Work Text:
"He is my son."
"The thing is... no, he is not," Tony Stark hissed between clenched teeth, barely resisting the urge to punch the large man who released such a ridiculous plus offensive claim. "All you did, your sole investment in his life had been to conceive him! After what you became abusive with him during his entire childhood to the point you were declared in court unable to raise a child and he was sent to an orphanage before his eighth birthday! That Edward shares genetics with you doesn't, under any circumstances, make you his father, mister Nashton!"
Journalists were recording this tense exchange in the street, people whispered in the background, the ugly, fat man with greasy hair and brown eyes, who looked nothing like his biological offspring neither physically nor personality speaking, started spurting nonsenses with a broken tone of voice, as if he... regretted, and just wanted to see his child now that it was confirmed he is alive and doing well at the Stark villa.
Edward Stark is 'alive and doing well' for over ten months, this is not a novelty by any means that billionaire Tony Stark aka Iron Man adopted the pre-teen who saved his life, patched him up and gave him a... whole new purpose since they met in Afghanistan and escaped the deadly cave where they were both prisoners at with the draft of his current flying armor.
"We're done there," Tony concluded, his tone resembling a growling noise, before sitting in his car and leaving in a hurry the crowd of vultures who waited for him at the foot of the Stark Industries tower.
Ever since one of his enemies who works in a judicial service found a new angle to attack him, associations and journalists seized the affair by highlighting how this fourteen years old was adopted by Anthony Stark 'without his alive parents being even informed of this', and since recently Edward showed up as Sphinx, his hero alias with his own armor, they pretend Tony treats him like a 'war trophy', a 'charity action' or a 'partner at work what constantly puts him in danger'.
And so on and so forth.
A lot of people had suddenly a lot to say about Tony's parenting skills and a lot of advises to deliver. As if anyone asked toxic people's opinion on how the Starks live their lives.
The deal was constraining at first, it became infuriating since nosy persons hired by one of his rivals, Hammer, investigated to the point they tracked Ed's previous files, found out about the orphanage where he lived, the trial of his father when custody was taken away from him, following the incident when his seven years old was driven in emergency to the hospital after the beating he received that broke his bones at multiple spots.
The ongoing investigation tried to find his biological mother now, who abandoned him when he was three.
How anyone could bring his abusive father to the stage and search his quitter of a mother to then try to 'reunite' the original Nashton family went beyond common sense.
And yet... this was the nature of the problem at hand. Tony couldn't do much other than grit his teeth every time someone asked him why he 'keeps a father from seeing his son after so many years of separation'.
The man spent two years in prison for being a literal child abuser and he didn't even report the boy as a missing person when the humanitarian mission he engaged in with doctors from his orphanage was kidnapped by terrorists, how on Earth was Tony supposed to react?!
《♢》
"Is your mission to watch over my dad?"
Nathalie Rushman, or whatever her true name was, addressed a soft smile to the teen.
She hadn't predicted she'd grow attached to Stark and his son, yet... Natasha became genuinely fond of the man who quit being a playboy and grew up as he endorsed new responsibilities and the young genius with an unique view on the world who became his shining light.
"Over your dad and you, actually," the agent specified.
During a therapy session with the kid, Edward admitted he deduced she uses a cover not to reveal her true identity.
By bringing up simple facts, she introduced him briefly to the S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Alright," Eddie nodded, far too calm, sitting on the leather chair facing her desk. "Will you help us?"
"I will do my best," she promised. "This recent problem with your father won't..."
"I was not talking about my father," he denied, his cute facial expression suddenly morphed into a worried mask. "I meant... will you help us treat him? It's his reactor," he explained while his whole body fidgeted on his seat. "It caused a... blood infection. At first it wasn't critical, but now... it's becoming a problem. A real problem. And we need a real help, so... why not this S.H.I.E.L.D.'s?"
His so-called psychiatrist, who unveiled her name is Nathasha Romanov, swore they will provide anything necessary to save Iron Man.
It's true that... Tony doesn't take well being helped by strangers. His ego always feels personally attacked when someone who, according to him, knows a lot less than he does, tries to give him lessons.
This being said... it's also true that this blood infection was becoming a major issue. His son was worried sick for him, and seeing Ed so afflicted hurt more than the poison running in his veins.
Thus... Tony followed the advises of this 'Nick Fury' to remedy the massive setback.
And thus here they were, in a huge room surrounded by every possible technological equipment... after they watched old recordings starring Howard Stark. Those videos offered them the... new angle they needed to re-consider what went wrong in their previous researches.
Looks like dear old dad watches over him, in the end.
"Don't worry, kid. I'll find a solution," Tony concluded, he felt boosted anew.
