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Marshal spluttered.
"No seriously, you don't have to lie. We all figured it out," Tanya continued.
"You can't have figured shit out!" He insisted, "You can't figure shit that's not true!"
"Come ooon, Marsh. You're clearly Tony Stark's kid," Felix insisted, trying to push Marshal to admit something his friends had clearly fabricated whilst he'd been otherwise occupied by Alice's hair.
"It is not!" He shreiked out.
"Ow! Marsh you're pulling," Alice elbowed the air in front of Marshal's stomach, making him flinch. "Don't take it out one poor ol' me. I didn't say shit."
"Sorry Al," Marsh relaxed his grip on the strands, finishing up the braid. He tied off the end with the elastic he'd prepared earlier. "There, all done," he grinned pulling the lobe of her ear only to have her bat his hand away.
"Shove off, Marsh. A pretty braid isn't going to save you from the inquisition."
Marshal groaned.
"Suffer," Tanya hissed out.
He fell back on the bed, letting out a louder groan after regaining his breath after Felix threw himself belly first on his abdomen.
"Get off, you fatso."
"Admit you're a Stark Stark and I will," his toothpick of a friend challenged ribs poking in what felt like Marshal's liver.
"I am a Stark, my Mom's last name is Stark." He whined, "You do know its not that uncommon a last name no?" He then tried, knowing they all knew but wanted to needle him like the yapping conspiracy theorists they always were. Always returning to this same, single joke of a theory ever since Marsh found that gossip rag article with his mom kissing Tony Stark and how they'd been speculating to have dated for like 2 weeks and how it was the Stark clash of the century.
"Look," Tanya piped up, "while it's circumstantial the proofs are pretty damning."
Marshal groaned louder, covering his face with his hands.
"One! Your mom pretty publicly had a one night stand with the man eight months before you popped out."
"Not this again~"
"Fuck," Alice sounded, making Marsh look at her. Oh fuck he'd done some braid crooked. "Felix get of Marsh, the man-to-be deserves to go through the pain of fixing," she jabbed a finger pointing at the side with the crooked braids, "his fucking mistakes."
"Buuut Aaalicceee, my fingers hurt, they're all stiff. Felix get off, you do her hair."
"No," his best man, his one hope in life denied him like the unholy bastard he was. "You know she'll end up punching me." Felix jumped off back pressed against the wall that Marsh's bed was set against in the next instant.
"Damn it whyyy," he whined, ignoring Tanya's camera pointed at him, likely taking a video for the group chat's meme collection. "I hate you both, Alice I love you. You're the only one I love. You at least don't tell me I'm Iron man's secret love child."
"I never said I didn't believe that."
"Et tu? In my own bedroom? Admitting you believe these liars?" He gestured to the two grinning unapologetic demons he called friends.
He pushed himself hup, sliding onto his now undone sheets so he could sit in front of the chair he'd set out earlier when he'd suggested he do her hair up.
"Alright," he heard Tanya say at the same time as Felix. "You're not Tony Stark's kid."
Marshal's eyes narrowed. Now, wasn't this suspicious...
"Marshal..." Alice growled making him jump.
"You're too weak for Alice and too much of a dumbass to be that genius billionaire's kid."
"Oi! Now that's uncalled for! I resent that. I'm no dumbass."
"We had to make you barf up that spoiled milk and putrifying meat you ate on a dare last week." His three friends piped up in tandem.
"Well i did get that asshole rich kid's 1k! You know how much we need that money, grand pa's shitty investments and my immunosuppressive treatment do cost a pretty penny."
"Marsh..." Felix wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"You called us in catastrophy after you started feeling sick," Tanya finished using his head as an armrest.
He sniffed pointedly looking at his magnificent signed 2012 Stark Expo poster; the one he'd managed to get signed by Tony Stark himself after his second day spent queuing waiting vibrating in his shoes for the stand to open his mom playing with his hair and patiently listening to him rattle each and every detail he'd learned of whilst talking to everyone that would listen to a curious blabber mouth of an eight year old.
"Maybe we should tell June—" Tanya started
"Don't you dare inform my Ma of our mistake—" Marsh cut her off.
"Now hold on what do you mean our?" Alice asked in her scary voice, her hair slipping from his loose hold as she turned around her unimpressed deadpan all the threatening he needed.
