One thing that not many people knew about Maria Stark was her outstanding musical capabilities. She had always adored instruments of any kind and had no trouble playing them. She would be considered a prodigy, albeit an older one, if anyone really knew about her gift.
Jarvis was the first one to notice her talent. Howard was the second.
Jarvis liked to consider himself an observant man, especially when it came to the Starks. It was his job, after all. That was why he was the first to notice Maria's talent for musical instruments. He knew that she was always an exceptional pianist, able to play any tune after hearing it one time. She could be found regularly on a piano bench, her fingers caressing the ebony and ivory keys as if they were made for each other. She swayed smoothly to the beautiful sound, eyes closed in perfect relaxation, humming along with a voice to rival an angel's.
Jarvis always thought it was breathtaking.
Sometimes, Master Tony would go and sit on Maria's lap, his little fingers following her's. He'd occasionally press some of the wrong keys and Maria would throw her head back and explode with laughter. Tony would go on and laugh right along with her.
Jarvis and Tony mutually agreed that the only thing more beautiful than Maria's singing was her laugh.
As Tony grew older, he stopped crowding around the piano at every opportunity. He'd stop and sit on the bench occasionally, or sit on the couch closest to the piano and just listen. He never really engaged himself with it by the time he was eleven, though.
As time went on, Jarvis realized that it wasn't just the piano that she played. Of course he realized that she played multiple instruments, but he never noticed how many. She had a room that she never allowed anyone to go in, and everyone obeyed that order. Jarvis had never entered, but he detected the faint sounds of music. Sometimes, when he passed the room, he could hear the beat of the drums. Other times, it would be the strings, or the woodwinds. On one memorable occasion, it was the bagpipes. That was when it hit him.
Maria Stark was a musical genius.
Jarvis found himself asking Maria about it one day.
"Ma'am, I have noticed your musical capabilities," he had said one day when they were alone, "and I think that it's amazing, what you do."
Maria had laughed merrily, patting Jarvis's shoulder.
"Thank you, Jarvis. That's very kind of you. I have to say that I love playing, but piano is my favorite. I think the piano will always be my love." Her eyes were distanced and her voice dreamy. "Please, let's just keep this between you and me, okay? I'd prefer if no one else knew," she added as an afterthought. Her response confused Jarvis immensely.
He was about to ask her why she would want to keep it a secret from everyone when it was such an amazing gift, but then Howard had appeared.
"You'd prefer if no one else knew what, exactly, Maria?"
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. Something quite silly, really," she apprised him, all traces of her smile disappearing.
She had gotten up and left, but Howard must have found out later that day. Jarvis didn't know how and he honestly didn't want to know, anyway.
There was ranting by Howard, to put it plainly.
"Music Maria, really? Do you know how completely and utterly pointless that is to me? Why couldn't you be good at something at least moderately useful?"
Jarvis had chosen to stop listening then because he knew there was nothing he could do at that point. He'd tried in the past and he knows to learn him his mistakes.
A few days after that, Master Tony was kidnapped. Jarvis and Maria were trying their best to find the boy while Howard ranted about how this made the bodyguards look incapable and how they were going to get so much shit about this whole debacle.
Jarvis had nearly snapped at Howard, but he knew that keeping his job was more important than getting some satisfaction from telling Howard off.
All Tony knew was that he was thoroughly terrified. It was dark and it smelled funny and there were weird men asking him questions. He had learned not to talk to strangers from Howard, and he certainly knew better than to disobey the man.
"How old are you?" one of the older guys with scars on his face and a neatly pressed suit asked. Tony shrunk back in the chair he was tied to, but tried to keep his facial expression neutral.
"I said 'how old are you'?" the man demanded with more force. There was a gleam in his eye that unnerved Tony and he felt like maybe if he answered their questions, they'd just go away. He decided that there was only one way to find out.
"I'm fourteen," he answered quietly.
"So you're old enough to go in Howard's lab, aren't you?"
"Yes. Well, no. He doesn't like me to mess with his stuff, but I go in there sometimes anyway."
