A/N: This story sets up how Young Justice would form a team if they were part of the Marvel Universe, particularly Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The story ends when every member of the team has joined. Each (not) sidekick gets a chapter and then in the end there will be an epilogue. I might add chapters of each Avenger making peace with the team. Tell me what you think.

Chapter One: Dick Grayson, Ward of Tony Stark

Tony is a little tipsy. He spills the entire tub of popcorn down the laps of the two blondes beside him. It's not that bad. His eyes focus. Oh, there's only one blonde. Okay, so it's pretty bad. It's okay. He'll call Pepper or Happy and have something sent to his date, whatever her name is, to make up for this.

Then something sobering happens. The lights flicker and the aerialists preform their stunts without a safety-net. And then they fall. There's a little boy crying. He's their son. He was meant to do his death-defying stunt next, before his parents meet their deaths. He...he must be eight.

Tony doesn't know what's hit him, this sudden maturity, but he glides down from his front row seat and gives the little boy a hug. He doesn't let go even when the cops send everyone in the audience away. He owns the circus's land anyways. He can stay to hear what went wrong.

The little boy says his name is Dick. He says he wants Mr. Stark to stay so he does. He calls Pepper and has her makes some arrangements.

"Pepper, he's just a little kid. He can't handle all these people making a spectacle out of him. Until this custody thing gets taken care of, Dick has to stay with us," Tony explains.

"Tony! You can feel sorry for the kid, but how long will that motivate you? The responsibility-"

"Who cares!" Tony cuts her off. "He's lost and he needs a friend," Tony says.

"Tony," her voice fails to hold back her frustration, "did you know adopting puppies while drunk is illegal in the city?"

"Who said anything about me being drunk? I'm perfectly sober. Problem solved! Besides Dick isn't a puppy; he's a little boy."

"That's precisely why this situation is even worse, Tony. And you are drunk," Pepper tells him.

She shuts off her cell as soon as she arrives. Exiting the vehicle, she approaches Tony and the boy who is clinging to his arms.

Pepper doesn't want to give in to Tony's momentary insanity, but as soon as she sees and hears the whimpering little boy with no one but a random stranger to hold on to her heart melts. Maybe she's momentarily insane too.

Pepper remembers that day long ago when she was still a schoolgirl with freckles and pigtails. She found a baby robin orphaned thanks to a stray tomcat. Pepper remembers the tantrum her mother endured after refusing to let her daughter care for the little lost bird.

"He's already so broken, Pepper. There's nothing you can do for him," her mother had said.

Pepper remembers most of all how the bird died shortly without her help.

She calls a social service agent at the Maria Stark Foundation and tells him to shove his complaints about the time of day. She's found her Robin.

"Would you like to go home with us and get some rest?" she asks the little boy as she crouches down to meet his one eye which isn't pressed against Tony's chest.

Dick grips Tony tighter and looks up to him. Tony wipes the little boy's tear-stained eyes.

"I'll be there," Tony promises.

Tony isn't there for the kid for very long; he passes out in the car. Pepper wasn't lying before when she told him he's drunk.

Pepper ends up bear hugging Dick on the ride home since Mr. Stark certainly isn't awake enough to comfort him.

"Things will get better," she coos as she rubs his back.

"Are...are you sure he's just sleeping?"

"He's fine, Richard. Why don't you sit up here in the front seat with me?" Dick doesn't meet her eyes.

"I can't see Mr. Tony up there," he whispers. Pepper cocks her head. "I need to make sure he's breathing," Dick admits his fear.

Pepper just stares at the boy before pulling him into a sloppy hug.

After Pepper makes the arrangements with the sleepy Maria Stark Foundation social worker, she and Dick make themselves comfortable. They rest using Tony as their pillow so that the rise and fall of his chest can lull them to sleep.

Dick stays with them a week, then two, and then Pepper has Tony fill out adoption papers once it's clear no one else is taking the kid in. The papers give Pepper majority custody. Tony just nods and signs where Pepper has placed a helpful, neon-colored sticky tab.

The police report comes out then, it blames Stark Industries for not informing the circus of past eco-terrorist threats surrounding the land. Tony doesn't like this new feeling when he sees Dick, or Robin as Pepper affectionately nicknames the kid.

The feeling is guilt. Tony stops looking at the kid and takes another tumbler. He forgets the feeling.

The boy is nine the first time Tony hears him call Pepper 'mom'. It startles Tony and he looks at her expecting the boy to be promptly corrected. She catches his gaze and glares back daggers. Somehow, Tony knows not to interfere and never brings it up again. Tony wonders briefly why he never tried to be 'dad'.

