Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.

Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please exercise understanding of personal boundaries before and during reading.

Timeline Note: I'm twisting both fandoms' timelines in a general sense. It's more a case of untethering it from strict years to make things line up better than true twisting, but it's no weirder than the funkifying that the writers for both fandoms are already doing, so I'm still gonna go with it. Any changes to the natural progression of the original timelines will be explained as they come up (and if the narrator knows them).

Author's Note: I would like to remind everyone that I keep a bunch of overall warnings on my profile page and that I only get specific in an individual piece when a trigger element is particular heavy. If it doesn't get heavier than is typical for the canon, I assume readers are already prepared for it. That does not mean that I remove my generic warning. I cannot warn for every possible trigger and I refuse to treat certain things that I've gotten complaints about as if they were triggers. If this upsets you, I'm sure there's a very lonely lamp post just waiting to hear your complaints about it.

Competition/Challenge Block:
Stacked with: Winter Bingo; Final Frontiers; Paranormal Phantasm; Lessons Learned; Not Commonwealth; Serious Important (Not); Sky's the Limit; Terms of Service; By Any Other Name; Fem Power Challenge; Solemn Husbandry of Exultation; Gryffindor MC; Neurodivergent; Fear Inside; Iron Son; Long Haul
Representations: Exploring New Experiences; Magic; Learning to Love; Tony Stark; Slice of Life; Polyamory; Heroes & Creators; Building a family; Lily Evans Potter
Bonus Challenges: Under the Bridge; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Nontraditional; Found Family; Wabi Sabi; Middle Name; Tomorrow's Shade; Unwanted Advice; Unicorn; Three's Company; Fruit Fly; Zucchini Bread; Hot Apples; Creature Feature; Machismo – Fear; These Boots)
Secondary Bonus Challenges: n/a
Space: 1E (Candy)
Word Count: 2187

-= LP =-
Fairy Tales
Part 01: Once Upon a Time
-= LP =-
"Even the holiest of words are only words." – Ming-Dao Deng
-= LP =-

It had been Jenny's idea. Music and dancing were just the thing to cleanse his soul of Tiberius Stone, she said. Jenny had picked Glastonbury, too, citing its connection to the Arthurian legends they both loved but Rhodey had found boring. Jenny had even agreed to keep the bots company while he was gone, since Rhodey had gotten shipped back out almost before his knuckles had healed from punching Ty.

Tony had thought the only thing the trip would be good for was another scandal that Obie would yell about and the boys picking up another trick or two that may even be useful in the workshop.

He had never thought he would find not just one but two people who made him so deliriously happy that he felt like he was flying. Both Lily and James were capable of keeping pace with Tony in all ways and while they had been happily married for over a year at that point, neither had a problem bringing Tony into their relationship. What started as a fling at a music festival flourished quickly until Tony found himself relocating to England.

They were happy. They had their house, modest by Stark standards but big enough for the three of them, three buggy bots, and an ugly orange cat that had them all wrapped its evil little claws. Jenny approved; Rhodey was withholding judgement until he had his next leave to meet them. Obie hated them, calling them a distraction from what really mattered. Somehow the press hadn't discovered their love nest or their ongoing relationship.

It was perfect, just like a fairy tale.

Which had to be why Lily got sick, because Tony was not meant to have nice things. It had started small, just her looking pale and tired. Then it escalated to random bouts of nausea and vomiting that had no apparent source. James had been called away for whatever he did as a career, something similar enough to Rhodey's missions that Tony knew better than to pry, and Tony didn't know how to fix it when Lily refused to go to a doctor for what she was insisting was just a really bad stomach bug. Tony hovered, making sure she wanted for nothing even if all he could do was fetch her things and hold her hair when she was sick.

James had trusted him, and Tony had fucked up without even trying. Now he was going to lose them both and the stupid cat, too. U was going to never forgive him. Stupid bot adored that evil beast.

Jenny hadn't bothered to hide her snicker at his misery—had he really believed she would be of any help? Clearly, she was just as evil as Rhodey had always claimed—before she had suggested a pregnancy test.

