An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Now You See Me (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henley Reeves & Charlie Vanderberg
Characters: Charlie Vanderberg, Henley Reeves
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sleep Deprivation, Exhaustion, Charlie Vanderberg Needs a Hug, POV Charlie Vanderberg, Protective Henley Reeves, Guilt, Post-Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025), Post-Canon, you expect me to believe that the third nysm mastermind guy doesnt ALSO have an insane guilt complex, and constantly overwork himself to try and solve problems that haven't happened yet?, Overworking, Hurt Charlie Vanderberg, Grief/Mourning, Survivor Guilt, Spoilers for Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025), The Horsemen as Family (Now You See Me), YES that includes the ponies, those are their KIDS, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort
Summary:
Charlie just feels—foggy. Slow. The world feels slow, like he's swimming through molasses, and his brain is racing on ahead and leaving him behind. Moving feels like a monumental task, his fingers melting into the handle of the coffeepot until he can barely tell them apart. He blinks, and the world fades in and out, rippling and twisting slowly like he's caught in a funhouse mirror. A magic mirror, he thinks dazedly, and he shuffles forward a step, wincing as his coffee-soaked socks squelch.
Maybe he is in a magic mirror. Maybe he never left the chateau. Maybe he got shot instead of Thaddeus when Veronika sent the police after them, and everything that's happened since has been nothing but a beautiful dream meant to sing him to sleep.
Maybe he didn't get a man killed for the sake of his own revenge.
...
Charlie won't let himself sleep until he's sure that the Horsemen are safe--from everything, everywhere, all the time. Henley provides some perspective (and a solution).
why do i have a solid segment of my gender envy list that's just "femboy with 100 eyes on his body" "humanoid spider guy with 6 arms, 8 eyes and 2 legs" "navy blue imitation shakespeare made of indescribable STUFF (wax? gloop? solid clay? who knows)" "gay robot" "even gayer robot" "man with TV head" "vampire" "catboy" "fucked up biblically accurate angel with some semblance of humanoid shape" "anthropomorphic pseudo-furry goat boy"
Summary: Tony and others in the team learn about one of your new ventures. Part three to the Ordained/Marriage series!
To clear up the timeline, this is like eight months after ‘Married?’ takes place. The reader is 21. Peter, Ned, Michelle, and Shuri are all 20. Harley is 19. Also, I do not know what goes into making a business, so I’m sorry if this is inaccurate lmaooooo
Warnings: cussing, pure bull shit, mentions of drinking, and strippers
Word Count: 2.3k
"Pepper, we can't just let these people mooch off my name!" Tony argues as the couple walks down the hall of the tower and into the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, they see you and Peter at the table eating with Michelle and Ned. In the kitchen as well are Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Nat.
"Who's mooching off our name?" you ask. Tony grumbles as he walks over to the counter opposite the entrance. From one of the cupboards, he grabs a mug and fills it with some coffee before downing some of it. Pepper frowns but decides it's better than something worst. Tony turns to see the expectant eyes on him, making him huff out once more.
"Some club in Midtown-" Tony says, but Pepper cuts him off quickly. "And I keep saying, Stark is not a copyrighted word. The name might be trademarked, but it's definitely not copyrighted," Pepper argues. Tony waves a dismissive hand as everyone shrugs.
"What club?" Steve asks as he refills his cup. Tony takes another sip before replying, "Stark Naked, something like that." The room goes quiet for a few seconds as you, Peter, Ned, and Michelle all look at each other through wide eyes. Suddenly, you're piping up.
"Oh," you say quite nonchalant. The kind of nonchalance that Tony knows he'll hear something shocking. He should be used to it by now. "We own that."
Once more the room is stunned into silence. Tony doesn't know exactly what the club is. He doesn't know if it's a night club, a bar, a strip club. He just knows that it's some type of club and it's been making lots of money. On top of that, it's been attracting attention towards Stark Industries, people have been assuming that SI has been dipping their toes in the nightlife scene. Which couldn't be further from the truth.
"What?"
"Yeah," you say as you approach the coffee maker, mug in hand. "We own that place, it's a night club with strippers."
Tony begins to shake his head and Pepper has to hold back a chuckle. What's next? You've adopted three children from Africa and Europe each? Have you had children behind his back? But now that the thought enter his mind-
"Do you and Peter have some children I don't know about?" Tony blurts. The question takes everyone by surprise. Like always, Sam and Bucky have to hold back their laughter.
"Oh god no! If we had children, everybody would know the minute I pissed on the stick!" you complain, your face contorting into one of disgust. Peter giggles from his spot next to you as you return back to your seat.
"Well, you keep fucking hitting me with all this random news. You were an ordained minister out of nowhere, you're married to Peter as well! Now you own a club with Peter-"
"And with Ned and I!" Michelle cuts in. Tony rolls his eyes.
