Chapter Text
"Why are you in here?" Adam complained.
Adam always complained. Peeking up at him from underneath Adam's bed, Jamie lay his chin on his hands. "Why are you here?" he asked.
Adam's chin jutted out in that way that Steve's did. "It's my room."
"Exactly," Jamie decided, wriggling back under as he tried to search for the candy bar he'd hidden there a few weeks ago. Adam didn't like peanut butter so it seemed silly to think that Adam would have eaten it. It was meant to be safe.
Jamie yelped as Adam caught his foot and started to drag him out. Flailing and half kicking at his brother, Jamie glared as the he was pulled out enough that he could see Adam's scowling face and the ceiling above him.
"You have your own room," Adam complained.
"That doesn't have candy in it," Jamie whined.
"Threw it away," Adam declared in what Jamie thought was far too happy a tone. "My room isn't your candy cupboard."
That should be a thing. He should tell Tony…Dad and that would be a thing.
Jamie was still getting used to that word. It was cool to have Tony as his Dad too. Because he called Tony Dad it meant that he could go on holiday.
Adam didn't call Tony Dad so he couldn't go.
"My Dad would like the idea," Jamie said, trying the phrase on for size.
Something crossed Adam's face and he yanked Jamie's sneakers off his foot then threw them at Jamie's face.
"Ow," Jamie whined, trying to turn out of the path of the projected missiles. "Stop," he hissed, trying to kick Adam with his feet.
"Then get out," Adam sneered.
Jamie's only possible course of action was to tug the bed spread off the bed and throw what he could back at Adam before he found his own sneakers and hurled them back at Adam.
So Adam bent over and lifted Jamie up. Being little completely sucked and Jamie wriggled as best he could, his feet and fists flailing.
Adam dropped him and Jamie cracked his head on the edge of the bed.
The scream that bubbled from him came more from shock than actual pain. Clutching at his head, Jamie glared up at Adam as soon as he remembered who was to blame for the situation.
"What's going on?" Clint asked as he came rushing in.
"Adam threw me into the bed," Jamie sniffed.
Clint turned to Adam who opened his mouth in protest. "He shouldn't be in here," Adam complained. "It's my room."
"This is not my life," Clint murmured, leaning against the door frame. "Booby trap your door then."
That could be cool, trying to get past those. Jamie pulled his hands down and reached for the bed sheet that had got a little bit tangled around him and then frowned when his hands left a patchy red mark.
Curious, he tapped at the pain in his head and looked at his fingers that were now a bit shiny with blood.
"-not fair. It's my room and he's not even being told off," Adam was hissing. "My Dad wouldn't tell me off."
Clint actually thudded his head against the wall. "This vacation cannot come soon enough," he huffed. "We've talked about your strength-"
Bored by their conversation, Jamie held up his hand. "Look," he announced, waving his hand. "I'm bleeding."
They both switched their attention straight back to him and Clint moved quickly, kneeling down bedside Jamie to comb careful fingers through his hair.
"Ow," Jamie mumbled when Clint touched a sensitive bit.
"You need to be more careful," Clint said in a hard tone. For a moment, Jamie scowled believing it was aimed at him but when Adam stepped back looking slightly pale, Jamie realised it wasn't him being told off, it was Adam.
"He kicked me," Adam muttered but he didn't sound quite so mad anymore.
"Oh well, in that case," Clint said in a way that was probably not him actually congratulating Adam. He picked Jamie up and it was always nice getting hugs. Sometimes he didn't get them as much because Tony was now his Dad and that meant that Tony was meant to be the main one doing it when he wasn't busy like he was at the moment.
Enjoying the affection, Jamie leaned his head onto Clint's shoulder and stared down at Adam, pleased with the height difference.
"There you are," Clint said. "Your room, back to being empty," he added as he strode them out of Adam's room.
"I wanted my candy," Jamie confessed as Clint strode with him into the main seating area.
"Why did you put it there?" Clint asked sounding baffled.
"Adam doesn't like it," Jamie explained seriously.
He got one of those looks that more and more people gave him, as if his logic wasn't clear which was just silly.
