Hope Ainsworth's funeral was going on as it should have been. All of Hope's friends and acquaintances were there, unfortunately there weren't that many of them, most of them were employees of her own company. Somewhere on the edge of this whole gathering stood Tony and Stane, they didn't say much, they didn't want to spoil the already frankly lousy mood.
The weather was cloudy, the sky was all grey, it was going to rain any minute.
But the worst thing was Leonardo, his once lively and bright eyes lost their shine and filled with tears. It got to the point that, just looking at him, most people simply turned away with tears in their eyes.
What can they do?
Most of them have absolutely no experience in calming children.
Despite everything, Hope was an introverted person, she could call only a few of those present friends, and guardianship of the child would be exercised by Stark, the most unexpected father of the year.
Fortunately, Stane took matters into his own hands and then walked up to Leo, hugged him and began to console him. He spoke in a very kind voice.
- Come on, Leo, we need to be strong. I don't think Hope will be happy to see us like this.
Leo looked at Stane with tear-stained eyes, his eyes still showing the pain of loss and absolute confusion. And seeing such living eyes, even Stane's heart bleeds.
- I... I ... I... I don't know what else to do... Mom was always there for me, and now she's gone...
- I'll be honest, I didn't know your mother that well, but I think she'd be pleased if you continued her work. She's the main shareholder of a company that saves people's lives, you know?
Leo looked at him blankly. Because of Hope's care, Leo had little contact with other people, and therefore was quite suggestible and impressionable.
- Should I become a doctor?
Stane just chuckled.
- No, go higher.
- A surgeon?
- No, you are the future head of Hope International. If you want to continue your mother's life's work, you must become the head of the company. And for that, you need to study well. After all, economics and company management are a complicated matter.
And Leo's small but brilliant brain began to think about this idea. Hope often worked late, Leonardo often woke up early, seeing his mother at work. This gave Leo a vague idea of the difficulty of working as the head of a company. Leo did not consider his mother a stupid woman, on the contrary, she was the smartest of all Leo knew. Leo himself was sad and a little offended when he could not complete a project that he had been working on for a long time. And losing the work of his life must be incredibly sad, painful and offensive.
Leo doesn't want Hope to be sad about this in the afterlife.
And this is how Leonardo's first goal was born.
- Thank you, Uncle Stane.
- Okay, we've already said goodbye to Hope, so it's time for us to go. It's very windy and cold today, you shouldn't get sick.
And Leo spent the next month exclusively with Stane. Tony practically did not appear in Leo's life, although the latter came up with excuses for this. He was used to Hope often working late, she had a lot of work, so with the addition of a new one because of the scroll and other office work there should be especially a lot of work.
However, Leo did not complain, Stane was a pretty good parent, he often gave advice, he showed examples of the company's work and gave a couple of games for optimization. He did the latter with the help of Jarvis and searching for games, like a factory simulator, but the idea itself was from Stane.
However, such a life could not go on forever.
One fine day, Tony came up to him … After which he threw a folder at him. – You are almost six, it is time to start going to school. I have collected a list of schools with dormitories with a good economic focus. Choose any school, I will buy you a house next to it so that you can study in peace and enjoy your school life. You will still need a place to take the girls.
And seeing this folder, Leo was perplexed. He never went to kindergarten or anything like that, he didn't need it, he was too smart and clever for that. He was just bored being surrounded by stupid children who couldn't keep up with him at all. Hope understood this, and therefore did not press him, although she did talk about school.
- Do I really need to go to school? I can study at home.
Leo was quite aware of his level of intelligence, ordinary people did not interest him at all. They were too boring. However, Tony was sure that his decision was correct.
- No, you need to study and communicate with other children, this is necessary for your development. The head of the company cannot be an asocial recluse.
This was exactly the argument that worked on Leo with 100% probability. Tony knew it perfectly well, after all, the same technique worked on him.
After that Leonardo frowned, but said nothing. He was used to adults being quite smart. He had the example of Hope and Stane, and they had taught Leo quite a lot, so he listened to them.
Opening the folder with various schools, the first thing he saw was a boarding school. For some reason, this made Leo feel sad and hurt.
××××××
After a week of considering all the options, Leo settled on Xavier's School for Gifted Children. The reasons for choosing this particular school are simple to the point of ugliness: this school had interesting teachers, and the program itself was surprisingly good. Yes, you could say that this school program was completely copied from the top 15 schools in the United States, but who cares about such subtleties when the teaching staff is good? True, Leo was surprised by the decisions of this Xavier , because the main place of study is Bale School, but the most advanced level of education takes place after school within the walls of the dormitory, where Director Xavier himself lives .
Leo thought it was strange, but he admits that he might just not know something, after all, he is not a teacher. Well, the main reason for choosing this school is precisely the teaching staff itself, Doctor McCoy and Xavier were several heads above all the other teachers from other schools. And it was just interesting to talk to them. Well, there should be other gifted children in the school itself. Leo himself definitely deserves to be called gifted.
