Chapter Text
August 10th 2001 was what Tony could've described as the best day of his life. Like any proud parent would describe the birth of their first child's But, but not only of one son. But two.
And they looked almost identical, except for their eyes. One's rounder than the other, but other than that. They were so alike.
Peter Parker-Stark and Marcus Parker-Stark.
Mary and Tony never married, they hadn't gotten that far yet. They were nothing more than a fling.
But for their sons, they wanted to try.
But Tony was never good at trying. Unless it was for himself.
By the time 2004 hit, the twins were walking and talking. Inseparable too, both are allergic to different things.
Peter's allergic to strawberries.
Marcus is allergic to Mango.
Yet they were almost the same person, Peter's eyes still so wide and round. Marcus' always seemed to have an edge to them, but they still smiled with each other.
Got in trouble with each other.
And they hid from their parents together, even when they both screamed in his mansion till 2 in the morning.
Pepper always intervened then, lifting one onto her hip and the other followed loosely.
Clutching onto her hand tightly as they were tucked into bed, a kiss on the forehead and a story told.
In the morning the two were always found in the same bed, no matter what.
By the time August 15th 2005 came around, Tony and Mary had split.
She had been cheating for a while, and he had found out she was actually married before they had the twins. She had been sneaking back to go and see the man.
Richard, he was called. A smart man, less of a billionaire and someone who was actually stable too.
So they finalised it.
They both fought over the twins. Who would have Marcus, who would have Peter.
So they split them up.
Mary took Peter that same day, pulling him up and onto her hip while the boy's finger stuck into his mouth.
The twins never did say goodbye to each other, just waking up without each other.
And Marcus cried for days.
Tony couldn't get him to stop, he didn't know what to do.
He had no idea how to raise a child of his own.
He hired nannies and babysitters. Even tried to send him to daycare. Daycare didn't work, once everyone realised he was a stark child it was like he was made of silver and gold.
Which in Tony's eyes, he was.
School didn't work out either, the pickup and drop off were a hassle. Marcus would always freak out, claiming he wanted to see Peter, claiming he wanted to see his dad.
Besides, he was stringing out fractions when they were only just starting with counting.
So Tony attempted homeschooling, keeping the child occupied with textbooks to the best he could. But with all the gambling, meetings, and designing of new weapons.
Tony never did have time, so a lot of the babysitting and raising of Marcus fell to Pepper.
But as Marcus grew older, Peter became nothing but a distant memory. Someone who was there, but just a shadow in his head. Like his mother.
Tony never spoke about it, never spoke about his mother, or his distant twin, who in the future Marcus will truly forget even existed.
In May of 2008, just before Marcus was due to be 7 years old. Tony Stark was missing and presumed dead. Marcus was in the middle of his etiquette class when Pepper came to him, calling him out and into his bedroom.
And the two spoke softly, Marcus cried, of course he cried. He clung to Pepper and Happy for a while, and Rhodey became a constant in Marcus' life after that.
Someone who, as well as pepper, made sure Marcus was raised right. He had his lessons, he took his etiquette and publicity lessons.
Whenever Pepper or Rhodey even considered taking him out to the playground to distract him, let him be a kid and not some billionaire's child.
Cameras hoarded them, asking about his dad. About a funeral, about what age Marcus would be when he would inherit the company.
Rhodey or Pepper never spoke about the missing shadow in Marcus' life either.
Even the media didn't know about his twin, everyone just remembers the one child with brown curls and round eyes. But if anyone asks about the mysterious second child. It was shut down and told that it was just Marcus, after all.
They were almost identical.
Marcus' 7th birthday was overshadowed. It was the day Tony Stark announced the cancellation of Stark Industries making weapons, and the announcement that he is indeed Iron Man.
There were parties, but not for him.
During his whole fight with Obadiah Marcus had hidden in one of the bunkers, hearing it all go down and Tony was the one to come and get him.
Marcus charged into a hug with the man, holding him so tightly.
