Work Text
Tony’s in his workshop when Peter comes in to talk to him. “Hey, Mr. Stark? Can I ask for a favor?”
Tony turns, shrugging. “Sure, what can I do for you, kid?”
“Well, I met this boy named Tommy, he’s 8 years old, and I’m really worried about him. I got him out of a bad situation, but I found out recently that he’s being asked to testify in court, and like, the news hasn’t really been kind, and neither has the community, so. I thought maybe you and Steve and everyone could go help with the crowd? I’ve seen biker gangs do it before, and I think having superheroes help would be really helpful too?”
“Sure, if we don’t have any emergencies that day, we can probably do that. What is he testifying about?”
Peter falls silent, fidgeting with some spare parts on one of the work benches. “He was sexually assaulted by his babysitter, Judy.” A pause. “And his parents are gay.”
Tony freezes. “Christ. Yeah, we’ll definitely be there then. When is this happening?”
“Next week.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to everyone else, we’ll see what we can do.” Tony pulls up a new holographic screen, searching for more information on the case.
Peter breathes out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”
“Sure thing, kid.”
A week later, Tony pulls the limo up in front of the courthouse, and everyone looks out. They’ve got an impressive group in the car; Clint and Lucky, Tony and Diva, Peter in his suit (because everyone else is well known, but he’s still got a secret identity to maintain), Bruce and Smash, Steve and Verity, Bucky and Fubar, Rhodey and Valor, Natasha, Jessica and Whiskey, and Sam and Ava. From the looks of it, they’re going to need all of them, too.
The courthouse is surrounded by a crowd, and Bucky stares at the crowd in shock. “Why are there so many people here for this?”
“The babysitter was kind of a big deal in her community. Volunteered at homeless shelters, important member of her church, straight A student, that kind of thing. People are saying this is just Tommy making things up, because she would never do something like that,” Peter explains. “And his parents are gay, so she’s saying that she did it in the name of God to save him from his dads’ sins.”
“Fuck,” Clint says quietly, “This won’t go well.”
Jessica stares at the signs some of the people in the crowd are holding. “Fuck no it won’t. I hope you’re already to work your asses off. Because we’re going to be here for a while.”
“But take breaks if you need to, of course,” Steve adds, and Jessica glares at him.
“Whatever. This kid needs support more than we do right now. Fuck off with your ‘self care’ bullshit, Rogers, this isn’t the time.”
Tony clears his throat, stopping the argument before it can go any further. “Cool, well, let’s do this, shall we? How are we going to divide up here?”
Natasha answers the question. “We’re going to line the path going up into the courthouse and keep people back on either side. When the kid gets here, we’ll send four people in with him, box him in and keep him safe. Bucky, Sam, Steve, you take the left side of the crowd. Jessica, Rhodey, Bruce, you take the right side of the crowd. Peter and Tony, you help with the left side of the crowd, and when the kid arrives, Peter will walk in front of the boy and Tony will take his left side. Clint and I will help with the right side of the crowd, and then Clint will take his right side and I’ll cover behind him. Clear?”
Everyone nods, so Tony drives them over to the parking lot, parks, and everyone piles out, heading back to control the crowd. People are yelling and chanting at full volume, and even Clint winces, turning his hearing aids down slightly. “Justice for Judy!” part of the crowd chants. Signs in the crowd read “Judy is Innocent,” “Model Citizen, NOT A Rapist,” “Gay is NOT Okay,” “Fags are Abominations,” and “Stop Oppressing Christians.” People take up the positions they’ve agreed on, and then they wait for Tommy to arrive.
Lucky starts to alert almost immediately, as do Smash, Fubar, and Whiskey. Jessica ignores Whiskey entirely, Clint and Bruce praise their dogs for tasking and then go back to focusing on the crowd, and Bucky reaches down to bury a hand in Fubar’s fur, trying to breathe and still manage the crowd.
Tommy’s parents show up with Tommy not long after the heroes arrive, and Peter, Natasha, Clint, and Tony quickly abandon their spots near the crowd to join the family, stepping into position around them while the others work to cover their spots, trying to manage the crowd as the people get more and more aggressive in their chants, pushing to get closer to Tommy and his parents.