The man smiled, a feral, crazed thing that horrified Tony.
"Then you've seen his blueprints, right? All of his inventions and stuff?"
And Tony knew exactly where this was going. It'd happened before and it would probably happen again in the future. He struggled to keep his lip from quivering. Defiance was the best tool in this kind of situation; he knew from experience.
"No, I haven't. I work on my own stuff if I ever go in there." He hoped to God that his voice was convincing and that his face didn't give away anything.
"You and I both know that's not true," the man growled. "If you give up the information on his latest bomb that he's working on, we might be able to spare your life."
"I told you, I haven't seen his blueprints. I can't give you information that I don't have."
"Okay, that's fine. We'll be back in a little bit to hopefully," he paused and grinned with too many teeth, "persuade you." He inspected Tony scrupulously before retreating out of the dank room and motioning for a husky guy in the corner to stay in the room.
Tony took stock of his situation after a few minutes. His hands were handcuffed behind his back and the chain was weaved through the chair's back. His bare feet and torso were duct taped around the chair. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all metallic and rusty and bloodstained. The door was directly in front of him, but it had no handle from the inside and no window. He couldn't think of a way to possibly escape the room without the door already being open for him.
"You've seen your father's blueprints before, haven't you, kid?" a gruff voice accused.
Tony jumped minutely and looked to the origin of the voice. It was the big guy that was told to keep an eye on Tony. He eyed the man wearily, shaking his head after a moment of scrutiny.
"No."
"Maybe you just need a little influence, huh?"
The man pulled a dagger out of his waistband and held it up. It gleamed in the dim light bulb that hung from the ceiling. Tony took a second to internally snort at how cliched that was.
The man smirked at Tony before he lunged forward, slicing a shallow cut into his thigh. Tony cried out struggled to free himself, but the bonds held strong. Pain rippled through him and blood started to seep from the wound and soak his pant leg.
"Are you sure about that?" the man smiled smugly.
"'m positive," Tony managed to grunt out.
"Looks like you might need just a little more persuasion…"
The bloody knife was then dug deeper into Tony's thigh, trailing down toward his knee cap. Tony tried, he really did, but the pain was overwhelming and he couldn't stop himself from letting tears escape.
"Please, please stop!" Tony sobbed.
The man smiled smugly before he pulled the knife out of Tony's flesh.
"When you give up the information, I'll stop."
The deal was too good to resist. He didn't think he could handle getting stabbed again.
"Okay-"
The door to the cell banged open with a loud clang.
"Lowe, Lowe, stop! We agreed that we wouldn't harm the child!" the leader shouted. Tony noted that he could see a vein bulging on the man's forehead with some satisfaction.
"He's about to give us the info. All he needed was a little scratch."
"Get out now. I want you to take your things and leave. You will not be getting paid for your troubles," the leader commanded, his voice deadly calm.
The Lowe guy seemed to understand that his head was on the line, so he just stood quietly and left the room.
The man ran a shaking hand through his hair in palpable frustration.
"So much for giving him back unharmed…" the man muttered, seemingly to himself.
"Sir, do you think that maybe we could get some ransom from this, too?" a man in the corner of the room asked hesitantly.
The man - or Sir, as Tony decided to dub him - turned to look at the goon before a wry smile crept onto his face.
"Good idea, Larson. We can definitely do that. Someone go get the camera. I guess, since the kid's already hurt, we might as well continue, right? Maybe we can experiment on him with our new device, huh?"
Sir received a chorus of affirmative answers.
"Great. We'll get started when we get back from our trip…"
Tony had never wished more to hear the lovely sound of his mother's piano.
When the video was sent to them, Jarvis and Maria were livid. It had been almost two months since Tony was taken, and it was taking a toll on everyone (except for Howard, of course).
The first thing that caught their attention was the glowing blue orb that was inserted into the boy's small chest. They had no idea what it could be or what it did, and the first thing that occurred to them was that it was potentially a bomb.
The second thing was that he was bruised and bloody. His slender shoulders shook in silent sobs, his eyes unable to produce any more tears.
