Hi! This is a little request/challenge from WhatTheValhalla. I hope you'll like it, I have to say it was a bit hard, but yeah. here it is.

Request: What it would have been like if Maya hadn't been joking, if Tony really did have a son.

Disclaimer: Iron Man isn't mine!

A Great Father

"Tell me there's not a twelve-year-old boy waiting outside."

"Thirteen, actually." He gasped but internally was relieved. Thirteen was too old for the boy to be his. He wasn't sure he was ready to have a child – especially not one from a one-night-stand that was over ten years ago. The kid would hate him.

"Joking aside, he's not in the car, he's home. And yes he's yours." He froze literally. She couldn't be serious. He couldn't be a father – not that he never wondered about it in all of those years, it was a serious possibility with all the girls he had before Afghanistan. But he never…

His thought process was interrupted by a bag falling from the floor above, followed by a second one. He blinked and looked at the bags, not really realizing what they could possibly mean. He frowned and his attention snapped to the woman slowly making her way down the stairs.

"What…"

"You need to leave now, it's not…" Maya started, not talking about her son – their son – anymore, but going right back to the reason she was there.

"Pepper, where are you going?" he asked her, still a bit out of it, as his mind churned with the consequences of this new knowledge, and everything that was already on his plate with Happy, the Mandarin, his nightmares, his suits, everything.

"We are leaving," she insisted, stopping in front of him.

All thoughts of the boy he may be the father of flew from his mind as he started arguing with Pepper, Maya looking at them and the TV. What happened next made him forget about it completely because right now it wouldn't matter much if he couldn't even get out of the situation he ended up in alive.

~~{}~~

As Maya shot him one last look, blood flowing out of her, his mind reminded him of that small snippet of information he pushed in the back of it the day before. Her son.

He had just lost his mother, he didn't even know, he probably had no idea his mother had been a part of all of this.

Tony was still reeling from what they had done to Pepper, his beautiful, sweet, vulnerable, perfect Pepper, but that little boy… A boy with only his mother for all of his life, a boy he could imagine just as curious and free and cheerful as Harley, all alone because of one crazy man.

His son.

He was barely listening to Killian anymore, his brain on automatic as he responded, but he was elsewhere entirely.

He was going to get out of here and when he did, he would save Pepper and send a few gifts to Harley and then he would go see that boy. He would tell him – lie – how his mother had been a wonderful person, so driven, believing in a better world she could help make through her work. And he would try to do right by him, as he was trying by Pepper.

Maybe he wasn't what was best for this child, with everyone hating his guts, wanting him dead – the situation he was in was proof enough of that – but he would make sure the boy didn't suffer.

He didn't even know his name.

~~{}~~

Ty Hansen.

Born the 21st of September in 2000.

When everything finally went back to a pretence of normalcy, he took the time to look for him. The news of his mother's death had already been out then and he hoped whoever had told him had put Maya in a good light. You didn't say to a twelve years old his mother had been behind the 'bombs' of the Mandarin.

From what he gathered, he was living with his mother's sister and her husband, who already had a child of their own. It was probably for the best. But somehow Tony felt like it wasn't enough – he wanted to see him, just once, even if he wouldn't tell him who he was. Maybe it was after seeing Harley and how good he turned out even with the hard life he had, maybe it was because of how much he changed since he met Maya all those years ago. He didn't really have an explanation.

Pepper simply told him to do what he thought was right and to follow his heart. She wasn't angry, nor was she disappointed. She smiled at him in that simple way of hers and told him she would have been an idiot to think it wasn't a likely possibility that one day some girl would come to tell him he was a father.

So there he was, standing at the edge of a park, eyes sweeping over all the boys playing around, looking for the right one, one whose picture was firmly fixed inside his brain. Each boy with dark messy hair and light brown eyes caught his attention, but none of them had the round face, slightly tanned (though still pretty pale) skin, the little laughing wrinkles around the mouth or almost flat nose the boy he was looking for had.

He sighed and clicked his tongue, wondering what he should do. Maybe it was a sign he should just go before he did anything that could lead to a really problematic situation.

Yeah, I should probably do that, he thought, shaking his head and turning around, only to stop mid-step when he saw two kids standing there, looking nervous, and shy and freakingly adorable – god, what had become of him?

