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Tony knew Kate would have frowned at him for his current behavior. He also knew that if she was still with him that she would have been the first to join him. That was how the team had worked. They were a family and they looked after each other.
Gibbs had changed recently and Tony needed to make sure that nothing bad was going on. He knew Gibbs wouldn’t appreciate the fact that he was following him, but Tony was pretty sure Gibbs wouldn’t tell him the truth, so this was the only way to find out what was really going on with Gibbs. He’d started by investigating Gibbs’ house during a time he knew that Gibbs was out.
He’d found some evidence that a woman had been hanging out around Gibbs, mostly in that some things had changed that Tony knew Gibbs would never have changed on his own. He was also pretty sure that whoever this woman was that she’d gotten Gibbs to care more about his safety. Tony had noticed a significant increase in weapons hidden around Gibbs house. It was almost like he was preparing for a war.
He was happy that Gibbs had actually started locking his door and looking out for himself better, but he was also concerned about what this woman was into that this was so necessary. Unfortunately, Tony couldn’t find any information about who this woman was in Gibbs’ house, which is why he had been forced to resort to following Gibbs. It hadn’t really been hard as Tony was well known for dropping by Gibbs’ house unexpectedly.
It had taken a couple of months to figure out Gibbs’ tells that meant he was planning to meet up with whoever this latest prospective Mrs. Gibbs was. Tony had been careful to make sure that Gibbs had no idea Tony was so interested in the identity of his new squeeze. He’d been waiting for the perfect opening and he’d finally found it.
He’d been tempted to bring Abby in on it, but he knew she would give away the op without intending to, so he was doing it old fashioned private detective like, all on his own. It hadn’t been easy to tail Gibbs without being noticed, but Tony had managed it. Or at least he thought he had until he came face to face with his mother, who was supposed to be dead.
“Mom?”
“Tony? Why were you following us?”
“I was following Gibbs. He’s been super secretive about someone he was seeing. He’s important to me, mom. I was just making sure he was ok.”
“I’m fine,” Gibbs snarled.
Tony looked sheepish. “Sorry, Gibbs, but really you should have just told me you were dating my mom.” Tony paused and turned to the redhead he’d last seen when he was eight, “And you should have told me you weren’t actually dead.”
“I didn’t know Nata was your mom.” Gibbs looked between Nata and Tony with surprise.
“I don’t advertise it,” Natasha bit out. “It’s safer for him that way.”
“You mean all that shit about you being an Avenger and the Black Widow is true?”
”I should have known that you would already know about that.” Natasha shook her head at him.
“You made the news. Seriously, New York was invaded by aliens and you expected me not to see your image plastered all over the news stations?”
“I hadn’t really thought much about it. I was kind of busy and you didn’t track me down.”
“I thought we weren’t acknowledging each other’s existence still.”
Natasha cringed slightly, but nodded. “Fair.”
“Well, my mom or not, if you hurt Gibbs I’ll make you pay. He’s the only one who’s been good to me since you left.”
The Black Widow nodded. Message Received. Tony knew she would take extra care with Gibbs now.
“You aren’t going to threaten me for dating your mom?” Gibbs asked, bemused.
“Nope. She can look after herself. With her daedal skills she’ll make you pay long before I ever could and it will be a more fitting revenge than I could ever hope to give you.” Tony shrugged, sharing a small smile with his mother.
They ended up going to a local deli nearby as the three of them chatted and caught up on Tony and Natasha’s past. The sandwiches weren’t much to write home about, but it was food and Tony was far more interested in hearing what his mom had been up to since she left him. Avengers aside and the background that had been spread around about the Black Widow, Tony really didn’t know much about what she’d been up to.
Natasha was equally interested in finding out what Tony had been up to. They kept Gibbs involved in the conversation as well and Tony couldn’t help feeling like they were a real family; certainly much closer to one than he’d ever had with Senior. He was amused by the Russian cursing from his mother when she found out Senior had disowned him at age twelve.
He suspected that Senior would be getting a scary visit one of these days, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care. His life was going good despite Senior and while Gibbs dating his mother was kind of weird, it fit too. He didn’t know if they’d stay together long term, but for now their relationship was beneficial to both of them and Tony too. He was looking forward to some more quality family time in the future, but for now Tony waved goodbye and let them return to their date without their son as a third wheel.