Work Text:
Legacy
Tony left his attacker’s cell with a weary feeling of foreboding.
You come from a family of thieves and butchers. And now, like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your own history. And you forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed.
Did he? By now he didn’t know anymore. Was he rewriting something? Did he even need to? His family didn’t define him. It didn’t define Harry either. And even if… his father had been the best man he could be.
My father is the reason you are alive.
Was it just talk? Was that man just trying to confuse him?
Palladium in the chest, painful way to die.
Damn it. He really needed to tell Pepper or… no. Not Harry. He had enough troubles as it were.
Carefully Tony slid into the back of his waiting car, chest aching familiarly. Damn it. Damn it all.
“To the airport, please, Happy.”
“Hello, big brother.”
Tony almost jumped out of his skin. Harry was already sitting inside the car, waiting for him.
“Merlin’s soggy underpants!”, Tony cursed and then started laughing. All those years of hearing Ron swear seemed to have taken a toll on him.
“Well, if you are well enough to laugh, I hope I don’t have to worry much.”, Harry commented drily and gave his brother a one-armed hug.
“I assume you saw my amazing fortey into motorsports.”, Tony stated and relished in his brother’s warm presence. Whatever else might be going on, Harry could always make him feel better.
“I always thought our little races were enough for you, but apparently you grew tired of losing, old man.”
“Funny. Really funny. Are you here to tell me to not do stupid shit like that?”
“Actually no. I thought it would be hypocritical considering how I played Quidditch and all that. But to answer your question from before: I did not see it, Hermione’s Dad did. He was kind enough to call me. And I was in Devon for lunch with the family, I regret to inform you: They all know.”
“Oh no.”, Tony groaned.
“Molly told me to tell you: What are you thinking?”
“Expected that.”
“Ginny would like to inform you: That racing suit looked good on you.”
Tony laughed. God, he loved his sister-in-law.
“And I just came here to make sure you were okay.”
For a moment Tony thought about telling Harry. About the palladium. About his blood. Would he be able to help?
No. This was not a magical issue and his little brother had already left his job at the ministry and agreed to become CEO to help Tony. He knew that it was a lot on his brother and his family. He wouldn’t add another burden. He was Tony. It was his job to look after Harry. A job he had lately failed at spectacularly.
“Are you?”, Harry repeated, a worried crease on his forehead.
“Yeah. I am fine. You know I am.”, Tony hurried.
“I don’t.”, Harry told him quietly, “And I know you are lying to me. I may not like it, but it is your choice. Just… Tony, please remember, that I am your brother, we are all your family. If you need help… I have your back.”
Tony swallowed heavily, feeling the slight sting of tears in his eyes.
“I know. Believe me, I do.”
Harry gave him another calculating look, before apparently simply giving up, “Very well. If you are sure: I have to go to London. Did you learn something from your attacker? I might need that to try and tie this disaster into a neat little bow.”
“Are you going to really deal with it or are you going to be all funny and edgy about it, like when you became CEO?”
Harry didn’t even dignify that with an answer. Sad, Tony thought, he enjoyed Harry’s mischievous side. Well then, back to business.
“He is going to destroy me. Because our family is horrible and he wants revenge.”
“Lovely. Anything else?”
“I think his father and Dad might have clashed. Hard to believe, right? What with Dad’s warm personality.”
Harry gave a long suffering sigh.
“Tony.”, he started, then stopped and looked out of the window.
“What? Spit it out.”
“You and Dad. Seriously, man.”
“Oh come on. I know you and him had a special bond, but you cannot deny: He was a cold ass.”
Harry turned his face towards Tony again, an odd expression on his face.
“I am denying a lot.”, he declared, “You and Dad just… always willfully misunderstood each other.”
Tony snorted.
“You did. He didn’t spend as much time with you, because you were always angry with him. And you were always angry, because he didn’t have time for you.”
“I know that’s what you like to believe.”, Tony admitted, but that was all he was giving Harry. Harry didn’t understand and Tony didn’t think that he ever would. Their father had treated Harry differently. Personally, Tony thought, because Harry was the only connection Howard had to Lily. Maybe. He probably regretted not being a father to her and tried to make it up by being good to her son. There had been times, when Harry had been small where Tony had been more than a little jealous. But he had thankfully never taken that out on Harry. He didn’t want to imagine what their lives would look like now, if he had.
“I am sorry, Tony, sorry that you never got the chance to realize the truth before Dad died.”
Tony flinched in horror. They hardly ever discussed their parents. Especially not like that. He thought about an angry retort, but he was tired. Too tired. Aching. And even though he didn’t like to admit it: He was dying and did not want to pick a fight with the person he loved most in the world. They sat in silence until they reached the airstrip.
“You going back to Malibu?”, Harry asked quietly, “For your big birthday bash?”
“I’d enjoy it more, if you guys were there.”
“I don’t think it’s the place for a bunch of small kids.”
Another minute of silence.
This might actually be his last birthday. It was pretty likely.
His parties were a tradition. Pretty legendary.
“Harry?”
“Yeah?”
“Are Ginny and the kids still in Devon?”
“No. They went back home.”, Harry looked at him, the worried look back in his eyes, “How about we land in London, I apparate you to Inverness, before going back to the city? I’ll sort this out the best I can and then come home and you can already spend some time spoiling the kids.”
“I would prefer being spoiled by your wife, to be honest.”
“I assume Molly send them home with some leftover cake.”
Tony was torn. He really, really wanted to go to Scotland, but…
“I can get you magical transport tomorrow. To go back to the US. Don’t know, Stark Expo? Malibu? Wherever you wanna go. You are basically not doing much more than skipping the long flight.”
Tony knew exactly what Harry was doing, giving him an in, an excuse… and it was working perfectly.
“That sounds like a plan. Let’s head home.”