As they walk Tommy to the courthouse doors, someone from the crowd makes it past Bucky and Sam, rushing at them only to be intercepted by Tony. “Sorry, sir, but now isn’t a great time, come back again later!” Tony says with his best false cheerfulness, pushing the man back towards the crowd of people.
“The boy’s a liar! My daughter would never do this! She’s a child of God!” The man yells in Tony’s face, and Tony just keeps walking the man back towards the crowd, Diva at Tony’s side.
“Blah blah blah, okay, just stay over here, sir, thanks!”
Tony heads back to the group, and Diva tucks back in between him and Tommy so the kid can pet the dog while they walk. They make it to the door, and once the family’s inside, the heroes all step back. One of Tommy’s fathers, Sebastian, takes Peter’s hand, looking like he’s about to cry. “Thank you, for everything. This has been so hard for Tommy, but you helped him speak his truth, you got all these wonderful people here to come stand up for us, and you’ve done so much. I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”
Peter holds the man’s hand in his own, trying to comfort him. “You don’t need to repay me. You’re here for your son. That’s what matters. We’ll stick around until after the trial for you, if you want.”
The father nods. “That would be amazing. Thank you.” He turns to Tony, Clint, and Natasha, making eye contact with each of them. “Thank you to all of you.”
The family heads into the courtroom, and the heroes head back out to talk to the others. “Buck, Steve, we’ll take over for now, go take a few minutes,” Tony tells the men, and he and Peter take their places.
“Bruce, Jessica, you two take a break too,” Clint says, and he and Natasha take over. They trade in and out for the next three hours while the trial continues, and when the family is back at the doors again, the same four walk them back to their car.
“How did it go?” Peter asks, and Tommy’s other dad, Don, shrugs.
“I don’t know. I think we’ll be okay. Tommy did a great job, though.”
Tommy shakes his head. “I-I think I forgot things, or maybe said things wrong, I’m not sure, it was just so scary and there were so many people, and--”
“Whoa, slow down kid.” Tony stops everyone, and crouches down until he’s face to face with the boy, Diva stepping over to the side. “Look, I’m Ironman, and even I get scared. Sometimes I mess up the things I want or need to say. It happens.”
Tommy looks at him, wide eyed. “Really?”
“Really. Every single one of the Avengers can personally guarantee that.”
“Yep, it’s true,” Clint says, “And it happens to me too. I’ve forgotten important information more times than I can count.”
“Me too,” Natasha adds. “I used to be a super secret spy, and even I mess up.”
Peter nods. “I also mess up. Actually, I mess up a bunch, but that’s okay, we all do. The important thing is you tried your best, okay?”
They continue walking to the family’s car, and when they get there and Tommy is in the back seat, both dads come around the car to talk to the heroes. “We can’t thank you enough,” Don tells them, and Sebastian nods.
“If it hadn’t been for all of you, I doubt Tommy would have been able to do this at all. You gave him hope and confidence at a time when even we couldn’t comfort him. We’ll always be grateful for what you did for us.” The family leaves, and Tony lets out a deep breath.
“That was the hardest thing we’ve done in a while, right? I’m not the only one who feels unbelievably drained right now?”
“I think I need a four hour nap,” Clint groans. “Let’s go get everyone and go home.”
They take the limo over and pick up the rest of the heroes, and almost everyone looks like they’re ready to collapse. By the time they reach the tower again, Bruce and Peter have already fallen asleep in the back, and Tony has to wake Bruce up to get him back inside, but he chooses to just carry a sleeping Peter rather than wake him.
Almost everyone goes back to their own floors in the tower, except for Jessica and Sam, who crash on the couches on the communal floor, and Peter, who Tony lays down on the other communal floor couch and covers in a blanket before heading back to his own floor. Tony has a feeling that everyone’s going to need some sleep after all of that, and any service dogs that went with them are going to be having one hell of a long work day, but Tony’s not upset about it. Helping the kid was worth it, and he’d have no problem doing this again.