FAMILY ▹ TONY STARK

FAMILY

❝family? that's a word i haven't associated myself with in years.❞

-

Tony Stark was tired, so so tired. He didn't know why he was tired though, was it because he couldn't get Rhodey's braces right? Or was it because the U.N. kept bugging him about something that was out of his reach.

The billionaire was just tired. Of everything, he realizes later on. He can't keep going, he doesn't have a reason to. Some might say he has Rhodey, Vision, Pepper, Happy, heck even Peter. But Tony knew that wasn't true.

Rhodey went to live with his mother after several months of physical therapy, he couldn't stand to live at the tower. Tony understood, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. Tony still sent him things, and by things he means new and improved braces, anything to help his best friend walk again.

Vision, Tony rarely saw the android, and whenever they would bump into each, they would just exchange awkward greetings and move on with their days. Tony knew Vision resented him because Tony separated him from Wanda.

Pepper, he hasn't seen Pepper since they decided to take their permanent break. She was happy, living a normal life with a normal partner, which happened to be Happy. Tony didn't resent them though, he knew he wasn't enough for Pepper, she was too good for him. All Tony could wish now was that Happy would treat her right, like she deserved it.

And Peter, sweet, innocent little Peter. Tony knew the child wasn't really there for him, even though he idolized Tony. Peter had other things to do, he was still a teenager, and had to do teenager things like school and hanging out with friends. That plus being Spiderman meant that he couldn't spend much time with Tony, only visiting the genius whenever he needed new upgrades or when Tony wanted to see the suit.

So when Tony suddenly creates a little family out of random strays he picks up, he suddenly feels less tired.

-

It all starts with Nebula, surprisingly. Tony was called onto the field, a strange spacecraft landed in a corn field in Texas. He arrives and sees the space assassin, metal arm torn as she grits her teeth from the pain she was experiencing.

"Who are you?" Nebula growled, grabbing her arm proactively and taking a defensive stance, ready to fight for her life.

"Woah," Tony says, lifting up his arms as well as his face plate, not wanting to be seen as a threat. "The name's Tony Stark."

"What do you want?"

"To help you," By now, Tony had exited his suit, which was definitely a stupid move, the space assassin looked like she could tear him up in less than a minute, but Tony was known for doing a lot of stupid things.

"Now why would a Terran want to help me? From what I've heard, you lot are just a bunch of greedy asshole," Nebula huffed, glaring at Tony with her pitch-black eyes.

"Well, you're not wrong," Tony shrugged, "But you look like you need help, I'm pretty sure that metal arm is bugging you. I can fix it, build you a brand new one."

"And what would you want in return? Everything comes with a price, what's yours?"

Tony hesitated before responding, he knew it was a long shot that the assassin would agree, but he was desperate.

"Company is all I ask for."

Nebula blinked slowly in surprise. Did she hear correctly? She thought the man would ask for money, a favor or - dare she even say it - sex. Company was not something that even crossed her mind.