#Bruce: well I do and you can stop bringing it up. friends dont rub their friend's irrationality in their faces

[bigskydreaming]

That last reblog has me now contemplating.

What if to mess with his shiny new little brother, but like....gently....when they first started hanging out Dick told Jason a couple of slight falsehoods as umm. A training exercise. That’s it. It was about helping Jason get up to speed with his information gathering skills and also his bullshit detection. So in the interest of being helpful and A Good Big Brother, Obviously....Dick sowed a few.....less-than-entirely-factual details about the more fantastical elements of their lives. The stuff that isn’t common or public knowledge to most of the DC Earth. And then he just.....waited to see how long it took Jason to realize Dick had fed him a handful of straight up lies when briefing him about All Things Superhero.

Look, it was for Science. That’s Dick’s story and he’s sticking to it.

Thus, for the first couple months of their new sibling relationship, Dick had Jason convinced that Atlanteans were actually aliens who landed here thousands of years ago, speedsters can run so fast they can travel back in time, and Superman once accidentally let out a burp so forceful it created a shockwave that shattered every glass in a quarter mile radius so whenever he starts to look....gassy....your best course of action is to hit the deck. Don’t even hesitate for a second, just dive to the ground and grab some floor until he’s got it back under control. And oh yeah, Diana has her Lasso of Truth, but Donna’s version of truth-related powers is that she can sense when people are up to no good....only, the way this manifests for her is she suddenly registers a distinct bad smell in her vicinity, alerting her that bullshit is afoot.

“You’re kidding,” Jason said flatly. “You expect me to believe that Donna can literally smell bullshit?”

Dick just raised an eyebrow. “Like that’s somehow less plausible than Gar being able to change into any kind of animal but only in shades of green? And oh yeah, speaking of green, Green Lanterns can do just about anything with their rings....except protect themselves from yellow paint? I don’t make the rules, Jace. The truth is sometimes superpowers aren’t super-glamorous and not everything related to magic or gods or other planets is as....sophisticated...as we presume. I mean, its not like these things exist just to match up to our expectations for them. Why should alien civilizations or the rules of magic be influenced by whether or not our society would find something weird or ridiculous?”

Jason chewed his lower lip contemplatively. He lacked an official bullshit detecting power himself, but he did have good instincts. Unfortunately for him, his shiny new big brother gave good Lying-to-your-face Face.

“Plus, if you really think about it, it does make a kind of sense,” Dick continued to explain helpfully. But only according to certain specific interpretations of ‘helpfully’ that actually mean ‘like a liar.’ “Our brains are constantly translating all kinds of input and stimuli into shapes or patterns we can actually process in a way that means something to us. So we can make use of that information. This is just the same thing. Donna’s power takes however many variables are involved in registering something as false or something she needs to be wary of...and just condenses it into a simple ‘red alert’ indicator that takes all that abstract, ephemeral data and makes it something actionable. Something she can actually do something with. Her power - or how her brain perceives it - just didn’t actually consult her or give her a choice of notification settings, because why would it?”

“I guess that makes sense,” Jason begrudgingly agreed, with a frown that suggested this particular ‘truth’ Offended his sensibilities.

“I mean, you can ask Donna to explain it herself if you want,” Dick said with a shrug. “Just a heads-up though....she’s not really a fan of how that power works either. Its not exactly a superpower anyone wants to be known for, and she’s heard allllll the jokes about it by now. Roy, Wally and I were perhaps....not the most sensitive when we were younger and she was honing that particular skillset? Though in our defense, I maintain that most of our jokes were hilarious. But anyway, just saying. If you wanna bring it up with her directly, go right ahead! Its definitely one of her favorite topics and Amazons are for sure known for how well they handle being self-conscious.”

And that’s the story of the three months Jason spent convinced that Atlanteans were from another planet, confusing the hell out of Garth with his occasional references to ‘your homeworld’ and his numerous questions about all the Atlantean Green Lanterns that he for some reason seemed convinced the Green Lantern Corps must obviously have a long history of.

And its also why Jason spent those same three months getting wide-eyed and nervous any time he noticed Donna’s nose so much as twitch when he was around. Which it did a lot more often than usual, thanks to how often Dick got horseradish to go with whatever he was having for lunch, knowing full well that Donna can not stand the smell of horseradish. (Dick’s actually not a fan either, and he hates how it tastes, but he’s not afraid to Suffer for the sake of Shenanigans. Its a fundamental part of the Robin experience and persona, after all.)

