Okay so I have this small little guilty pleasure ship with Tony Stark and Phil Coulson and I kinda like the age play dynamic between the two because I'm a sucker for Little!Tony and Daddy!Phil (especially if it's a Clint/Phil relationship which is a guilty pleasure ship of mine as well)

Based in a 'Littles are known' universe with Tony as a Little

There's no actual Tony/Phil in this part, it's Tony/Natasha and a little bit of Tony/Steve

Tony was use to pain. He's been battered and bruised, thrown against walls, buildings near enough crushing his spine and has had his arch reactor ripped out from his chest a fair share of times ( and honestly, that hurt Like a mother fucking bitch). He's been poisoned, slapped around by the bastard he called a father, choked by a man he now calls his team mate and friend and near enough killed by a man that was a father figure to Tony stark.

Yeah, Tony was use to pain.

But not this type of pain.

This type of pain was so different, so agonising and painful that Tony just couldn't breathe. His heart ached in a way that it wasn't due to the pieces of shrapnel aiming at his heart, it ached in a way of heartbreak, in away of fear and in away that was so unfamiliar to Tony that it was frightening him. Tony could feel it, feel the pain in his chest, feel the tears in his eyes and the shake of his hands as he just tried to breathe, body squeezed between a wall and a metal container.

If anyone had asked Tony 6 months ago about Phil Coulson, Tony would've waved the name off of his shoulder like he would've did with any other persons name. He wouldn't have cared around the shady SHEILD agent that seemed to pop up out of the blue whenever Tony caused trouble, just waiting to clean up Tony Starks mess. Tony wouldn't made a remark about how much the man annoyed him to his core, how he didn't need a babysitter.

If anyone asked Tony now about Phil Coulson, Tony wouldn't be able to hold up. Maybe force a smile, murmur a word a two about how much of a great man that he was and then creep off into the private of his own workshop and Maybe - possibly - break down. Phil was such an annoyance at the start, but the second he had wangled his way into Tony's life, and into Tony's heart, Tony would be lost without him.

Especially now

Tony was too caught up with the brother of a Demi-God attempting to take over the world and opening portals which released thousands of space aliens to know of the death of Phil. No one had told him directly, no one had taken him aside and told him that Phil had been stabbed in the chest by Loki. No. He had found out himself, by mistakingly tapping into Maria Hills microphone during debriefing.

The news of Phil's death had struck Tony like a bunch of bricks. Tony's first reaction was to deny that it was true, shake it off like a bad joke because he couldn't have died, Phil was always so safe. It was only when it sinked in, when Tony started to pull the pieces together, how Phil hadn't even came to see if he was alright - because despite the fact that they tried to separate their private life with work life, it was sometimes hard - and how he hadn't even seen the man around the place.

It's a month later, and Tony still isn't any better

"Sir?"Tony jerks out of his own thoughts at the sound of his AI, dropping the wrench in his hand onto the workshop floor. Wide brown eyes look up at the ceiling in a way that was more of jester to tell JARVIS that he was awake and listening. He must've blanked out. He's been doing that a lot lately.

"What is it, J?"Tony asks, voice thick with tiredness that even coffee couldn't cure. Despite the damages done to the tower after the Battle of New York, his workshop down in the basement was still perfectly intact and not damaged at all. He's been on lockdown for what has to be a week, hunched over his workshop bench and already onto making new designs for the newest stark phone as well as fixing his suit.

"My body scans show that you haven't slept in over 48 hours, you are also lacking nutrients and vitamins as well as the fact your body is not functioning correctly with the lack of sleep, food and hydrants."Tony nods slowly as he processes the AI's words, mind working slower than usual.

There's a small part of him telling Tony that he should go to sleep, but he's afraid to sleep alone after so many nights of sleeping next to a warm body with hands combing through his hair. He knows that if he sleeps he's going to have nightmares of flying into that portal and not coming out again, he's going to wake up screaming and crying from a nightmare and for Phil - His Friend, his lover, his daddy - to be there and calm him down.

But he won't be

"Yeah, I'll give it an hour. I need to finish this off."Tony mumbles, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face. DUM-E nudges at his side, whirling and beeping until Tony turns and pays attention to his eldest bot. DUM-E may be Tony's first robot but he was Tony's baby, clueless and childlike.

"If I throw this, you better not knock down my filing cabinet again."Tony sighs, taking the fuzzy tennis ball off of DUM-E and turning it in his hands. DUM-E whirls in excitement, the sound making Tony smile just a little before throwing the ball across the lab, watching his bot wheel after it. DUM-E was always in whatever workshop that Tony was in, while You and Butterfingers stayed in Malibu.