"So you looking forward to going to the beach?" Clint asked as he sat them down on the couch, Jamie swung around so that he was sitting on Clint's lap facing the screen.
"How do they get all the water there?" Jamie asked. He'd seen pictures of the beach before but he wasn't really sure it wasn't pretend like some of Steve's sketches were. He wriggled when Clint started to look through his hair again.
There was a long sigh. "It's always been there. It's just how the world is. Some of it's water and some of it's earth."
"And labs," Jamie added.
Clint was silent which usually meant he was thinking something different to Jamie. "You haven't answered the question," Clint pointed out.
Oh, right. "Yeah," Jamie said nodding. "And Ton-…Dad said we could sky Adam."
"Skype," Clint corrected absently. "You need to think about how you would feel though, if you were being left behind."
Jamie wriggled around. "I'll be good," he promised, horrified at the idea. "I'll go say sorry-"
"I was talking about Adam."
"Adam wants to stay with his Dad," Jamie said, wrinkling his nose because Clint was usually much cleverer than that. "Tony isn't his Dad, he's mine."
Clint leaned back and stared at him for a long time. "Do you like it when people remind you that Bucky isn't your Dad?"
"Bucky's stupid," Jamie muttered, hunching up at the mention of the man and trying to snuggle into Clint.
"Yeah," Clint mumbled into his hair. "Massively so."
Xxx
"Bringing home the bacon," Tony announced as he walked in the room with pizza boxes in his hand.
"Yeah, that gets funnier every time," Natasha sighed as she put plates on the table. Jamie followed her round, trying to work out where everyone would sit from the way she laid out the table.
"Where's Thor going to sit?" Jamie asked, clambering up on a chair to study the table better.
"Kid, your welcome home is touching," Tony complained. "No pizza for you."
"Tony," Bruce sighed, rubbing at his head.
"No," Jamie whined, leaping down from the chair and dashing at Tony. "I want pizza," he whined, trying to climb up Tony's body. Thankfully, the man scooped him up at sat him on hip.
"Let's see the bump," Tony asked, the pizza boxes on the side table as he rearranged Jamie so he could see into Jamie's hair. It did mean that Jamie could bury his face in Tony's shoulder and smell the familiar aftershave and rub his cheek against the stiff collar.
"I don't like this," Jamie announced pulling back to tap at Tony's tie.
"The tie or the colour?"
Jamie screwed up his nose and pressed at the tie, curious because he could sort of remember how Tony tightened it in the mornings.
"Hello squirt number one," Tony said over Jamie's shoulder. "Any war wound from the epic bedroom battle?"
"I got him with a sneaker," Jamie told Tony solemnly.
"I'm fine," Adam said in a terse tone. Twisting, Jamie tried to see Adam's face but by the time he had managed to shift in Tony's hold Adam was heading over to the table to help Natasha.
Tony seemed to sigh and rubbed Jamie's arm. "You need to respect your brother's privacy," he scolded gently.
"But my candy was in there."
"Then don't put it in there," Tony replied absently. "Steve? You bringing up the rest?"
The rest?
Jamie turned in time to see that Steve was carrying a massive pile of pizza boxes.
"That's bigger than me," he told Tony.
"That's probably just enough to feed Thor and Steve."
Wow. That was so cool.
Jamie moved to wriggle down but Tony kept hold of him, walking around and placing Jamie on the counter by the bar as he poured himself a drink.
"Can I have some?"
Tony eyed him suspiciously. "What would you like?"
Awesome. Jamie peered over at all the different coloured bottles thoughtfully as Tony went for a brown drink. Leaning over, he smelled Tony's drink and stuck out his tongue.
In the end he picked up a tiny bottle of coca-cola.
By that point, Tony was grinning at him and pressed a kiss to Jamie's hair. "You go carefully with that," he said sounding amused.
Jamie nodded very seriously. "Do you think Thor will like this?" he asked.
"Thor likes beer."
"Can I have one of those then?"
Tony flickered a glance at him. "Why do you care what Thor will or won't like?"