"I mean we— uh you know not you youre always perfect dear. Absolutely above board. Never done a single thing wrong in your life you beautiful smart genius, thoughtful magnificent—did i mention pretty? Helpful, terrifying radiant, and wow i'm feeling these rays i can feeel the cancer developing— mmff"
Tanya covered his mouth. Felix chocking him loosly, putting him in a playful yet very much marshal-is-gonna-shut-up-now headlock.
Marshal flailed in his friends' hold.
"Now you chose to poison yourself on your own you human flaming trashcan," Tanya hissed in his eat, racking that fist tightly on the top of his head giving him a painful dry shampoo he was deperate to get away from.
Felix's hold shifted pulling him close immobilising him, one of his legs hooked around Marshal's.
He shreiked when Alice closed in, hand extended clearly a telegraphed tickle session.
"No no nono—Felix, lemme go! I'll do your homework for a week! I'll write your history essays! Anything!" Marshal gasped giggles leaving him.
Tears trailed down his face.
"Hmm," the tortuous barstard voices, "two weeks."
"Deal ! DEAL!"
Felix let go of him. Only for Tanya to take his place after Lexy shoved marsh at her.
"Nooo! Lexy! You monstah!" He cried out the tickles turning painful, his lungs feeling too empty.
He kicked, he flailed, he tried to bite and claw and knew this was being filmed. Both his girls tickling him inplaces they both knew sent him into hysterics.
"Stopstopstop! I'mgonnapeemyselfstop!"
Tanya and Alice stopped, the former bringing him into an embrace laughing at his misery.
"I hate all of you."
"No you absolutely don't." "Liar." "Pish pash, if it's just hate i guess no party for your birthday next friday." Felix, Tanya and Alice said respective in answer all at the same time.
His eyes widened.
"P-party? You'd dare avoid me during the yearly celebration of my magnificent birth? Alice, my soulmate, my love, my—" Tanya gagged in his ear, "—twin, my better half?"
Alice stared at him dead eyes, picking his pillow by the corner before yeeting it in their direction, the pillow slammed on the wall, falling on Tanya's face, making her let go of Marshal.
He scurried out of her reach as quickly as he could deciding to dash across the room and sit on his desk.
Fifteen seconds of silence passed, Tanya pealing the pillow off her face, a grimace on her face.
"Urg, it stinks."
They all exploded in laughter, Tanya joining them the next instant.
Marshal nearly fell off from his precarious seating position, Felix lost his balance his back falling on the bench at the end on Marshal's bed. And Alice laughed uproariously like always.
Too soon it petered off.
"There was no our in the choosing of your participation to that bet though," Alice managed through hiccups.
"Yuh uh." He said.
"Nuh uh," Felix reacted.
"Yuh uh," a pillow was thrown at him. Marshal caught it.
Marshal hugged it to his chest and glared at all three of them. "The mistake, since you're all apparently incapable of remembering basic cause and effect—is that you three cheered me on when I took Brad's bet, filmed the whole disaster, and now if my mom finds out she'll make me drink activated charcoal until I'm a ghost."
Tanya winced. "Okay, yeah, that's—"
"Brad's trust fund money was rent," Marshal continued, warming up. "We needed it. I was a hero. You were my witnesses. And if you narc on me, I'm taking all of you down with me. I'll tell my Mom that Tanya was chanting 'chug chug' like it was a frat party."
Tanya looked guilty.
"I'll tell her that Felix dared me to go for the meat after the milk."
Felix paled. "I did not—"
"You gave me finger guns, Felix. Finger guns. That's encouragement and you know it."
Alice raised a hand. "I didn't do anything."
"You're the voice of reason. The responsible figure all the adults trust. And filmed everything." He deadpanned.
"I filmed you puking into my Mom's decorative vase. That's art."
Marshal grabbed his pillow and hugged it like a shield. "So we're agreed. The bet never happened. The videos gets deleted. And if my Mom so much as hints at spoiled dairy, we all go down together."
His friends exchanged glances. Then, grudgingly, three heads nodded.
"Fine," Tanya sighed. "But the Tony Stark thing is still on the table."
"There is no table!"
Alice grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back toward the chair. "Fix my braid. Then we can argue about your secret billionaire father."
Marshal grumbled but obeyed, fingers working through the crooked strands as his friends settled around him like vultures waiting for fresh gossip.
"Besides," Felix added, "you can't prove he's not your dad."
