A/N: Alright. I'm not normally one to do these author's notes but I feel I need to explain a couple of things before we get into this. Firstly, this was originally written for my own entertainment. I had no plans on sharing this anywhere, however, after spending a lot of time writing this, I figured I should probably share it somewhere instead of it virtually collecting dust on my laptop.

It was only as I was writing chapter nine that I started considering sharing it. At that point, I decided to take a look through the Avengers archive and found some other fanfics with the same concept. (I have to say, some of those are amazing, and this probably won't meet the same standard). Any similarities between my OC and others OC's in a story with a similar concept is purely coincidental. I didn't read anything like this story until after finishing chapter nine.

Chapter One: The Disappearance and The Return

January 2009

It was 3.35PM and Miss Henderson's second grade class had all left the playground in a hurry accompanied by their parents. All of her class, that is, save one: a young seven-year-old boy with gelled spiky black hair and blue eyes. Whilst it was frowned upon, as a teacher, to have favourites, it was a well-known fact amongst others in the profession that it was impossible not to have your favourites. It was just important not to show it. The young boy sat on the step outside her classroom staring at the gates intently was one of those children she couldn't help but view as a favourite. He was sweet, good-natured, hard-working and grounded despite his background. Whilst he didn't appear to share the same intellect as his father, he would always push himself and try his best, and Miss Henderson valued that.

In the five months that she'd been teaching the class, the boy had never been collected late. At 3.20 on the dot, a smartly dressed woman would always be there for the boy. Miss Henderson approached the boy, sitting down on the step next to him. "Who's coming to pick you up today, Leo?" She asked him gently.

The boy sighed as he looked up at her. "My Dad. I knew he'd forget," Leo grumbled as he dropped his gaze down to the floor. "He's always working."

Miss Henderson felt a pang of sympathy for the young boy. From the outside, his life looked glorious. He had a nice house, lots of money and a huge company to take over when he was older. It was only now, however, that Miss Henderson realised how little Leo spoke about his dad. Other children would ask him and the boy would, smartly, divert their attention on to something different. At the meet-the-teacher session at the start of the academic year, Miss Henderson had been excited to meet the boy's father; instead she'd spent fifteen minutes introducing herself and talking about Leo's progress to the man's assistant. Even on careers day, when all the parents had been invited in to speak about their own careers, Leo's father's assistant had come in his place.

Miss Henderson had never thought much of it. Juggling running a huge company and looking after a child had to be difficult but she had assumed that the man spent time with his son in the evenings. Leo's grumbled statement seemed to suggest the opposite. "What about Pepper? Shall we try calling her to come get you?" Miss Henderson suggested, though she wasn't sure that it would be a possibility. If the assistant wasn't busy elsewhere, there wouldn't have been arrangements for Leo's father to collect.

"She's in Washington. She went to see her mom," Leo answered with a shake of his head.

"Alright. Is there anyone-" Miss Henderson began to ask another question but was interrupted by a shout from across the playground.

"Leo! Come on!" Teacher and student were both equally surprised by the sudden voice. They both looked across the playground to find the source of the shout. A man in his late thirties stood at the gate, dressed in a black suit with his eyes covered by sunglasses.

"That's my dad," Leo told her, as if she didn't know who the man was. The young boy scrambled to his feet and grabbed his backpack then ran across the playground in a hurry. It wasn't the run of excitement to see his dad after a long day at school, like most of the children in her class. It was a scampered run in an attempt not to delay his dad any longer. There was no loving embrace when the boy reached his dad either. Instead, Leo slowed into a walk and headed off the school premises ahead of his dad.

Miss Henderson ran across the playground after father and son as they made the walk towards the black car waiting for them. "Actually, sir, if I could just have a moment of your time," She called after the father. This was her first time meeting him and she wasn't about to let him go rushing off without any introductions.

"Not a good time," the man responded dismissively as he reached the car. "I'm late for a meeting. Put something in my diary with my assistant when she returns next week."

"I am not a reporter! I am your son's teacher!" Miss Henderson exclaimed, exasperated. Miss Henderson prided herself in being level-headed and diplomatic with problematic parents. She had only just met the man and, with three sentences, he'd already annoyed her. "You are, in fact, twenty minutes late picking your son up and you seem more concerned about being late to a meeting than that."

The man turned to face her, taking his sunglasses off. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss?"

"Henderson," She told him through gritted teeth.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss Henderson, but you don't look old enough to have children of your own. So don't start trying to talk to me about parenting," the dad told her as he pulled the door of the car open. Miss Henderson stared at him in shock, no words coming to her for a response. "Leo, get in the car!" He instructed his son as the man got into the car himself.