Jamie stared at Tony with horror. "He's God," he whispered to Tony.
Tony's lips twitched and then twitched a bit more as his mouth spasmed in a weird way.
Then he laughed. A full belly laugh that had him doubled over and Jamie glared at the back of Tony's head feeling a little peeved.
"What's tickling you?" Bruce asked.
"Semantics," Tony called as he stood back up. Bruce flashed a grin at whatever that word meant and Jamie kicked his feet back against the cupboard in some annoyance. "Kid…he is a god, not God."
Behind him Clint snorted into laughter and even Natasha covered her face. Steve paused in what he was doing and titled his head to the side, a fond smile crossing his face slowly.
Jamie chewed on that for a moment. "The shouty woman on the screen says that only heathens have more than one god. I don't think we're heathens. It didn't sound good."
"You need to monitor what he watches," Bruce said as he took a sip of expensive water that tasted the same as tap water because water was water.
The more Jamie thought about it, the more he thought it was them being stupid. "But even if he isn't our God he still can…" what was the word the woman used? "…smite us?"
"He wishes," Tony said lifting Jamie again. "Last time I went toe to toe with him it was a draw."
Tony had gone head to head with God?
That was so awesome.
"Last time who went head to head with him?" Steve asked, spreading the pizza's in their boxes over the table.
"You were there," Tony admitted. "You broke us up."
"Steve broke up your fight with God?" Jamie asked in awe, not too sure who came out of that as the most impressive.
"Kid-"
"Don't worry," Bruce said as he tapped Jamie's nose. "It won't last longer than the first ten minutes he spends in Thor's company."
"Really?" Sam asked as he stepped over with a beer in his hand. "Because I saw how much that guy ate last time. You tellin' me that those kids won't be more impressed by how much pizza he has."
"They've seen Steve eat."
"Hey," Steve protested as he gave Adam a clap of approval on the shoulder. "Well done for helping," he added to Adam.
Helping was boring. "When can we start eating?" Jamie asked.
"When everyone's here," Tony said softly. "And you remember who is coming?"
Jamie could practically feel the sneaky glances that everyone gave him because Thor was coming and Jane (who was his girlfriend) and also Bucky was.
"Mm," Jamie mumbled, plucking at Tony's tie again. "Can I sit with you?" he asked in a pleading tone.
Tony didn't reply but he did grab a seat and let Jamie sit on his lap. "I hate senators," Tony muttered as he placed his drink on the table.
"They hate you too," Clint said cheerfully, throwing himself into a seat. "Especially when you call them all…" he hesitated and looked at Jamie and then at Adam. "Are we really trying this whole swear jar thing?"
"We are," Tony said firmly. "Because she banned me from just shoving a hundred in there and being done for the day," he said with a fierce jab of his hand at Natasha.
That was brave. Jamie watched wide-eyed as Natasha looked at Tony's finger and then raised an eyebrow. "Really, Stark?" she asked in that cool tone of hers.
"Maybe not," Tony said, pulling his hand down. "But senators are…pizza haters."
What? Jamie looked at Tony in horror. "Why?" he asked.
He had no idea why it made Tony laugh but it did. Then his hands tightened around Jamie and pulled him slightly closer. "So kid, what did you do today?"
"Learned about numbers," Jamie announced proudly. "I can take away from twenty."
"Huh."
Tony didn't sound that impressed.
"He's a year ahead," Bruce said as he walked by.
"Go champ," Tony said, suddenly way more enthused. "I'll buy you a car if you get four years ahead."
Steve sat opposite and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That would be illegal, Tony. He can't drive until-"
"Buy you a space ship then," Tony replied seemingly unconcerned. "Those don't have legal limits on them, Cap."
"I want a space ship," Jamie said solemnly.
It was rare that he properly caught Steve's eye but, just for a second, Captain America smiled down at him as if tickled by what Jamie said. "I bet you do," he said with a wink.
That seemed settled then. Pleased with how things were going, Jamie studied the sauces they had on the table, trying to work out which one to go for first and-
Beyond the sauces he could see Bucky was sat by Adam.
