Chapter Text
The walls of the orphanage are painted in a slightly worn off white, the color radiating coldness and discomfort, fatuity and monotony. It is an awful place for children to grow up; although they all have their own colorful rooms and a huge green garden providing them more than enough space to play, the whole building lacks comfort and freedom, the adjectives describing it best would probably be restriction, indifference and loneliness.
Steve and Tony’s footsteps echo back from he long narrow corridor as they walk through, the sound only adding to the weird feeling creeping upon the couple. Tony can clearly see the discomfort being reflected in his lovers face whenever the super solider thinks about all the parentless children having to live in a place like this instead of a warm loving family with a proper accommodation.
The couple has been searching for a child to adopt for a long time now; they have visited several orphanages and children’s homes, but so far they hadn’t had any success. They have talked to and played with a lot of children of all ages, nations, skin colors, hell even disabilities, but none was quite what… they’ve been looking for.
Okay, he has to admit, putting it like that might sound a bit harsh. In fact, it does sound very unfair and egoistic when you put it that way. However, Tony and Steve live their lives as Iron Man and Captain America, and having a child under these kind of circumstances brings great responsibility.
Whenever the couple sets out on a mission, their lives are on the line, hell, their lives are in danger constantly even when they aren’t on the battlefield. Of course Steve and Tony would never want their child to be mentally damaged because of their ‚professions‘; always having to think about their dads potentially dying every minute can severely damage a child’s mental health and affect their wellbeing gradually.
Concealing and keeping quiet about what happens as soon as they leave the Stark Tower in full armor isn’t an option either; building a family upon lies is out of question.
Long story short, in order to ensure the child’s wellbeing, he or she has to be able to deal with the fact his or her fathers are superheroes and has to have a strong mind so he or she can stand the constant worry nibbling at the back of his or her mind.
However, qualities equal to described ones are incredibly hard to find and, as much as it hurts to turn down a four year old little girl whose parents have abandoned her and left her at a bus station in the rain, being ready, mature and strong enough is necessary for being a stable happy little family with people like the Avengers.
Steve and Tony feel unbelievably bad every time they leave a child behind, knowing they would probably have to wait a long time until the next opportunity for adoption arrives. Not being able to give the children a new, better life is especially upsetting for Steve, there is a deep furrow where his pale eyebrows are knitted together and his hands are flexing at his sides.
„Don’t worry, honey.“ Tony mumbles and takes the super solider’s larger hand into his, reassuringly stroking the back of it with his thumb. „I know how you feel, but we can’t just randomly save all of the kids here, okay? You want our future child to be happy too, don’t you? And so far we haven’t come across anybody who would fit, there is no helping it.“
Steve sighs and melts into the touch, intervening their arms further. „I know, I know, but I still dislike the idea…“ He pauses to stifle a yawn with his other hand. „Of leaving these children behind.“
They continue their walk through the maze of corridors towards the exit in silence, conversation between them seldom needing words. They are happy about the lack of people in the orphanage around this time, because although Steve is wearing a dark blue baseball cap pulled down to hide his face partially and Tony has thrown on a heavy sweater to block out the permanent glow of his arc rector, being recognized is a hassle and a thing they would like to avoid.
A few stories and turns later, they finally reach ground level. Tony breathes an internal sigh of relief. Although he would never admit it, this place is starting to freak him out. It reminds him much about his own childhood, the distant, heartless atmosphere reminding him of his relationship with Howard Stark, the interior almost scarily resembling the boarding school he was shoved off to as soon as he was old enough. It stirs up old memories inside of him, good ones and bad ones, but it doesn’t matter; he has been doing such a good job at repressing every single one of them until now, a place like this actually shouldn’t be a problem to him.
Turning around a corner, there suddenly is a crash and a surprised yelp when something - or rather somebody- bumps into Steve with full speed and hits the floor, skidding a few feet away before coming to a halt. Steve also makes a small stunned noise in the back of his throat, it’s not like the impact moved the super solider more than an inch, however it seemed to come out of nowhere, there were absolutely not footsteps to be heard.
The two superheroes twirl around. A boy with a messy shock of dark brown hair is lying on the ground, his backpack has been tossed to the ground as well, resting against the wall. His clothes are old and barely fit, his ankles peeking out beneath the hem of his jeans.
He is shielding his head with his hands and instinctively curls up into a tight ball on the ground as if he expected something to harm him.
„Please, I am so sorry, I know I am past my curfew again, but please, there was really no way I could’ve come back earlier this time! I swear, I tried!“ He says, no, pleads, his voice trembling and his body language growing even more defensive.
Steve and Tony exchange a look and Steve walks up to the boy and crouches down next to him. He is around the age of sixteen, seventeen tops and he is lean but not thin; to Tony’s surprise, he even has some muscle. Steve lays a hand onto the boy’s shoulder, but he finches away like he’d been electrolyzed, shuffling backwards with remarkable speed until his back hits the wall.
