#coveredsnow

Here is chapter 20.

Fic summary:  Tony wakes up a lot younger than he's supposed to be. The team try to figure out how to handle this. Tension headaches, a little heartache, and a lot of learning ensues.

De-aged Tony Stark fic with ensemble cast. Read here!

Excerpt from chapter 1:

Someone had taken his designs down.

He blinked, vision blurry with sleep. The view remained the same - a blank, white ceiling. No schematics. No blueprints.

He sat up, heart thudding in his chest. Was he in trouble? If his designs had been taken down –

His tummy squeezed tight as he realized this wasn’t his room at all.

This wasn’t even home.

This room was huge, easily three times the size of his bedroom. The bed was massive, with shiny black covers - he could see his feet poking up, not even a quarter of the way down. The wall to his right was a dark red, the ones in front and behind of him white - and to his left …

Tony swallowed past a lump in his throat as he looked out of a huge window, onto a city that was too bright, too tall, too impossible.

He was a long, long way from home.

***

“Captain Rogers.”

Steve looked up from the coffee machine, slightly embarrassed that he’d moved Tony’s AI to pity, but more relieved than anything else.

“Jarvis, hello, uh.” He cleared his throat. “So I’m aiming for a black -“

“There is another matter which requires your attention, although I would be happy to prepare some coffee for you.”

“Uh - right, thanks, that’s -“ Steve put the cup down, grimacing at the cracks in the handle. “What’s up?”

“Mr Stark appears to have undergone a transformation overnight.”

Steve blinked. No further information was forthcoming.

“A transfor - sorry, Jarvis, you’re going to have to give me a hand here.“

“He appears, to all intents and purposes, to be a seven-year-old boy.” Steve braced his hands against the kitchen counter, and sighed.

“Tony … OK, very funny, but also, very early in the morning. If you could hold off until -“

“I assure you, Captain, this is no joke,” Jarvis interjected, sounding slightly stressed. “It is against my programming to lie.“

“Right,” Steve snorted, gingerly picking up the cup, now full of hot coffee. “If this is a ploy to get coffee delivered, I’m surprised he doesn’t have a machine in his room.”

“Captain Rogers, I assure you -“

“Right, Tony, I’m coming, I’m coming,” Steve grumbled, heading toward the elevator to the personal levels. “Honestly, your dependence on this stuff, anyway …“

He faltered a little in his stride when the elevator doors opened to reveal Natasha, her brow furrowed.

“Nat?”

“Did Jarvis call you?”

“Yes - well, I sort of assumed it was Tony -“ Nat shook her head.

“No, I don’t think he’d mess with me. He values his limbs too much.” She smiled. “I was mid work-out, though, so if this does turn out to be a ruse, I’m all warmed up and ready to push him through something glass and replaceable.” Steve stepped in alongside her.

“You can’t seriously be suggesting that he’s a child?”

“Figuratively? Absolutely. Literally? Well … those were actual Nazi dinosaurs we fought last week.” The elevator doors opened on Tony’s floor.

“Where’s everyone else?” Steve directed to the ceiling, beginning to accept that this was how his morning was starting. They headed for Tony’s bedroom.

“You are the two on site I thought proper to inform,” Jarvis said. “Mr. Barton is perhaps not best suited to the sensitivity of this situation, and I deemed it unwise to put undue, unexpected pressure on Dr. Banner.” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Well, now I’m concerned.”

“We’re also the best looking,” Natasha said, smirking at Steve. “Maybe this is his way of propositioning us for a threesome.”

“Are you -“ Steve stammered, heat flooding his face, “Do people really -“ Nat laughed and slapped him on the back, which he didn’t find reassuring at all. She reached for the door.

“If I may,” Jarvis said. “Captain, I thought you should be informed, but I believe it would be wiser for you to initially remain outside. Ms. Romanov will be better received.” Steve frowned, and took a step back. He felt adrenaline begin to prickle his skin. That did sound more like Jarvis than Tony. Nat’s eyes narrowed.

“If there actually is a child in here, Jarvis, I hope you’re not suggesting it needs ‘a woman’s touch.’”

“I can assure you, Ms. Romanov, the situation is rather more complicated than that.”

“Isn’t it always,” Nat muttered, pushing open the door.

Read here or start from the beginning

Thank you so much everyone for your support (reached 800 kudos today!), it really means the world, I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story.

Fic summary: Tony wakes up a lot younger than he's supposed to be. The team try to figure out how to handle this. Tension headaches, a little heartache, and a lot of learning ensues.

Fic status: Updating weekly.

Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark & Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark & Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Clint is palling around too but I have to stop with the tags somewhere

Extract:

“Thank you all for coming,” Steve said, seating himself at the head of the briefing table.