"Anyways, you've done all this shit behind our backs, it's beginning to make me question what else I don't know about. Are you in a polygamous relationship with Michelle and Ned as well? Are Shuri and Harley part of it too? Actually, I don't want to know, an-"
"Ew! No, we're not in a polyamorous relationship, dad. Yeah Peter and Ned kiss each other here and there and Michelle sometimes sees me in my underwear, but it's all normal friend stuff," you explain. Tony shakes his head meanwhile Bucky and Steve look at each other as they shake their own heads. What kind of friend stuff are they talking about?
"I don't think all friends do that, Y/N," Sam responds.
"How did you guys even open a nightclub? How did you guys even get strippers for it? Are all of you guys even old enough to get into the very club you own?" Nat asks.
"We bought the building after somebody went out of business and the owners couldn't keep up with the expenses. So we had this empty building for three months, we'd bought it a month after dad and Pepper's two-year-anniversary," you begin to explain.
"So, we sat on it for three months, unsure of what to do when Michelle talked about wanting to be able to go to a gay club and wanting to be able to see some strippers. A lot of the strip clubs are not welcoming of people under 21 or aren't the cleanest places," Peter continues. Everybody seems to follow along, not seeing why to disagree.
"So, we began to make the plans on our club. We wanted to make an LGBTQ+ friendly club that could make people feel safe. Not just the customers but the workers too. We wanted it to be a fun place for any and everybody. We also wanted to give room for sex workers in the area, so we made sure to give jobs to people in the area who were more along the poverty line because we care about people," Michelle continues.
"So Y/N dipped into your lawyers and accountants as well as other business assets that could help us start out business and since Y/N is the oldest, the most experienced, and the richest of us all, we had her be the main shareholder. We built a plan with your team and they helped us put it all into fruition," Ned continues.
"So, they helped us get contractors, plumbers, electricians, and so much more. They got to build our dream place and once the furnishing was coming to an end, we held interviews in our shared office at the club and we hired some strippers, bartenders, DJs, and some security guards. So far, it operates as a normal nightclub, but we plan on doing some big events in the future," you finish, seeing everyone's impressed expressions. Pepper was the one who seemed the most impressed.
"But you're already 21, Y/N. You can drink and get into clubs," Tony says.
"I know, but Ned, Peter, Michelle, Shuri, and Harley are not. Especially not Harley. Our club is 18+, everyone gets carded, and there are 21+ only sections in the club. We keep our place clean and we also go every night for an hour to check up on it. We have a manager overseeing it all every night, so we got everything down."
Tony was stunned into a silence, so now he's just letting everybody else ask the questions. He just wants to know so much, but he's beyond impressed. His daughter definitely has it down much better than he did when he was her age. He couldn't be more proud. Sure, a lot of it was done because she fucked around too much, but in the end, it was all going visibly well. She's been married for almost three years to Peter, she's the heir to SI and now she's running a nightclub successfully with some of her best friends and her husband. She's doing so much better than Tony could ever ask for. It almost makes him want to cry.
"How long has the club been up and running?" Bucky asks.
"Three months, so it's still fairly new," Ned responds.
"And why doesn't anyone know who owns the place?" Steve asks as he looks up from his phone, most likely having done a bit of research of his own about the club.
"We wanted to remain anonymous for the first three months or so. On our 100th day, we plan on doing an event where we unveil the owners. We wanted to give our workers a purpose, a reason to stay and if we proved that all the success of the business comes from their hard work, then that would be proof enough that they are important," Michelle responds.
"Were we gonna be invited to this event?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, just we were gonna do it next week. The event is in two weeks," Peter responds.
"Why are we always finding out about this stuff so late?" Nat adds in.
You can't help but shrug. No one really ever asks you what you're doing, so there's no reason to tell them. Plus, you just kind of do things with as minimal thought as possible. That's not to say you don't think about it, because you do put at least some thought into the things you do. You just don't think everything through thoroughly, which seems to be working in your favor thus far.
"So what's it like to be the second Stark to have their spouse as their business partner? Or are you a Parker?" Sam asks, realizing nobody ever asked about the name change or if there was one.
"We took each other's names, so we hyphenated. Stark-Parker. But it feels cool because I get to say 'hey you don't talk to my husband like that, he also owns this company!' when people tell him things," you explain.
"It's still crazy, y'all have really been married for two years?" Steve asks.
Peter blushes when he looks over at you. After having come out about it to everyone, the two of you finally relished in the glory of it. You can now openly call him your husband and he calls you his wife. Sometimes he'll call you Mrs. Parker and sometimes you'll call him Mr. Stark, but then you'll switch to Mr. Stark-Parker because the former just makes you think about your dad and it kind of ruins the moment.
"Hey, it's fun being married. Peter makes it an adventure," you say, making Peter rest his head on your shoulder.
