Chapter Text
Tony just stares at the boy, this innocent child dresses in a ratty t shirt and a pair of torn jeans cuffed at the ends, who doe eyes are focused entirely on him, who’s standing clinging onto his leg as if the man was his saviour. He could’ve laughed at the ridiculousness of it, after all he was the one who called the hit out on the boys’ parents and for a moment Tony has every mind to just play along be the boys saviour but then again, that could come back to bite him in the ass.
He kneels down in front of the boy, and odd position for him to be in and even his subordinates give him an odd look, Tony Stark knelt to no one. “Do you know who I am?” he asked and the boy nodded, brown eyes shining with a new understanding and for a moment Tony thinks the boy knows his name that his parents had mentioned him and he’s getting ready to signal for someone to kill the child but he needs to be sure, needs to know what exactly this boy knows, “who am I?”
“A hero,” the boy states and Tony’s the only one doing a good job of not looking at the boy in confusion.
“And what makes you say that?”
“Y-“ the boy stops eyes widening in fear before he glances around at everyone, the men and women holding guns and he leans into Tony’s ear and whispers, “you saved me from the bad people.”
For a moment Tony does let his face shift, looking at the child perplexed, “I don’t understand,” and it takes a lot for Tony to admit that, but he really doesn’t, this isn’t how he expected this conversation to go, the boy gives one last glance around at everyone before he shifts slightly and lifts the ratty t-shirt he’s wearing and there Tony can see it. No wonder the kid hasn’t shed any tears for his parents. His skins a patchwork of scars and bruises and Tony’s not sure he recognises how most of them were caused but there are some, burns cause by cigarettes, scars caused by knives, broken bottles. The boy pulls his top down faster when he notices one of the guards moving closer toward them and he edges closer to Tony and now Tony’s at a proverbial crossroads as to what to do.
He still debating what to do when Steve come close to him and whispers something in his ear, the small child watching them curiously and Tony smirks finally staring at the small child before speaking, “how to you feel about coming home with me?” The child practically beams and for a moment Tony just stares at the utter trust the child has despite everything that’s clearly been done to him. He picks the boy up ignoring the dirt getting onto his suit and the smell coming off the child is wafts before calling out to one of the faceless people to have Dr strange meet him at his apartment.
Tony watched in wonder as the small child giggled at the silly doctor, the doctor however didn’t find it so funny, “you need to stay still for this to work,” the man snapped but the boy just laughed, and something told Tony that it was only because he was there that the boy was so calm.
“Any major damage?” Tony asks when Dr Strange is finally finished with the exam, they both watch the boy who’s now dressed in soft red pyjamas, his brown eyes widening as he inspects some of the medical equipment left by his side.
“No broken bones or fractures, the bruises seem to be a few days old and none of the scars or cuts are infected, chances are they treated any injuries they gave the boy to avoid suspicion when he went to school,” Strange states with his usual dry tone.
“Any other signs of abuse?” Tony asked and Stephen just looked at him for a moment as if contemplating something truly bizarre.
“None, I can’t say for certain about emotional trauma or manipulation but as of sexual, when asked the boy gave no sign of understanding and nothing that he said raised any flags.” Tony let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, “if you don’t mind me asking Stark, what is it you plan to do with the boy?” Tony just smirks eyes firmly fixed on the small boy who was ow smiling right at the man.
“Everyone needs an heir,” and with that the man nudged the doctor out of the door and close it shut, the thought hadn’t actually occurred to him, but now that he thought about it didn’t seem like the worst idea.
The avengers, as tony calls them were the rag tag protection team he put together of the world’s scariest people who sat lounging around his living room watching in wonder as the small child ran around each of them asking questions before running to another and repeating. Tony watched it all, the scene just cementing the fact that yes, Tony was keeping the child. The team however stopped playing their games with the kid as soon as they saw tony, and at the small wobble of a lip they all stared in panic as Tony walked across the room and knelt beside him. A small tug at his lips as the boy’s face lit up again, “everyone, I see you’ve met Peter, from now on I want two of you watching over him at all times.”
"Like babysitting?” Clint asked staring and Tony sends an unamused glance his direction more focused on the small child who was currently curling around him, small arms wrapping around his neck and Tony returned the favour, wrapping an arm around his waist and standing resting the boy on his hip.
“In a sense,” the man drawls, “if he wants a piggy back ride you give him one, if he wants a sandwich you get him one, and if he gets hurt under any of your watch, I’ll skin you all.”