Leo gave his teacher an apologetic look before opening the door of the car his side and climbing in, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Mr Stark-" Miss Henderson began in an attempt to start over but the billionaire continued to show no interest in a conversation with her. Tony pulled the car door shut and the car drove away, leaving Miss Henderson standing alone on the sidewalk trying not to imagine herself punching a parent in the face.

February 2009

Leo sat at the kitchen table, attempting to complete his homework. He was, however, being distracted by Pepper's continual attempts to usher his dad out of the house. From the parts of the conversation he had overheard, his dad was supposed to be on a plane heading to Afghanistan by now. Leo wasn't surprised to hear that his dad was, once again, late for something.

A sudden explosion from the TV screen on the wall of the kitchen distracted Leo from the interaction between his dad and Pepper. Leo looked at the TV screen to see a news report from Afghanistan, talking about how soldiers had died, and some in critical condition, after a mine explosion.

Leo felt a pang of dread in his stomach as he turned back to his dad, who was slowly pulling his suit jacket on whilst Pepper was pointing to her watch in frustration. "Don't go!" Leo exclaimed suddenly.

"It's work, kid. It's important," Tony told him.

"Exactly! It's important. Which is why you shouldn't be late," Pepper responded, using his own words against him.

"But you're always working. We never do anything fun together. It's just work, work, work, work, work," Leo yelled. "Johnny's dad takes him swimming. Mason's dad plays football with him. Jamie's dad goes to laser tag with him every single weekend and they only see each other on weekends. You do nothing with me."

"One day, you will understand that my work is important-" Tony began.

Leo cut him off, "One day, you will understand that family is important."

"Right. I'm going," Tony declared, turning and walking out of the room.

The brief pang of dread he had felt was long forgotten, instead replaced by anger and frustration towards his dad. Leo shouted after the figure of his dad walking away, "I hate you!"

Leo Stark sat in his second grade class paying no attention to Miss Henderson as she taught a Math class. It was the day after his dad had left for Afghanistan and he still felt lots of anger towards his dad. He'd watched, that morning, as his classmates had said their goodbyes to their dads; all complete with a loving embrace and nowhere near close to the 'I hate you' that Leo had told his dad. He didn't regret saying it. He just wished he didn't have to say it. He wished he had a dad who cared less about work and more about him.

"Leo Stark!" The sudden voice of his teacher, Miss Henderson, interrupted his thoughts. He looked up from the piece of paper he had been dawdling on and was surprised to see one of the receptionists in the doorway of the classroom. "Can you follow Miss Thompson to reception?"

Leo made no move to get up. "Why?" He questioned.

"Pepper needs to talk to you. It's important," Miss Thompson answered his question softly. Leo instantly felt uneasy. Miss Thompson had a reputation around the school for being blunt and grumpy. The tone she had used to answer him was neither of those. The way that she was looking at him also didn't match the usual disregard for children she normally had. It was caring, sympathetic and Leo didn't like it.

He picked his backpack up off the floor and made his way to the front of the classroom. The walk through the corridors from his classroom to the reception was done in silence. Leo was glad for that. He didn't want Miss Thompson talking to him in that soft, gentle way ever again.

Rounding the corner into the reception, Leo's eyes instantly fell on Pepper and he knew that something was seriously wrong. Her eyes were red and she was trying her hardest to push back tears that were threatening to escape her eye. Leo stopped in his tracks at the sight of yet another person being uncharacteristic. Pepper was normally well composed; he couldn't remember ever seeing Pepper upset like she was.

"Pepper?" He asked uncertainly.

"Leo. Something's happened. Your dad. He's missing."

March 14th 2009

Leo sat on the couch in the living room, watching a movie about spies as he fought to keep his eyes open. Pepper looked over the top of her laptop, smiling as she watched the boy's fight to stay awake. She closed the lid of her laptop and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Leo. "Come on, you. Bed time. You must be tired after all that running around. I never knew you were so good at laser tag," Pepper commented.

"I want to finish the movie!" Leo complained, showing no signs of making any move. "I play laser tag whenever I go to Jamie's at the weekend. We team up against his dad!" Leo told her excitedly. He then, for the first time since the movie started, looked away from the TV screen, looking up at Pepper. "Thank you for organising the best birthday party ever!"

"It's not every day you turn eight, is it?" Pepper replied with a smile. Leo grinned back at her but the happiness suddenly disappeared from his face. "Are you thinking about him?" She asked gently.

"He should have been here today," Leo confirmed.

"They're still looking for him. They won't stop until they find him," Pepper told him, trying to keep Leo optimistic.

