Chapter Text
When Stephen woke up, he was lying by himself. He heard quiet chatter downstairs and knew Tony and Wong were talking, and he sighed a bit.
He got up, got dressed in his sorcerer garbs and grabbed Levi, heading into the library for everything he needed to cast the spell correctly, then called out to Tony while he opened the portal. He had reverted back to the arrogant egotistical persona he hadn't touched in nearly eight years to avoid dealing with his feelings this morning.
Tony stepped through, amazed at the memorial that was outside of the new Avengers Compound, which was apparently a museum now. Stephen was remaining quiet for fear he would break composure if he spoke at all.
Everything was still empty considering it was still very early, so there was plenty of space for them to cast.
"Tony."
"Hm?"
"There will be side effects to this spell. I assume you're going to end up losing your arm because.. yeah. Possibly your vision or hearing as well. Or both. I'm not entirely sure."
"I'm okay with that."
"If you say so.." Stephen's voice cracked slightly as he looked down at the spot Tony died in, paying less attention to the spell than he was holding back his tears.
"Stephen?"
"Yes, Tony?"
"I love you."
"I love you too. Hold still." Stephen blinked back his tears and continued casting, breaths shuddering as the moment Tony's life ended played back through his head every time he blinked. "There. Just… just give it a second. The longer someone has been deceased, the longer the spell will take," Stephen explained quietly, sitting on the ground and wiping his eyes roughly. Tony nodded and then the spectral form disappeared. Stephen let himself cry then. He sat there, in the dirt, just crying.
Right as tears began streaking down his face, he heard a small yelp. He looked around quickly for the source, seeing a Basset Hound puppy speeding towards him. The puppy hopped right on his lap, attempting to climb up his chest while licking at his goatee. Stephen couldn't stop himself from laughing at how cute the little guy was. He picked the pup up and held him close to his chest. "Hey buddy," he whispers. "Do you have a name? A mom?" The dog barked as if to say no. He nods in understanding, then notices a small bat-like shaped spot on his arm. "How does Bats sound to you, huh buddy?" The dog barked again. "Alright, then hello, Bats," he can't fight the smile as the dog licks at his goatee again.
Just then, bright light practically explodes, along with the sound of pained groaning. Stephen's head shot up from the puppy to his husband laying there, bleeding and in pain, but alive. So alive. "Tony-" he stumbles, casting a simple healing spell to numb the pain and close up the wounds, holding the man to his chest. "Oh my god, you're alive.."
Tony hugged back, wincing a bit. "You're right where I left you, huh?" He laughs weakly. "God, I missed you so much.."
"Oh God, this is real," Stephen chokes out, tears streaming down his face. "You need to get to the hospital-" Tony couldn't hear the rest of Stephen's words, replaced by a loud ringing, then silence. He could read his lips just well enough to make out the rest of his sentence. He saw another portal, saw a puppy running in, and then he blacked out.
"Ma'am, please, I need to see Dr. Palmer-"
"Stephen?!" The aforementioned stood frozen in place, dumbfounded.
"I'll explain later, he needs someone to close his wounds up and treat them properly."
"C-come with me, I- if you barge into my hospital screaming for me one more time I'll tell Wong," she huffs, pushing the door open to an empty room, and Stephen lays Tony down on the operating table. "So why is a dead billionaire on my table?" She asks, pulling gloves on.
"Well," Stephen starts, picking up the puppy on the floor who sat calmly in his lap, "He was a ghost, but he told me he wanted to come back so I revived him. And I warned him this would happen, and he told me to go ahead. So. That's why."
"Jesus Christ, his arm- stitches won't solve the issue, Stephen."
"Hey, I didn't inspect his wounds before I brought him here, alright? Call for surgery, and call me when he's stable."
"Go." Christine doesn't even look up. Stephen nods, and exits the room while Bats whimpers.
"Oh bud, it's okay." Stephen hums, stepping through the portal, then opening another one right outside a pet store. He snaps and he's in regular clothes, then he enters. He grabs a collar, a leash, dog bowls, dog food, dog treats, basically everything a dog would need. He then goes and prints out a dog tag that reads,
Bats
177A Bleecker Street.
