57A/N: Hey all readers to my new fic. Just a few notes before on with the chapter. I know nothing about religion or science. Well, not nothing but not enough to be completely accurate in my use of it. Sorry for that. Although this is Avengers and not a crossover there will be many other aspects of Marvel - just to warn you. As in from X-men, Spiderman and even Deadpool. I love advice and idea's, I hate when people point out mistakes in a question form - for example 'did you actually deliberately spell that wrong!' Yes I did, actually ¬¬
Although this is not my first time, please be gentle. This is rated M because of the numerous swears, high possibility of violence and lots of sexual references because well... it's Tony Stark. 'Nuff said. I apologise to anyone I may offend when in different POV, especially when it comes to women and religion. Tony Stark is an asshole, a loveable asshole but does say offensive things so if I do add some mild insults just know it does not reflect my opinions or anything but is just my portrayal of Tony. Like when he calls religious people stupid - he calls most people stupid so I'm counting that as ok. Or objectifies women cos that's never ok.
Let me know if I go too far, PLEASE.
Enough rambled, enjoy my brain babies and FYI if this story does not generate enough love then it will be abandoned.
Now on with the story.
Tony sat sweating in the pews of the church.
Yes, Tony Stark was sitting in a church. A church in fuckin' Scotland, Can you believe it? He sure as shit can't. It has been a week, a whole week since he had found out he had a child although it feels like it was just a few hours ago.
The whole situation was unbelievable, I mean him a father? Why? just why when his life finally seems to be going right does this happen? What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to walk up to this kid and say, 'hey there, I'm your absentee dad, come home with me, I'll be a shitty father but I'll buy you whatever you want'. Yeah, that sounds great.
The first few hours after was spent looking for everything he could on the kid, which was admittedly little. It was infuriating, the walls and heavily guarded internal mainframe they had to protect children's identities. All he could find out was the age and basic medical history. No, he didn't give a fuck if the kid had tonsillitis or was allergic to latex, what he wanted to know was... was this kid... his?
The next was enlisting Bruce's help to see if a fresh new set of eyes was missing something he wasn't. He didn't know anything either. So he hacked and hacked and after staying up for another three days managed to wind it down to one particular location. An orphanage. St James' Orphanage for the holy and blessed children. 'More like the bastards and unwanted children' He thought snidely until the sick feeling of guilt churned in his stomach once again. His... kid was one of these orphans who thought nobody wanted them, they were unloved. Tony didn't know what he would have done if he had found out about the kid when they were born but he knew he would have loved them. No doubt they would have been better off but the one thing he could have done right was loved them. He hoped.
The next order of business was to get Pepper's help. She was, brilliant as always when his mind was functioning on so little rest and on the constant verge of panic attack that she - wonderful woman that she is - organised a huge donation to the orphanage and subsequent visit to said church to meet all the children. It was a catholic church and as being a very devout Christian she used it as a PR excuse and carefully hid the true reason for them being there... to find his child.
He inhaled a shaky breath. Pepper to his left placed a gentle hand on his knee to calm him and it only slightly worked. Here he was seated between Pepper and Rhodey wondered which one of these Rugrats were his. In a genius plot, Pepper asked if all of the children could give saliva samples during their visit to ensure no unknown pathogens were going to be passed on and blah blah bullshit blah. They were obviously quite dim and needing the money so of course didn't object. These samples would be taken by Bruce who was seated directly behind him offering silent support. Of course, as soon as word got out everyone insisted on coming to stop him from messing up royally.
And that meant everyone.
Happy was hovering somewhere, doing 'security' related things which of course was bullshit as most of the avengers sat in attendance and didn't need any security. Yep, the avengers. Clint was seated next to Natasha of course who were seated in the pew behind with Bruce. Steve sat in-between them and he occasionally heard mutterings between them.
The only person who wasn't here was Thor as he was not currently on Earth and would not be invited anyway. No doubt he would scream the true reason for their visit from the crumbling medieval looking walls and the whole world would know. The very thought has his sweating more. He wiped his hands on his expensively tailored suit.
He felt a hand from behind squeeze his shoulder in silent support – obviously, Steve – and was in such a state he didn't have anything to say back. In fact, he had been mostly silent the last week. Well, by his standards.
After everything was organised he crashed, literally, on the desk in his lab and woke on a plane to his god-forsaken place or rather god-approved place? He didn't think he had ever been in a church in his life. He was surprised he didn't burst into flames. He was surprised he didn't make a sarcastic quip about the possibility of him bursting into flames. He hated it here already. It was cold, windy and had very little cell reception. It was hell on earth.
