and gestured at the child. “May I?”

Tony eyed him for a moment, then slowly nodded, letting him take the curious child. It was honestly probably the best time for a trade-off since Connor was more curious than clingy at the moment. “Sure, but you get to haul them back up the stairs. Those things are better than they used to be, but they’re still steep.”

When the Asgardian’s green eyes flit to the stairs in question, he just laughed. “I see. It would be my pleasure, Tony.”

Which was perfect, and probably about as much of an agreement to come meet the family as he was about to get at the moment.

Right, now he just had to introduce him to everyone else. That would be something.

A whole lot of something.

Chapter Text

Tony wasn’t surprised when they were met practically at the door. For one thing, he’d been and gone and the armor wasn’t exactly silent. For another, he highly doubted that JARVIS hadn’t poked around for whatever bits of the family were just plain not occupied.

He’d probably just waited until he headed out of the building before doing it so he could meet Loki in peace.

Well, as much peace as they could get given that Connor had been asking Loki questions at a truly impressive rate of speed since they’d left the beach. It was a good test though, and Loki seemed happy about it, which definitely gave him a massive case of the warm and fuzzies. He always did truly enjoy watching his soulmates with kids.

He was, at the end of the day, still the kind of omega who was family oriented, and it was little reminders like this that let him be happy about it.

The current line of questioning, one to do with the color spectrum if he wasn’t mistaken, trailed off into silence when a rather stern looking Bruce rather pointedly looked at Connor, then to Loki, then to Tony and back again as though to ask what the hell was going on. Which was probably exactly what he was asking, on reflection.

”Hey Brucie! I’m back and uh, have news of Jane?” Tony reached out, lightly poking Bruce back out of the door, which immediately revealed both James and Happy lurking around but no Laura or baby anywhere to be seen. Damn. Well, also fair but not much he could do about that.

“Ma got a spaceman!” Connor, ever helpful, decided to just... throw the news out there. Of course they did. And of course that fixated Bruce’s gaze right back on Loki as his eyebrows rose.

“The proper term is Asgardian child. While there are races that live exclusively in space, our realm is named.” The words were amused, and the green-eyed ‘spaceman’ in question followed Tony into the room, closing the door behind them with his free hand. “I am Loki Odinson and Tony is my soulmate. A pleasure.”

There was a beat of quiet in the wake of that as everyone processed... and then James promptly murdered the atmosphere of protective intimidation Bruce had been trying to build by laughing. In fact, to the surprise of everyone, he outright cracked up, and Tony honestly couldn’t fathom which side of his soulmate he was looking at in that moment because he hadn’t thought either of them would find this situation that funny. Or funny at all!

Okay, on reflection it was a little funny. After all, he had Bruce, with the Hulk, he had Mj. My Life Is Madness in James, and JARVIS... wow he had some really exceptional soulmates didn’t he? Counting Pepper and Clint and Rhodey and- “Yeah, okay okay, I get it. I haven’t got a knack for boring soulmates but there’s absolutely nothing that funny here!”

If anything, that made James laugh harder, to Happy’s apparent concern, and he glanced to Bruce, who had a hand over his lips and clearly didn’t quite agree either. “Tony, you managed to find an honest to god alien. You can’t say that your soulmate situation is exactly normal.”

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, then went pink. “Yeah, well, his brother is Jane’s.” Loki’s chuckles joining in on James’ apparent laughing fit just made Tony pout more and he turned around to wiggle his fingers at his newest until Connor was handed over. “You’re all being very mean to me!”

Connor just added insult to injury instead of being the balm on his fluster by patting his cheek as soon as they were securely in Tony’s arms. “S’okay ma, being super weird is cool!”

Tony just sighed at the child. “Thank you, my beloved sprog. I’ll take being cool in spite of being super weird, as you’ve decided to put it.” He looked sideways at Bruce, who seemed to be more thoughtful than anything about his Jane declaration, which was so unfair. “Oh, don’t you tell me it’s fine for Jane but I’m going to get trolled. That’s so rude.”

“First, Jane’s field is space, it’s kind of almost expected. Second... it’s mostly James having a go.” Bruce gestured to the alpha who was apparently finally getting control over themselves and offered Loki a hand. “Bruce Banner, also one of Tony’s soulmates. Given what he just said, you should know Jane is also one of mine so that makes us doubly connected.”

Loki took the hand with ease and gave a single shake before inclining his head. “I fear that Midgardian soulmate tangles are something that will take getting used to. My race only ever has one, and the Aesir, my brother’s people, only ever have two who are always of a defined sort.” When his hand was freed, he gestured up at the building. “My brother found his mind companion in JARVIS which was amusing to watch, but I have concern that his heart has gone to someone so short-lived.” His gaze moved to Tony, who was checking on James but clearly listening. “Much as I have that concern for myself. I will only ever have Tony.”

Bruce turned to follow the gaze, but before he could speak, Tony flashed them a smile and snagged Loki’s wrist in his free hand. “No sadness this morning. It’s been good day. Come meet James. James was the third of my soulmates I found and one I had a crush on before I found any of them.”

He was relieved when they didn’t pursue the topic when he pulled on Loki to get them moving further into the house but... it made him aware there would apparently be some very very long conversations in his future. Just wonderful.

For now, though... introducing Loki to everyone home. Simple.

So long as Anna didn’t need an intense staring match and thus require both his arms instead of letting him hold Connor at the same time anyway.

Somehow, he didn’t imagine screaming babies made the best first impressions.

Chapter Text

Tony was less than enamored with the notion of returning to the east coast. In Malibu he had the babies, for one thing, to say nothing of a lot of his soulmates being there.

On the other hand, Pepper was in New York still and unlike James hadn’t meandered home with him because she was holding down the fort on the Expo. The Expo that he needed to do the final ceremonies for since it was on its last week. Which meant that it was going to be the busiest timeframe of the whole thing.

Essentially, he didn’t have much of a choice because it was kind of his thing and that meant he had to take care of it. Straightforward, to the point. That didn’t mean he didn’t pout.

Regardless, he returned to New York, though there was a certain kind of humor in trailing a whole different group going back as he had going out once Happy jumped at the chance to get away from the new baby for a while and James rather wanted to spend time with their new little prince. Aka, trade. That Loki apparently was fully intent on sticking to Tony was probably the tipping point though, as over the last couple weeks he and James had had many many conversations.

Whatever they’d talked about, it meant that his most protective soulmate was willing to spend some time away from Tony while Tony wasn’t home. Which was interesting, promising even, given that he found Loki fascinating in and of himself.

Though apparently at the moment it was herself? He’d come out to the main room while fussing with the cuff links of his suit, all set to do a last pass before heading out only to scent who he knew was Loki only for it to also be... not the same? And the visual was definitely not the same, with the much curvier shape going on while they talked with Pepper across the table loaded up with lunch. Same coloration, still indisputably the same soulmate but, well. Well.

Making his way over and feeling a touch wary for reasons he couldn’t quite pin down, he cleared his throat and sank down into his chair. “So, Loki, that’s a new look?”

The glance he got, in turn, was indisputably amused. “When I look like this, I go by she pronouns. You may relax. I merely felt the desire to be pretty for your show this evening.” One elegant hand-waved through the air in dismissal, as though shifting their entire body structure was of no particular consequence. “Ms. Potts and I were discussing an approach so that I might accompany you both given I do not work in your empire.”

“My company. I’ve told you, it’s not an empire because I don’t rule it.” Tony found Loki just a tad harder to stare down at the moment and looked away to see about filling his plate instead. “I just run it.”

“As you say. You just run your empire.” The tone used was incredibly dry, and Tony didn’t even try not to pout when Pepper giggled. Just because she pinched her lips together like she was pretending she wasn’t didn’t mean he didn’t hear her.

She clearly noticed too, because she reached over and patted his arm, her pretty eyes sparkling at him with mirth. “It’s alright Tony, really, but she has a point. Stark Enterprises has been called a corporate empire before, and we do have people scattered across the world. Just take it as it is and let her have her fun on this one, I don’t think you’ll be winning.”

Tony just sighed at them both. “I’ve been laughed at more in the last couple weeks than I have all year. You’re a terrible influence on all my other mates Loki, seriously.”

Her hand pressed against her chest at that and she visibly preened which was... wildly unfair somehow. “Thank you, my beloved, I aspire to bring laughter everywhere I go.”

Okay, more than just somehow unfair. Instead it was definitely unfair. “Okay okay. Mischief Maker, got it. Only forgot for a hot second.” He still felt himself go a little pink at the pleased smile she gave him in turn and he turned his full attention to his sandwich with a huff.

Pepper, master of tone of voice as she could be, managed to resume speaking in a fairly level voice. But he knew. The laughter was still there, lurking. “If you’re done with that line of conversation, Happy has been coordinating with the security on this end to make sure that everything is going to go smoothly and I’m happy to say that it seems like we’re not going to have any problems. And can I say I’m still a little surprised you’re letting Hammer have a turn on stage?”

“Just because we pulled out of weapons doesn’t mean the military isn’t still important.” He glanced to Pepper and flashed her a lopsided smile. “Besides, his rate of catastrophes has gone down lately from what I heard, gotta support him being less of a human hazard how I can.”

Pepper wrinkled her nose at him and just sighed. “I’ll never understand the two of you, I hope you know that.”

“Which is a hundred percent fair because half the time I don’t understand us either.”

“If I might interject for a moment, who, exactly, is this Hammer? I highly doubt he’s the same person who springs to mind for me.”

They both looked at the god for a moment at that, and then Tony grimaced. “Right, so remember when I explained about how soulmates could be complicated? Time to revisit that.”

Suffice to say that Tony was fairly sure that Loki was, if anything, even less impressed with how human soulmates worked than before the explanation.

He couldn’t say he was surprised.

Chapter Text

It should be noted that Justin Hammer did not, in fact, ruin the Expo. In fact, it could almost be said that he nearly averted absolute disaster just by being there, and if Tony hadn’t already felt uncomfortable enough by the whole thing, that certainly didn’t help.

Justin’s presentation was flashy, not quite up to Tony’s standards but trying, as he was wont to do, but it was nothing overly impressive. Useful to the military types in the crowd, definitely, but not impressive. Not innovative. In other words, out of place.

So, of course, the universe tried to fix it.

It was in the middle of Justin’s underwhelming speech where everything went... odd.

Or not odd?

Tony just knew that he was suddenly, wildly grateful that the kids were back home when an unfortunately familiar beta came rolling out using arc tech. That they were headed for Tony initially was entirely expected. That they stopped and ended up staring at Justin Hammer in blatant shock when the beta made a beeline for them? Slightly more urgent at the time. Especially given that Justin's look was extremely determined as he strode over. Obviously, the beta had not been the one to turn them loose after the race fiasco. Extra fun, that.

He knew the look, he’d dealt with the fall out of that look, and damn it he really really didn’t want Justin to deep dive back into complete asshole mode because he had other, possibly more receptive options that he actually had access to. He'd thought, somehow, that this guy ending up in jail back in Monaco had been enough to put it off, or to at least make the whole situation settle the hell down. Clearly not. Maybe, if they did this right this time, they could keep this from becoming a complete disaster. Which is, of course, how Tony found himself hurrying across the stage he’d left only a half-hour before, Loki drifting along in his wake even as Happy scrambled to talk to security.

Natasha was around somewhere, and he was sure that she and Pepper would take care of anything the beta brought with them that didn’t consist of glowing blue arc-powered whips again. And he still had no idea what Loki could do so he hoped that she didn’t get herself hurt getting in the middle of things. He knew she’d been having a good night, wandering and looking at all the projects people had at this thing. And he really hadn’t had a lot of time to look up Norse mythology at all.

Tony was also not going to think about the look that Justin gave him as he came skidding to a halt between the two to intercept, charming smile in place and aimed at the admittedly very impressive beta who had crashed the proceedings. Flattered and angry on one side, focused and furious on the other. Wonderful. Time to play it off like this was planned at least a little.

Which meant that the beta intended to fuck that up. Because why else would they be here? “Stark!”

“Mj Inventor!” Tony pressed a hand to his chest, aware of the crowd and that they were really close and the last thing he wanted was a fight. Those things were dangerous. “Justin forgot to introduce us before the show I’m afraid so I’m a little unprepared.”

There was a hesitation, the beta’s eyes flitting from Justin at Tony’s back to Tony himself and narrowing, so Tony just smiled bigger. “Ivan Vanko, thief.” The sudden hum of the whips in the beta’s hands was not at all reassuring.

Tony wasn’t exactly amused when he had to steer Justin backwards. The idiot had absolutely no self-preservation, it was baffling. Maybe he didn't want to risk losing track of the Russian again? Soulmate or no soulmate, he wasn’t about to let the idiot get himself killed. “Now that’s just not nice. I'm sure you have plenty of ideas that are all your own! How about we get out of the way so you can demonstrate your invention and then we can talk after? Without the audience.”

