Beep.
Tony's hand went to slap at his alarm clock idly. Only to end up in a tangled mess of wires.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
His eyes snapped open, finding himself in surroundings he couldn't place. Everything was white, sterile and bright- so bright it made him instinctively squint his eyes. His thoughts were scrambled as he tried to sit up. Around him the room spun, and a bout of light-headedness would have made him fall if he had been standing.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
His heart thumped rapidly on his chest, and the heart monitor he was connected to translated that into more beeping.
Then he remembered. The car. The blood. His parents. Tony clenched his eyes shut and balled his hands into fists. He resisted the urge to cry. To scream. Because his father always hated it when Tony cried-
Except his father wasn't here anymore.
His breathing came out in short painful little gasps. He sniffled weakly and a few tears slid down his cheeks against his will. A knock on the door made him jump slightly. He began to wipe at his face frantically to hide the evidence of his tears. A moment later the door opened. A nurse dressed in navy blue scrubs walked in with a soft smile on her lips.
"Hello Mr. Anthony. I didn't know if you were awake or not. The painkillers made you kind of drowsy. Do you mind if I come in to take your vitals?" It was posed as a question. It wasn't, Tony nodded anyways.
She checked over his mentally facilities, did he remember his name, birthday and what year it was- that sort of thing. Yes, to those. He also recited the first ten digits of pie because she seemed to still doubt him. Next was his blood pressure, and then changing his bandages. She asked if anything else hurt besides his hands and head, he shook his head mutely.
"After we're done here, there was a lawyer sent to discuss what's going to happen to you…" She gave him a soft pitying look. Tony clenched his hands hard enough to dig his fingernails into the bandages around the palms of his hands. He only loosened his grip when he reminded himself that he'd break his stitches if he didn't.
He gave another mute nod, not giving any verbal indication.
She left with a small sigh, and when the door closed- Tony cried. Hot tears spilling down his cheeks as ugly soft sobs seemed to be painfully wrenched from his chest.
It was maybe an hour later after he'd cried all his tears out when another knock came to his door. A moment later a spindly looking man in a suit was escorted in by the nurse from earlier. The man had a large beak like nose and perched on the tip of it sat frameless glasses that made his big eyes look even bigger. The man's hair was thin with a large bald-spot in the front. There was a no-nonsense type air around him, and it made Tony swallow thickly.
"Hello young Mr. Stark. I'm Daniel Smith, I am- was…your family's lawyer for many years. I give you my deep condolences for your loss." Tony just chewed on his bottom lip without response. The man took that as a cue to continue talking. Clearing his throat, the man sat in a chair by the bed. His briefcase lay on his lap, and he quickly put in a combination before flipping it open. "So, Mr. Howard Stark wrote up what would happen in the events of his untimely…passing."
"The company shall be ruled over by the board of chairmen with Obidiah Stane at it's head- until you finish college. The will also indicates you shall have access to a small portion of your inheritance at present, but the rest will only be given to you after you have finished college at Harvard with a masters in the fields that Howard Stark has chosen for you. Should you choose another college, then you essentially give up your inheritance."
Tony's mouth dropped open at that. He didn't even have a choice to what college he was going to? He took a moment to compile his thoughts, Tony couldn't settle on something to say- and even if he did, he didn't trust his voice to work at the moment. He gave a stiff nod as he played with the bandages around his hands.
Mr. Smith paused and pursed his lips. "Odd."
"What?" Tony asked, his voice coming out in a soft croak. The lawyer looked at him for a moment but then sighed.
"I'm afraid that Mr. Howard Stark made plans for the company and your future in case of his passing. However, it never indicated over who will retain guardianship over you."
Tony felt like all the breath had gotten driven from his lungs. His father had meticulously made sure the company was taken care of, but forgot to do the same for Tony? "No, that's not…are you sure you read all of it?"
"I am quite positive. In this case, I suppose now you will become a ward of the state until you are of legal age. I am…very sorry."
The boy wrapped his arms around his chest in a twisted rendition of a hug. How he missed his mother, who would secretly wrap her arms around him when Howard wasn't around. How she would press a kiss to the crown of his head and tell him how much she loved him. His eyes burned, but he didn't cry. Perhaps he couldn't. He had no more tears left in him to spend. "I…I see." His voice shook, and his bottom lip wobbled. Closing his eyes, he ignored the fact that the other man was still in the room.