There was lots of reassurances and threats of not messing this up on the ride. Part of him was heart warmed that his team came to support him but the other part knew they found this situation hilarious and were too damn nosey not to come. Teammates.
At the moment they were seated and watching the 'welcome' from the pathetic little church in honour of such prestigious guests. The welcome consisted of grubby children being paraded in front of them to sing little songs and read passages from the bible. Dear lord, he had never wanted a drink more in his life. This only served to make him more nervous. These children... were one of them his?
His eyes darted from child to child in a shifty manner as he looked for any resemblances between himself and the children. Their were so many brown haired and brown eyed children! Damn his common genes. Common but fair faced genes. He looked for the more attractive children. What if his kid was ugly, what would he do then! There were also a few red headed – orange haired he had no idea why they were called red - and freckly children that obviously were not his, a lot less than you would expect from Scotland but there were a few. None seemed to have his personality either, all the children were sombre and empty faced with the exception of a few chatting quietly. He supposed orphans behave like that, they were orpahns afterall. Then again, what if his kid resembled their mother? What if they were absolutely nothing like him? Part of him was comforted at this thought and another was worried and hoped for similarities.
Pepper – the practical woman that she is – had a clipboard in front of her and was jotting down names of children who resembled him and would give to Bruce to look over the samples carefully. Tony scanned the names, John Copeland, Lewis McCarty, Sam Reid... the names went on. They meant absolutely nothing to him. Should he recognise the name? Know something? he is possibly the father of one of them!
Dear god, should he recognise them? He felt that maybe as soon as he would see the kid then he would know, should know, it is his child for fuck sake, shouldn't he recognise them?
Tony's heart was steadily increased and he focused on his breathing to keep calm. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned only to be given to pills from the female spysassian and a bottle of water. He took them immediately in relief.
With the small measure of calm that could only be achieved by drugs in this situation, he tried to pay attention to the children around him. There was a boy, a young boy standing at the podium reading a bible passage. He had messy brown hair, thick brows and a strong steady voice. Tony pondered the kid. He knew his child was eight years old, knowing nothing about children he wasn't sure at this young boys age. He had a certain confidence in his tone that Tony liked. Maybe it was the drugs but suddenly he didn't seem too freaked out. This boy could be his son, he felt an odd feeling then, could it be paternal feelings? Who knew. All he knew was the idea of teaching the boy all about tech, showing him to drive, giving him his first car, giving him 'the talk', teaching him how to charm the ladies and eventually sharing a drink as father and son not to be such a terrifying thought.
Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath then exhaled.
He felt much calmer now.
There was applause as the boy stopped and he joined in politely. He didn't need to freak out so much, he wouldn't be meeting his kid today anyway. Bruce would do the samples today and it would take another full day of work for the results to show. Until then, all he needed to do was remain calm. He could do that.
Next up was a young girl. She was an adorable young thing was long thick mahogany hair that ran in waves down her back and front. Her eyes were huge on her face and very expressive, a deep icy blue and a wide smile on her face. She waved to everyone jovially and nodded to a few people around him. Tony sat back and decided to try to enjoy himself, he wouldn't know who his kid was anyway so there was no need to work himself up.
The girl was wearing jeans and a cream blouse. She was dressed much more casually than the rest of the children around her and was on the end of a few glares by the nuns. He sniggered at this.
Tony heard an intake of breath from behind him – Natasha perhaps – but ignored it as his eyes began wandering the church.
The girl stood up at the podium, "Hi everyone, I've been told that I need to introduce myself properly before I begin. So, my name is Amelia Maria Wilson and I am going to sing a song for you that I wrote. It is just a little something I wrote as a welcome to Miss big CEO woman who is very generously giving us a bunch of money that we so desperately need. I mean we can barely afford a second testament here so we are really grateful, honest"
Tony snorted here, amused at the girls antics and the steady growing outrage and embarrassment on the nun's wrinkled faces. Tony felt Rhodey next to him freeze and a small cough come from Bruce.
The girl grinned brightly towards Pepper that has stopped writing and was clutching the clip-board tightly in her perfectly manicured hands.
"Anyway, this song is for you wonderful woman who is saving our humble little abode with your lots of dosh. We feel your generosity right here-" The girl pointed to her heart with a small smirk and then flashed a bright grin.
The girl then stepped back and went to walk away before snapping her fingers and bouncing back up to the microphone.
"Oh and, wait a go on smashing the glass ceiling!" She called and began a small applause on her own. He sniggered.
She continued, "I suspect it was broken with your gigantic neck snapping heals" She muttered and then walked away.
Tony watched the girl walk over to the piano before pulling out an old, outdated laptop device and began connecting up a few wires.
