Iron-Starred Arachnids

 

Superfamily! Completely AU! I'm making my own set universe for this fic… It's not gonna be too different since I'm gonna try and keep it sort of cannon but no promises here!

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, The Avengers or any and all characters portrayed in this piece of literature. I don't make money off of making this fic…

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Chapter 1: How It All Began

Superhusbands...

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Caring for someone who isn't related to you by blood should have been a challenge, something that didn't come so naturally. However, that didn't seem to be the case for Steve Rogers. Steve wasn't special by any means, at least not where he was concerned. Where everyone saw him as a hero, he saw nothing but the shell of a man he used to be. But now he couldn't even be bothered to think of the man he was versus the man he has become after having woken up from the cryogenic induced sleep. Now his life revolved around a fragile looking one year old. The child he would give his life for, the child he found that tragic day whose whole life was caught between one destructive battle caused by Loki's henchmen.

Frankly, Steve Rogers aka Captain America didn't know what caused the fight that day, not that he cared. There always seemed to be at least one supervillain causing mayhem every other day. It was just that Loki had somehow found a way to release some Jotuns from their perpetual prison which inevitably led to the rampage of the Frost Giants. When the Avengers were deployed, they were able to destroy the Jotuns, but the greater worry was for the civilians trapped in the broken houses and buildings as the battle was widespread and wasn't localized to just one area. As the team sought to rescue any and all survivors, the team went to work.

Natasha aka Black Widow and Clint Barton aka Hawkeye teamed up getting to the ones that needed immediate help. The Hulk went on to rescue those trapped by huge debris followed by Thor who did the same. Then there was Tony Stark aka Iron Man whose flying and blasting capabilities proved useful in getting to the taller buildings and transporting people safely out onto a safer area.

While that went on, Captain America in the middle of ushering the panicked citizens off the danger zone, heard a cry. It wasn't particularly loud, but it caught his attention. He heard it again after a few seconds and this time he rushed towards its direction. As he neared a nearly broken home, the sound came louder this time around and he saw a small child bundled up in a woman's arms. He would later learn the old woman's name to be May Parker. He checked the woman's pulse and found none as he reached for the child and held the kid in his arms. Just then something from the direction of the kitchen caught his eye as flames sparked to life. It could have been due to some friction coupled with a leak, but he didn't have time to figure that out at the moment. The whole place quickly caught on fire and Captain America found himself effectively trapped. It would have been a simple escape had it not been for the lifeless body of the old woman he carried and the fussing child in his arms. His sense of duty wouldn't have let him leave the premises without both so he scrambled his brain trying to find a solution to his predicament. He was sorely losing morale but one look at the child steeled his resolved.

The child couldn't have been more than a couple of months old. He was still tiny, barely bigger than his hand. The child looked so fragile and vulnerable, and only able to cry out loud as the surrounding melted in a flurry of ravenous flames and copious amount of smoke. So Captain America first opted to the nearby sink and burst the pipes open letting jets of cool water douse him and his companions. He threw his shield onto the nearby wall making an impromptu door for him to bust through. So with his super enhanced strength he high tailed it out of there as the flames licked his body. Thankfully thanks to the soaking from earlier, any and all further flame related injuries were minor as they emerged from the broken home as its final foundations gave way and the house crumbled. The flames died out as the roofing collapsed, causing the constriction of oxygen forcing the fire to mere embers until it was all extinguished.

He laid the body of the woman down as he caught his breath. He didn't even realize he had stopped breathing until his body's natural urge to retain oxygen levels kicked in. He was almost drunk on the adrenaline, but the child's fussing broke him out and sobered him up. He couldn't and didn't think about anything besides trying to calm the child down. Cradling the child in his arms, the little thing decided that he was tired and soon fell asleep.

It was at that moment that Iron Man's voice broke through the communication device. "Cap, do you read me? Cap!"

"Oh! Uh, yeah I'm here. Everything is all okay in my sector." Being as distracted as he was at that moment, Steve sent out the homing signal from his communicator and waited for the others to arrive.

First on the scene was Iron Man followed by Thor.

"So, where'd the fountain of spittle come from?" asked Tony as soon as he spotted the child in Steve's arms.

"I got him out of the collapsing house but I didn't have time to check for any other survivors in there. This woman was holding on to him when I found them, but she was dead on arrival." Steve looked sort of sullen at that fact, thought Tony but dismissed it. Steve looked as he had lost a family member himself, but that was expected thought Tony. After all, if there was ever anyone in their group that empathizes more with the people, it was Steve Rogers.