He figures it's too late. His own Dad screwed him up so bad anyways; there's no reason to try parenting this kid. He'd just mess him up.

When Dick turns ten, he is kidnapped. Pepper panics and Tony doesn't know what he's expected to do.

He works with the cops, and ends up paying the ransom with marked bills. Dick is safe, but the police don't capture the kidnappers. Tony feels helpless. He sees Pepper's wild eyes. He sends Dick to a private martial arts school where he's taught to fight back.

During a school break, Dick returns home for his belated eleventh birthday. He comes home to find Mr. Tony's MIA in the Middle East. Pepper is frantic. Dick wonders if this was how she was last year when he was kidnapped. He wonders why Mr. Tony didn't send himself to a private dojo. He snickers through his hidden pain.

When Tony comes back, he closes down the weapons manufacturing at his company. He stops dating random chicks. He focuses on some sort of new tech project. Pepper seems worried as if at any minute Tony's heart could just give out.

Dick returns to school. He doesn't need to be an extra worry for Mom and Mr. Tony doesn't seem to even notice when he's there.

Dick learns about Tony being Iron Man the same way everyone else does: TV. His friends don't know his connections to Tony Stark so no one bothers him about it, except the dean of the school who does know how his tuition gets paid each quarter.

Dick is sent home to Pepper. Pepper uncovers a more technical education based private school in California that will accept him. Dick finds time to continue his gymnastics and martial arts training outside of school. It's not like he has a real home to go back to in his spare time or anything.

Dick is twelve when he meets Wally. The raven-haired boy was allowed to come home to spend a month with Pepper for Christmas. At Stark's party, Wally comes with his Aunt Jan, one of Tony's friends.

Wally is a few years older but is much more fun to be around than Tony's business partners. Wally says he moved in with his aunt a few months ago. Dick wants to ask why but Wally looks tired of that question so instead he asks him about school.

Jan ends up sending Wally to Dick's private school in California. Dick rearranges his schedule with some hacking. The years that separate Dick and Wally won't unfairly separate the boys in every class period.

Dick is thirteen when Tony has his first big father-like conversation with him. It's about Wally. The newspapers suddenly remembered Dick Grayson, heir of Stark Industries, existed sometime after Wally and Dick started dating. Tony, at some red carpet event, was asked about the photo in some rag of Dick and Wally from one of Jan's fashion shows.

Tony didn't know about them and didn't know what to say. The press puts words into his gaping mouth.

Pepper wanted to make this conversation a bird and bees talk but somehow Tony makes it sound more about how Dick shouldn't embarrass Tony in front of the press.

"You should have told me, Robin; I can't be left unaware of what's going on in my own house."

"Richard! You don't get to call me that or Dick or anything remotely like you know me as more than a casual acquaintance," Dick yells as he balls his fists.

"Dic-"

"Mr. Tony, you never tell me what's going on in your life so why should I have to tell you what's going on in mine?"

Tony wants to say Dick has to because he is his son. He can't say that. It isn't true in any sense of the word.

"I do tell you things," he says weakly.

"Like what?" Dick mocks. "How about the Avengers, Tony? My "dad" starts a superhero team and I don't even get a memo!" Tears stream down his cheeks and he backs away slowly. "You're a lousy role-model and a terrible hero! Good thing I never looked up to you or anything," Dick spits as he storms out.

Tony tries to remember if Dick has ever refereed to him as his father before. Dick hasn't. Tony wonders where he went wrong. He thinks about all the changes he made in his life when he became Iron Man and wonders why one of them wasn't becoming a good father.

Stark Industries donates to It Gets Better. Dick doesn't seem to notice.

Pepper doesn't say anything when Dick and Wally start playing with Stark tech in Wally's lab.

Hank is impressed when they rig a phaser-beam to a boomerang and offers his help. Jan never asks why they call the laser-powered boomerangs birdarangs.

Thor pretends he never saw Dick hack the security cameras for Stark's lab. Tony doesn't notice when a set of proto Iron Man gloves and boots go missing. Tony doesn't question when JARVIS suggests Tony give Dick an old Iron Man helmet to keep him out of his hair since he and his boyfriend love that sort of thing so much.

JARVIS, Pepper, Jan, Hank and Thor know the helmet really is for keeping Dick in one piece.

Hawkeye asks Tony what he thinks about the hero using his tech. Tony has never heard of this Knightwing. When Tony asks, Pepper says she doesn't know why JARVIS's protocols are corrupted when it comes to sightings of the hero Knightwing. Tony fixes the protocols and gets himself a scotch.

Next Chapter: Wally van Dyne, Nephew of Wasp.