The results were more terrifying than thinking Lily was dying.

Who in their right mind would want him around a kid? He was reckless and prone to losing track of time. He had been better about the drinking since meeting Lily and James, but he knew it was going to remain an issue. That meant he was doubly at risk of becoming Howard. He wouldn't wish Howard on his worst enemy.

It would have been better if Tony distanced himself before he could destroy a child the way he had been. It was inevitable that he would mess up—it's what he did—and this time the cost would be something that could never be replaced. If he was a better man—a stronger one—Tony would have packed up and headed back to New York or maybe even set up house in L.A. like he always dreamed about when he was a kid listening to Jarvis' stories of the menagerie there.

Tony had reconciled himself with the idea that he was as strong as he liked to pretend.

That did little to stop the fear coursing through him, that not even the frequent calls to Jenny didn't soothe. As Lily began to really show, Tony gave up on pretending not to hear Jenny's snickering when he asked for advice. He turned to calling Mama Rhodes for advice, despite how worried he was that she would hate his involvement with the couple. Roberta had only lectured him about hiding such an important development in his life from her before giving him a list of ways to prepare for a newborn.

Tony had set about making their house perfectly safe for a squishy child. The hardest part was training gentleness into Butterfingers. Dummy and U were already used to fine operations. Butterfingers had never needed to learn them. Lily had laughed as she had watched Butterfingers learning how to handle fruit without bruising it. Then she had turned around and taught Dummy how to make smoothies with ruined fruit—the habit of a childhood in poverty not letting her be wasteful. When they had enough smoothie mixtures to fill a swimming pool, Lily had taught U the more delicate art of candy-making, taking advantage of U's habit of setting things on fire.

"He just needs to channel it correctly," Lily replied when Tony had voiced a concern about that. She gave him the little smile he had learned meant she was keeping a secret. She popped a piece of the newly-made hard candy into his mouth when he had opened it to counter that. The tart flavor of blueberry mixed with elderberry burst over his senses. Huh. He didn't even remember getting either berry for Butterfingers.

"Worrying about it just steals the joy of today, love." Her emerald eyes had darkened with something like grief. "Sometimes, today is all we have and worrying would be a waste. We mustn't waste our lives caught in the what-ifs. Plan for problems, but always look to the future."

"You are as wise as you are beautiful," Tony told her, suddenly struck by just how lucky he was to have the love of such a woman.

As an underline of just how unbelievable the situation was, James wrapped his arms around Tony from behind before pressing a kiss to his temple. Lily watched them with a soft smile. Her hands rubbed her baby bump, absently soothing the constantly active child. Tony's insides warmed with the same prideful joy that accompanied people complimenting his bots. He knew there was even odds on who was the father, but the kid wasn't even born yet, and Tony could already see so much of himself there.

That scared him even more than the idea of the bots being overeager to meet their newest sibling and forgetting that this one was less durable than polycarbonate alloy.

Starks had a way of moving through the world that created tsunamis of change.

Even with the shitty relationship that he had had with Howard, Tony had been revolutionizing complete fields of science long before he was twenty. He had invented integrated circuit boards when he was four because he needed it to build a nightlight. He had built an engine at six the same way that some kids built model cars. He had a breakthrough on the heuristic conundrum while drunk at a frat party at age fourteen. Then he had proven that it worked by creating his bots.

All that without Howard's support.

Imagine what a Stark would be able to achieve with the loving guidance of two equally brilliant and emotionally stable parents.

Maybe that would offset his contribution. Maybe watching them would teach him how to not be as cold and distant as his father. Maybe he could learn how to not fuck this up like he had everything else. He was a genius. He could totally learn that, even if it wasn't something easy like rocket science or quantum physics.

Why was Lily looking at him like she wanted to either cry or hit someone?