"I shall find his relatives then!" thundered Thor, "should any surviving member be alive, I will swiftly return and deliver them here to take the boy." Thor flew up once more towards where a lot of the civilians congregated after they were safely evacuated. Steve only hoped that Thor did find this child's family.

"Did anybody see if Loki arrived with this group?" asked Clint out loud as he approached with Natasha followed by the Hulk.

"Negative, it seems that the portals were only opened with his magical signature, but he wasn't physically present according to mister thunderhead," answered Tony.

"I heard that man of Iron!" boomed Thor from the communicator.

"I meant you to!" bit back Tony rather amusedly. While Tony and Thor fielded back replies, Steve was trying to keep the sleeping child away from the Hulk, but the green giant seemed rather amused by the little thing in his arms.

"Tiny human!" bellowed the Hulk.

"He's not a tiny human big guy, he's a baby," said Clint, "a baby whose only job is to eat, sleep, drink, poop and pee!" Clint was also amusing himself watching the sleeping little thing. All the while, Natasha was remotely calling for the quinjet to get them back to the Stark Tower or otherwise known as the Avengers tower.

"Do we know who he belongs to?" asked Natasha as the quinjet landed.

"Thor is trying to find out, but from what I gather this woman might be his only family." Steve relinquished the baby onto Hawkeye with a silent request as he picked up the lifeless body of the elder woman. The least he could do was give the woman a proper burial.

Although SHIELD usually took care of any and all casualties after a tiff with the supervillians, Steve wanted to personally see to it that this woman was buried. So when the SHIELD operatives came and went, bringing with them the bodies of all that were killed, Captain America helped in making sure all care was given to the poor civilians .

It might have taken him longer than what was necessary, but he saw to it that the bodies either found their way back to the families who mourned or buried and identified to mark their graves properly. He personally buried the now identified May Parker. He silently promised that he will either find the family for the child he found in her arms or he'd make sure to raise the child himself. With a final thought in his head, Steve Rogers opted to go back to the scene where he found the elderly woman and the child. He scrounged around the broken home looking for anything that might be kept as a remembrance for the kid. However, everything that lay in sight was broken, burnt, or indiscernible. Digging through them wasn't easy but it paid off. He found a couple of pictures, some of which were only slightly burnt at the edge but that was easy enough to overlook as the bright smiles of the people in the picture shone brightly.

Delighted with what he found, Steve headed back to the Avengers Tower with the photos in tow. He couldn't help but smile as he recalled one of the pictures of a young couple who looked at their child adoringly. He wanted to be genuinely happy like them. No pretense, no worrying, nothing to hinder that happiness.

Some could say that he was merely courting with the notion of feeling responsible due to the fact that he couldn't save May Parker, but if you'd asked Steve he'd tell you that he didn't really know why he wanted to protect the child. Loneliness could have been a factor. He was a man torn away from his time. The world went on without him and he felt removed from his surroundings. By having someone to take care of, he could be wanted and feel like someone out there will know him for who he is and not just some super soldier. Steeling his resolve, he vowed to be the sub-parent of the child.

Arriving at the tower, Steve was caught by surprise when all he heard as he arrived at the penthouse was a loud cry followed by frantic shouts and other unintelligible murmurs. As the elevator doors opened, it seemed more chaotic in there compared to the path of destruction that just occurred merely hours ago. Thor was trying to entertain the crying child with scary looking stunts, Clint was trying to get the child's attention by making faces but was utterly failing, and even Bruce was in mid Hulk transformation just to try and zone out the loud crying noise. The only one who seemed unperturbed was Natasha who was too focused researching her next assignment. Not even the loudest noise could have snapped her out of it. The only one not in the immediate vicinity was Tony. Steve could only guess that the other man had eventually retreated to his lab for some peace and quiet.

"Steve! Thank goodness you're back! Make him stop!" Clint was frantic as he handed the baby back to Captain America. The baby stopped all of a sudden and cooed. Smiling like a villain, the baby let a smile be painted on his face. Steve was confused, but took it as a good sign and held the child closer. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the diaper was slightly wet. This could mean that he was crying because he needed some changing.

Almost as if it was rehearsed, he took the kid to the nearest sink and proceeded to clean up the child. He made sure that the water wasn't too cold or too warm. With the kid sufficiently cleaned, and with a lack of immediate baby supplies, he used a clean towel like a diaper and made sure that it fit snugly but not too tight. And since they had no clothes in hand for this situation, Steve used one of his tighter shirts and wrapped the kid up cozily. Exhausted, the kid fell back to sleep in Steve's arms.