It was confusing. Tony was way better than Bucky was and Tony was funnier and cooler and richer and cleverer and nicer and every other 'er' word that Jamie could think of. But it wasn't fair because Tony was still nice to Adam and looked after him and called him number one while Bucky was just plain mean to Jamie.
Adam should have at least picked a nice Dad like Jamie had.
"Tilt your head back," Tony said suddenly, his voice a bit sharper than usual. Trusting the man, Jamie tipped his head back so that he was staring at the ceiling and grinning up at Tony.
Tony was rubbing something between his fingers and then tossed it up in the air, aiming Jamie's face to see if he could catch it in his mouth.
It hit him in the nose and Jamie let out a delighted shriek. "I wanna do it on my own," he demanded, sitting up properly and trying to prise the cheese that Tony was rolling into small balls out of the man's hands.
"How old are you?" Steve sighed at Tony.
"How old are you?" Tony replied waspishly before twisting around with Jamie. "Right. Get this in and I'll add a hundred to that car account."
"Can it be a spaceship account?" Jamie asked hopefully as he planted his feet shoulder width apart.
"You do realise this means the swear jars useless with him?" Clint was demanding. "He can't just-"
"You wanna make it more?" Sam asked from somewhere, sounding amused. Jamie tossed the cheese up and huffed as it went no-where near his mouth.
"I wanna make it fair," Clint said sounding peeved.
"How about every time Tony swears he has to compliment a senator?" Natasha suggested sweetly.
It was enough to make Tony pause where he was holding cheese balls out for Jamie and turn to glare at the woman. "And you can pay the amount that nought point one percent of my company was worth before you got internet happy."
There was an awkward moment that Jamie winced at and pushed into Tony to remind him that they were trying to catch cheese balls with their mouths.
"Excellent," a booming voice from the door way declared. "There is pizza."
The voice was so loud that Jamie scrambled into Tony's lap and then peered cautiously over his shoulder to stare at the blond giant that had appeared in their doorway.
"It's good to see you again," Steve said, standing and walking over to clasps hands with the huge man.
"I hear we have progeny now," the man said happily, glancing at Adam and then at Jamie. "With impressive reflexes I see," he added with a wink at Jamie.
Tony was trying to untangle Jamie's grip from his shirt. "Great timing," the man muttered.
There was a slight narrowed look from the man that made it seem as if he knew more than Tony did. "The tall, blond one must be the eldest," he said striding forward. "I hear you have the makings of an impressive warrior."
Adam blinked and then grinned, glancing at Clint and Steve as if delighted, then at Bucky who was smiling.
A little bit.
But he was smiling.
Jamie hunched his shoulders suddenly terrified as to what the man (who was probably Thor) was going to say about him. He wasn't a warrior or brave and he didn't make Bucky smile.
He was normal.
A gentle hand cupped his chin and Tony's brown eyes stared down at him for a moment of two before the man sighed and lifted Jamie again.
"Are you-"
"Give me a sec with him," Tony said over his shoulder as he took Jamie out to the balcony.
Outside was quiet and calm and the door slid shut to block out the conversation. It was a little bit cold as Tony put Jamie down and sat on the floor so he was smaller than Jamie.
Tony didn't say anything, just stared at Jamie as if he had writing on his face in a really small print that Tony needed to watch for ages just to try and work out what was hidden within. Then he lifted his hand to indicate he needed a minute and walked back inside.
He was on his own.
Unsure, Jamie stepped over to the flower pot that had nothing inside and bit at his lip, not sure what to do. Maybe the party was for special people and Tony had just realised-
Tony came back out with a pizza box and Jamie's tiny coca-cola bottle.
"Think that might be a bit too much for you at the moment," he said gently as he sat down on the floor again.
"I'm not weak."
Tony's hand paused over the pizza box. The muscles in his jaw twitched and he slowly raised his eyes to Jamie.
"No-one said you were," he said firmly.
Good. But Jamie sighed as he stared down at the pizza and then up at Tony.
"I'm not special though," he added slowly, keeping his gaze on Tony to check how the man reacted.