There was another beat of hesitation from the beta as they looked past Tony at Justin, then an obvious steeling in their eyes that said that they were going to do something pretty inadvisable anyway. Then again, Tony had sort of stomped all over their accusation, there.

At least, Tony was pretty sure that was what it meant given that the moment the beta made to do something with those whips... they dropped, crumpling back into the waiting arms of the Asgardian at their back who shimmered into view with an amused smile on her lips. “Ah ah, none of that. We should let Mr. Hammer finish his presentation and we can talk to this one out of the public eye.”

Tony wasn’t sure exactly what he was feeling when Loki just... picked the beta up, easy as you please, in heels, and sashayed off the stage like it was no bother at all. Dazzled was definitely one word for it. It took him a second to get his brain back in order. “Right.” He turned to look at the crowd and gave them all a sweeping gesture to indicate Justin. "Right. Everyone. Justin Hammer! On to the presentation!” Then he hurried off stage, abandoning the beta to fend for himself and make his excuses to the crowd.

He wasn’t sorry about that and he dearly wanted to know what the hell Loki had done to drop Vanko without anyone noticing she was about to. So he could explain it to the crowd who he heard stirring up behind him later. Shit.

He’d deal with that when he knew what he had to explain away. Simple.

Also, kind of more urgent was catching up to the two so he could turn those whips off given they were burning a path in the ground.

That Loki seemed to have been avoiding getting touched by that as well. Just. Wow. Wow.

Night not ruined, and Loki showed that they could handle the crazy that was Tony’s life, easy?

He could get used to that. He just hoped that it didn’t involve any more of Justin’s soulmates.

Chapter Text

Watching Loki deal with the newest addition to Tony’s ever-expanding pack was both hilarious and concerning. On the one hand, she seemed to be particularly good at handling things like this.

On the other hand she seemed particularly good at handling things like this.

Skills like that had a story, but still... when Hammer, sorry Justin, came running after his soulmate to fuss, Tony could admit he wasn’t even surprised. He’d rebuffed the annoying beta at every turn, and when he’d actually permitted the little shit to try he’d effectively smothered the urge to continue to do so on the most ass holey way possible. So, of course, Justin’s new soulmate was pissed off at Tony. For something Tony hadn’t even done wrong.

For once.

It was kind of annoying honestly. Of all things to be pissed at him for, this guy, this fucking ridiculous beta was ticked off about something his dad did when he was a god damn toddler.

So yay for that.

Regardless, Vanko hadn’t technically done anything to anyone at this point, at least, nothing on this side of the ocean and he, which had been a gender identifier that had been dealt with by Loki during the rather sharp Q&A session she’d inflicted on the beta, was Justin’s. Which meant that even if he wasn’t already Tony’s problem, he would be Tony’s problem. Because Justin was about as good at not sharing his problems with Tony as a toddler was about keeping their jam-covered fingers off a shiny new toy.

Thus, everything was quite dramatic, and Tony had zero reservations in agreeing that his dad was an absolute dick sometimes. Deporting a science buddy? Well, at the time it was that or watch said buddy go down for treason from what an hour of digging found, so, in that light, his dad had done the alpha a god damn favor.

Suffice to say that Vanko was not fully appeased, but he seemed to at least be willing to think about it.

Which led them to now, where Pepper had gotten in the middle of the discussion between Vanko and Justin and appeared to be mediating a prospective contract. On Tony’s behalf. Somehow.

He would find out whether he wanted to know or not soon enough, he was sure.

“This was not quite how I anticipated the evening to go my dear, but somehow I do not find myself sorry to see it so.” The light words were amused, coming from just behind his shoulder where Loki was leaning on a table and watching the festivities with the air of a supremely satisfied cat.

“What? Were you expecting bigger explosions?” He looked over at her, reluctantly amused as he thought of reasons why she might be. “Maybe if you hadn’t been on the stage so fast it would have gone there, but it would have ruined the ‘this is totally on purpose’ vibe we pulled off for the crowd.”

“Oh no no, I didn’t mean that at all.” Her hand came up, hiding her smile as she stared back at him. Or perhaps hiding her smirk might be a better way to put it, as there was a distinctly mischievous light in that green stare. “I was rather implying that I expected this to be a far less dramatic situation. Though given how we met perhaps I didn’t think that through.”

He blinked and couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head as he stepped back to lean against her perch as well so he could look at her better. “Okay, that’s fair. Though I’m going to tell you right now that disaster tends to trail after me like a pretty lace train, so you might want to get used to that.”

“Ah, in that case, I suppose it will be almost like I never left home. Thor never did quite master the concept of subtlety.” Her fingers lowered and, yep, he’d been right given that that was one hundred percent a smirk.

“Hey now, I never said I couldn’t be subtle, just that things tend to go wildly off the rails from time to time.” He shook his finger at her, lips twitching even as he tried to look stern. His heart wasn’t in the effort.

“Ah, my mistake. It will be exactly like I never left home!” She brought her hands together in a nearly soundless clap, acting as though this was a revelation.

“Having met your brother I can say that I feel like I should be insulted but somehow you’re making this too lighthearted to manage. That’s cheating.”

When Loki laughed as well their antics finally drew the attention of the other three, and Tony was helpless to do anything but bask in it when he realized that the only expression on Pepper’s face as she looked between he and Loki was fond exasperation. Little disasters or big ones, that kind of reaction could only mean good things for the future and he was entirely okay with that. He’d even go so far as to take it as a good sign. An exceedingly good sign.

Because what else could it possibly be?

Chapter Text

Tony had gotten used to a lot of things in the name of normal.

These days normal contained everything from dirty diapers to settling multi-generational family feuds. It ranged from former Soviet agents to spirited scientists who could turn green at the drop of a hat. In fact, normal comfortably encompassed aliens and suspiciously well-informed agents, as well as all kinds of things that didn’t fit any of those categories in the slightest.

Which was why he was a bit put out on the fact he was still surprised at the omega touching down in front of him on the grass, his wayward and only briefly met beta along with the dramatically taller than her Thor in tow. The fact that Jane appeared to be wearing armor only further baffled him as it was truly the kind of thing he’d expect to see on Loki, not on the ridiculously petite scientist who he shared Bruce’s affections with.

That Thor was apparently being carried by said tiny omega only raised more questions, and it wasn’t even really a choice when he scooped up the equally curious five-year-old to make his way across the lawn away from the playset that he’d been monitoring the kid on.

“So, this is new.” His tone was probably a bit droll, but he couldn’t help it, this was... so weird.

“Oh, you know.” Jane’s returning smile was sheepish, and she shrugged, waving the overly ornate hammer that he was pretty sure he’d last seen in a high-security area in the air once before dumping it on the ground to work on prying Darcy off of her. He was admittedly impressed at the beta’s grip given she was giving a damn good impression of an octopus with both arms and legs wrapped around Jane like she would die if she let go. Which... was reasonable given their method of arrival, really.

“Right, magic hammer. But, um, isn’t that his?” He waved at Thor, who gave a rather morose sigh at the question.

Apparently, no, no it was not. Whoops. “Sadly, this is not so.” Thor paused there, almost awkward as he eyed Tony, clearly unsure what to call him. He could only guess at what kind of confusion his second-hand ties were causing the poor guy. “It seems that when my powers were bound, they were tied to Mjolnir, and the first to be worthy of her was the recipient of my power. That... was not me at this time.”

Tony blinked once, then he looked back to Jane, who was setting Darcy on her feet, though the petite brunette was definitely still clinging. It would be funny if he didn’t completely understand. People freaked out when he carried them off in the suit so he could hardly expect less from hammer powered travel. “So... your dad gave Jane your magic mojo?”

Thor gave him an almost pained look at this summary even as other people started to wander out of the house in curiosity, Loki the first to draw close, though James was a close second. “...That is a correct way of interpreting the matter.”

Loki, ever quick up on the uptake, glanced between the three new arrivals and down to the hammer before his gaze returned to Thor, his eyebrows arching slowly. “I see that father was especially vindictive in the measures he took to make you learn your lesson.”

“Father was very displeased that I nearly brought war upon the realm.” It was a sigh, and Thor frowned slightly before shaking it off with visible effort as his hand lifted to rest on Jane’s shoulder, the red cape at her back swishing in the wind. “My fair Lady Jane is worthy and that will be enough for me until I am once again worthy myself. She has taken to instruction in Mjolnir’s use incredibly quickly.”

Connor, clearly done with being ignored, held out their arms to Darcy in a pointed manner, making grabby hands at her with a clear tilt that said they were going to escape one way or another. It was only a quick grab on Tony’s part, practically expert by this point, that kept the child from diving toward the grass, and to ward any further attempts off he planted the child firmly in his newest soulmate’s arms. “Right then. Going to just detour for a second here for introductions before we get back to the mojo situation. Darcy, this is Connor. Connor, this is Darcy, she’s family. James, Darcy is the soulmate I mentioned I share with someone who I found when I popped down to visit Jane. Big and blond there is Thor, and you’ve met Jane. Loki, I think you know who Darcy and Jane are. Darcy, Jane, that’s Thor’s brother Loki. Sometimes sister. Sometimes conser. It apparently depends on the day and you’ll get used to it. The lovely alpha behind me is James, and they’re sweet but quiet sometimes.”

James wrapped their arms around Tony once the child was handed off, giving the new arrivals a nod. Loki, well, he just laughed, flashing a little smirk at the confusion on the curvy pair’s faces. Ah, this would be a joy. “I am able to shapeshift. Though many forms are merely solid illusions, on matters of forms that are indisputably me they are always real.” He waved a hand toward the house. “Perhaps we should all retreat inside to further discuss the new situation? And Jane, may I welcome you to the royal family?”

Jane, halfway to leaning down to fetch the magical cause of her current difficulties, froze for a moment. “What?”

”Oh, did Thor not mention? For shame.” Flashing his brother a smirk, Loki just tisked and turned to head inside, leaving everyone else to catch up rather than explaining a thing.

Watching Jane give Thor a look and then bolt off after Loki at a clip that he didn’t even know she could go at, Tony contemplated the new tweaks that had just found their way into his family situation and leaned into James. The sheepish smile Darcy exchanged with him before trailing after Jane with Connor in tow made him feel warm, and when he tipped his head back to look up at James only to get a quirked eyebrow for his troubles, well, that was just fine with him.

All of this was very very nice, if a bit hilarious, given the way that Thor seemed to be sulking after everyone else. He was sure it would only get more amusing once further introductions were sorted out. Though, on reflection, it was probably a good thing that Clint wasn’t home just yet. That was going to be a mess, he was sure.

He just hoped that Jane got the rest of her research back. If she had god powers now and hadn’t then...

Well, he would just hope that wasn’t going to be a thing.

Chapter Text

Tony’s new normal was... something. That’s not to say that the new something wasn’t good, or even downright fabulous, but it wasn’t what essentially anyone else would call normal, what with the aliens and superspies and all.

He had people living in the secondary building he’d made specifically under the aegis of having enough space should the main house somehow get too full. He’d honestly thought his house was big enough that that would probably never happen. Now, Thor lived there with Jane and Darcy and the roof of it had turned into a makeshift observatory. Bruce was away even less now that that was going on since he didn’t have to go to Jane, which was nice.

Less nice was Betty practically falling off the universe around the same time, much to just about everyone’s bewilderment, but a hunt for footage showed she’d just... wandered off to be quiet. He, being the wonderfully proactive omega he was, immediately sent the other omega about fifty e-mails until she called Bruce. Said e-mails all being sent over the course of about two weeks.

Somehow, a part of his lawn had turned into a play zone for Connor as well. When or how this happened he wasn’t sure given it felt like he wandered outside one day and it was just there, but Laura assured him that he’d been involved in the process and had safety checked the structures himself. At length. And then tore everything down and built his own versions which had even made it to the Stark line of baby and child toys. There was even a space for Anna to safely roll around while their conser was rattling around all the climbing equipment without the baby being at risk of falling off the cliff or anything.

That afternoon, in the face of his bewilderment, was about the point when everyone decided that he needed more sleep and bundled him securely into the middle of a cuddle pile to enforce it for a few hours. Then, when he seemed both better and crankier, he was sent off to spend private time with Clint to get his head screwed on straight. Essentially, the whole lot of them had declared him subpar on his needs and had taken the situation in hand.

That particular month had been... a little chaotic and he still had no idea when during it he had stopped sleeping, just that apparently he had and nobody he lived with had any desire for him to get into that headspace again. He built awesome things, sure, but now the toaster in the smaller house actively bitched at Thor when he had more than two pop tarts in one sitting and he really didn’t remember ever touching the thing. As just one example. The play zone was another example. He was sure there were more and that he would find them in increasingly random places for months to come.

