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cap_ironman2009-01-12 08:13 pm
kijikun.livejournal.com) wrote in cap_ironman2009-01-12 08:13 pm
Entry tags:
All That Remains (18/?) (PG-13)
Title: All That Remains (18/?)
Previous Parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 Part 9, Part 10, Part 11,
Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kijikun
Rating: PG-13 (NC-17 overall)
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James Barnes, Jarvis, Pepper Potts
Betas:pandanoai, adafrog
Word Count: 3,707
Warnings: Spoilers through "Fallen Son", references to an institutionalized childhood
Timeline: Marvel Time is always kind of flexible, so we're setting this somewhere in the first half of 2008. Secret Invasion does not exist in our universe. Nope, never happened.
A/N: Con-crit and comments welcome as always.
Fan Art Round up: All That Remains fanart and fanmix bypandanoai and two lovely pieces by ani_bester
Tony wasn’t fooled by the calm that followed over the next few days. Everything was too calm in fact, and it unnerved him. There had been no super-villain attacks, no further attacks on SI properties, and no break-ins by Steve’s kid brother.
He furthered arrangements for Peter to do a photo shoot with Maria – it hadn’t taken much for Sue to agree to it taking place at the Baxter Building. Peter had longer standing friendships with the Fantastic Four then he’d ever had with Tony. Plus Franklin would most likely reassure Maria.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he reached for a cup of coffee only to find it cold. He made a face and looked up as Pepper came into his office with some paper work. “You know you used to be better at keeping me in fresh coffee,” he teased.
Pepper rolled her eyes. “You also used to drink some of it before you forgot it was there.”
Tony smiled faintly. “Okay, so I might be slightly more distracted with a computer in my brain than I used to be…”
“I think your caffeine addiction just isn’t as strong,” Pepper laughed.
“Horrible slander,” Tony assured her. “I can’t survive without it.”
Pepper gave him a fond look and sighed. “Do you need anything other than fresh coffee? Which, by the way, you have proved in the past very capable of fetching for yourself.”
“I have an errand for you actually, Pepper,” Tony told her with a slight smile. “I’d go myself, but you’re more of a neutral party.”
She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What do you need me to do, Tony?”
Tony pulled a flash drive out of his pocket and handed it to her. “You know the coffee shop just down the road? I need you to go and order yourself a cup of coffee. You remember Dr. Strange, right? Just give him the flash drive.”
“Dr. Strange...yes I remember him but, Tony…” She had that familiar exasperated edge to her voice that Tony never thought he’d be so happy to hear again.
“I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous,” Tony promised her. “You can even use the company card for the coffee.”
Pepper laughed. “Tony, stop. I know you wouldn’t send me to do something dangerous. You keep those missions for yourself.”
“I save a few for Rhodey,” Tony protested.
She rolled her eyes again. “Honestly.” She shook her head. “What time do you need me to be there?”
“The contact will be there about 2, so if you leave now you’ll be good,” Tony told her. “Thanks, Pepper. You’re one of the few people I can trust with this.”
Pepper bit her bottom lip and reached out to touch Tony’s arm. “You’re going to get in a lot of trouble for this aren’t you?”
Tony shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll be fine Pepper; I can weather a lot of things.” He kept his smile easy. One could almost think it was like old times.
“Can Maria?” Pepper asked softly.
Tony’s smile dropped. He’d imagined various worst case scenarios but he tried not to think about that. “I have plans in place. She’ll be taken care of no matter what happens to me.”
“Does Steve know about that?” Pepper pushed, and Tony really wished she wouldn’t.
He patted the hand still on his arm. “I’m not doing anything truly crazy, Pepper. I promise.”
Pepper gave him a look that said she didn’t quite believe him.
It would help if Tony could believe himself, but considering everything else going on this was the least crazy thing he was doing. After Pepper left the room, Tony rubbed a hand over his face. He had at least a half hour before his meeting with ‘Captain America’. He wanted to do a great many things to the man that had attempted to kidnap Maria, but talking civil with James Barnes was not one of them.
Only for Steve was he doing this. Steve wanted to set up a meeting between him, ‘Bucky’ and Sharon. Steve wanted to talk things out as if him being alive was suddenly going to change their minds about Tony being a bad, bad man. He wanted to tell Steve he was insane for thinking Barnes even believed he was Steve Rogers, or that Sharon would believe it either, or that for thinking any of it would work out for the best.
Things never worked out for the best when Tony was involved. Steve should have known that by now.
And goddamnit he didn’t need this right now. Not on top of some lunatic blowing up his factories – it wasn’t going to be over with just two strikes. Tony had been around too long to believe that. But Steve asked, and Tony had always had trouble saying no to Steve.
He’d set up their meeting, but Maria would not be anywhere near the Tower when it happened. There was a charity art show in Chelsea next week that he was supposed to attend – he’d set the meeting for them and then take Maria with him. At least he’d know she’d be safe then.
***
“Stark,” James spat the name, making it sound like a nasty disease. One he hoped Stark would drop dead of.