"I don't have to prove a negative! That's not how—"
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. Mom ❤️.
Marshal's hands froze mid-plait.
Tanya's eyes lit up. "Answer it."
"No."
"It could be important."
"It's my Mom," he hissed. "It's always important. That's the problem."
"Just answer it," Alice said, not looking up from where she was inspecting her crooked braid in the mirror. "You're only making it worse."
"She's not wrong," Felix agreed. "Your mom can smell fear. And avoidance. And probably the spoiled milk still lingering in your pores."
Marshal flipped him off without looking, then swiped the green button with the resignation of a man walking to the gallows. "Hey Ma—"
"Marshal Stark." His mom's voice came through, warm but with that particular edge that meant she already had intel. "I just got off the phone with Brad Gretting's mother."
His soul left his body. Tanya clapped both hands over her mouth. Felix collapsed against the wall in silent hysterics. Alice just raised an eyebrow, utterly unsympathetic.
"She says Brad has been bragging about 'making a thousand dollars disappear from his trust fund' to teach some 'desperate kid a lesson about knowing his place.'" A pause. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Marshal opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "I—Ma—that's—he's lying. I mean, the money part is—okay, yes, technically, but I won it fair and square, he challenged me, he doubled the offer, and I—"
"Did you or did you not eat spoiled dairy and putrefied meat for money?"
The room went silent. Even Tanya stopped moving, her eyes wide.
Marshal swallowed. "I would never. That would be idiotic and frankly fantastic. Imagine me? Me. Walking off the subsequent stomach bug- with my compromised immune system it would be preposterous and hilariously dangerou—"
"Marshal, tell your mother the truth." His mom's magnificent, authoritative, love filled that did not sound like love at all, tone.
"...I? Did?" He squeeked, before continuing as fast as he could not taking a breath. "but only a bitatinybit notdangerous and you know it was a week ago and I would have rushed to the clinic if I thought it was necessary! AND ALICE WAS WITH ME AND AND THEY FORCE ME-"
Al snached the phone from his grip, turne the call in speakers mode. "Don't listen to him Miss Stark. He did eat and drink what he shouldn't have. And he is very regretful."
"Hello Al, deary. Please tell me my delinquent of a son didn't drag you into this."
"Of course not Miss Stark, don't you worry. We all took good care if him after his ill-chosen decisions don't worry."
"That's a lot of don't worries—" Marshal's mom said tone worried, before a hushed inaudible conversation took place on the other side of the call. "I'll be back in three hours alright? I'll make these lasagna you all like. Alright kids? Tanya, Felix, Alice you're all welcome to stay for dinner on the condition I get a message from your parents it's alright. On another note, Marshmallow, we'll have a guest that really wants to meet you dine with us tonight."
'Tony Stark,' Tanya and Felix mouthed.
"Thank you very much Miss Stark."
"Aw, Alice you know I told you you're allowed to call me June."
"Yes... June."
"Alright see you later kids. Marshie love you, don't burn down the house—"
"Hey, why just me?"
His mom hung up.
___
"Nuh uh," Marsh refused for the nth time. "Why can't i just stay in pjs, the man doesn't deserve my effort enough if he only shows up when i'm 14."
"We know, Munchkin." Tanya joked poking his cheek, clearly reminding him he was 2 years their junior. "But you can't wear these pjs."
"Why not? They're great? What if they're more Hello Kitty than someone would expect. More power to me with being more in touch with my feminine side."
"Wear this," felix said, dashing all his hopes when he sent the balled up clothes at him.
Marshal pouted, looking at Alice with pleading eyes. Only for her to point at the door with her thumb.
"Go change."
"Fine fine. Going."
___
2 hours later the appartement was cleaned, the four of them reclined in the couch watching a fourth episode of Doctor Who in a row.
"~wibbly wobbly timey whimey~"
The font door opened, Marshal jumped up remebering the fact his mom had said she was bringing a guest.
His panic filled eys met his friends.
The door closed.
"We're a no shoes inside family," his mom's voice rung out.
Marshal jumped up, hurried towards the entrance. Barely glanced at the guest, knowing he'd be paralized if he did, and tacklehugged him mother. "I missed you so so so much! Can you please pretty pretty please never go on two business trip in sucession again?" He pleaded her.