But it was the Donna thing that gave Dick away, ultimately. No matter how hard he tried to keep a lid on how entertaining he now found the sight of Donna’s occasional nose twitch...even a Batkid poker face can’t keep an empath and telepath from finding this a mystery worth untangling after the tenth time it happens.

(Not that Lilith or Raven are gonna apologize for prying any time soon. They had an obligation as his friends and teammates to investigate when he’s acting bizarre, y’see. What if its because he was brainwashed again? “We’re intrusive because we love,” Lilith insists with zero shame. Raven clarifies: “I was intrusive because she was already doing it so there seemed no point not to.” Lilith points out that this could also be construed as a sign of strong leadership potential. Dick glowers. Lilith waves a hand dismissively. “We can circle back to that later. That’s fine.”)

Anyway, the truth came out at last, Jason cites this as the Moral Justification for every single time and way he was a pain in the ass to Dick in the years to come, and Donna - who was Not Amused - gave a pointed sniff and called bullshit when Dick tried to claim this was an important Bonding Opportunity for he and Jason, wherein they became brothers ‘for real’ instead of just via Bruce. “There are intricate sibling rituals to be observed,” Dick insisted. “I did my research! We had so much time to make up for, I had to speedrun through my shenanigans to get us all caught up! Would I have done all this if I didn’t care?”

Every Titan in the room, familiar with the lengths he’d gone to when messing with Rogues and randos as Robin and thus distinctly unimpressed: Yes. Absolutely. One hundred percent.

Dick foraged on heroically. “Regardless! That’s not the case here, as all of this was clearly done in the name of brotherhood and bonding! We’ll laugh about this someday, you’ll see!”

Ten years later, after Jason’s returned as the Red Hood and reintegrated with the Batfamily to varying degrees, enough so that he accompanies Dick and the rest of the OG Titans on a mission where they’re ambushed, captured and trapped in a supervillain dungeon they’re now trying to escape...

Dick: Definitely kicking myself for not seeing that ambush coming. Where’s a bullshit-sniffing power when you really need it, huh?

Jason: Still not laughing yet.

Dick: Oh come on!

As far as the rest goes, Jason does get a kick out of the speedsters discovering that actually, they can run fast enough to travel through time. He’s like, despite your best efforts you accidentally got one right. And Dick’s all ‘was it an accident or did I actually know or have strong suspicions all along’....but Jason shuts that down. “Nope. Not giving you this one. Try it with someone else.”

However, that still left one last card in play, long after everyone - even Dick and Jason themselves - had all but forgotten about it.

See, every Batkid knows that the best lies contain elements of truth. And that’s why Dick only peppered in his fake trivia very, very sparingly amidst a massive info-dump of actually accurate and useful info he gave Jason about all that stuff, way back when.

So despite the handful of things Dick had told him that Jason eventually discovered to be untrue...the vast majority of it did check out.

Which means even once he did catch on to Dick’s game....that didn’t change his acceptance of the stuff that had turned out to be true or verified by others. But in the end, there was only one little fib that slipped under the radar. Because the scenario it was based on just never happened to come up until long after Jason had returned....and thus Jason never had reason to put much thought into actually questioning whether or not it was true. Not until long after he’d stopped scrutinizing stuff Dick had told him, in search of possible ‘traps.’

And THAT is the story of how Jason - on one of the rare occasions that he joined the Titans and Justice League for an all-hands-on-deck kinda teamup - just happened to be in the right wrong place at the right wrong time to notice Superman suddenly start to look queasy after trying some alien cuisine....

And without a second thought, Jason just instinctively dove for the floor. With this followed by Clark letting out an extremely normal-sounding burp and a sheepish apology.

Everyone else, staring at the infamous Red Hood ducking for cover because Clark had a moment of indigestion: umm. wut

Dick, staring wide-eyed at his brother and trying not to laugh: Oh shit. I totally forgot all about that.

Jason, almost conversationally, while climbing to his feet and stalking ominously towards his big bro: Hey can you believe that after all the shit we’ve been through and all the times we’ve fought over like...actual life and death stuff, THIS is the thing I’m actually gonna kill you for?

Dick, backing away, hands raised placatingly: Hey, c’mon now, Jace, we called a truce about all this ages ago, remember? It was a much younger, dumber me who did all that in the first place, y’know? You’re better than this!