"No. We will find a solution. We are a team, remember? I am not letting you work alone when we might have limited time to find a cure. Let's get to work."
They shared a complicit smile and... launched a new phase in creating a new element to fuel Tony's chest reactor.
《♢》
"My son works for him, he is not treated like a normal child! Have you seen the time he spent to help on that... new triangle that replaced Stark's old blue light on the heart? I know nothing about physics, but one thing certain is that my boy should go to school, see the outside and speak to real persons instead of playing apprentice wizard with this weapon dealer!"
Shocked (completely fake in Eddie's opinion) noises escaped the vultures who reunited around his father at the foot of the Stark tower when a green and purple figure arrived, scooped the large man up and departed from the ground while carrying him.
Sphinx didn't go far in town before threwing that weight on a flat rooftop. When he got back to his feet, his father looked... terrified after the flight over which he feared his son might have thrown him in the air.
On the rooftop, a woman in a black combination looking like a spy from an action movie was waiting for him... and she pushed him above the edge of the roof before he could process what happened and what to think.
When Edward caught him mid-way during his fall to return him to the roof, he was trembling and he knew his offspring plus ally were not joking.
"Listen to me, you pig," the redheaded woman hissed in a chilling manner. "This was a warning. Next time I find you harassing the Starks, there won't have a safety net to spare your miserable life. I have friends in high places, we'll make you disappear without a second thought if Anthony Stark's son lodges another complaint about you. Am I clear?"
"But... but I..."
Edward took off his Sphinx mask to glare at the man.
"I bet you barely recognize me," he stated, voice hollow and no emotion showing. "But if you want a closure, I'm gonna give it to you: I am not angry at you, Nashton. I am not resentful. I experienced far worse than you could imagine after I was kidnapped and held hostage. I lived a nightmare... and my life has become a dream I never even dared to believe in beforehand ever since Tony and I crossed paths. I am not mad at you, but I demand you stop harassing my father and I. I don't want to see you ever again, are we clear?"
"L... Limpid..." he acknowledged nervously when he understood he went too far... and shall not continue if he wanted to save his own life.
"What is this?"
"A letter," Edward answered, he showed it to Tony by handing him over the front page. "Journalists found my mother, her husband and her daughters. Even if my father leaves us alone now, looks like they have other cards to play by digging out my family tree. My mother sent this to our address."
If the prospect to reunite with his father was nothing near something he appreciated, this... troubled him.
He extracted a picture from the envelope.
"See this girl?" He pointed to a roughly ten years old who looked strangely like him: same orange hair, same freckles, similar milky skin tone, only her hazelnut eyes were different. "Given the dates, she is born eight months after my mother abandoned my father and I. Consequently... She must have been a week or two pregnant when she left and didn't know it, only to find out when she was far away already. Hence... only the youngest girl is my stepsister, the older one is 100% my biological sibling."
That... made a tiny difference indeed.
Edward's father had no known children after him, but his mother gave birth to two girls, one sharing his full genetical code, the other half of it.
Tony stared at the photograph. His mother Crystal, now going by 'Crystal Brown' as she took her husband's surname, with two children: ten-year-old Esther and freshly turned five-year-old Stephanie.
"Do you... What do you want to do?" He cleared his throat, unsure.
Ed bit his lower lip, as whenever he is nervous.
"I don't care about my mother. But... those girls shouldn't be linked to this mayhem. They have nothing to do with any of this, and... I don't want them in the middle of problems because the press can't keep its mouth shut. I... I would like to meet them. With you, if you... agree to make the trip to Gotham with me."
"Other Gothamites," Tony sighed. "Of course I'll come with you," he approved. "And... I think it's brave of you to care for your blood sisters enough to get invovled with them."
Just looking at the girls' face and after checking informations on the web in an efficient manner, Eddie concluded he couldn't leave them behind without reaching out to them. As if, even though they never met and he learned their existence with this thick letter, he already felt bonded to them enough to care about their fate and to want to create an, however small, role in their lives.
He felt the need to make sure his sisters were alright although they are complete strangers to him, and he feared a bit Iron Man's reaction when confessing this.
"We struggled to convince my father to leave us alone, now my mother enters the picture and because I learn I have sisters, I... feel responsible. You are... not angry I want to meet them?"
Tony smiled softly, then put a small kiss on the top of his son's ginger head.
"I will never, ever be angry at anything you do or say, Eddie."
《♢》
"It is far more powerful than the old one!"
"It really is."
Father and son shared a bright smile.
Things were looking up: Tony's new reactor is a marvel, Eddie turned fifteen and loved playing Iron Man's talented sidekick. Now, they planned their trip to the Brown household where Crystal, Arthur and their daughters Esther and Stephanie waited for them.
Their next stop will be Gotham City for new, unexpected family-related shenanigans.