"I missed you too, sugar cloud." He melted in her hold, her hand rubbing his upperback and a peck landing on his crown even now when he was taller than her, barely but still. To Marshal every inch counted. "How about you say hello to our guest?"
Marshal pulled away. "Wha— who?"
He looked.
"Holy shit, what's Dr. Stark creator of holographic displays and non-magnetic atomic scanners and Striks doing in our home? I love Striks by the way, best coding language, also love the open source library your company keeps updating on memory gestion. I'm Marshal by the way, one L. There are marshalls with two L's but their assholes. I'm much better company, just ask my keepers," he gestures towards the door his friends were just walking through.
"Stark? Mushy is it Tony Stark? Were we correct with our theories?" Tanya arrived in the entrance Felix and Alice a beat behind. The small space felt smaller than it was now.
Marshal sniffed, looking up, "Nah no way you were. They were at MIT for the North American energy conference in preparation for the next COP in November. No way he's my dad. Guy's too cool. And awesome and has like knowledge to blow shit up and also to make the world not blow up! Like genuinely best thing that happened to humanity since the discovery of pop-cor—mfgf."
Alice covered his mouth, "Ignore him Dr. Stark, he's always like this." She said in her lovely authoritative voice that did always manage to make Marshal's mind less buzzy.
Dr. Stark hummed, "It's not every day the idea of me being someone's dad is rejected by someone else."
Marshal sputtered.
His mom, the angle that she was, chidded the man. "Tony, please don't break my son."
"Well, June. I think it should be 'our' from now on. Don't you think?" He said in a tone Marshal couldn't decipher.
Tanya and Fexil shrieked "I knew it!" Their palms met in a high five.
Marshal took a step back, losing his balance when he walked on Alice's foot, the girl shoving him aside at that, pulling the foot he'd stepped on.
He groaned. And glared at the ceiling. "I can't belive Tony Stark is a deadbeat." He hissed out.
"Now that's not true. I just learned of your existence kid."
"Pff, as if."
"We set everything to make lasagna on the kitchen counter Ms. Stark," Alice angle of his life told his mom.
Marshal pouted.
"I can't believe this," he crossed his arms turning his back from Dr. Stark, starting to reevaluate the man's place as being Marshal's hero, walking after his mom towards the kitchen.
___
"Are you alright?" She asked him, the keys to her appartement jingling as she took them out of her bag.
"Peachy, tip top. Just fine. I'm about to meet the kid i just learned the existance of 4 hours ago—thanks about that by the way- not. I kind of hate you a bit." And he knew. Tony knew obadia had stopped and threatened her into silence- to not tell him. Tony... Hated this dead ghost even more with every passing second.
14 years old, he exhaled in one powerful breath. It didn't slop the quick fluttering like staccato of his heart. Marshal—and what a name that was.
Marshal Anthony Stark.
June had named her son, their son, after Tony.
He gulped staring at the door of June and Marshal's appartement. His son on the other side.
Marshal. Stark.
A son.
One that was sick. A genetic condition.
One June and her past partner had pushed for Marshal to be screened for—
He could barely believe it, FRIDAY's voice with the confirmation of parental genetic match—
A son. Tony's son.
___
'I can't believe Tony Stark is a deadbeat,' echoed in his mind even when June and Marshal were already in the kitchen out of sight. Leaving tony to face the inquisition.
How old even were these kids.
"So you're the kid's little friends huh?" He tried, the the brown haired braided girl stared at him, the blond haired brown eyed one pointing her phone camera at Tony and the tall lanky boy's arms were crossed, staring at tony with a complicated look. "How old are you? Because no offense but you don't look like tiny 14 year olds."
"We're 16." The blond girl said.
"Great and you are?"
"Tanya Janchova."
"I'm Felix Danvers, and you don't get to call me Lexi, capiche? And damn you kinda fucked that first impression up," came who he guessed was Felix's deeper than he expected voice.
And Tony took offence go that. It's not like he had a script, not that he would have followed it but still. He was kind of in shock, having been informed 4 hours ago of his parentage, five minutes later Fri confirming that by comparing Tony's DNA with the kid's from when he'd gotten genetically tested for genetic illness predisposition after his first week long stay in the hospital 3 years ago—and wow he was freaking out. Tony could have lost the kid before knowing him—
"At least I didn't encourage or not stop the kid with a crappy immune system from eating and drinking spoiled animal product," was tony hyperventilating? No. His- oh his level of oxygenation was a bit high- tony tore his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"At least we were there to make him barf every up unlike someone who doesn't get to have opinions about shit that supposedly happened before mr. 'Hello I'm your dad' learned of his 14 year old son's existence," the braid wearing girl, Alice, said voice tight. Wow that glare was terrifying.