He suspected the sudden lack of sleep was probably Anna’s fault. Not that the cute little baby had kept him awake, no, but that he’d wanted to spend any time he wasn’t working with the infant since unlike Connor, they couldn’t be downstairs with him no matter what he was building. It just wasn’t safe for someone that tiny.

Thus, That Month as his pack came to call it.

So, of course, in the grand scheme of things, the moment one bit of ridiculousness was done, another rolled up to present itself in its full glory.

In this instance, it was a visit from the oft-missing Coulson, who was shared by two of his mates and yet still refused to move in. Tony’s best guess was another soulmate or two elsewhere, but he knew when not to press. It wasn’t, after all, as though the beta never visited. It’s just that usually ze would bring the kind of ridiculously stressful news with zem that made Tony want to pull his hair out in the process.

This visit, it seemed, would be absolutely no exception to the trend, and they were sitting together in the kitchen alone because they’d shown up right after most of the household had meandered down to the beach. Given he had zero desire to go most days and everyone knew that it was hardly a surprise he hadn’t joined them. What had been a surprise was that James had taken off down there too, apparently willing to face sand and salt for once in spite of how much of a pain it could be if anything managed to get into the arm. No, the only one up here with him was Loki, and he was off in the livingroom having a debate about pitches of music and their effects on mood with JARVIS, thus giving Tony and Coulson unprecedented alone time.

He kind of wished that they hadn’t had any. He liked Coulson fine, but the beta, well, aforementioned hair ripping was currently in effect.

“You’ll have to run that by me again. SHIELD did what?”

“SHIELD has managed to locate the formerly thought departed Steve Rogers and he’s currently en route to New York.” Sure, the tone was calm, but there was no way Tony missed the excitement and amusement behind that bland facade. The beta was enjoying discomfiting him. And... was a fan? Apparently, they were a fan. No big shock there at least.

“See, I thought you said that, but there’s no way you could have said that because since when was SHIELD even still looking? I thought they called that off in the fifties.”

“SHIELD has always looked. It was part of the founding missions of the agency that it would continue until there was success. I’m sure Former-Director Carter could have told you as much as well...?”

Tony pressed his lips together at that and then sighed. They’d never really talked about SHIELD much, not even when he was visiting nearly weekly. They especially didn’t talk about her missing soulmate. “I’m not surprised with it put into that context, but really? He’s, you know, alive? Is he awake?”

“Not awake, and he’s in transit still so that’s probably for the best. You’re the first to know outside of SHIELD, given how close you are to most of the few people the omega would know...”

“You want me to tell James.”

“Carter already knows, so that just leaves Barnes as the last next of kin to be informed, yes.”

Tony stuck his tongue out at zem and pushed over a cup of coffee which was immediately collected. “You know what? Fine. Meanwhile, you get to stay put while I go round up Pepper so she can socialize with you, got it?”

When the beta just brightened, Tony shook his head and collected his phone to call in to the office. Figures.

Upside? Someone had actually remembered to tell them at all, so this could only be a bonus. He just hoped that if Rogers was a traditional old omega that he didn’t throw a hissy-fit over the composition of his household because he was not above punching folks who said things about his pack he didn’t care for.

Downside? James probably wasn’t going to take this with any degree of chill and he saw a trip to New York in the very near future.

The very, very near future.

Chapter Text

James was not the person he told first. This wasn’t on purpose exactly. No, it was more a result of internal panic after Coulson wandered off with Pepper for a little one on one with a soulmate ze just plain didn’t see all that often.

No, the first person he told ended up being Jane, who had come back up early, taken one look at him, and asked what was wrong. Because apparently panic was a very obvious look for him. He hadn’t actually realized that, and he truly, deeply, had no idea why he was so freaked out about this. It wasn’t like he was going to lose James. Steve Rogers could not take them away from him, and he knew that. Was it that he’d have to invite the other omega into his territory? He’d never considered himself one of those crazy possessive ones, and Jane was right there, so that made no sense either.

Then again, he had gotten used to Jane over the course of years and knew exactly where everyone stood...

And he still hadn’t answered her question by that point. He cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. He should be glad it was Jane instead of one of the others, really. They would fuss a whole hell of a lot harder than his fellow omega would. “No, I don’t suppose I’m entirely alright. I, uh, got what is happy news but I’m clearly freaking out about it. I have no idea why I’m freaking out and that’s really not helping the freakout settle down.”

“Right. Loki’s still off bonding with JARVIS right?” He gave a hesitant nod, not entirely sure what that had to do with anything but willing to answer. She, in turn, just nodded in matter of fact fashion, then set about prodding him off to the less used upstairs lounge room. “Then while that’s happening you and me are going to talk. You can tell me all about your news.”

”But I really should be telling James first. I mean, it’s most important to them, when it comes down to it. I mean. It’s Steve.”

Jane’s eyes narrowed a little, and she firmly deposited him in a cushy low chair, planting herself right beside him. “Steve. Steve Rogers?” When he nodded, she nodded back, a little frown on her face. “What about him?”

“He’s not dead.”

There was a pause at that little bit of information and a definite frown crossed her face. “That is good news. So what makes it not good? Clearly there’s something.” She’d turned at this point, her hand resting on his as she watched him with rock-solid steadiness.

He had the fleeting hysterical thought that she would probably be a better house omega than he was if she ever bothered to try. She was putting off some serious mom vibes at the moment. Pushing down that idea for the time being, he instead focused on the issue he was already in the middle of. No need to borrow trouble. “I- What if he’s like James used to be? His memories all broken apart? I know stuff happened to James but they were both frozen.” He drew in a breath, then a sharper thought pushed to the fore, coming out hushed. “And what if James changes because of him? What if- if they stop being my James?”

Jane frowned, clearly pensive, then drew him against her chest, once again reminding him of how strong she was now with the casual gesture. “Okay, right, I can see why you’re panicking, and it’s not really your fault. You’re scared that you’ll have to fix someone again, added to the fear it’ll undo something you’ve already fixed.” When he went to shake his head, because that wasn’t what he’d said she just put her hand on his nape and stilled the motion. “You are. But that won’t happen. James is with you. James will keep being with you no matter what. You do remember that they aren’t the person that Rogers knew. No matter how hard he presses, they’ll never be able to be that person again. They lived too much, right? I admit I haven’t talked to them as much as most of you, but they’re both very distinct and solid in there. James will remain James. I promise.”

Tony stilled at the nonverbal chastisement and let himself go limp in the hug, sighing against her collarbone. “It’s unfair you can out muscle me now.” He quieted though, thinking over what she’d just said. “What if James being like James is ends up being something Steve blames me for?”

Jane wrinkled up her nose, easing her grip enough to look down at Tony’s face. “How is that even remotely your fault?”

“It’s not, they were like that before I ever met them, but what if he does?”

“If he does then I’m pretty sure there are plenty of people in the house willing to smack sense into him. And the other part? Are you worried Rogers will be damaged by his time frozen?”

“...I think so, a little bit. What if he isn’t the same as anyone remembers? What if he hurts Aunt Peggy, or James? Aunt Peggy missed him for a long time and James is finally happy.” He thumped his forehead down against her shoulder and sighed. “What if how he’s different means he doesn’t like me?”

Clearly bemused, Jane just took a few minutes to think, quietly sorting through Tony’s hair with her fingers and smoothing it down, making some of the quivering tension in his frame relax. “If he doesn’t like you, that won’t change anyone’s mind. Everyone in this house respects you, and cares for you if not outright loves you. Nobody is going to abandon you for Steve Rogers, Tony. No one.”

“Not even James?”

“Especially not James. You’ve been their anchor for as long as I’ve known you, and they adore you equally. You are amazing, Tony Stark, and I don’t know what’s causing this bout of insecurity, but you don’t need it. If Rogers doesn’t adore you as much as everyone else, then we’ll just have to make him see why he’s a stupid, stupid omega. Alright?”

Tony laughed, lifting his head finally and searching her eyes, voice soft. “Yeah, alright. Yes. I just... My whole childhood, it was a quest of dad’s to find this guy, this perfect omega he once was dear friends with and loved to pieces. They weren’t even soulmates, you know? Third-degree through Edwin and Aunt Peggy, as far as they knew and...”

”And you were put in second place a few too many times by what you thought was someone dead and gone. It won’t happen here and now Tony. You’re the heart of this family and no other omega is going to muscle you out.” Her tone turned rueful. “I know I definitely couldn’t do it. You’re tying together people from multiple planets here and have a whole other species as a kid that no one even knows about. You’re brilliant and amazing and you’ll keep being brilliant and amazing. Got it?”

“What, even if I have another month of blackout?”

“Especially then. I love that toaster in our house you know. Thor never fails to be outraged when it sasses him and it makes everyone laugh.” She gave him a squeeze, then eased her hold on him. “Now, we should go find James so you can tell them we’re going on a field trip to wherever they’ve got Rogers. It’s SHIELD right?”

He nodded, then frowned a little. “We?”

Her smile grew a little sharper. “They still haven’t returned the last of my research and I have some words that need saying.”

Tony stared at her as his eyes widened, and he was quick to nod. She might be tiny, but nobody fucked with an omega’s science. “Right. We.”

Smile turning serene, she just nodded once before releasing him entirely.

Well, at least he didn’t feel anxious about Steve anymore. No, now he was worried that Jane was going to wreck SHIELD after all.

Which, fair. Very very fair.

Chapter Text

The first thing that Tony noticed when they arrived at the New York SHIELD office was that they clearly weren’t expecting them. Or, more specifically, it was obvious that while Fury and his little cluster of people had, more than half of the remainder had not. It had even started out friendly, with Coulson leading the way and getting them through security far enough that Nick Fury himself rocked up to say hello.

It was after that that the whole thing kind of fell apart.

The first warning was when James tensed by his shoulder, going from easy but sociable, all the cues reading curious, to ‘nope nope, something needs to die’ within the space of one breath. More specifically, when one of the people going down the hall had frozen and attempted to backtrack upon being spotted by his hyper-vigilant alpha. Jane hadn’t reacted to the person, and was instead having a very firm conversation about the state of her property with an agent she’d recognized and seized upon, so that really only left that they too recognized whoever the hell that had been.

Regardless, it was enough to get a flat demand out of James, more specifically Borya, in a tone he hadn’t heard since the very first year after they’d come to him. “We need to get to Steve now.”

“Babe?” Tony had felt Fury’s focus shift and land on them, razor intent at the words, and even Coulson trailed off zer excited chatter, something he hadn’t even realized the agent was capable of before ze’d started talking about Steve.

“That person,” there was an accompanying jab of gloved metal fingers in the direction the agent had gone, “was one of them.”

“Them like-”

Ze didn’t even let Tony finish this time and the tone was sharp now, leaving no doubt in Tony’s mind as to exactly what they meant. "Them.”

“Them who?” Fury had brought the whole party to a halt, and Jane’s victim had escaped as her attention swiveled to what was going on with James. Fury also didn’t sound amused.

“They’re talking about the people who got them from the war to the present.” Tony was looking around now, noting who was on guard, who was hostile, and who was trying to slip away. There was no way to tell how many of them were trying to get back up because it looked like James was about to flip a table and how many were because they knew what the conversation was about.

“Do you mean to tell me that we have a damn infiltrator on my base?” Tony exchanged a glance with James at this, and yes, that was definitely Borya, the stance was far too tense to be Bucky. But he could be wrong.

Looking away, he gave Fury a grim smile. “Probably. How about we go see Steve pronto? Because I don’t want to see how badly this is about to turn if there’s more than one.”

The grimace he got, in turn, wasn’t thrilled in the least, but his only answer from Fury was a flared trench coat and a turn of his back as the beta strode off fast, clearly expecting to be followed. Which they did, because while Tony hadn’t been eager to see the other omega, he was even less eager to see him into the hands of someone who would twist him around and send him out the other side in some kind of bad way. He never wanted that to happen to anyone, let alone someone that James had braved this for.

He knew agents made them uncomfortable. He suddenly had a sinking idea as to why.

The second warning was when a group of people moved to intercept them, ostensibly to find out why they were in a hurry, but the increasing tension in James’ frame said that wasn’t quite right. All the same, it brought them up short and Tony reached sideways, resting his hand on James’ arm, cloth over metal. He’d made sure the alpha was well-armed so if this suddenly went to shit they should be fine. He was getting a bad feeling by this point, and the way Fury drew up short because the agents had made sure he couldn’t simply go around said a lot of things that put a sour taste in Tony’s mouth.

“What the damn hell do you think you’re doing Agents? We have places to be and don’t need any games right now.” Fury had loaded up his tone with more exasperation than anything, but Tony could see the tension in his shoulders.

“The Director said there would be no unauthorized visits to Rogers while he’s still delicate.” The response was definitely smug, the tone of someone who Fury had probably personally thwarted in some way getting revenge. Wonderful.