Rhodey brought him a cupcake, and Pepper brought him a card with a small gift. Just a very simple plushie of a sheep, she said it was a designer brand but to Marcus it was the best gift ever given.
Tony had remembered it, after a few days and a reminder from Rhodey, which ended in an argument.
They both went out for ice cream, four security guards stood at the door, and three security guards stood around their table.
An overpriced blue Audi sat outside.
It wasn't enjoyable, not for Tony.
Marcus was thrilled, because he loved spending time with his dad. Because Marcus was a talker, a big talker.
"And then you were like boom! Pow! Dad, you were so cool!" Marcus preached. "I wanna be like you, can I have an Iron Man suit. Can I get fighting lessons, pepper said to ask you about it-"
"Yeah- Yeah buddy. Course" Tony said, nursing his own headache he probably should've taken some pain killers for.
"Pepper said she'd take me to the zoo, and Uncle Rhodey is gonna come too! Can you come? I think you would like the tigers-"
"Marcus! Just stop, I'm too busy to go to the zoo. Alright? I'll give you fifty dollars for the gift shop though alright?" Tony snapped, and Marcus didn't bat an eye.
Because this is how it always was, Tony always told him no, and Tony never made it.
In fact, it was only when Rhodey became War Machine in 2010 that Marcus really started to feel alone, that weird image in himself.
Or whenever he looked at himself in the mirror. As he got older, it was still there. This time there was no Rhodey to take him out on drives, no Pepper to take him to the park.
There was Happy, but sometimes he was busy too.
It was only in 2012 that Marcus truly began to feel like he had people to talk to. That appreciated his talks.
That made him realise that Tony didn't listen to him enough.
And none of the other people seemed to walk on eggshells around him.
Natasha was the person he wanted to hang out with the most, he seemed to follow her around and try to talk to her. She never did seem interested, in fact, she's the only one who looked at him differently. But he met her in 2010, she was in and out at that point.
Clint was funny, he made Marcus laugh. He was really good with entertainment, he attempted magic tricks but they both laughed when he failed. He was the first awake when Marcus wanted midnight snacks, to help him reach the top shelf in the fridge to get the chocolate milk.
Steve was weird, he always had some broody look on his face and he was just so serious all the time. Marcus tried to talk to him, but he just gave a motivational speech and spoke in old wise words.
Thor was fun while he was here, he spoke very posh and seemed to dress half-nude all the time. Which is weird, Pepper said it's inappropriate for him to do it. But he went back to his home, and he tried asking about it.
But Tony was always busy with Bruce. Bruce was very smart, he spent a lot of time in the laboratory. He never saw Bruce a lot, Marcus never tried.
He had Clint and Natasha, who seemed to adore his company more than his dad ever did. They even took him for ice cream, no security guards. No paparazzi, and they played the game where they would wear sunglasses and caps so no one could notice them.
They barely even spend time at their house anymore. Sometimes Marcus wanted to go home, back to his dad's mansion. That was his home, where he grew up.
His twelfth birthday in 2013 was the best birthday he could remember. The Avengers had thrown a party in the common room of avengers tower, his eleventh birthday was different.
It was right after the alien invasion and he knew everyone had been busy. So Marcus's never brought it up.
But his twelfth was better, there was a cake with a million candles. Borderline a fire safety risk, he was showered in gifts.
It was weird though, even Tony had taken part in it at all. The tower was decorated, with balloons strung up at every pillar.
It felt familiar, but there was still someone missing. like there was supposed to be someone next to him when blowing the candles out.
But there was no one there, Natasha noticed his frown. So did Tony, because the two looked at each other and Tony just shook his head. Natasha only rolled her eyes.
Marcus noticed it, but it was almost normal now.
The awkward glances and awkward looks between the two of them.
It was just before Christmas when the blizzard hit. Marcus wanted to go shopping on his own, wanting to buy his dad and pepper a gift.
He thought about what Clint and Natasha taught him. Keeping sunglasses on with a hat so no one really bothered him in public, wear something you wouldn't normally wear either.