He pays and portals back to the Sanctum. "Welcome home, buddy. WONG!"
"Strange! You have a dog now?"
"His name is Bats. That's beside the point, do we have any ASL books?"
"I don't think so-"
"Get some."
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm pretty sure Tony's gone deaf."
"Ah. I'm on it. You take care of our new friend." Wong opens a portal, and it closes before Bats can run through it.
"Bats, are you hungry, hm?" The dog barks several times and Stephen laughs, setting the bowl on the floor and pouring kibble into it, filling the other bowl up with cold water, and setting it next to the food bowl. "There you go, bud. Con gái!" He yells.
"Vâng, bố?" America calls back.
"Hãy đến đây và gặp!"
"Huh?" America asks as she steps into the kitchen, and Stephen could tell her heart was about to melt out of her chest.
"His name is Bats. I found him this morning," Stephen explains. "No mom, no owner, so I took him." He chuckled as Bats excitedly ran towards America, half-sliding on the floor. America sits on the floor, laughing as Bats licks all over her.
"Hi! Hello! Oh, you're just so excited, aren't you?" Bats barks in response and America laughs again. Stephen smiles and sits next to his daughter-figure and dog, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. "Bố? Where's Tony?"
"In surgery," Stephen sighs. "I doubt he'll be up for a day or two. But he's alive, and that's what matters."
"Do you think he remembers being a ghost?"
"I couldn't tell. He was sort of bleeding out so I didn't have time to question him."
"Oh."
"Hey, stay here with Bats please? I need to grab my phone. Christine said she would call me when Tony's out of surgery."
"A-alright." America nods, scratching Bats' ears while Stephen hurriedly runs upstairs, just in time for his phone to ring. His heart stopped when he saw the caller ID and he immediately pressed answer.
"Peter?"
"Hey bô, can I come see you tomorrow?"
"Aren't you in Boston right now?"
"No, I flew into New York last night and I really need to see you."
"Y-yes, of course you can? What kind of a father would I be-"
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you. Bye."
"Love you too, Pete." The hangup tone rings and Stephen's worry for his son's well-being puts all his senses into overdrive. "He wasn't supposed to come until the end of the month, I- okay. AMERICA!"
"YEAH?"
"CLEAN YOUR ROOM UP AND MAKE THE SPARE BED! PETER'S COMING TOMORROW!"
"BUT I THOUGHT-"
"Look, kid," Stephen says, scaring America a bit when he just appeared. "I don't know why he's coming tomorrow either, but he is, and we don't have another spare room, so.."
"I'm on it!'
"And don't let Bats on your bed!"
"Yessir," America drawls sarcastically. Then Stephen's phone rings again and it's Christine calling this time.
"Hello?"
"Hey, he's out of surgery. The wound was already infected and there was no hope of recovery for his arm, it was completely broken. He was amputated from the elbow. All of his other wounds were able to be treated and everything else went well. He'll be out for likely the rest of the day, and then we'll have to run some more tests to see if anything else went wrong."
"Alright. Can I come see him?"
"Of course. Just don't open a portal into the room, please."
"I won't, I won't. Thank you Christine."
"Of course, it's my job as a doctor anyway. See you in a bit, buh-bye."
"Bye-bye," Stephen sighs with relief, although he definitely anticipates a (rightful) freakout from Tony later. Regardless, he walked into America's room and saw it practically spotless. "That was fast."
"Magic," America smiles. "What's up?"
"Get dressed, we're gonna go see Tony. He's out of surgery but he most likely won't be up for the rest of the day. If he wakes up, he's going to freak out. They had to amputate his arm. And you don't have to come either."
"No, I want to come."
"Alright then. Let's go."
The walk to the hospital was silent, giving Stephen enough time to panic about Peter's call again. He was so worried about his son. That was so unlike Peter; he had picked up the habit of planning things weeks in advance. He just dismissed the thought for now, trying to take on one worry at a time.
They got to the front desk and explained who they were there to see, then headed up to the room. Tony was passed out and had a few bandages on his face and wrapped around the nub of his arm. He looked strangely peaceful. Stephen sat in a chair next to his bed and began reading a book while America got on her phone.
