Bruised (Irondad)

6

In Tony Stark's eyes, the first mealtime was not a success.

He should have foreseen it really, the girl was poisoned only yesterday by her own mom so it's not surprising that she refuses to eat anything given to her by people who may as well be complete strangers.

First they'd tried it with the rest of the avengers, where they usually eat. When that was unsuccessful Pepper took the two up to her personal floor in the hopes that it would work. It didn't.

The girl refused to eat until she cried, her brother only taking a few bites himself.

In the end they went to sleep.. in separate rooms.

In hindsight, the billionaire isn't quite sure why he thought it would be a good idea. Maybe it was that he wanted to shower the kids in gifts after the past traumatic five years of their lives out of guilt; maybe it was because he underestimated quite how traumatised the children would be, but he gave them a room each.

After saying goodnight to the twins, both him and Pepper headed down to the communal floor.

The avengers were gathered around the centre of the room, looking up and falling into silence when Tony entered.

The mechanic rolled his eyes at the painstakingly obvious fact that they were talking about him, specifically his kids.

Not that they know that they're his.

"Jarvis I want to be alerted if the twins so much as breathe heavier than usual" he focuses his attention fully on the group in front of him "Go on, what do you want to know?".

"How about, who the hell are they? Why are they here? Why won't they eat? Do they even speak English?" Clint frowns across the room to his teammate.

Stark lets out a sigh, dragging a hand down his face and sitting on a stool.

Pepper curls up in the armchair next to him, evidently exhausted.

"They're mine, my kids".

Eyes widen all around the room at Tony's revelation.

"Yours?" Bruce echoes from the couch. He closes the novel in his hands with a heavy exhale, placing it on the coffee table beside him.

Nobody knows what to say when the usually cocky man simply nods his head in resignation. The ex-playboy has never expressed a desire to have kids or to settle down. They're all painfully aware of the relationship he had with his own father and it doesn't bode well for his relationship with the two five year olds.

"I got a call last week, their mother was demanding that I take custody of Gianna, she wanted to keep Giovanni" he continues, feeling as though he owes the majority of the team an explanation, especially if the kids are staying "we thought it was weird so I demanded social services go round there and check things out and um.. well they found a very panicked five year old watching his sister vomit blood".

The silence is different to the one that enveloped the room earlier, it's heavy and weighted, pregnant with even more questions and opinions. Tony Stark ignores it, moving on.

"She'd been poisoned, most likely by her mother but she'd fled the scene so can't be questioned until they get hold of her. We spent the night in hospital with her, then the two had nowhere to go. They agreed to come back with us, Ironman's biggest fans I think.. but uh, they're a little shy. They do speak English, just not when they're scared".