Chapter 8

Hey y'all! I'm alive haha! Please Please Please review and tell me what you think (even if it's not positive) because I'm all for constructive criticism and reviews really motivate me! Also I'm sorry this chapter is more of a filler chapter. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. Also, I realize that Fallon wasn't the host back in 2005, but let's just say that the MCU is a different universe from our own, so the timeline is slightly different, shall we?

Peter knelt down and gently placed his arm on Harley's shoulders. "I'm sorry about your family. I lost my mom and dad when I was really little. I don't remember them much, but my Aunt May and Uncle Ben said I didn't talk for weeks. I'm sorry...you probably don't want to hear too much about me right now. What's your name?" Peter asked.

"Har...Harley. Harley Keener," Harley replied between choked sobs. "What's your name?"

"I'm Peter. These are the Avengers, they just saved the world. I'm sure they can help you out too. Do you have any aunts, uncles, or family members we can call? Your dad?" Peter asked gently.

"My dad's more dead to me than my mom and sister," Harley snapped back.

Peter flinched slightly at the harsh tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just really want to help you."

"No, I'm sorry. None of this is your fault. Don't worry about me, I'll get out of your way," Harley replied as he turned and walked away.

Tony stood frozen as he watched the exchange between Harley and Peter guiltily. This is all my fault. If I'd just paid more attention, then Maw wouldn't have gotten away and Harley's family would still be alive. I'm the reason they're dead. Oh God. "Hey kid, Harley, right? Listen, I've got this huge tower with a ton of empty rooms just begging for someone to come live there. Why don't you come and stay with me?" Tony asked impulsively.

"Oh my God! You're Iron Man," Harley replied slightly starstruck, momentarily forgetting about the dire situation.

"Yes I am. I'm glad you recognize such an important heroic figure," Tony replied. Natasha rolled her eyes behind him. "I know this sucks ass right now, and I am terrible at comforting people, especially children. But what I can do is help you out if you come with me, capische?"

"Yeah...okay." Harley nodded slowly as he looked around at all the Avengers, his eyes widening in excitement upon noticing Clint. "Woah...you're that arrow guy with the awesome exploding arrows! My dad was big on archery, said he'd teach me to hunt a deer with an arrow, you know, before he decided we weren't worth his time. No offense to the rest of you people, your powers are super cool and all, but a bow and arrow is super badass. Like you're a real hero. What's your hero name anyway?"

Clint seemed a bit surprised by the attention the young boy gave him, and smiled gently in response. "My codename is Hawkeye. Don't know if I'm much of a hero…" Given that I killed a bunch of people under Maw's orders. "But I can definitely teach you better than that bastard anyway," Clint replied.

"Cool. You're already my favorite superhero," Harley replied, smiling slightly through his tear-stained face.

Tony brought his hand to his chest, "Oh young Harley, you wound me. I thought you liked Iron Man? You into science? If you move into the tower, I'll let you help me and Pete out in the lab. We work on a bunch of cool shit in there, including Iron Man suits."

"Language Tony!" Steve reprimanded Tony. "There are children here!"

"Yeah Mr Stark! You owe me ten bucks for the swear jar when we get back to the tower!" Peter chimed in.

Tony looked to Natasha, both of them seeming to enjoy the nostalgic feeling of the team's banter. "Oh, come on Pete! If I remember correctly, you dropped three f bombs the other day that you still haven't paid any money for yet either."

Before Peter could open his mouth to retort, Harley quietly spoke up once again. "You really mean that? But...you're Iron Man and I'm just an orphan from Tennessee. Why would you want anything to do with me?"

Tony swallowed his guilt and smiled at Harley. "I got a feeling that we're connected kiddo."

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The quinjet ride back to New York reminded Tony and Natasha of old times. The group's lighthearted banter filled Tony with the happiness that he didn't even realize he was missing. Harley was still understandably shaken up, having just lost his only family members hours earlier, but Peter's presence seemed to comfort him.

Bruce walked to the back of the quinjet while the rest of the Avengers accepted Tony's generous offer to stay at the tower. Natasha followed close behind. "You know, if you refuse Tony's offer, he'll just bother you relentlessly until you accept. You really don't have a choice in the matter. He'd be devastated without someone smart enough to keep up with him in that lab of his. And quite frankly, I'd miss you too."

"Miss me? You don't even know me," Bruce scoffed in disbelief.

"Maybe not, but I've read about you. You care about people so much that you've isolated yourself in a misguided attempt to help them. You help the sick in third world countries for free, despite the fact that with your seven PHDs, you could be making millions. You're brilliant, and despite what you think, so is the other guy. I've seen him in action, and I know that he's capable of a lot more than destruction. You can finally stop running Bruce. You have a family here," Natasha said as she gently touched Bruce's cheek.

