He was ten when IT happened.
He was just a skinny, thin and small ten year old carrying a rather large and heavy toolbox down the stairs when IT happened.
He slipped. He landed three stairs later face-first. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the toolbox crash his back. The thing is, it never came. He opened one eye, looked up and gasped. The toolbox was hovering a few inches above him. He gasped again and backed away from the flying toolbox. He sat there for a few more seconds until he relaxed. It was then that the toolbox fell with a loud crash.
It was then that he understood.
Don't say a word…
His dad hated mutants and his mom wouldn't give a damn. He knew that he had to keep this to himself if he wanted to look normal for everyone else. He knew from that moment on that he was mutant. And mutants were freaks of nature in this world. He did a little research on what he had just done and he discovered he had telekinesis. The power of lifting things with his mind. He decided to train in private.
Don't say a word…
OOO
He was twelve when he discovered he had the power over ice and snow. This power was very tricky because it was powered by emotions. And if he lose control of those emotions, he lost control over the power. So that was one of the reasons why he build up those walls in his heart and used that sarcastic mask, and in later years, he drank to forget. To forget what kind of treatment his father always gave him. He wouldn't even dare to try and think what would had happened if he had ever been caught.
Whenever he lost his temper, he would go to his room, locked the door and let it go. He felt better afterwards, but he had to wait hours for the ice to melt.
Months later, he figured how to melt it. With emotions.
OOO
A year after that, a strange, bald man came to visit him. He was in a wheelchair and apparently he had made sure neither of his parents were at home so he could come by.
'Hello, Anthony."
'You… you spoke to me. In my mind.'
'Indeed I have.'
Tony was mesmerized: Charles Xavier spoke to him with his mind. He was not alone. Someone wanted to help him.
Charles, or Charlie as Tony had taken to call him, offered him to join his school for mutants, where they learned to control their powers. Tony accepted and they told off his parents it was a school for geniuses. His parents eagerly accepted. Anything to be away from their son.
At the school, he meet an older boy with strange glasses and girl with fiery red hair that he quickly became friends with. Then, another girl with weather powers came to the school and became instant friends. He spend a year there before he had to go to college.
OOO
He was seventeen, finished his several degrees at MIT and it was also the time his parents died in a car crash. He couldn't say he was upset because he wasn't, but he couldn't say he was happy either.
Stane took over the company until he was of age to take over it. During that time, he trained with his powers and could already lift over five hundred pounds. He still had trouble with the ice, but as long as he could keep his emotions in check, he was ok.
And don't say a word…
OOO
He turned twenty-one and officially became CEO of Stark Industries. A few months into the job he was already tired of it. He needed an assistant.
He hired one. Didn't last a week. He hired another; didn't last five days. He hired another; didn't last an hour. And so on and on, he hired dozens of assistants (most that he flirted with) and none of them lasted more than two weeks.
Then one day, he was signing a huge stack of papers when he heard a small commotion outside his office. He looked up from the papers to the door. Just then, a woman with fiery red hair, some freckles and a pony tail came stomping to his desk with a serious look on her face and another stack of papers on her hand. Great.
"Mr. Stark?"
"And you are?" He asked, curiosity filling him.
"I am Virginia Potts, I work at the financial department." She added under her breath. "Well, used to."
But Tony heard that anyway. "And may I ask, Miss Potts, why are my guards laying on the floor and rubbing their eyes?"
"They wouldn't let me in."
"What did you used?"
"Pepper spray." She simply said, like nothing ever happened.
Tony tried not to laugh too hard. The image was hilarious, seeing Happy and another guard rubbing their eyes. Miss Potts sighed and handed him the folder.
"I was checking these files when I noticed a slight error on your calculations that could have been a waste of millions of dollars to the company."
Tony checked the market page and smirked. "Ah, yes. I remember this. I might have been drunk." He looked back at Pepper. "In which department you said you worked?"
"Financial department."
"You're fired." He said.