“Well, that’s just too bad because I was authorized five minutes ago.”

“And you still are, but your... guests are not.”

Coulson slipped forward, zer gaze even and tone pleasant. “And what about me? I wasn’t here five minutes ago, are you going to say that I can’t see Rogers?”

“I’m afraid you’re not authorized personnel at this time.”

“Agent, you realize that the only person who has any authority above mine is Director Pierce don’t you?” Annnd Fury had lost his patience, clearly.

Tony started as Jane put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked sideways back to her as she leaned up to whisper in his ear. “I don’t think we’re going to get around to my research on this visit.”

When some idiot decided it was time to pull a weapon because of that little twitch, Tony grimaced and agreed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right.”

He just really didn’t want to get shot in the melee that was bound to follow if this got any further than weapons being pulled. That would suck.

Chapter Text

Tony realized, when civilities broke down and James had lunged, that all those mental warnings had been for particularly good reason. Of course, this was something he didn’t have any time to think about as at that point he’d been in combat mode, but wow was he unprepared for what a pissy Jane could do now. Basically, after his half-joking agreement to her observation about her things, she’d sighed and pulled the hammer from... he honestly didn’t even know where. He hadn’t seen her carrying it, and she hadn’t called it from anywhere, not with the lack of holes between her and outside but... there it was, and she was all armored up and high key tasering agents.

Honestly, between her zappiness and James’ grudge punching, Tony was pretty sure that those smug little agents hadn’t had a chance. It hadn’t made James less twitchy because yeah no they didn’t much care for electrical charges, but it had let them go on the move and Fury was throwing orders at every person who came to investigate. Most listened. Some got the joy of being sucker-punched by a metal hand or very very thoroughly zapped with a hammer. If Tony was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure how many people were surviving that, and Jane wasn’t exactly checking. Really, this just reaffirmed to him that angry and protective omegas were, in fact, the scariest creatures on the planet.

It wasn’t just him.

All the same, they ended up with an honor guard of some of the agents, with the other agents moving along in their wake to check over the people they took out to secure them one way or another, and a more or less fast path to where Steve had last been put. The fact that Pierce’s name had made James lose their shit was really worrying, but the situation was already getting out of control so there was little enough to be done about it right now.

No, right now was Tony throwing himself through a door as one of the asshole agents started shooting at them before getting swarmed by their honor guard, and him almost crashing into the star-spangled omega himself. Who seemed both confused and alarmed by the greeting but caught him instead of punching him away so hey, bonus. Then again, it made sense, because he was clearly distracted, attention hyper fixated on the door so that when James ducked in after him, well, that’s where the other omega was looking.

And wow was that stare down intimate and uncomfortable on so many levels just this second. Not to mention poorly timed. Also, Steve still hadn’t let go. Or looked at him. In fact, Tony was pretty sure Steve didn’t even realize he’d caught his stumble at all, and he gave the other omega until Jane planted herself in the doorway after Coulson and Fury joined them before thumping him on the chest to remind him his hands were full.

Oddly enough, the brawl going on out there had settled his nerves. Go figure. “Hey, buff and shiny, if you’d be nice enough to unhand the merchandise here?”

Finally Steve let go of him, startling away a step as blue eyes snapped to him, then immediately back to James before confusion and wariness finally overtook the shock. “That’s- You- Bucky died. And what’s going on out there? What’s happening?”

Tony grimaced at the stumble of words and lifted a hand to give a little wave. “Yeah hi, Tony Stark, you knew my dad. We have bigger problems.” He then pivoted to look at James and oh crap that was Bucky and Bucky was so much more emotional than their counterpart was. He moved to the alpha and caught their non-metal wrist, ignoring the way Steve tensed as he did. “Suger-love, before we have any ooey gooey reunions you were freaking out for good reason but you didn’t flip out until you heard the Director’s name?”

“Yes, what the fuck was that out there? Bringing the base down on our head wasn’t remotely good planning.”

James grimaced at the demand and gave Fury a blatantly suspicious look before pulling Tony close to their side, which made the betas in the room both sigh at once even as Steve looked even more confused. And a little hurt. Still, there was an answer forthcoming at least. “Pierce was introduced to me not long before I left my former service. It might not be the same person but the name was... distressing.”

Tony rubbed a hand up and down their back and glanced back to Steve, who clearly needed something to make sense of all this. “Decades of alpha training Steve. Ze used their bond to me to get away. Hello, packmate.” He looked away to Jane as Steve’s expression turned horrified. “Hey little miss electrical storm, how are things looking out there?”

Jane rolled her eyes at him but checked outside for them regardless. “The chaos is getting worse. Someone yelled HYDRA and then everyone who wasn’t already involved kind of uh-” She waved the hand not gripping the hammer through the air to encompass everything.

Well, nobody looked happy with that news. Tony could see Steve gearing up for a fight and that would be so unhelpful just this second. “Riiiiight. Okay. Here’s the plan. Fury, nice to see you as always, but if Agent Agent there could take us to get Steve’s stuff I think you have an uprising, maybe insurrection would be a better word, to sort out. So...”

Fury gave him a distinctly unamused look but nodded anyway. “It seems like I do. Pierce and I need to be having words.” When Jane got out of the way, the beta moved off into the fray, and Tony’s attention shifted back to their SHIELD agent.

“Sooo, he likes my plan, shall we?”

Coulson was nodding even as Steve started to shake his head. Hooboy. That’s no good at all. “I know where his things were put, it’s not far.”

“We need to fight. If there’s HYDRA out there, after all these years...”

Tony wrinkled up his nose because ugh, fighty omega. “And who would you be fighting exactly? There’re no clear labels out there. We had no idea until James made it blow up in their faces.”

“James...?” Steve’s eyes flit back to James, pained, then he visibly shook it off. “If we can help, we should.”

“And we will, by not being here and risking them getting their hands on a supersoldier again. I’m not armed enough to get trapped in here if this place goes into lockdown so come on.

“Steve.” All attention swiveled to James, and Coulson took that opportunity to leave.

Tony assumed ze was fetching Steve’s things while they were arguing. Good plan. “Please. We can figure this out later. Outside of the combat zone we go.”

Steve looked pinched, hands flexing, but his eyes were restless on James’ face even though they weren’t the one talking, and Tony knew they had him. Thank god.

Jane broke the moment. “We good? Great, because Agent Coulson is headed back and ze has people following zer.”

Clearly relieved, Steve moved to join Jane in the doorway. “Then we need to be ready to help them out.”

When he decided to head on out into the chaos with only a last glance at James on his way by... well, it was enough to give Tony a headache. Wonderful.

It didn’t stop him from heading into the fray with James immediately on his tail, of course, but headache.

He’d deal with it later, after they managed to get out of here.

Chapter Text

While getting in hadn’t been exactly a picnic, getting out proved to be a lot trickier. For one thing, most of their honor guard had left with Fury. For another, Steve really seemed to want to stop and punch people. Keeping him moving was a special sort of chore not unlike getting Connor to go to bed when there was something just that interesting going on.

Really, after the third time they had to circle back because he’d veered off their path out to get in the middle of some fight, Tony felt like he deserved a gold star for not punching the immature omega himself. Sure, he probably would have regretted it if the supersoldier had retaliated but it would have felt good. As it was he was playing defense without a layer of metal between him and any bullets and he was completely not loving that. He was not loving that so hard that he was completely going to work on a suit that came to him no matter what.

But that was for later. For now was getting out of this base before it went into lockdown or something because the further the fighting spread the more likely that would be. He doubted either side wanted to risk word about this getting out after all. One side was trying to keep themselves under wraps, the other side wouldn’t want the enemy to know they were coming for them and just.... nope. Not a good day.

After the third time James yanked him out of the path of the bullet and they were in sight of the exit though, he was done, a hundred percent done and over it. Steve wanted to veer off again? Fucking hell no.

Tony put on his best Done Mother voice and aimed it at the largest omega in the group. “I swear if you leave the group one more time Rogers, I’m going to have Jane taze you unconscious and we will carry your fighty ass out of here. The door is right there and I am not going to get fucking shot because you have all the restraint of my five year old!”

And lo, the Mother Voice actually worked! The startled and somewhat contrite expression it earned him didn’t make him feel less irritated but by god it was gratifying. “Stark-”

He didn’t let him get any further. “No. We’re leaving. The doors are right there and someone probably is laying in wait and we need to be prepared to go fast. You announcing our position again does not fucking help.” He glared at the blond, who was moving from startled to stubborn, and was actually thrilled when James put their hand on the back of Steve’s neck to divert attention. And back him up. “Okay, good, James gets it. Agent if you could lead us off Jane can keep close to protect you if they turn hostile.”

Ze nodded and while zer lips pressed into a line, Coulson clearly understood why ze was being put forward. Ze was a familiar face and staunch fan of the Captain. If anyone was going to get attacked by a HYDRA banner, it would be zer. “Be prepared to hurry. Even if they’re not hostile the alarms are going and that means that the building is going to be secured very soon. We’re lucky it hasn’t been already.”

Tony shuddered at the reminder, remembering the last time he’d talked security measures for one of these places with someone. “We’ll be right behind you, just go.” And it was true too, the only reason he was sending the beta ahead at all was because if it was a trap, then James would have more time to shoot people if they were back a few steps. Which thankfully did not happen, for all that Tony could see the agents lurking around the edges as they made it to the doors.

It wasn’t a moment too soon either, because as soon as they passed the threshold metal came down behind them. It was enough to bring everyone into a startled halt on the sidewalk from their sprint, and he could see Jane paling out of the side of his vision. It was Coulson who spoke first though as the party heard the muted sound of gunfire pinging off metal. “They were waiting for us.”

James looked grim, and he pulled Tony in against his chest as he stared back at the building. “Probably. No way that timing was an accident. We should go home.”

“No, you should go home. All four of you should go back to Malibu, in fact, and I’ll send along the other two when I find out their status. We don’t know if word stayed confined to this base or not yet and it’s very likely it did not.” Coulson’s words made Tony wrinkle up his nose, but he gave a reluctant nod all the same.

“And Aunt Peggy.” He was a hundred percent not touching the look on Steve’s face just yet. “This is... probably the mess that she was trying to hunt down the last few years before she retired. I’ll call her, and you should too. If she’s home I’ll get her to come meet up with the pack and coordinate with you from there. I don’t want some stray asshole doing anything to her when she’s not looking.”

“I sincerely doubt that the former Director would be caught so flat-footed, but regardless, it’s a decent enough plan of action.” Coulson’s cool gaze swung to Steve and ze smiled at him. “It’s been an honor meeting up with you like this, and I hope that we’ll have time to talk later on.” That said, the agent gave them all a nod, then moved off down the sidewalk, pulling out zer phone to start making calls even as ze vanished into the crowd.

Tony looked after the beta for a moment and then sighed and looked at the other three. He felt really squishy and exposed right now. “C’mon, we’re apparently making a detour to pick up Aunt Peggy before hopping coasts.”

Jane was frowning as they started to move off, clearly focused on the process of making her armor go away. She hadn’t quite figured out the trick to making that graceful yet as far as he could tell and had a halo of sparks that had them all walking an extra step of distance from her. It was also drawing glances. “You said you’d call her?”

“Well, yeah. My calling is the old fashion call on your neighbors type with her. If I’m calling her on the phone then people can listen in. No thank you. Also, have you seen that face?” He jerked his thumb at Steve, who moved from some mix of morose and excited to a little annoyed over being pointed at. “We’re seeing her in person. She can explain stuff better than we have so far anyway. It’s not my strength, explaining things.”

James just snorted at his understatement, though ze didn’t say anything, and kept an eye on the surrounding buildings, obviously on guard still. Which was good.

Everything was, while not wholly okay at the moment, it was somewhat under control, and that was just going to have to be good enough for now.

They’d work on improving that later.

Chapter Text

They made it to his Aunt Peggy’s house surprisingly unscathed. No rogue HYDRA popped out of the woodwork, and he could only blame the larger than life nature of his packmates for the fact that no one dared get between them and rides.

He could confess that the taxi situation had been a bit hilarious though, with Steve ending up shoved up in the front and the rest of them squished together in the back. In all, better than it would have been if Phil had stuck with them, and definitely better than the risk of splitting up into two vehicles. Still, the taxi driver kept looking at them in askance, even if they didn’t say anything.

They’d clearly recognized Tony, which had to have heightened the curiosity about all the rest. Especially with the shield that was on the floorboards at Steve’s feet. Tony left an extra-large tip and told the driver ‘hero business’ before they got out, which was clearly enough, though he rather hoped the alpha didn’t end up getting into trouble over it.

Which really just made Tony realize that the whole thing was a mental side trip to cover nerves. He was about to go ‘hey look what I found’ at Peggy Carter. With Steve Rogers... after overturning what had clearly been a very vested attempt by the lingering mess that was HYDRA in the middle of the city. Yeah, okay, he should probably rethink his mental priorities a bit. Deciding that had been quite enough, he swept to the front of the group and hurried up the steps, pounding on the door.