"You know what's funny? I was dead set on running away, but somehow you're actually making me consider staying. I feel like I know you, is that weird?" Bruce asked.

"No, not weird at all. I feel like I know you too," Natasha replied with a hint of a smile.

"But even if I did want to stay, there's no guarantee that the Hulk won't come out and put all of you in danger. And Tony's got kids in the tower too! The Hulk could lose control and kill them! It's far too risky!" Bruce exclaimed.

"We're a group full of people with metal suits, God-like powers, and a whole host of other skills. I'm sure we can hold our own. Plus, if Tony thought you were a danger to Pete, I doubt he'd even let you within 100 feet of the kid. He's extremely overprotective. If he's willing to let you hang out with the kid, then he really trusts you. The other guy saved his life. And if it makes you feel any better, I bet Tony would be willing to help you design a suit that could contain the Hulk if anything were to happen."

"I'll...I'll have to think about it," Bruce replied thoughtfully. "Wait..when did the other guy save Tony's life?"

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Tony and Natasha managed to convince all of the Avengers to move into the tower, including Loki and Thor. Loki was hesitant to stay in the same vicinity as Tony, but agreed that it was better that he stayed nearby to help the other two time travellers plan their next steps. Thor seemed excited to stay on midgard and finally go visit Jane (who still ended up slapping him for taking so long to come visit). Though Loki hadn't thought much of the midgardian woman the first time he'd met her, that slap made him develop an appreciation for the woman.

Pepper had seemed surprised that Tony was so adamant that he adopt an orphan off the street. However, upon meeting Harley, she too had fallen in love with the young boy. Given that she didn't think Tony was responsible enough to adopt a child on his own, she offered to adopt Harley with him. Tony's lawyers worked efficiently, and within a month, Harley was officially adopted by Tony and Pepper. The trauma of losing his mother and sister seemed to leave Harley much more shy and closed off than when Tony had met him the first time around. However, Peter seemed to bring him out of his shell. Peter's pureness seemed to have that effect on everyone.

May and Ben had yelled at Tony after seeing Peter on TV. Tony and Peter explained that Peter had sneaked onto the quinjet, and continued to disobey orders (and therefore end up recklessly putting his life on the line). Upon realizing that Tony had likely saved Peter's life with his safety protocols with the Iron Man suit, May and Ben had calmed down a little bit. In the end, May, Ben and Tony collectively decided that Peter was grounded for three months. Peter would be allowed to go to school and his apartment only, and on internship days, Tony would assign him "boring stuff only" (At first, Tony had tried to give Peter nothing but paperwork, but the kid's damn puppy dog eyes had him caving in and he ended up letting the kid help him with the Iron Man suit designs again).

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"Sir, Captain Rogers is requesting permission to enter your floor. He wishes to speak with you," JARVIS notified Tony.

"Let him into my lab J," Tony responded.

Steve entered the lab with wide eyes. "Wow, the technology of this time is something that I don't know I'll ever get used to."

"You'll be alright Capsicle. I'm sure Pete and Harley would love to give the righteous Captain America a tour of the twenty-first century," Tony replied with a laugh.

"That might actually be very helpful. How is Harley doing?" Steve asked.

"As well as a kid who just lost his whole family can be doing I suppose. He's a strong quippy kid at heart. He and Peter are going to be the death of me, I swear."

"They're both really good kids. They're lucky to have you. Look, I know we didn't get off on the right foot, and I'm afraid that's my fault. I made assumptions about you before I'd even met you based on some old SHIELD files. I guess I was distraught coming out of the ice into an unrecognizable world. All my friends are dead and the love of my life has Alziemer's. When I saw that Howard had a son, I guess I was expecting him to be just like Howard was. That was an unfair comparison for me to make, and I'm sorry. You're a good man Tony, and Howard would be proud of you," Steve said earnestly.

"Thanks Cap," Tony replied. "If it's any consolation, I misjudged you too. I mean, you are as righteous and perfect as Dad made you out to be, but that's not a bad thing at all. I'm glad to have you around Capsicle."

"Thank you Tony," Steve replied, offering his hand to Tony.

Instead of shaking Steve's hand, Tony surprised both himself and Steve by going in for a hug. Damn it, this time travel shit is making me so soft. "Oh, and since you're one of the better public speakers on the team, Nat and I wanted to ask you to do something with us."

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After the alien invasion, the media circus soon grew out of control, especially in regards to Peter and Harley. When the paparazzi started camping outside Peter's (and now Harley's) school, Tony decided it was finally time to address the public and hopefully calm things down.