"I know. Mr. Anderson took the liberty to do so this morning." She was trying hard not to cry or show any sign of weakness, but Tony knew better. He knew of emotions and when people wanted to mask them, being an expert himself. She turned around to leave, but Tony stopped her. This was the kind of woman he needed.
"You wouldn't let me finish. I'll hire you as my assistant. I do need one desperately."
Miss Potts turned around eyes wide as plates. "But… I was fired."
"And I re-hired you. Someone that spotted a mistake on my math is someone worth admiring. And besides, if you accept, the pay will be almost the triple. Your salary will be way better than Mr. Anderson's. So, what do you say, Pepper?"
"Pepper?"
"Pepper spray? Don't try to change it, it will stay like that anyway."
Pepper thought about it. A triple pay sounded nice…Tony was glad she accepted because for the next few years, he would need her more than he would admit.
OOO
Then came Afganistan.
He was so scared. So, so scared, he had forgotten about his powers. But he was too weak to use them anyway. The amount of food was small and he did not get much sunlight. He hoped Charlie would find him with Cerebro, but he doubt it because he was sure he was giving off very small signs of power.
He met Yin Sen. A terrific person. Fantastic human being. He saved his life by hooking him up to a car battery. He opened his eyes to a whole new world; a world that he had helped create. An unfair world where people suffered and died because of weapons. His weapons with his name on them.
"Do you have family?" He recalled that Yin asked him once.
"No, I don't." He replied.
"So you are the kind of man that has everything and yet, nothing."
He was right. But he did have friends to return to.
So he created the miniature Arc Reactor for his chest so he could work. He was going to get them out of there. He was going to bring Yin to see his family.
So he created Iron Man mark I.
He was pretty sure that Yin did not knew about his powers, but sometimes he looked at him like he knew.
He got out of the cave, but Yin couldn't make it.
"You will see your family, Yin. Just hold on." He told him. He was weak, but he would return Yin the favor for saving his life.
"No, I'll see them now." Realization came to Tony. "They are all dead." Yin gasped. Tony wanted to cry so badly, but so many years of holding his emotions made him almost immune. Yin grabbed his shoulder. "Don't waste your life on keeping them away. Live."
So Yin knew. And he died, taking that secret to the grave…
OOO
Then it was Obie's betrayal. That hurt too much. Someone who he had looked up all those years ago, had just stolen what kept him alive, almost killed Pepper, almost killed him, almost killed other people and he practically stabbed him in the back. It was too much. There were too many emotions to keep. So when he finally got home, he went straight down to his lab and he barely entered. His cryokinesis (ice power) went out of control, freezing the walls and the floor and covering everything in snow. Dummy tried to move from where he was but discovered that the floor was too slippery to move around. Dummy never tried to move around frozen floors again.
Tony rested himself against the far wall and sighed.
But he kinda forgot that there was no windows or door, so you could imagine the fear that struck him when Pepper and Rhodey walked right into his frozen workshop.
Surprisingly, they took it well. They even promised to keep his secret a secret. So he gave them his trust. But he did ordered Jarvis to follow their every move, just in case, especially Rhodey.
OOO
Then, months later, the thing that was keeping him alive was in fact killing him slowly and painfully.
Then there was this goddamn one eyed pirate that worked for this organization called SHIELD.
He had to deal with Coulson again.
Then there was the supposed assistant that turned out to be a SHIELD agent, gave him a medicine for the poison and then they were expecting him to help them.
Then he also had to deal with the guy that copied his designs. And Hammer too.
He found a new way to keep himself alive from the poison, using a new element he discovered- correction, rediscovered.
Then he had to deal with an enraged Pepper and Rhodey and explain why he was dying and how did he survived.
Yep, it was a very interesting year.
OOO
Then he had to deal with a damn alien invasion. There was this strange fellow that believed himself to be a god from Asgard, he had big daddy issues and a brotherly rivalry with Thor. Oh, and he had a thing for hats with horns.
"What's up Reindeer Games?" That remark alone earned him a bruise to his pride later on.