"Wow, like wow," was all Clint could say. Bruce looked relieved while Thor looked disappointed having not been the one to stop the crying.

"I applaud you captain!" bellowed out Thor, "For not even the customary Asgardian tricks were able to lull the child into a sense of complacency.

"Umm, alright well I guess thank you for looking after him." Steve was just relieved that the kid was calmer now.

"You're like a mom!" Clint suddenly exclaimed with his mouth slightly open. Not even Bruce could keep a straight face as Thor joined in the slight snickering. Steve couldn't think of a way to reply so he just stayed quiet and walked away. Natasha finally got up from her spot and slapped Clint upside the head before heading over Steve's direction.

"Since we aren't equipped for a baby in the tower, I'll drop by the store for supplies after my mission in Bhutan." Natasha was always the collected type and this time was no different. Steve was about to say thank you in response when another hothead burst through the elevator doors bearing supplies.

"I got it! He needs diapers, a crib, milk and all the things babies could ever think of!" Tony burst in followed by Pepper as they wheeled in at least three carts full of baby supplies.

"Okay, since that's settled I'm outta here; let me know if you need anything else, but I'm pretty sure Tony has you covered." Natasha smiled as she headed up to the roof followed by Clint who bid everyone farewell since he was also needed on the mission according to Fury.

"Isn't that a little too excessive?" asked Bruce as he noticed there were things in the cart that none of them could even use like breast pumps and nursing bras.

"He got a little too excited and decided to buy whatever he saw at the store," answered Pepper as she looked towards Steve holding the kid.

"Yeah well, you never know when you'll need it!" Tony was always and will always be something. Steve couldn't ever put him in a certain category since the Stark Industries CEO always seemed to find a way to break all certain standards. When they first met, he thought the guy to be an arrogant self-centered billionaire but in the months they've been together he learned to respect the guy, warts and all.

"From the looks of it, you expect the baby to live here with us," said Bruce. He wasn't asking; he was making an observation.

"I had Jarvis run a complete background check for any and all family members for the kid and came up with no living relatives," answered Tony, "so for now yeah unless we give him up to the state orphanage."

"His name is Peter Parker; he lost his parents at a young age. Plane crash or something along those lines according to various news feeds, but I couldn't find anything else." Pepper piped up as she started putting away all the ones they won't need in the near future like the breast pumps, and left out the ones that are needed on to the kitchen counter like the milk bottles and milk formulas and so on. Bruce opted to help as well as Thor who had nothing else to do at the moment. Even Jarvis' automated arm was busy putting the multitude of items away.

Steve, eternally gratefully to the Avengers' benefactor, could only thank Tony as nothing could really be said otherwise.

"Does that mean I get to keep him and raise him like a son or how does it work in this time period?" asked Steve.

"So you really want to take custody of the kid?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah I do, I don't want to just give him up just like that." Steve looked at the child and scrunched his nose as he nudged the sleeping child adoringly.

"Yeah, and you have to fill out adoption papers and whatnot for legalization otherwise they'll take him into an orphanage," said Pepper. With things put away, Thor bid them all goodbye and headed out to meet Jane. Bruce also had to say his goodbyes as he was needed back on the Helicarrier on order by Fury, apparently something to do with gamma ray exposures. Pepper soon followed as there were so many things she needed to work on since Tony was shirking off his duties as the CEO once again in favor for his lab.

"It seems like we have a team mascot now! If you need the papers to fill out or anything just let Jarvis know," Tony was in a cheerful mood, but he had work to accomplish in the lab so he too left.

"Jarvis, can you pull out the files I need for the adoption and just leave it on the counter?" Steve was still not used to talking to the AI, but at least he knew that the AI is reliable.

"Certainly Mr. Rogers, I'll place the files as requested." A robotic arm holding the packet of files placed it neatly on the counter and took care of the request.

"Well Peter Parker, seems like you'll be stuck with me after all." Steve smiled at the sleeping baby and decided that the poor child must have been exhausted from the day's activity. So Steve got the premade crib and carried it off into his room. He then proceeded to put Peter down, but as soon as he left him alone Peter would start fussing. So instead, Steve let Peter lay down on his bed with him. Steve had the foresight to place oversized pillows beside Peter to keep him from falling. Once everything was fine, he too settled to nap alongside Peter. A nap wouldn't hurt; after all, if they need him they'll call him.

All that was left was for tomorrow to come. And it should prove interesting. After all, with raising a kid, along with the constant dangers and call for the Avengers, the coming days will be far from relaxing.

TBC…

A/N: If you would please rate and review that would be great! :D