Anyway the Wind Blows (Avengers Fanfiction)

அ Chapter Eleven அ

Now that the chips are down.

To be a Stark is to be aware of your standing in the social pecking order.

Nikolas knew this.

He had grown up with the knowledge this, of needing to appear put together in the news reports and interviews, but that beyond the lights and sounds, his life was perfectly his own.

This was shown in the by way of his partners, though he did not have many, and his comfortability speaking his mind through the written word in different newspapers and columns.

Nikolas' dad had ingrained this idea of putting on a good face in him since he was a child, though not out of spite or fear for ruining the Stark name like his own father had, but rather out of concern for his son' own appearance and mental health. A concept that had seemed so novel years ago when Howard Stark ruled the company.

For the sake of the doctor's mental and physical health he had appeared in public as a small child. He was not even announced as a Stark until he was fourteen, that way he could have a semblance of a childhood that is normal instead of one full of flashing lights. Though most of his childhood was spent learning to control the gifts that he had been born with, something he would not trade for anything.

For the last seven years, ever since his announcement of being the Stark heir at fourteen, he had appeared in public alongside his father, accompanied by his large over the head noise cancelling headphones and at times his dark sunglasses to cover the flashing lights.

Nikolas' appearance had been something of a surprise, as no one expected the Tony Stark to have a child at his young age. The public accepted his position with open arms and those that had deals with Stark International questioned his position before recognizing his mental prowess in the necessary fields.

Returning home from Afghanistan and Nikolas' declaration to the press had lead to a whirlwind of unsurety surrounding both Stark men.

Though Tony was in full support of his son's decision, as it had been in part the same decision he was going to make, he still was cautious with future appearances of both him and his son, mostly from the commands of Obadiah Stane.

One thing he was sure to keep an eye on, was Nikolas' interactions with live TV.

As nearly every channel was tearing Nikolas apart as far as speaking negatively about his health to claiming he was insane or under the influence of someone who was. The chorus of every form of negative declaration led to Nikolas wearing his headphones at nearly every instant, even while working in what should have been the peace of his and his dad's lab.

Which the doctor had spent nearly all of his time in since the pairs arrival home even at times when he should have been sleeping.

Solely because Nikolas found himself having trouble sleeping. His dreams full of terrible visions that he could not seem to place into a timeline, of wormholes and nuclear weapons. He was not even sure of the characters of each of the dreams, though he knew for a sure fact that he must know them in some way, as a mind is incapable of forming faces without a basis to work from.

The dreams were not always terrible, sometimes a figure appeared to whisk him away to a home of their own design, to hold him close and whisper words he could not hear and sometimes he could picture a little girl who called him brother.

Neither of which made any form of sense in his mind.

Nikolas had thought to share these dreams with his dad at first, but when he saw the turmoil already spinning in his dad's mind from the secrets of the events in Afghanistan, the doctor held back.

His work concentrated first on a new arc reactor with a tripled cycle input to form a quadrupled output. Then Nikolas moved on to the suit, despite the fact that his dad attempted to have him concentrate on a prosthesis for himself.

Nikolas did not approach the idea of his leg for a while, and left the prosthesis to his dad. He had acknowledge the fact that it was gone ever since he woke up in the hospital room, but he would not speak about it. Not even after Obadiah had made crude comments about his inability to walk without help.

Obadiah had not been a good influence on the situation.

Previously, Nikolas would be fine to be alone in a room with Obadiah. Their interactions were often limited to something as simple as board meetings when Nikolas would attend on behalf of his father and the few times that Nikolas was okay with Obadiah appearing without an invitation.

But now, Obadiah was so specifically overwhelming at any point. He had thoughts, specific thoughts that he almost seemed to direct at Nikolas in a specific way. The man seemed to be testing his boundaries, trying to figure out if Nikolas was in fact one of these mutants that had started popping up in random locations around the world.

Nikolas knew that he was one of these mutants, though he preferred the term inhuman over it. It gave him the air of being something more than being just different and he rather preferred that.

Nikolas was used to the feeling of being different, but his dad had been sure to ingrain the feeling of still belonging in his son since birth. Tony was oblivious to the Obadiah's thoughts and actions, and for that reason Nikolas saw no reason to stick up for himself. The thoughts led to nothing and the actions did not step beyond simplicity of touch.

"You there Einstein?" Tony tapped the side of his son's work desk, jarring the doctor from his deep train of thought.

Nikolas' head lolled over, looking at his dad with a smile as his eyes moved over all of the machinery sitting there. It had been quite the adventure to build the propulsion system and much of it had included Nikolas' gift to be sure there was even liftoff.

"I'm suiting up." Tony said it with a smile, nodding his head to the left where the arms of JARVIS held up the different pieces of the suit.

Nikolas nodded, leaning back in his chair to watch the process. His dad stepped into the middle of the arms, watching closely as they started to attach pieces to different parts of his body. Most of it appeared to be a flourish for show, but Nikolas was fully aware of the functionality of it all.

And then his dad stood there in all his suited glory. The chest plate falling into place and the arc reactor glowing brightly through the metal.

"Jarvis will be in the mask with me." Nikolas hadn't expected his dad to speak, but nodded nonetheless when he had. "This is for you."

Nikolas pushed himself away from his work station, resisting the urge to dodge the metal hands that reached for him. His dad settled a circle around his head, a shape unlike a crown, with little pieces of glass over the eyes.

Without needing to ask, his dad supplied a response his voice muffled slightly by the metal plating over his face.

"It'll put you in control of the suit, if necessary, and let you see everything I see." Tony smiled, motioning to his own temple as an example to his son. "You turn it on here."

While Nikolas could understand the practicality behind having someone else having a way to control the suit, he did not understand why his dad would give it to him, as Jarvis was fully capable on his own.

He wanted to ask, but could not find the words to speak.

"I trust you, more than anything." Tony smiled as he said it, taking a few steps back and motioning over his shoulder. "I'm going to fly now, and you'll be here."

It was said as a statement, and Nikolas nodded excitedly as a response.

Tony paused briefly, "Endeavour Nikolas Stark if you drop me I'm going to ground you."

And then he took off, leaving Nikolas' mind whirling at the sound of his first name after so long of it missing.