Tony Stark’s face was a neutral mask, like an emotionless robot. Maybe the man was more machine than human these days. James at least expected the man to try to hit him. After all, he had broken into his home and tried to kidn—no rescue— Maria (but she’d been terrified and crying, and he’d already told Sharon he wouldn’t – couldn’t do that again. Not with Steve there. Not to a child with Steve’s eyes.)
“Steve wants to meet with you and Sharon. He said he mentioned something about it to you when you – spoke.”
“You mean when I was trying to save that little girl from you?” James ribbed. “I didn’t know I should have been prepared to save Steve as well.”
“I wasn’t aware saving people these days involved reducing a nine-year-old to hysterics,” Tony hissed.
James almost grinned; he’d wanted a reaction-, hadn’t he? But somehow it didn’t make him feel any better. He opened his mouth but Stark continued on.
“What would you have done if Jarvis had been there, instead of Steve? Would you have gone through him? What would you have done if she had fought back?” Stark snapped. “Did you and Sharon plan what you were going to do once you’d ripped her from the first home she’d ever known that didn’t treat her like a toy soldier?”
James flinched despite himself. He hadn’t really thought too much about where she’d been before Stark. He hadn’t wanted to. It brought up too many thoughts about how he’d known -- “We had more right to her-”
Stark advanced on him, and James took a step backwards, even though he could easily take him. “Maria’s a child. A living breathing child. She’s not a thing to be fought over. She isn’t the shield. She isn’t a prize that was supposed to go to whoever loved Steve best.” His voice broke. “I was selfish, yes. I wanted a little piece of Steve to myself – but then there she was, just a kid that no one had ever once thought ‘what’s best for her’ in her entire life – she’s not a prize, James.”
James shook his head. It hadn’t been like that. He’d just wanted – Sharon had just wanted – they’d meant well. They’d meant to do what was best for the kid.
“You can hate me all you want. You can want me dead for all I care. But you don’t get to use that hate to hurt an innocent child,” Stark finished, suddenly looking exhausted. “And if you ever try to take her again, it won’t matter how much Steve loves you, Barnes.”
James bristled. “Is that a threat, Director Stark?”
“It’s a promise, Captain America,” Stark sneered. “I’m only here now because to Steve you’re still his kid brother Bucky, and I don’t think too much of anything will ever change that.”
“Why do you care what Steve thinks?” James snorted, folding his arms across his chest. He resisted the urge to pace. “You’re the reason he ‘died’ to begin with.”
Stark made a sound almost like laughter. “Maybe I am.” He shook his head. “But I never stopped caring what he thought. If you want to meet with him you can do it next Thursday at the Tower. Maria and I won’t be there.”
“And how do I know this isn’t some sort of trick?” James asked, even though he knew it wasn’t. Stark had risked a bit too much setting him up as Captain America. And if he was honest, Stark loved Steve too much. He might hate it but he’d be an idiot to deny what any fool could figure out.
James had frankly been surprised Stark hadn’t killed himself before James tired assassinating Iron Man. It would have made everyone’s lives easier if Stark had eaten a gun.
“Because I really have nothing to gain by tricking you,” Stark answered calmly, as he turned to leave. At the last moment he paused, and turned back. “By the way? If you see Fury, tell him to come take his goddamn job back.”
James almost smiled as Stark walked away.
***
Sometimes it was easy to forget that the small hand that clutched his as he did the shopping was not Anthony’s. At times it didn’t seem so long ago that the small figure behind him would have been a raven-haired little boy with his mother’s eyes and bright smile. But it wasn’t Anthony – who rarely was called Anthony now, even by him – it was Maria, who unlike Tony or her namesake, rarely gave wide bright smiles unless they were for Tony or for Steven.
She couldn’t be further in personality from Maria Stark, but Jarvis knew Maria would have adored her adopted granddaughter. He himself loved Maria liked a grandchild, just like he loved Tony as a son. He perhaps had more right to that claim than Howard Stark ever had, but it was best not to speak ill of the dead.
“Jarvis?” Maria tugged the older man’s hand, her voice soft.
“Yes, Maria?” Jarvis glanced down at the little girl.
Maria looked uneasy for a split second, her eyes darting to the side before her features fell into a blank look. “Someone is following us,” she told him solemnly.
“Are they now?” Jarvis said, keeping his voice normal. Maria might be clever, but for her to spot someone following them, the person couldn’t be that good at it.
“He’s been tracking us for the last hour, but I couldn’t confirm it until just now,” Maria said, sounding more like a grown superhero than a child, her eyes darting again.
There was indeed a man seemingly paying very close attention to them, but it could just be someone who recognized her from the papers. There was still a chance that Maria was correct and it would, in the long run, be easier to go on the assumption that she was right.
Jarvis squeezed Maria’s hand reassuringly. “Well, this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been followed. Nor, I doubt, will it be the last. Anthony -- your father, often has a great many people interested in him,” he told her, as they continued walking. “The best thing often to do is act as if you don’t notice them.”
He smiled at her questioning look. “Trust me, my dear. I haven’t always been ‘just’ a butler.”
“What were you before?” she asked curiously.
