Faultlines

Baby Brother

Baby Brother

Tony Stark couldn't sleep. Sadly that was not that unusual for him. It was late, his body was tired and his mattress soft, but his brain was running a mile a minute. No. More. It was almost impossible to lie still. His arms were almost hurting with the need to move. He shifted around, hoping the sudden movement might help, but the relief was short lived. With a frustrated sigh he gave up and got out of bed. His eyes were bleary, as he slipped into his warm house shoes. It wasn't cold in the Stark Family's huge New York Penthouse, but it was the middle of December and so cold outside that house shoes were simply a habit.

Quietly he made his way down the hallway and towards the kitchen, maybe some warm milk would help. It was past one in the morning, hopefully no one would hear him.

"So what you are trying to tell me, is that you have another child."

His mother's voice drifted out of the sitting room, causing Tony to freeze. What?

There was a long silence, Tony was almost convinced he had misheard, when his father's quiet voice almost inaudible to him answered: "It was before we even met, Maria."

No. No way. Carefully Tony inched closer to the door. He might not be able to see what was going on inside, but he sure as hell was going to listen to this. His Dad had another kid? He had a brother or a sister? Tony wasn't stupid, far from it even, he knew of his Dad's reputation. But this, this was something else.

"I got that, yes. What I also got, was that you knew all along and didn't think it necessary to tell me." His mother's tone was so icy, it made Tony shiver involuntarily, "Did you think I would not want to be with you, if I knew you already had a child? Did you not want Tony to know..."

"No. No!", his Dad hurried to interrupt her, "It was nothing like that. I was at the London office for a couple of months. It's where I met her. I knew she was married and had a little girl, but I didn't care. When she got pregnant, I asked her to leave her husband. Take her girl and come to the US with me, but she refused. In a divorce, she said, she'd be in the danger of losing custody of her daughter. And even if not, her husband wasn't a bad person, she couldn't just take his daughter onto a different continent. Especially not, if there was a danger of me getting bored of her in a couple of months."

Tony almost gasped in shock, giving himself away, as he heard the anguish in his father's voice. His Dad, who always seemed so composed and aloof.

His mother's voice sounded much softer now, as she answered him: "So she went back to her husband and raised your baby as his."

"Lily. Her name was Lily." Lily, Tony had a sister. An older half-sister that probably didn't even know he existed.

There was another stretch of silence and the sound of fabric rustling, before his mother almost inaudibly asked: "Was?"

"I saw her a couple of times. From afar. Never talked to her or anything. When she got older I hired someone to occasionally keep an eye on her. Make sure she was okay. He called me yesterday. Lily and her husband died in a housefire six weeks ago." His father's voice broke. He was crying, Tony realized in horror. His Dad was actually crying.

"Howard, I am so, so sorry.", his mother answered, her voice muffled. Is she hugging Dad?, Tony thought, I hope she is or I will.

"Her son survived. He is only a baby. Apparently he is now living with Lily's sister, Petunia."

"You have a grandson.", Mom stated, a mixture of wonder and panic in her voice.

"I have been thinking about this all day. What do I do, Maria? He is with his aunt and uncle. But I... I need to know, if he is okay. With Lily I knew she was. But Harry? His name his Harry. Harry James Potter."