„We are not from the orphanage.“ Steve says, his voice calm and reassuring, and he lifts his hands to show the teenager he wants no evil. „Who are you?“
„What do you want?“ The boy snaps, almost hisses, hoisting himself into standing position with ease. His brown eyes are hard and cold and bloodshot like he hadn’t slept very much and regularly recently.
„Do the staff here harm you? You seemed very defensive…“ Tony states and takes a step closer as well, earning an almost non audible scoff from Steve. Yeah, fine, tact has never been one of his many great strengths, but he is curious, dammit!
The boy rolls his eyes and groans, rubbing his hand over the side of his face. „Really, are you from the police or something? Checking up this lousy place? Putting your stamp on? I really think you should go now, gentleman, there is nothing to see here.“ He sighs flatly, the waver in his voice however slightly betraying his sassy response. He must be tired or exhausted. No wonder, it is almost eleven and the majority of children should probably be in bed by now.
„You look tired, are you okay? Do you need any help?“ The blonde asks and Tony groans internally. Steve is going into mother hen mode again. As if that would change anything.
„There seriously is now way I am going to tell you, even if I actually had these kind of issues.“ The boy replies in a typical teenager-bored-why-aren’t-you-leaving-me-alone-tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest to look deprecatory, however Tony can see come of the coolness has disappeared from his doe eyes. Damn, Steve. How on earth did that work?
„Please, just leave me alone, I’m just gonna sneak back into my room and hope I can avoid being noticed by anybody, seriously no big deal. Why do you bother talking to me anyway? I only have to wait about one and a half years until I can do what I want, and by then, I’m out of here. Just get on with your meeting with some cute little toddler and forget I ever crossed your path.“ He says, and there is something off bout his voice, maybe hurt? Jealousy? Hate?
„Kid, I know this isn’t the best place on earth and your life is probably pretty fucked up, but there is no need to-
„WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?“ The teenager snaps, his voice so loud it could almost count as screaming. His voice is quite high, considering he is nearing the age of seventeen, but he makes up for it in volume. „How would you ever know how shitty life here is? How would you ever know about the pain of not having parents? How would-
„SHUT IT, KID.“ Tony says so low and controlled the brunette instinctively turns quiet and gulps. The engineer finds himself gripping the boy’s shirt by the collar and is twisting it in an iron grip, almost strangling the younger man with it. Their faces are only inches apart. Usually, Tony wouldn’t loose his shit on a little provocation by a teenager, but spending time in all these orphanages has let his carefully constructed walls around his childhood crumble.
„Don’t ever assume people would not know about the pain of your situation.“ He literally snarls, baring his teeth.
„Oh, and you claim to do?“ The teen, now with a steady, sure look shoots back. „You look like you have been spoiled you whole life, lived in a big fancy mansion and threw money at every problem so it would solve itself somehow. How on earth would you understand a person who has lost everything? You are just-
„My mother died of a heart attack when I was small but old enough to understand she would never be there again. My father was a wealthy and hard working man, however that doesn’t mean he had a heart. He sent me off to boarding school as soon as I was old enough so he wouldn’t have to bear with me at home. Do you know how many days a year I spend at school? 364 out of 365. The one day I returned home was my fucking birthday and even then the heartless bastard didn’t bother to show up. I didn’t have anything my whole life.“ He spits, and the boy’s face pales.
„Tony–“ Steve begins, but once Tony has started, he doesn’t stop, even if it means him causing more damage (with the boy) that would have been necessary. Not wanting Steve to be upset, he forces his anger down and settles for a slightly gentler tone. „So what I’m saying is: Don’t be all snarky and unfriendly to people you know nothing about, kid, sure you’re going through rough times here and I shouldn’t have gotten all worked up here - look, I’m even grabbing your collar here, isn’t this ridiculous - but what I mean is that although you might not think about it when you first meet people, everyone on this planet has had some dark spots in their lives and can understand you. I’m not saying you have no right to complain about it, just don’t let it out on others. There are plenty of people who are sensitive about their pasts just like you.“
Tony can feel a worn smile spread across his face, so open and wide it makes his beard tickle in the dimples of his cheeks; It is a smile he usually only smiles when Steve is around. Huh. Weird.
To his horror, however, the teen has started cracking up, tears are pricking on his waterlines. He wipes them away harshly as if he was angry about them sliding down his cheeks.
And then Steve is to the rescue, he hugs the brunette without hesitation, wrapping his strong muscular arms around the teen’s thin frame. Tony rolls his eyes at the scene and Steve sticks his tongue back out at the Iron Man. The boy reluctantly leans into the embrace and shifts a little to find a comfortable place to rest his head on.