“I was a member of the Canadian Royal Air Force during the War,” he told her in a confidential tone.
“You were a pilot?” Maria’s eyes widened slightly, and he could tell he was being successful at partly distracting her. “Which war?” she asked.
He chuckled, keeping a watch on their ‘follower’ out of the corner of his eye. It appeared Maria had been accurate in her assessment. They were being followed.
“World War II, and yes I was a pilot. I served mostly in Britain, stayed there for a time after the war as well.”
“Did you know Steve then?” She asked.
“No, I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Captain America then. He wasn’t in England much during the War,” Jarvis told her. He’d answered the question for Tony a time or two in his childhood. The main thing in his mind was to keep Maria distracted until they arrived safely back at the Tower.
***
Steve took in the taut lines of Tony’s back as he stared out across the darkened city and swore under his breath. He should have pulled Tony aside earlier. Tony had rushed home that afternoon after Jarvis had contacted him and he’d barely let Maria out of his sight since.
But Maria was in her bed – if not asleep, at least on the way to being so – she was safe. Jarvis was safe. Steve wasn’t going to lie to himself, or to Tony, and try to tell Tony that the man could have been a reporter or a curious civilian.
He’d hoped Tony would have – relaxed? Steve almost laughed at himself. Tony looked almost in pain, paper clenched in his right fist.
“Tony?”
Tony’s forehead pressed against the glass of the windows. “Just go to bed, Steve.”
Steve sighed and made his way over to his – lover? Boyfriend? They might have confessed love for each other but he still had no clue what that made them at times. “Maria’s fine. We’ll find out who followed them today and why.” He rested a hand against the center of Tony’s back.
“You mean I’ll find out who followed them and deal with it,” Tony snapped. “You can’t do much while in the Tower can you? And the only person you actively want to know you’re alive is Sharon Carter.”
Steve flinched slightly and opened his mouth to argue, before it dawned on him that Tony was trying to start a fight. And the words did hold a certain amount of truth. “I’m sorry.”
Steve could see in the reflection of the glass that Tony’s eyes were closed. He wrapped an arm around Tony’s middle, splaying his hand across Tony’s abdomen. Steve could feel the muscles under his hand tremble, but Tony didn’t try to move away from Steve.
“It isn’t your fault there might be someone after her. You aren’t the one that has failed to keep her safe,” Tony continued. “And I stood there yesterday and told Barnes I wanted what was best for her. What’s best for her would be far away from me-”
“Goddamnit Tony!” Steve jerked Tony around to face him, pinning him against the glass. “Are you through?”
Tony blinked, eyes smoky-blue and wide. He nodded slowly.
“Good, because I want you to listen to me,” Steve told him, using his grip on Tony’s arms to shake him slightly. It should have worried him how they almost always seemed to resort to almost physical violence.
The muscles under his hands trembled, but Tony didn’t move or speak.
“What would have happened to Maria?” Steve’s voice was quiet; it was something he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. There were too many things in the details of how Maria came to be in Tony’s protection that he didn’t know. If I’m a good boy I get to keep her, Tony’s voice echoed in his head from weeks ago when he’d first come back to the Tower.
Tony’s eyes went distant.
Steve tightened his hands just slightly. “If you hadn’t taken her in, what would have happened to Maria?” he clarified.
“I – someone else would have taken her,” Tony whispered.
Steve shook his head. “The truth, Tony.” He didn’t want to hear the answer anymore than Tony wanted to say it.
Tony’s eyes slid closed and his head hit the glass. “They—she’d be dead. Like the other girls.”
“You have done everything you can to protect that little girl. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you blame yourself for something that hasn’t even happened yet. That I know you’d die to keep from happening. I love you too damn much to listen to you tear yourself down like that.” Steve finished, feeling almost exhausted by his outburst.
For several long, long seconds Tony just looked at him before holding out the papers he’d been clutching. “I received these by courier this afternoon just before Jarvis called.”
Steve smoothed out the papers and found himself looking at photos of Maria and Jarvis. On the last page the words I will take everything you love were scrawled.
“God,” Steve whispered.
“I’ve tried tracing it, but it’s gotten nowhere. Whoever this is – they’re good. I’d almost be impressed if…” Tony trailed off and shook his head. He sounded defeated.
Steve looked from the pictures to Tony, and for a moment wanted to convince Tony to take Maria and run away with him. Change their names, disappear somewhere. Let the world forget about them.
But he couldn’t. Tony would never agree, and Steve would never be able to sleep at night.
“I’m not even sure I want to let her out of my sight long enough for the photo shoot tomorrow. Never mind that she’ll be with Parker and the Fantastic Four.” Tony pressed his hand over his eyes.
Steve dropped the photos and cupped the back of Tony’s head, pulling him close. “From now on, if she isn’t with one of us, she’s with another hero. If not the one of the Fantastic Four, then Jan and Hank, or Carol. Hell, I’d like to see someone try to touch her in Asgard.” He rested his forehead against Tony’s. “We’ll keep her safe.”