“Aunt Peggy! You probably had someone tell you already but we’ve had a bit of a day!”

When the door was yanked open moments later the look on the beta’s face was all exasperation. She had clearly been about to say something about his manners too, he knew that look in her eye, but it ended up fading off into nothing when she looked past him to see who else was there and pinned a wide-eyed stare on Steve for a long moment. “...No, I fear I’ve clearly been left out of the loop on this occasion. Get in here, all of you.”

“Gladly! We kind of don’t want to be all that visible at the moment, you know?” When she stepped out of the way, Tony didn’t hesitate to ferry the whole group inside, even if James and Jane had to manually push Steve to do anything but be rooted to the spot as he stared at his aunt. Excellent. Clearly she at least would be able to get it through Steve’s head how much time had passed. James wasn’t changed enough to manage it, and god alone knew Tony wouldn’t be a proper frame of reference for a guy who just woke up from a crazy long ice nap.

“Unfortunately, no. All of you, to the living room if you would. I need a moment to make tea.” And catch her composure. She’d known Steve had been found, he was sure of that, Phil had mentioned that. But... he hadn’t thought about the fact that she hadn’t been with them to go see him until just now. Crap.

Rather than following her to make sure she was alright, an act that he suspected she wouldn’t appreciate at the moment, Tony instead helped get everyone sorted out in the homey space where many a visit, and revelation, had taken place. Of course, her breaking off from the group was enough to finally spur Steve into finding his voice. “That was Peggy, right? I should-”

“You shouldn’t.” The words were crisp, fully drawing the omega’s attention as James made and held eye contact with the person that had once been their best friend, possibly still even was.”Give her a minute to get her head on. I’ve never met a person so bent on putting up a good face as her and you ruinin’ it wouldn’t make her happy with you. Just sit Steve.”

Reluctant, and still obviously jittery about everything that had happened since he’d woken, the omega sat, which let everyone else settle, though Tony was sure to keep Peggy’s favorite chair clear when everyone did. “Look, I know this has probably been way freaky for you, not to mention adrenaline and all that, but she’s got this. She’ll probably give us all some stupidly strong tea, then we get to get into everything that happened since you woke up. Easy.”

“I don’t disbelieve that I was out for a while, driving through New York showed me that, even if Peggy and Bucky hadn’t, but that doesn’t explain why we were somewhere with HYDRA in the first place, you do get that right? I thought we took care of all that, in the war.”

“And we should have, but Howard and I were too practical for our own good.” Peggy’s voice came from the doorway, and Tony was on his feet in an instant, collecting the smaller tray from her so she could use both hands on the one with the actual tea instead of one handing it. He was impressed she’d been able to balance everything, really, but it hadn’t looked anything but precarious and he was very careful when he set things on the table. “It’s a problem that I’ve been trying to get rid of for years, and one of my own making besides.”

Steve was frowning, half risen out of his chair, though he sank back the longer Peggy spoke when it was clear that him trying to help would cause more chaos than it would avert. “I don’t understand. You and Howard are both smart folks, how is HYDRA your fault?”

Peggy’s expression was a bit stern as she looked at her long-missing soulmate. “Smart does not mean we can’t make mistakes, Steve. You should know that as well as anyone. No, Howard and I had a brilliant idea when we assembled SHIELD, and it was something called project paperclip. I can only claim that Howard’s optimism infected me, and when the scientists we’d collected during the war visibly rejected their roots we tentatively believed them. It was a mistake, and we’ve been cleaning up for it since before I retired. We thought we’d gotten the majority, but if HYDRA did something overtly... clearly we missed more than we thought.”

Tony grimaced and glanced at James. When the alpha just nodded back, he sighed, looking back to her. “So the base where Steve was taken to was at least a third HYDRA and James flipped out over the name Pierce so...”

Her face immediately pinched at that, and she looked from one person to the next. “I see. Tell me every detail.”

In the face of her request, there was nothing else to do save to do so.

Suffice to say, she wasn’t happy with what she heard.

Chapter Text

The flurry of activity that followed Peggy being informed of the situation was... enlightening, and Tony yet again wondered why he’d been such an idiot about her when he’d been younger. She had a procedure for closing up her house and hadn’t hesitated to give Steve the list of things she wanted him to do before sending him off. Jane had volunteered to handle the kitchen, and James had wisely moved off to go pack the beta clothes rather than attempting to linger and listen.

Her resolute handling of all of this meant that Tony was genuinely shocked when his aunt moved over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He hugged her back, of course, but that wondering? It stopped. He’d been an idiot because this was his auntie, and while she was a strong beta, she wasn’t young anymore. “Hey now, what’s this?”

She squeezed him for a moment longer before easing back a little to give him a sad smile. “Hush child, I just needed a moment without that lot. I assume that isn’t everyone that’s here in New York at the moment?”

“Yeah, no, still got a couple of others who came with who didn’t wanna visit SHIELD. Agent is getting them to the jet so we can meet them there without needing to hunt them down ourselves with everything going on.” He was quiet for a moment, squeezing her shoulders. “You’re really okay with coming with us?” His lips twisted down a little as he realized, for perhaps the first time, that she wasn’t taller than him anymore and hadn’t been for years. Usually he just didn’t notice. No, he didn’t like that showing up with Steve like this seemed to have suddenly aged her. He knew it wasn’t true, but it felt like it.

“Of course I am.” She pulled back fully then and patted his cheek, her smile brightening somewhat. “Don’t look so distressed my darling. Today was a bit of a shock, but I promise you that once I find my feet I’ll be just fine. I look forward to spending time with the babies. I haven’t met the youngest, if you would recall.”

Huffing at the gesture, he turned just a little pink even as he nodded. “Right. Our newest little prince is adorable and I think you’ll like them. Well, adorable when you can figure out where the fussing off switch is anyway. They’re a lot more vocal than Conner.”

She straightened up as she pulled her hand back, and he could see her wrapping her dignity around herself, shoring up her emotions with a practiced ease that made him pause for a moment at its familiarity. Was this where he’d learned that trait and he’d just never noticed? “There, you see? There are plenty of positives to this trip, even if the cause is far shakier. Now, you go on and help Jane while I make sure that the other two haven’t done anything dramatic with their tasks. James is a dear, but they’ve probably presumed I need my entire closet.”

Much as she hadn’t warned him before springing a bracing hug on him, neither did she give him a chance to comment before she left the room. Snorting once, he made sure that Jane hadn’t missed any of the tea things when she’d headed off to the kitchen and followed, immediately moving to peek into the cooler on the table, which happened to still be empty. Likely because Jane was tackling the dishes.

The other omega noticed him, of course, looking over from where she was rinsing a cup. “She needed to talk to you?”

He shook his head at the question, because it wasn’t strictly accurate, and he moved to poke around the fridge for things that wouldn’t keep. The freezer should be fine, but the fridge, eh. He’d put snackable and lunch things on top for the flight. “She just needed someone to lean on for a minute.”

“Ah. It makes sense that she picked you then. You’re nice to lean on, Tony.” When the words got a snort, she just grinned, turning off the water to start drying things off. “Don’t laugh! In the time I’ve known you you’ve done a lot, and your pack loves you in no small part because you make it easy to rely on you. Even I knew that things would be okay once we got to you after I turned up like this.” She gestured to herself with the towel and shook her head.

“Speaking of this. Where did you put the hammer? You didn’t call the thing over from Malibu, but you had it, and now you don’t.” He’d forgotten about it in the scramble, but really, it was something he really wanted to know. Did it shrink?

“Oh! That. Loki taught me. I’ve basically opened up a pocket of subspace that only I can access that I stuck it in. Thor was very put out when he realized he could have been doing that all these years and hadn’t taken the time to learn.” Laughing, she flashed a delighted grin at Tony and shook her head. “That’s what he refused to talk about when he was all pouty for days last week.”

Nodding his understanding, Tony lingered over some things before making a decision and setting to making a pile of sandwiches rather than just tossing the lunch meat and friends into the cooler as is. If they didn’t like his sandwich choices, they’d just have to starve. “You think I could learn it?”

“I... have no idea. You’ll have to ask Loki about that. I’m no expert.” Finishing up the washing and putting things away didn’t take her much longer, then she joined him at the table to get things packed away. It made it go far more quickly, and by the time they’d finished, he could hear the others gathering back in the living room, their own tasks finished.

Which meant that they’d sorted out a house to be left unattended for days or weeks inside a half hour. Nice.

Time to get this show on the road then. Thankfully, his Aunt Peggy had her own car.

Sadly, it still meant three people crammed into one seat.

It could have been worse, he supposed. Loki could have decided to come with them, which would have led to someone having to sit on a lap in this crowd, which while hilarious, wasn’t remotely practical.

Chapter Text

There was a certain kind of elegance to how efficient things were once the agents got moving. The group was packed away into the car, then subsequently the jet, and by the time they made it back to Malibu everyone in the family was informed and waiting for them. Which was awesome and meant that everyone was safe from the chaos unfolding from the SHIELD base in New York.

Unfortunately, it also meant that secondary and further branches of the family weren’t safe. Coulson’s spine was especially straight in a way that said there were people ze was worried about even if nothing showed on zer face, and that was saying nothing about the way Clint had made his way to the roof to reinforce the household defenses. Loki had examined them intently the moment she’d seen them at the airport, then had skipped off back to Malibu using her other abilities rather than waiting on the jet, for instance, which meant when they got back to the house Tony could almost see the gossamer of magic if he really focused on it.

In other words, the family was buckling down for war and the new additions to the household were just gently ferried off to the secondary house on the property to put their things away since they’d mainly live there even if the cliff house was open to everyone. That wasn’t to say that things were quiet. Oh no, calls were being made, smart glass interfaces were being accessed, and generally there was a low grade buzz of activity in the place. SHIELD had just turned colors that nobody liked the look of, after all, and James being here, with him, meant that it wasn’t impossible that they should expect those colors to get spilled over on the household that they’d escaped to. It meant precautions.

Tony was done with it inside the hour, honestly, and he’d fled to the workshop, Anna in his arms and Connor at his side as soon as it was a certainty that everyone had what they needed. He wasn’t working on anything physical, of course, not with the children, but their presence kept him from tearing off to yell at everyone to calm down. They had reason to be worried, they all did, but he really just couldn’t with that frantic energy. In the midst of everything happening on the base it hadn’t been a problem, they’d been mobile, then exposed, and that was reasonable. But they were home now. Home was supposed to be safe. Home meant that everyone could calm the hell down.

Only no, home meant everyone was fortifying their situations. Yay. Instead of dwelling on it, Tony pulled up holograms and had JARVIS contact Janet to let her know that she and her staff would probably need to take some care when they came around for their normal rounds. He didn’t want his house staff to get hurt because everyone decided to be trigger happy, after all.

Connor, sweet child that they were, was by no means oblivious and knew that something was different. Especially since they’d barely been introduced to the newest newcomers before Tony had escaped with them. Understandably, the small child had questions. These ranged from who those people were, to why they were doing what they were doing, and finally, how come they were down in the workshop instead of upstairs with the new people. All this while cuddling into Tony’s side and poking at the hologram that was floating in front of the couch, of course.

Honestly, by the end of the Q&A, Tony ruefully had to admit that the kid obviously was taking after the many myriads of inquisitive types in the house and it was kind of awesome to see. It also left him trying to figure out how to explain in a way that wouldn’t leave the child scared. Ultimately, he just fell back on treating the five-year-old like a tiny adult with a limited vocabulary. That usually went well. With added hair petting because Connor’s hair was soft and it made it easier for him to focus on something that wasn’t the crowd upstairs.

”You see kiddo, sometimes bad people mess up a nice thing, and that’s what happened today. I know we were going to be gone longer and everything, which I know you’re happy didn’t happen.” He reached and prodded the child’s side to make them giggle, a smile touching his lips in turn. “Buuuut, because we were going to be gone longer and stuff happened your Ma just needs a break. I’m not as sturdy or well trained as a lot of people in the house. Not quite as much as your mom, who is doing great up there, but I know that I’m around Pepper’s level on the general squishy scale, see? My heart can’t take all the excitement.”

He punctuated this, of course, with more tickles, and it wasn’t the giggling child who ended up answering him this time, but instead the mom in question, who had a collection of drinks on a tray which she was heading over with. “I know you think you were stealthy, but that Aunt of yours sent me after you to see if you were doing alright, and I’m pretty sure the only reason James didn’t follow you was that they realized that you needed a minute away from the chaos. You’re also way spectacularly good at handling himself.”

Tony stuck his tongue out at her, then shifted back in mock defensiveness, mainly to keep the baby from being jostled overmuch since they were being calm at the moment, as Connor sprang at him to take over his lap instead of staying at his side. “Oh no! See what you did Laura? I’m doooomed!”