The next night, Peter and Harley sat on the sofa with the Avengers who were currently at the tower. Peter clapped excitedly as the Roots began playing the theme music to the talk show. "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" popped up in big bold white letters on the television screen.

"All right, I am so excited to have my first guests here tonight. I've done many interviews with one of them, but I have yet to meet these other two heroes. Also, I may or may not own some underwear merchandise from one of these amazing people," Jimmy laughed nervously before continuing on. "Anyway, without further ado, please welcome Tony Stark AKA Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow, and Steve Rogers AKA Captain America!"

Tony strutted out confidently, blowing kisses in an exaggerated fashion, then threw up his signature peace sign before dramatically sitting down in a cross legged position. Natasha just rolled her eyes behind him and waved to the audience. Steve, on the other hand, awkwardly bowed then quickly followed Tony and Natasha and sat down.

"Wow! Look at you all! Tony, it's so great to see you again! And Natasha, Steve, it's great to finally meet you!" Jimmy laughed nervously again before continuing. "Sorry, this is still so surreal to me! Like, I grew up sleeping on you!" Jimmy turned towards Steve. "I mean. Not literally of course, but I had your bed sheets, and your underwear too! You're my childhood hero."

"Thanks," Steve replied awkwardly. "To be quite honest with you, I didn't even know that was a thing."

"Yeah Cap, I'm working on getting all Avengers merchandise patented because I don't really want my face to end up on someone's dildo," Tony said. Jimmy laughed in an exaggerated manner as the audience applauded loudly. Tony stood up and bowed, before gesturing for the audience to continue.

"All right, that's enough everyone! Trust me, Tony doesn't need an ego boost. His head's big enough as it is," Natasha teased Tony.

"Aw, you wound me Agent," Tony responded. "I for one, think I am very humble. Who here thinks I'm humble?" Tony gestured towards the audience as they once again cheered loudly.

"That is not exactly a fair personality assessment Tony. I'm pretty sure they'll cheer for you no matter what you say," Steve responded. The cheering audience seemed to prove his point.

"Aw come on Capsicle, you're just salty because my team beat yours during our paintball game yesterday! And I had two children on my team!"

"Wait, you guys play paintball together?" Jimmy asked intrigued.

"Yes, well, I decided that if we were going to live and work together as a team, we needed to do some team bonding activities. It was the least violent activity that was suggested, so I agreed to it. Though playing outside definitely would've been a better idea, The entire 40th floor of Avengers tower has been completely destroyed," Steve replied sheepishly.

"What were the teams? I'm just curious because Tony just mentioned that his team won?" Jimmy laughed again.

"Well the winning team was me, Agent Romanoff, Rhodey, Brucie Bear, and my kids. The losers were Capsicle, Reindeer Games, Point Break, and Legolas. To be fair though, Thor and Loki are Asgardians and had a hard time grasping the concept. Loki spent the whole time annoying Thor with his illusions, and Thor broke his paint gun five minutes into the game. He spent the rest of the time chasing Loki's illusions and throwing things at all the illusions until he found Loki. I think the two of them missed the whole point of working together as a team," Tony chuckled as the audience burst into laughter.

"Wow! I kind of want to be there next time you have a paintball game, but at the same time, it sounds a bit terrifying. Not to pry or anything, but you mentioned kids? There have been a ton of paparazzi pictures as of late with you and two young boys. There's also been speculation that one of the kids flew into the wormhole in Tennessee to save the town from a nuke?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, all of that's pretty much true," Tony admitted. "But before you judge me as a 'reckless parent' or whatever, know that Peter sneaked onto the plane and I sent him home, but he hacked my suit and decided to go save the world. I met Peter a while back at one of my expos, I was super impressed by his scientific knowledge, and offered him a prestigious internship at Stark Industries. From there, we really got to know each other and his little puppy eyes are so hard to resist. I never stood a chance against them. I honestly never dreamed of having kids before Pete. He might not technically be my son, but he's as good as. Harley's family was tragically killed during the alien invasion," Tony winced, the guilt of the situation still fresh. "I fell in love with the kid right away, and Pepper and I have officially adopted him. I love both of these kids so much, and if they continue getting harrassed by any of you low life paparazzi, I will personally come to your house in an Iron Man suit. You have been warned," Tony said menacingly, taking off his sunglasses for dramatic effect.

"Wow, Tony Stark as a protective dad, I never thought I'd see the day. This is a huge contrast from your party days. I remember the first time you came on this show in 2005, and you admitted to taking two tabs of LSD before coming on the show. To be fair to you, a drugged out Tony Stark is still much more intelligent than any of us will ever be," Jimmy responded laughing.