***
Maria had learned a great many things since Tony Stark had become her CO – though she was starting to understand that CO was not the correct title of the status Tony held in her life. She had yet to find the correct one that would encompass everything the name Tony had come to mean for her.
She’d learned about ‘fun’, how to wear different clothing, how to eat ice cream… She’d learned three new rolls in the gym with Steve, how to ‘hug’, and that not all mistakes were punished.
She’d also learned that she did not like how her eyes felt hot and itchy – like she wanted to cry – when Tony was too busy to work on their model again. That she did not like the sensation in the bottom of her stomach when Tony and Steve would raise their voices once she’d gone to bed. The voices carried louder than normal with her bedroom door half open.
She knew she wasn’t supposed to be straining in the darkness to hear their words, but she did it anyways. It would be easy to climb from her bed and pad silently down the hallway. She’d hovered at the doorway of the living room more than once, listening to Tony talk to Steve or Carol – or sometimes Jarvis. Sometimes Tony would somehow know she was there, other times he never noticed or just never commented.
Maria curled tighter in her cocoon of blankets, everything in her wanting to run out to Tony as she heard a thud from the living room and Steve’s voice sharp and angry sounding.
But Steve said he wouldn’t hurt Tony. He’d said. And Tony had said.
Was it about her? Had she done something wrong today, noticing she and Jarvis were being followed? Had she displeased Tony somehow – was that why he hadn’t worked on the model with her in days?
Jarvis had assured her he was just busy – that some awful things had happened and Tony was trying to find out who was responsible so it wouldn’t happen again.
She curled her blunt nails into the palms of her hands. She wasn’t sure if she knew what to believe sometimes.
Lying awake, she listened to the voices quiet in the living room, and the sound of Steve and Tony moving quietly past her door. There was the slight pause of Tony looking in on her – she knew it was Tony, Steve moved differently and sounded different – she waited for them to move past but –
“Maria?” Tony’s voice was soft.
She bit the inside of her cheek. Tony couldn’t know she was still awake, she hadn’t done anything to give herself away.
“Let her be, Tony,” Steve murmured just as softly.
Maria kept the rise and fall of her breath steady. She didn’t want to be in trouble for still being awake – even though she’d never been in trouble for that before. But she wasn’t always sure what to expect from Tony in recent days.
“I’ll just be a few moments,” Tony was saying.
Steve didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t hear him move right away. There was a noise she couldn’t place, then Steve was moving down the hallway.
After another breath, Tony padded over to her bed, sitting down beside her. “I know you’re awake, genius,” he didn’t sound upset, just – sad. A gentle hand stroked her back.
Still Maria didn’t drop her pretense of sleep, even though she wanted to. She wanted – she wanted to act like she’d seen Val act when the little girl had fallen. She wanted to cling to Tony like Val had to Sue. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be told it was going to be okay, even though she knew it wasn’t. Not yet.
“I’m going to keep you safe,” Tony told her, still stroking her back. “I promise you that no matter what happens you’ll be safe.”
Maria turned her head slightly, then blinked up at him. “I’ll keep you safe too, Tony,” she told him.
Tony smiled but it looked – it looked sad. His hand continued stroking her back as he pressed a kiss to her head. “That’s my brave girl.”
She wanted to say something else, to tell him not to look so sad, but it was getting harder to keep her eyes open. Then – then she was asleep.
Next
Previous Parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 Part 9, Part 10, Part 11,
Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17
Author:
kijikun Rating: PG-13 (NC-17 overall)
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James Barnes, Jarvis, Pepper Potts
Betas:
pandanoai, adafrogWord Count: 3,707
Warnings: Spoilers through "Fallen Son", references to an institutionalized childhood
Timeline: Marvel Time is always kind of flexible, so we're setting this somewhere in the first half of 2008. Secret Invasion does not exist in our universe. Nope, never happened.
A/N: Con-crit and comments welcome as always.
Fan Art Round up: All That Remains fanart and fanmix by
pandanoai and two lovely pieces by ani_besterTony wasn’t fooled by the calm that followed over the next few days. Everything was too calm in fact, and it unnerved him. There had been no super-villain attacks, no further attacks on SI properties, and no break-ins by Steve’s kid brother.
He furthered arrangements for Peter to do a photo shoot with Maria – it hadn’t taken much for Sue to agree to it taking place at the Baxter Building. Peter had longer standing friendships with the Fantastic Four then he’d ever had with Tony. Plus Franklin would most likely reassure Maria.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he reached for a cup of coffee only to find it cold. He made a face and looked up as Pepper came into his office with some paper work. “You know you used to be better at keeping me in fresh coffee,” he teased.
Pepper rolled her eyes. “You also used to drink some of it before you forgot it was there.”
Tony smiled faintly. “Okay, so I might be slightly more distracted with a computer in my brain than I used to be…”
“I think your caffeine addiction just isn’t as strong,” Pepper laughed.
“Horrible slander,” Tony assured her. “I can’t survive without it.”
Pepper gave him a fond look and sighed. “Do you need anything other than fresh coffee? Which, by the way, you have proved in the past very capable of fetching for yourself.”
“I have an errand for you actually, Pepper,” Tony told her with a slight smile. “I’d go myself, but you’re more of a neutral party.”