The little watches his bot, shaking his head whenever DUM-E indeed runs into the side of one of Tony's filing cabinets and knocks down a photo frame onto the floor."Stupid bot,"Tony grumbles, groaning whenever he gets up from his seat with aching bones and muscles. He bends to pick up the smashed photo frame, turning it in his hands.

It's a photo of Phil and Tony, taken on a day where Tony was feeling little and clingy, obvious by the shine in his brown eyes and the way his hands fist into Phil's shirt as he takes the selfie of the two. Tony allows himself to smile sadly, thumb tracing the crack in the glass across Phil's face, eyes glossy with tears.

"Stark!"Again, Tony is jumping at the new voice in the workshop, grilling tightly onto the photo frame in his hands as he watches Steve storm from the elevator further into the workshop, closer to where Tony is standing. Tony blocks out JARVIS's excuse and apologise for allowing Steve into the workshop without Tony's permission, too focused on the angered expression that has graced Steves face.

"Captain,"Tony acknowledges with a small head nod.

"Don't get coy with me, you're one of the most selfish men to ever walk this earth."Steve near enough growls his anger at the man he has only known for a month but knows so much about. Tony stands there, a little dazed and confused but he wasn't going to deny anything that Steve says because in someway or another, it's true."You could've at least have the decency to turn up at Agent Coulsons funeral today, pay your respects to man that gave his own life instead of ours."

And yeah, Tony knew that it was Phil's funeral today, he had been dreading the days and counting them down which just made the time so slower and more agonising. He couldn't bare himself to go to the funeral, to stand amongst the crowd and pay his respects just like a fellow employee because they were so much more than that.

"I'm always trying to think better of people like you, try and see the good in people but you're not even remotely good!"Steve shouts, not even noticing the way that Tony's grip on his photo frame has tightened and how he was curling in on himself with every shout."Agent Coulson was a hell of a good man and the least you could've done was show up at his funeral."

"I-"

"Oh don't make up pathetic excuses."Steve snaps and Tony actually flinches just a little as he feels himself slipping."You have a perfectly working AI giving you daily updates. You've just locked yourself away in your workshop, feeling sorry for yourself. It's disgraceful and if you keep this type of shenanigans up, you're going to have one deserted funeral when your time comes."

And that's the straw that breaks the camels back

The sound the leaves his throat mustn't have been good, showing from the bewildered look that flashes across Steves face. Tony starts to cry, sobs that leave him catching for a breath and tears that run down his cheeks so quick that Steve doesn't even know that's happening in front of him. Tony was always a proud man - well as proud as someone could be with a past like his - and crying was only something that a handful of people have witnessed.

"Suck it up Stark, you're not going to try and pull the wool over my eyes."And for someone who was in the army - and supposedly the nations icon - Steve doesn't make the best of decisions as he makes a grab for Tony's arm only to watch the smaller man flinch and back away at the constant. He watches dumbly as Tony trips over the wrench he had dropped earlier, making him trip and fall backwards, head banging on the edge of the workshop bench on the fall down.

Tony lets out a loud cry, one that startles Steve because it wasn't a cry that could be faked like he thought so. Tony looks so helpless, so scared and small as he cries on the floor, mumbling nonsense to himself as he grabs at the back of head but winces and cries again, still clutching the photo frame as if it was some sort of life preserver.

"Tony..."Steve tries a different approach, still confused but concerned because Tony won't stop crying and the knock to the head looked awfully painful. Tony is scooting away from Steve whenever the super solider approaches him, shaking his head.

"Want Daddy,"He cries out, his heart hurting at just the mer word because it's been so long since he's said the word Daddy and it all felt weird but he was hurt and tired and upset and all he wanted more in the world was for his wonderful, always smartly dressed, Daddy to walk through those doors and save the day.

Tony was so preserved that it was sometimes hard to remember and or know about the mans private life. Tony's Little status had been hidden from the day he was presented as one, after the years Howard spent dragging his son across the world to find s cure and paying thousands to keep doctors quiet. Rhodey had found out during one particular night that Tony crashed into his little space after a stressful night, Pepper just knew - because, well, she's Pepper - and Phil had only found out after Tony was being a hateful brat and the agent pulled him over his lap.

"JARVIS, who is 'Daddy'?"Steve asks, looking hopeful at the ceiling in force of habit. There's a part of him telling him to back away, pretend that none of this has happened and maybe Tiny will be okay since he always is in the end. The sensible part of Steve is telling him to stay calm.

JARVIS seems to hesitate in his reply before answering;

"Young Sirs Caregiver is Agent Coulson, Captain Rogers."

Oh

Now Steve feels bad

"I-Is there someone I can contact that knows how to settle Tony?"Because no matter if Steve tested as a caregiver, Tony was a damaged soul who needed familiarity. There was bound to be someone who looked out for Tony just like Phil did.