Jason: I’m really not.

Dick: Well then can I just take this opportunity to mention again how sorry I am for any creative embellishments I might have once come up with, in the mistaken belief that I was honoring important traditions of brotherhood, and....

Jason: Hey, where’s Donna? Can anyone see if her nose is twitching?

Donna and the rest of the Titans, blatantly amused and offering no explanation to the very confused Justice League: Oh, bullshit absolutely detected. In the interests of Truth and Justice, you should totally proceed.

Dick, jabbing his finger at his teammates before dashing for the door: Betrayal! J’accuse!

Donna, shrugging: Sorry, Rob. Justice demands impartiality. Our hands are tied.

Jason, running out the door and down the hallway in pursuit of his fleeing brother: Yeah you better run! I’ve waited ten fucking years to get back at you for this shit. Where you going anyway, bro? I thought you wanted to laugh about this someday!

Dick (offscreen): I regret nothing! It was all worth it! You should have seen your face!

Jason (offscreen): You couldn’t even see my face, idiot! I’m wearing my fucking helmet!

Dick (offscreen): Semantics! If something’s funny enough, you can sense what someone’s face probably looks like! If you know, you know!

Jason (offscreen): Oh yeah, go ahead and make up some more shit, Grayson, that’s definitely the right way to go here!

Batman, looking to the Titans and waving his hand at...whatever all that is offscreen: Explain.

Roy: Hey don’t look at us. You’re the one who made them brothers. This is on you.

Batman: What does that even mean.

Lilith: If you know, you know. Dick’s right about that much at least.

The Titans all nod like an actual, self-evident truth was just expressed. Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose, and starts muttering under his breath.

“You need to encourage Dick to seek out and make like-minded friends, Alfred said. It’ll be good for him, he said. Its what he needs and definitely not the point everything starts to go downhill.”

Lilith picks it up loud and clear, because of course she does, and incidentally, the smug, obnoxious know-it-all teenage psychic who started hanging out with Dick when they were teenagers has absolutely nothing to do with Bruce’s profound dislike of telepaths, nooooo, that would be ridiculous and irrational, to bear a grudge against everyone with a particular skillset because one of your son’s childhood friends was a royal pain in the -

Lilith: Oh, that’s adorable. He thinks we’re the reason Dick’s so profoundly weird and inexplicable.

The Titans, in unison: LOL.

Roy: The self-deluding, it is strong in that family.

Bruce is suddenly extra glad he’s wearing a cowl that hides what is definitely not a pout but might be mistaken for one by the uninformed thus its better to just dodge that issue entirely. He crosses his arms and stares down the collection of his eldest son’s friends, whom he has been unfairly plagued by since most of them were pre-pubescent little demons. Literally no one has suffered like he has.

“I don’t like you,” he informs them officiously. Not sulkily. Officiously.

Several of them snort. There’s a couple giggles. An eye roll from Roy. An aborted response hastily turns into Wally coughing into his hand. Blatant dismissal from Victor, his attention clearly on whatever he’s browsing online. Three varying shades of raised eyebrows: unflappable bemusement from the sorceress, patronizing amusement from the psychic, naked incredulity from Donna. Garth gazing off into an empty corner which he has on very good authority is basically the Atlantean version of the middle finger.

“Yeah, no shit,” Roy drawls, apparently on behalf of the whole group.

Ugh, they’re just. The worst. Why couldn’t Clark have had a kid Dick’s age so he never had to go looking elsewhere for socialization? That’s it. Clearly this was all Clark’s fault. He can’t believe he never realized that before.

Dammit Clark.

[rianncreates]

Family part 13

So after talking to my friend I honestly still dont see an end to this fic😅😅 hope you guys dont mind that. Also all errors are mine hope yall like it.

You sit in the medical bay in silence rubbing your belly up and down. Exhaustion had started to settle a few minutes after arriving at the compound. You had been shaky and on guard the whole time with Nick still in your arms not wanting to let go of him incase something else happened. 

Once at the compound you were met with both Tony and Bruce asking what had happened. You followed them in a dazed, at moments your attention coming back into focus when either Tony or Bruce regarded you.When it was time to get checked out for any injuries you had refused to let your son go but Carol told you that she won't leave him alone and Tony said he would keep you updated. 

Once they were able to get you into a medical room Bruce got to work. Now you sit waiting for the results and also wanting to be with your family already. You are taken out of your trance by the sound of the door opening and bruce walking in.