She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What do you need me to do, Tony?”
Tony pulled a flash drive out of his pocket and handed it to her. “You know the coffee shop just down the road? I need you to go and order yourself a cup of coffee. You remember Dr. Strange, right? Just give him the flash drive.”
“Dr. Strange...yes I remember him but, Tony…” She had that familiar exasperated edge to her voice that Tony never thought he’d be so happy to hear again.
“I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous,” Tony promised her. “You can even use the company card for the coffee.”
Pepper laughed. “Tony, stop. I know you wouldn’t send me to do something dangerous. You keep those missions for yourself.”
“I save a few for Rhodey,” Tony protested.
She rolled her eyes again. “Honestly.” She shook her head. “What time do you need me to be there?”
“The contact will be there about 2, so if you leave now you’ll be good,” Tony told her. “Thanks, Pepper. You’re one of the few people I can trust with this.”
Pepper bit her bottom lip and reached out to touch Tony’s arm. “You’re going to get in a lot of trouble for this aren’t you?”
Tony shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll be fine Pepper; I can weather a lot of things.” He kept his smile easy. One could almost think it was like old times.
“Can Maria?” Pepper asked softly.
Tony’s smile dropped. He’d imagined various worst case scenarios but he tried not to think about that. “I have plans in place. She’ll be taken care of no matter what happens to me.”
“Does Steve know about that?” Pepper pushed, and Tony really wished she wouldn’t.
He patted the hand still on his arm. “I’m not doing anything truly crazy, Pepper. I promise.”
Pepper gave him a look that said she didn’t quite believe him.
It would help if Tony could believe himself, but considering everything else going on this was the least crazy thing he was doing. After Pepper left the room, Tony rubbed a hand over his face. He had at least a half hour before his meeting with ‘Captain America’. He wanted to do a great many things to the man that had attempted to kidnap Maria, but talking civil with James Barnes was not one of them.
Only for Steve was he doing this. Steve wanted to set up a meeting between him, ‘Bucky’ and Sharon. Steve wanted to talk things out as if him being alive was suddenly going to change their minds about Tony being a bad, bad man. He wanted to tell Steve he was insane for thinking Barnes even believed he was Steve Rogers, or that Sharon would believe it either, or that for thinking any of it would work out for the best.
Things never worked out for the best when Tony was involved. Steve should have known that by now.
And goddamnit he didn’t need this right now. Not on top of some lunatic blowing up his factories – it wasn’t going to be over with just two strikes. Tony had been around too long to believe that. But Steve asked, and Tony had always had trouble saying no to Steve.
He’d set up their meeting, but Maria would not be anywhere near the Tower when it happened. There was a charity art show in Chelsea next week that he was supposed to attend – he’d set the meeting for them and then take Maria with him. At least he’d know she’d be safe then.
“Stark,” James spat the name, making it sound like a nasty disease. One he hoped Stark would drop dead of.
Tony Stark’s face was a neutral mask, like an emotionless robot. Maybe the man was more machine than human these days. James at least expected the man to try to hit him. After all, he had broken into his home and tried to kidn—no rescue— Maria (but she’d been terrified and crying, and he’d already told Sharon he wouldn’t – couldn’t do that again. Not with Steve there. Not to a child with Steve’s eyes.)
“Steve wants to meet with you and Sharon. He said he mentioned something about it to you when you – spoke.”
“You mean when I was trying to save that little girl from you?” James ribbed. “I didn’t know I should have been prepared to save Steve as well.”
“I wasn’t aware saving people these days involved reducing a nine-year-old to hysterics,” Tony hissed.
James almost grinned; he’d wanted a reaction-, hadn’t he? But somehow it didn’t make him feel any better. He opened his mouth but Stark continued on.
“What would you have done if Jarvis had been there, instead of Steve? Would you have gone through him? What would you have done if she had fought back?” Stark snapped. “Did you and Sharon plan what you were going to do once you’d ripped her from the first home she’d ever known that didn’t treat her like a toy soldier?”
James flinched despite himself. He hadn’t really thought too much about where she’d been before Stark. He hadn’t wanted to. It brought up too many thoughts about how he’d known -- “We had more right to her-”
Stark advanced on him, and James took a step backwards, even though he could easily take him. “Maria’s a child. A living breathing child. She’s not a thing to be fought over. She isn’t the shield. She isn’t a prize that was supposed to go to whoever loved Steve best.” His voice broke. “I was selfish, yes. I wanted a little piece of Steve to myself – but then there she was, just a kid that no one had ever once thought ‘what’s best for her’ in her entire life – she’s not a prize, James.”
James shook his head. It hadn’t been like that. He’d just wanted – Sharon had just wanted – they’d meant well. They’d meant to do what was best for the kid.
“You can hate me all you want. You can want me dead for all I care. But you don’t get to use that hate to hurt an innocent child,” Stark finished, suddenly looking exhausted. “And if you ever try to take her again, it won’t matter how much Steve loves you, Barnes.”
James bristled. “Is that a threat, Director Stark?”