„You’re right, old man, I shouldn’t have insulted you… It’s just hard to repress your feelings for such a long time and then bam! Something triggers them and you have no idea what to do else than burst. I really miss them though.“ His voice cracks and with this factor of cuteness added to the already overloaded adorable scene, even Tony can’t resist to place his hand onto the lanky teen’s shoulder.
„It’s alright, kid… Wait, did you just call me old?“
„Pff, obviously.“ The kid snorts into Steve’s muscled chest, who is still holding him like a mother her child.
„I am not old at all.“ Tony protests, crossing his arms over his chest. „I am an eternal blossom of youth. Like, Steve there, the guy who is cradling you like one overprotective momma is literally twice my age.“
„Tony…“ Steve sighs and presses a hand to his eyes.
„In mental maturity I can believe that.“ Wow. Sass has reached a new level here.
Tony pretends to be offended and clutches his chest by the arc reactor. He lets out a pitiful whine for good measure and buries himself in Steve’s arm.
„He’s being mean to me again, Steve! Do something~ I need your comfort. Hug me. I said hug meeeee.“
„Oh my god no group hugs, I am so outta here.“ The teen laughs, playfully freeing himself out of the awkward hug. Still chuckling, he bends down and lifts his backpack from the ground and attempts to say goodbye and leaves when Steve and Tony exchange a meaningful glance.
There is something about this kid, something that makes him different from the others, makes him stand out. Tony can’t quite describe it, it is like… He just fits with them perfectly, it feels like he is the missing gear to complete their little clockwork of a complete little family and make it work. Steve smiles and nods, the conversation not requiring words.
„Hey, wait up! Would you tell us your name please?“ Steve asks quickly before the boy can leave, causing him to stop in his tracks. „Of course only if you want to.“ He adds. Always polite. Always careful. Steve.
„It’s Peter Parker.“ He says, suddenly turning shy again, eying them suspiciously.
„Well then, Peter, how does the idea of moving in with us sound?" Tony asks bluntly.
„What.“ The teenage boy’s eyes widen and his jaw drops. „Tell me this is real and you are not shitting me here. Cause if this is some kind of joke I gonna be hella pissed.“
„Why would we joke, Peter?“ Steve says, his perfect teeth flashing.
„Would you like to be adopted by us? I know we only met a few minutes ago but… I mean only if you’d like to. How about we meet tomorrow again and you tell us what you think?“
„Uh…Okay?“ Peter says, a little delayed and absentmindedly, hoisting his backpack a little higher onto his shoulder. „I… Uh… Of course why not, feel free to visit me, but listen I really gotta be going now, you know, I really don’t want the guys catching me wandering around past my curfew, it’ll only result in punishment, and anger, the usual stuff. Anyway, t’was really, really nice spending time with you guys, see ya tomorrow and bye!“ He salutes and dashes off the corridor into the direction Steve and Tony came from, and the two Avengers don’t miss the adorable skip in his walk.
As soon as Peter is out of earshot, Tony chuckles and wraps his arms around Steve’s neck, leaning his head against his lover’s broad shoulder.
„Look at what you run into in a godforsaken place like this.“ He chuckles, nuzzling his nose against his husband’s.
„He is amazing, isn’t he?“ Steve replies, sliding his hands up Tony’s sides.
„Yeah, I noticed tight away.“ And that comment makes Stave laugh out loud, one of the sunny, warm laughs that caused Tony to fall in love with him.
„What the hell were you thinking when you started shouting at the kid? Really, you don’t just get all worked up with somebody you have never never net before!“
„I don’t know, honey, I just kind of had to, maybe it was one of my weird inner uncontrollable reflexes?“ He sighs, gently freeing himself. „He’s kinda… like me in a way, you know? It was the look in his eyes that made me recognize he is just the way I have been in my entire childhood. I would recognize those eyes anywhere, they are those I used to see in the mirror every day back then.“ He leans against the wall opposite heavily and rakes his hands through his hair wearily. The past is catching up to him again, making the genius look a few years older than he actually is.
„It’s just… When I was young, there was nobody who would ever give me the chance to realize I have taken my grief and issues out on others, and if only one person would have ever said, hey, Tony, stop drinking and sleeping around, stop messing with others, I might would have learned the easier way. I think maybe we could be the ones guiding peter into a new, better life. Sure, we are not what people would would consider normal, but still, I think we could make it work– Hey Steve? Oh my god please don’t.“
Tony’s jaw drops when he sees that Steve is totally touched by Tony’s ramble.
„It is nice that you finally talk about you past. Maybe being more open about it will slowly cure your demons?“ He wonders as they slowly start walking towards the reception.
„Aww come on, Steve, stop ruining the mood with my stupid childhood. We just got ourselves a son. A freaking son! Stop being all negative and enjoy the feeling of becoming a parent!“ Tony says and skips towards the reception to make an appointment for the next day.