"Your inner monologue broke again," James answered. Tony shivered at the warm wash of James' breath over his ear. James pressed a kiss to his neck as his arms tightened around Tony's waist, prompting another shiver. "You know that we'll be happy to show you anything you want, but I really doubt it's going to be a problem, love. You've already got three kids. We're the newbies here."

"I don't have children," Tony corrected. Lily made a noise of disapproval as she ran a hand over U's drooping head. A short distance away, Dummy gave an elongated beep. The sad noise was echoed by Butterfingers and further accompanied by him rolling a peach away from the pile of stone fruits on the table. Something moved in his chest, like both a knife twisting and misjudging the height of a curb. James buried his face into Tony's shoulder as his body began to shake.

"Oh, no," James lamented. "She's taught them how to guilt-trip someone. We're doomed, Tony, absolutely doomed. She's got an army. There'll be no winning against her now."

"Be serious, James—"

"Can't," James interrupted with a lightning quickness that impressed Tony, even if he didn't get the in-joke. That he even recognized the byplay as an in-joke was progress. There was once a time when he wouldn't have, back before Rhodey had found him. James continued before Tony could fall deeper into that particular pit of dark thoughts. "I'm much too handsome to ever be Sirius and I resent the implication that I could be."

"Duly noted, dear," Lily responded drily. U butted against her hand insistently. Lily turned to him with an indulgent smile. "I know, baby. Your daddy is being silly and your papa isn't helping, is he?"

"You're as bad as Rhodey with the bathroom birth jokes," Tony complained without heat. Well, no angry-heat. He felt warmth from the love he felt for both of them, love that was reflected back without the dirty feeling he had gotten used to from his affairs at MIT or the pain that had accompanied Ty's affections. Running away to another country really had been exactly what he had needed to start his very own fairy tale ending. He might as well agree with Lily's point. "At least this child wasn't conceived in a bathroom or while drunk. That's not a sign that I won't mess up, you know. It's just what I do. No one would blame you for cutting out before that happens—at least, no one reasonable would."

Before Lily could do more than level a Look at him, Tony's cell phone began ringing. In the midst of Obie's insistence that Tony visit the London office—apparently the R&D department had an issue that required Tony's personal oversight—the argument got dropped. Both Potters were enthusiastic as they kissed him goodbye, as they always were even if it was just a trip into town for groceries. It was the same habit they had when James had to leave for work, a goodbye without angry recriminations or any inductions of guilt.

Just in case.

Just in case something happened.

Just in case it was their last kiss, their last exchange, their last memory.

Tony hadn't been expecting to come home after three days of dealing with unimaginative idiots who couldn't code their ways out of a paper bag let alone code a missile guidance system properly and find a strangely quiet house. The bots were sleeping in their charge ports, though Butterfingers still had peach pulp in the grooves of his claws. Lily was always so assiduous about cleaning the boys after their shenanigans, because she knew they helped Tony in the lab and doing otherwise meant risking contaminants. There were gaps in the bookcases, where some of Lily's books had been—some of them, not all, and no discernible pattern to the ones missing that Tony could tell. Their clothes were still in the closet, but James' shave kit and Lily's perfume (both gifts from Tony who had commissioned the personalized scents from a perfumery as a gift for their first Valentine's Day together) were gone.

As was the evil cat that Lily adored.

He stumbled into Lily's office, off-balanced by the fear making his heart pound. His mind raced through the possibilities of where they were, of why they weren't there to greet him. They had all been so happy. It had been like flying.

Now, he felt like Icarus having flown too close to the sun. Instead of flying with the happy perfection of a fairy tale ending, he was crashing into the waves of despair.

Lily's desk had been cleared off, all except for a note written in the delicate curls of Lily's handwriting. As if to mock the way his world was shattering around him, it was perfect as always, not a flaw or stray ink drop to be seen. In pitch black ink on crisp linen paper, the words were as unmistakable as they cut his heart from his chest. He knew that he truly couldn't blame them. This had been exactly what he had been trying to explain before he had left.

For the Greater Good.

The words still felt like a betrayal.

-= LP =-
To be continued
-= LP =-