“It’s a promise, Captain America,” Stark sneered. “I’m only here now because to Steve you’re still his kid brother Bucky, and I don’t think too much of anything will ever change that.”
“Why do you care what Steve thinks?” James snorted, folding his arms across his chest. He resisted the urge to pace. “You’re the reason he ‘died’ to begin with.”
Stark made a sound almost like laughter. “Maybe I am.” He shook his head. “But I never stopped caring what he thought. If you want to meet with him you can do it next Thursday at the Tower. Maria and I won’t be there.”
“And how do I know this isn’t some sort of trick?” James asked, even though he knew it wasn’t. Stark had risked a bit too much setting him up as Captain America. And if he was honest, Stark loved Steve too much. He might hate it but he’d be an idiot to deny what any fool could figure out.
James had frankly been surprised Stark hadn’t killed himself before James tired assassinating Iron Man. It would have made everyone’s lives easier if Stark had eaten a gun.
“Because I really have nothing to gain by tricking you,” Stark answered calmly, as he turned to leave. At the last moment he paused, and turned back. “By the way? If you see Fury, tell him to come take his goddamn job back.”
James almost smiled as Stark walked away.
Sometimes it was easy to forget that the small hand that clutched his as he did the shopping was not Anthony’s. At times it didn’t seem so long ago that the small figure behind him would have been a raven-haired little boy with his mother’s eyes and bright smile. But it wasn’t Anthony – who rarely was called Anthony now, even by him – it was Maria, who unlike Tony or her namesake, rarely gave wide bright smiles unless they were for Tony or for Steven.
She couldn’t be further in personality from Maria Stark, but Jarvis knew Maria would have adored her adopted granddaughter. He himself loved Maria liked a grandchild, just like he loved Tony as a son. He perhaps had more right to that claim than Howard Stark ever had, but it was best not to speak ill of the dead.
“Jarvis?” Maria tugged the older man’s hand, her voice soft.
“Yes, Maria?” Jarvis glanced down at the little girl.
Maria looked uneasy for a split second, her eyes darting to the side before her features fell into a blank look. “Someone is following us,” she told him solemnly.
“Are they now?” Jarvis said, keeping his voice normal. Maria might be clever, but for her to spot someone following them, the person couldn’t be that good at it.
“He’s been tracking us for the last hour, but I couldn’t confirm it until just now,” Maria said, sounding more like a grown superhero than a child, her eyes darting again.
There was indeed a man seemingly paying very close attention to them, but it could just be someone who recognized her from the papers. There was still a chance that Maria was correct and it would, in the long run, be easier to go on the assumption that she was right.
Jarvis squeezed Maria’s hand reassuringly. “Well, this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been followed. Nor, I doubt, will it be the last. Anthony -- your father, often has a great many people interested in him,” he told her, as they continued walking. “The best thing often to do is act as if you don’t notice them.”
He smiled at her questioning look. “Trust me, my dear. I haven’t always been ‘just’ a butler.”
“What were you before?” she asked curiously.
“I was a member of the Canadian Royal Air Force during the War,” he told her in a confidential tone.
“You were a pilot?” Maria’s eyes widened slightly, and he could tell he was being successful at partly distracting her. “Which war?” she asked.
He chuckled, keeping a watch on their ‘follower’ out of the corner of his eye. It appeared Maria had been accurate in her assessment. They were being followed.
“World War II, and yes I was a pilot. I served mostly in Britain, stayed there for a time after the war as well.”
“Did you know Steve then?” She asked.
“No, I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Captain America then. He wasn’t in England much during the War,” Jarvis told her. He’d answered the question for Tony a time or two in his childhood. The main thing in his mind was to keep Maria distracted until they arrived safely back at the Tower.
Steve took in the taut lines of Tony’s back as he stared out across the darkened city and swore under his breath. He should have pulled Tony aside earlier. Tony had rushed home that afternoon after Jarvis had contacted him and he’d barely let Maria out of his sight since.
But Maria was in her bed – if not asleep, at least on the way to being so – she was safe. Jarvis was safe. Steve wasn’t going to lie to himself, or to Tony, and try to tell Tony that the man could have been a reporter or a curious civilian.
He’d hoped Tony would have – relaxed? Steve almost laughed at himself. Tony looked almost in pain, paper clenched in his right fist.
“Tony?”
Tony’s forehead pressed against the glass of the windows. “Just go to bed, Steve.”
Steve sighed and made his way over to his – lover? Boyfriend? They might have confessed love for each other but he still had no clue what that made them at times. “Maria’s fine. We’ll find out who followed them today and why.” He rested a hand against the center of Tony’s back.
“You mean I’ll find out who followed them and deal with it,” Tony snapped. “You can’t do much while in the Tower can you? And the only person you actively want to know you’re alive is Sharon Carter.”
Steve flinched slightly and opened his mouth to argue, before it dawned on him that Tony was trying to start a fight. And the words did hold a certain amount of truth. “I’m sorry.”
Steve could see in the reflection of the glass that Tony’s eyes were closed. He wrapped an arm around Tony’s middle, splaying his hand across Tony’s abdomen. Steve could feel the muscles under his hand tremble, but Tony didn’t try to move away from Steve.