“How serious is this business?” Bruce asked, shuffling some papers. “I ask because of the lack of red flashing lights; I have a project –"

“It’s not necessarily an emergency, but it is pretty important.”

“And true to form, Tony isn’t here,” Clint said, propping his feet up on the table. “I suppose he’s snorting cocaine off a pretty important model’s asscrack?”

“Clint.” Steve refused to rise to the bait. “Tony’s actually the issue.”

“Then shouldn’t he be here?” Bruce said, and Steve’s heart went out to him for the concern immediately apparent in his face. “I mean, we shouldn’t be talking about him without –“

“No, Bruce, I don’t mean he’s done anything wrong. He’s – and nobody panic when I say this, like I said, not an emergency – sort of in trouble.” Everyone sat up a little straighter. Steve felt a swell of pride at the team they’d built.

“He was fine last night,” Sam said, pausing in the folding of a paper airplane. “We were talking over some improvements to my wings. Seemed normal.”

“He didn’t check in at the lab this morning, but I assumed he was sleeping in. Is he OK?”

“Well, he’s –“ Steve sighed, glad he’d only have to explain this once. “Please just bear with me. He’s seven years old.”

Silence. Then a low chuckle.

“Sam, I’m serious.” The chuckle stopped.

“It’s never enough with you people, is it,” Sam muttered.

“Seven years old?” Bruce had taken his glasses off, and was polishing them nervously. “Mentally? Physically?”

“Both.”

“Well, damn,” Clint said. “I mean, Nat’s been telling him he has the mental age of a five-year-old for years, but –"

“And that’s exactly the sort of wisecrack I hope we can make, once we figure out what’s gone wrong, and how we can fix it.”

“Sorry Cap, I don’t think this is the sort of problem you shoot arrows at.”

“No, but it is the sort of problem you gather intelligence for. We’ve got Strange on-site -" A groan went around the table – “And we’re going to be polite and cooperative, so we can get our preferred goateed smart-alec back as soon as possible.”

“I can’t stand that guy,” Clint muttered, chucking a bouncy arrow-head at the ceiling and catching it. “He’s like Tony on LSD.”

“Well luckily for you, you won’t have to talk to him much. Nat says –“ Steve glanced at his phone – “that he wants to find out the identity of whoever cast this spell.”

“So it is a spell, then?” Bruce said, pursing his lips. “Not a chemical compound, or technology, or anything bound by the conventional laws of the universe?”

“Not this time,” Steve said, giving Bruce a small smile. “So Clint, you’re on intelligence-gathering duty. Footage of anyone we’ve fought in the past few weeks, surveillance of anyone with an MO that seems like it might stretch to this – whatever you think best, I won’t tell you how to do your job.”

“Aye-aye, Cap,” Clint said, taking his feet off the table. “Is Nat with me on this?”

“I’m not sure yet. Possibly she’ll want to be, but …” Steve spread his hands out. “Whether we like it or not, we have a child in the tower now. We’ll need someone on-site to keep him safe, and so far Natasha’s the only one who’s had prolonged contact. Jarvis doesn’t want to speak with him in case it upsets him, and he also says it might upset him to see me.”

“Wait. You haven’t seen him yet?” Sam leaned forward. “Steve, are you sure - and I mean really, truly sure, before I end up in a viral video - that they’re not pulling your leg?”

“I’m sure,” he said with a tired smile. “Nat, Tony, Stephen and Jarvis aren’t exactly a classic prank team. And I’ve never seen Nat look so uncomfortable before.”

“Sounds like she’s going to love babysitting duty,” Clint said.

“My guess is it’ll be a team effort. You’ll be on reconnaissance most of the time Clint, and I’m not sure how much I’ll be around – how much it’s a good idea for me to be around – but Bruce, I think you should try to get to know the kid.”

“Why does everyone always want to put me next to whatever’s most fragile and irreplaceable?”

“You’ll be fine. You can make sure this transformation isn’t having any weird health side-effects; chat about science, whatever else you two talk about, science. You’re a good neutral influence, like Natasha.”

“Hey!” Clint said. “Why am I not a neutral influence?” Everyone looked at him.

“You are a terrible influence, Clint,” Sam said. “I’d let Strange babysit my niece before you.”

“How’s that for bird solidarity,” Clint muttered.

“Sam, if it’s OK with you, I’d like you to up your patrols. I’m sure I don’t need to explain to any of you that this story remains inside the tower. Fly around a bit more; make Tony’s absence less noticeable.”

“Oh, the vanity patrols, you mean? The ones that do nothing for the city’s safety, but get him on lots of Instagram feeds?”

“Those are the ones.” Sam grinned.

“Sweet. Watch Falcon trend.”

“What about the Wizard of Oz? What’s he doing?” Clint asked.

