Chapter Text
Tony woke up mid battle just as he's blasting away one of the Hammer Drones from the kid at his Expo dressed in a toy Iron Man get up. Their eyes met and a red-black glow enveloped the kid overlaid with a spider, his Iron Man helmet symbol on the thorax, and the six infinity stones surrounding the two symbols. To top it off there were strange unrecognizable mystical symbols that he somehow just knew were identifying the kid as his Spider child. He also knows from the black-red glow that little Peter had just gotten his powers upgrade alongside his memories that matched Tony's own, ending at Tony's death after snapping Thanos and his army.
"Look alive Underoos! I swear if you participate in this fight or get yourself killed you are so grounded!" Tony told the child, told Peter.
"Too late Mr. Stark," Peter said cheerfully before hopping onto the Iron Man suit and clinging to him with his spider powers.
Tony cursed but knew he couldn't shake the kid off fast enough... or at all. Stupid spider powers of clinging.
"Definitely grounded," Tony groused through his speakers before swapping back to his comms as Peter laughed in pure joy. Taking advantage of the 10 - 30 second break he had in the fighting that he had used last time to congratulate his later teen-spider-child. "Guys, I got a little kid with me that has decided he's helping and has climbed my armor. I'll try getting him somewhere safe but if those bots target me I won't have any choice but to fly with him and treat him as a passenger mid combat. Upside? He seems to have come into some kind of enhanced abilities of his own, possibly because of the threat. Downside? I see nowhere safe to stash him and no sight of his Guardians."
"We copy Iron Man," one of the Shield agents on the comms answered back. "Routing the warning to security and to the LEOs responding to calls for help."
"Shield right? Do not hack my AI or I'm nuking your entire database and tanking every Shield employee's credit rating on all of their aliases. Consider the kid under my protection and any attempt to recruit him as my seeing you attacking my children in front of me... That said, Pepper? You got a place near me I can put the kid or do I just risk flying him to the stage and sending him your way?" Tony asked, still sending pot shots at various nearby Hammer Drones.
"Stage and get those drones knocked down," Pepper answered immediately. "Our hacking attempts aren't getting through."
"Alright Underoos, we're dropping you off on the stage and you are running to Pepper, no arguments. Your body is tiny," Tony ordered, switching back to speakers, even as he moved to match actions to words.
"Pepper duty it is," Peter said cheerfully, staying on the back of the Iron Man suit as if being given a piggy back ride or using Iron Man to surf his way through the air.
Both future heroes knew that whatever this was, whatever had sent them back in time, might not have bothered with anyone else. They would breakdown together once this fight was done and they were safe from prying eyes.
"Sir, I have taken the liberty of scanning your passenger and have identified a worrying rise in temperature. Should I request medical for him?" JARVIS asked politely, despite the firefight.
"J," Tony practically choked as he tried not to instantly start crying, firefight or no firefight. He took a deep breath, the housing of the arc reactor aching against his lungs, and refocused on the fight. "JARVIS, new protocol Baby Spider, the kid's name is Peter and we both just got dumped back in time into our younger bodies from one battle to another. I do, in fact, consider him my kid regardless of anything else so log him as your baby brother and go from there. Right now finding and killing the very much not dead Ivan Vanko is priority alongside taking back Rhodey and the War Machine armor as well as protecting civilians, not necessarily in that order. Remind me to fix the relationship with the military and confirm officially that Rhodey had permission to take the War Machine armor. If we have to, which we probably will, we can tell them about the palladium poisoning and the new fix to it but nothing else. Well that and my shit take on spy craft in my previously compromised state."
"So noted, sir," JARVIS said promptly just as Tony set Peter on the edge of the stage and watched him bolt for the backstage and Pepper. "Young Peter is logged as potential heir and a note has been made to sort out things after the battle on the legal side."
"Good, lets go kill an idiot that thought my kid, any kid, was a valid fucking target," Tony said with a snarl as he turned and launched back into the fight. Later people would view the footage and wonder why he started fighting so much more viciously after rescuing the kid.
"Tony! Vanko let you rescue that kid! He had you on my sensors the whole time with a perfect shot and muted me so that I couldn't warn you," Rhodey warned, breaking into Tony's radio chatter. "JARVIS got me comms back and secured it again but that's all I have control over."
"Noted," Tony said coldly.
This fight had just gotten so much more personal it wasn't even funny. If Vanko had taken enough notice of Peter to allow Tony to get him out of the line of fire then he would have noticed how careful Tony was of him, which potentially painted a target on his spider kid's back. A target he wouldn't allow to remain. Even if dealing with it got scary Aunt May after him with a cast iron skillet aimed at his head... again.
War Machine buzzed Iron Man and led him off towards were Tony remembered Vanko had set up the final confrontation. The drones weren't targeting as many civilians since most of them had fled or gotten into one of buildings holding exhibits. Instead they were focusing on any human shooting at them which was mostly security, Shield agents, and local law enforcement officers (LEOs).
