Chapter Text
A drunken Tony Stark stumbled into the mansion, greeting Jarvis with a low slur before collapsing on the Italian leather couch. It was one of the rare nights he didn’t feel like living up to his playboy persona and left the ladies at the—he thinks it was a charity dinner—wanting. Tony doesn’t tend to keep up with what event he was attending—he just went where Obie tells him to go and hands out checks when asked.
Now, alone and drunk, he kind of wishes someone were here with him. Most of the women had been pretty, some drop dead gorgeous and meeting the standards of his nightly conquests, but even he got tired of one night stands every once in a while. There was never anything more than the sex—after his parents’ deaths he was the richest young bachelor in the world—which made dating nearly as difficult as it was when he was a teenager and MIT. Pepper would be pleased at least. A morning where she didn’t have to escort a disgruntled and sometimes very pissed young woman out was a wonderful way to start any day.
“JARVIS, dim the lights.” Maybe he could fall asleep before the sun came up.
He lasted about five minutes staring at the ceiling until he decided to head down to the lab. After the last time he had tinkered while drunk, Pepper had put a ban on all of the fun tools—specifically the flame thrower. He didn’t see what the big deal was, he only had mild burns and the company had ended up with a new top of the line product. Pepper threatened to quit however, and so, even though he could easily override Jarvis and unlock his tools, Tony stuck to using holograms to make designs and Jarvis fabricating the best ideas in the mornings.
Plopping down at his workstation, Tony cracked his fingers before stretching his arms above his head. Dummy wheeled over with a package of blueberries and mug filled with scorching black coffee. The robot whirled and clicked in satisfaction as Tony patted its head and took a deep gulp of what he believed to be liquid gold.
“Pull up last night’s schematics. I thought of some improvements we can make to the repulsorlift function.”
“Of course, Sir.” 3D blueprints surrounded Tony as the latest missile he was working on was pulled from the server. Jericho was written in cursive on the top of the schematic. It wouldn’t be on the market for year or two, Obie liked to release Tony’s inventions at a slower rate—often saving the best ones for after Tony’s latest scandals. Investors tend to forget a drunken escapade when a shiny new weapon is dropped into their greedy little hands.
“Jar, make the power system bigger- “
A crash makes Tony stop and whirl around in his seat in an attempt to locate the source of the noise.
“I swear on that Shelby, Dummy, if you broke another Goddamn coffee pot, I am going to disassemble you into scrap metal.” It was a lie, and both Tony and JARVIS knew it. He would never hurt Dummy or ruin the perfection that was his 1967 Shelby Cobra.
“Sir, I do believe the crash came from the living room.”
“Ah what the hell.”
Grumbling, Tony makes his way up the stairs to find out what kind of trouble the bot got himself into this time. He knew he shouldn’t have given Dummy access to the lift—he just got sick of the bot trying to get up the stairs and failing all the time. Finding the little guy stuck on his side was both funny and heartbreaking every time.
He moves slow, a broken pot isn’t anything to rush over, but then he hears it. A sound that was most definitely not a robot—it was organic, human, young. Taking the stairs two at a time he is breathing heavy when he spots Dummy whirling around the coffee table frantically.
A small thrashing lump is the source of the wailing, a dark red liquid slowly seeping into the rug around it. Tony carefully pulls back the sticky blanket to find molten gold eyes staring back at him. The wailing stops for a second in surprise but soon the golden eyes are flooded with tears and, what Tony has now realized is a child—no a baby—is screaming at the top of her lungs.
Tony pulls back the rest of the blanket, a burning building in his stomach as disgust and anger fills him. Three short stumps and one right arm extend off the child’s torso. Both her legs end just above where her knees would have been; her left arm forearm was also missing.
He tries not to gag at the smell of burned flesh. The appendages seemed to have been recently removed—sutured would be more correct. The burned ends caused the wounds to not bleed as badly as severing them would have—but it is clear to Tony that he needs a doctor here now.
“Jarvis call Dr. Clemmons. Tell her it’s an emergency and I’ll pay her whatever she wants, and her discretion is appreciated as always.”
“Of course, Sir.”
“Call Pepper too. Tell her the same thing. Let them in when they get here.”
The baby is only sniffling quietly now, exhausted most likely from both the pain and her sobs. Tony is terrified to touch the child, but he knows he can’t leave her bleeding on the floor. Scooping her up as gently as he can, unconsciously cooing at her when she whines in discomfort. He leaves the dirtied blanket on the floor, leaving the child naked.