The little girl of about six or seven years bit her lip and held her arms out in which he could see a Iron Man toy with what looked like a doll with light red hair and – wait, did that doll seriously look like Pepper? He blinked before looking down at the puppy blue eyes the girl was offering.

He crouched down to be at her height and licked his lips uncertainly. She put Iron Man in his hands and turned towards the boy who was standing behind her, eyes narrowed at him, ready to rescue his sister (or not) if he tried anything.

That's when he realized it was the boy he'd been looking for for the past half an hour. His son.

The girl took the doll the boy was holding and Tony opened his mouth in surprise when he realized it was him. He wasn't even aware he had a doll made with his image.

"You're him!" the little girl then told him, with all the assurance of little girls. He looked down at the doll then back at her and nodded quite dumbly. Tony Stark made speechless by a six year-old girl, the press would have a field day with this. "You're Tommy Tart!" He had to hold back a smile at that, because if she wasn't absolutely adorable, he wouldn't have appreciated the 'tart' part of his name.

"Lily, it's Tony Stark, not Tommy Tart," the boy sighed, obviously used to her cousin's antics – because Tony recognized her as the daughter of Maya's sister now.

He smiled and shrugged one shoulder. "It's fine. I've been called worse." Much worse. "And Tony's fine."

The little girl brightened and her brown curls moved up and down as she bounced on her feet. "And that's Peppa!" She pushed the Pepper doll in front of his face, smiling brightly. "She's your princess!"

Tony grinned and took his sunglasses off to wink at her. "My very beautiful princess, yes."

She put the little Tony in his hand to take Iron Man. "That's you," she started very seriously, "you're Peppa hero!" He smiled softly at the girl.

"You wanna know a secret?" She nodded eagerly, eyes sparkling. "Peppa is a hero too, but shhh!" He put his finger at his mouth, looking around as if to make sure no one was listening. "No one musts know."

She zipped her mouth with her hands and smiled brightly. Ty put his hand on her shoulder and tugged gently. "Okay, Lily, come on, aunt Sarah is going to be worried." The little girl pouted and turned wide blue eyes to her cousin and Tony couldn't help but smile at the sight. God only knew how much girls knew that look well – and used it too well. "Sorry for bothering you, mister Stark."

"You didn't, don't worry, I always have time for everyone who wants it." He held out the doll to Lily and smiled at her. "Here, listen to your brother."

She took the doll and shook her head. "He's my cousin, not my brother!" She grinned at him and he noticed she was missing one of her front teeth. She then turned on her heels and raced towards a couple who was looking at him warily.

Ty turned to him. "I… Can I ask you something?" His throat tightened and he nodded. "My mom was a scientist and… did you know her?"

He licked his lips and gave him an amused smile. "Well, I know a lot of people but if I had a name…"

The boy blushed and rubbed the back of his head, looking down at his feet in embarrassment. "Maya Hansen."

Tony looked at his hands and took on a more serious expression. "I did. I'm sorry for what happened to her." He looked back up and noticed the watery eyes Ty was offering him. "She was very intelligent, one of the smartest people I've met. She was a great person." She just turned to the wrong ones.

He nodded before thanking him and rushing back to his aunt and uncle. Tony stood up again, and straightened the t-shirt he was wearing. He certainly didn't look much like what most people were used to seeing him with. No fancy suits, no hundred-dollar clothes. Just a good old jean, torn at the knees with a black t-shirt that had seen better days. The only thing that was relatively more of his standard was the leather jacket he was wearing. He was surprised the two kids had even recognized him when he was standing with his back at them.

"Sir?" he blinked and turned his head towards the voice, noticing it was Maya's sister, Sarah.

"Yes? I mean… Can I help you with something?"

She gave him a small smile. "I just wanted to make sure they didn't bother you."

He shook his head. "Not at all. She was quite entertaining." She gave him a sheepish smile and tucked a piece of black hair behind her ear.

"You're Tony Stark, aren't you?" He released an amused breath and nodded, smiling slightly. Everyone recognized him it seemed. "I… I don't mean to intrude or anything, but why are you here?"

He bit his lip, thinking it was now or never. He had come to a decision while talking to this little girl and his… son. He knew what he had to do to be right by him. The only thing left now was to make sure Sarah Owen knew who he was. "I… I'm sorry first for the loss of your sister."