"Yeah well, everybody's gotta grow up sometime, right? And thanks for reminding me of that Jimmy. My kids are watching at home and now you've just given them some bad ideas. Well, knowing how innocent Peter is, he probably hasn't heard of acid. Harley on the other hand...Hey kids, if you even think about doing drugs you will never set foot outside of the tower ever again! I know you're watching this at home with the rest of the Avengers, so don't pretend that you didn't hear me!" Tony warned, only half joking.

Jimmy laughed again, bringing his head down to the table dramatically. "Well, who can argue with that when Iron Man is your dad? Anyway, I hope you don't mind if we change the subject a bit. I'm sure the audience would love to hear a little bit about each of the Avengers. Tony, of course we know a lot about you. So why don't we start with you Steve. Tell us a little bit about your life in the twenty-first century."

"Well, I guess it was a bit of a shock to wake up and discover that you're in a different century. It was tough at first, I'm not going to lie. But the team has helped me adjust a lot. I thought that I didn't have any family and friends, but these guys right here and the ones back at the tower have shown me that that's not the case at all," Steve said earnestly while the audience 'awwed'. "It's not so bad anyway. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. Peter and Harley have been helping me navigate Goggle…"

"It's Google Old Man," Tony corrected.

"Yes, thank you Tony. Good thing I brought my twenty-first century translator," Steve joked as the audience responded with laughter. "Anyway, it's definitely been an adjustment, but I'm glad that I've found a family in my team members."

"What about you Natasha? What has this experience been like for you?" Jimmy asked, directing the attention to the assassin.

"Honestly? Before I became an Avenger, I felt lost. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I've constantly been trying to be better. I've known Clint for a long time, he saved me in my darkest moments, and I would give my life for him in an instant. Tony and I actually met while I was undercover at his company. I'm pretty sure he only hired me because my fake profile claimed that I was a lingerie model," Natasha said cheekily.

"Aw, come on Romanoff! Give me a little credit here. I hired you after I saw you beat up Happy in the ring," Tony interjected.

"Well, whatever the real reason Tony hired me is, I'm glad he did. I misjudged him, as I'm sure a lot of people do. Underneath his asshole persona, he's all fluff," Natasha said with a smile. "And Steve over here," Natasha gestured towards the supersoldier, "is one of the best men I've ever known. He truly is the embodiment of bravery." Steve looked surprised by her statement, most likely due to the fact that in the current timeline, they hadn't spoken much yet.

"What can you tell me about Thor and Loki?" Jimmy asked.

"Well Point Break is honestly a happy go lucky golden retriever. But don't ever eat that man's Pop-Tarts. We nearly had to get the tower repaired after he and Loki had a full-blown fight when Thor discovered that his Pop-Tarts were missing. Unbeknownst to both of them, Clint was the one who ate them. Sorry Legolas, your secret's out," Tony smirked. "Loki on the other hand, is a pain in the ass, but we put up with him anyway. For some ungodly reason, the kids love his magic tricks so I let him stay with us."

"Wow...that sounds...intense. What can you tell us about Hawkeye? Other than the fact that he ate Thor's Pop-Tarts?" Jimmy asked again.

"I've known Clint for years, and we've had a ton of wild stories together. He's like a brother to me at this point, and we trust one another with everything. The man loves climbing in vents and scaring people, but he hasn't managed to be successful with me," Natasha smirked with a sense of pride. "Tony on the other hand screamed like a baby and spilled hot coffee all over Bruce after Clint jumped down from the vent in his lab the other day."

"To be fair, my AI is supposed to warn me when things like that happen, but apparently you, Agent Romanoff, specifically instructed JARVIS to be silent."

"Speaking of Bruce Banner, what is he like? Are he and the Hulk different people? How does that work?" Jimmy asked.

"Bruce is one of the purest guys out there. He's way more incredible than he realizes. He's a dork, and we love that. The Hulk is fiercely protective when it comes to those he cares about and fun fact, he loves knock knock jokes. If you ever want to get the Hulk to turn back into Bruce, you just gotta tell a good joke," Natasha responded.

"And last but not least, what can you tell us about Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes?" Jimmy asked.

"Rhodey's been my best friend since I was a baby face teen at MIT. He walked me home after many wild nights out, and was there for me when some of the worst things happened to me. The man gets pissy with me sometimes, but only when I deserve it. Love you Honey-Bear," Tony blew a kiss. The audience cooed in response.

"Wow, thank you all so much for coming on the show tonight. I'm afraid we're out of time but thank you so much for this enlightening interview about Earth's mightiest heroes!" Jimmy clapped as the audience applauded with him.

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