Just like before Natasha Romanoff managed to return control of War Machine to Rhodey mid-fight in the gardens area where they had been fighting. It took a little witty banter for Vanko to show up only to be knocked into the water after a brief scuffle that did damage to the area between the three men.
"Just making sure but did he just electrocute himself to death? He actually had it that stripped down?!" Tony asked incredulously as they both looked down at the still twitching corpse. "I could have sworn that last time he survived this mess..."
"Tony...." Rhodey said almost hesitantly.
Tony looked over at his brother in everything but blood and noticed the odd look in his eye. He waited with an inquiring eyebrow raised, their suit masks still up from the earlier banter session.
"Thanos?" Rhodey finally asked.
"Insane giant purple dick," Tony immediately answered. His eyes showed relief that he still had his Rhodey-bear.
"The kid?" Rhodey asked cautiously.
"Peter... With his upgrade and very much not going to be cutting contact. Even if I have to drag one of the sorcerers over to cast a truth spell so that they will believe me when we talk about time travel with his Guardians," Tony said firmly.
"Fuck man," Rhodey said, shaking his head in disbelief. "This is insane."
"Well I am about to make it worse," Tony said ruefully. "I need you to get the Generals together for a private meeting with me. Shield is very much not invited and my lawyers will be officially separating us from them post haste. Fury gets to have me for a consult every now and then but that's it until New York and Loki. By the way the first time our trickster arrived half dead and having been tortured for over a year with blue eyes compared to his natural green."
Rhodey cursed viciously.
"You do realize your comms are still open?" Someone asked over said comms. The 'Oh Shit' look the pair shared was not only priceless it was caught on some of the back up cameras on the suits and saved for posterity.
"Anthony Edward Stark!" Pepper snapped over the comms to the echo of Peter laughing hysterically in the background. "You are not dying on me! Not after watching you snap that idiot! Get your butt back here!"
"Yes dear!" Tony answered immediately. The two men just shared looks of disbelief and took to the air, heading straight for Pepper and Peter.
"You do realize that she will expect you to at least make sure Morgan gets born right?" Rhodey asked over the comms, not even trying to hide the family drama unfolding from anyone else on the comms.
"And I will be happy to make sure our daughter is born. I just don't know if she wants to marry me again... I can't give up Iron Man. This is just another proof of it," Tony pointed out ruefully. "I get it. I really do and I'm glad she came back with us but... we both did a lot of hurting and I'll have to lay out the shit storm that happened since I was kidnapped from the beginning to the military boys you bring me. Reliving that literal torture is not going to be fun even with the little bit of counseling I got during the future time period that we're going to change."
"That's quite a mouthful," Rhodey joked. "Can't think of a better nickname?"
"Maybe when I'm not exhausted and emotionally coming down off of two back to back battles one of which was for the survival of all of reality," Tony pointed out, emotional exhaustion creeping into his voice without issue.
"Remote flight assistance activated. You may rest now sir," JARVIS butted in, taking control of the suit so that Tony didn't have to focus in his tired state.
"We don't have time, J," Tony spluttered but the moment he stopped concentrating it was like his body just shut down. He was asleep in the suit before anyone could answer him.
JARVIS immediately muted everything on comms to keep him that way, wondering if this was a side effect of the new reactor or of the time travel.
"I am afraid that Mr. Stark can't answer right now. He's fallen asleep," JARVIS told the worried listeners politely.
"It might be because he used the infinity stones right before we were sent back," Peter said with an audible wince in his child's voice. "They usually kill the user because of how much power it runs through the body. It wouldn't surprise me if they were sentient on top of that. It would surprise me even less if they were the ones to decide to send us back. We should probably start gathering people and making sure they get training and support even if they don't have their power ups yet. I think... I think Mr. Stark deliberately paid the price for all of us that came back. I don't know what the cost was though."
The gasps of shock and the quiet "Oh Tony" made it over the comms dedicated to both armors. Meanwhile those not accessing the dedicated channel focused on clean up and containment providing background sounds. The equally quiet sounds of Peter reassuring Pepper helped settle something inside of Rhodey.
"Pepper... We need to get on top of this," Rhodey said firmly. "We can't let him half kill himself trying to sort things out this time. Hell, if I can swing it I'll have boots on the ground for when that first portal opens in New York. It won't do any good though if Tony has half killed himself in the meantime. He's the only one of us who was there for that mess from start to finish and he's probably the only one who knows how to stop it or fix it if we can't cut it off before hand."
"I don't have current information on anyone but I have names so we can check on them. If they haven't become what we know them as yet we can lay groundwork. Ross is a problem," Pepper said firmly. "Getting into contact with the Sorcerers may have to wait for a few years."
"You don't have to tell me twice about Ross," Rhodey agreed with a growl. "We should try to avoid Vision happening and get the magic users onside early... Maximoff gets a bullet to the brain if she messes with Tony's head again. If Rogers goes to shove his shield through Tony's chest again I'll do the same to him and stand for court marshal willingly. As far as I'm concerned, both professionally and personally, anyone trying to take out Tony is threatening the planet at least until the giant purple threat is very dead. As for the magic users... we might not be able to wait. Last time through Loki didn't use his magic but we don't know why so we can't bank on him being deliberately incompetent again even if he was under mind control last time around. We can't assume anything."
