The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 11

Loki's trick must have worked because no one found out about his night trip. Maybe he could persuade him to conjure his twin more often, but he didn't want to try his luck. In the end, it would certainly be figured out anyway, and then he would be even more in trouble. He stayed home all weekend, trying to rest to please his parents, and researching Mary's past. Dad still kept her file from when she was trying to intrude on their life so he could misuse it for his research, but he didn't learn much information. From what Tony and Natash had found out, it seemed as if Mary didn't even exist before joining Stark Industries. He, therefore, threw himself into missed learning, because he naively thought that his parents would let him go to school on Monday, but he was wrong. And when he couldn't go to school, he at least went to the workshop after breakfast.

"Are you going to start working for Dad now?" Peter asked as he spun in his chair. It reminded him a little of his childhood.

"I don't know," Bruce sighed, scratching his neck nervously.

Peter said nothing. He knew that Bruce was still blaming himself for his kidnapping, no matter how many times he had told him he wasn't to blame. It's almost as if Tony and he were brothers by blood. They both felt guilty for something they couldn't change.

"How are you?" he asked carefully. Partly to make sure Peter was okay, and partly to fill the silence. Personally, he liked silence, but not in the presence of young Stark. He never held silence for long, so it was always suspicious when he didn't speak.

"Fine, really. If it was up to me, I would go to school. You should talk to my mom and convince her that I'm already completely fit," Peter replied a little annoyed. Bruce had to laugh at that.

"I'll do my best," he promised, though they both knew very well that Pepper wouldn't change her mind.

"What about Natasha?" exclaimed Peter, who couldn't stand it any longer. "I mean, if you're okay," he added. They seemed to reconcile, but he wanted to be sure. These two just belonged together, Peter knew that long before Bruce disappeared.

"We're trying..." was all he told him.

"You should get married," he said as if it weren't a serious matter.

Bruce rolled his eyes at him. His remark startled him, but soon a smile settled on his face. "I think we will try living together first. Plus, now you should only deal with one wedding, and that's your parents," he laughed. It was nice to see the carefree Peter again.

"Exactly! When mom and dad are finally getting married, it's time for me to focus on you, guys," he grinned, but Bruce just shook his head at it in amusement. "Are you really moving out?"

"We haven't discussed it in detail yet, but we would like to," he said softly, noticing that his good mood was gone.

"I'm happy for you, but I'll miss you," he whispered with a sad smile on his face. "But whatever, it's not like you're moving right now. You'll be here with us for a little while, won't you?"

Bruce hesitated. They didn't set a fixed date with Natasha, but they had a certain idea, and Bruce knew that Peter wouldn't agree with that idea. "Actually, we'd like to celebrate Christmas in the new apartment."

"What?" he exclaimed in surprise. "But Christmas is basically in a month!"

"Here you are," another voice said through the room. "Did I interrupt something?" Natasha asked suspiciously as she came closer to them and looked at their expressions.

"Nothing," Peter muttered.

Natasha gave him an inquisitive look before looking at Bruce. "We have to go. One last chance to back off," she told him, hoping he would do just that. She hoped so much that Bruce backed away, but she knew very well he wouldn't do it.

"I know you don't like it, but it had to come one day. And Tony said this new Ross seemed fine-"

"But he also said we should be careful," she said.

"Nat," he whispered, giving her a look that spoke for itself.

"Fine, but if he tries anything, I'll have to kill him," she sighed.

"Exactly, just show him who Bruce belongs to," Peter interjected, and even though Natasha wasn't up to smiling, she had to laugh at this.

•••

Natasha didn't feel very comfortable. It had been barely a few days since Bruce had gotten out of here, and now she was leading him back. She tried to believe Tony's view of Everett, but it was very difficult. It was enough for Everett to say one bad word and she would send him deep to the underground. "I'm very glad you were all able to show up," the incoming man said instead of greeting and shook hands with everyone. "Especially you, Dr. Banner," he added with a friendly smile as he shook hands with him and every muscle in Natasha's body tensed.

"Nice to meet you," he muttered. Of the four of them, he was the only one who didn't have the honor with him yet, so this was their first meeting. And he had to note that Ross seemed very comfortable to him.

"I will not delay you long, I have a lot of work to do. Let's get straight to the point... The Sokovia Accords are still in force, so I will need you to sign it, Dr. Banner. I know it's not ideal, but for now, we'll have to stick to it. But I expect that I will be able to cancel it in the future," he told them.

"You said it couldn't be canceled," Tony said, who thought the whole thing was too perfect.

"I said it can't be destroyed by waving a magic wand, and that's the difference, Mr. Stark. I have to focus on investigating Ross' murder now, but as soon as we find the killer, I will start trying to make the Sokovia Accords invalid," he explained his future intentions.

"Why would you do that?" Rhodey asked, overtaking Natasha, who was about to ask the same question.

"None of us liked this solution, but I didn't have anything to say at the time and you didn't have much choice. The world needs you, but not under control. The contract restricts you and thus endangers ordinary people. And while we're at it, I'm going to pardon your old friends. If you're in contact with them, tell them."

"I hate to ruin it for you, but he won't sign it," Natasha pointed out. Somehow she didn't know what to think of Everett. Everything he told them here sounded really beautiful, but none of them were naive. Who guarantees them that he really means it and it's not just empty words?

"She's right," Tony sighed. "Listen, that sounds really great, but why do you think he'll sign it now?"

Everett studied them all before taking a deep breath and sitting down in a chair. "Of course I thought about it, but maybe I could convince him if I could talk to him."

"Good luck with that," Natasha grinned.

"We'll see what can be done," Rhodey promised.

"I guess I can't expect anything better. Well, as I said, I won't delay you for long. Once Dr. Banner signs it, you can go. I'm not expecting anything from you right now, but we'll stay in touch, okay?" he told them, waiting for a nod of approval. "As for you, Doctor, I will still have to meet with you for statment. You are run here as an employee and a few strange things have happened here."

"I'll help as much as I can," Bruce assured him, trying not to sound too nervous. Tony, Natasha, and Rhodey tried to pretend that Ross's request to Bruce hadn't thrown them off.