"Ms Romanoff is in the building, I can contact her now."JARVIS holds a tone of such sincereness, even for an AI. Steve didn't question on why Natasha was in the building, she was at the funeral as well as Steve and could've followed him here, or she was snooping around which was not unusual of her to do.

Tony doesn't seem to have stopped crying which is what kind of worries Steve the most, nor will he stop asking for his Daddy. It breaks Steves heart because a part of him knows that Tony's little mind doesn't register the fact that Phil isn't coming back and he doesn't know what to do about that.

Natasha dashes into the room faster than Steve expected, darting herself through the gap of the not even opened elevator doors and making a B-Line to where Tony has now curled himself up into a ball on the floor, crying and shaking in sobs. DUM-E beeps and whirls at the new comer, going to great Natasha with a nudge to the side as she crouches down to Tony's height.

"Not now Dummy, I'll play later. Promise."She tells the 'bot, watching as the bot whirls away quickly to try and clear up the broken glass of the photo frame. She doesn't pay attention to Steve behind her who looks st her all wide eyed and confused like, just focusing all of her attention to Tony.

"Tony? Kotyonok, it's alright."She soothes, her voice so gentle as she reaches to comb w hand through Tony's dark hair. He flinches at first but it's only when he registers that the touch is good is when he relaxes into her touch."C'mon, open those big brown eyes for me, yeah?"

Hesitantly, Tony is allowing his eyes to peel open, big brown eyes filled with tears as he continues to cry softer than before." Aunt 'Tash."He cries, siting up more so that he can scoot into her opened arms and cry into her chest instead. He inhales the familiar scent - although it's not the scent he wants to smell but at least it's something - and cries just that little bit harder all one again.

"Oh, Kotyonok."She sighs, her arms tightening around Tony's shaking frame as he shakes with tears all over again. Staying in her crouched position, she allows herself to rest her shin on the top of Tony's head, eyes closing as she tries and gentle his cries."You don't have to be alone, you know that I'm always here."

"What's wrong with him?"Steve asks dumbly, expecting the glare that Natasha sends over her shoulder.

"He's a little who just lost his Daddy, Steve."Natasha replies quietly so that Tony is unable to hear her words but Steve super solider hearing can."Big Tony is still in denial about Phil's death while Little Tony just hasn't processed the ideal."

"But he's a neutral?"

"That's what he wants everyone to think."Natasha places a kiss to the crown of Tony's hair, listening as his cries quieten down and he hiccups for breath. Natasha had only came across Tony's little status when she was sent to spy on him, stumbling across hidden files that Tony has worked hard on keeping away from public eye.

Natasha herself was a caregiver and although Tony wasn't her little, she still babysat Tony an awful lot of times whenever Phil was away on a mission and couldn't tend to his little. Natasha treated Tony just like she would treat her own little, showering him in as much affection as she could give out and loving him as much as she could because Tony deserved all of the love and affection in the world.

"Want Daddy,"Tony hiccups, a hand fisted in Natasha's blouse and the other still gripping into the photo frame. Tony was too distressed to care for the fact that was he little with someone else in the room other than Phil or his Aunt 'Tash.

"I know, I know."Natasha soothes,"Let's get you changed into nice Jammies, I'll get JARVIS to put on a cartoon and we'll cuddle on the couch, okay?"It was the best thing that she could offer a little Tony. She knew herself that she'd have to have a long talk with Tony whenever he was feeling big because he was struggling whether he wanted to admit it or not.

"Ms Romanoff, I regret to inform you that young sir has injured the back of his head and needs ice to attend to the injured area."JARVIS informs.

"Thanks JARVIS,"She sighs,"Steve, can you carry Tony to his floor for me, please?"Hopefully turning to look at Steve for some help.

"You want me to carry him?"Steve asks to make sure, looking sceptically down at where Natasha had Tony close to her chest. He felt bad, the guilt eating him up from the inside because he caused Tony to fall into his little place, he called him selfish and disgraceful when he didn't even know that Tony was hurting even more than the rest of the team.

"If that's okay,"Natasha keeps her voice low as she goes to speak to Tony."Uncle Steve is going to pick you up and carry you up to your floor, okay Kotyonok? He's not going to hurt you and I'll be right beside you."She reassures, hating herself just a little whenever she has to pry his fingers from her blouse and he lets out a heartbreaking whimper.

Steve finds out that Tony is light to lift, despite his stature and age. Steve keeps a firm grip on the little as they get into the elevator, Tony's head rested on his shoulder sleepily with stray tears running down his cheeks. Natasha is holding onto Tony's hand tightly, rubbing soothing circles over his knuckles and whispering sweet nothings into his hair.

Okay so I have like two other parts of this planned out oops

This will be in a collection on AO3 btw (LarryPotter)

Please tell me what you think?

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Peace✌🏼️