He carries her over to the kitchen table that the interior decorator had insisted he get, it had cost $20,000 and was made out of the most expensive wood the woman could find. He had never once used it until now. It would most likely be ruined after tonight and the tiny blonde that had designed his kitchen would die in despair. Tony had no regret pushing the matching table set off to make room for the child in his arms. Dummy bumps into his leg causing Tony to look down at the robot. In his mechanical claw are a couple of towels as well as some blankets thrown over his body.
“Good boy.” The bot chirps, hovering nearby as Tony tries to soothe the child.
He uses the smallest blanket to wrap around the child; the towels to loosely wrap around the stumps. Whimpering causes him to go slower.
“It’s okay,” he breathes in, his chest shaking as he tries to convince himself more than the baby. “You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay.”
“Sir, both women have arrived.”
Tony turns to see Pepper and Dr. Clemmons round the corner into the kitchen area to then pause in shock. Clemmons recovers quickly and rushes to look at the child’s wounds. Pepper stands with her mouth agape.
“How did this happen?” Clemmons is unwrapping the towels as the child starts to become more distressed at her wounds being touched. Tony grabs the only hand she has left, letting her squeeze his finger as his other hand runs through her white tufts of hair. Teary golden eyes stare at him as her whimpers soften at his touch.
“I don’t know, I was in the lab. I heard a crash and found her next to my ruined coffee table.”
“You don’t know how she got here?” Clemmons raises an eyebrow at him.
“No.”
“Jarvis would have the surveillance footage of the room, right?” Tony looked to Pepper and nodded.
The young woman pulled out her Stark tablet and walked to stand next to Tony. While Pepper had initially been frozen in shock, she had recovered and returned to her normal self. Tony had never been more grateful that he had stolen the red head from his company, her composure in all situations was one of the many reasons Tony kept her as his P.A. Hell, he probably couldn’t survive without her.
“Jarvis play the security feed from the living room to a few minutes before the crash happened.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Clemmons continues to treat the child as the pair watches the tablet. An empty living room is shown on screen until Dummy rolls into the view with a couple mugs dangling from his claw. The robot must have been doing the dishes—Tony tended to hoard coffee mugs in the lab until there were no clean ones to use.
Dummy leaves the living room quickly and the activity on the screen remains non-existent for nearly half a minute. A sudden bright light above the coffee table causes the screen to light up and blind Pepper and Tony momentarily. From a vortex of white and blue light a cloaked figure is thrown onto the coffee table, shattering the glass. The figure stands up quickly, gently placing the bundle on the ground along with a note off to the side that Tony hadn’t noticed before. Clutching at their side, the figure’s whole body moves with each gasping breath before retreating back into the light.
“What the actual fuck was that?”
“Tony- “
“Who was that?”
“Tony we- “
“Pep I’m kind of freaking out here because that was not okay. What technology even makes a weird teleportation-vortex thingy? I don’t have security for that shit!”
“Tony listen- “
“And what was with the weird Assassin’s Creed guy? Who wears a cloak anymore? Did he do this to her? Why would he leave her here? Who the hell cuts off a kid’s arm and legs? We have- “
“TONY!” Tony stopped his hysterical rant to look at Pepper.
“Tony,” her hand rests on his arm, “we have to call someone. This isn’t for us to handle.”
Tony blinked and looked at the little girl on the table in front of him. Her golden eyes were locked onto his from and her lip was trembling. Silvery-white hair sticking up at all angles on the top of her head. He looked to see she never let go of his him despite Clemmons being done. Her hand was tiny, chubby little fingers wrapping around his index finger. He couldn’t imagine she was older than a couple months.
“No. No, we can’t do that.” A different type of warmth built in his chest as he let the child maneuver his finger toward her mouth. She was probably hungry.
“Tony, this kid just came from a vortex.” Pepper stood on the other side of the table now. “That isn’t normal! We have to call police or the government or something!”
“We can’t call anyone, Pep.” He looked up to meet her eyes. “What do you think they will do when they found out how she got here? You’re right, anyone can see she isn’t normal. She’ll be sent to a lab or be stuck in some government facility for the rest of her life.”
“He is right you know.” Tony and Pepper look at Dr. Clemmons as she began to pack her medical supplies back into her medical bag. “Even while I was treating her, the burns were already healing at a rapid rate. Her body would have sealed the wounds on its own even if you had not called me. Every lab will want to get their hands on her for research.”
Pepper’s face drained of color as she looked at the child laying on the table. Her tiny body fought to stay awake, but exhaustion was slowly getting the better of her. Tony was right, they couldn’t call anyone.
“What do we do with her then?” Clemmons smirked at Pepper as Tony began to run his hand through the child’s hair again. After retrieving the note from the floor, she held it out to Pepper, it read simply:
Take care of her.