Considering Tony's reaction a pardon from being in the room any longer, the lawyer stood to his feet. "Again, I am very sorry for your loss. I hope within time that you decide to do business with me again, as your family has done in the past. Should you have any questions, I'll leave my card." Tony cracked his eyes to side-eye the man as he laid his card on the tray table beside Tony's medical bed.
Without another word, Mr. Smith quietly left the room, and Tony was alone.
Bruce kept his head bowed. The headache that had threatened to surface all day had finally risen to the occasion like a snarling feral beast. His temples ached from the pressure, and his eyes were blurred and unfocused. Making it hard to focus on the bat-computer's monitor, despite it's large scale.
He could idly hear Alfred's tut of disapproval as the butler appeared with a mug of something steaming. Bruce muttered a soft 'thank you' and drank, only to be disappointed when it turned out to be hot tea instead of coffee. He looked over at Alfred, and the butler only cocked a single eyebrow in return. "You have been up for a solid seventy-two hours Master Bruce, did you really think I would cater you something caffeinated?"
Bruce sighed and set down the white mug on it's coaster. "Alfred, there is a boy right now with his parents dead and no justice. I can't sleep, not until I find out who did this."
"Ah, yes, tragedy has fallen upon the boy. I know how personal this is for you, however I simply can't condone you working yourself to death under the misguided notion that something needs to be done right this instant."
Bruce stood to his feet. "Another day wasted is another day that boy has to go on wondering why the world was so cruel. It will be another day that he thinks justice is failed, another day Alfred- and he can lose hope."
The butler just laid a hand on Bruce's shoulder. It was soft, despite being the hands of a working man. "Tell me Master Bruce, have you found any leads?"
"No, but-"
The older man narrowed his eyes sharply. "Absolutely not, no buts about this Master Bruce. Your work will only suffer if you keep going on like this. Now, tell me what is troubling you truly to make you this determined to keep going; despite against better judgement."
The younger man sat back down in his seat with a defeated sigh. With a wry humorless smile, he looked up at Alfred with tired bloodshot eyes. "You know me too well at times, Alfred."
"I ought to know you sir, I have diapered your bottom in the past." The Englishman's mouth twitched upwards at the corner. Then he sighed. "Master Bruce, I believe that for some odd reason, you take responsibility for what this child has been through."
"I failed Alfred." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, as if to relive the pressure in his skull. "I promised when I became Batman, that I would do everything I could to make sure that another child didn't have to go through life without their parents. However, I keep failing that promise." He gestures to the cases of Robin suits lining the walls.
"Tragedy is simply a part of life Master Bruce. You cannot be everywhere at once. Not even our friend in red and blue can do that." Alfred takes the cup of tea that Bruce had discarded earlier. It was likely cold now. "I assume you have kept tabs on the young boy?"
Bruce looked somewhat guilty. "I…may have planted a bug in his hospital room."
"I thought as much." The butler seemed smug. "Any recent happenings in regard to his well-being?"
Bruce sighed. "He's going to become a ward of the state. He hasn't been assigned a guardian. He's alone Alfred."
"Not as alone as you believe." Alfred stated. "Goodnight, Master Bruce. Do try to get some sleep, would you?" He titled his head slightly in farewell before ascending the steps to the manor.
Bruce thought to himself for a long time about what Alfred could have meant by that. Finally, he rubbed his eyes before turning off the terminal in front of him. Alfred was right, he would begrudgingly agree with the man (but never out loud). It was obvious he wouldn't get anything done like this.
Perhaps he could check in with the young boy later, if anything but ease his mind. It wouldn't be anything more than a small visit.
However, it seemed that Alfred knew more than Bruce did.
A room in the family wing had already been prepped for another arrival.
A/N: Another chapter done, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this story lately. I've been limiting myself a bit, doing shorter chapters instead of forcing myself to do long chapters, in hopes that I won't burn out too quickly.
Anyways, things are getting there slowly but surely. There are two things you might notice, one being the name of a potential Ironbat villain and another being a reference (not a direct quote) to Batman: TAS.
If you know the villain's name from the Ironman series then don't expect it to follow the comics too closely, as this is going to HEAVILY go against any sort of canon. I'm working the story to how I see fit.