Z.R. Stein

In Shades of Red and Gold—A RWBY/Avengers crossover AU fic

I do not own the characters of RWBY or the Avengers in any way, shape, or form.

This story begins before the events of Iron Man 1, though Tony will be slightly more mature than in the movie. Slightly.

Be warned, this is very AU for RWBY. And just so that people don't get confused about who's related to who in this fic, here's a handy little guide. Ruby is the daughter of Tony Stark and Summer Rose. Yang is the daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang. Qrow is Raven's brother and Taiyang's half brother Also, I've de-aged everyone by two years, for reasons.

If you have any questions, please message me and I will address them in an Author's note. Very well then, off we go.

An aging Ford Mustang tore down Highway 1, an angry speck of rust red that contrasted sharply with the seaside cliffs of the California coast. The sky was a flawless plane of blue, not a cloud in sight. The sun was shining merrily, and the ocean air was the perfect blend of balmy and briny. All in all, it was the kind of day that made people glad that they lived in the Golden State, as opposed to almost anywhere else.

And yet, a certain teenaged girl named Ruby Rose was seated in the back of the Mustang wishing that she were literally anywhere else. Alaska was supposed to be bearable this time of year.

"I don't want to go to Malibu, Uncle Qrow! Can't we stay with you?"

In the driver's seat, Qrow Branwen sighed, his eyes obscured behind a pair of aviators.

"Sorry kid…we've been through this already. I'm not blood related to you, Rubes…and I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of formally adopting either of you. So it's either this or a state facility…trust me, this is better."

Ruby frowned deeply and returned to looking out of her window…for all of two seconds before her sister punched her shoulder.

"Yang!"

Yang Xiao Long gave her sister a cheeky smile that didn't reach her eyes before responding with "Lighten up, Rubes! It's Malibu! Sun, surf, hot guys," Yang drooled a bit at that, "…girls in bikinis." Yang added with a suggestive glance at Ruby

Ruby's face scrunched up cutely and a hearty blush spread across her cheeks.

"Sh-shut up. That was one time."

Qrow grinned privately as the conversation between the two (though calling it a conversation was a bit of a stretch. It was mostly a back and forth of innuendos and teases from Yang and stuttered replies from Ruby) continued. It was good to see them like this; they deserved some levity in their lives. He'd been watching over them since the funeral, it just wasn't natural for the two of them to stay down.

Qrow tuned the girls out, paying the barest amount of attention to the road. Two months to the day, and he himself didn't want to believe it. Summer had always seemed…indomitable. The perfect warrior and a damn good mother to boot. After Taiyang had disappeared—damned if he wasn't still mad at his half brother, even after thirteen years—Summer had raised the girls on her own. Qrow helped out when he could, trying to fill in for Tai, but between the missions and the drinking, he wasn't around as often as he should have been. Summer was really all that the two girls had had.

And then Libya had happened. Fucking Libya. Qrow grimaced; he'd been in the thick of it, same as Summer; they were on the same platoon, though he'd been on a different squad for the mission. The brass had sent the SEAL platoon in to eliminate some new terrorist group called the Ten Rings that had emerged from the chaos of the Arab Spring…or at least, that's what they'd told him. A newly born terrorist group like that shoulda been easy to take care of. It wasn't; bloodbath was a far more accurate term than easy. They'd been seriously organized. His squad had lost two members that day, while Summer's was whittled down to just a handful of guys.

The memories roiled inside of his head, and he gripped the old leather steering wheel until his bones were nearly creaking in protest. When he'd found out about it, there hadn't been enough booze in the camp to forget. And then…even worse…he'd been the one to tell the girls…didn't feel right for a stranger to tell em. He'd had to watch as the light died from their eyes when it sunk in that their beloved Super Mom wasn't coming home this time. Something died inside of him that day, something that he didn't know he still had.

Damn. He could really go for a drink right about now.

"Hey, Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow mentally shook the oppressive mood off and nodded.

"So…umm…can you…tell us more about him…my…um…da—I mean…you know." Ruby sounded hesitant in the extreme. Though, that was kinda expected; Summer had never talked about either girls' father much.

