Chapter 1
2008
0 days, 0 weeks, 0 months, 0 years
“Welcome home, Sir. It’s good to see you’re still in one piece.”
Tony felt a small smile crawl onto his face as the familiar voice of JARVIS filled the penthouse’s grand foyer.
“Thanks Jay, and what can I say, I like being in one piece a whole lot more than I think I’d like being in two,” he replied fondly.
It had been a long couple of days and with everything that had happened with Obadiah Stane and Tony was so glad to finally be home. All he wanted to do was crawl into his bed and sleep until the nightmare he had just been forced to live through felt like just that, nothing more than the hazy remains of a bad dream.
“Not fun being in more than one piece. It hurt a lot,” An unfamiliar voice announced.
The voice was earnest and wistful in tone with a gentle yet shrill quality that reminded Tony of that of a child – clearly prepubescent and innocent, maybe ten at the oldest.
Tony couldn’t help but freeze up when he heard it unfurl through the previous silence. JARVIS hadn’t mentioned anyone else being there and, while Tony knew he was still somewhat out of it, he definitely would remember if his AI had mentioned a child. He suddenly wished the suit wasn’t so damaged so he could at last be wearing part of it.
“Who’s there? This is private property; you need or leave or I’ll call the cops.”
Slowly, almost cautiously, a small figure creeped out around the corner from somewhere off to the side of his grand piano. A mop of chestnut curls sat atop of his head, framing his face and the way his wide brown eyes reflected the small amount of light still filling the space. He was dressed in ill-fitting plain red pyjamas, a button up nightshirt that hung limply off his tiny frame and pants that swamped on the floor around his feet. Tony had no doubt that they were threatening to slip off his narrow hips.
Shit – Tony was way off with his guess of ten; this kid couldn’t be much older than five.
“You never speaked back before,” the boy murmured.
His bare feet shuffled against the cold hardwood floors.
“JARVIS why is there a kid in my house?” Tony asked the AI curiously, a little more than hint at an accusatory tone to his words but carefully not enough to unsettle the boy.
“There is no one else in your house, Sir. Just you,” JARVIS replied.
“Don’t pull that shit with me JARVIS. I’m looking at him right now.”
“Sir, hallucinations and delusions may be a symptom of a traumatic head injury. Should I call Miss. Potts to get you medical attention?”
Tony sighed and rubbed his hand across brow aggressively.
“No,” he muttered. “I’m sure I just need a good nights sleep. I’ll be fine.”
“Very well, Sir.”
The kid was still standing in the opening.
“You never saw me before either,” he whispered.
“Look, kid,” Tony sighed. “I’m exhausted and it’s got to be way past your bedtime, let’s get you set up in the guest room and we’ll get you home tomorrow. Sound good?”