Fury had asked him to come over the Helicarrier to investigate something on gamma rays with Dr. Bruce Banner. He actually made a pretty good friendship with Bruce. Together they were the science bros. Also, he had to deal with a clumsy and thunder-happy Asgardian, an enraged assassin who's friend was being controlled by Loki, deal with Fury, and deal with Mr. Frozen-Underpants (a ninety year old virgin). Then, the Hellicarrier was shot down. He had to repair it. Bruce was nowhere to be found.
And Phil died.
"The first time you lost a soldier?" Steve asked.
"We are not soldiers!" Tony shouted. He was angry at the world. He was angry at everyone. He was angry at himself. He was angry at Capsicle. And he was angry with Phil. For being incredibly brave. And stupid.
He longed for a private moment to let out his emotions.
After all this drama, he had to endure a full Chitauri battle in New York where he almost died to keep it safe by sending the nuke into the bloody wormhole. After it was all over, they got Loki and brought him into SHIELD's custody. There was also the matter of finding Bruce a new pair of pants.
Aside from all of this, he had to contact Pepper, tell her he loved her, grab a cup of coffee, tell Jarvis to turn on the music out loud and stay shut in one of the Tower's rooms so he could let go of the emotions he had bottled up from all day. The walls were instantly covered in ice and it was snowing from the ceiling. Amazingly, his coffee cup was as hot as the sun, so as long as his coffee was fine, he wouldn't give a shit about anything else. Not even the New York mayor, who was billing him the damages to the city. A couple of hundred…millions…
Not a problem at all, just a little disturbing.
A few days later, Fury told him he had to keep the rest of the Avengers in his tower. So obviously, Tony being Tony, he bitched about it. But at the end of the day, Fury had the last word. And Tony did wanted to keep his new found-green- friend in the tower, so he agreed anyways. But with a few last words.
"Fuck you, Fury." And he gave him his middle finger.
OOO
So much he has done to keep his emotions in check and such is his life a complete misery…
…he lost it.
He couldn't recall how it happened. How many times he tried to hide it. He was just discussing with Steve in front of everyone because Dummy had accidentally destroyed the stove while making a smoothie, and then the shouting began.
"I told not to insult my robots!" Tony shouted at him.
"Tony, they are just machines. They're not even alive." Steve snapped.
The robots, Dummy, Butterfingers and U, all made a sound that sounded like an insulted gasp.
"Mr. Rogers, that was totally uncalled for." Jarvis said as the robots made different sounds that resembled crying. He was clearly offended as well.
Tony glared at Steve. "Those robots have done more than you ever have for me. They have been my company when there was no one around."
"They're machines." Steve snapped stubbornly, refusing to see Tony's view. "And if you have been alone in the past, that's because you push everyone away!"
"Shut up." Tony mumbled, he was feeling it at every inch of his body. The temperature lowered a little bit. Pepper noticed this but the Avengers did not. She took a step back.
"Listen, Tony. I just want you to take them away from here."
"And if I don't? This is my tower, Steve. I do whatever the hell I want in here. And if I want to explode it with you inside it, I will!"
Steve glared at him. "Your father would be very disappointed at you-"
"SHUT UP!"
He did not even noticed. He had just felt this need to get it out. That's where he snapped. "You only knew him for his fucking mask and not for who he really was! An abusive parent who thought his only son was a freak and a disappointment and that he should not have never been born! Ever!"
That's when he noticed that Steve has taken several steps back and was shivering in cold. He looked around and the rest were shivering as well, Bruce was breathing in and out to keep himself calm. Tony looked up and it was snowing.
"Oh…"
He fled.
He ran up to his lab. He ran to the nearest mirror, a hand mirror he kept in his lab, and looked at himself. His face was a little paler and his brown eyes were glowing an icy blue color. He closed them and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
They knew. They knew it now. All because he lost his temper to Captain fucking America. He grabbed the hand mirror and using his telekinesis, threw it across the large room. It shattered at the end wall. He breathed.
In, out. In, out.