“Please, you can handle it Stark.” She plucked the baby out of his arms, leaving him to their kindergartner as she settled nearby and collected one of the chocolate milks on the table for herself. “Connor, chocolate.”

That was enough to call off the determined child, the sippy cup instantly zeroed in on as the adults sorted themselves out. “That was a dirty trick.” But, well, Tony picked up the other glass of chocolate milk, so he wasn’t going to complain too hard. “A dirty dirty ambush is what it is.”

“If you’re going to tell our children that you’re a delicate flower, I’ve just got to prove you wrong, that’s all Tony.” She shook her head, making sure the child was settled firmly back on the sofa even as her gaze stayed on Tony. “Was it really that bad?”

His smile faded a little at the question, and he sipped on his straw for a long moment rather than answering immediately, considering it. “I was unprepared. That’s the part that was scary, honestly. I wasn’t prepared and that left me a liability in the group. To the pack.” He waved at the holograms he’d been fiddling with. “I’m trying to figure out a way to make the armor more portable so that maybe in the future I won’t have to play civilian in the middle again.”

She peered at it, expression thoughtful, and when her gaze slid back to him her expression was warm. “I wouldn’t worry about it Tony, you’re pretty brilliant when you try.” Her gaze dropped to the arc for a moment, then lifted to meet his again as she handed him the baby back. “And you’re trying right now, remember? We’ll all be okay.”

Accepting the infant back to his hold meant he had no hands to fiddle with the holograms, which he was pretty sure was the point she was trying to make in the first place. Sneaky beta. “You know you can’t just say stuff like that and call it true.”

”Sure I can.” A grin touched her lips as she gestured to the quiet baby in Tony’s hold. “I have evidence that the world works exactly like that.”

“You have been spending way too much time with me. You used to be so sweet.”

Laughing, Laura set her empty cup down and scooped Connor up into her arms as she got to her feet. “Nah, I’ve just gotten comfortable. You spend some time with Anna and come back up when you feel a little calmer. I’m making pasta tonight.”

“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing right now.” And if he was pouting a little, well, the only one who would probably notice was her.

”Oh, was it supposed to be a secret?” She laughed, giving Connor a bounce where they were perched on her hip to make them giggle again, then she started for the door. “I’ll let James know that they can come hide down here too.”

“Only if you keep Steve upstairs! I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about that.”

”Can do. I’ll make sure to tell JARVIS so you don’t miss dinner.”

As she headed back upstairs, Tony made a face at the baby, seeing that pretty dark eyes were staring up at him. Leaning down, he touched noses with them and inhaled the sweet smell that only babies ever had, a wry, fond smile replacing the previous expression. “Sometimes I wonder if she isn’t in charge around here, you know that? I really do. But that’s okay. She gives the best presents.”

Of course, the only answer to that was tiny baby fingers grabbing his hair, but really, he wasn’t expecting anything else.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Tony, I just wanted to say I’m sorry, for back there.”

When Laura left his workshop, Tony had perhaps made a few erroneous assumptions, such as the fact that just maybe James would make their way straight down. Thus, he was understandably startled when the voice was instead that of one of the people he needed a minute to think about rather than talk to, entirely putting aside his apparent conversation opener. Which was weird on a few levels, honestly, but he wasn’t about to think about that too deeply.

Lifting his gaze from the baby quietly resting on his lap, Tony eyed the blond standing in the doorway of his workshop for a long moment. “Not that I’m like, turning it down or anything, because I’m totally willing to accept an apology on this one, but I’m a little lost as to why you’re apologizing to me. I was kinda expecting James as the next person to wander down here, not gonna lie.”

“He-”

“They.”

There was a beat of silence as Tony held eye contact with the blond after the correction, and he finally got a small nod. “They were going to come down, but I said I wanted to come talk to you. I realized on the flight over I was going to need to given that back there, you were the only one who didn’t seem at all comfortable in the combat situation we were in and I should’ve noticed that.”

Huh. His look turned appraising, because of all things to apologize for, being unobservant hadn’t really made the list of things he thought might come up. After the way his day had been going, it was actually rather refreshing. “You’re right, I wasn’t comfortable. I didn’t have my usual weapons or my usual protection and I was the weak point in the group. You weren’t helping with your golden retriever impression but we got out of there quick enough, with few enough injuries, I’m willing to declare it no harm no foul.”

Steve clearly didn’t like the comparison if the little frown on his face was any indication, but after a long moment, the other omega sighed and with what looked like great effort decided to let it go. “Thanks.” There was a long moment of silence then, as they just stared at one another, before the blond made his way across the room to gingerly sit on the couch beside him. “So. Um. I noticed that the household didn’t have much in the way of omegas...?”

“Ah.” So it finally came down to that. He figured it would come up sooner or later. Sooner was probably better. “So far, none of my soulmates have been omegas. And believe me, most of this household is mine by way of soulmates. I’m only missing one, and they’re a younger one, a kid, so we’ll see whenever I find them.” He eyed him, his hand lightly moving back and forth as Anna gripped his fingers to try to chew on them. “I’m not one of those types. Jane’s here because I invited her, which I would’ve done even if she wasn’t both a second and third-degree soulmate because Jane is cool. I’ve got a couple no mark folks who live here, and the kids were both born from Laura, not me.” He paused as he caught the widening of Steve’s eyes and laughed. “Yeah, I know, scandalous right? Top omega in the house and I’m letting a beta have the babies? I’m just happy there are kids, honestly, I’m not too fussed about how they get here.”

It was clear the blond wasn’t going to just let it go like that. Kind of expected, honestly. “I’ve noticed that the only omega who lives in the main house is you though.”

“Well, yeah. I live here with my soulmates. They live over there because they’re second-degree family and new. I barely met Darcy, compared to everyone else, and she was with Jane way longer. Besides, Thor’s my kid’s soulmate, not mine, so better there’s space. On top of that, his sibling is mine and nobody wants to be in a house with that during a honeymoon phase.”

Shifting with visible discomfort for a moment, the blond then sighed. “And you put me over there because you didn’t know me too?”

“Um. Not really. James keeps looking at you all skittish. I think they’re worried that you’re going to expect things that they’re really not ready to give you. Bucky’ll probably be in hiding for a while while they get used to the idea, but Borya’ll probably talk with you soon enough.” He paused, seeing the obvious bewilderment rising in Steve’s face. “James is a two for one deal a little like Bruce is with the Hulk. It’s a Serum side effect for some people, near as we’ve been able to tell. Permanent though. Borya’s a sweetie, but Bucky’s probably more like you remember James being, so just be patient alright? They’ve been through a lot and, well, a lot more time passed for them than for you.”

“Two...?” There was another of those silences before the blond gave a slow nod, obviously a little overwhelmed by the idea. Tony wouldn’t be surprised if he was having issues fitting it into his world view, really. “Are there any other surprises like that I should probably know before I go and expect the world to make sense?”

He pointed over toward where his gallery was. “I fly around in a metal suit of armor from time to time. That’s probably one. Uh, Aunt Peggy got married and stuff, found the rest of her soulmates after you went down in the ice, had a good life and all that. She’s trying to wrap her head around you still. I know she loves you though, her and dad both did. Speaking of, she’s second degree off one of my parents. One of dad’s soulmates was hers too, so she’s, you know, a parent figure for me. Not to make things weirder here.”

Pointing had set Steve’s gaze to actually wandering, and by the time he looked back at Tony he just looked tired. “I’m starting to get the impression I should only ask you things if I really want an answer.”

“Probably a good policy for asking anyone anything, Steve, if you think about it.” He laughed at the face that got him, and he flashed a smirk. “So now that you know I’m not a territorial omega who can’t stand to share his packmates, how about you say hi to Anna here? I remember dad saying something about you being hilariously awful with babies and I want to see you in action.”

The words got him the driest of dry looks, and the tone was totally deadpan when Steve reached to cautiously pick up the baby. “Yeah, thanks.”

Really, he couldn’t have asked for a better reaction, and he was being careful with Anna so it was win-win as far as he could see. His response was, thus, correspondingly cheerful. Even if he did keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t upset his baby. “You’re welcome!”

All in all, he’d say that didn’t go too badly.

Chapter Text

The weeks that followed the disaster in New York were a lot. Not, mind, that Tony was referring to the massive disaster that was flaring up all over the world as people YouTubed various black ops conflicts that spilled out of buildings into streets. Sure, they were taken down as soon as they appeared in most instances, but it didn’t stop it from being a thing. No, what he was referring to was his exceedingly hectic household.

Firstly, was absolutely everything to do with Steve. Aunt Peggy reacting to him, James fluttering any time the omega got a little too intense, and the way that that tended to set off Bruce’s reactions which meant that Hulk had Bruce running around with perpetually green eyes of late. While on the one hand that was great for forcing Bruce to actually interact with his other half, it also meant that he wasn’t remotely patient enough for the kids and Connor had one hundred percent noticed.

Of course, none of that addressed the whole Vanko thing. Apparently, the beta had been turned loose when the prison he’d been in had been lit on fire after there were a handful of explosions on the property. The fact that the place was mostly stone made the whole situation more alarming when it came down to it. So, that explained the how, but the extra fun part was that once Justin actually had a hand on the beta, he hadn’t been willing to let him out of his grip for anything. Tony’s soulmate had been giving him a brilliant headache with the whole contract mess, which had been dragging on. For months they’d been going back and forth, and Tony hadn’t been excited. Tony had been negative excited, in fact, but it was there, and it was a problem he had to deal with when Tony really wished that he was dealing with Vanko through bars again instead of sitting across the board room table from him with only the reassurance of Justin Hammer of all people to keep him in check.

And then, as a cherry on top of the exceedingly stressful month, Anna had developed an ear infection and hadn’t been willing to settle for anyone but Steve. On the one hand, this was funny because Steve was obviously, and wildly, uncomfortable with the baby. On the other, it was infuriating because that was Tony’s baby and he wanted to be able to hold them without his infant being miserable and screaming the whole time. By the time it had cleared up, Tony had taken to carrying them around any time they were asleep because at least then he knew the poor little thing was resting.

He was, all things considered, utterly relieved when the seasons moved along into autumn and he’d been able to focus on other things, not the least of which was a better, more portable, armor set up so that he wouldn’t get caught out in the same horrifying way he had been when he’d been in that SHIELD base. Sure, the armor would need to be able to come to him, but the idea was there and he could work out the details as he went. It would improve. He didn’t want to be a damsel. He wanted to be safe and helpful in his family when there were conflicts.

He also wanted to be ready when HYDRA finally came to bust down their door, which meant he’d been leveling up the home security dramatically between working on the suit.

All in all, it was probably no surprise to anyone that in early September Clint had come strolling into his workshop, grabbed him by the wrist, and shoved him into one of the cars nearby so that he could kidnap him off to the beach where there were people around. Most likely because if he’d done it down to the beach near their house he would have been able to easily escape back inside the moment no one was looking. At least, that was his best guess when it came down to it.

“You know, there are better ways to get a little attention, just saying.” Tony might have said the words idly, having stopped properly making protesting noises several minutes ago, but the sidelong look that Clint gave him as he parked said that they fell short of nonchalant.

The response was more than a little wry. “Yeah, there are. Yet here we are. You didn’t even notice the last three people who came down to prod at you before me, so I think those better ways just plain weren’t working.”

That was probably fair, but Tony didn’t say as much, instead unbuckling so he could twist in his seat and look at him with a pout. “I’ve been working on stuff. Important stuff.”

“Oh, we know, we all know. You’ve been buzzing around the house like a high hummingbird so it’s been impossible to miss. You even got a little pushy with Natasha of all people when she was in the way of you measuring one of the windows yesterday. Which, I think, was the last straw by the way. She was totally not amused that you practically climbed over her and didn’t even seem to notice. So, here we are, in the car, away from the house. You can either tell me what’s going on in your head or we can go find a pretty little spot down the beach with lots of witnesses for you to tell me there instead. Up to you.”

Pulling a face, Tony huffed a sigh and leaned into the door, his layers effectively buffering him from the armrest digging into his spine. “I wanna make it clear right now it’s nothing big and dramatic like dying or... anyone else dying. It’s nothing like that.”

“That first one we wrote off given that you haven’t tried to give anyone anything recently at least. And the second one... dude, Tony, do you even realize you haven’t had a heat since before the end of the expo? If you’re getting that stressed out, clearly we gotta do something about it.” It was obvious that Clint caught his surprise, because he’d thought there had to be something in there since then, but no, apparently not if the eye roll was any indication. “Seriously, we keep track. We don’t want to see you hurt. Clear? Now come on, level with me. Tell me what’s what. We have guesses, but nobody knows.”

