(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 9 - Dealing with angry

Chapter 9 - Dealing with angry

Summary: Tony’s return home takes an unexpected turn—as tensions rise and old secrets resurface.

Tony and Bruce were sitting in his jet on their way back to the Stark Tower in New York. After finishing construction on the new Avengers compound, Pepper demanded the name of the tower to be returned back, and Tony saw no problem with it, so he just signed the papers.

Of course, Steve didn't like it one bit. As soon as he found out, read as Natasha told him, he began throwing a tantrum about how the tower was the Avengers' home and Tony had no right to change the name, especially without the approval of Steve himself.

Tony could only shrug and point out that the building was property of Stark Industries and if they wanted to change the name there was little Tony could do, which was technically a lie because as a majority shareholder, he could make the decision.

But Tony was a businessman that was trained in the art since he was a child, and he knew that sometimes you had to give the board something so next time you want something it will be much smoother. Giving up the name of the tower was a small price to pay so he could keep funding the Avengers.

Tony would have explained it to Steve, but the last time he tried, the American idol accused Tony of intentionally using terms he couldn't understand so Tony could get the upper hand and get his way over Steve's decision as a leader.

Tony shook his head, reminding himself it was no longer his problem to deal with. Steve took Tony off the team, so he can no longer expect Tony to follow his lead because of the blonde's position.

This being said, Tony also knows that he has to keep the Avengers running and ready for when the rest of the forces from the first invasion return to Earth to finish the job. Lately, Tony was getting a very bad feeling about the entire alien situation.

With panic and anxiety no longer clouding his mind every time he thinks about what he saw on the other side of the portal, something seemed off to Tony. He vaguely remembered a ship that was ten times the size of the ship that he destroyed with the nuke, and that ship looked like the leading one.

If those aliens did have a leader that was just sitting back to watch how things play out, it means they were taking it easy on them, something Tony had a feeling wouldn't happen again.

To be honest, Tony is a little surprised they haven't tried to attack Earth again yet. There could be a few reasons for that.

One was the distance from Earth. Without the tesseract to open a portal, they might still be making their way to this planet.

Another, and the more worrying one, was that the enemy decided to gather more forces before attempting an attack again, so they could ensure victory the next time.

Tony took a sip from the glass in front of him. It's times like that he wished the golden liquid in it would be brandy as it once was instead of the juice he drinks nowadays.

He looked out of the window next to him at the bright blue sky and the fluffy white clouds beneath them, taking in the peaceful scenery.

Tony hoped that the Avengers' number would grow as well in the time since they gathered for the first time. After all, the six of them barely held the first wave of the invasion in New York. If the enemy returned with larger forces, they would be done for as is.

Tony was monitoring many of the so-called enhanced people across the globe, hoping to boost the team, but when he pointed it out to Steve, all he received was a stupid answer of "all team members must be proven on the battlefield as heroes."

Tony had to grit his teeth and keep silent because he could see that Steve wouldn't budge on it. All Tony could do is hope that when the time came, everyone would gather together to protect the planet, and that they would be enough.

Tony kept his eyes on the horizon as he took another sip from his glass. Before his thoughts could spiral any further, the familiar Irish voice of Friday made him smile. "Boss, you have a phone call that I think you should take."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the closest camera, wondering why Friday didn't mention the name of the caller like she usually did. Still, as a holographic screen appeared before him from the table he was sitting at, Tony turned his head from the window.

He glanced at the sleeping form of Bruce before turning to the screen and saying, "Well then, baby girl, better put it through."

Tony could hear the mischievous tone in her voice as Friday said cheerfully, "Right away, Boss."

Before Tony could figure out the source of amusement his AI was experiencing, the screen was filling with the face of a woman. Her skin was light, with a slight tan; her hair was long, curly and brown. Her usually calm and warm brown eyes were filled with a mix of worry and anger.

Before Tony could even fully comprehend the image of the woman on the screen, her screaming "Anthony Edward Stark!" startled him.

Full name. Damn, no matter if it was Pepper Potts or Laura Barton, this is never a good sign. Still, he tried putting on his charming smile and said cheerfully, "L. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Her eyes narrowed even further as she retorted with an angry tone, "Oh, I don't know, how about almost dying?!"

Tony chuckled a little nervously; he raised both his hands in a placating manner. "Please, Laura, all this anger can't be good for the baby, so just calm down. I'm all good now."

Laura took another moment to glare at him before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

She still had a frown on her face as she scanned Tony when her eyes were opened. Eventually, her eyes widened, and she spoke in a voice full of wonder, "I thought Clint was exaggerating, but you do look like you are twenty years old again." She then smiled slightly, adding lightly, "I'm a little jealous."

Tony laughed for a moment before teasing her back, "Well, all it will take is a bullet to the lung and some hospital stay with Extremis involved."

