Bruised (Irondad)

11

Taking May's advice, Tony found himself serving bowls of macaroni to his twins that evening.

He didn't miss the flicker of a smile that flew across Gia's lips.. or the way she rejected it, but he pretended not to notice it, sitting across the room with Pepper and Natasha.

May had recommended having Nat in the room, 'It might help you out to know what they're talking about. If they're going to let anything slip about their worries, they'll do it in Russian".

It made sense, though the adults did feel a little guilty about listening in on the children's conversation.

It was silent for a while, save for the occasional scrape of Geo's fork against his bowl and Tony began to wonder whether they wouldn't speak Russian whilst Nat was around.

Then he spoke, "You know.. if they wanted to kill you I'm pretty sure they would've done it by now".

Pepper and Tony trained their eyes on the assassin, desperate to pick up any hint as to their conversation. Unfortunately, assassins tend to be pretty good at hiding emotions and reactions, they don't learn much from her neutral expression.

Gia smiles a little, "You think?"

"I do".

"You think they'd stab me in my sleep or just ambush me whilst I was awake?".

A mischievous grin finds it's way onto Giovanni's face, "If they knew what was good for them they'd get you in your sleep, you could definitely take that archer guy with your eyes closed".

And it was with that that both Natasha and Gianna burst into laughter.

Usually, Tony thinks, the twins would have gone silent when they knew someone could hear them.. but they don't seem to have noticed.

"If they knew what was good for them then they wouldn't lay a finger on me because Aunt May would make their lives Hell" Gia responds with a matter-of-fact tone.

Geo hums in agreement, "And that's why you don't need to worry about them poisoning you, because Aunt May would have already fought for custody and won if she didn't think Mr Stark would be able to look after us well".

His twin just stares at him for a second, her golden eyes unblinking. Then she nods her head slowly, the corners of her perfect lips pointing upwards and she takes a bite of macaroni.

*

Sam helped Tony move Geo's bed into Gianna's room. He wouldn't make the same mistake of splitting them up again. It was stupid to think they'd want space from each other when each other is all they've had for so long.

So the twins go to sleep in the same room, and that's where they wake up.

Tony's not sure what he expected when Jarvis said that the twins were distressed, and he's still not sure what's happening now he's watching it.

Him and Steve had been the first up, you don't usually see many of the Avengers before eight am. They were drinking coffee whilst the mechanic told his colleague about Gianna's skating, the way she moved so effortlessly at the same time as looking so powerful. It was unnatural and beautiful and-

"Give me Baby Monitor footage J".

"What's up?" Geo hops off his bed and pads across the room to Gia's "You're acting weird".

"I'm not acting weird" the girl defends, an unconvincing frown on her forehead.

Her brother lets out a small huff, "Giving off weird vibes then, what's up?".

She bites her lip between her teeth "It's that burning thing again, I need to punch something".

Punch something? What five year old says they need to punch something?

"Punch me then".

Gianna looks at her brother, incredulous, her jaw hanging open a little, "Vanni there is no way on this Earth that I'm about to punch you".

A smile slips onto Geo's lips, "At least you can control your anger issues to that extent".

"I do not have anger issues!" She protests, fighting a smile, "I'm not even angry.. it just burns, like it's not really me that wants to punch something, it's my muscles".

"It makes sense", her brother muses, "You haven't been using them as much as you usually would and after- well after all of that, it's kind of been drilled into you, like second nature".

"You mean freak of nature, nothing about it is natural".

Her words are coated with light, but there are heavy undertones that neither of the Avengers understand but it makes them feel a little sick anyway.

Hurt flashes in the boy's eyes for a moment as he watches his sister silently.

"You're not a freak".

"Mom thought so, she made that clear".

"It's her fault anyway, Gia, you can't keep doing this".

They lock eyes for a tense moment, as if challenging each other to take the next step forwards.

Neither do.

Gianna bites her lip again, lowering her gaze to her wrists which she's holding out in front of her. She stares at them as if they're completely new, as if she's only just noticed they're there.

"She tried to kill me, Gi, she actually tried to kill me".

It's spoken quietly, but it's so goddamn loud. Maybe if those kids weren't so fucking intelligent it wouldn't be as bad, but they understand, they understand it all. They understand that their mother hated Gianna enough to attempt to kill her, but no one can understand why, except apparently, for Gia.

"I know", her brother whispers, "but she knew it wouldn't work, that's why she ran".

A small laugh escapes the girl's lips, "She ran because she didn't wanna get chucked into prison".

"No, Gia, she ran because she was scared of you. You should've seen it Gi, it was insane".

There's a pause.

"Were you scared of me?" Gianna looks at her brother with wide eyes, guilt painted across her small face, seeping into her voice.

"No" Geo shakes his head gently, "We're on each other's team, we've only got each other".

"Peter and May and Ben are on our team too.. and Ned and Mj". Gia starts to subconsciously clench and open her fists, but her brother has definitely noticed, tracking her movements carefully.

"Pretty sure Tony and Pepper are on our side" He adds, not taking his eyes from her hands, which suddenly freeze.

Her eyes lift to his, staring straight into them, "They can't fight a war they aren't aware of".