"Alrighty, apart from some scratches you are in good shape" He taps away on the tablet

"As for the baby it seems like your new found powers have made a protective barrier around it acting like some sort of extra protection. It's really fascinating how your DNA ha-"

"Hows Nick?" You interrupt him before he can get off track. If it wasn't for the circumstances you would've been right there with him drawing up some theories on what's going on in you body. As Bruce opens his mouth to reply the doors open once more to reveal Tony.

"Little man is just buzzing over the fact that he kicked bad guy butt like momma." He says grabbing the tablet out of Bruce's hand and taking a seat next to you "Carol was having a hard time keeping him still so Strange could check him." He chuckles as he finished. You would've joined him if it wasn't for the fact that you had a lot going on in your head.

You had been attacked at your own house, you also had powers now, and used said powers alongside your 3yr old to fight (for the lack of a better word) bad guys. Your mind was reeling over the facts you were so distracted that you didn't notice your hands starting to spark till your heard Tony's voice.

"Woah there sparky!!" 

He starts to back away a bit. Carol chose that same moment to walk in and upon seeing you she rushes over he hands gently cup your face. 

"Sweetheart, I need you to breath ok?" She catches Y/E/C eyes "Take a deep breath with me ok?" She breathes slowly inhale, exhale. You follow her lead then blinking a few times your hands finally stop their light show. After one last shaky exhale you whisper 

"I don't want powers."

Carol's brows furrowed knowing that it must've been hard on you. Going from human to kree to now learn about your powers in such a short amount of time. And all while pregnant with your second child.

"I'm Sorry." She whispers in response.

You look up and see the guilt on her face you instinctively grab her hands that still hold your face. Leaning forward so your foreheads touch.

"I don't blame you, it's just." You pause and take a deep breath again. Locking eyes "It's just a lot to take in."

Her eyes mist over as she chuckles "Now I know where our son gets his resilience from."

"Where is he?" You ask.

"He is currently showing aunty Nat his pose for kicking Bad Guy butts." She answers. You let out a breathy laugh and pull her closer to you. Needing to draw comfort from your wife and she is more than willing to do so. Placing a kiss to your head she holds you with no signs of letting go any time soon.

_____________________________________

"Tell me again why we let Tony talk us into a gender reveal?" You ask huffing as you try to fix your hair. Carol walks in with Nick hanging off her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

"He annoyed us till we said yes." she replied as she dumps her son onto the bed his hysterical giggles bouncing off the walls.

You smile as you watch the two most important people in your life interact. Carol trying and failing to put a sox on your son that wouldn't stop wiggling around. You feel love grow within you and as a reaction your skin started to glow. Though it was still new for you it didn't scare you as much anymore. 

Ever since the discovery of your powers Carol had been helping you to learn control. You knew it was necessary not only for you but for your son as well so you both had decided to make it a family thing. Nick loved to "train" alongside both his moms and in a way it had made the little family unit stronger.

You feel a laughing mass collide at your side. Glancing over you see your son smiling up.

"You glow mommy!!!" He exclaims, making you laugh. 

"Mommy is happy sweetie." You answer him. He smiles and then proceeds to whisper to his sibling telling them that they finally get to know if they're a boy or a girl. 

You run your fingers through his blond hair. "Hmm he needs a haircut." You think to yourself as you hear a huff from the bed.

"You are definitely his favorite." The pout clear in Carols voice.

_____________________________________

You shake your head at the ridiculousness of this party. Tony, as always, had gone above and Way beyond on it. You look around at the decorations all blue and pink. He even had custom made t-shirts. Pink with the words Team Girl on it and Blue with Team Boy. Each guest was given a shirt corresponding with their guess.

You though? you had a damn neutral colored shirt with a big question mark on top of your belly. So in other words you wanted to kill Tony. 

You had to give it to him though, it was pretty clever and all the gender theme snacks were cute and also delicious. Taking a bite of your snack you look around the mass of people. Mentally checking off who's in which team and the list goes as follows: 

Team boy: Bucky, Sam, Hope, Shuri, Wanda, pepper, morgan, Bruce.

Team girl: Steve, Nat, Thor, Tony, Peter, T'challa, Talos and his family, Fury (tho he wont wear the shirt), Maria, Monica.

You look over at your son proudly wearing his Team Girl shirt and Carol wearing Team Boy to have some friendly competition with her son. You shake your head and wondered how you had already 2 kids.