The man in the recording said that, if fifty million dollars wasn't delivered to him in twenty four hours, he would bury a bullet in the kid's brain.
All Howard had to say on the subject was that Tony was pathetic for crying and would it kill him to grow up a little? Also, fifty million dollars was far too much to pay for the child because all he did was whine and waste their money anyway.
Jarvis had to remove Maria from the room to keep her from ripping Howard's head from his shoulders.
"We have to get him back, no matter what it takes," Maria said once her chest stopped heaving. "My baby is with some lunatics, all alone. We have to get him back."
Jarvis had rubbed her back and tried to comfort her to the best of his capabilities.
"Of course we will get him back. How about we go and try out the piano?" He knew that the piano had always relaxed Maria and that it would probably help a lot right now.
Maria glared at him until her face crumpled and tears started to flow in a steady stream down her face.
That was when it hit him. Maria hadn't played the piano since Tony was taken, and he highly doubted that she would until (if) he returned.
All that Tony knew was that his toes were numb. Blood roared in his ears and everything moved in slow motion. That's why he didn't notice when a group of nicer-looking people broke into the room that he'd become so familiar with. He could tell that the people were saying something while they uncuffed him and helped him up but he couldn't tell exactly what they were saying.
He found that he didn't have enough energy to care.
"Come on, Tony, we're getting you out of here," a guy's deep voice murmured.
That's when everything snapped into focus with a speed that made him dizzy. He felt himself sway, but before he fell, a pair of arms caught him.
"Whoa, better be more careful there."
Tony glanced up at the guy with sandy blond hair and soothing blue eyes, noting subconsciously that he looked a lot like Captain America, before passing out.
When he woke up, the first thing that Tony realized was that he was in the hospital. There was an annoying beeping sound that spiked the pain in his head with every beat and a pull on his hand. It was easy to conclude where he was.
He pried open his eyes with great effort which revealed the man that looked like Captain America sitting in a chair by his side. Tony cleared his throat methodically and the man averted his attention from the book in his lap to look at Tony. A genuine smile graced his lips.
"Tony! You're awake! I'll have to go get your mother, she's been worried sick. I'll be right back; she should only be just down the hall."
Then Tony was left alone, which was precisely what he didn't want to happen. He could feel his breaths coming in short, uneven pants. It hurt his chest more than he was willing to admit.
"Tony? Oh, baby, I've missed you so much."
Tony recognized that voice. That heavenly voice was attached to his succor in times of need. He forced himself to relax before he turned to his mother and smiled openly, not caring that it pulled tightly on his face.
"I've missed you too, mom," he rasped. He hadn't realized how painfully raw his throat was until then.
The Captain America look alike held a plastic cup with room temperature water up to Tony's face and allowed him to take a few sips. He sighed in relief and pulled away from the cup after a few gulps.
"You were out for four days, Tony. And you were gone for a little under two months. How are you feeling?" his mother questioned.
He considered her question. He supposed that he felt okay, but his body was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
"Not too bad, really," he decided on.
A bright grin lit up on Maria's face.
"That's great, honey! I'm so glad that you're okay."
Tony smiled tiredly at his mother before falling back asleep, forgetting to ask about that mysterious guy.
The next time that he woke up, he was lucid for a lot longer than he was the previous time. They still had him doped up on drugs, but they weren't flowing through his veins constantly anymore.
It had given him enough time to find out that the guy really was Steve Rogers and that Howard was extremely pissed that he wasn't the one who found him.
He was even more angry because it was Tony's fault, apparently.
"If you hadn't gone off and gotten yourself fucking kidnapped, I would've been with that search party. I would've found Captain America and been called a hero. You're a good-for-nothing brat that ruins every good thing in my life!"
Tony knew that Howard was just upset and that he didn't really mean what he was saying (or did he?).
Tony had just shrunken back in his bed and tried to drown out the sound of Howard's voice. It worked pretty well.
After Howard finished his tirade, he stormed out of the room, smoke streaming steadily from his ears. His mother had entered a few moments later with a group of people that Tony thought looked pretty familiar.