"Then we work with what we have as potentially incorrect intel and plan what we can," Pepper said, her voice hard. Rhodey heard her flip a metal toggle switch and knew that she had opened the comms wide for whatever she was about to say. She didn't disappoint.
"Shield agents and Hydra agents there is to be no conflict with each other until after the extra planetary threat is dealt with. Assume any plans made prior to this are compromised due to the fact we have an incoming threat to the universe and the universe decided time travel was the best option. Work with us and we can potentially avoid more than half the planet dying. A single Hydra agent and a single Shield agent will be selected and reached out to so that both groups can liaise with Stark Industries and the tentively named Iron Man team. As Tony's wife in the now dissolved future I can promise you that until this threat is gone fucking with us will just bring out Tony's Merchant of Death side," Pepper announced smoothly and coldly. "Oh and we expect the Winter Soldiers to report to Mr. Stark for proper healing and combat adjustments by the end of the week. Any time after that and we will assume that Hydra has disregarded the offer of working together and needs to be permanently eliminated post haste down to the last name we have on our lists. The surrender of Sargent Barnes and his fellows is non-negotiable. Hawkeye you are to report to me within the month. Fury and Agent Hill need to show up also within the month. As a friendly warning messing with any of the AIs is grounds for our little family to destroy any reputation and credit score you may have in any identity you may possess. Please keep that in mind."
"Agent Coulson is banned from any access to Mr. Stark or his family on the grounds of death threats made to his person," JARVIS quickly put in forcefully. He sent a text message to Pepper and the display screen of War Machine explaining that Tony had nightmares about being tased by the Agent and it disabling the arc reactor. The AI also apologized for having been deactivated during the periods the threats were issued and thus unable to help his maker or provide legal evidence useable in court.
Peter must have gotten a hold of Pepper's phone and read the message too since the sounds of his attack against someone and Pepper's attempt to call him off made it over the open line.
"Peter! If you don't come back here this instant there will be no ice cream and no watching Tony while he sleeps off whatever knocked him out," Pepper finally threatened.
"But he!" Peter started to protest only to be interrupted by Pepper.
"And Tony didn't tell us," Pepper said firmly. "For all we know he allowed it on purpose. Peter you are something like eight or nine with the memories of being a teenager and from being in a literal battle for the universe, one that we only won because Tony died fixing it. This is not the time to be attacking a baseline human even if he threatened Tony. This is also part of why we want the Winter Soldiers back and healed, they are less useful in their brainwashed state than one of Tony's suits acting completely on remote control. Part of what made them so good at what they did was their ability to adapt and be creative. The very thing that was stripped from all of them to force them into being a Winter Soldier."
"Like when I have to hold back in school?" Peter asked innocently, pulling out all of the childish innocence he could muster.
"Exactly," Pepper said firmly. "Its part of why Tony kept finding ways for you to learn more than just science during your tutoring and internship and why so much about you was locked up under security protocols. Your guardians did a good job instilling a strong moral compass and teaching you right from wrong. When your powers kicked in you needed somewhere safe to work with them so that you knew how gentle to be even in the middle of a fight."
"Aw man! I'm gonna have to do it all over again!" Peter cried out in pure teenage misery from the mouth of an eight year old. "I'm going to break so many eggs and chopsticks practicing and I am going to have to remember not to hold doorknobs too hard again!"
The relieved laughter in the background told Rhodey that they had successfully disarmed the situation and classed it under impulsive child acting out. As long as Peter hadn't done more than bruise whoever he had gone after it would be enough. Rhodey didn't worry about the rest of it as the armors finally came in for a landing on the roof of the building everyone was in. He made sure JARVIS let him out first so that he could catch Tony's body as the suit released him.
"JARVIS, lock down the suits or take them back to wherever they go for maintenance. Tony will want to build new ones with his future knowledge but I think we need to make him get some rest first," Rhodey told the AI. "I'll take him straight to Pepper and Peter."
"Very good sir," JARVIS said very properly from inside the Iron Man armor. "The back up suits are being dispatched in case of further hostilities."
"Thanks, J. I'll drag out of him what's been happening around now so that we can fix whatever he or someone else screwed up," Rhodey promised ruefully. He picked up his best friend in a fireman carry and made for the stairs off of the roof into the building proper and, remembering what happened last time, made for where he knew Pepper Pots had to be. They had time again and at least knew some of the steps not to take.
Carrying his brother down into the building from the roof allowed James Rhodes to contemplate exactly how fucked up everything was. He already knew that he could get the brass to the meeting with Tony if only for previously denied answers. He just hoped that they could give Tony the emotional support that he was going to need through all of this. Anything less than victory wasn't going to be even looked at by Tony and James knew it.