Tony, Howard, Rhodey and Pepper were sitting in the living room of the Rhodes household, just sitting down to catch Howard up on Tony's life and vice versa. The three friends sat down on one couch while Howard sat down on an armchair next to the couch. Tony took a deep breath.

"This is just incredible. I can't believe you're back. So much has changed since you've been gone…" Tony said.

"I can only imagine what you've been up to. You even have a girlfriend now." Howard responded. Tony and Pepper both blushed, leaving Rhodey to try and stifle his laughter into chuckles.

"We-we're just friends…" Tony explained quietly. Howard nodded.

"Sore spot, I assume?" He asked Rhodey. Rhodey nodded, afraid he'd burst into laughter if he uttered a single word. It was just too funny. Howard remembered how Tony had never been good with girls. Or if he had ever really associated with one his own age.

"What have you been doing the past two years?" Howard asked, seeing that he was going to have to be the one to change the subject since he had managed to mute his son and his new female friend.

"Well, a lot…I've been trying to keep up with Stark International, but Stane's been shutting me out so much. I finally caught him associating with a first-rate super villain and he got fired…" Tony explained. "He kept building weapon after weapon and continued selling them to the army. I couldn't take it after a while. He even managed to get his hands on the specs for Iron Man's armor…"

The thought of Iron Man sent Tony's mind into a tornado. He didn't know what he wanted to do about that. Did he want to tell his father that he is Iron Man and risk being forbidden from being a superhero, or continue lying to his father's face, the face he hadn't seen in almost two years? He didn't really want either to happen, but he knew he didn't have a choice. If he wanted to stay Iron Man, he'd have to either get his father to understand how important it was that he stays Iron Man or risk giving it up. Or worse, lie. The last thing Tony wanted to do was lie to the man he'd missed for two years. Two long years without his father, the only family he's ever had. But he feared, he knew he had no choice.

"Iron Man. I would love to examine his armor myself. That looks incredible. It's like nothing I've ever seen before…" Howard said. Tony grew quiet once more. This part was getting harder the more they talked about it. "Does anyone know who Iron Man really is?"

Tony hesitated before answering.

"No, no one knows, it's a mystery…" He answered quickly.

Somehow, Howard wasn't convinced that was true when it came to his son. He had that look in his eyes…

"Well, who knows. It could be anyone..." Howard said. He felt an awkward silence returning.

"So, has school been going well?" He asked.

"Well, uhh, at first no…but that changed quickly. It's actually kinda really easy…" Tony explained sheepishly. "At first I didn't think I needed it. So I didn't really try. But then I saw the will, and had a bit of a meltdown…and, basically, things changed."

"Yeah, I knew that holographic will would set you in line a bit…" Howard paused. He took a good look at his son. He looked so different in so many ways. He had a new happiness to his eyes nowadays. When they had first been reunited, he thought he had seen the old Tony in his son's eyes, but once he looked closer he saw a new Tony. A wiser Tony, a Tony that had been through a lot and had managed to survive it all. There was a new spark to him, a new sparkle to his smile. Something had seriously changed him. But what was it? What could it possibly be?

"Tony, I'm…I'm just so sorry that I couldn't be there for you these past few years…I'm sorry I left you," Howard said. Tony smiled.

"Hey, it's not your fault. There's nothing you could've done about it. I just couldn't want to hurt Gene more for all of this…if anything, it's me who could've done something sooner." Tony said. Pepper nudged him gently as she sat next to him.

"Tony, don't even try blaming yourself." She said immediately. Tony smirked at her enthusiasm. He knew she was right, but he couldn't help but feel a little blame anyways.

"What did Gene to do you while I was gone?" Howard asked. "I know he did something, I can see it in your eyes." Howard asked.

"It's…it's a long story. Let's just say he used to be a trusted friend, but that changed pretty abruptly…" Tony explained. He didn't want to dive into the whole story. Especially if he wanted to keep his secret identity a secret.

"He told me about you two finding the first five rings." Howard said. Tony's eyes closed tightly as he remembered the several frightful trips.

"Yes…yeah, he did…" Tony said quietly.

"Which reminds me, how in the world did you manage to survive a plane crash?" Howard asked.

The question made Tony realize something. Would his dad really believe that he had come out of the whole mess unscathed? It wasn't like he had an arc reactor to show him as an explanation. And if he explained extremis, first of all Howard would think he was crazy, and second of all it would easily lead to revealing the fact that he's Iron Man. And he didn't want that.

"Oh…I-I…umm…" Tony said, not being able to formulate an excuse. He couldn't just say 'oh, conveniently, Iron Man saved me that day. Yeah.' That's far from believable.

"Another sore subject?" Howard asked.

"Umm, kinda." Rhodey lied.

"Sorry. Trying to tread carefully…" Howard responded.

The four sat in silence for a little while. There was just so much to catch up on. He didn't even know where to continue. There was just so much to know about what had happened in two little years, yet Howard had a strong feeling that there was a large part of it that Tony wasn't telling him. But he couldn't even begin to guess what in the world it could possibly be that Tony would be leaving out. Or why he would leave anything out. But a number of things had changed, who knows what it could be, let alone why it was still a secret. Howard knew to let it be, Tony would come around.

Tony and Rhodey decided to get up and go to the kitchen to get them all some drinks. As Pepper stood to follow, Howard grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Tony will come around soon. I can tell he really likes you. He just needs to figure it out." Howard said quietly, so Tony wouldn't hear. Pepper blushed and without saying anything, followed her two friends into the kitchen to help with the drinks. Howard sighed as he sat back and waited for his son and friends to return so he could learn more about his son's complicated life.

Have I mentioned this episode was so epically awesome? Because it is. I can't wait until next episode. Seriously. Tony doesn't tell Howard that he's Iron Man though! I'm so mad! He had the perfect chance to tell him! And he didn't! Why, Tony! Why! Agh. I've raved enough about this episode on dA, so I'll shutup. Review!