"You guys are the ones who saved me, aren't you?" Tony asked them as soon as they were all in the room.
A guy with sandy brown hair and blue eyes smiled and nodded at him.
"Yeah, that was us. We just wanted to stop by and check on you to make sure you were okay," he said. "My name's Clint. This is Natasha, Thor, Bruce, and, as you already know, Steve."
"Thank you. For saving me and for visiting," Tony said.
"No worries, Tony. We were just doing our job," the guy named Bruce replied.
"Now, Tony, do you mind if we ask you some questions about that thing in your chest?" Natasha asked. "If you don't feel up to it, you don't have to."
"Yeah, it's okay. I'll do it now."
Thor, Bruce, Clint, Natasha, and Tony's mother left the room and Steve was the only one still in there. He crossed the room to sit on the edge of Tony's bed.
"First of all, I just want to say I'm sorry for what happened. People who resort to torture are the lowest of the low and to harm a child is even worse."
Tony nodded his head and rubbed at his chest unconsciously.
"Anyway, do you know what that thing in your chest is?"
"It's a miniaturized arc reactor. Howard has a large one to generate clean energy. The guys that kidnapped me said they wanted to test it out and I guess they thought, 'who better than Tony?'"
"And what's its purpose?"
"They implanted some sharp metals into my chest and it would be tearing me apart from the inside out if it weren't for this thing. It keeps the shards from doing that, I guess."
Steve sharply inhaled. He looked pissed, to put it plainly, and Tony knew that it was his fault. He hunched in on himself and tried to keep his breathing steady.
"Look, Mr. Rogers, I'm really sorry to have upset you-" Tony started, but was cut off by a look from Steve.
"Tony, I'm not mad at you. Not at all. I'm mad at the guys who did this to you. None of this is your fault and don't you forget that."
Tony offered a wary smile before he snuggled back into the hospital bed.
"It's safe, in case you were wondering. They had their own mini reactor built but it was a mess. They gave me the choice to just implant the one they had or to make my own and I chose to make my own. That's how I know it's safe."
Tony could feel himself getting more and more worked up throughout the whole conversation. Images of gleaming eyes and unforgiving fists kept flashing in his mind, his own screams echoing in his ears.
"-Ony! Tony, look at me. It's okay, you're not there anymore. Tony!" a voice swam into his head.
Suddenly, the world focused and Steve's head drifted into his vision.
"Steve?" Tony wondered before he slipped into unconsciousness.
It took Tony two more weeks to recover enough to go home and the welcome wasn't as warm as he'd hoped.
"You stupid son of a bitch! Do you know how much negative press we're getting for your ridiculous stunt? SI stocks have plummeted because the world seems to think that, if we're incapable of keeping our child safe, we're incapable of making weapons. I see no correlation between the two and I refuse to put up with this kind of bullshit. Don't let this happen again or you'll be sent to live on the streets. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Tony nodded at Howard before fleeing the room, tail tucked between his legs. He decided to be optimistic and remind himself that Howard didn't hit him, at least.
His shoulders were pressed to the metal table by meaty hands that squeezed just a little too hard. The sound of a drill started up and the sadistic laughing increased in volume. The digits wrapped around his ankles strengthened their hold and pressed his heels into the unforgiving table.
"This won't hurt one bit…"
Tony shot up in his bed, his breaths wheezing in his chest. His sheets were wrapped around his legs and his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.
A moment later, his bedroom door banged open to reveal a ruffled looking Jarvis.
"Sir, are you alright?" Jarvis's voice called through the darkness.
The lights flickered to life and Tony's room illuminated.
"Just -just a nightmare, J. Go back to bed," Tony replied shakily, running a hand through his hair.
Just as Jarvis was about to say something, Howard came stumbling into the room, muttering under his breath.
"Why the fuck are you shouting, boy?" Howard demanded.
"No reason. I'm sorry that I woke you."