"Well…I don't know if you've seen him on the news or not. Tony Stark…he's the CEO of Stark Industries, probably the biggest supplier of military tech in the world. Word is he also designs the bulk of their advanced products. Guy's a genius billionaire, so you won't be lacking for much."

Ruby let go a strangled eep.

"My dad's a billionaire? Why didn't—"

"Why didn't your mom ever tell you?" Qrow finished for her.

Ruby nodded.

The eldest Branwen shrugged as he turned off of onto the exit towards Malibu.

"You kids know how your mom was. Summer never asked for help if she didn't need it. Plus…well, I don't know everything. But my theory is that Tai left cuz he found out about her and Stark. Fucking bastard. Err…sorry about that Blondie."

Yang shrugged wearily, a distant, lonely pain in her eyes.

"Not like I know the guy."

Damn his brother to hell.

"Anyways…your mom never spoke to Stark after that, at least that I know of. I'm not sure he even knows about you; Summer never came forwards about it, didn't try to claim child support or anything. So he might be…surprised."

Two conflicting emotions warred on Ruby's face. On the one hand, her dad was a billionaire! How cool was that! She bet he had a huuuge house and a bunch of sports cars. Or at least she hoped he did. Being the engineering nerd that she was, Ruby could think of nothing better than being able to spend all of her time in a garage tinkering.

On the other hand, how would he react to finding out he had a daughter? He could…he could hate her. Ask her to leave. Abandon her. There were so many things that could go wrong.

Yang was hesitant as well, though for different reasons. She was slightly better informed than Ruby. Her sister spent most of her time watching anime, studying college level engineering and mathematics—despite being at the tender age of thirteen—and building various things in the garage. Yang knew that Tony Stark had a reputation as a celebrity playboy who cared exclusively about one person: Tony Stark. She swore to herself that she'd beat him to a pulp if he hurt Ruby, regardless of his relation to her sister.

Qrow's thinking was along the same lines as Yang's, though he was imagining more…inventive ways to get at Stark. He might not be able to take care of the girls legally, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't watch over them to the best of his ability. He didn't care if they threw him away for the rest of his life; if Stark didn't treat the girls right, he would find a way to make him suffer. No one was untouchable, and Qrow had nearly two decades of experience as a soldier to back his threats up.

One could almost feel sorry for Tony Stark. Almost.

. . .

The Mustang pulled up to a wrought iron gate that was set into a high stone wall. A screen was affixed to one of the wall pillars, the Stark Industries logo rotating against a navy blue background.

Qrow rolled down the window and looked at it. Was he supposed to touch it or something?

"I have no record of an appointment in my databanks. State your purpose, please."

Qrow frowned at the smooth masculine voice that had emanated from the screen. There was something…off…about it. Eh, whatever.

"I'm here to see Tony Stark."

"For what reason, may I ask?"

"I have his daughter in my backseat."

The voice was silent for a full thirty seconds, as if processing this information.

"Do you have any proof or documentation, sir?"

Qrow rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I've got proof enough. She's Summer Rose's daughter. And don't sir me…names Qrow Branwen."

"Very well. Master Stark will see you, Mister Branwen."

The gate opened, sinking slowly into the wall, and Qrow drove the Mustang through.

. . .

Pepper's eyes were practically glowing. Shit. This was bad. This was very bad.

Tony Stark cleared his suddenly dry throat and asked JARVIS "Could you repeat that?"

"Sir, a man who identified himself as 'Qrow Branwen' says that he has your daughter in the back seat of his car. I've opened the gate for them."

"Do they have proof? Who does he say the mother is?" Tony asked, clinging desperately to the idea.

"He assured me he has some form of it, sir. He mentioned a 'Summer Rose' being the mother. I believed it would be best if you meet him personally."

Summer? Did he know a Summer Rose? "Could be lying."

"And if he isn't?" Pepper interjected, her voice harsh. "If he's telling the truth, you can't afford to ignore him. With respect, Mister Stark, knowing you, there is a fairly good chance that she is."

