Chapter 3
Jarvis heard Tony before seeing him and felt his heart sink, young master sounded utterly heartbroken. He knocked quietly and entered the room. “Young sir” he rushed forward and sat on his bed, aching to take the boy’s pain away. Tony clutched his tear stained pillow and buried deeper, breath hitching as he tried to control his sobs. Jarvis gently brushed his hair back trying to calm him from the soothing motion.
“What troubles you, young sir?” he probed gently after a while when Tony stopped shaking hard.
While he knew the boy had good reason to be upset, it was not like him to cry this hard for such a long time, it had been a few hours after all. Jarvis scolded himself for leaving the house with Mrs Stark that evening, he surely would have noticed something was amiss if he had been at the mansion.
Tony shook his head and let out a muffled whimper, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
“Very well. I only wish to ease you of troubles” Jarvis said patiently, knowing Tony had the habit of confiding once you silently waited for him to gather his thoughts.
Though, he was struggling to maintain his calm composure. Since he had heard of the utterly horrible confessing out of Mr Stark all he wanted to do was check over the boy for any harm.
After a few more minutes, to his relief, Tony wiped his face rather roughly and sat on the bed, curled into a ball with elbows on his knees. “I messed up” came the muffled voice.
“What makes you think that?” Jarvis asked, feeling almost cruel for making the boy repeat what he thought as his unforgivable act. But he needed to find out what had happened.
Tony sniffled, still hiding his face behind his knees, “I-I burned dad’s blueprints and now dad h-hates me” his voice was choked with anguish.
“Your father does not hate you” Jarvis immediately corrected the boy, feeling alarmed by the conviction in Tony’s voice. “He may have been angry but he does not hate you, young sir.”
Tony frame shook with silent sobs as he shook his head disagreeing with him.
Jarvis felt a rush of anger at the man for causing his son such pain, but he made sure to hide it from the boy. It would do no good for Tony to think it may be directed to him. “Your father should never have hit you”
“B-but I’m a t-terrible son” his breath hitched and curled in protectively.
This will not do. “Look at me young sir”
Jarvis felt like someone had punched him in the gut as Tony slowly looked up. Eyes normally filled with barely contained energy looked dull, pain filled and lifeless. His cheek was slightly bruised and lip split, probably due to the edge of Mr Stark’s ring.
“You are not a terrible son. You just made a little mistake, young sir. You are the most well behaved, well mannered, intelligent, kind boy I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing” Jarvis said sincerely, god knew what sir could’ve said to the boy.
Tony bit his lip looking uncertain, “Really?”
Jarvis nodded allowing a quirk of lip “Now does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere else?” he gently asked, carefully touching the bruised cheek lightly trying to see if the cut was deep. He didn’t want to think that sir might’ve beaten the boy...but he needed to be sure.
When Tony hesitated and showed his hand,Jarvis felt his blood turn to water. Surely sir couldn't have burned his own son's hand for accidentally burning his work? He inspected the hand carefully, not wanting to cause more pain as it looked really painful. It seemed to be a second degree burn.
“I burned my hand on the soldering iron,” the boy explained, much to his relief.
Jarvis had seen many such burns, however the size of the burn did not make much sense. It rather looked like Tony had gripped it tight in his hand.
“Why didn't your father take care of this?” Jarvis asked, feeling utterly disappointed with Mr Stark. He could’ve at least let Jarvis take care of his son’s hand.
Tony was avoiding his eyes, “I didn’t tell him” he mumbled.
“Why ever not, young sir?” he probed. It was rather shocking and mildly horrifying that Tony would’ve kept quiet about this. Jarvis had expected the boy to let him know whenever he needed anything. Perhaps he ought to keep a closer eye on young sir.
“He was really angry because I burned everything,” came the miserable reply.
Jarvis was feeling confused. Surely Mr Stark would’ve noticed Tony getting such a painful injury for how could one not? “How did this happen?” he asked gently, putting his arm around Tony’s shoulders pulling the boy closer to him. Jarvis was aware such actions were not professional, however the boy was like a son to him and at the moment it was painfully clear to him that the boy needed comfort.
He listened, silently fuming at Mr Stark, while Tony reluctantly told him what had happened. When he had finished explaining what had happened and how incredibly sorry he was about everything with tears in his eyes, all Jarvis could think was..
Oh dear
Jarvis took a deep breath and firmly reminded himself that Tony’s hand needed to be treated. Tony would not understand nor appreciate, Jarvis telling everything was Howard's fault for not looking after him properly. “Did you hold your hand under the tap?”
A nod. It seems Tony had resorted back to not speaking again.
“Good” Jarvis nodded at him feeling proud of the boy for remembering. He needed to get some approval after the horrific ordeal.
Tony remained silent the whole time Jarvis applied ointment and bandaged his hand carefully. He felt tears returning as Jarvis kept kindly talking to him being very careful to not hurt his hands. At least he still has Jarvis, he hadn’t been disappointed with him even after he had explained everything to him. He had been terrified Jarvis would be angry with him too but now he was doubting whether there was anything that would stop Jarvis from loving him. He blinked back his tears feeling pathetic. Here he was crying even when there was nothing to cry about.
“I shall call the doctor tomorrow. He will check your hand again young sir” Jarvis said looking worried. That probably meant it was bad.
He swallowed the painkiller Jarvis handed him with water and watched as Jarvis packed away the first aid kit. He glanced at the clock, it was very late. Jarvis had never let him stay up this late, soon he would tell him to go to bed. But..Tony didn’t want to be alone.
“How about I stay with you until you sleep, young sir?” Jarvis asked gently.
Feeling relieved Tony nodded and stood up. Sometimes he really thought Jarvis could read his mind. He slowly shuffled towards his bedroom with Jarvis. He picked at his bandaged hand, it hurt a lot less now.
“Jarvis...do you think dad will ever stop hating me?” He asked hesitantly, wanting Jarvis to tell the truth. He never lied to Tony.
“He does not hate you.” Jarvis repeated firmly.
Tony sighed feeling disappointed. Great now Jarvis was starting to lie too. Tony knew Jarvis always felt terrible when he was sad, he must be lying to make him feel better “You don't have to lie to me.” he muttered, feeling worse.
Jarvis blinked, “I’m afraid I do not understand. Why would you think that?” he questioned looking utterly lost.
Tony felt a bit betrayed. Was Jarvis really pretending to not know? He felt his throat closing in as his dad’s words played through his mind. He wanted to crawl under his bed and never get out. He furiously blinked back his tears. He really can't start bawling like a baby if he wanted the answer to his question.
“I heard..I-I know that d-dad wishes I was never b-born. That he never w-wanted me” Tony mumbled, looking at the floor feeling absolutely wrenched.
He knew there was nothing he could do to make dad love him again, especially when he was a mistake to start with but he still hoped dad would change his mind.
When Jarvis was silent, he reluctantly looked up and saw an unreadable look in Jarvis’s face. Was Jarvis mad at him for eavesdropping? No, that can't bet it. Jarvis probably didn’t want him to find out the truth ever. His mind replayed his dad’s words again no matter how hard Tony tried to forget them. Was he really so horrible?
He heard Jarvis reluctantly saying something about his dad not meaning that but he ignored him. Jarvis was just trying to make him feel better. Tony knew what he heard.
For a brief moment, he wished he was never born. At least that way dad would be happier and he wouldn't be feeling this horrible.