Tony frowned at him for a long moment, then slumped, fussing with the ends of his sleeves as he tried to work out the best way to put things. “Obviously you know about the chaos where you guys work, worked? I know that isn’t resolved. I also know that someone in that mess is gonna blame us and come knocking, and I want our home to be as safe as I can make it. Defenses as well as offenses, and that’s taking some out of the box thought, you know? Changing gears a little. That’s what all the space checks have been about lately. We also don’t know who or why Vanko was busted out of jail and he was the only unaccounted prisoner when I went through all the reports on the place a couple months ago. Was he the goal? Did someone cover another breakout? The bombs were weird too, almost familiar which has me on edge all by itself, and it’s just... messy. I don’t like it. I’m worried about it. So, yeah, I want to enjoy the quiet, but I’m honestly not sure that now’s the time.”

Clint had stayed quiet through the ramble, and when it finished he reached out and snagged his hand, holding it between both of his own. “You know we can help, right? It’s kind of what we’re here for. Give James something to do. Hell, give me and Natasha something to do. We’re trained, we can at least perch on the roof and play guard from time to time.”

Huffing sharply, Tony leaned forward, meeting his beta’s eyes even as he examined his face. “Is that why you’re the one doing this and not the others? Because you’re bored?”

“Ha! Yeah. I’m super extra bored, but I figured out a long time ago that you need someone to be patient while you work out your anxiety. Still, entropy really isn’t what it used to be.”

There was a beat of silence as Tony just stared at him, then he started to laugh. “Okay okay, I get it, I’ll talk to everyone else and get input on the defenses and things before I implode, deal?”

“Deal. Good talk.” Clint released his hand, but instead of reaching for the keys, he reached for the door handle and made to get out. “Lunch?”

“Oh absolutely lunch. Think that place with fries and ice cream is still open?”

Clint peered out the window at the crowds, thinner than the height of summer, but still present, before giving a sharp nod. “Yeah, totally. Fire season is lasting a bit longer this year so it’s not like anyone’s camping.”

The words got another snicker, but Tony climbed out of the car instead of answering. He did feel better, if not less worried about the future, so maybe this had been exactly what he needed. His soulmates were terribly good at that.

Chapter Text

It was almost funny how having it brought to his attention made time seem to almost slow down. Tony’s frantic defense building fell into something a bit more purposeful, and he finally noticed the way some of the others were watching him as he moved from point to point. Or, to be more specific, the way Loki had been watching him, attention fixed and sharp even as he’d fussed over some small way to adjust the defenses. If he hadn’t slowed down, he probably never would have noticed, as caught up in his head as he’d been. As it was, he had waited to see if his Asgardian soulmate would say anything, or if there would be prodding involved, the test small and admittedly something to figure out their boundaries. They hadn’t, after all, really talked science. Magic, sure, the ebb and flow of energy from a personal source, but technology? He was pretty sure that was a bit taboo to talk to humans about.

Still, Loki did eventually crack, clearly exasperated with things that could be improved with a few pointed nudges. After all, he and Thor were right there and was he not just as brilliant as his soulmate? Yes, he was and he was unamused that he hadn’t been utilized sooner. Yes, there were plenty of very smart people in the household, but he was from another realm. It made a difference. Which was a fact that Tony was informed of. At length. As he carefully explained the kind of simple kinetic shielding that would probably be best for this situation, even if he wouldn’t tell Tony how to do it. Which was fine, he could understand wanting to follow some kind of galactic law situation while also bending it until it almost broke. Really. He could fill in the blanks. He was fantastic about filling in the blanks. Which, understandably, meant that he went from trying to figure out how to make the defenses work with what he’d already known, and instead to jump on this much more streamlined system of cause and effect.

Which meant working on getting the arc power for the household sorted out once and for all, of course. It would have been foolish to not use the resource right there in front of his face like this one was. That he hadn’t done something sooner he could blame that easily on the fact that his health hadn’t been the best and he’d been coming apart at the seams with stress for many many reasons in the last several months. Years? He hadn’t been at his best, regardless, and the others had noticed. Of course they had. It was why he’d been interventioned, as Clint liked to call it. Now, however, it was being resolved. He had spent the last two days working on getting an arc built that was of an appropriate size in one of the underground spaces that were intended more for JARVIS than anything, though the AI had needed less and less server space as Tony had refined his technology. Of course, he’d also shifted a lot of things over so that his most savvy child could have more physical tools to work with, so it had been a trade-off.

None of this had stopped Tony from digging down under his house, carefully making more rooms and spaces that were a little less obvious than the houses up on top of the cliff for his family to use as it grew. And it would grow, with how many people he’d already found. He’d never expected to find all of his soulmates, and that it seemed that he was only missing one still meant so much. And that one was a kid. It meant something different than the others. To him anyway. Regardless of all of that, his excavation hobby as his family had grown had given him ample space to create this arc reactor in a neat, out-of-the-way spot, and he had. He was, in fact, currently just putting the last touches on getting it hooked into the household grid, large and glowing and hidden away behind dozens of failsafes in case little hands somehow ended up on it. The last thing he wanted was for one of his kids to make it accidentally blow up, and he had no doubt in his mind that was an option after growing up in this household.

Still, being a stationary target for a couple of days meant that it was ample time for one of his family members to come down and find him. Loki had done it, peeking in to see what he was doing to power the changes in the household defenses, but then Loki had gone off to do... whatever it was that Loki liked to do. After asking a few curious and pointed questions to get a grasp on the situation, of course. Since then, no one else had been down, possibly because they couldn’t find him in the maze down here, so the fact that the next person who appeared in his little workspace was Darcy was a bit of a shock.

Of all his people, he could admit that he’d spent the least time with her, even though they got along great. They had a similar sense of humor, honestly, for all that there was definitely a couple dropped references every now and again where their interests diverged. It was a lot less than many of their less internet-savvy family members, and he was pretty sure she was one of the only ones who actually knew about his youtube channel from the fan perspective. How he’d managed to keep that quiet in this household he still had no idea, but it was kind of nice to have a hobby that everyone else wasn’t right in the middle of at least.

All the same, she was here now, and that meant she either wanted his attention, which had to wait just a minute more as he finished up with the soldering iron, or she was trying to get away from the collection of chaotic, and in some cases bored, souls upstairs. And, given she’d brought her music player with her and was making herself comfortable, it could go either way. She’d been with Jane for a while, after all, so no way she didn’t grasp how fussing with science worked by now. All the same, Tony hadn’t had much left to do, and thus it didn’t take him all that long to finish the last of the connections he’d been securing.

“If you’re down here to tell me that I need to spend more time in a place where sunlight can reach, I have to tell you that I’m totally about to be spending a lot of time on the roof now that this is done.” Backing carefully out of the panel he’d been half inside, he closed it up and looked over at the beta, expression rueful.

“Ah, no? Actually, definitely no. I didn’t figure I would be getting in the middle of whatever you were doing there.” Her hand fluttered at the arc, gaze impressed but also distinctly not in a way that only someone with a lot of exposure would be. “I just figured this was as good a time as any to try to get to know you better. School is going to be picking back up again soon and that means me and Jane are probably going to be heading off on some new adventure. Given I’m apparently sliding my field to something a little more science than I originally planned to. The science in political science isn’t your guys’ kind of science, you know. It’s a little frustrating to be interested this close to my degree.”

Tony blinked, staring at her for several long moments as he tried to work out what she was complaining about, and then what she meant by it. That it took as long as it did was a testament to how much sleep he needed, but all the same, he started to laugh once it penetrated exactly what the problem was. “You poor soul. You thought you’d be satisfied with just the one degree, didn’t you? You thought you’d be good with just the one small thing instead of a compound degree that branched in multiple directions and turned into a doctorate.”

Her aggravated noise was as good as a confirmation, and she finally took her other headphone out of her ear to give him her full attention. “Yes, actually. Sure, I knew I needed something to get into the fields I wanted, but science was never interesting before Jane up and found an alien. Then got superpowered and started to fly around. Of course I want to be able to support that. She’s my soulmate. Just. Ugh. This wasn’t the plan!”

“I don’t know if it helps, but can I remind you that at least you don’t have to worry about student loans or anything like that anymore?” Because he knew, somehow, that it was possible she hadn’t realized this and it might be part of the problem.

“What? You- Of course you did.” She stared at him, then heaved a sigh, a clearly reluctant smile on her face. “While that’s really helpful, you didn’t have to do that you know. I’m not here because I want you to pay for stuff. I mean, sure, I’m partially here for Jane, but I’m here for you too, you know. You the person, not you the obscenely rich billionaire. That’s kind of more of a downside than a perk, I’ll have you know.”

“Because you used to be a protester before I changed my ways? On the internet, of course, given your age before I switched over and all.” Tony scrubbed at a bit of oil on his arm as he made his way over, a small grin on his face even as he watched her smile turn into a scowl. “What, you thought I didn’t look into that kind of stuff? Social media is forever.”

“I went to one in-person protest toward the end of your despot phase, actually, so ha! Not the point, even if I’m glad that you’re aware of my disapproval for your old ways.” She sniffed once, but she was watching him, and it was obvious she wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to have some kind of debilitating effect on him to know that one of his soulmates didn’t like what he’d been. To be fair to her, Tony hadn’t much liked what he’d been either, so it would be kind of stupid to judge on that criteria, wouldn’t it? Seeing whatever it was she needed to continue, she nodded once, decisively. “I wrote my entrance paper to college on the topic too, so thanks for getting me into college I guess. Also, give me that, you have a huge smudge on your face and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Oh, do I?” He gave up the towel without a fight to let her get at his face, amusement in his eyes. “And you’re welcome. I knew that my terrible ways had some upsides, I just didn’t realize they included giving aspiring politicians a good enough platform to get into good schools. Are you even still going to be doing anything like that? Or has the science eaten your brain?”

“I can do both! There’s plenty of political wrangling in the science arena and you know it just fine. I also want to be in a position to help all of you stay out of trouble, which means I need those connections. You have yours, I need to build my own too. That stuff you’ve been coordinating to help the SHIELD folks is a good example of a way to get in on the ground. I think everyone’s surprised you haven’t been personally involved.” And there it was, the real reason she was down here. It was sweet, that she’d noticed. Then again, given everything, it would have been a bit strange if she hadn’t, wouldn’t it?

“I have. We have my Aunt Peggy here. We have James Barnes and Steve Rogers and two SHIELD agents. We have people in this house who are vulnerable. I’m not going to send them back into the mess. I don’t have the framework I need to do more, but I have been digging. In fact, I’ve been coordinating with Clint’n’Nat to keep an eye on the various bases where old tech of my dad’s might be so that we can fetch it if a chance pops up. Unfortunately, there’s really not much else we can do. We just don’t have the information, and all of the systems that we might have been able to access have gone into complete lockdown, and did before we even got back here. Even Aunt Peggy can’t get in and she’s tried. None of her old protocols work.”

Darcy wrinkled up her nose, but she was nodding, clearly mulling it over. “So basically, you guys have been doing a wait and see and when some of you wander off for a day trip, it’s to deal with that before coming home. Which is why Jane’s been practically fluttering over a few of the things that came back already? I had no idea there was a notebook she’d care about that much before she got a hold on that old one last week.”

“Yeah, one of my dad’s. We’re still looking for the cube that’s mentioned in all the notes but JARVIS hasn’t had a hit yet. A lot of people in the house are pretty curious and Bruce has been using his time trying to figure out a potential radiation signature as a distraction.” Which was good, because his ongoing irritation at the emotional tension in the house had been getting to everyone. A distraction was a wonderful thing.

“Huh, go figure. So, soulmate. You’re done with all this down here, right?” She flicked her hand to encompass the room, now lit deeply with icy blues because of the arc up against one wall. When he nodded, she flicked the towel over onto a nearby table. “Awesome, so you go and do like, a shower thing, and then you and I are going to go on a friend date, wherein you and I will totally be going on at least one roller-coaster.”

Tony had a moment of bafflement over the declaration, and then he raised his eyebrows. “A roller-coaster.”

“Yep. There’s a little carnival thing in the area and sure, it’s not Disneyland or anything, but they have games and a couple little roller-coasters and I want to go on one. Today is the last day and everyone else who wanted to go already went. I want to go with you. You up for it?”

He blinked at her very slowly, then had to laugh, a reluctant smile pulling at his lips. “Yeah, I’m up for it. Roller-coaster it is.”

Chapter Text

There’s no such thing as things being resolved with small, convenient batches of personal and professional in their separate boxes. No, instead, it’s personal and professional, usually on fire, and often, it makes everything that everyone had been working on look like some kind of cheerful, easy thing that no one had any worries about in any way shape or form. This was Tony Stark’s experience, and it was more than obvious that no one in his household had asked him his opinions about lulls, because he could have warned them.