Tony turned to Rhodey and was about to say something when he saw the look of shock on his face. He frowned and was about to speak when a piano began playing.
He turned his attention, slightly surprised at the ability of the young girl.
She began to sing and music began to play from the speakers around the hall.
"Come out Virginia, don't let 'em wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw but sooner or later it comes down to faith
Oh I might as well be the one"
The girl flicked her hair and gave a big grin to her 'audience', the nuns rushed over to stop her but she simply danced away from the piano and sang louder.
"Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done...
Only the good die young"
As this line was sung his mouth dropped open. Oh dear god... this isn't but...
"That's what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young!"
The girl continued to sing and he began to feel a little light headed. He continued to watch the girl dance about in glee and the nuns attempt to stop the music playing. The girl – Amelia – simply pulled a small device out of her pocket and pressed a button. All off the unplugged wires did nothing to stop the music playing.
She began to skip down the aisle.
"You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw but that never hurt no one"
She turned to wink at Steve here – Steve! - who was sitting with his jaw open also.
"So come on Virginia show me a sign
Send up a signal and I'll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never let's in the sun
Darlin' only the good die young
Woah
I tell ya
Only the good die young
Only the good die young"
The nuns had taken to now trying to physically stop her but as she danced around with a cheeky grin she avoided them by artfully dancing in-between the pews. Tony watched in shock and... amusement at the girl. Part of him was screaming. 'A DAUGHTER, A MOTHERFUCKING DAUGHTER BUT... BUT...' he had just come to grips with possibly having a son but a daughter... That was a whole different ball game.
"You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
Mmm, and a cross of gold
But Virginia they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
(Oh woah woah)"
Tony didn't notice but he had an amused smile upon his face. He turned to look at Pepper who was white as a sheet and had a look of horror on her face, he could practically hear her thoughts screaming, "Not two of them!" Tony let out a large laugh here. He then noticed the laughter steadily coming from Rhodey and Clint. Natasha had a tiny quirk of her lips, Steve was biting his lips looking like he was trying not to smile, Bruce was openly smiling and letting out little coughs of laughter. Tony felt a huge wave of pride fill his chest, as well as amusement. His daughter was... awesome!
"They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints"
Here she skipped back up the isle and looked at him as she sang a line, "The sinners are much more funnnnn" She sang and gave him a cheeky grin and nod. He laughed loudly and bet his face was probably splitting in a grin. Pride swelled in his chest.
You know that only the good die young
I tell ya
Only the good die young
Only the good die young
Come out come out come out Virginia don't let 'em wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Oh sooner or later it comes down to faith
Oh I might as well be the one
You know that only the good die young"
The girl finished with a flushed face, sparkling eyes, big grin and at the stop of the podium. The nuns looked murderous but she looked liked she couldn't be having more fun.
"AMELIA MARIE" A stern Scottish sounding voice whipped like a crack throughout the hall. The voice in question belonged to a very severe looking nun who's face was so wrinkled and pinched in anger. She approached the girl and began herding her off the stage with her hands and making disproving noises.
The girl – Amelia, his daughter – simply rolled her eyes and let herself be led away, "Jesus, I'm going, calm your coif professor McGonnagal, I'm going" The girl muttered.
Here he laughed loudly and noticed Rhodey and Clint attempt to stifle laughter. The nuns glared at them.
Before they left the room completely he heard the nun shout, "do NOT use the lord name in vain Amelia!" The harsh Scottish voice said before a large door shutting silenced the hall.
Tony ignored what was going on around him and sat back in his seat, very shocked but very... pleased. He felt a little shaken but in a good way. That was his daughter. He couldn't stop smiling. His chest was tight with worries like what would she think of him not being there for her... what if she didn't want him? Would she fit into his life ok? What would she think of him? But even with all these worries he felt a strange sensation fill him... it was like pride, protection and affection all at once. Whatever it was it made him feel giddy, excited and more terrified than he has ever felt in his entire life.
Tony then noticed Happy approaching from the corner of his eye. Happy had bright smile but worried eyes as he hovered near by.
Rhodey placed a hand of his shoulder and squeezed. Then he was surprised that the rest of his team touched him in some way to give him congratulations. Well, Steve did and offered his belief Tony would 'be a great dad' Tony snorted at this. Bruce simply gave him a half but sincere smile, Natasha a small head nod and Clint a thumbs up. Pepper squeezed his knee in support.
Although Tony was infinitely grateful for the support he wondered, was it that obvious?
"Sir, I believe that we have found her" JARVIS' voice rang in the small earpiece he had on. He let out of chortle. Apparently it was.