Tony couldn't be happier about it, actually. His biggest fear, when you got with Peter, was that you would end up heartbroken, but here you are, with who he thinks will the love of your life. He sees how Peter has nothing but respect and love for you. He praises the very ground you walk on and he treats you like his equal. He treats you how you deserve to, and Tony can't help but love the young man for that. He's never seen anyone more in love than the two of you, him and Pepper being a close competition. For some odd reason, two things finally dawn on him. One, and it’s only two years later, it finally hits him. Peter is his son-in-law. Peter is his fucking son-in-law. The wimpy kid he met 4, almost 5, years ago who now owns a strip club with his best friends is his son-in-law.
Also, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man owns a fucking strip club!
"Okay, can we just ask, no more surprises? If you get a child in any way, let us know before you physically have a child with you. If you make a big life move, will you promise to tell us ahead of time? One of us is gonna die from a heart attack because of this type of stuff!" Pepper chimes in. Through chuckles, you nod. It's the least you can do.
"Well, to celebrate, do you guys wanna go visit the club tonight? In preparation for the event?" you ask after everyone seems to calm down from all that was thrown at them. The first to excitedly agree is Sam, who claims he's so totally not in it for the booty. Next to chime in is Nat, who claims to be in it solely for the booty. Everyone begins to chime in not too long after and everyone seems so excited about it.
Later that night, you'd all showed up at the club at around 9 PM. You'd reserved one of the VIP lounges for yourselves, which was a room within the bigger room that fit at least twenty people in it. It included two stripper poles, a mini bar and one large table that connected to the stage for the strippers. Tony was impressed at how well thought out the place was. Michelle admitted that most of it was her and Shuri, but Ned and Harley played a part in it as well. You and Peter admitted to being more of the administrative leaders but helped with creative ideas as well, ultimately being the ones to approve it all in the end. Pepper was more than impressed as well.
"Hey," Tony begins once you shut the door to the office. It's a giant room with black and purple walls. There are plants and shelves everywhere. There's a giant couch along one of the walls where Tony takes a seat. He'd asked if he could talk to you in private, so you lead him to the office. "I just wanna say I'm proud of you kiddo," he says as he pulls you into a tight hug.
"For what?" your muffled voice asks.
"For all of this. Starting this place up, where all the workers are so genuine. For putting so much effort into not only creating and making your dreams come true but for your friends too. For finding someone who loves you as much as you love them, for being a role model not only to Peter but to your friends. For everything. You're doing so much better than I was at your age and I couldn't be prouder," he admits. You smile up at your father, wrapping your arms around him.
"I get it from you, father. I am my father's daughter," you joke. "I'm proud of you for dealing with my bullshit, from surprise marriages to surprise businesses. I have one more surprise, but as I promised Pepper, I'm gonna tell someone and it's gonna be you," you continue.
"Oh god, you're pregnant. I'm too youn-"
"No! I'm not pregnant. If I was I wouldn't have downed three consecutive shots like I did!" you tell him. You let out a shaky breath before pulling a key out of one of the books on the shelf. Tony watches as you use it to open the lock on one of the drawers on your desk. He watches as you nervously pull a small velvet box out of the drawer and open it to reveal a gold band with a big diamond encrusted into the ring, smaller ones woven around the band. Tony's eyes widen, it had to have been at least 100 grand. While Tony loves Pepper a lot, he only dropped a good ten thousand on the ring he got her.
"I'm thinking of proposing to Peter, properly."
If there's one thing natural born Starks are, it's being deep lovers. A little too much.
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Summary: Peter and some of the team go back in time
Read Part 2 Here!
Warnings: mentions of drugs and drug use, lazy writing but I’m not gonna go in-depth on time travel bc idc lmao, very stereotypical but I’ve been in a ‘60-’70s music binge and this was inspired by the Mamas and Papas ngl
(seriously, I’m having a huge “I was born in the wrong generation” moment but I’m glad I was bc I probs would’ve died sometime between the ‘60-’80s from a hallucinogenic drug overdose or smth)
Word Count: 1.2k
It felt almost like a movie montage to Peter. Running from one period of time to another in a matter of seconds. He ran behind Tony, who was being led by Carol and Stephen. The two had figured out a way to make time travel easier for everybody involved in the mission while making themselves nearly invisible. Behind Peter is Steve, who is being followed by Bucky, Sam, Nat, and Wanda. The group had just exited the early 2000s, on a wild chase to the late '60s.
"Alright, can you get us there faster?" Tony asks as he sees that the group stands somewhere in the mid-'90s. The group is chasing after some book with ancient spells that could be of use to Stephen to protect Earth. However, the only known copy was found and lost in the '60s.
"Well, we're not completely invisible to people, there are a select few who can see us, so we need to tread lightly. You think you can wait?" Stephen nearly hisses. He's not a fan of having his methods questioned. Especially because he knows what to do. He's seen every outcome, he knows of three possible successful solutions.