The wind raced around them, flapping at Tony's hair and jacket as the man dipped his pizza in the sauce. "Neither am I," Tony said in a strange voice. "I'm just wickedly clever," he added with a grin. "And Natasha and Clint are in the team because of the things they trained to do."
But…"Training's boring," Jamie confessed as he slowly picked up a slice and nibbled at the topping.
"Yeah," Tony agreed. "Can be." He seemed to pull away from the topic. "So which car should we drive when we get to Malibu?"
That was a very important question. "But the cars will be here," Jamie said tipping his head back so that the cheese slid into his mouth.
"Have a look through," Tony offered, sliding a StarkPadd across to Jamie.
"Which is the fastest one?"
"Kid, it isn't always about speed."
It wasn't? Doubtfully, Jamie tilted his head to the side. "But going fast is fun," he announced seriously.
"When we start talking about girls or boys…or both then we really need to correct that," Tony said eyeing up what was left of Jamie's pizza slice. "And how not to make your dates run screaming from the way you eat."
"Girls are stupid," Jamie decided because the three he'd seen in the park when Bruce had taken him hadn't liked the idea of jumping off the monkey bars. "Dresses are silly," he added seriously thinking back to how one girl had complained about hers because she couldn't get it dirty.
Behind them the doors pulled open and the giant man that was probably Thor stepped out.
"I see you have created your own party," he said sounding amused as he sat by Tony. "This must be the littlest Stark."
"Not…" Jamie hesitated because to say he wasn't little was kind of a lie. Not sure what to do he bit at his thumb and turned his gaze on Tony.
"Yeah," Tony said holding out his arm. Jamie scrambled over and ducked under it, clambering onto Tony and leaving faint red marks where he touched the man's shirt. "Did you lose Jane on your way here?"
"I lost her to your Pepper Potts," Thor said with a rueful shake of his head as he reached for a pizza slice. "They are currently discussing footwear and a conference about the effects of chemical substances on genetic coding-"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause we need are more conversations about that," he said, stroking Jamie's arm carefully.
Jamie knew what that meant. "A lab made me," he told Thor seriously.
"There are many things that make a man," Thor said with a shake of his head. "And it is pleasing to hear your voice littlest Stark."
Jamie really wasn't sure that he liked the nickname but Tony seemed to smile at it as if pleased by something so Jamie hesitated to say anything.
"Most people say I talk too much," Jamie murmured. Tony rumbled underneath him as if amused. "Adam always says that."
Something strange crossed Thor's face as he watched Jamie and he frowned a little. "Older brothers always try to seem more in charge," he said slowly. "It does not mean that we wish to be cruel to our younger sibling."
"Are you a big brother?"
"Jamie," Tony said softly as if to warn.
"I am," Thor said as Tony spoke. "I was not a very good one I fear."
"Did you throw away your brother's candy bar too?" Jamie asked.
"I…I did something similar."
Oh. "That's not nice."
Thor flinched and Tony made a noise behind Jamie as if to say something.
A candy bar came whizzing past his head and thudded on the flower pot.
"You said you threw it in the trash," Jamie yelped, diving for the bar.
"You hid it in my room," Adam huffed standing in the door way. "I told you to stop going in my room."
"What about Mario Kart?"
Adam paused and tilted his head and then shrugged and nodded.
Jamie scampered up then turned back to grab a slice of pizza. After a moment's thought he piled another slice on top of the first one and then another so that he had three precariously balanced.
Then he ran back to the door.
Tony.
Huffing he spun back around and placed an awkward hug to the man's neck and turned to go after Adam because his brother would so start the game without Jamie in the room.
But…
"Can you give the candy back to your brother?" Jamie asked Thor.
Thor had the starts of a grin on his face that fell suddenly. He seemed to shake his head at Tony and smiled in a way that didn't quite look right. "You have a very good big brother," Thor said with a nod. "I wish you luck beating him at this Mario Kart game."
"Adam's crap at Mario Kart."
"Swear jar," Clint called from inside. "Pay up with candy, kid."
That was so not fair.