You feel a hand on your shoulder seeing Pepper. She opens her mouth to say something but her husband gets everyone's attention. 

"Ok guys, it's time for the reveal!!!" He shouts "Let's get the family of the hour front and center."

You and Carol and Nick get together, being surrounded by your chosen family makes your heart feel full and happy. As a unit you wait for whatever ridiculous object you had to break or pop for the reveal. 

You thought it was cliche but you couldn't help the excitement you felt to finally knowing what your baby was going to be. All of a sudden, you see both Steve and Bucky bringing over a concrete block.

"What is this?" You ask glancing over at Tony then at Carol. Her having the same confused expression you had.

"You break that" answers Tony like it's obvious.

"What the hell tony?" Exclaims Carol, you both look at each other trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of this.

You look back at him "Couldn't it be a balloo-"

Boom!!!!

A big explosion interrupts you, and immediately after, you stand there frozen alongside carol watching pink smoke descended on your family.  Looking down at your son as he cheers and the glow on his fist dissipates. Glancing over at Carol you see the same dumbstruck face that you probably have as well you smile as it finally hit you.

"It's a girl" you whisper and she looks back towards you and Whispers in response

"I owe my three-year-old 5 dollars."

Taglist: @autumnjackson4 , @skyella01

Pls like or reblog, it would mean alot to me, 😊. Thank you!

[imagines-dreams]

Being Tony’s Girlfriend, from Avengers to Endgame Headcanons

ENDGAME SPOILERS

Ratings: PG-13

Warnings: uhhhhh ENDGAME SPOILERS DONT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, also this is super long as in like more than 3k words

You were saved by Iron Man during the Battle of New York

You’ve always looked up to him and thanked whatever higher power there was that he was there to save you and give you a chance at life again

So, you pursued your passions and lived life as much as you could

Even volunteered a couple of places

Including Sokovia

He saved you there too, but it wasn’t like last time

The first time he saved you, it was when there was a group of chitauri cornering you and a handful of other people, a weapon pointed right at your neck

Iron Man blasted them off and cleared a path for you

The second time, in Sokovia, you were guarding the people from the shelter. You were the one in the best health and the one trained in minimal self-defense

It was your group’s best option

You managed to get the people you helped to safety, but the earth rumbled, and you were cut off from them

You were alone.

Surrounded by robots with red eyes and growls

Something blasted the robot in front of you, and suddenly, you were Iron Man’s arms, flying towards the boats

After a short scream, you realized, “My friends!” You shouted, “There are people behind the wall where I was. Are they ok?”

Tony just said, “We’re getting everyone they can.”

“They’ll be looking for me!” You turned and the smaller that spot you came from became, the more terrified you got. “There are children there, elderly, they’ll be looking for me!”

Iron Man stared at you before scoffing, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

He dropped you off on the flying boat.

You took a step towards the exit but, “Nope.” Iron Man pulled your arm away from the exit. “I’ll bring them back, ok? No leaving.”

“But-”

“Nope!”

And just like that, he was off.

Within the next ten minutes, your party was returned to you.

“Thank you,” you smiled and reminded him, “Just….” You heard so many rumors about Tony Stark, including that of his PTSD, so you just said, “Be careful. Please.”

Tony nodded. “I’m always careful.”

It would be a few months before you saw him again. You were rushing to work, checking your emails in one hand and sipping coffee with another.

You almost got hit by a car.

“Hey! Watch it!” You yelled.

Wait. Scratch that. You almost got hit. By a limo.

The door opened, and you scoffed and placed a hand on your hip, ready to fight a man on this, but nope

The man who saved your twice comes out, and you're just like…. Shit.

Tony shakes his head, “I should be telling you to be careful.”

Immediately, the nervousness and anxiety vanish. You laugh. “Well, compare a car crash to saving the world, I honestly think I’m in the right here.”

It was over after that. There was no turning back. No matter what either of you two did, you were in love with each other, and nothing could change that.

A coffee turned into a date which turned into dating which turned into engaged

Then it went to shit

Tony sighed and lifted your hand and kissed the ring he placed there. “Soon.”

You nodded. “Soon.”

And he left, and he was gone.

You stayed at the Avengers compound, trying to make sense of what happened. Tony and Peter went up into space, you knew that. You haven’t heard back in three weeks, but there was still a chance that they were ok, and by god you were going to hold onto that chance until you saw proof it couldn’t be otherwise.

