I do not own Iron Man or any of its characters
A/N: Okay I know I've been saying this a lot recently but this is not one of my best stories, but it is cute and if you want to see father son stuff between Harley and Tony then here is a lot of it! Sad harley! But cute happy ending hehe!
oh also this story starts at the end of Iron Man 3
enjoy!(:
"Okay so far do you like it?", asked Tony as he held her close to him. The body he thought he'd never hold again. Close wasn't close enough.
"It'll do.", Pepper replied with a chuckle as fire reflected off the relieved tears in her eyes.
One suit remains un-fireworked as it glides down next to the pair.
"Sir I'm detect-".
"Jarvis can't you tell when two people are having a moment? Now please blow up you are the grand finale.", interrupted Tony.
"Sir I'm detecting new thermogenic extremis heat signatures in Rose Hill, Tennesee.", continued Jarvis.
Tony's expression changed as he dropped his hands and looked at the hollow suit.
"Jarvis get Pepper to safety make sure Rhodes gets someone to clean up this mess and lockup Mandarin.", he said as he stepped quickly in the suit.
"Tony what the-where are you going?", said Pepper.
"I have to go I'll be right back...I think.", he said as he took off leaving behind a confused shaken Pepper.
"I'm gonna pay for that later aren't I. Jarvis how long till we get there?".
"Seventeen minutes at top speed sir barring any interruptions.".
"Okay tell me what we know is this left over signatures from the last fight or what?".
"I don't think so they're much stronger readings than that sir. My guess would be an explosion.".
"Yeah or a fire-breathing homeland security impersonator. If Killian survived an explosion she must have too. Not for long anyway just long enough to cause more damage to Mayberry. Anyone reports or police on the scene?".
"It was rather recent sir in the last few minutes, that's all the data I have at the moment.".
"Okay let me know if you find out anything. See if you can reach Harley too, maybe he can fill us in a little before we get there.".
"Yes sir."...three silent rings later..."No answer sir.".
"What time is it anyway?", asked Tony narrowly avoiding an apparently nocturnal Seagull.
"It is 12:31am sir.".
"Oh. Oops. Kids don't usually stay up that late do they.".
"I really wouldn't know sir research would imply that-".
"I thought you could tell when I was being rhetorical.".
Jet streams faded behind Stark in an empty night sky lit up by the teamwork of stars and city lights.
Rose Hill finally appeared in the distance as a trail of smoke dusted the atmosphere. Below it sat trickling flames of an event that he seemed to only just miss.
His suit slowly landed as he looked around. The building he'd already blown up once, had rubble that looked redisturbed. Extremis was experimental and tricky, he pondered if Ellen Brandt might have blown up even after death. Or maybe she survived long enough to blow up. It didn't really matter now but he was curious.
His heavy footsteps carried him down the black pavement as something caught his eye. About sixty feet from him and twenty or so feet from the destroyed building layed something in the road. His heart began to beat now for worry of another needless casualty. He prayed to find only bones of the structure now broken.
He got reluctantly closer as he found a pair of eyes under ash and blood. He took a panicked gasp as Jarvis said something unheard.
Harleys face was dimly lit by the flames left behind. Shrapnel and rubble surrounded him in the road unmoving.
His eyes looked forward blearily as his breath choked desperately. Crimson slowly seeped through his hoody and jeans as Tony found himself unhelpfully frozen.
Harleys body twitched sublty in the shock. Tony knelt down carefully putting his slightly shaking arms underneath him.
Harleys blurry gaze shifted to Tony's eyes with tearful pain and fear. His fingers weakly curled over the cold metal he'd prayed for.
Tony took off with a clouded mind hoping for clarity within fear.
He held Harley tightly, too afraid not to feel breathing from the small boy.
Of course there were hundreds of hospitals along the way but he was on a one way flight plan to New Yorks finest. He didn't even consider anything else. Though a closer one might have been better Tony never thought clearly in these situations.
There were many times Tony found himself in that he felt he possibly couldn't handle. One's that sent his anxiety skyrocketing but none like this. This couldn't be reality he thought to himself. It just didn't feel like it was supposed to happen. The kid was safe, he left the town with everyone safe. Pretty much. Aldrich Killian was dead, the Mandarin found, Extremis was put to an end.
He looked down at Harley as the night air blew through his hair. His eyes still slightly open and though it gave Tony some relief he also wished they would close. Why was he trying so hard to stay awake, living in the pain.
The man with so many words hadn't been able to scratch one out to the boy yet. Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't answer back.
The lights of New York City were getting closer as Mount Sinai stood waiting. A rapid but careful descent through the emergency doors drew more attention than needed.