"...right," he barely managed.
"6 years we've been Mushy's friends," Tanya said, "and I don't think any of us have ever seen him be actually meek. He's a drama queen sure but this?" She jabbed a finger towards the kitchen, "very new—"
"And no way do any of us like this," Felix finished arms crossed and hands balled into tight fists. "So you better fix this..."
"Or else." Alice finished.
"Marsh is like our tiny annoying little brother, so you're gonna fix that attitude you old coot and let him ramble science and your Wikipedia page at you." Felix said in the next beat.
Tanya opened her mouth, "the situation is clearly more complicated than any of us know. But you're a billionaire, and while you can't fix the 'no dad for 14 years' shtick you can pay his medical shit and help with rent."
"They have problem wi—right fuck the doing stupid deadly shit for one grand," tony buried his face in his hands. He was definitely having an anxiety attack. "I'm—is there somewhere i can sit down?" He sounded shrill.
And wow, alright, the absolutely terrifying adorable mini Rhodey squad his son had looked a bit too worried for Tony for his taste.
Tony falls, collapses on the sofa the kids direct him towards, "The kid has my eyes-" he breathes out before his eyes lock on the muted TV. "Is that doctor who? Really? Here i thought the kid couldn't be more of a nerd. I can never let Rhodey and Pepper know."
Thinking of, he thought, hand slipping in his pocket. "Fri, be a dear and call Rhodey bear." He mumbled bringing his phone to his ear.
___
Tanya's eyes met Felix's. She bit her lip, and stopped the video. This was, kinda sad. Tony Stark, hyperventilating on their best friend's couch listening to this Rhodey on the other side of the line for the past good minute.
Maybe they had pushed the man too much? She thought.
She opened the group chat, Marshal was online :
MemeMaster : are you k @Marshmallow7813
Mashville : u guys done interrogating TS?
MemeMaster : y I think he was kinda on the brink this whole time
Mashville : ?
MemeMaster : is havin a pa
Mashville : dam
Mashville : yikes
MemeMaster : how u
Mashville : no
MemeMeaster : im tellin al
Mashville : n.o. fu
Tanya looked up, Dr.Stark seemed calmer, listening to his friend, zoning them out. She looked at Felix then at Alice and gestured to her phone.
Dr. Stark inhale slowly through his nose, "ah—so I have a son. Apparently." He said blandly, calmly. His tone the opposite of the behaviour the man had exhibited not even 15 seconds ago. "He has like, 3 mini yous it's adorable—there's even one that sounds like you did back in the 85—yeah I know absolutely terrifying. And cute. Very cute. Like yapping chihuahuas-"
MemeMaster : dam he gud also mean. I'm not a chihuahua that's Lexie
Mashville : ??? Tru ur a sloth
MemeMaster : jail
MemeMaster : the masking is very practiced
LexieLuthor : fu @NotASwifti767
MemeMaster : stfu
LexieLuthot : i see it now dam hiding a bd this well
Mashville : bd?
LexieLuthor : breakdown was nearly crying with that pa T mentioned
Hal9000 : deserving of the pain
LexieLuthor : 🥖🍞🥖🍞
LexieLuthor : frfr ur idol turn dad is goin tru it
"Hmm? Yeah his name's Marshal- hey don't laugh my kid's name's great. Marshal Stark has a good ring to—oh fuck off sugar plum." He frowned, "Oh, about 4 hours ago, right after I finished my talk at that conference on cold fusion reactors- oh yeah. Fri checked. DNA matches it's not a Julie situation." The man said after listening to the person on the other side speak for a good 30 seconds. "yeah. June Stark— yes I know. That June yes. You made fun of me for that failed relationship for a year straight honey bear. No. Don't tell Pep. I'll call her later. Wait, are you really with the president? Right now? Please tell me you're not on spea- fuck you Rhodes. Also fuck you Mr. President."
Tanya, eyes wide as dinner plates, gestured for them to step out.
The fucking president now knew about Marshal? What the hell?
Then silently moved out of the living room joining the Starks in the kitchen.