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The father thing came as a shock for the Avengers. They wouldn't have been surprised if it was just an accident he paid child support for and never saw or cared about with the reputation he has in the media. It's almost comical to se Tony Stark running after a small toddler all day, trying to keep him out of trouble. But what surprised Steve the most, and he's ashmhamed to admit it, is that he's an amazing father. The way he acts around Peter and showers him with love without spoiling him rotten. He becomes a totally different person. He goes from arrogant celeberty to a soft ball of mush when he sees Peter.
When Stark finally introduced Peter to them, he expected a spoiled kid who thought he was better than everyone, but Peter is an absolute angel. He's everything Steve never imagined Tony's kid to be like. And he can tell Tony just wants to wrap him in bubblewrap and lock him in a room to protect him sometimes because despite his innocent exterior he's a Stark at heart.
The kid adores Pepper. And despite her and Tony's relationship, she's Pepper, not mom.
Peter was very shy and careful when he first met them, but he seemed to know Natasha because he practically ran into her arms. That day everyone learnt that Natasha loves kids.
Of course at first Tony and Peter lived in Malibu, occasianally visiting. They guessed Tony had to make sure he could trust them. He doesn't blame him. He can only guess what lays behind him. Steve hadn't known Tony for long, but he knew that behind him there was an endless sea of pain and betrayal. He can tell. When he lets his guard down. When he thinks no one is watching.
When Tony's masion fell into the ocean, Steve's thoughts fell to Peter. And when the news said Tony had died, his heart ached for the child. What was Tony thinking?
"That's none of your business, Rogers," Tony spat at him , because of course he would.
"What if Peter had gotten hurt ?"
It was always a nightmare to get some sense into the so called genius' head. He always had been difficult.
"What if Peter had gotten hurt ?" Steve tried to reason. "What if Peter had died ?"
Of course, Tony did prove everyone that it wasn't That easy to kill him off. As always. No matter how hard they tried.
The inventor was almost fuming with rage. He scoffed and put on his trademark coloured glasses . An act to give himself bravedo . To hide himself. Steve doesn't see the splitt second his mask falls.
"As if the world wouldn't be better off with a little less me," Tony said, but he quickly covered it up. "Peter wasn't even in the same state ."
"Do you really think I would endanger my own child ?" He seethes through gritted teeth.
After that they moved into the tower. Despite Steve and Tony's argument. Peter and him had their own floor, but Peter loved hanging out with them in the communal floor. Things return to normal, but Tony keeps his distance from Steve.
It's wierd to see Tony without the arc reactor, but he can only imagine how good it feels to have it removed. Steve had heard the story about how he got it. Now all that was left was a perfectly round scar.
Peter seems to love sending time with the Assassins and Thor. At times, Tony worries they're going to do something dangerous. And sometimes they almost do. They mean no harm. Everyone knows that. It's always funny to see his reactions. Like when he fell asleep on the couch and awoke to very familiar laughter from the vents.
"What the shit, Barton?" Tony scolds after the situation is handled . "I close my eyes for one second--"
Clint smiles innocently with a Tony og shame, you can tell he understands.
And then his eyes go wide and they both run to save Peter from Thor's lack of knowledge on what midgardian children can and cannot.
Bruce wills them to tone it down before they give the man with a heart condition a heart attack or something.
Peter makes Clint think of his own kids and his wife, Laura. So when he mysteriously disappeared for a week and a half, it was no one's business but his own. He has loads of pictures and stories about Peter to tell, and soon she also falls in love with the kid. Without even meeting him.
Time goes on and Peter gets older. And then Ultron happens and it all goes to shit. And yet again Steve is left wondering what the hell Tony was wondering.
"I was just trying to protect the world," Tony says, clutching his hand to his chest (Steve can't help but wonder if it's actually okay or not) like he seems to do every time they argue.
Steve scoffs.
"And Ultron was your brilliant solution ?"
The way Tony looks at him then. The few seconds where Steve sees truly how tired the man is. But before Steve can even react on it fully , his walls are standing strong again.
"Do you think I planned on having that happen?" Tony asks him.
And Steve is unable to answer to that. Because of course he didn't mean for that to happen . It's just so easy to out the blame on someone .
"And for the love of god, please don't bring up Peter," The billionare says. "He was out of the state before you could even think about him ."
Tony always has something to say. He always knows what to say and when to say it. And now Steve isn't sure what to say.
Tony always has prepecautions. Of course he has . After knowing the man for so long it's hard to miss.
"You're not his parent . I am. And I know what's best for my child ."
When they find out about Clints secret family, Laura is more than a little disappointed when Peter isn't with them. But it's probably for his best. 'Maybe some other time' she says.
After Ultron they start using the New Avengers compound which aparantly was an old Stark building that bad been renovated and built on. It had everything they could ever need. Having Vision around is wierd. Not having Jarvis around is wierd. Having FRIDAY around is wierd. Tony never adresses it, but Steve can tell he misses the A.I.
He shows them around, Peter half asleep on his hip, pointing out different rooms and their uses. The kid is pretty light, so Tony doesn't complain.
Tony himself decides to stay at the tower. Peter has school he needs to go to and friends in New York. They visit often though. Peter thinks the compound is exciting.
Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff are the newest memembers of the Avengers. Steve often trains with them. They're only mildly surprised about the Father thing. Sam seems to conect with Peter Instantly while Wanda shys away and Tony is cautious with Peter around her. Steve can tell Tony gets anxious when Wanda displays her magic to Peter. He gets it. Steve doesn't know what she showed him, but everyone could tell it was pretty bad.
Time goes on yet again and things return to normal. Or as Normal as it can get for them. Peter grows.
And then the shitstorm the media likes to call the Civil War happened. The accords. And yet again they're fighting. This time it's much worse though. At the airport, in Germany Tony brings Spider-Man along. It's strange. He sounds familiar, but he can't out his finger on it. Tony is very protective of the kid. And before he knows it, the kid has disappeared from the fight. And as if things couldn't get worse, Siberia happens. Tony is furious. Steve does something stupid. He attacks. And he ends the fight with putting the shield right in the suit's arc reactor.
" Did you know?"
Steve feels guilty later, when he hears Tony has been admitted to the hospital with broken ribs and a colapsed lung, but it's too late now.
A few months later Spider-Man is on the news after saving a couple of kids on a field trip or something. He also finds out Tony and Pepper finally got engaged. They stay low. They are in fact criminals now so there isn't much else they can do without getting caught. Then the unimagineble happens. Aliens attack New York and Tony disappears into space. Persumably dead. And eventually people turn to ash.
Steve is relieved when Tony returns to earth again. Until he sees Tony again, that is. And he sees truly how exhausted and worn out the man really is. It's terrifying to think he once knew a Tony Stark who night have been wearing a mask, but still held his head high and then see just the shell of that man now. He looks like he lost everything, and later when he asks, he finds out he actually did. And the story might be the worstthing Steve has ever heard.
"Peter didn't make it," He says, not even bothering to mask his pain .
What's even the point anymore? Half the universe is gone, and alongwith it it took his entire world.
"I couldn't protect him."
Steve will never forget the way his voice shook. And how he broke down after that.