It started snowing and a few tools were floating around him. He couldn't control it anymore. All those years of building that damn mask only to be blown off by a frozen lollipop. He sank to his knees and cried softly. They were going to tell SHIELD who he really was and therefore, everyone else will know. He was going to lose everything; his name, his dignity, Pepper, Rhodey, his robots. Everything he had worked so hard to keep was going to be taken away from him. All because he was a mutant. They were going to experiment on him because he was a mutant. They were going to make him a weapon because he was a mutant.
His hands twitched and a few snowflakes purred out of his fingers. He wanted to freeze something, anything that served as a punching bag. But the problem was, he couldn't. Why? He was a wreck.
He sat there on the floor crying his eyes out for a few more minutes when he heard the familiar heel sound across the floor getting closer to him. He just stayed there. Pepper sat beside him on the cold floor with her favorite red winter jacket on. The image would have been funny if he wasn't thinking of his possible future.
"Hey, it's ok." She hugged him. She rubbed his back in small circles and whispering words of comfort.
"They are going to tell everyone." He simply said; his voice a little raspy.
Pepper looked at him in shock. "How can you say that?"
Tony finally looked at her, his eyes still blue. Pepper was a little taken aback, but the reaction was hidden well. "Do you know what happens to mutants?"
"They are… hidden away?"
"They are tortured, experimented on, and in extreme cases, they are killed. Nothing serious. Just taking care of a flew pests…"
Pepper fought the urge to puke. "Tony… They are not going to tell anyone."
"What makes you so sure? They all work for SHIELD. I can only trust Bruce because he's the closest to what I am and he would understand."
Pepper had tears in her eyes. Tony looked at her with sad eyes. The tools that were in midair hovered back into their respective places and the snow and ice melted. He hugged Pepper and silently cried on her shoulder.
"I don't want to be a lab experiment, Peps."
Pepper did not say anything and just hugged him like there was no tomorrow.
"Whoa…" It was heard at the back of the room. "That was so cool."
Tony desperately looked at the owner of the voice: Clint. But it was not only him who was standing there. Natasha, Thor, Bruce and even Steve were there. He felt his heartbeat accelerate a little bit at the sight of them.
Bruce stepped forward with his hands in his pants pockets. "Listen, Tony. What we saw, it was a little freaky coming from you. You are actually the last person to be-"
"A freak?"
"A gifted person." Bruce said. "We wouldn't do anything to harm you." He turned to the team. "Right, guys?" He growled. They instantly agreed. They didn't need a green code right now.
Tony looked at them with a look of confusion, mistrust, fear and everything in between. "How do I know I can trust you? I mean, I trust Bruce, but I don't trust the Widow, the Capsicle, I don't know if I can trust the Hawk and Point Break definitely doesn't know what being a… gifted person means." He glared at each one of them. The glow in his eyes diminished a little.
Natasha spoke. "Listen, we don't care if you are the most insufferable dick we ever encountered-" Tony smirked at that. "But- I can't believe I'm saying this- you are our friend. Enough said. Even if sometimes we just want to snap your neck and end it." She finished with her trademark impassive look.
"I must know what a mutant in this world means." Thor said.
"We'll explain later." Bruce said.
"So you can freeze and levitate things. That's so cool. Get it? Cool?" Clint said. Everyone looked at him with annoyed looks.
"Just. Don't." Tony said. His eyes finally turned back into the chocolate eyes he was well known of having.
Clint shrugged. "So, what level are you?"
"Not telling you until I'm sure you're not going to spill out the beans. I'll tell you someday… When you are dead. Jarvis?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Make sure that for the next several months, you update me with everything that these guys do until I am sure they can be trusted."
"Of course, Sir."
"You are going to spy on us?" Natasha asked.
"No exceptions." Tony said.
Clint looked around at the sudden silence. "So, what now?"
Hey, guys. Thanks for stopping by and read my fanfic. I had these idea for a long time and Probably there will be other chapters that might include characters from Age of Ultron. Most likely, an alternate universe.