Then, a woman carried a ship onto the front field, and out walked the love of your life

You couldn’t focus on anything else. Just him. It was just him.

“Tell me, is she-”

You hugged him. “Tony,” you whispered into his skin. You gasped and smiled to the sky. You couldn’t say anything else but his name, and soon after, Tony’s pulling away to look at your face, to really look at it. He smiled so gently and brushed your hair back, and you couldn’t help but feel the stress and worry slip out of you, because he was back, Tony was back.

Then, his smile faded. “I lost the kid.”

And your heart breaks. Peter Parker, the sweet boy with the smarts and selflessness of Tony, the boy you learned to love and that Tony learned to love…

You hugged him again and just as the tears were about to slip. “You need some food.” You gulped. “And water.”

Then Thanos died.

The stones were destroyed.

Tony hated the Avengers compound

And you couldn’t blame him.

“Like Clint?” you suggested one night. “Not New York. Not L.A. Somewhere quiet maybe.”

Tony nodded and held your hands. “Quiet sounds good.”

So that’s where you went. Someplace quiet. To get married. To live. To raise a child.

Tony cried the night you found out. Because what if he couldn’t protect them. What if he couldn’t be the father he wanted to be. What if Thanos came back somehow. What if there was another threat.

And after he was determined to never go into the field again (You knew that was a lie but you didn’t tell him otherwise), a new fear came up, quietly, softly.

“(Y/n)?”

“Yes?”

Tony was silent, and he held you closer, his palm resting on your slight bump, and you could hear the tears. “What if he’s a he? And… He looks like…. Like me.” Tony gulped. “Brown hair. Brown eyes.”

Peter. You sniffed and rubbed your eyes. You turned to Tony and smiled at him. “Tony, you did your best.”

“It wasn’t enough.”

“That’s all the world can ask of you.” You stroked his cheeks and said sternly, “And frankly, the world doesn’t deserve your best.” You sniffed and kissed his nose. “But you do anyway.”

You put his hand on your belly and said, “Our child, our kid, no matter what they look like, I know you’ll give your best. Because that’s what you do. You give them your best even if it hurts you.” You smiled. “And when it hurts you too much, I’ll be there. Yeah?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah.”

It’s a boy. Wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes, and Tony’s smirk. “Malcolm?”

“Anthony.”

“We’re not naming him after you.”

“Why not?”

“You want to call him Junior?”

“... Fair point. He’s still not a Malcolm.”

“Ok, then what names do you have in mind?”

Tony thought for a second, then, “Adrien.”

“Adrien Stark.” You nodded. “I like that.”

So, little Adrien, you, and Tony lived in your cottage in peace and quiet.

Your husband was always working on the house. Always improving the tech and adding new things, building new toys for your son and making things more convenient for you.

Sometimes, Tony couldn’t bear it, and he’d just hug Adrien to his chest and cry, because oh god he reminds him too much of Peter and he misses him and everyone else that was lost

And you’re always there

And Tony promises again and again that he will be the best goddamn father for that kid

You made it a habit to visit anyone you can, especially Thor. Thor was so lost after he killed Thanos. You tried to get him off beer with some slightly more healthy easy to go meals, and sometimes he took them.

Nat and Steve sometimes visited. Tony tended to talk only for a while with them.

It was painful, and you knew that.

Bruce dropped by less often, updating you and Tony on his Hulk situation, until one day, he came as both.

Adrien was very happy to meet the hulk

The nights were always up to chance. It could be peaceful or filled with nightmares from either or both ends. If it was one, you or Tony would comfort the other. If it was both, the two of you would shuffle to Adrien’s room and just listen to him breathe.

It calmed both of you down most of the time.

Therapy helped, too.

Tony started going after you suggested it for the umpteenth time, stopped after the snap, then started going back again when you admitted you needed it too.

And for a few years, it was enough.

It was happy.

Then, Cap, Nat, and a newcomer, from Germany?, came back.

You stared outside from the kitchen, rearranging the frames again. When Tony’s wrinkles deepened, you crouched down, “Adrien, you wanna go rescue Daddy from that conversation?”

He nodded happily and rushed to his dad.

You gulped down your worry and prepared yourself

You knew what was going to happen.

Whatever they were asking of him, he’d do it. He’d take a while, but he’d do it. That’s who Tony was. And Tony wasn’t one to stand by and do nothing.