"America, if he wakes up, two things will happen. He'll probably freak out because I don't think he can hear, and some doctors will take him to run some more tests. If you're gonna talk, talk slow so he can read your lips." America nods in affirmation.
_________________
"Baby, can you lend me a hand?" Tony asks without looking up from the new suit he was making.
"Anthony, if I look up and you've taken your prosthetic off again go make that joke, I'm never going to help you again."
"No, seriously I need an extra set of hands." Tony says, waving around the prosthetic arm to prove his point. Stephen glances up and sighs. He sets his book down and walks over.
"What am I looking at here?"
"Just hold this open for me." Tony orders. Stephen nods and does as asked, flinching a bit when sparks start flying. "Don't worry, it'll only hurt if it touches your face."
"Ah yes, very reassuring."
"Oh relax." Tony scoffs, then the welder goes off. He grabs a screwdriver and wastes no time going to work. Finally, he finishes his tinkering and motions for Stephen to let go. He does with a sigh of relief and steps back, going back to his book. "When's Pete swinging by?"
"Uh… thirty minutes. Go shower. You're covered in grease."
"You really wanna listen to my tonedeaf singing?" Tony asks, spinning his swivel chair around.
"No, but you desperately need a shower. Plus you haven't seen your son in two years, don't you wanna at least smell decent?"
Tony sighs, "alright, you got me. Come on, you need a shower too."
"No I don't."
"No you don't, but you're gonna join me anyway." Tony says, standing up. Stephen raises an eyebrow but slightly nods his head, implying his agreement. "Let's go, Merlin, we don't got all day. Especially not if Hap's driving. You said 30 minutes? Make it fifteen."
"God, why are all of you reckless drivers?" Stephen grumbles as he walks up the stairs with Tony.
"Runs in the family," Tony shrugs. "You know, last night, I had this dream that felt so real."
"Oh?"
"We adopted a little girl, who looked shockingly like me, and her name was Morgan." Tony raises a brow, grinning.
"We already have a kid in the house. And a dog. Do we really need another?"
"I mean, we'd be giving a little girl a good home. Look at this," Tony motions around to the literal mansion they had been living in since his recovery. "What little kid wouldn't love this?"
"We will have a full family discussion about this after Peter gets settled in."
"Oh yeah, how many degrees does Pete have now?"
"He got his associate's in highschool, he's finished his bachelor's and he's halfway done with his master's." Stephen says, giggling when he opens the door to their room and seeing Bats waiting for them. "I think he wants to join us too." Tony groans, then his face turns pink as Stephen whispers something in his ear.
"Peter!" Tony yells from the front steps of the house, arms wide open.
"Dad!" Peter's face lights up as he drops his bags (ignoring the offended look Happy gave him) and runs fullspeed toward his father, practically tackling him in a hug. "I missed you so much-"
"I missed you too, bud. Oh god, I'm so proud of you. Happy birthday!"
"Thanks," Peter sniffles a little, squeezing his dad.
Tony signs something to Happy, then leads Peter into the house. "How much ASL do you know?"
"Enough to have a decently long conversation."
"Good! We mostly sign at dinner. Oh! I can't wait to introduce you to the new team."
"New team…?"
"You'll see tomorrow. For now, we're just gonna eat and celebrate your birthday, kiddo."
"Sounds good to me! Happy wouldn't let me eat on the way here."
"Good, because Stephen cooked for an army."
"Well, between the four of us, we eat like an army," Stephen scoffs lightheartedly.
"Bố!" Peter goes to hug him immediately, earning a warm smile from both his dads. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, Peter. Go on, start eating. Happy, put his stuff by the stairs and join us for dinner." Happy just nods and hurries over to the table.
"Where's my sister?" Peter asks with a mouthful, wincing apologetically at the glare Stephen sends him.
"Hi!" America says, popping up behind him and scaring Peter very effectively.
"Stop doing that!!" He grumbles.
"No." She smiles and takes the seat next to him. "Happy birthday, old man."
"You're not even that much younger-"
"9 and ¾s of a year, yes I am!"
"Whatever, your birthday is only a few months away anyway," Peter huffs, and neither sibling noticed their dads' glances at each other, or the stifled snickering coming from Tony. The siblings' arguing only continued throughout dinner. It made the house feel like a real home.