Maybe the snow was falling too quickly, maybe the driver wasn't paying attention.
Or maybe Marcus shouldn't have snuck in the first place. Rhodey always told him to look both ways before crossing.
Maybe the driver didn't see the red light. Marcus should've checked to see if they were slowing down first.
But he was cold, rushing to get back. The plastic bags were digging into his already cold hands with a warm beanie sitting on his head. His coat zipped up, his favourite red coat.
It was quick. Maybe when Tony looked back on it, he was happy it was quick. Maybe even painless, watching the camera footage of it.
Marcus' small and thin body rolling across the road. The car screeched to try to stop, beeping to see if Marcus would notice.
Then, with the snow still falling. Marcus' body lay on the road. Eyes shut, peacefully. Lying on his side, bleeding from his head and nose. His arm was broken too.
And every time Tony watched the footage back, it seemed to hit him more. Maybe it was the way sirens hit almost immediately, how only minutes later Tony had appeared in his Iron Man suit.
checking the body over, picking up Marcus' almost lifeless body even when paramedics told him it would all be okay.
It wasn't all okay.
Because Marcus never woke up.
He had been in the same hospital for 423 days.
The date February 15th 2015
Marcus' 13th birthday had been and gone. It was a silent day, spent in the hospital and Tony looked through medical files. Doing anything he could to figure out how to bring him out of whatever coma he was in.
Doctors said to give it time. Some even said maybe it wasn't worth the wait. But Tony was adamant, he felt guilt.
Rhodey came to visit much more, although trying to balance out the whole Iron Patriot thing. Then Tony Mass makes his suits, and then destroys all of his suits. His house being destroyed too.
Everyone tried their hardest.
Especially after the whole Ultron situation, some Avengers stayed close by. All moving into the compound now, leaving the tower as a last resort. Natasha and Clint visited, and at least Tony now knew why Clint was so good with kids.
When it hit March he began looking at other options, which caused arguments. Tony and Bruce spending a lot of time in the labs, Rhodey yelling at him claiming maybe it's easier if they stopped trying.
"I'm not stopping. He's my son" Tony had argued that night, test tubes lay out in front of him. DNA strands loaded up in front of them in holographic forms.
"Yeah? So was peter, have you even tried to reach out and find him?" Rhodey commented and the room fell silent, Bruce silently dismissing himself from the conversation.
"Don't involve him in this Rhodey, I'm not in the mood," Tony said fiercely, not in the mood for any sort of conversation about Peter. Because Rhodey only brought him up when it involved Marcus, and how bad a father Tony was being.
"What the hell even is this, I mean come on" Rhodey flicked through some of Tony's notes, pausing on a specific page. "No, Tony. You're not doing this."
"I'm trying to wake him up!" Tony yelled.
"You wanna give him super serum to do that?!" Rhodey yelled back, screwing up the pieces of paper in his hand and his eyes landed on the blue liquid in vials. "You're unbelievable, you actually recreated it too."
"At least I'd have my kid back!"
"No. No, Tony, if you give him that and he does wake up. He's not staying with you anymore." Rhodey said finally and Tony's face dropped.
"You don't get to decide that," Tony said seriously, wanting to hurl a screwdriver at the man's head in anger.
"I do, when it was basically me and Pepper who decided to raise him. When it was the Avengers who helped throw him a birthday party, not you." Rhodey argued back. Watching the wrinkles in Tony's forehead, watching his eyes narrow as he just got more angry.
"Does he even know his mother's dead?"
"No, she died years ago it's irrelevant now." Tony scoffed, sitting back down at one of his stools. "Leave me be Rhodes. I have work to do."
On February 20th, after many arguments from everyone else. Listing the pros and cons out, after tons of scientific research and realising what he was going to do would work.
He injected the serum into the teenager's bloodstream.
He didn't know how long it would take. But he knew it would strengthen him enough so that his body would at least be strong enough to wake up.