“It isn’t your fault there might be someone after her. You aren’t the one that has failed to keep her safe,” Tony continued. “And I stood there yesterday and told Barnes I wanted what was best for her. What’s best for her would be far away from me-”
“Goddamnit Tony!” Steve jerked Tony around to face him, pinning him against the glass. “Are you through?”
Tony blinked, eyes smoky-blue and wide. He nodded slowly.
“Good, because I want you to listen to me,” Steve told him, using his grip on Tony’s arms to shake him slightly. It should have worried him how they almost always seemed to resort to almost physical violence.
The muscles under his hands trembled, but Tony didn’t move or speak.
“What would have happened to Maria?” Steve’s voice was quiet; it was something he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. There were too many things in the details of how Maria came to be in Tony’s protection that he didn’t know. If I’m a good boy I get to keep her, Tony’s voice echoed in his head from weeks ago when he’d first come back to the Tower.
Tony’s eyes went distant.
Steve tightened his hands just slightly. “If you hadn’t taken her in, what would have happened to Maria?” he clarified.
“I – someone else would have taken her,” Tony whispered.
Steve shook his head. “The truth, Tony.” He didn’t want to hear the answer anymore than Tony wanted to say it.
Tony’s eyes slid closed and his head hit the glass. “They—she’d be dead. Like the other girls.”
“You have done everything you can to protect that little girl. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you blame yourself for something that hasn’t even happened yet. That I know you’d die to keep from happening. I love you too damn much to listen to you tear yourself down like that.” Steve finished, feeling almost exhausted by his outburst.
For several long, long seconds Tony just looked at him before holding out the papers he’d been clutching. “I received these by courier this afternoon just before Jarvis called.”
Steve smoothed out the papers and found himself looking at photos of Maria and Jarvis. On the last page the words I will take everything you love were scrawled.
“God,” Steve whispered.
“I’ve tried tracing it, but it’s gotten nowhere. Whoever this is – they’re good. I’d almost be impressed if…” Tony trailed off and shook his head. He sounded defeated.
Steve looked from the pictures to Tony, and for a moment wanted to convince Tony to take Maria and run away with him. Change their names, disappear somewhere. Let the world forget about them.
But he couldn’t. Tony would never agree, and Steve would never be able to sleep at night.
“I’m not even sure I want to let her out of my sight long enough for the photo shoot tomorrow. Never mind that she’ll be with Parker and the Fantastic Four.” Tony pressed his hand over his eyes.
Steve dropped the photos and cupped the back of Tony’s head, pulling him close. “From now on, if she isn’t with one of us, she’s with another hero. If not the one of the Fantastic Four, then Jan and Hank, or Carol. Hell, I’d like to see someone try to touch her in Asgard.” He rested his forehead against Tony’s. “We’ll keep her safe.”
Maria had learned a great many things since Tony Stark had become her CO – though she was starting to understand that CO was not the correct title of the status Tony held in her life. She had yet to find the correct one that would encompass everything the name Tony had come to mean for her.
She’d learned about ‘fun’, how to wear different clothing, how to eat ice cream… She’d learned three new rolls in the gym with Steve, how to ‘hug’, and that not all mistakes were punished.
She’d also learned that she did not like how her eyes felt hot and itchy – like she wanted to cry – when Tony was too busy to work on their model again. That she did not like the sensation in the bottom of her stomach when Tony and Steve would raise their voices once she’d gone to bed. The voices carried louder than normal with her bedroom door half open.
She knew she wasn’t supposed to be straining in the darkness to hear their words, but she did it anyways. It would be easy to climb from her bed and pad silently down the hallway. She’d hovered at the doorway of the living room more than once, listening to Tony talk to Steve or Carol – or sometimes Jarvis. Sometimes Tony would somehow know she was there, other times he never noticed or just never commented.
Maria curled tighter in her cocoon of blankets, everything in her wanting to run out to Tony as she heard a thud from the living room and Steve’s voice sharp and angry sounding.
But Steve said he wouldn’t hurt Tony. He’d said. And Tony had said.
Was it about her? Had she done something wrong today, noticing she and Jarvis were being followed? Had she displeased Tony somehow – was that why he hadn’t worked on the model with her in days?
Jarvis had assured her he was just busy – that some awful things had happened and Tony was trying to find out who was responsible so it wouldn’t happen again.
She curled her blunt nails into the palms of her hands. She wasn’t sure if she knew what to believe sometimes.
Lying awake, she listened to the voices quiet in the living room, and the sound of Steve and Tony moving quietly past her door. There was the slight pause of Tony looking in on her – she knew it was Tony, Steve moved differently and sounded different – she waited for them to move past but –
“Maria?” Tony’s voice was soft.
She bit the inside of her cheek. Tony couldn’t know she was still awake, she hadn’t done anything to give herself away.
“Let her be, Tony,” Steve murmured just as softly.
Maria kept the rise and fall of her breath steady. She didn’t want to be in trouble for still being awake – even though she’d never been in trouble for that before. But she wasn’t always sure what to expect from Tony in recent days.