"You better be. I'd thought you were old enough to restrain from crying at a stupid nightmare. Looks like I was wrong," he spat bitterly. "It better not happen again."
Howard grunted in disgust before shuffling back to where he came from.
"Master Tony, don't listen to your father. Your nightmares are no trouble and we're all here for you. If you'd like to talk, just come see me." And with that, Jarvis exited the room, shutting the door softly behind him.
Tony sat with the lights on for at least another ten minutes before leaving his room and running a hot shower.
The group that had rescued Tony moved into the tower five days later. Howard had explained that they were part of the Avengers Initiative that protected New York and its surrounding cities and states. He also said that Steve needed a place to stay since his life from the forties was over and all his friends decided to bunk with him.
They joined Tony and his family at dinner and he found that they were both funny and nice. He decided that he didn't mind that they invaded his house.
They never yelled at him when he screamed and cried in his sleep, and they didn't shoot him looks of pity, either. They told him impressive stories of their adventures in the arctic or desert. They watched movies and played video games with him when he was feeling particularly like crap and his mother was away for business.
He found that he really liked the group.
"Hey Steve," Tony greeted, "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"
Both Tony and all of the Avengers knew the question was code for 'I'm feeling like shit and no one's around, please stay with me'.
Steve smiled and put an arm around Tony's shoulders.
"Of course I do, kiddo," he replied.
There were also those times when the Avengers were gone on a mission and Jarvis was busy and Maria was away. Tony would get lost in his own thoughts, nightmarish images branded into his mind. He'd work himself a near comatose stupor before hyperventilating enough to make him pass out.
One time, The Avengers made it home just in time to find Tony having one of these fits and could do nothing to stop him because he was too far gone.
"Tony, baby, please come back to us," Natasha whispered softly in his ear, stroking his hair in a particularly maternal fashion.
Nothing she said or did brought him back to the land of the living and they were scared enough to rush him to the hospital.
On the car ride there, the boy passed out and didn't awaken.
"Why didn't he wake up if he only passed out because of the hyperventilation? Shouldn't he have been up within five minutes?" Bruce asked the doctor.
"Aye, Anthony did not seem well. It did not seem as though it was just because of his breathing," Thor agreed.
"The reactor in his chest decreases his lung capacity, making it hard for him to breathe normally. Hyperventilation is very dangerous for him with the reactor and it can lead him to stop breathing altogether. If he continues to have episodes like this, we believe that it would be safer to remove the reactor and shards in order to protect him," the doctor explained.
"And how high is the risk of this surgery?" Clint asked.
"I would say low to moderate depending on the area in which the metal shards were inserted. We need to take some more x-rays of his chest before we perform this surgery, but we do believe that it's necessary. We would also have to contact Howard Stark before hand in order to get permission to follow through."
"I don't think that should be a problem," Steve said.
The doctor nodded before leaving to take x-rays of Tony's chest.
It only took hours to get Howard's permission, finish the x-rays, and prep Tony for the removal surgery.
The Avengers waited anxiously for any word from the surgeons in the waiting room for hours. When someone finally arrived, telling them that Tony was okay and that everything was removed and stitched up cleanly, they all relaxed significantly and waited for Tony to wake.
When Tony returned home the second time, it went a lot more smoothly than the first. The Avengers, Jarvis, and Maria greeted him at the door with banners and candy and food and music. Tony couldn't think of anything he'd want more when he returned home.
"Thank you guys so much," Tony said, voice thick and eyes wet.
They all agreed that they'd do anything to make Tony happen then and there.
With the arc reactor removed from his chest, Tony felt lighter, both mentally and physically. Without the constant reminder of his capture in his chest, he could forget about it and his demons for a longer amount of time until his episodes shortened in length and stopped happening quite as often. He could also breathe easier, even if it wasn't as easy as it was before any of the debacle happened.
Tony's personality changed too, the others were happy to see. He smiled more and even teased the team in a friendly manner. He didn't ask to watch movies quite so often and he'd go outside and bask in the sun rather than huddle in the darkness.
And for the first time in almost a year, Maria Stark played the piano.