They didn't know what else would happen when he would wake up. Marcus Stark had been dead to the public for a year now, Pepper was the one to tell the public.
She and Tony both mutually decided that if he did wake up, he deserved a normal life outside of the Stark name.
March 5th 2015.
Marcuse woke up, it was slow at first. A squint of the eyes, a twitch of the fingers. Tony sat next to the bed, eyes widening as soon as he saw it.
"Marcus?" Tony whispered and the boy mumbled something, almost groaning like the pain over the last year was all catching up.
When his eyes opened, it was slow. Lots of blinking, and tears fell down his face. "Dad?" It was more of a whisper than an actual tone of voice.
"Yeah, hey it's me, buddy. Try not to talk okay?" Tony said, almost unable to console his panic. "You're okay."
Marcus opened his mouth again and when nothing came out he just closed his eyes again, squinting away some tears as he fisted his hands together.
"What happened?" He whispered again, eyes averting to his father who looked like a completely different person. Because Marcus didn't remember anything from when he stepped into the street that night.
"There was an accident, which doesn't matter right now. Just.. get some rest, I'll call a doctor" Tony panicked.
It took two weeks before Marcus was up and walking, clinging onto Rhodey as he was almost learning how to walk again.
He clung to Rhodey because he was the one who told him what happened. He knew the minor details about the accident, and he now knew that Tony drugged him with super soldier serum just to keep him alive.
He didn't hate his dad, how could he? He saved him.
But part of him felt lost with everything. He found out he's been out for a year, he missed two Christmases. His favourite holiday of the year.
It was a lot, JARVIS was no longer a thing, they now had FRIDAY. It took Marcus a bit to get used to JARVIS, who was all he had ever known.
JARVIS was now a red walking robot.
Week 3 he was told there was also now a new girl in the compound, Pepper had introduced them.
Wanda, she seemed sweet. Baked cookies really well, seemed to want to get to know Marcus instead of standing on eggshells.
It was like before, when Natasha and his dad used to share that awkward look. Except everyone now did it, like they knew something he didn't.
At week 4, Marcus sat in his room in the compound. After being told his old home was destroyed, he was shown to the room. A double bed, two large windows. No posters, no decorations. The room barely had colour in it.
In week 5, Marcus moved in with Rhodey in his apartment in New York. Rhodey truly believed Marcus wasn't safe with Tony and Tony needed time to realise he's a father. That Marcus isn't some kid he temporarily babysits.
"No, Tony, this is your issue alright. You think about yourself and only yourself, reality check your son almost died, you gave the other one up and didn't even fight for him." Rhodey began slowly, slowly building up speed as he spoke.
"And now you have your son back now what, we go back to whatever we had two years ago where everyone looked after him and you spend time with him whenever you get bored." Rhodey rented, really using his hands to put his point out there.
"That's bullshit Rhodes, and you know it. I saved his life, I woke him up." Tony scoffed, sitting down in the lab, hands running through his own hair.
"You drugged him!" Rhodey yelled.
"I wanted my son back."
"Congratulations, you just lost your son. don't even try to argue, because that boy deserves a real childhood and a real life." Rhodey threatened, and Tony didn't bother arguing back. Just watching from a distance as Marcus slid into Rhodey's car with a suitcase full of old Tony's clothes.
Marcus was okay with it. He still has to visit the compounds on weekends, so he still gets to see the avengers still. He got to see his dad still, and Pepper too.
It was only a matter of time before Rhodey decided to let Marcus pick out a school to go to.
Midtown School Of Science. He had to take a few exams to get in, but the letter came in. He could join in the new year, when September hit.
Since it was already moving towards the end of May it would be fine.
It also meant Marcus could spend the summer becoming like a human again, spending weekends at the compound. Even though he spent a lot of it locked in his own room, he only spoke to one person the entire weekend.
It was always a different person.
But still, sometimes, in the back of his head. The shadow was still there, like he was sharing a mind with someone.
And he still couldn't place it.