Sure enough, later that night, after putting Adrien to sleep, he started talking in that hurried tone of his.

“Not to brag, but Adrien just said he loved me 3000.”

You giggled.

“Just saying, you were somewhere on the 600 branch. Me? 3000.”

“That sounds nice, Tony.”

You waited, and then, “I did it.”

“Did what?”

“Figure it out.”

You sighed. “Tony, what did you figure out?”

He shook his head. “Time travel.”

“Wow.” You did not see that coming. But then again, you probably should have. First terrorists, aliens, terrorist within shield, superheroes. “That’s amazing,” You admitted. The pieces came together, and you could see Peter Parker standing next to you again. “And terrifying.” You could see Tony going back into battle. And maybe… never coming back.

He vented and told you how he should leave well enough alone and just stay here with you and your son, with your family

You just smiled. “Tony, I love you.” You kissed his hand and sighed, “And I know that you won’t be able to rest without trying.”

He shook his head. “Adrien.”

You nodded. “I know. But, I knew the moment they came back here with those determined faces, that… you would go back.” You stroked his cheek and asked, “Maybe you’ve changed and maybe I’m wrong, but tell me. Would you be able to rest if you didn’t go?”

Tony kissed you and reminded you how much he loved you, and in the morning, he hugged you and Adrien, and he was gone.

The final battle was upon you, and Tony had armor for you. In case of an emergency. A rescue suit.

And you’d be damned if you didn’t help your husband in this.

You gulped. “Happy?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Would you mind watching Adrien?”

“Not at all, ma’am.”

You fought side by side with Tony, watching his six and telling him to be careful every now and then.

Then, Thanos was winning. Captain Marvel was subdued by an infinity stone. Cap and Thor were down, but Tony wasn’t. Not yet.

You cried after the light left his eyes. You bawled. You told him that you and Adrien would be ok, because that’s what he deserved to hear. Because that’s what he cared about, but oh god you lied, and you hoped he didn’t know you were.

And when you got home, to Happy and your son, Adrien asked where Daddy was, and you bit your lip and looked to Happy.

Happy fell down onto the couch, and with tears in your eyes, you scooped your boy up and brought him upstairs. You smiled through tears and asked him if he could play by himself for a bit, because you just couldn’t tell him, not when you couldn’t say it to yourself yet.

Adrien was just like his dad. He was worried, and after asking you once, he stopped and played by himself.

You kissed his head and went downstairs to cry with Happy.

An hour later, you were getting up the nerve to tell Adrien, but someone was at your door. A lot of someones.

Bruce handed you a USB drive. “I found it at his desk.”

You gulped and nodded. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

You went to your office and plugged it in. And Tony’s voice filled the room. “Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration.”

You just shook your head, and you already missed his voice so much. You just couldn’t. You turned it off and cried again.

Later, you promised yourself. Later.

The funeral came, and you decided you would watch it then. You had told Adrien, but he seemed to not understand. Not really. And it broke your heart. He only had five years with Adrien, and Adrien… He might grow up and not remember much of his dad. Just recordings and holograms and pictures. Never actual memories.

“I hope families are being united. I hope you get it back in somewhat like a normal version of the planet that has been restored, if there ever was such a thing. What a world! The universe now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised, but come on, the epic forces of dark and light that have come into play. And for better or worse, that’s the reality Adrien's going to have to find her way to grow up in. So I thought I better record a little greeting, in the case of an untimely event, on my part.”

You hugged Adrien closer. He didn’t understand why, but he snuggled into your side anyway.

“Not that death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing we're going to try to pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it. Then again that's the heroes gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I even tripping for? Everything's going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to.”

The hologram stood up and his eyes conveniently found Adrien. “I love you 3000.”

You almost laughed, but there were still too many tears in your eyes.

Adrien perked up. “I love you 3000.”

You laughed and kissed your son’s head.

“Good morning! Afternoon?”

You gasped. “Tony?”

You stood up, picked up Adrien, and looked around your house. No one there. No Tony. Just your friends who made it to the funeral.  You gulped. “Did I hear that? Am I-”

“Woke up late, I assume?”

You tilted your head. The voice was coming from everywhere.

“Sweetheart, I told you about working late. Try to get some sleep earlier. Don’t be like me.”

You covered your mouth and cried, but your son, no, he could still talk. “Daddy?”

“Hey, Mini Me. How are you today?”

