madimpossibledreamer

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: Despite how it might look, the transition isn't easy. There's only so long the destabilized situation can continue before something's gotta give...
Miraculous AU
Word Count: 1499
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Tony/Pepper (implied)

        Lady Luck, Tony thinks with whatever part of his brain isn’t distracted by the petting and the overall feeling of peace and happiness making him purr and his tail curl around her, is practically vibrating with anger. Not that the rest of them know, really, although he suspects the archer and maybe the assassin are in the same boat.
        He’d been the reckless one, up until now. That was his role. It was all he could do to hold her back from something reckless, specifically attacking SHIELD, like that’d do any good.
        It’s not like this doesn’t bother him. It does. And if he hadn’t been spending years under cover, terrified that at any moment if someone catches on to who he really is, he’s going to get killed. As well as his friends, anyone who gets close to him. That’s why he’s so flashy in the suit. He can afford to show off and be, you know, extra, over the top, not constantly anxious and holding back.
        But this whole situation sucks. The purring is half to keep himself calm and not because he’s enjoying being on Pep’s lap, even though that’s obviously awesome too. But he also, like, he gets it, in a way Pepper doesn’t. That Fury would have asked, except he isn’t used to people actually saying yes, so he’s applying force because that’s all he knows. And it’s more like a cynical trade, really. Fury wanted a few extras for his band, and in return he’s going to look into the Obie situation for them.
        His Lady, though, didn’t get that. Which, fair. If he hadn’t grown up with a cynical asshole for a dad he might not have gotten it either. Seriously, he had to earn his birthday presents. He hadn’t known how screwed up that was at the time.
        He’s not telling Pepper anytime soon, though, not with the protective mode she’s gone into since they were contacted. Seriously, he’s pretty sure she glared at Captain America. Glared.
        Maybe that’s on account of his stories about Howard, though, but seriously, Tony doesn’t fault the guy. It’s not the fault of the Paragon of Virtue himself couldn’t get the old man to clean his act up. And he’s pretty sure he’d make a lousy father, too, but he’d give up all of his nine lives for his friends. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t make him purr harder, though, the fact that such an amazing woman cares about him in a way no one had since, well…his mom. And Jarvis. And JARVIS, You, and Dum-E, though he’d programmed them that way.
        Even the assassin had been intimidated into staying out of their way. Maybe. His money’s on the idea that she’s itching to spar, but she’s actually making the archer feel a little better about being intimidated by pretending she is too.
        The doctor—he really wants to babble science with the guy, but he’s staying far away, probably because if he actually is the Hulk Lady Luck’s frosty attitude could set him off and he’s smart and doesn’t actually want to break the plane they’re all riding in. Also, babbling science might be too much of a giveaway of his real name. He’s conflicted on that point and doesn’t want to act until he figures out where he stands on that particular issue.
        The Freezesickle (where did they find him, anyway, Tony really wants to know but also he doesn’t want to willingly talk to a single person from SHIELD) is…well, it’s clear he gets something’s going on, and he’s really conflicted about it. He’d lived during a time when the draft wasn’t a mere suggestion, and so somebody getting forced into superhero duty is a thing that he feels he shouldn’t balk at. But that compassionate nature of his says that he’s unhappy about it, too. And then there’s a third factor. He probably doesn’t even get what’s going on but he’s a soldier.
        Tony has—Tony had known a lot of soldiers in his time. It’s actually killing him a little that he couldn’t get in contact with Rhodey, but his old friend has a terrible poker face and the instant he knew Tony was alive Obie would know. Which would be bad.
        But he knows how they tick, is the point, and he’s getting distracted here. Probably Pepper’s hands. She has very nice hands, particularly when they’re scratching right there on his scalp.
        The point is, soldiers don’t much like unknowns. The ribbing, the suffering together, card games, telling stories, it’s all part of getting to know the people they’re serving with. Sure, it’ll suck that much more if they have to see them die later, but it’s also what helps them work effectively as a team. And Rogers is stuck here with a full team of unknowns.
        Apparently there’s a Norse God around somewhere, but he might be flying outside the plane, and it’s hard to tell where he stands on dealing with mortals anyway.
        So yeah, they’re sitting on a plane full of people itching with anxiety. Which, he’s been good at hiding it, but he’s got social anxiety, like, all the time, alphabetized and indexed by subject. Before the ‘accident’, he’d self-medicated with booze and thrown around money so it didn’t matter how awkward and eccentric he was, how much he just didn’t get how social anything worked. People would smile and pretend they didn’t notice and, who knows, he might start a few trends. It’s why he spoke so fast, why he got good at quipping, because if he was joking around people were less likely to notice that, either.
        But he’s not normal. He gets that. And he’s a lot less worried about people just using him for his money or fame these days, mostly because he doesn’t have those things. But he still gets that fear that he’s not good enough, that he’s not useful enough.
        And being surrounded by anxious people? That’s just making things worse.
        It doesn’t help that it feels like he’s not alone in his head. Sure, that was partly because of the whole Stray Cat thing. Sometimes it does feel like that, that there’s the superhero and the man and never the twain shall meet except when they obviously do. But this feels different, and he can’t quite put a paw on why. But if he waits long enough he’ll figure it out eventually. He is a genius after all.
        “I can go first,” he announces, Pepper’s hand stilling on his head. “I like scratching baddies up with my claws, acrobatics, and the occasional field of induced entropy.”
        Cap stares at him, confused. The archer snorts.
        “I thought SHIELD said you weren’t supposed to talk to us,” he snarks, at which point Tony decides he likes this guy and he’s totally adopting him as one of his humans, just see if he doesn’t.
        “I only really take orders from people I like.” He rubs his head a little on his Lady, grinning. “I’ve decided you fall under that category, Cap. So, how accurate were those war tapes? Didja really get to punch Hitler in the face?”
        Despite himself, Rogers grins at that one. “No. I wish I had, though.”
        He glances at the assassin, who’s smirking. “Keep me entertained and I might not even tell on you,” she offers, and he shivers.
        “What the hell. I’m an archer. A really good one. And I can entertain, too.” The archer shrugs. “Widow here is an assassin.”
        “I’m the Hulk,” skittish doctor announces, confirming his suspicions—
        “Hang on, Dr. Bruce Banner? The star of the field of gamma research? I’ve read all your papers!” He’s definitely purring from excitement, and from this close he hears Lady Luck chuckle at the enthusiasm. “You’re a genius, and coming from me, that’s saying something, although biology isn’t exactly my area of expertise. Handsome genius scientist by day, Big Green by night, huh?”
        Dr. Banner blinks. “Thanks?” he says uncertainly. Whoops. He hadn’t meant to be that intense, and still hadn’t decided whether it was dangerous if he actually came out and said all of that. Cat’s out of the bag, he supposes.
        “Short version, I manipulate luck. It’s hard to describe, but I can give a good demonstration when we get….wherever we’re going.” Pepper unfreezes just enough to talk normally, even if she’s still seething and tense.
        Still, it seems like it’s working. A little. Cap even looks more relaxed. “I look forward to working with all of you,” he says politely, and then it happens.
        There’s a suspicious voice in his head that’s definitely not his own. I wish it were that easy. One of his leather ears flicks, but otherwise he doesn’t move or react, because he needs more data to figure out what the hell is going on. Didn’t Sir Thunder out there have a brother who uses illusions, or something? I could’ve sworn that was in the class notes, somewhere…