Bruised (Irondad)

9

"Alright are we all warmed up?" Ben calls out to the group of pre-schoolers, clapping his hands together and performing a little jump. He's met by a chorus of hums and smiles fondly, "Come on then, skates on". The kids scurry back to the bench, sitting in the same positions as before. Ben does Peter's skates whilst May does Gia's. Ben finishes first and subsequently moves on to do Geo's.

"Who's up first?" the copper haired boy asks as Ben double-ties his laces. He still has a soft red glow lighting his cheeks from the warm-up which is undeniably adorable, not that Stark would ever admit it.. for now.

Ben looks to May, who cocks her head to the side in contemplation, "I think we'll do the duet first, since you two are supposed to be competing with it this weekend".

Gianna and Peter don't hesitate to walk down to the ice, stepping on carefully whilst Geo follows Ben. Tony watches them, intrigued. He's curious to see if Gianna holds the same regal elegance on ice as she does on land. They both have a surprising amount of balance and control on the slippery surface, concentration barely showing on their faces at all. Gia pauses so that Peter can take her hand. Once they're holding on to each other, the two skate into the middle of the rink, performing a smooth turn so they slow to a stop. Peter stands behind his partner, one arm around her waist and the other holding her left hand, fingers interlocked. Both seem insanely comfortable with each other, like they trust them more than anything.

"You guys ready?" Ben calls across the room, thumb hovering over his phone. The kids nod in unison and the man takes this as cue to start the music.

As soon as the soft sound fills the room, both kids seem to illuminate. The timid, nervous child that Tony's witnessed over the past couple of days is gone, replaced by an image of elegance and innocence. Her strawberry ponytail whirls around her as she turns and glides effortlessly, her little arms accompanying every movement. The connection between the two babies is crazy, as if they were made for each other. Everything they do, every step, turn, extension amplifies the blaring reality that these kids were designed to be by each other's sides. Their tiny hands fit together like jigsaw pieces as they feel the music, turning the sound into emotion which spills from their bodies like a tumbling waterfall and all that the genius can think, over and over is-

There's no way this kid is five.

A hum of vacant agreement from his right and a chuckle from his left brings him back to earth with the realisation that he spoke his mind.

"I agree, she's crazy" May responds, shaking her head at the kids on the ice. They're beautifully oblivious to everyone else in the room, only aware of the music and each other. "Pete's been skating since he was three, he's seven now, a little older than the twins. He always loved the ice, begged and begged his parents until they took him to a class and it's been his everything ever since".

She pauses, smiling at Peter and Gianna as they perform a lift which makes Tony's heart leap out of his chest for a split second.. not that he'd admit it.

"Gi and Gi have been skating since they could walk, always naturals at it, but they moved to Russia for six months when they were three and when they came back, Gianna was unbelievable, has been ever since. That girl could change the world with her hands behind her back, she's gonna do incredible things".

The twins finish their routine, clinging onto each other again with grins on their tiny faces. The four adults in the room and Giovanni clap before Ben starts working through corrections with the pair.

"Peter's obsessed with her, bless him, he's got quite the crush", May chuckles before continuing "I'm surprised he didn't burst when they got paired together, he was still squealing about it for days after. Those two have won more titles here than the rest of the team put together.. Anyway I suppose you have questions".

"They uh.. they won't talk to anyone else at the tower" Stark admits, running a hand through his hair. It does worry him that his kids feel unsafe in the place that they're living.

To his surprise, May smiles, "Gia's selectively mute, she takes a while to warm up to people but she'll get there. Her brother, absolute sweetheart, won't speak to anyone who she won't talk to to make her feel better".

"Oh bless him" Pepper breathes, looking over at the small boy. His eyes sparkle as he watches his twin turn across the rink with a kind of fascination that only children can seem to grasp. Everything else is a blur of colour and noise to him, it doesn't matter right now, he's only focused on his sister.

"They're both angelic, gorgeous little kids with massive hearts and incredible brains. Peter's a little genius but those five year olds are miracles.. shame their mother's a fuckwad".

Pepper cocks her head to the side, "What can you tell us about her".

"Oh she one hundred percent did it" the lady responds without hesitation, "I've called social services about her treatment of Gianna so many times, but that woman was way too clever for them".

A heavy pause follows, in which questions swirl in brains but are never fully formed, left to dissipate and be forgotten.

"Peter hasn't lived with us for too long, but he was delighted that his best friends were just across the hall. He went over there for a play date a few months ago and came back in tears. He told us that he complimented Gia and her mom shouted at him, insisting that she isn't beautiful, she's a freak and we... Ben and I didn't know what to do. Peter's a good kid, he couldn't lie, but we couldn't understand it. There was something going on that we could never figure out, no matter how much digging we did. If we asked either of the twins about it they'd completely shut off, talk to each other in Russian for a while until we'd stop asking just so they'd talk to us again. Gianna started collecting bruises, it wasn't even as though her mother was trying to hide them.. which I suppose made it scarier. I still don't understand it, how she could harbour so much hatred to such a pure child.. she was psychotic I guess".

That's all it takes for the impatient guilt to bubble in the new dad's stomach. Except he's not a new dad, he's been a dad for five years. A dad who left his kids to an abusive mother, paid her so she'd keep them away from him, allowed his daughter to be poisoned.

And he's not sure how he said it, how the words made it through the filter from his brain to his mouth, how he didn't catch his wavering voice with firm and steady hands so he could crush even the thought of them into a fine dust but, "I don't know how to be a dad".

And suddenly Pepper's hand is on his knee and May looks solemn.

"Peter's parents died." her words are controlled and careful like the seeds of a war, hanging in the air, threatening to climax, "Just over a year ago, Ben's brother and his wife.. we didn't know how to be parents either, but he didn't have anyone else and he was grieving. We had no choice but to stumble blindly through those first few months and attempt to learn as we went along". Her eyes drift from her nails to gaze at her nephew, flushed cheeks and doe eyes sparking a warmth in her heart that not even the ice can dispel. "What I wish someone had told us a year ago.. is that all you've really got to do is love them and make sure that they know it. Kids like Peter, Gia and Geo will never know how special they are unless someone devotes their life to proving it to them, everything else will sort itself out along the way".