Hi there!
WARNING: there is a scene that includes a child being hit.
If that makes you uncomfortable, please read at your own risk.
"Jarbis, wook!" five-year-old Anthony exclaims as he presents the circuit board he's just finished creating for inspection. Despite his intelligence level being years beyond his biological age, the young heir still has difficulty pronouncing some words like any other child his age, much to his dislike and to Edwin's endless amusement.
"I see, young master Anthony, very well done! You're so clever. Tell me all about it," Edwin praises with a grin. The child beams under the praise and precedes to do just that, rambling a mile a minute. For nearly twenty minutes, the butler listens to his young charge tell him everything and anything about the technology in front of him.
By the end of the impromptu presentation, the boy is glowing with pride for his creation. Gazing down at the mop of fluffy soft brown hair, shining brown eyes, and an impish grin on the young master, Edwin can't help but return the expression tenfold.
"Daddy might be done wit his meeting now, wite, Jarbis? I wan show him!" young Anthony asks excitedly.
"I do believe his meeting may be finishing—" before he can finish speaking, the boy has already scooped up his creation and started dashing towards the Big Meeting Room. "Young master, please wait!" Edwin Jarvis races after his charge, intent on stopping him before he interrupts.
It's no use. By the time he manages to catch up to his charge, the little one has already barged into the room. While the meeting appears to have begun wrapping up, Anthony's unexpected entrance has fully paused any last discussion. Edwin pauses in the doorway, frozen both from shock and uncertainty. From his quick sweep of the room, he can tell that booze of some kind has already been consumed by Howard if the empty tumbler on the table in front of him is any indication. While the Stark patriarch is rather bearable and agreeable when sober—something that is becoming less and less frequent with each day—alcohol instantly sours that disposition.
"Tony, what are you doing here?" Howard growls, embarrassed by this sudden, unplanned interference with his meeting.
The remaining meeting participants look on with slight annoyance at the interruption but also curiosity at the boy's sudden appearance and the object clutched in his small hands. Afterall, as annoying as this disruption is, the boy is the son of a genius, and they are curious to see if the genius was passed down. If the piece of technology the boy has just presented as his own creation at such a young age is any indication, then the genius has indeed been imparted on the next generation of Starks. Edwin can clearly see in their eyes a greedy thirst for the money they're already calculating this prodigy will bring their dirty wallets.
The boy instantly shrinks in on himself, clutching the circuit board that he'd been proudly displaying for all to see just a moment earlier to his chest. In the same instant, his cheery mood is replaced with one of fear and submission.
"I—I'm sowwy, sir. I just wanned to sow you my board. I didn't mean ta intewwrupt your meeting," he whimpers softly under his father's glare.
Howard huffs and addresses the others at the table, "I apologize, gentlemen, for this rather untimely interruption just as we were finishing up. I shall return momentarily."
With that, the senior Stark grabs the younger Stark by the shoulders and hurries him out of the room. Edwin just barely recovers his faculties n time to move out of the way. With the Starks out in the hall and having caught a strong whiff of whiskey coming from the older Stark when he passed, the butler has the good sense to at least close the door before Howard can begin his scolding rant. There is no reason the personal affairs of the Starks need be aired to their business associates. While he deeply regrets not being able to catch the child before he made a scene, Edwin knows he can only offer the two the pretense of privacy for what's coming next and a shoulder of support for the boy afterwards.
"Tony, what have I said about my meetings? You know better than to bother me with your stupid shit when I'm busy," the father begins. Edwin can only wince at the vulgar language that usually comes after Howard's had a spot of alcohol. "Or maybe you're just stupid, eh? You never listen to me anyways. You know you might just have cost me a huge amount of money."
"I—I'm sowry—" the child starts before being cut off by a strong back hand to his small head, his face turning from the force of it.
Edwin flinches from the impact as if he were the one to have received the blow and not the child.
"Ungrateful brat. Shut up. Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking to you. Don't you day cry either. Starks are better than that. You're a Stark man, and Starks are made of iron. Now, I'm going to see if I can salvage the mess you've just made of my meeting," Howard shouts before composing himself and marching back into his Big Meeting Room.
In the long second that follows master Stark's departure, Edwin Jarvis can only stand in shock as he processes the scene that has just unfolded before him. Yes, Howard has been cruel under the influence of alcohol before, but never has he thought the man capable of losing himself so much that he would assault his own child!
Speaking of said child, tiny Anthony Stark stands in the hallway, desperately trying to hide the sniffles and hiccups coming from his small form.
While he'd been receiving the scathing remarks, the youth had done nothing more than stand with his head down until he'd attempted to apologize. Then he'd lifted his head ever so slightly, which offered his father the opportunity to strike. After being struck, while his father had continued to berate him, he'd remained silent—mostly from the shock but also in an attempt to obey his father.
Now that the patriarch is gone, sobs have begun to take over.
Upon hearing the heart wrenching sounds coming from his charge, Edwin springs to action. Though never a loud crier in the past, he's unsure how the boy will react to being hit for the first time from someone who be his protector, not his abuser. He quickly wraps his arms around the sobbing child, gathering his prone form, circuit board and all, into his embrace, before moving away from the Big Meeting Room.
Finally deciding upon a safe room a good distance away from the location of the incident, Edwin sits down on the ground, leaning his back against the wall and situating the still silently sobbing Anthony safely in his lap. While the butler would like to march right back into that room and give Howard Stark a piece of his mind, his young master Anthony needs him now more. So, he pushes away any feelings he has of the other man and focuses on comforting the boy in his arms whose face is pressed against his neck.
He softly brings a hand to the child's back and begins to rub it up and down his back in a comforting manner. With his other hand, he cradles his head against his chest, letting Anthony know that he'll always be a safe place to be himself.
