Tony Stark : Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and...... Father?

Chapter 2

Over the next few days, the Avengers slowly moved into the tower. The tower was truly a magnificent place to be. The Avengers hadn't really talked much to each other as everyone was busy moving boxes and figuring out the maze that was better known as the Avengers tower. JARVIS had to help a lost Steve at least 3 times before he knew his way around.
And although the Avengers hadn't talked much to each other, they did bump into each other every now and then. Tony, however, was pretty much not to be found. The only time anyone saw him was when Cap walked towards the elevators carrying the last of his boxes.

He was just about to press the button when Tony walked out, looking more disheveled than he had ever seen the man.

"Hey, Tony...- wait are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Peachy Cap, but if you will excuse me I have more important matters right now," The man said hurrying past him.

It was odd, but right now he wasn't going to comment. He realized that he didn't even really know the man so who was he to judge? Maybe he should work on that.

_______

About two weeks after their meeting, the team was called together again. This time by Tony.

When everyone was settled in their chairs at around eleven in the morning, Tony walked in the room. He still looked pretty tired, his clothes were kind of rumpled but he tried to cover it up with an easy smile and dark colored sunglasses.

"Good morning my fellow Avengers" Tony started. "I noticed that you all moved in, to that I say be welcome. Now, you may be wondering why I called you here today. Sorry to disappoint you, the world isn't ending and there are no real threats."

They all noticed the slight twitch in his smile when he talked about the world possibly ending, but no one really paid attention to it. However, they had been noticing some odd behaviour in Tony, but other than Natasha and Fury, none of them had known the man for a longer period of time, so perhaps the behaviour was just part of his personality. It wasn't anything weird per se, just little things here and there.

For example, his absence despite playing a major role in the Avengers initiative, his often rare appearances ranging from looking tired and less put together than what they thought was normal, to confident and without a single care in the world. Sometimes they saw the man make his way into or out of the tower while talking hurriedly on the phone.

Right now, he looked stressed and hurried. Like he didn't really want to be there.

"So, uhm... Anyway. Onto why I called you here this morning" Tony sighed a little before continuing. "There are two things I'd like to discuss. The first one being our public image. Fury wants us to make a public appearance, where we will be talking about our new living situation. 

Or your living situation, since I already live here. Then onto the next one, HYDRA."

Everyone jumped back at the name. They were all a little too familiar with the awful name.

"Sorry to throw that on to you like that. I- uh." He cleared his throat before continuing. "A new, or what we are assuming is new, HYDRA base popped up on our radars. As far as we know nothing too dangerous yet. So don't worry your little heads too much. Fury just wants us to check it out a little, see if we know the area stuff like that. I have printed out the locations of this base, along with some other information Mr. Pirate wants us to look at.
Was that all? I think that was all... JARVIS?"

"You have indeed mentioned all the important updates, sir." The British voice said through the overhead speakers

"Great, any questions?"

It was a lot to take in all at once. Not only had the man been talking pretty fast, he also dropped the message that a new HYDRA base had popped up. Natasha was staring intently at him as though she was trying to see through him, but couldn't figure out what was going on. Clint was in a similar position.

Steve shook himself out of the slight daze he was stuck in. "So, the public appearance... When will this be?" At this moment he was choosing to ignore the HYDRA matter and asked about the more light-hearted part first. It was too early to be talking about stuff like that.

"Oh right," Stark said. "Pepper will be hosting a meeting tomorrow at... Two in the afternoon, you just have to show up, answer a few questions and that's it. Maybe smile for some pictures no real problem.

And no before you start asking Barton, you can't decline this one. It was part of the deal to make a few public appearances. The amount of them will decrease over time but for now, the people need to be reassured." Tony hurried before the archer could say anything.

They discussed some minor details for the next twenty minutes or so, before leaving and going their own ways again.

"Is it me, or is Stark acting differently?" Steve asked Bruce as they were walking out of the conference room.

"I noticed it as well. He is not himself. And well, Tony is a very... Unique man, this wasn't like him" Bruce replied.

"You guys are right, he is acting strange," Natasha said while sneaking up from behind them.
Bruce breathed out a small curse word at the scare, while Steve looked like a kicked puppy for a second.

They continued to walk down the hall in relative silence before each going their way.

Steve was just getting in a flow of punching a few punching bags down at the gym when he was interrupted by the spy. The redhead walked up to him with a gentle smile and looked him up and down.

"You're straining too much," the spy said.

"Well, I'm not really trying to fight anyone, I'm just trying to burn some energy"

"Can you even burn energy?" Natasha asked smiling.

Steve smirked a little at her comment. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I am assuming you've come here for a reason?" Steve asked while grabbing a towel and some water. "Want any?"

"No thanks."

"So why are you here?"

"The same reason as you, Rogers. And I'd like to know if you happen to know more about Stark's odd behaviour."

Steve smiled knowingly. Of course, the spy had to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know either. The only thing I know is that I bumped into him a few days after I started moving in and that he'd seem hurried. I didn't think anything of it at the time but now-"

"Things are starting to add up" Natasha finished.

"Exactly"

"I guess we find out sooner or later" She sighed. "Stark isn't necessarily good at keeping most of his secrets if you remember the whole 'I am Iron man' thing."

"Guess you're right." Steve breathed out while wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"Want to spar?" He asked next.

"Sure, Captain Rogers. Let's see what you have" She smiled, and got ready for their fight.