"I don't think… I want them to find him," Leo admitted hesitantly. Pepper stared at the young boy, unsure of how to respond. She knew Leo didn't have the closest relationship with his father but she would never have expected him to say that. Before Pepper could find a response, Leo continued, "These boys at school keep saying… they say that he's dead. I don't want them to find him dead."

Pepper had to stop herself from letting out a huge sigh of relief. Leo's expansion upon what he had said didn't sound as bad as his first statement. "Leo, the investigators don't think he's dead. They've found no evidence to suggest that. I wouldn't want to keep your hopes up. I'd tell you. There's bad people over there. They think they've got your dad."

"It's like the spy movie! They got caught by the bad guys but they escaped! They climbed through the vents and then fought their way out past the bad guys. Dad can do that. He can escape!" Leo exclaimed excitedly, suddenly full of energy, optimism and no longer fighting to keep his eyes open. Pepper couldn't see the young boy going to bed any time soon.

April 2009

Captivity was boring. Tony was glad he had Yinsen as company and the suit project to work on because, otherwise, he would have gone crazy within the first month of captivity. It was nearing three months now and he was really starting to get fed up of backgammon. Nevertheless, it was something to preoccupy himself with and so, each evening, Yinsen and Tony would sit down, play backgammon and talk. "You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony pointed out to Yinsen as he waited for Yinsen to take his turn.

"I'm from a small town called Gulmira," Yinsen told him as he rolled the dice onto the board. "It's actually a nice place."

"Got a family?" Tony asked him, interested in finding out more about the man he'd spent the last few months of his life with.

"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here," Yinsen answered, voice filled with a confidence that Tony was grateful for. Yinsen's confidence in their plan helped Tony to believe that he could pull it off. "And you, Stark?" Yinsen asked.

Tony met Yinsen's eyes momentarily before glancing down, clearing his throat before speaking, "Yeah. I've got a kid. A son."

"You've never mentioned him," Yinsen commented.

"I haven't stopped thinking about him," Tony replied with a sigh, a tone of regret filling his voice. "My own father was… distant. Busied himself with work. It seemed like that was all he cared about. He never took much time for me. I resented him for that and yet, I did what he did. The last thing Leo, my son, said to me before I came out here was that he hated me."

"How old is your son?" Yinsen asked.

"He's seven. No, I missed his birthday. He's eight now," Tony answered as he picked the dice up from the backgammon board, absent-mindedly messing with them in the palm of his hand.

"You still have time, when we get out of here, to put things right," Yinsen pointed out to him with all his optimism.

Tony nodded, "Yes. I have to."

May 2009

Leo Stark sat in his second grade class paying no attention to his class teacher. He was staring out the window, looking up at the planes flying over New York City hoping, as he did every day, that his dad was safe and sound on a plane coming back home. It was three months since Tony Stark had disappeared. Leo hadn't been told many details but he knew that his dad's convoy had been fired upon by enemy forces and Tony Stark hadn't been seen since. In the months since his dad's disappearance, Pepper had been looking after him; not that it felt much different from before his dad disappeared. For as long as he could remember, Pepper had always been the one watching out for him and comforting him when he was injured and ill. His dad was often busy with work and Leo hadn't ever gotten to spend much time with him. That didn't stop the young boy from missing his dad and wishing that he'd been there in March for his eighth birthday.

"Leo Stark!" The sudden voice of his teacher, Miss Henderson interrupted his thoughts. He turned his attention from the window and the planes to his teacher at the front of the room. Leo was less than happy to see Miss Thompson stood in the doorway of the classroom. He swallowed heavily as he tried not to let his mind go back to the news he'd received last time he was in this situation. "Can you follow Miss Thompson to reception?"

Leo frowned, confused as to what was going on but knew better than to ask. The sooner he got to reception, the sooner he'd find out what it was all about. He grabbed his backpack and followed the receptionist out of the room.

Rounding the corner into reception, Leo was met by the sight of Pepper. She looked nervous and upset but there was a spark in her eye, a spark that Leo hadn't seen for three months. Leo felt his heart beat faster in his chest, hoping that this was the moment he'd been dreaming of for the past three months. "Pepper?" He questioned as he approached her.

Upon seeing him, Pepper broke into a smile. A proper smile. Not the sympathy smiles that Leo had become used to seeing from everyone over the past three months but a proper, wholesome smile. "They found him, Leo. They found your Dad. He's coming home," Pepper told him the news.

With that news, Leo grinned and ran at Pepper, hugging her. "I knew it!" He whispered as they hugged. For the last three months, the young boy had insisted to everyone that his dad was still alive. He'd overheard on the news, before Pepper had a chance to turn it off, that there was a theory he was being held captive. Since then, Leo had formed a fantasy of his dad planning his escape; a fantasy he'd told everyone who would listen.