Tony made a small, panicked noise.

"Wh…what about that thing? The uh…the Jackson Pollock showing. I was going to go today—"

"Tony! You are not going to an art show instead of this!" Shit, she looked mad. Why had he hired her again? Oh right, because she actually put up with his insanity. Hey, he couldn't help it that he was a borderline mad scientist. Although he could do without a daughter.

Fuck. What if she really was his daughter? Tony knew he wasn't qualified to be a parent. He was liable to be worse than his old man.

Tony winced. Ok, if she did happen to be his daughter, he'd make sure he treated her better than Howard had treated him. There were enough fucked up kids in the world as it was.

Shit…he'd have to tone down on the swearing. How old was she supposed to be anyways? JARVIS hadn't mentioned anything…what if she—

"Sir, the car has pulled up to the front of the house. Where will you be meeting them?"

In the silence that followed, Pepper sighed deeply and told JARVIS "He'll meet them outside. Tony, come along."

If Tony wasn't so preoccupied, he would've snarked at her. As it was, he was desperately searching through his collection of half forgotten trysts with various women. Summer Rose…that did sound familiar…wa—ah shit.

He remembered her alright. Cute little thing he'd met during the demonstration of his first piece of weapon tech. She'd just been sitting at the bar trying to drown her sorrows when he walked up. She'd had the most amazing silver eyes…

And if he remembered correctly, she'd been married at the time. Shit. And that was…what…fourteen years ago? He had a teenage daughter then.

Pepper reached the door and opened it. Tony brought himself out of the mire of his thoughts long enough to notice that there was a dark red Ford Mustang parked in his driveway. A '71 if he wasn't mistaken. Well, at least the guy had good taste.

The man whose name was apparently 'Qrow Branwen' was leaning against the side of the car, windswept, gunmetal grey hair pushed back and a pair of aviators over his eyes. He looked to be about forty, and had hard, corded muscle over every inch of his body. Great…with the way the day was going so far, this guy would be Summer's husband.

"Tony Stark?"

Tony nodded, swallowing thickly.

"That'd be me. Nice car, by the way. '71?"

The guy, Qrow, gave him a lopsided grin.

"Yeah. Got her from a junkyard few years back and fixed her up. Best car I ever owned."

Good. Car talk. He could do car talk.

Qrow's smile vanished "But that's not why I'm here."

Shit.

. . .

Ruby looked out of the window at the man who she guessed was her father. He looked…nice. He was definitely rich. Even the casual clothes he was wearing looked like they cost more than her entire wardrobe. And that house! It was enormous! Right on the ocean as well. Her father's house…

Ruby pulled her hood down as her nervousness increased to critical levels. She didn't think she could do this! What if—what if he—

"Rubes?"

Yang was looking at her, concern written all over her sister's face. She held out a hand.

"Come on, little sis. I'll be right here, kay?"

Ruby took her sister's hand and gave it a little squeeze, hoping to let out some of her nervousness.

"Okay."

. . .

A car door slammed shut on the side facing away from Tony. He saw a red hood emerge, followed by a mane of bright yellow. Wait…two of them? Shit shit shit shit. Which one was his daughter? Who the hell was the other one?

The two girls walked over next to Qrow. The one wearing the hood wouldn't look directly at him, and he couldn't see much of her. The other one looked like she was trying to burn a hole through his head with eyes that seemed more red than lavender. Whew…that was a strong glare.

Qrow reached up and plucked his aviators off, clearing his throat.

"Stark…this is Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. Ruby is Summer's daughter. Ruby?"

The girl in red almost seemed to cringe before she slowly drew back her hood.

Damn. She certainly was Summer's daughter. He'd remember those eyes anywhere.

She looked to be about thirteen. A small, teardrop shaped face with messy strands of black and red hair everywhere. Cute kid.

The girl stared at him for at least five seconds, then opened her mouth and said in a voice so small he had to strain to hear it "Hi. I'm Ruby."

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say. Being him though, it didn't take long for something to spill out of his mouth.

"Do you like Chinese food?"