“Everyone’s sad today,” your son said so nonchalantly, as if telling his father about his day. “They say you’re gone.”

“Well, kid…”

Everyone was crowding around you, and oh god, you couldn’t take it. You were feeling too much, and it just… It was so much.

“I kinda am, but I’m kinda not. You see, I promised myself I was going to give you and Mommy my best, and this is it.”

You held Adrien close to you and hugged him so tightly.

“Sweetheart, there are a few protocols as to how to tell Adrien about what happened. Would you like me to say anything?”

You shook your head. “No.” You gulped down his name, because god it was his voice, but it wasn’t really him. “No, Ant, I’ll tell him when I can.” You gulped down your tears and the smile came through.

“Ok, sweetheart.”

You laughed and covered your mouth. He was gone, but he left part of him behind.

“What the hell was that?” Rhodey yelled.

You laughed. “I think that was Tony making an AI of himself.”  You shook your head. “He’s still kinda here.”

And so, Adrien grew up, being helped by his father in a way, and yes, you told him eventually what happened and why there was a disembodied voice in your house.

Sometimes, it was too much for either of you, and you turned it off, Tony’s voice always saying, “I love you 3000” before shutting off, but it was still there.

Sometimes, however, you’d turn him on in the middle of feeling so guilty just to hear his voice

“Ant?”

“Yes, (Y/n)?”

“Can you say… Can you just…”

His hologram would appear in front of you. “I love you, you know that? It’s always you.”

And you’d cry in the bed that was too big for you and turn him off again. Because god, you missed Tony.

Tony thought of everything. You plugged the USB into some of Adrien’s toys, and Tony’s voice would guide him through. Even the bike Tony tricked out, that had Tony’s guidance too. And his sarcasm.

“I know you’re not wearing a helmet, Adrien.”

“Dad-”

“Nope, this bike is locked until you get a helmet.”

“You can’t-”

“Brakes are on until I know there’s a helmet covering that head.”

“The helmet-”

“I will alert your mother if you try again, Mister.”

There were obscure protocols on there, too. You once invited a man who lost his way into your home, and Tony’s voice said, “Background scan completed, and he is not bad.”

You blinked.

“Does that happen often?”

“Yeah, kind of.” You laughed. “Ant, shut off please.”

“There’s a stranger in the house.”

“Anthony.”

“Going to sleep mode. Love you 3000.”

You locked all protocols about you dating. You, however, did not lock the protocols for if there were more children in the house.

Harley was sixteen when he first came over, and he cried after hearing Tony’s voice for the first time in years.

“Harley, you’re tall. Taller than me. Not allowed.”

Peter came over, too. He also cried.

“Hey, kid. How’s the neighborhood treating you?”

Shuri came over once with T’Challa on some sort of mission, and she worked with the AI downstairs.

When she left, she told you, “Your husband was brilliant.”

“Thank you.”

And soon, Harley, Peter, and Adrien were grown up. Three young boys with amazing potential. You couldn’t have been more proud.

And you were alone in the house again

You gulped. “Ant?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why did Tony think this was a good idea?”

“... I was created because he was aware of what would happen if he left.”

“And what was that?”

“That you would feel empty. He didn’t want that. He thought it would be better this way.”

“I’m not sure about that.” You sighed. “Turn off, Ant.”

And he did.

You cried several times, but you didn’t turn him back on. Just the hologram messages here and there.

Adrien understood. He said he’d been conflicted about it too. He knew his father was amazing, but he couldn’t remember much about before he was gone, before he was just a recorded voice.

Still, the two of you didn’t turn Anthony back on.

Not until you were in the hospital.

Adrien turned on the AI. “Dad?”

“Hey, Adrien.”

He gulped. “Mom’s dying, Dad.”

“Does she need anything from me?”

“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “She’s scared, though.”

“I can sing to her if she wants. Or play some past messages. Unless she wants something else. She usually has some really good ideas.”

Adrien laughed. “I’m not sure about that, but um… Maybe you and I can do something.”

Adrien was a lot like his dad. He was an engineer, more interested in medicine than mechanical engineering, but still, he stayed up for several nights working on a new project.

His family was worried, but they were used to it, just like how you were used to it with Tony.

Adrien brought it to you at the hospital. A set of pictures and videos with music and Tony’s voice to play until you took your final breath. You were surrounded by Tony’s voice and memories as well as your family and teammates when it happened.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“.... Tony?”