Name: Galileo “Elio” Stark
Alias: Black Jack
Mother: Winona Winchester
Father: Anthony Edward Stark
Date of Birth: Probably sometime around mid-October. Celebrates it on 24th December, the date of his adoption.
Eye Colour: Emerald with flecks of golden brown
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Height: 6’0’’
Age: Variable based on storylines. Main Verse 23

BACKSTORY : BLACK JACK

Galileo Stark—or “Elio”—was the fruit of one of Tony Stark’s many one-night stands. This particular one was with Winona Winchester, a critically acclaimed musician, and a criminal mastermind, who had managed to live under the radar until her dying breath. Or, well, what was her “dying breath” to Elio

Elio had been left at the door of an Orphanage in New York City by—and Elio could only make an educated guess here—his mother when he was merely a month old. It was exactly like they make it seem like in all those movies that make a child grateful for having been born to more-or-less loving parents. Elio grew up watching his fellow housemates be abused—some mentally, some physically, and some a lot worse—and had endured a good portion of it himself.

At the age of seven, when the slightest glimpse of refuge had made itself seem achievable in the form of Damian Winchester—a criminal mastermind, Winona’s husband, and the head of a wanted criminal organization—Elio had lapped up at the opportunity like a starving dog.

They had hit it off instantly. Damian was kind to him the way manipulative men who could read insecurities like a book always were, and had been a father figure to Elio until Elio found out that not all fathers taught their “sons” how to use a gun at the age of eight. It wouldn’t be until the boy was fourteen years old that he would learn that what he had once thought of as Damian’s charisma was in fact the man’s literal power to bend people’s will. He said “Jump” and people would ask, “How high?”. To this day Elio didn’t know if his blind loyalty to the man had been a consequence of Damien’s hold over him or if it had stemmed from his own desperation to have a family, no matter how abusive. And Elio being the son he had never had, but one that he desperately needed in order to ensure the continuation of his legacy, Damian became Elio’s refuge.

It had started off with smaller things, with Elio smuggling drugs and weaponry to smaller local gangs. By eleven, they had started taking Elio on smaller missions, often as a distraction to clear the way for his men to deal with whatever they fuck they were dealing with that particular night. And fourteen, Elio was truly a part of the team. Under the alias of the Black Jack, and inspired by the greatest minds of his time—not least of which was Tony Stark—Elio had started designing nuclear weapons and defensive equipment for his team. Damian had recognized Elio was “special” before anyone else could have, and he had made sure that his “skills” were always kept under the radar.

And because Damian had made sure Elio never had a bruise on his skin or holes in his clothes, Elio never questioned his decisions. He knew he was one of the luckier ones. Or at least so he thought until that one mission that went terribly wrong and changed everything that Elio knew about himself.

Damian had started fucking with the big guns way before anyone on his team had known about it. He wanted more like Elio. He wanted better than Elio. He wanted human machines who would bend to his every whim, follow each and every command without hesitation. He wanted someone who would blow up an entire city without question just because Damian Winchester wanted to mine the area for gold.

He wanted Winter Soldiers.

Damian had managed to hack into SHIELD’s systems, unbeknownst to the fact that SHIELD wasn’t as stupid as Damian thought; not as powerless. For the first time in his mind, his super-abilities were matched. No sooner had their team—this time, including the Black Jack—infiltrated HYDRA’s Bunker had the place been surrounded by the Avengers and SHIELD Agents. They hadn’t even had a chance to spread out in a defensive position when Damian took Elio with him and ran towards the nearest sanctuary before telling him the Truth.

He told Elio everything. About his Mother, about Tony, that this was the end of an era, but than men like Damian Winchester were far too special to be caught by Star-Spangled Soldiers and Men in Cans, but that this was it for Elio, and that if Elio somehow managed to live through this, if he ever opened his mouth, then he was dead meat.

It would take years for Elio to break from the man’s literal spell.

Elio stayed hidden for a day and a half until he was positive the Avengers had left—until he was sure every living soul had left. And then he had pretended to be just like any other teenager; tried to do anything in his power to rid him of the fright and anxiety that went by the name of Damian Winchester looming over his head.

He was good. He did good. He stayed under the radar. No one had seen Black Jack in months.

Until he wasn’t good anymore. Everyone had noticed that his mind hadn’t been in anything he had been doing, but since his grades weren’t suffering, his teachers couldn’t have cared less. It was, of all things and the irony of ironies, a science project that put him in limelight. A science experiment in a high school science fair gone wrong. He had been working on reverse engineering one of the many discontinued Stark Industries weapons in order to turn them into prosthetics of sorts, but one mis-rewiring had led to another, and Elio had managed to blast half of the gym off during his presentation. The incident had ended up attracting the attention of local cops, the FBI, and unsurprisingly considering the origin of his product, Tony Stark.

‘Where did you get the weapon from, kid?’ “An unused garbage bin in the alley behind the Orphanage.”

‘Why didn’t you report it to the authorities?’ “I didn’t think it was active. I am sorry.”

‘Do you understand the ramifications of your stunt?’ “I didn’t /mean/ to do it! I was just trying to get myself into a good fucking—“ ‘/Language/’ “—school after I am out of this dumpster!”

‘I can teach you a thing or two.’ “I’d rather go to juvie than be your charity case, Mr. Stark.”

‘Too bad I am not asking. Juvie can’t contain a kid like you.’ “Don’t expect a thank you card, or a Christmas present, please.”

Elio moved in with his biological father during the Winter break of that school year at the age of fifteen.

POST-ENDGAME AU : BLACK JACK REBORN

All battles have casualties. Everyone knew what their biggest one was. The world had lost its Best Defender, and Elio had had lost the only man he had ever looked up to. His Father.

Another thing Elio would lose to the Battle would be his ability to walk. Alright, well, not to walk, more like. . . do jumping jacks, to run, do yoga, do anything but walk, all a result of misdiagnosis and an “irreparable infraction” in his right leg. Doctor Strange’s words, not his. Stuck on a wheelchair for life.

It wouldn’t have been as emotionally exhausting had it not been for the entirety of the World expecting him to rise up to the mantle of Iron Man. Months of depressive episodes and physiotherapy later the boy regained enough strength to walk with a limp, but there was no hope for much else. Elio took up a desk job at Stark Industries as their head Tech Engineer, just sitting on his ass while the crime rate in New York skyrocketed. Nothing made global headlines, meaning nothing caught the Supes' attention and Peter Parker was just one boy, and that’s when Black Jack knew he had to do something about it. That’s how he got back in business, leaving the flying and steroids-filled Supers for Spiderman and the rest while taking the. . . human ones for himself.

A respectable employee by day, P.I. by night. Elio left the actual fighting and confrontation to the professionals, which mostly meant sliding evidence to relevant parties. But it was enough. At least for now.

( Made with Carrd )