Pepper broke the hug after a while. "Come on," she said. "Let's go meet him at the airport."

Happy got them to the airstrip in rapid time. As soon as the car had stopped, Leo jumped out impatient to see his dad. Leo wasn't happy to learn that his dad's plane hadn't landed and that he'd have to wait around for it. Whilst waiting, Leo found a stone on the tarmac and entertained himself by using it to draw a small circle and then attempting to throw the stone into the circle. As time went by, Leo mastered the art of throwing the stone into the small circle and grew bored of the game.

Leo kicked the stone away and it was only once he finished his game that he realised they were no longer alone on the airstrip. Soldiers had arrived around them with an ambulance. Leo stared at the ambulance, worried.

"Hey, he'll be fine. He's just got a few injuries from his escape. It's nothing serious," Pepper assured him after spotting that he'd seen the ambulance.

After what felt like years of waiting, the US air force plane finally came into sight. "Look!" Leo exclaimed, spotting the plane first and pointing to it as it came into land.

"Just wait here. Don't bombard him. He's going to be tired," Pepper warned the excited young boy as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Leo bounced from foot to foot impatiently as the back of the plane slowly opened. He grinned when the door opened enough to reveal Rhodey and his dad. The grin faltered slightly when he saw the wheelchair his dad was sat in, briefly concerned about injuries again. These concerns were quickly forgotten when Tony stood up and, with Rhodey's help, walked down the ramp onto the airstrip tarmac.

Leo got frustrated when he saw the paramedics got to approach his dad first. Why should complete strangers get to talk to him before he had a chance to? The frustration didn't last long as he watched his dad wave them away, instead walking straight to him and Pepper. Leo felt Pepper's grip on his shoulder loosen and, taking this as a sign that he could move now, Leo ran to Tony, wrapping his arms around his dad's waist. "Dad!"

"Hello Leo," Tony greeted the young boy, patting him on the back with his left hand and trying not to grimace as Leo knocked his sling. "Watch the arm, kid."

Leo pulled back instantly. "I'm sorry," he apologised.

"No, don't worry about it. Come here!" Tony said, smiling as he wrapped his left arm around his son. Leo grinned and Pepper couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight. Whilst she knew he hadn't done it intentionally, Tony had never been particularly close with his son for the first seven years of his life. He let himself get too wrapped up in work and, by the time he was finally finished in the evenings, Leo would be fast asleep in bed. She hoped that three months away from Leo will have made him realise what he was missing. The sight in front of her suggested that could be the case. "Your eyes are red," Tony commented, speaking to Pepper, "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

"Tears of joy," Pepper replied with a smile. "I hate job-hunting."

"Yeah, vacation's over," Tony responded before walking past her, heading to the car with Leo. Pepper followed after them, watching as Tony opened the door and ushered his son inside.

"Where to, sir?" Happy asked from the driver's seat as Pepper got into the car, pulling the door shut. Leo had done his seat belt up and was in the process of helping his dad with his, not that Tony couldn't have managed it single-handedly.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Pepper requested.

Tony immediately spoke up following her request, "No!"

"No?" Pepper repeated, looking straight over at him. "Tony you have to go to the hospital."

"No is a complete answer," Tony insisted, staying stubborn.

"The doctor has to look at you," Pepper told him, not ready to back down straight away.

"I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months," Tony reminded them, as if any of them could have forgotten so quickly. "There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger," he listed firstly, gaining approval from Leo.

"Yeah! Burgers!" Leo exclaimed, fully up for a trip to the nearest fast food restaurant. "And fries!"

"And fries," Tony agreed with a nod. "And the other-" Tony returned to his conversation with Pepper.

Before Tony could finish what he wanted to say, Pepper interrupted him with a pointed look at Leo, "That's enough of that."

"Is not what you think," Tony insisted. "I want you to call for a press conference now."

"Call for a press conference?" Pepper repeated.

"Yeah," Tony confirmed.

"What on Earth for?" Pepper questioned in an attempt to get more answers from Tony. After the ordeal he'd been in, surely a press conference was the last thing he wanted.

"Hogan, drive," Tony instructed, refusing to answer Pepper's question. "Cheeseburger first."

Happy nodded and started driving, leaving the airstrip behind. "Tony," Pepper started, trying once more to get some answers.

Tony seemed to be actively dodging giving her any sort of explanation as he turned his focus to Leo. "Look at you! You've got big. Eight years old now. How was the birthday party?"

As Leo excitedly began giving his dad all the details about his laser tag birthday party, Pepper gave up on trying to get an explanation and got her phone out to set up the press conference. Apparently, she'd know what he was up to when the press knew.