"You don't have… I mean… I know why she died." She blinked away tears and looked at the two children playing. "Ty doesn't know but I'm sure you do."

Tony nodded because there was nothing he could say that would change what happened. "She tried to make it right in the end." She nodded, though he knew she wasn't entirely convinced. "I want you to know I want what's good for Ty." She turned her head to him, surprise clear in her brown eyes. "I… When I met Maya it was thirteen years ago. She…" He glanced at Ty before looking back at Sarah. Her hand flew to her mouth and she opened wide eyes.

"Oh my God, you're…"

"I won't take him away from you. He doesn't even have to know," he quickly said, before she could scream at him or tell him to leave them alone or just about anything. "I'm not ready for this and he's already twelve. He lost his mother, he doesn't need a stranger, claiming to be his father to take him away from his family."

She frowned. "You don't want him."

"It's not… I'm sure he's a wonderful boy but… I'm not… My life isn't really normal," he tried to explain, not knowing what he could say, what he should say. "I'm a mess right now and I barely can take care of myself, it would be irresponsible and wrong of me to take him." He ran a hand through his hair and stared down at his feet, blinking away the images of Pepper falling in that fire, of Happy in his hospital bed. The image of Harley in the arms of that guy appeared then and Tony had to take a breath to prevent himself from replacing him by Ty.

"Then what…"

He grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. She frowned, taking it before glancing back up at him when she realized it was a phone number. "I know I can't be there for him as a dad. But it doesn't mean I'm not willing to help. If you need anything, be it money or a plane or just something as ridiculous as a new table, give me a call, or send a text. It'll never be a problem."

She opened her mouth to say something, only to close it again. Her fingers clenched the paper and she nodded, closing her eyes on the tears that were about to fall. He hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on her arm, in some semblance of reassurance – he wasn't good at that kind of thing. "What if he asks?"

"Then do what you think is right. If you think he can know, tell him. If you want him to know but you think I should be the one to tell him… you know how to reach me." She nodded before biting her lip.

Tony smiled before turning around to walk back to his car – one that wasn't as outrageously ostentatious as the ones he usually drove. He was a few feet away from her when she called him. He looked back at her, frowning slightly. She offered him a smile. "You may not be ready to a dad, mister Stark, but once you'll be, I have no doubt you'll be a great one. Your child will be very lucky to have you."

On those words, she walked back to her family. He watched them as the two children got up from where they sat to head to their car. He watched as Sarah caught her husband's hand and told him something, showing him the card. He nodded as the man looked over at him. Maya's sister turned, smiling, and waved at him before following the kids back to the car, her husband just behind her.

He knew he made the right choice. Ty was happy with his family, with people he'd known his whole life. He might wonder who his father was and maybe he'll be angry and resentful at him the day he learned who he was, but Tony knew it was for the best. He had to pick up the pieces of his life, he had to get better, he had to make sure AIM was gone as well as Extremis. He had to make sure the messes he created were gone completely. And he couldn't do that and take care of a boy, whom he knew nothing about, who just lost his mother and who were away from everything he knew.

Tony got into his car and sighed. He put on his sunglasses and grabbed his phone. "Jarvis?"

"Sir?"

He pulled the car on the road and stared at the cars ahead, pushing onto the accelerator. Houses and trees sped by as he wondered what would have happened had Maya told him all those years ago. Would they have settled down to raise the child together? Would he have even believed her back then when he only partied, slept around and got drunk all the time? He wasn't sure. He knew for a fact he would have given her all the money she might have needed but… would he have helped her by being a father, by raising the child with her? No, he didn't think so or he would have surprised himself.

"Keep an eye on him. Put it on my private server. Just… to make sure he's happy and…" He didn't finish the thought but there was no need. Jarvis knew.

"I understand Sir."

As he drove fast, a smile stretched on his face. Her words gave him hope. It was true, he wasn't ready yet but… who knew? One day he may be. He wasn't against kids. It was too late for Ty, he knew it, but he would try to do his best anyway. The boy deserved nothing less.

He deserved everything he could possibly offer him and he would make sure he could actually give it to him without making him a target for any potential enemies, not even for SHIELD.

He would protect his son no matter what, a silent guardian watching over him. He didn't need his suits for that.

He was, after all, Iron Man.

So how was it? Review please!

AngelShep