"Well, we have a book to steal from some druggie that we have to take to our present, make copies, travel back to the past, and then ditch the book as if nothing happened. How do we know we got the right guy? What if we're lat-"
"Anthony Stark, don't make me ditch you in the eighties. I really don't care for your attitude. I know what I'm doing," Stephen says sternly, giving the older man a simple eye roll. Stephen goes back to doing his thing, masking them as Carol leads the way. They zoom through the next two decades and suddenly, they come to a halt.
When Peter looks around, he sees an enormous crowd of people. Many dressed in large flowy clothing; dresses, bell bottoms, vests, and flowers. Lots of them. Circle frame glasses, the John Lennon kind. Flowers in people's hair, bandanas or scarves wrapped around people's heads, and tie-dye. The sound of music plays loudly but Peter can still hear Tony let out a silent curse.
"We're surrounded by fucking hippies, Strange."
"Our guy is here. He's got a Volkswagen parked outside the fairgrounds, he's in the crowd for The Grateful Dead right now. The parking lot should be empty or filled with morons who are completely out of their minds on drugs. Let's get going now," Stephen instructs. Peter can't help but look around at everything,
Peter sees signs everywhere, fliers for the festival. The Monterey Pop Festival. He quickly grabs a flyer and reads over the whole thing. June 16 -18, 1967. The Who, Mamas and Papas, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Peter began to feel very awestruck. He can now say he's witnessed the '60s. Sure, he doesn't listen to the music, but surely this is a historic moment?
Unbeknownst to Peter, it really was a historic moment. Almost as historic as Woodstock, which would take place two years after the very moment he's in. Peter looks at everyone, enjoying the culture of it all. Sure, it was a little worrying for him, as he keeps seeing people left and right taking some sort of drug and spacing out. There's some partial nudity but he ignores it. Different time.
When the group all reaches the parking lot, Peter sees a woman standing by a large Volkswagen Bus, all decked out in a tie-dye paint job, giant peace sign on the hood of the van. She seems a bit shorter than Peter, she has h/c hair and she seems to be alone and waiting for someone. He can't help but be mesmerized by the beautiful woman. Her h/c hair adorned with chickweeds scattered through it. She has a patterned dress with flared sleeves and it cuts off at her knees. She has on some black sandals and some pink circle-lens glasses.
"Come on, Donnie. We're gonna miss out on Jimi. He's already playing!" the woman speaks and even her voice seems to captivate the young man. Tony notices Peter staring as Stephen tries to locate the book.
"I need to burn the book first, Y/N," a man inside the van speaks.
"You can do it after the Mamas and Papas. Who are after Jimi. The book will always be there. Come on!" the woman whines. A sigh is heard but a man walks out, taking Peter by surprise as he smiles at the woman and presses a kiss to her lips. He's a very toned black man, with an afro that could put anybody's to shame. He has on some a brown vest with no undershirt. He has some flared pants on and brown boots. He follows the woman, Y/N, and Peter feels a sense of sadness that he'll never see her again.
"If it's any consolation," Tony says out of the blue, "she's most likely way older than me at this point."
Peter sighs as he watches the woman walk away. He really won't find another woman like her. Quite literally, as she's from the '60s. Stephen begins working on getting the book. He instructs half the team to stay and the other half to go back to the future with him. So Carol goes with him, followed by Bucky and Steve.
"He's right, little dude," Sam speaks up, "she's probably old enough to be your grandma or something."
"I get i-"
"No, really think about it," Nat joins in. "She has to be 20 here in the '60s. So, say from '67 to 2019, that's 52 years. Add on those twenty and she's gotta be 72. Give or take."
"I get it, guys. She could be my grandma or something. Too bad I was born too late," Peter says sadly. Tony holds back a chuckle, seeing the poor kid beating himself up for being born decades after some random woman on drugs at a music festival in the '60s.
When Stephen and Carol arrive back with Steve and Bucky, they put the book back in the van where the Donnie guy left it. It seemed to be just in time, as Y/N was making it back with Donnie in tow. Peter watches as she stares in their general direction and he can feel himself begin to blush as she stares at him.
"Hey, Donnie. Do you see those people? In the suits?" she asks as she points in their general direction. Everybody's eyes go wide and they seem to be stuck in their spots.
"I don't see anything. But you did eat some mush, you'll be fine."
It didn't hit Peter what that meant until they were back in the '90s. It took him some time to realize she was drugged, but there really was nothing he could do. So, as he left the '90s and made it back to 2019, Peter felt a sense of relief and a bit of sadness. He experienced love at first sight with some woman who's now old enough to be his grandmother, but he can't help but cling to that brief moment where she saw him too. Where she smiled at him and looked at him with a drunken - or more like drugged - gleam in her eyes.
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