Harley was taken from his arms as he was thrown questions from nurses that reached his ears with pure panic.
He found himself escaping back out the doors ripping his face shield off as his shaky breath turned to cold vapor. His chest heaved under the metal as he gripped the wall praying away the imminent threat of his own anxiety.
"Breathe sir, just breathe.", said Jarvis calmingly.
Harleys words echoed behind them. He'd said the same thing when Tony thought there was no aid for the attacks. Was the kid a genius or just a mini version of himself? How did he simultaneously calm him down and solve the problem?
As his breath steadied he reluctantly got out of the suit going back inside.
A few hours passed as his head sat in his hand. His eyes were drooping closed when a nurse tapped his shoulder.
"They have the boy stabilized, room 371 Mr. Stark.", she said simply giving him a soft smile.
Oh okay well that must mean he's alive. A little surprising and relieving to be able to erase his plans of bringing Killian back to life, re-murdering him, then going crazy with guilt and living cozy in a cave for the rest of his life.
He nodded his thanks as he went down the hallway. The always lingering eeriness of hospitals didn't help his nerves as he neared the room.
The door was open as his heart slammed into the floor. The air left his chest with a punch in seeing the kid. He was a mess of bruises and scrapes. Too many bandages to count and intimidating wires monitoring his status. His hair was ruffled and bags under his eyes represented a fight his body barely won. He hadn't seen the details of how broken he was until now in the condescending white light.
He grabbed the chart off the end of the bed skimming it. Contusions, blood loss, broken ribs, okay no more reading.
This moment for him was one of peak frustration. There was no gadget he could cook up or money he could throw at this to make it all better. An antsy hand ran through his hair as he paced slightly.
"Mr. Stark? I'm Doctor Moisey.", said a woman in the doorway.
"Hey how are ya?", he said half-heartedly.
"What can you tell me about him?", she asked simply.
"Uh well his name is Harley. Come to think of it I never got his last name. Funny isn't it?".
"Okay well we can find out more about that later I assume his parents or guardians are aware of what's happened?".
"Uh you know what darn it I knew I forgot something. Um I'll-I'll call em' or something."
"Okay good thank you. In terms of his status he's stable which is a miracle to be perfectly honest.".
"That's great I love honesty thank you.", he said while wringing his hands with stress, staring hard at anything but this woman's eyes.
"He's pretty banged up but it looks like he's going to be okay. He'll be in a lot of pain and though there isn't much more we can do for it he's been pretty tough so far. As soon as he wakes up we want to try and get some food in him and nutrients. He's practically skin and bone.".
Tony just nodded wishing very badly for this lady to shut up and go away now.
"I'll leave you alone now thank you Mr. Stark.", she said with a sweet smile as she left.
Uh oh he must've been to obvious with his facial disdain of her presence. It wasn't her fault but it had been a very tough week.
"I'm so sorry kid.", he said as the words cracked in sincerity and guilt.
He sat down in a chair as he pulled out his phone. Jarvis remained in his ear waiting to be spoken to.
"Jarvis show me Harley.".
Jarvis knew what that meant. Every report card and record ever kept.
The old deadbeat had records of domestic violence that scared Tony beyond belief. He couldn't imagine what that might mean he just couldn't. His mom was poorer than a church mouse and as for other relatives it was a dead end. Grades were terrible though that didn't surprise him, smart kids often failed. But only the really smart ones. Ones like Tony with distaste for the establishment and it's meaningless measure for intellect. They were the tinkerers. The artists of number and order within chaos.
"Tony.".
Tony looked up. He didn't know what he was expecting.
"Kid.".
"I just wanted to go back and see if I could find the file. I didn't know if you got it and I thought you might need it. I'm sorry.", his words leaving him in wet unsteady guilt. The tears made his eyes glisten in their bloodshot weeriness.
Whether it was his arc reactor or his heart, something shattered like glass bringing stinging droplets to his dark irises. "Don't. It wasn't your fault it was mine. I'm so sorry kid I'm so sorry.", he said leaning forward as Harley gripped his arms around Tony's safety.
Harley cried quietly in his shoulder as Tony hugged him carefully but tightly giving them both security.
A worn out child cried himself to sleep, his tight tired eyes shut and his body curled on it's side. The very warm completely tuckered out kind of sleep when there's someone safe to watch over you in the room as you rest and no worries swim around your dreams. Only kids really had that privelage. They deserved that much.
Tony just watched his chest rise and fall comfortably.
His low voice spoke into his phone after Pepper rang. "Hey honey.".
"Where are you?", she asked sweetly and softly as her maternal instincts sensed a tone in his voice.