“Well it looks like whoever left her isn’t coming back.” A fond sigh escaped the woman as she watched the billionaire. She was his doctor, but she was also his friend. “And it seems like they have bonded.”
“Oh no, Tony couldn’t do that.” Pepper shook her head; Tony could barely take care of himself.
“I think I want to.” Her head snapped to look at Tony, he was still focused on the child in front of him.
“Tony, you can’t be serious.”
“I am serious. She needs me Pep.” Clemmons had helped settle the toddler into Tony’s arms and he was now looking at her with those damn puppy eyes of his that were hard to resist on a normal day. She stood no chance with him holding a broken child in his arms.
“Fine, but you have to take care of her. And that means no partying every night.”
“Of course.”
“And you have to baby proof this place. You can’t leave the blow torch on the back of the toilet anymore!”
“Naturally.” Tony nods as Clemmons turns to him.
“Why would you—”
“You never know when you’re going to need to solder something.”
“And no girls!” Pepper whirls at him. “You cannot have random women here every night with a baby to take care of!”
“I got it, Pep.” The baby is in his arms now, her breathing even as he rocks her to sleep.
“I mean it Tony. She needs to be bathed and clothed and fed and dear God, what have I just agreed to?”
“I don’t know yet, Pep, but I think it’s something good.” A smile lights his face. Tony didn’t know why, but ever since he had first gotten a glimpse of those golden eyes, he felt like she should be his. He needed to protect her.
Pepper’s shoulders just slumped in defeat. All she could hope for is that she wouldn’t regret this later.
Dr. Clemmons returned the next week to check in on the young patient and see how Tony was settling. In that week, Pepper had gotten papers drawn up and paid their way past the usual legal channels in order to make the adoption quiet and quick. Walking into the living room, Clemmons smiled at the baby swing and other new additions of baby-themed furniture that had been added to the room. Gone was the pristine wealth as it was the beautiful chaos that came with being a parent.
“Hey, Doc.”
Dummy sped past her to meet Tony at the top of the steps leading to the lab. The broken child she had met the week before was giggling as Tony praised the robot and took the bottle from the extended claw.
“How is she doing?”
“Well she sleeps a lot. And eats a lot. And poops too. Like a lot. Like more than five times a day sometimes.” Tony pauses to breathe. “Pepper said its normal, but I don’t believe her. Is that normal?”
“Yes, Tony, that is normal.” Clemmons chuckles as Tony sits on the couch and sets the bottle down on the new coffee table, settling into a comfortable position so that the baby could be examined and fed at the same time.
“It looks like the skin has healed over the wounds.” Gently running a finger over the smooth skin, Clemmons shakes her head. “I don’t think she had been blessed with the ability to back limbs however.”
“Yeah, I figured. I’m already working on something to help her when she gets a little older. I’m going to need your help with it though.”
Tony gestures with his head as Dummy hands the doctor a tablet. Scanning over the blueprint, Clemmons raises an eyebrow at the genius as he burps his newly adopted daughter.
“You’re going to make her mechanical limbs?”
“Not yet, she is too little for me to fit anything on her, but I want to start researching now with your help. You can stick your name on it—equal credit, it would be great move for your career. I can use SI to introduce them and legalize them in the medical world. By the time she is ready to walk, we could have them ready for her.”
“Most babies take their first steps at around ten months. You’re telling me these mechanical limbs will be integrated into the medical world in the next year?” Tony rolls his eyes at the doctor as she ruins his hopes and dreams.
“Okay, so maybe more like when she is three or four. She’ll be late on walking, but she’ll be ahead on everything else, I guarantee it. She is a Stark now after all.” Placing the bottle down, Tony bounces the baby on his knee, smiling at the soft giggles he gets out of her.
“Is she now? Did you finally name her then?”
“Eleanor Maria Stark, Elli for short.”
“What a beautiful name Tony.” The man only grins in pride.
Clemmons never thought she would see the day when Tony Stark became a parent. It suited him. Elli continued to giggle and gurgle causing both adults to laugh as well. Dummy whirled up next to them, Elli squealing in delight while reaching for the robot with her good arm. Tony lowered her, letting her see her robot brother.
As her skin grazed the robot’s metal exterior, Elli’s eyes flashed an electric blue and the lights began flickering as Dummy was encased in a blue glow. Once her eyes returned to their golden shade, the lights returned to normal albeit shining slightly brighter than before and Dummy began twirling in excitement.
“Is that normal?”
“No, not really.” Clemmons eyes raked the ceiling before looking back at the Starks.
“Didn’t think so.”