The Harley Keener Villain Complex

Welcome to the corporate world Doctor Stark

A/N Heyo, TW for a brief mention of child abuse and blood/ open wounds, also DON'T put hand sanitiser in open wounds 

By Nine Harley looked the part, showered, caffeinated, shirt buttoned fully, blazer on top, hair after further contemplation actually for once combed and detangled as much as possible, glasses in lieu of plainly no glasses making him appear older than he actually was. He felt strange, somehow wrong when he tapped his pencil nervously against the table whilst waiting for the clock to show 10:00am which would start the meeting. Projectors were all around the tables, which would create the feeling of an actual conference rather than a bunch of people speaking on skype, and though Harley knew he would be alright he still needed things to go well.
"Doctor Fredricks, Doctor Zimmer, Doctor Welder, Doctor Quentin"
"Harley Stark, such a pleasure to speak with you face to face" Fredricks said sounding genuine in his words
"The pleasure is all mine sir, honestly" he was a liar. Nervosity and a feeling of pressure drowned him, forcing him to focus a lot of his energy on not throwing up which was a rather large inconvenience for him.
"We have heard a great deal of things about you Doctor Stark and have been rather keen to work with you considering your sponsor, mentor and father. It came as quite the surprise that you chose to contact Sloan over any of the other faculties." Aubrey Zimmer said, sounding actually curious "and I am especially curious that you chose to return to MIT considering your – attitude towards MIT when you were studying with us" of course she had to bring that up- he wondered what kind of things Aarya had let slip about him. Considering what exactly had happened probably not the best of things.
"Be careful with trying to imply something of which you have no knowledge." he said coldly "It is neither a sign of intelligence nor a sign of respect and I do not appreciate being treated as nothing but the product of Tony Stark's mentoring and an alleged sexual history. Trying to sound like you have the upper hand is not a good look on you. I may remind you that I was begged by your boss to stay and replace people like you." all eyes were on him, he was deeply uncomfortable but he did not allow it to show, uncertainty was weakness and weakness would not get him anywhere. He took another deep breath before continuing.
"Now, I intend not to waste your time. Business and Management have never been and will never be my first choice, I enjoy it, but if you have spoken with Miss Rakesh you know plenty about me. For one, I only passed my MBA because I am good at talking and maths. Not business. Now you may wonder what an absolute waste of time I am but I have a point. I need a PhD in Management."
"Excuse me?" Quentin asked as they brushed an annoying strand of hair out of their face, they could not keep the disbelief and humour out of the voice as they looked at Harley as though he had two heads
"I know PhDs usually take around five years, you pay me for my research, I TA for my supervisor or something but I have a full time job and don't need your money. I just need a supervisor to check my work for legal reasons and that's it"
"And why- would we do that exactly? What you're asking is to simply skip any application and to just do your thing as though you are entitled to. Why do you even want a PhD, don't you already have two?"
"I do indeed. They are in physics though. I would like to have a title that justifies me being in charge. I barely look seventeen on a good day and would very much like to have the academic framework that strengthens my position. I also like having more official documents supporting the fact I am better than others. Besides, and I say that just as an interesting side note for you. But I am sure Caltech or Harvard would love to be associated with the Stark legacy, which- oh yes, I forget, is me. Considering Tony's passing If I decided to make one of those schools the host of the heir of Tony Stark I am sure the Stark name would soon no longer be associated with MIT, with that a lot of funding would follow. I know you might not necessarily need it but it sure would be a shame for MIT to lose its snyonymity with Stark Industries and the best education for the brightest minds. I am certain you have a lot to think about. Have a lovely day and let me know your decision. Friday end call"
"You know, if Tony knew you threatened to go to Caltech he would probably cry. That's like ten times worse than Oxford" Pepper said from the door and Harley turned around, pushing his glasses up into his hair "But- I must say, you don't mess around you kid"
"Yea, there is this lady I know who is a cutthroat business woman, believe it or not, she taught me a lot" he smirked which made her smile for a brief moment
"You have a lot of responsibilities now. You must acknowledge that. You are the heir to an empire, a name that has had gravity since the forties. I expect you to do right by it"
"It's Tony's legacy. Ironman be damned. SI is what you and Tony built and revolutionized. I intend to carry this legacy with pride"
"I didn't know you went by Stark" she said a bit more quietly- of course she had overheard it.
"I mean yea, it's on all my legal documents MIT knows but no one else really. All my papers are published under Keener, I can ask to have it changed if you want" she shook her head after a moment of silence
"No- he" she hesitated "He would be happy knowing that you still see yourself as a Stark after everything. But if you officially start going by Stark that will need a press conference, you know that- right?"
"Yea pep, but we'll think about that once word gets out, who knows how long that'll take"