"There's a lot to explain so much happened this week Pep. Some digging on the Mandarin landed me in Tennessee and there was this kid there that helped me. Anyway he kinda got hurt in the aftermath.".
"Tony...", started Pepper. But this was different. The tomber in his words left her uneasy.
"It will be okay. I promise.". She knew he didn't need her to fix anything or ask a million questions. He just needed her comfort.
A dark blue dawn brought ashy storm clouds and a steady rain fall that pattered the earth. Both the mechanic and the runt slept nicely into the late morning thanks to very quiet nurses and a darkened dim sun.
Tony rubbed open his eyes with cracked knuckles. He was surprised to find Harleys eyes to already be open watching storm clouds move slowly over the city skyline.
"Hey.", said Tony.
Harley turned over to look at him.
"Should I call mom?", asked Tony. With any other kid he would have done so already. But Harley was different, independent. The type of kid that raised themselves. Not necessarily wanting to but often there was no great alternative.
"No Momma won't notice. My sister will though. I'll call the house later and make something up she'll believe. How long will I be here?", he said with his southern accent poking through.
"I don't know week or two maybe. You're not exactly here to get your tonsils out.". "Why won't she notice?", Tony continued.
Harley shrugged as he fiddled with a loose thread. "Since dad left she's always just slept most of the time. I think she drinks so it doesn't hurt so much. She doesn't want to remember.".
"Hmm.", said Tony knowing his thoughts wouldn't come out right. He was thankful for a nurses interruption of a few tediously long tests.
"Hungry?", asked Tony after she finally left.
"Starving have you ever had a ten meat pizza? I saw a sign for it once and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. But all we have is jello and gross crackers.", said Harley with a scrunched nose.
"I have to try that immediately. You know the great thing about being super rich and having a suit slave is you can get pretty much whatever you want.".
"Sir.", said an offended Jarvis.
"Oops sorry Jarvis I meant very valuable and helpful metal assistant.".
"That's not much better sir.".
Tony shrugged with a smirk. The chuckle from Harley made his chest feel like there was only fifty pounds weighing on it rather than one hundred.
The suit that had made itself comfortable outside the hospital where Tony left it powered up headed for the nearest pizza fitting the carnivorous description.
Tony didn't really think of the future or how things might change. He didn't think of anything outside the room. His only mission was healing Harley inside and out. How he was going to do that he of course didn't know. He didn't think he possessed paternal instincts let alone friendly instincts. Not really anyway. But step one he guessed was just being there. Making jokes and not making a big scary deal out of an honestly terrifying situation.
It wasn't easy for him though he acted like it was. And though the pizza did live up to their hopes and dreams Harley didn't eat much of it. His appetite left when his body reminded him how damaged it was. Waves of pain came and went and he'd just shut his eyes tight curled up on his side.
Tony didn't know this emotion existed. The feeling of being helpless and useless and frustrated and scared all at the same time. In situations like this, one tends to start negotiating with life. Giving anything up that you love just to see the person be okay again. He looked at Harley saying to himself he'd give him everything once this was over. Maybe that would make him feel better about this somehow.
"Hit.".
"Yes! E 4.".
"Miss. Ha! E 3.".
"Hit. You sunk my destroyer! Did you get psychic powers from the aliens or something?".
"No they weren't really the giving type. Maybe I'm just a genius with trained strategic abilities. Plus I've been playing this game for fort- uh a long time.".
"Or you don't mind cheating a kid or you have undiscovered x-ray vision.".
"What am I supposed to do let you win?".
"The circumstances point to yes.".
"I hate cliches.".
Harley chuckled looking back down at his Battleship board. Tony let a smile sit on his face as the game carried on.
"You sure you don't want somethin to eat?", asked Tony hiding his nervousness in the question.
Harley shook his head suppressing a face of disdain, subtly curling his lip to subdue his bodies torment.
"You don't have to stay here Tony. I know you feel an obligation cause theres no one else here and you think it's your fault but it isn't. I mean I'll be fine and you're all busy and stuff. It's okay. I'm pretty used to not having adult supervision.", he said sincerily.
Tony looked up with a face almost completely unseen even to those closest to him. One that showed he really didn't know what to say. It was almost entertaining.
"I-no I don't have to go I have nowhere to be. Why would-. I'm not going anywhere okay just go to sleep.", said scrunched eyebrows.
"Tony-", persisted Harley but Tony cut him off.
"No. We're done talking about this close your eyes your'e beat.
Harley rolled over stuffing his hands under his rough sleepy tear-stained face. His cold irises waited to droop closed as they watched the rain drops melt down the window pane. Outside the sky was very dark and dim though the sun sat defeated still high in the sky.
