Post Civil War

Bruce Banner readjusted his grip on the toddler, the six months old was a little cranky but thankfully seemed to take after Bruce as far as lung capacity went. They would be arriving in New Jersey in a little more than half an hour, Happy would probably be waiting already, as always, to take them to the other side of the city, he sighed but knew that Toni was right when she asked him to take Donnie away if things turned too sour during the Accords discussion, politics have a very delicate balance…neither of them predicted just how bad it would be. On one hand, Bruce was thankful for his wife’s foresight since the debacle that took place was hardly a place for a toddler, on the other hand he felt guilty for not being there for her… again.

“Sir, we will be landing in five minutes” the flight attendant warned him before going back to the cockpit.

Carefully putting Donnie in the baby chair strapped to the huge seat of the jet, Bruce buckled him up before doing the same, he had never liked flying but the SI jet was so smooth that he barely even felt a thing taking off or landing. Getting out of the jet with Donnie securely in his arm, Bruce was unsurprised to see Happy at the end of the stairs, the black Mercedes with its truck open as was the back door.

“Good morning, sir” he whispered when Bruce carefully made the last couple of stairs trying not to wake the baby.

“Morning” he replied taking a quick look to his wrist watch, 5 am, god.

“We will be arriving at Wayne Manor just before 6, there should be no traffic” Bruce nodded and eyed the baby seat already installed in the black car, he has been living Toni’s lifestyle for four years now but there were times that he was still amazed how money buys efficiency.

He must have nodded off because the next thing he knows Happy was waking him up and announcing that they would be arriving in three minutes. Rubbing his face, Bruce automatically checked Donnie to find him deeply asleep, good.

As he expected, it was even bigger than he pictured, old styled and very well kept, not much unlike the mansion that Toni grew up in New York but the bricks were light in color, cream and grey, sharp edges, six floors and the windows were wider, whereas Stark Mansion has the classic red bricks, with round towers, narrower but longer windows with seven floors even if it occupied less square meters of the land. The gates were also similar, metal with the family insignia, both buildings far away from the rush of the city they resided in, the courtyard also had a very large pathway with more than enough space for many cars, both properties surrounded by trees and not much else.

At the manor’s entrance an older gentleman in an impeccable suit greeted them with a thick British accent, “Good morning, Dr. Banner, my name is Alfred Pennyworth and I am the butler of the Wayne family, during your stay you may call me at any time should any need arise. Ms. Anastasia have already settled along with Ms. And Mr. Keener, Mr. Parker also arrived not long ago with Colonel Rhodes being kind enough to pilot a Quinjet” he blinked at that and was immediately reminded of Edwin Jarvis of the few tapes Toni allowed him to watch of her childhood adventures, he briefly wondered if they ever met.

“Thank you and good morning too, Ja- Mr. Pennyworth” he coughed embarrassed and already feeling the blood rushing to his face, thankfully the man didn’t say anything and his face didn’t even twitch but there was an amused glint in his eyes that wasn’t there before and that already answered his question of whether or not he ever met Edwin Jarvis, “Please, I insist in being called Alfred”

“Ah… then Bruce is fine”

“That would be highly improper” without saying another word, Alfred once again took a bag and carried it inside the Manor.

Bruce turned to glare at Happy and his poorly disguised laughter.

~*~

Harley awoke with a start and for one moment he didn’t know where he was, the layout made him think about Stark Mansion but the colors were all wrong and his new posters weren’t there and instead of a balcony there was a widow so big that was almost the whole wall. And then he remembered.

Toni coming back from the hospital looking like a ghost, covered in bruises but still woke him and Royce up for school, made breakfast for them, said goodbye when Happy took them to school, went to SI, worked in the lab and then helped with their homework, mentored Peter. Harley and Royce and Peter didn’t stop worrying, though the bruises began to fade after glowing orange in irregular intervals, Toni continued to get thinner and more and more tired. Harley felt that he could breathe again when he heard Ms. Potts talking to Toni about spending time with Bruce, at first, Harley thought they were talking about Bruce Banner, Toni’s husband that did his very damn best to be as far away from New York as possible.

Instead, he spent his time in the newly constructed Malibu mansion that Pepper insisted ‘no, Toni, we will not build in the same place, remember that you gave your address to a terrorist?’ even if it was almost the exactly same building as the one that was destroyed, just bigger, he was working for Stark Solutions since the headquarters was in California anyways, on the other side of the country.

Harley knew why too: Scarlet Witch and what she did in Johannesburg and then Rogers just stretched the red carpet for her and the few ones that had anything to say about that had to shut up and take it. He scowled, in the months leading to the ‘Civil War’, Bruce and Toni’s talks kept getting tenser and graver and Bruce finally agreed to get at least Donnie, their three months old son to the other side of the world, the fact that they had a child was not known to the public, not even known by the other Avengers but it was easier to leak than the fact that Toni had two adopted children and a godson too, a lot harder to link Peter Parker, Royce and Harley Keener to Toni Stark than it was to link Donnie Stark-Banner to Toni Stark that according to the world has always been ‘closer to Bruce Banner than to the rest of the Avengers, romance in the air?’ Harley scoffed.

It was then that eavesdropping, and Harley still maintain that if Toni does it how come he can’t do it too, that he learned about Bruce Wayne, he heard about him from time to time, if only because he is one of the very few that could rival the ‘Stark Empire’ and his ‘billionaire playboy’ persona was often compared to Toni’s ‘billionaire party-girl’ days. She hasn’t had the time to even be in an actual party for the last two years not that people cared about that.

Giving silent thanks that his sister was sleeping and thus unable to hear just how tiredly Toni answered Ms. Potts. Harley texted Peter that has been planning to go to college after the summer and studying like hell to get his high school diploma in time, after they talked about what happened and the little that Peter knew because of his part in the airport in Leipzig, he decided that one more year of school wasn’t going to kill him.

Jumping out of the bed, Harley was already more or less used enough to the opulence to know the layout of places like this. Sure enough the bathroom was right beside the huge TV set.

~*~

Royce yawned and ate more of her cereal; she became more awake when Toni entered the kitchen, she was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans shorts, her hair in a quick braid but she looked better, Royce decided with a firm inner nod.

“Morning, Toni”

“Morning, Goldilocks” she was kissed in the forehead just as the man that introduced himself as Alfred and poured her cereal got to the door.

“Good morning, Ms. Anastasia”

Royce watched with some interest how Toni’s shoulders twitched, “Morning, Alfred”

“‘Ms. Anastasia’?”

“Yeah…no one calls me that anymore… my full name is Anastasia Antonia Stark, my…mom…called me ‘Toni’ and I prefer that” Toni smiled at her and Royce immediately felt better, she has been very sad lately.

“Anastasia Antonia…” Royce tested the name, a smile growing in her face before she squealed, “It sounds like a princess’ name”

“Indeed, doesn’t it?” Alfred was too British to throw Toni a triumphant grin but Toni knew that this is what he wanted to do.

She rolled her eyes and waited for the coffee to be served, knowing better than to just take it since last time Toni had to endure a snippy cold shoulder for taking away his work in a completely ‘improper’ manner.