If nothing else, he would have told everyone that his Aunty had a temper. He could have pointed out that he wasn’t the only one that knew this. Steve should have known this, but no, instead he got to be wildly surprised as professional, namely SHIELD crap, yet again, met personal, his dad’s files and that cube they’d been trying to hunt down and resulted in... this.

Namely, the shouting match that Steve and his Aunt Peggy were doing on the lawn.

His poor James was of absolutely no help as Bucky was horrified and Borya just wanted to analyze the micro ticks as they both slapped down their combat training. Natasha was equally fascinated, and honestly, the only point of relief about this whole thing was that Bruce and Jane had vanished inside with all the science parts before the shouting had started. Nobody wanted the Hulk to decide that he needed to get involved. His Aunt wasn’t as young as she used to be and he was sure even she’d have a little trouble with the overeager green bean.

Still, Tony, much like everyone else, ended up just sort of staring after coming up to see what was keeping them, primarily because he was trying to figure out what was causing the yelling in the first place. What he got, instead of anything constructive, was the feeling that all this was what the two hadn’t been talking about coming to a head all at once.

“You weren’t there, Steve! You. Weren’t. There. You were dead. Gone. Howard might have believed in you, even I did, to a degree, but I moved on. I got married! I had children! I lived a full life! Do you understand? I love you, I do, but you’re young, younger than my nephew, and definitely younger than some of my grandchildren. That’s not making this easy for me! So yes, I made some bad choices with SHIELD, and yes, things are going poorly with my life’s work at the moment, but I very much don’t appreciate you trying to get in my face about things you don’t understand. You weren’t here.” Her voice quieted toward the end, low and fierce as she drew herself straight, the military commander it had taken Tony himself so long to recognize shining through at the distraught omega. “You do not get to judge me just because I can no longer see you as a romantic partner and you feel hurt. Things are hard enough right now.”

She didn’t give Steve a chance to defend himself further as she swept inside the house after the others, leaving Tony on the lawn alone with Steve, which was a development given he knew the agents had just been here. So of course those blue eyes landed on him. Thankfully it wasn’t to shout, but Tony might have preferred that to the lost, unmoored look that he got instead. He really didn’t know what to do with tears.

When he started talking instead of crying, Tony wasn’t actually sure he was relieved. “Does she really think that’s why I’m upset?”

“Uh, well. With Aunt Peggy, it’s usually a pretty sure bet that if she’s willing to say it when she’s mad, she’s willing to say it when she’s not. So, yes?” Tony rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn’t been with the group this time when they’d collected things, so he at least wasn’t fresh from a fight, but given that he’d only just experienced a lull in his defensive updates, enough he’d had a nap with the kids, for god’s sake, he really hadn’t been prepared for anyone to come home fighting. Not this kind of fighting anyway. “Look, I think I get why she’s really upset, given what she’s said, if you want to know?”

Steve stared after the beta for a moment before blowing out a rough breath, hands flexing at his sides. “They shouldn’t have been using HYDRA research.”

“No, but you’ve known that for a few weeks now. You knew that the first day. We both know that’s not what you’re upset about here.” Tony crossed his arms, unimpressed with the attempt at deflection, and yeah, the blond maybe looked a touch resentful about it. “Don’t redirect that pissy crap at me. She has a point. You’ve been making eyes at her, just like you’ve been making them at James, who you’ll notice isn’t out here either.”

“I don’t understand why that’s happening either.” Steve looked away from him at that, which was good because Tony hadn’t appreciated it. He wasn’t about to fight with the other omega. That was just asking to break something. His face, probably.

“No shit. I told you they were a twofer and it had been longer for them than for you. Do you really not get what that means?”

“It means they lived the time between.”

“Yeah. The time between. With your old enemies.” When Steve’s gaze jerked to him, Tony had to raise his eyebrows in turn. “I’m not going to share secrets, but I’ll say that everyone was really really happy the day that Natasha and James saw each other again. It was awkward, but I’m pretty sure that Nat sees James as a parent. Do you get it? Parent.”

“But they- They haven’t aged any more than I have and Natasha is a full-grown person.”

“Well, yeah. It’s been years. A lot of years. That’s kind of the point I’m getting at here. They both had long lives without you. James has been doing their best, but ze still gets a little anxious when you get sad that one of them either doesn’t remember what you’re talking about, or that you expect a reaction that ze simply doesn’t feel for the memory anymore. A lot happened. Aunt Peggy is like that too. You can see that she’s older, that she’s lived her life, moved on. I actually met her family, you know. They were older than me by a lot, admittedly, but her brother’s family, they had a beta around my age, the oldest kid’s kid. Closest thing to a younger sibling I ever had and I saw her like, twice a year. Do you get where I’m going with this? You’re in your twenties. Aunt Peggy’s a little old for you these days.”

“We’re still soulmates. Even if we aren’t ever going to do that, I still love her. I still want to spend time with her. With them. All of James, with Peggy. They’re my soulmates.”

“Well, yeah. But I’ve seen you attempting to swim, and can I just say, it’s okay to hate water now? You should have seen me after my desert trip. But. Ah. Getting distracted from my point here which is that I’ve seen you with your shirt off and guess what? Aunt Peggy and James aren’t your whole world. You got another mark while you were sleeping, which brings you up to four.”

“Desert-?” Cutting himself off, those blue eyes turned elsewhere instead of pursuing that line of conversation, thank everything. The way the other omega proceeded to look at his arm, then touch his throat, made it clear he was thinking about the good and bad wrapped up in those two marks, and then he shook his head. “I know it’s not these.”

“And the one between the shoulders is pretty well documented too, to say nothing about the fact that I’ve seen James’ matching mark, yeah.” Tony felt a little smirk tugging at his lips when that jerked the blond’s attention back to him. Yeah, that mark was in a pretty hard-to-spot area if you weren’t naked. “But I don’t remember anything about a tramp stamp in your old publicity or my dad’s notes.”

“A- What? What’s a tramp stamp?” It was almost hilarious the way the blond reacted to the words, offended and horrified, then confused and thoughtful all in a morass of confused old timely vocabulary, he was sure. It was almost cute.

“It’s a tattoo someone sticks right over their ass.” Tony leaned forward, gesturing in that general direction rather pointedly. “But my point, here, is that I think that new wing that you’ve got there is, y’know, relevant? Sure, James and Aunt Peggy moved on without you, and we won’t even talk about the other one, but there’s someone out there who never met you before, and thus can’t feel pressured just because you suddenly aren’t dead anymore. Maybe, you know, put a little hope into that person?” The way that Steve touched the spot made it clear that this was getting through on some level at least. “They’ll probably know about you, it’d take living in a hole for them not to, but maybe, y’know, give yourself a break? Not all soulmates are romantic, you’d know that better than anyone, but that isn’t to say that all your hopes for romance are dead either.”

“Why are we even talking about this?” The words were slow, bewildered in a way that said that he probably only just caught on that this wasn’t a strictly appropriate topic. They barely knew each other, after all.

“Because you’re family. Sure, you’re not my soulmate, but you’re a soulmate to one of mine, and my Aunt loves you, even if it’s not how you want. I don’t want you guys to stand out on the lawn and yell at each other because you feel like you don’t have anything. You have us. There’s a whole household of people who will care about and support you. Get to know them, alright? Just... Look. I’m not really the right person for this. I’m bad at feelings, they give me hives, but I’m the only one here because the rest of them are cowards. I’ve said my bit, so you’ll either get it or you won’t. You good?”

Steve was staring at him, and Tony shifted on his feet under the weight of it, suddenly feeling wildly awkward about having had this conversation at all. It was different with the others. Less alarming, maybe. Finally, though, he gave him some mercy and answered. “Yeah, I think I’m good now.”

“Great! Now I have some science to sort out so you just... do whatever it is you do.” Waving a hand, Tony turned to escape inside. He wasn’t actually going straight to the science, he had an Aunt to check on, but he’d get there, and it would hopefully be infinitely less touchy-feely than what just happened out there.

Chapter Text

Tony wanted to claim that in the wake of that yelling match in the yard that everything cleared up and got better all at once. He wanted to say that everything in his pack was resolved and he didn’t have to worry about anyone anymore. He wanted a lot of things, really, but he could safely say that the list of things he got was much shorter and had entries he wasn’t looking for at all.

Like, say, the one that meant that Phil, who was traveling out more than anyone else in the group, obviously trying to pry zer people out of the conflict going on between SHIELD and HYDRA between trips back to the house, had dropped in on him with the serious face that had kicked off the whole mess on zer last return. Tony almost immediately told zer no before ze could even speak because while the household had settled into an uneasy truce, he himself had been reverse engineering forcefields and what he had to do to install the things. The arc had been step one. Now he needed oh, steps two through twelve.

Okay, so maybe he was further along than that, but the feeling was the same. He’d been helping however he could to fish agents out of trouble, his cadre of soulmates going out on shifts to help with it too, but the look on the beta’s face said that whatever this was would be his problem this time. Setting down the fiddly bit of tech he’d been using a tiny screwdriver to put together, he crossed his arms and just looked at the beta. “Well?”

Phil, clearly not a fool, grimaced at the confrontational stance, dipping zer chin in understanding. Obviously, Tony’s lack of patience came across loud and clear. “While trying to get the upper hand over HYDRA in the ranks, we’ve uncovered what might be an AI of some sort that’s helping to coordinate them. It would explain a lot of how we missed so many during previous vetting trials too.”

Tony could only stare, white noise filling his head before absolute incredulity filtered past the it and brought higher thought with it. He was so glad the kids were upstairs right now because he could not believe this. He wanted to actually throw a tantrum about this, in fact, and Phil should consider zerself lucky that it didn’t happen. “You’re fucking with me right now, right? You’re not telling me that on top of super advanced nerve interfacing that they just happened to have gotten into the programming and AI scene. That is not what you’re telling me right now.”

“I would very much like for that to not be what I’m telling you, but I think that would probably be wrong. You understand why I brought this straight to you?” It was kind of infuriating the way zer voice stayed entirely level, calm even when Tony wanted to pick something up and pitch it across the room.

AI technology was kind of a hot button for him, after all, given the kids. Something like this was a deadly threat. Taking a deep breath, Tony forced himself past his emotions and came out the other side in an uneasy sort of work mode. He could make this work. He could solve the problem and figure out how to make this less infuriating. He just had to be calm and think it through. “What made everyone think that it had to be AI and not just a really skilled programmer somewhere?” Because he knew this wasn’t just Phil who had decided this. No way it would have come to him without more certainties. Everyone knew how busy he was.

“It’s the way the orders are being handled. Same style across multiple locations on the same network with too much advanced detail to not be someone who could split their focus in a way humans simply can’t. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to trace anything back to a central location, as of yet, though the agents who figured out the pattern have been trying.”

Tony pulled a face and then jabbed a finger at the table next to him as he twisted to get a towel to get oil off his fingers. The joints of the piece he’d been working on had been tiny which meant a lot of making sure they were fluid. “Well? Give over all the information you doubtlessly have on a memory stick somewhere. I’ll get on it and solve whether it really is some AI or just a really clever and misguided jerk at the reigns somewhere that your guys couldn’t figure out.”

Ze reached into zer coat to do just that, and when Phil opened zer mouth to say something else, Tony just pointed at zer and then the table in a pointed sort of insistence. Only after it was put down did he indicate that now Phil could talk, even as Tony snatched the stick up off the table. “Thank you for doing this. I know that none of this has been easy for you.”

“The sooner it’s done, the sooner everything can get back to some semblance of normal around here. You just stay safe out there or someone is going to get murdered and while it probably won’t be you, it’s definitely gonna be someone. Probably via Pepper and a mountain of paperwork that could scare god.”

“She really would, wouldn’t she?” The way Phil smiled was warm and more than a little admiring. Tony couldn’t even fault zer. Pepper was great and a beacon of order in the chaos that was his household.

“Yeah, she would.” Calmed by the blatant admiration for one of his many favorites, Tony waved the stick through the air in a vaguely shooing motion. “I’ll get on this today and see what I can’t see, alright? Go talk to Laura or James before you bounce, get something to eat. We both know you’re not going to stick around now that you’ve done your terrible deed.”

Phil laughed at that, the beta’s white teeth flashing in a sharp smile. “You’re correct. I’ll do that. Always good to see you, Tony.”

Snorting, Tony just waved zer off, though a small smile was on his face now. “I’d say the same if you weren’t a harbinger of crappy plans, Phil.”

“Yes, that might put a damper on things.” Rather than disagreeing, though Tony was pleased that ze didn’t, the beta just turned and headed out of his workshop with a straight back, leaving Tony to his bots and a collection of data that was less than exciting to think about.

“Great. Now what am I going to do about you?” He ended up just staring at the stick for a moment before groaning and turning to get started on it immediately. He knew damn well that any seconds for a person could be minutes to an AI. He didn’t have the time to waste.

Super fun.