When Tony jokingly asks Maya Hansen if there's a thirteen year old in the car, she deadpans "he's twelve."
And --- Harley is twelve.
And the first Extremis explosion happened in Rose Hill Tennessee.
So.
AU where Maya is Harley's mom, and he's the product of the one night stand she had thirteen years ago with Tony.
Maya works for Killian and AIM, yes, but she lives in Rose Hill. It's why the first bomb went off in Tennessee --- local boy, Chad Davis, was injured in deployment, and he was one of the early recipients of Extremis. And when he exploded and took five others with him, that's the first time that Maya considers bringing Tony in on Extremis again.
But Killian doesn't want to, so they don't. ...But it doesn't leave her mind. Tony led her to a breakthrough 13 years ago; maybe he can do so again, and they can finally get a functional version of Extremis that will change the world for the better, with no risk of disregulation and explosion.
It's not even about Harley. Harley knows who his father is, of course -- Maya's never hidden it from him. But Tony wasn't exactly father-material back in the day, and honestly, even with all the changes to his public persona over the last couple years, Maya still doesn't believe that he's ACTUALLY left his cavalier devilmaycare immature self behind. Maybe when Harley is older, she'll reach out to Tony. Arrange for him and Harley to meet. But for now, best to keep her impressionable young son away from such a bad influence.
But then the Mandarin attacks start. And Maya knows its all orchestrated by AIM, and of course she disapproves, but she's not the one calling the shots. She's not the one in charge. She's just trying to get Extremis functional. She's just trying to help people. She KNOWS her creation is capable of changing lives. Regrowing limbs, eradicating disease. And yeah, what Killian is doing is immoral and she wishes it wasn't necessary--- but if he can succeed in getting the huge amount of government funding he's chasing, then it'll all be worth it. People are dying now, yeah, and thats awful -- but people die all the time from disease and injury. And Extremis will stop that. Will prevent all kinds of hurt and suffering. She just needs to crack that final breakthrough.
This is the attitude she has when Pepper gets kidnapped, too. She wishes it wasn't necessary, of course -- especially after Pepper was so kind and understanding towards Maya -- but Maya's realised that there is going to be no forward movement on Extremis without Tony's help. And thanks to Killian alienating him, there is no way that Tony will help voluntarily. So they need Pepper in order to force his hand. Its awful, but its necessary. Extremis is going to save lives; a little kidnapping and blackmail is nothing compared to the good that Extremis will do. This is for the greater good.
Then she sees Tony's reaction to Pepper's pain. And it all hits her at once. She talked before of looking up and finding herself far from shore, but she's so much further out to sea than she thought she was. Tony isn't the same reckless, cavalier, irresponsible man he used to be. He really has changed. His commitment to Pepper is clear. His adoration of her clearer. His pain at her agony is clearest yet.
And it hits her how far from shore she's swum. She believes in Extremis, yes; she KNOWS it will change lives -- change the world. But at what cost? What must Tony think of her? What would HARLEY think of her, if he knew how much she'd allowed to happen in the pursuit of Extremis? He knows, of course, that she's a scientist. A botanist. He knows that she has to travel for work a lot. But he doesn't have the details of what she actually does. The non-disclosure forms she's signed apply even to her son; she's not ALLOWED to talk details. Its become a running joke between them - she told him once that they should pretend she works at a diner, and that way she can tell him work stories while leaving out any sensitive or confidential detail.
But he's a good kid. She doesn't know how he's managed to become such a good kid, what with Mister Playboy himself for a father and someone as morally compromised as Maya apparently is for a mother -- but he really is such a good kid. What would he think, if he knew how many people had died as a result of Maya's creation? What would he think of Maya facilitating the kidnap of Pepper Potts, in an attempt to blackmail Tony Stark into helping her?
It's why she demands Killian let Tony go. Why she holds a needle to her own neck and threatens to end things unless Tony is released. She won't have to use it, she knows. She's too vitally important to Killian's ongoing health for him to risk losing her.
Only -- she miscalculated. Terribly so.
The bullet doesn't actually hurt -- not initially. The shock of it tearing through her abdomen is bright and cold in its intensity. Its not until she hits the ground that the pain hits.
Over her head, Killian is saying something about a high level position having opened up.
She looks up at Tony -- too shocked by this turn of events and the pain of it to be able to do anything more than stare at him with wide, surprised eyes.
He stares back, eyes equaly wide, but with resignation and sorrow in his expression, not the shock that must be on hers.
He doesn't even know about Harley.
Harley, who has his father's eyes. Harley, who she spoke to just this morning. He was cagey. He'd been hiding something. He'd probably disassembled the toilet in her ensuite again to use for parts. He's always doing that -- she lets him out of her sight for a moment, and she'll turn back around to find him with a screwdriver in hand and several bits of pilfered material at his feet. He's always building something or another. He's so much like his dad.
And she's never going to see him again.
The concrete is cold beneath her body when she slumps down against it.
She never even got to tell Tony how smart their kid is.
The 2025 WIP Big Bang & WIP Reverse Bang Are Open For Sign-Ups!
Welcome to a new round! We're bringing back the OG WIP Big Bang, which is for finishing fic and getting art to go with it, and introducing the first full round of the WIP Reverse Bang, which is for finishing artwork and getting fic to go with it. All fandoms/ratings/ships are welcome, including original works!
Schedule
All times are by 11:59pm PST. Convert time zones.
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Begin- April 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Close- May 28th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #1- May 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #2- June 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Snippets Due- July 1st
Big Bang Art Claims/Reverse Bang Fic Claims Begin- July 17th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #3- July 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #4- August 6th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Rough Drafts Due- August 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Begin- August 23rd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Ends- September 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Final Drafts/Art & Fic Due- September 7th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Starts- September 8th