It takes nearly an hour for the young one to calm down, but Edwin doesn't mind and patiently waits for him to let all his emotions out. When the young master finally pulls back slightly, the adult slowly loosens his grip and looks down to meet his charge's gaze.
"Hello, little one," he greets in the softest, most soothing tone he can manage despite the turmoil inside.
"J-J-Jarbis—" the boy starts between hiccups. "Why does Daddy h-hate me? Am I-I really stupid? I twy b-b-berry hard to be s-smarwt wike daddy wans me to be! I-I-I dint mean to inter-interwupt. Weawy!"
"Sh, I know, young master Anthony," Edwin begins, gently wiping a few tears from his face and sends a prayer to the universe that what he says next is not the lie he's beginning to believe it is. "Your daddy doesn't hate you, not really. He simply…is not very good at controlling his anger. You are most certainly now stupid—far from it. You are one of the smartest people I can honestly say I've ever known. Truly. I know you didn't mean to interrupt, and I'm very sorry that I couldn't stop you earlier. That is my fault. You're a very good boy, Anthony Edward Stark, and Howard's actions today are not your fault. Okay?"
He gets a few sniffles in reply before Anthony is leaning once again to wrap his tiny arms around the adult's neck.
"I love you, Jarbis," is whispered against his neck, the words muffled by the embrace.
Edwin lets out a soft chuckle and holds the boy who is like a son to him with all he is. "I love you as well, Anthony. Now, how about we go look and see what's in the kitchen, hmm? I do believe this situation calls for a cookie," he suggests.
At the youth's slow nods, the two set out for the kitchen, still reeling from the episode earlier and needing some sugar to make everything alright again.
Later that night, Edwin waits as his wife processes the story she's heard. Ana Jarvis sighs as she climbs into bed with her husband. Once settled, he glances over with a concerned gaze and offers her a hand under the blankets. She takes it as she leans against his shoulder. Both of them know the topic the other is thinking about, or rather the event. For a few heavy moments, they both remain silent and contemplative until Ana sighs once more.
"There must be something more we can do," she whispers, her voice weighed with worry for the young boy on their minds.
Edwin squeezes her hand. "He cannot leave. Howard, as much as he dislikes his presence and with actions to support this, would never allow the boy to truly leave. This empire he's built needs an heir, and he's already chosen young Anthony for the position," he tells her.
She traces the back of his hand her with thumb.
"I'm worried about Tony, Eddy. Howard's…changed, and I don't like it when he's around his son. You saw what happened today! He hit Tony today, Edwin. He raised a hand against his own son," she whispers, the heavy words barely able to pass her lips. "I know they're his parents and our bosses to boot, but…how can we make him stay?"
"We've known Howard for years. Once we were even best friends, but he's become so obsessed with finding the Captain that he's changed, stuck in a time years ago. Like many, the war changed him, and even I will admit, I no longer know the man he's become," her husband admits softly. There's a pain in his voice as he thinks about the man he used to know and the man he sees today.
"Maria, the dear woman, tries to shield her son from the worst of it, but she's far too afraid of Howard and his power to do much more than comfort the child afterwards."
Edwin knows that Ana is thinking of her mistress, a young woman who used to be so full of fire in her eyes who now fears the one she loves. Maria's spark has dimmed now, still there but merely a simmer from the roar it was before. Put out with each drink she consumes to numb her reality.
"Howard's become rather volatile and his drinking has notably increased, but I never thought I'd see the day he raised a hand against young master Anthony," Edwin tells her.
"Is there nothing we can do for the boy? Surely, there must be something." He can see her heart breaking as she thinks about the bruise that is surely forming as they speak on the little boy's face. At her sigh, Edwin moves to wrap an arm around her shoulders in comfort and presses a soft kiss to her head.
"Maria and Howard are his parents, and though we may disagree, they are legally qualified to remain his guardians. Now that is not to say there is nothing we can do. After all, my dear, it is not as though we haven't already done something. We can continue as we always have, offering love and support to the boy when he is in our care."
"I know, but I truly wish we could do more for him. We could take him with us, start a new life somewhere else. You love him, I know you do. We both do. He could be our son," she suggests, though she knows the idea is useless.
"My love, as tempting as that is, you know we cannot. They are his parents, and I have my suspicion that Maria stays for her son, if nothing else. If he were gone, I worry she would do something drastic. Besides, the boy is too well-known as a Stark. They saw his genius today. I know they did. We would be caught so soon that it would do more harm than good. If we were to take him with us, Howard would never let us live in peace. He needs Anthony whether he likes it or not. You and I would be tried and found guilty of kidnapping while Anthony would be taken back to Howard with no one to truly watch over him."
The firmness in his voice tells her that her husband has considered this option far too often recently.
"So, then I am not the only one who has considered this possibility, am I, love?"
"Believe me, my dearest Ana, if I thought for even a second that it would work, I'd have spoken with you about leaving long ago. Howard's always been eccentric and a bit volatile, even more so after the war, but to see his behaviors escalated to what it is today, I worry for our young master and how this has affected him."
"Then I suppose all we can do is stay and give Tony all the love and support we have."
"Yes, I suppose so."
Then Edwin switches off the lamp near their bed and they're left in darkness. Anny falls asleep first, but Edwin stays awake a while longer, thinking about their young charge.
Edwin Jarvis has heard Howard tell his son more than once that Stark men are made of iron, but even iron can rust and break. He can only hope that with his and Ana there to love when Howard and Maria cannot, young Anthony will never have to see what it takes for iron to shatter.
I'm going through my old works and rambles that I've never published.
Hope you enjoyed this one-shot.
-stars