The light mood immediately disappeared, and Laura's eyes narrowed again. "I wish you wouldn't joke about stuff like that, Tony. It worries me how low in your priorities your own safety is."

Tony felt a familiar pang in his chest, and all he could muster was to quietly say, "Laura..."

But before he could finish his thought, a new voice broke into the conversation, "Hi, mom, are you still talking with Uncle Tony?"

Laura's frown turned into a forced smile as Lila and Cooper jumped onto her lap and entered the frame. Laura was about to answer Lila when Cooper spoke, "I didn't know Uncle Tony had a brother too."

Tony and Laura both chuckled at the obvious confusion of the kids. After a moment, Tony smiled at them and said, "Don't worry, Mini agents, it's all me, your Uncle Tony. I just started to take better care of myself, I guess."

Lila was pouting all of a sudden and said in an upset voice, "I didn't like pretending to not know Uncle Tony. I won't do it again." She finished, announcing with all the determination a seven-year-old could muster.

Laura petted her head gently, saying in her motherly voice, "It was for the best, honey, and I promise you won't have to again."

Lila seemed to be satisfied with the answer. Laura was right; after all, it would be better if the rest of the Avengers didn't know about his relationship with the Barton family.

It all started with the fall of SHIELD. Nick tried to convince Steve to only release the Hydra info, but Captain America, the ever-righteous man who didn't think a step beyond the end of the battle, was adamant about releasing all the info as is.

The moment Steve left to intercept Pierce, Nick called Tony. The Director of SHIELD couldn't delete the info in the time they had before Steve made his move, neither could he delay Steve, so instead, he opened a back door for Tony so he could monitor the information and try to erase as much as he could before it reached the wide World Wide Web.

Among the files of all the agents, he saw the documents about the Barton family in Fury's private servers. Without a second thought, Tony sent JARVIS with a couple of Iron Legionnaires to the farm.

Clint was quick to call him and start demanding how he even found out about the farm, far less sent a couple of his suits there. He was quite aggressive and accusatory about it.

Before Tony got the chance to explain, he was swarmed by his operation to save as many agents as he could. By the time he finally managed to check with Clint again, he found out that some crime organization that Clint once was part of during his circus days came for revenge.

Clint said there were too many of them; that while he fought a few of them, another group managed to sneak close to the house. Laura was already pregnant and couldn't defend herself or the kids.

But before they could enter the house, the units Tony sent activated and began to take the attackers down. One of the units even came to help Clint take down the first group.

All in all, it was only thanks to Tony that their entire family survived the ordeal without a scratch.

Clint and Laura insisted Tony join them for a thank you dinner, especially after they saw his exhausted state at the end of 72 hours of Operation Safe Haven.

The dinner was a big success. Tony was a hit with both Laura and the children. The fact Tony helped Clint with his issues after the whole brainwashing thing already earned him a good first impression, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Still, Clint wanted his family to stay a secret even from the Avengers, so he made Tony promise not to tell anyone about it, and in return, Tony asked him not to tell anything to Natasha about it.

Tony felt a little uncomfortable with the redhead knowing about his part in the family she herself considered to be a part of. The kids were instructed to never mention Tony when they were with the spy, but this was the first time they had to ignore his existence directly, which apparently didn't sit well with them.

Cooper looked at Tony for a long moment before finally saying, "You will come visit us soon, right, Uncle Tony? Even dad is coming home for a long time now."

Tony smiled back and said, "Of course, kiddo. Once I finish dealing with some stuff, I will be sure to drop by."

Laura sighed before saying, "Okay, we have things to do here, so we will let you go for now and will hold you to your promise just now." Her eyes then narrowed behind the heads of the kids as she said in a serious voice, "And our little conversation is far from over, Tony."

Tony chuckled nervously, trying not to gulp too loudly in fear before nodding his head. With that, the screen went blank, and Tony felt himself relaxing.

Tony closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, from which he almost jumped when Bruce's voice spoke, "It's always funny when they make you squirm like that."

Tony glared at Bruce, who was still lying on the couch with his eyes closed. Tony was about to retort when he felt the jet landing.

Frowning, Tony looked out the window to see they indeed landed on top of Stark Tower. Because of Laura's call, he didn't even notice when they entered the city.

With a sigh, Tony began following Bruce out of the jet into the elevator leading to their floors.

When they were standing in the elevator, it suddenly hit Tony what Bruce said, and he turned to ask him, "Wait, what do you mean, THEY making me squirm?"

The elevator reached Bruce's floor, and he left through the open doors with an amused chuckle.

Tony just sighed tiredly and left the elevator a moment later, after all, his floor was one above Bruce's.

The moment Tony entered his living room, someone who was sitting on his sofa jumped up and began advancing at him while screaming, "Tony Stark!"

Tony's body stiffened, and the only thing he could think of was, 'Why the hell is everyone so angry today?'