“Hell if I know. Stirring potions? Whatever he needs -“

Fic: Provide Me

Fandom: Marvel

Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Ensemble Avengers

Summary: Tony wakes up a lot younger than he's supposed to be. The team try to figure out how to handle this. Tension headaches, a little heartache, and a lot of learning ensues.

I’m really excited to continue telling this story! Thank you so much to everyone who’s commented or left kudos so far. I promise there’s a lot more to come xx

Excerpt from Chapter 3:

“Band meeting,” Clint said from the back of the room, in a clipped New Zealand accent. Steve assumed it was one of the references he peppered his speech with whenever Steve was around, in an attempt to force him into consuming more ‘essential' culture.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said, seating himself at the head of the briefing table.

“How serious is this business?” Bruce asked, shuffling some papers. “I ask because of the lack of red flashing lights; I have a project –"

“It’s not necessarily an emergency, but it is pretty important.”

“And true to form, Tony isn’t here,” Clint said, propping his feet up on the table. “I suppose he’s snorting cocaine off a pretty important model’s asscrack?”

“Clint.” Steve refused to rise to the bait. “Tony’s actually the issue.”

“Then shouldn’t he be here?” Bruce said, and Steve’s heart went out to him for the concern immediately apparent in his face. “I mean, we shouldn’t be talking about him without –“

“No, Bruce, I don’t mean he’s done anything wrong. He’s – and nobody panic when I say this, like I said, not an emergency – sort of in trouble.” Everyone sat up a little straighter. Steve felt a swell of pride at the team they’d built.

“He was fine last night,” Sam said, pausing in the folding of a paper airplane. “We were talking over some improvements to my wings. Seemed normal.”

“He didn’t check in at the lab this morning, but I assumed he was sleeping in. Is he OK?”

“Well, he’s –“ Steve sighed, glad he’d only have to explain this once. “Please just bear with me. He’s seven years old.”

Steve and de-aged Tony are finally going to meet!

Fic summary:  Tony wakes up a lot younger than he's supposed to be. The team try to figure out how to handle this. Tension headaches, a little heartache, and a lot of learning ensues.

Start from the beginning here. Read chapter 9 here.

Extract:

“How’re you feeling?”

“Ridiculous,” Steve muttered. Sam chuckled. “I feel like I’m going on a first date.”

“Have you ever been on a first date?” Steve rolled his eyes.

“He’s seven. Why am I nervous?”

“You tell me. Scared he might withdraw our funding if you take his Hulk plushie away?” Steve ran a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time.

“Can I be pathetic for a minute?”

“What do you mean, ‘for a minute’?”

“I think I’m worried he won’t like me. Kids always like me – and this is Howard’s son. This is Tony. All this sneaking around has got me feeling like some kind of pariah.”

“Steve, like you say. The kids love you. It’s crazy how much they love you. I don’t see it, you’re a vet who runs around in tights, and you used to be in a stage-show with dozens of half-naked women – you should be corny as hell. And they’re too young to be checking out those buns.”

“They weren’t half-naked, they were – it was normal at the time.”

“Might want to tell your face that, Cap. You’re putting the red in red, white and blue.” Steve heard voices through the rec room door. He suddenly didn’t know what to do with his hands.

“… member of the team.”

“What’s their name?” Steve’s heart jumped.

“His name’s Steve. This will take a bit of explaining – you might actually recognize him.” The door opened, and Nat came in, followed closely by Tony. His eyes lit up as they landed on Sam. Then he saw Steve. He froze.

There’s a storm during an expedition, and it brings up some bad memories for Levi.

***

“We’ll have to make camp.”

“Already? There’s another four hours of daylight at least!”

“There’s a storm coming,” Erwin answered Eren grimly, as Levi stared at the dark clouds visible in the distance. “We don’t want to get caught in a storm.”

***

They followed the map to an abandoned farmhouse surrounded by a few trees, several miles away from the village they had aimed to make base, and quickly set up camp.

“We’re losing time today, which means early rise tomorrow,” Erwin told the cadets. “This isn’t leisure time. Get some sleep. I expect you at your best in the morning.”

“Hange,” Levi murmured as they walked from the sleeping area towards the entrance, “Would you mind taking watch? I know I usually go first, but-“

“Yeah, no problem!” Hange said, grabbing him by the chin and peering intently into his face. “Wow, you do look peaky! You volunteer for watch so often I assumed you enjoyed it!”

“Well, I could do with a bit of rest tonight. I’ll sleep here in case of emergencies, but if you could get the cadets to relieve you I’d be grateful.”

“Yeah, sure!” Hange looked at him more closely. “You ok?”

“Fine,” Levi replied. “Just tired.”

He lay down by the wall as Hange walked to the door, raising an eyebrow at her when she looked back. He closed his eyes, pulled a blanket tight around him, and willed himself to fall asleep before the first drop of rain hit.