His eyelids did close but his restless mind stayed anxiously awake. Ever-thinking and flowing like a rapid river unable to control the thoughts of an unpredictable current. It was enough to fool Tony though and at least he had time to try straightening things out in his head.
The sound of muted buzzing faintly vibrated the small table Tony sat next to. It stopped suddenly as Harley heard half-discernible whispers.
"...be quick...asleep...there soon...take long...fix you...promise...worry.".
With hesitation that was thickly felt in the room Harley sensed Tony's presence to be gone. He opened his eyes as he slowly sat up with a sigh. Tired bags sat under them and though they stared wearily they were determined also. Not a passionate determination but a sort of duty needing to be fulfilled.
A few un-stuck wires and things later Harley grabbed his red stained ripped up clothes tying his frayed laces and putting up the navy blue hood from his jacket. With his hands in his pockets and hair to hide his eyes into the rain he went.
Harleys forehead found stability in the window of a green silver bus. Thin merigold light shot from the evening sun seeming to cover every inch of the earth his eyes could currently find. Specks of dust floated in silhouettes of a quiet moment that never seemed to begin or end.
He looked down at his hands that shook in his sweatshirt pocket. He breathed hot breath on his scraped knuckles as he watched telephone wires dip like waves in front of a dusty sky.
The deserty highway was slowly fading into thicker landscapes of forests and rivers and cities. The bus would travel all the way to Louisiana, but Harleys stop would come at a station in Tennessee. A few more local buses later landed him as close as he could get to Rose Hill. All that stood between him and the sad town he hesitated to call home was a bit more than a few miles of snowy wood.
The trees had a lot of space between them where black dirt layed.
Large porcelain snow flakes fell so slowly into the forest making everything seem so quiet and still. The brown wood bled white under a grey sunset.
Harleys sneakers cracked branches under their wearied soles as he slowly tredged the forest that would have been eerie if it wasn't so beautiful and peaceful. It was so cold. His hoody did little to shield the chill air from his damaged skin and injuries that pleaded with him to stop.
A large log layed on the forest floor that he sat upon with deep shaky breaths of vapor. The bark was gritty under his white fingertips and wet from the frost. He held onto the downed tree praying away the pain and exhaustion.
Tony had just finished extracting extremis from Pepper as he gave her a sweet kiss before driving back toward Mount Sinai hospital. He'd of course found the solution in record time and left her with a hot bath, her favorite dinner, a good book and a non-negotiable break from any thoughts of work or the past week or anything not peaceful. He needed that too but the idea was laughably impossible.
His shoes squeeked against the florescent light reflecting beige hospital hallway floors as he followed the map in his mind. He was ready to tiptoe inside before he saw the scrunched up blanket and empty sheets. Possibilities ran through his mind like the likelihood of them simply having moved him or him being in the bathroom or anything besides what he knew had happened. He could have punched himself with regret. He said he wasn't going anywhere, now Harleys gone. He was completely surprised by stinging tears climbing up his throat. In an analysis of his head and chest he found fear, guilt, and what he just realized to be a paternal burden. He had a new respect for parents who had ever lost a kid in the grocery store. Except in this case he didn't only have one building to look through and the lost kid shouldn't even be up.
"Tracking his DNA trace sir.", said Jarvis in his ear. Tony's anxiety settled slightly remembering that option.
Tony took off into the skies as Jarvis set the coordinates into the suit.
Minutes later he flew slowly into the wood looking for a shimmer of dark blonde hair. When he found it his heart beat echoed only half as loud inside his suit.
He glided down slowly as Harley looked at him and back at the snowy charcoal brown imperfect perfect forest floor.
The slowness of the flakes that fell made them not want to speak, but the anxiousness of an uncertain future pushed words to their lips.
"What are you doing Harley.", Tony said in a low tone somewhere between a statement and a question.
Harley shook his head as he looked at his fiddling fingers. They were trembling slightly and white like the winter clouds above. His knuckles red like his worn out bandages and numb nose.
Chilled tears stung his eyes as a flow of emotions sat at the brink of his chest.
"I can't help if you don't tell me what's going on.", said Tony.
"Don't. Don't act like you want to help, acting like you care.".
Tony didn't respond. Harley tried breathing through harsher tears that started to flow.
"It was nice for awhile, pretending like that. Having someone to make sure I'm safe and talk about things with. Well you can throw away your book on parenting 101 okay you and I both know you're not going to stick around.".
Tony had so many things he wanted to say but none of them sounded right. He found abandonment in Harleys young eyes. Low self worth and a deep fear of letting someone in to get left again. Love a foreign concept. Safety a luxury.
