EDIT 2/9/2014: Story's the same just going through and adjusting things. Proofreading and all that.
Chapter 1: Oedipus, King of Thebes
September 1989...
"Dummy! No! Not okay. That is not okay. Put that back! Ah, fuck."
Obadiah Stane cringes at the continuous crashing coming from Tony's raised platform. For such a brilliant inventor, the boy is remarkably immature. "Tony! I need a word. Come down."
"Ow. Shit. Yeah, one second, Obie. Be right down." A loud clang sounds, and Tony continues in hushed tones, "Dummy, you worthless hunk of junk, you know that you're not allowed to- Hey, watch it! I swear, if you-"
"Tony," Obadiah sighs, this could take a while if he doesn't speed up the young man.
"Yeah, sorry, Obie. Dummy, I'll deal with you later. Go to the charging station. That's right shoo. Stop sulking you overgrown- Yeah, yeah, whatever." Finally, Tony drops down from his platform. He's about as presentable as he always is after spending too much time in Tony-land, looking more like a mechanic than a multi-million-dollar CEO. "Hey, Obie. What's the crisis today?"
"Tony, do you remember Marie Lewis?" Obadiah doubts that his godson remembers the model he took to that fund-raiser last week, let alone a woman he hasn't seen in so long.
Tony smiles his most lewd smile. "Yeah, she was great, both professionally and personally. Lots of fun, but still smart and dedicated. And then you fired her. That was annoying. We had to hire a new PA. I didn't take advantage of her, you know? We were just having a little fun."
Interesting. The whelp remembers the girl. Maybe he made a mistake making the girl go away. Tony might've been easier to control if Obadiah had better leverage. Oh well, what's done is done. "Yes, well, she was a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen."
Tony snorts and rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever, Obie. She was fired and then she dropped off the face of the planet."
So the kid did miss her. "Not quite. I was still in contact with her, but I told her that it would be best if she didn't contact you."
That seems to throw Tony. Poor, poor Tony. "Um, why?"
"For being a genius, you can be a bit thick at times. The girl was pregnant, Tony."
"Oh." Tony drops into a chair. He stares at his hands probably turning the thought around in his brilliant mind. "Well, that was about a year ago, right? Did she..."
"She carried the child to term and gave birth to a healthy baby girl three months ago."
Tony breaks out into an addlepated, ridiculous grin. "A little girl." The grin dies as Tony works through his glee. "Was she mine?"
"Yes, which was why Marie had to be fired or at least why she couldn't work as your PA anymore. You were just about to become CEO. You didn't need that drama."
"So why tell me now? I'm still too newly minted as CEO to survive an illegitimate child born to an SI employee."
"Marie is dead."
"What?" Tony slumps into his chair. "Fuck, how? Is the kid okay?"
"The baby was at daycare. She's fine." Obadiah takes a deep breath. Tony is not going to take the next part well. "Marie was hit by a drunk driver. She died instantly."
Tony barks out a laugh. "Another one. Isn't that ironic, Obie? Do you think I'm cursed or is it the Stark blood that's cursed? Little girl will never know her mother."
Obadiah shakes his head. "Tony, thousands of car accidents happen every day. There's no curse."
"They seem to happen more often than usual around me."
"Tony."
"No, I'm fine, Obie. It's not like-" He cuts himself off with a bitter laugh. "Huh, Marie, Maria. There's another coincidence. Weird, huh, Obie?" Tony shakes his head. "So, what do you want? You didn't tell me before for a reason. Why are you telling me now?"
"Tony, you're in a better place now. The kid's fine. The accident was about a week ago. I took care of the arrangement. She was adopted by Marie's older brother and his wife. They live in San Diego."
"Okay."
"Relax, Tony. You don't have to do anything. The kid doesn't need you. I just thought you should know."
"Almost a year after you found out. Three months after she was born. A week after Marie died. After she was adopted. Did I miss the part where-" Tony freezes. There it is, the righteous fury of the naive. "You sonuvabitch. You just slipped the form releasing my parental rights into all the other bullshit that I had to sign, didn't you? Why bother asking permission when asking forgiveness is so much easier? So much less mess and fuss."
"Tony, be serious. You can barely take care of yourself. You can't discipline a robot. How could you possibly take care of a child?"
Tony nods stiffly. So not forgiven then? "Thank you for informing me about Marie. I'll see you on Monday, Stane."
"Don't dwell on it, Tony." With that Obadiah turns to leave Tony to his silly little toys. And likely his alcohol. All the deadlines have been met, so Tony can afford to wallow for the weekend.
"Understood. One last favor, Obadiah? What's the little girl's name?"
Obadiah turns back. Tony's eyes are a little dead. Probably because it was a car wreck. "Darcy Lewis."
"And you said Marie's older brother adopted her? Good, I met him once. He didn't like me, but he's a good man." Tony shrugs and laughs derisively. "Well, most good men don't like me."
"He doesn't know who Darcy's father was."
"Great, so I'm never to have contact with her?" Good, even like this the kid can take a hint.
"Tony, you that it's better if you don't."
"Whatever. See you later."
"Bye, Tony." Obadiah shakes his head as he hears the sound of ice dropping into a tumbler.
AN. So this probably shouldn't be happening. But I wanted to put down my back story for Darcy. For the purposes of this story and 'verse timeline prior to this is:
Nov 1965 James Rhodes born.
May 1968 Tony Stark born.
Aug 1981 Tony Stark enters MIT.
May 1984 Tony Stark graduates MIT.
Jun 1989 Darcy Lewis born.
Sept 1989 Marie dies, Darcy adopted by Dave Lewis. This chap.
I'm not real pleased with this chapter title, but eh, they get better? Maybe? IDK.
~S