Everyone present blinked at the non-introduction. Tony winced and continued anyways, waving a hand around vaguely in front of him.

"Just, well…I could kinda go for some. And I was uh…wondering if you'd like some too."

Ruby tilted her head, thinking about it, then nodded and said in a more normal tone "I'd like that. Can I get orange chicken and spring rolls?"

"Some kind of spicy beef for me. The hotter the better." added the other girl, Yang. At least she wasn't glaring at him anymore. Good icebreaker, food.

"Right. I'll tell JARVIS when we go back in…so…you guys wanna come inside the house?"

Ruby nodded, a bit of excitement on her face, while Qrow and Yang shrugged.

As soon as they entered, Tony spoke to the empty hallway.

"JARVIS? We're ordering takeout from Sun Wukong's. Get the usual, plus spring rolls and some hot and spicy beef. Better double up the orange chicken as well."

Tony noticed the girls looking at him like he was crazy. Ooo…probably should've warned them about JARVIS.

"The order has been sent. Will there be anything else, sir?"

Before Tony could respond, the girl (his daughter—well, his daughter probably…damn, that was going to take some getting used to if she was) asked "Who's that?"

Tony gestured towards a panel on the wall.

"That'd be JARVIS. He's an AI that runs the house."

Ruby's face lit up with excitement as she momentarily forgot her shyness.

"An AI?! Did you build him yourself?"

"Yeah."

Tony blinked and the kid was next to him, silver eyes shining.

"That's so cool! I didn't even know that was possible! I mean, I've coded some robots before, but that's nothing compared to an AI!"

"You've coded robots?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically. Huh. Interesting.

"I actually brought one of them with me. Oh oh! Uncle Qrow, can we go and get Zwei out of the car soon?"

Qrow (who was her uncle, apparently—whew, he wasn't Summer's husband) nodded, a playful smile on his face.

Blondie was smiling as well, though hers was sly and teasing.

"Sis, your nerd is showing."

Ruby glowered at her sister (sister? Ah shit…she must be Summer's kid from the guy she was married to. It explained the glare.) before sticking her tongue out at her.

"Nerds are awesome and you know it."

Heh…he might actually grow to like this girl.

. . .

Pepper was impressed. Tony had made it a whole ten minutes without making an ass of himself in front of his daughter—the girl who might be his daughter. It was looking more and more likely as the minutes ticked by though; she could see hints of Tony in the structure of the cheekbones and the messy, black hair. That, combined with the way the girl was going off on a passionate rant about hydraulics. Of course a child of Tony would be an engineering prodigy.

Still…one could never be too careful. There hadn't been many, but a handful of children had come forwards over the years claiming to be Tony's progeny. All of them had turned out to be fakes and had been summarily removed.

"Mister Branwen?"

The gentleman named Qrow turned towards her, as did the other three occupants of the room.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you had the proof that you said you brought. I hope you understand…there have been others. Mister Stark is a rather wealthy individual and…well…" Pepper motioned with her hand, trying to convey what she was saying.

Qrow nodded like he had been expecting the question and drew a folder out from within his vest.

"It's not much, but I have the birth record and a few photos. From what little Summer told me…they weren't together for too long."

Tony nodded, his dark eyes unreadable.

"Couldn't have been more than a week. I remember her though."

The room fell into awkward silence at that, Tony staring resolutely at his shoes. The sound of JARVIS' voice made them all jump.

"Sir, the food has arrived. I just opened the gate to let the delivery van in."

Pepper nodded to herself and said "Right…I'll go and get that."

Anything to escape that oppressive mood. Damn it Tony…how did he always manage to get himself into the most awkward situations. She wasn't paid enough for this.

Well…what do you guys think? It's a bit of a different direction for me; I'm not really used to writing the whole family bonding thing, so if it sucks, tell me. I am aware that it's not a very long chapter; the length will improve, beginnings are always difficult for me.

Yes, for those of you who are wondering, Ruby and Yang still have their abilities, or they will, at some point in the future. I won't say any more than that.

Yes, more RWBY characters will be appearing. Eventually.

Whoever can point out the special RWBY reference gets a cookie.