"Harley I'm not pretending. I know it's hard for you to believe that someone might actually intend to stay, actually want you. I get it. But I do.", said Tony.
Harley looked at him very cautiously trying to believe his words.
"Do you and your sister want to come live with Pepper and I?", he said in a tone unused probably ever.
Harley looked up surprised with scrunched eyebrows.
"But Momma she..."., he said not sure if he really believed the offer.
"She'll be taken care of don't worry about that.".
"I don't know. I wouldn't know what to-I mean I...", said Harley trying gather his thoughts.
Any other kid would be squeeling and saying a very abnoxious amount of yes's, but Harleys subconscious completely rejected anything remotely too good to be true. Tony's eyes drifted by the distraction of Harleys hands trembling in his lap. His eyes looked tired, not just exhausted, but worn out by suppressing pain. Shallow breaths and unstabilized injuries yet to be mended put a nervousness in the still air.
"Harley. I think now would be a good time to go back to the hospital.", said Tony softly.
Harley sighed an uneven breath as he nodded. He looked back up with wide eyes as he focused on a tree near them.
"What?", asked Tony curious.
Harley pointed as Tony's eyes found a jet black owl in the snowy tree. It's yellow irises pierced the air as it's head turned majestically watching the forest.
It's unsure how long they looked at it but it felt like forever. That is until Harley began to cough in a way that cringed in pain. His eyes became less aware as Tony scooped him up headed toward the snow clouds.
This time the boys eyes didn't stay open to watch the sky pass by. He hung completely limp in Tony's worried grasp. Either he was totally exhausted or in too much pain to handle, or both.
The doctors were relieved when they returned as they took Harley into their care once again. He was more than a little worse for wear but luckily he slept through most of it. Tony realized it was an anxiety he kept well hidden that kept Harley awake all the time.
A couple of weeks of healing went by as Harley sat up with his feet hanging off the bed. A clean yellow light shown through the clear window reaching up to his warm chin. His tired eyes squinted at the sunlight, his damaged skin feeling tight by the dry heated rays. He sat there for a little while as calm dark clouds slowly tumbled over the city. He knew they'd come like they always did after the dawn when the sun was fresh and yet to be smothered. But he didn't mind, the heavy rain drowned out his headache-giving thoughts.
Harleys tired arm reached for the sweatshirt by his bedside when he stopped. He could have sworn he saw a tint of orange light run through the veins on his wrist. His head turned back at the window as the rain fell much harder than before. He looked at the door where Tony stood.
"Was that?...", started Tony.
Harley looked back at the window as he closed his fist. The rain drops immediately disintegrated to mist in the grey air. He spread his fingers once again as the terential downpour fell in their mystical pattern once again. Harley and Tony looked at each other with mouths open eyes wide.
"That shrapnel must've consumed traces of Extremis...when we flew from the rubble we must've gone through the troposphere. You'd think nothing would shock me now, hmm. This is amazing.", said Tony rubbing his chin stubble as he ran numbers and biological equations in his analytical mind.
"Almost ready to go?", asked Pepper who appeared in the doorway. Harleys little six year old sister held Peppers hand as she also held onto her raggedy dress with tight anxiousness.
Harley furrowed his brows as he looked at her. "She never let's anyone touch her. She hardly holds my hand.".
Tony knew it was the kindness in Peppers eyes and the maternal warmth in her touch. She'd had it in her all along. He wanted badly to grasp her cheek softly and kiss her contently. But even more than that he just wanted to watch her the way she was right now for a few more seconds.
Now Pepper looked at Harley with the most loving look of home. His always raised shoulders of anxious unsafe softened down. Now the charcoal sky outside carefully turned beige. The clouds looked soft and delicious as grainy orange pink rays left their cracks. The sky behind them was a beautiful muted pale blue.
Days of long hours in the workshop with Tony fine tuning his new abilities and their perameters were to come. Laughter, sunny days, safety and security were also to come and not just for the two newly loved kids.
A/N: I know I've messed up a lot in this story like near the end I realized that Tony doesn't live in New York yet I think he still lives in Miami though of course that house is blown up that's still where he lived but whatever I don't care and maybe I wrote Harley too mature or too different than he was in the movie but hey this is fanfiction leave me alone (insert crying emoji here) it would be cool to write a sequel to this and add more about Harley's new abilities and I really wanted to win this story but I just didn't know how. Like should he be a hero should it just be cool should he and Iron Man be like a team I don't know also I should have added something else about Tony's anxiety since I had that be sort of a theme earlier but oh well this is not one of my best stories but there it is thanks for reading please review!