Bruised (Irondad)

1

"Tony we need to talk".

Pepper Potts liked to remain professional on work days, she knew that if she let Tony coerce her into sitting down with champagne and chocolate then she'd never get anything done. But this.. this was different.

Of course, due to the mechanic's earlier days.. his more reckless days, Pepper had dealt with more than her fair share of her boss' exes, but never anything like this. She supposed he was lucky, that it hadn't come back to haunt him more, the whole Mandarin thing really highlighted the consequences, but there hadn't been anything even close to this. This was so much more, this had consequences in itself.

"Can it wait, pep? We're in the middle of a game" Tony responded, not even looking up from the cards in his hands. In fact, no one looked up, not until Pepper spoke again and her voice wavered.

"Please Tony, it's important".

It was only a little wobble, but it was enough for the avengers and Tony Stark to look up. Concern painted itself across iron man's features. There are emotions which he reserves for his girlfriend and concern is one of them. He analyses Pepper's face before setting his cards down on the coffee table "I'll be back" he mumbled to the other people in the room, leaving them to wonder if Pepperoni was sinking before their eyes.

He strode over to her, immediately planting a kiss on her cheek before following her out of the room. They went to one of Tony's labs, a place where Pepper knew the man felt most secure. This was going to rock him and at this point all Pepper could do was limit the damage.

Stark sat himself in his chair, leaving the couch for Pepper which she took without complaint. Then it was silent. Neither parties wished to initiate the conversation, Pepper because she knew what it was about, Tony because he didn't.

"I got a call" she eventually began "from social services".

Tony Stark felt his blood run cold. Social services only meant one thing, a child. He has a child. No, surely there's some mix-up, or someone trying to claim money. He'd know by now if he had a child, it would have been all over the news, reporters would have been everywhere, his playboy days are far behind him, too far for there to have been a child.

"There's a child" Pepper exhales heavily and Tony swears for a second his vision goes white.

His heart starts to pound in his head, the noise overwhelmingly deafening. All moisture leaves his mouth and throat as breathing becomes a chore that almost seems impossible. He can't have a child, he doesn't know how to look after a child. He can't bring a child into his world, into all of the drama and danger. It wouldn't be fair, he can't do that to a kid. "How old?" he manages to choke out.

"She's five" the more composed in the situation provides, though not without a nervous tint to her voice.

So it's a girl, Tony Stark has a little girl. No, no he doesn't because she isn't his, not really. She doesn't belong to him because she probably doesn't even know who he is, he wouldn't know her if they passed in the street.

"Do you um.. do you remember a Leila Bell?".

The name is like a slap to the face. Of course he remembers, now he remembers it all. A pretty face in a crowd of people, dazzling blue eyes and uniform teeth. He'd always had a thing for redheads, and her curls fell so perfectly. She danced like no one was watching, knowing full well that Tony was. Oh yeah, he was watching.

But he also remembers how cold and detached she was, something that didn't bother him at all at the time, it meant that he didn't have to deal with a teary aftermath in the morning when he asked her to leave.

And then she'd arrived at his house, baby scan and positive pregnancy test in hand. He'd panicked, he didn't want a kid anymore then than he does now. He shoved a million into her bank account and she promised never to bother him again.

That coldness though, that utter disregard for anyone's emotions, it unsettles him to know that she has a five year old child. It's crazy to think that she's five now.

"Tony?" Pepper's voice shocks him out of his in-depth hindsight analysis of the woman and he remembers the question that set it all off.

A nod of his head is accompanied by a distant "yeah.. yeah I remember".

If Pepper's surprised, she doesn't show it "She's demanding you take custody" she states, seemingly deciding to push all emotion aside "No reasons besides the fact that she apparently 'doesn't want her anymore'. You're the girl's last hope before she's shoved into a group home".

He thinks it's anger that starts to bubble in his veins. The panic calms down, this is something else entirely. I mean, for starters he paid the woman one million dollars and now she doesn't even want the kid. She doesn't even want the kid, that makes him angrier. He's not sure why, he shouldn't have any emotional attachment to this child, he's never even met her. But she's five, and her mother doesn't want her.

If anyone knows how it feels to be unloved by a parent, it's Tony Stark, and he promised himself when he found out that his dad did love him, too late, that he would never let any child of his feel unwanted. Now look.

"It gets more complicated" Pepper admits with another sigh "She has a twin, a boy".

The mechanic drags a hand down his face, this isn't what he anticipated the conversation to be about, not at all. He thought he was going to get told off for not sleeping, or asked to look over a drop in figures of Si, not told that he has a kid, let alone twins.

"But she wants to keep the boy, it's the girl she wants you to take".

A frown crosses his face, "Something's not right there".

Pepper grimaces "That's what I thought, it's not even a matter of only being able to cope with one, she specifically wants you to take the girl, and there's a serious lack of emotional bonding.." she trails off and glances at the floor. "If you don't want her, I can get our legal team to make sure she doesn't end up anywhere awful I just..".

"I'll take her" he almost shocks himself with the words, he hadn't really thought them over. He didn't need to. A lot has changed since Leila became pregnant, he's not the same man who paid her off. He can't abandon a child into the system.. and he's not sure that he wants her brother to be left with Leila either. "What are their names?" he raises his eyes to look at Pepper, who seems to have become a little watery.

"Gianna.. Gianna Grace and Giovanni Griffin".

He lets out a small chuckle "Twin names..". Tony glances at the clock, it's almost ten, too late to do anything tonight. "Tomorrow I want social services round there to check it out, get the papers in motion for me to take custody of Gianna, set up a meeting between us so I can introduce myself. We're getting this done and we're getting it done quickly".

Pepper only nods, standing up and pulling out her phone so she can make the necessary calls. She starts to leave the lab, pausing in the doorway "Tony?".

He looks up.

"I'm proud of you".