And to Tony's credit, right after Leo told him which school he was going to, Tony promptly bought a plot of land and built a nice villa there. Two underground floors, four bedrooms, a kitchen, a dance floor , a playroom, a library, a swimming pool, a lawn, a small garden with fruit trees, a garage for 5 cars with everything you need, and a huge underground floor for a lab. This house alone was worth several million.
The only thing Tony himself said after he gave him the keys was, "You need friends, make them and have fun!"
Yes, by doing this Tony improved his reputation in the eyes of Leo, but even Leo himself understood that he would not see Tony again anytime soon.
Moving day came quickly, but Leo didn't have much of his own stuff, just a couple of sets of clothes, shoes, and gadgets, most of which he made himself. All of his stuff fit into a couple of bags that the movers dragged, and they also dragged all the equipment from Leo's personal workshop to the basement of the house. Yes, Leo made the first scrolls himself, but he did it mostly with the help of devices that he made himself. Well, and also pre-printed boards and Stark controllers. The movers did their job quickly, after all, they put everything in separate boxes.
Leo spent the rest of the day shopping for groceries, which was tiring, but fortunately delivery was included.
The next day, Leo was already at the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Children .
××××××
While Leo was getting to school, the school itself had its own difficulties.
The previous group of students had only recently graduated and were almost completely integrated into ordinary society, and of those who remained there were only three.
Ororo Munro is only 12 years old girl with Omega Level potential. Quite calm and balanced, rarely uses her powers. Non-conflict character.
Jean Grey was only 9 years old, but she had the greatest potential in telepathy that Xavier had ever seen . Another Omega Level telepath with quite powerful telekinesis. She had a calm and non-conflict character, although her sense of self was poorly developed.
Scott Summers. Also 9 years old, possessed of a powerful mutation with great destructive power. Due to a head injury from a plane crash, he cannot control his power properly, and therefore always wears glasses. He had a somewhat aggressive and defiant character. One could even say a bit "explosive", with a strong desire to be a leader. So far, the weakest and most problematic of the group, "only" an Alpha level.
With Charles, McCoy and Logan, there were only 6 of them in a large country villa with a huge number of rooms.
It was a bit lonely.
However, the main issue on the agenda was Leonardo's enrollment.
- Since I have gathered you here, I will start this meeting. A few hours ago, I received a notification that the future owner of two mega giants of the United States will be enrolled in our school. Young Leonardo is the heir of the Stark and Ainsworth families. So there is no point in talking about how important this child is. I am waiting for your suggestions on how we should proceed.
Charles was fairly calm, but it was obvious how collected he was.
- Is he a mutant?
Logan was straightforward.
- As far as I can tell, no.
- Then what is he even doing here? Is it really that Stark doesn't have enough money to send him somewhere like Harvard or Oxford?
Logan didn't understand why such a prestigious family would send their heir to their school.
And how did SHIELD allow this to happen?
If this boy was injured or, even worse, killed as a result of numerous accidents, of which there were plenty given the specifics of their training, then the entire school and the mutants would come to an end.
Logan knows firsthand how much the US government "loves" mutants. There's no need to give them any more reason to hate them, the public already hates them.
McCoy, however, knew the situation much better.
- I think Stark simply didn't care where to dump the kid. Apparently, he has big problems with his father, so he didn't even count on being a parent. Besides, for a person who leads such a wild life and hates responsibility... I think the kid chose the school himself.
Charles nodded his head.
- I think so too, but the reason for his admission to this school is not so important. If the goal was to harm the school, they would have chosen another person, so he will be another student of our school. I am more interested in how we should treat him. Our strained relations with the world are known to you. But if we or at least our students can befriend the boy, then in the near future we will have the opportunity to help all mutants.
McCoy nodded his head.
- I will look after him to the best of my ability.
Logan snorted.
- I'll see what kind of kid he is . If he's impudent and cocky, then no special attitude, otherwise the other students will envy him. Considering his money, they'll envy him even more.
- I don't think a kind-hearted woman like Hope would raise a mean child. Her company was well known for caring for all walks of life, even the most downtrodden.
Logan shrugged.
- You know best, Chuck . I'll talk to the kids to be gentle with the guy, but nothing more.
- That's enough for now.
Xavier was pleased that his friends were understanding about the situation. He knew that such luck would not smile upon them again for a long time, so he wanted to enlist the support of an influential family from the very top of the country.
Fury may turn a blind eye to all the petty mischief that the teenagers from his school do in exchange for keeping an eye on future special agents from the school itself, but this is frankly not enough for a future where mutants and ordinary people will live in peace.
Fury , despite his dream of creating his own group of people with superpowers , does nothing to help mutants.
Young Leonardo could be Xavier's golden ticket to a happy future.