“I’ll just be a few moments,” Tony was saying.
Steve didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t hear him move right away. There was a noise she couldn’t place, then Steve was moving down the hallway.
After another breath, Tony padded over to her bed, sitting down beside her. “I know you’re awake, genius,” he didn’t sound upset, just – sad. A gentle hand stroked her back.
Still Maria didn’t drop her pretense of sleep, even though she wanted to. She wanted – she wanted to act like she’d seen Val act when the little girl had fallen. She wanted to cling to Tony like Val had to Sue. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be told it was going to be okay, even though she knew it wasn’t. Not yet.
“I’m going to keep you safe,” Tony told her, still stroking her back. “I promise you that no matter what happens you’ll be safe.”
Maria turned her head slightly, then blinked up at him. “I’ll keep you safe too, Tony,” she told him.
Tony smiled but it looked – it looked sad. His hand continued stroking her back as he pressed a kiss to her head. “That’s my brave girl.”
She wanted to say something else, to tell him not to look so sad, but it was getting harder to keep her eyes open. Then – then she was asleep.
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I'll just be over here chewing my nails until the next chapter, 'kay?
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(icon not directed at you, but it's my only Bucky icon)
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(And that's okay, this is my only hug icon... and I know he won't appreciate it. ^^;; )
Oh dear
A typo.
Maria learned three new rolls - as in bread, or role?
Re: Oh dear
I was assuming it was as in gymnastics, which wouldn't be a typo *g*.
Re: Oh dear
whoops
Re: whoops
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Love your icon.
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Steve wanted to talk things out as if him believe alive was suddenly going to change their minds
Think it should be being, not believe
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Not much happened in terms of action but so much character stuffs it was great!
“Maria’s a child. A living breathing child. She’s not a thing to be fought over. She isn’t the shield. She isn’t a prize that was supposed to go to whoever loved Steve best.”
I love this! I can *hear* Tony say that. It was spot on and showed him perfectly, as did later on, his blaming himself for everything until Steve couldn't take it anymore. Tony worries about others and everything be his fault the way some people think about food. He has this constant self doubt that you really hit on well here.
And Jarvis is awesome ^__^
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I'm glad you liked it! I was so worried about the Bucky parts and making sure that Bucky reacted IC.
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"You remember Dr. Strange, right? Just give him the flash drive.”
I started grinning. I have no idea if we'll see more of Pepper and Dr. Strange, but I automatically started thinking of your (
And it's so like Tony to think that as long as he's arranged for Maria to be provided for that she'll be okay. He never really seems to believe that just losing him could hurt someone.
“I was a member of the Canadian Royal Air Force during the War,” he told her in a confidential tone.
Canada! :-D
On the last page the words I will take everything you love were scrawled.
Eep! And now I want to know who is behind this so much. There are plenty of people around who hate Tony at this point in time, but most of the ones I can think of wouldn't threaten a child. A lot of them are other heroes. *wry*
Was it about her? Had she done something wrong today, noticing she and Jarvis were being followed? Had she displeased Tony somehow – was that why he hadn’t worked on the model with her in days?
Ahh, poor girl. I'm glad Tony came in and sat with her, even if he didn't/couldn't explain what he and Steve were angry about. The worst part of her hearing the tone of the arguments and not hearing or understanding the content is that it probably seems like her world is about to fall apart even though they're all really just worried about each other.
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Eep! And now I want to know who is behind this so much. There are plenty of people around who hate Tony at this point in time, but most of the ones I can think of wouldn't threaten a child. A lot of them are other heroes. *wry*
The question of just who this person is will be a big part of the next few parts.
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This is, I admit, the second time I've read this fic, and I think it's more amazing now than the first time - you know, after spending several hours on Wikipedia, catching up on all the things I don't know about 616 canon. But back to my point, this an absolutely amazing fanfiction, and I adore it. I think it's one of the only stories (published, unpublished, fanfiction, original, you name it) that really makes me believe Maria is exactly as you've described her. I have no trouble believing that she's a traumatized nine-year-old, no momentary um.... really? moments, and what's even more amazing that you, kijikun, can do that while writing from her perspective. I am agog. That is a very, very rare... so far as I've seen.
(I also, really really wish you would write more of this. I would honestly love to see more of any part of it, but especially the Ezekiel Stane story line. No pressure, though!)
(and for the part that I realize makes me a horrible person... the real reason I delurked to review.... I won't claim to be hugely up on the Canadian military - despite being Canadian, so things may have changed between WWII and 'now'... and of course this is a comic book series, and as such needs not have bearing on real life, but...
*ahem* it's actually the Royal Canadian Air Force, as opposed to the Canadian Royal Air Force. I realize that's a really petty reason to have inspired a review, and also makes a nit-picker, but, you know. It's my country. It's rare enough we get mentioned IRL, much less in fanfictions.)
I'm gonna stop talking now, and just say once again that this fic you have written is beyond belief, and all fandoms everywhere are improved by writers as talented as you in it.
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(so embarrassing when this happens...)