A/N: So, I always said I would know when I was ready to start this fic. And so here we are, this fic is a bit of an "epic" literal YEARS in the making. No, this is not in the "Superfamily" universe and Peter Parker is not the child in the summary. This fic will begin shortly after Iron Man 2 ended and continue on until I feel it's best suited to end. It could encompass through Infinity War as I literally have years upon years of ideas, but we'll see.

Either way - here it is, the very first ever chapter of "Son of Iron". I truly hope it works out as well as I'd hoped.

DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING other than Ryan and other OCs that will show up from time-to-time, period.

CHAPTER 1
The Boy

Ryan Porter stood outside the doors to Stark Industries silently, debating on going in.

Perhaps he knew it was a dumb idea - but there was also the side of him that prodded him, begged him to go in. But yet again, his thoughts went toward what he would say. What would he do? How would the man that he wanted to see react?

Tony Stark was, after all, one of the busiest men alive. Between running Stark Industries, and being the "Invincible Iron Man", he had to lead quite the charmed life. Too charmed to even bother meeting a shaggy haired, thin thirteen year old that simply wanted to meet the man his mother had told him about.

Ryan wasn't even sure that Tony was his father. Chances were great that he wasn't, in fact. But this was, after all, an act of desperation. One of a few men his mother had been involved with before she'd had him. Of course, he wasn't even sure that his mother was telling the truth. She'd been on so many drugs at the end of her life that a part of him wondered if the intrepid love affair she'd had with Tony had all been a lie.

Yet still, he knew he had to try. He'd just moved to his sixteenth foster home in the past seven years, and now, he was facing a boys home. A place where he knew many kids went in - but few had even the slightest chance of finding what he desperately craved: a home.

He'd tried five men his mother had mentioned already. Yet all of them had turned out to be false leads, or dead ends. Tony was the second to last on the list, and the highest profile. But he also seemed to be the type to be caught at his mother's strip club, and get a little too "friendly" with her.

With a sharp intake of breath, the boy found his courage. Convincing himself that he had to if he had even the smallest of hopes of succeeding. He took a shaky hold of the door handle, and took one step into the office building, and then another, and another...

He planned it all out in his head, how he was going to politely ask to see Mr. Stark. How he was going to keep his cool despite the high levels of anxiety that built up inside of him. But as he made it to the front desk, and looked at the young secretary at the welcome desk, he felt his resolve falter. "Hello young man, what can I do for you?" Came her gentle question.

"I-I'm..." Ryan's voice caught in his throat. "I'm here to see Mr. Stark."

She gave the sweetest of smiles. "I'm sorry... But Mr. Stark is a busy man." She told him, trying to tell him off in a nice way. "If you'd-."

"Can you just tell him that the son of Zelda Porter is here?"

"I'm sorry, Zelda who?"

Ryan chewed his lip, his eyes darting around the office. What did he do? This woman wouldn't let him through, he realized. With a deep, raspy breath, he took some steps backward. "No one. Forget I said anything... This was stupid." He commented, turning around. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Of course, he'd be the one to back right up into him.

At first, Ryan thought he'd stepped into just any old man. After all, seeing the famous Tony Stark out in the world - in civilian clothing was not something one had happen everyday. And yet when he turned around, there he was, having been knocked a little ajar by him taking a few steps back into him.

Ryan's world stopped, time seemed to stand still, and then, before Tony could go on his way he shouted... "Tony Stark!" It froze the man who had already started off, a bodyguard to his right, in his tracks. "I'm... My name's Ryan..." He started forward, but found a hand held in front of him by the bodyguard.

"I'm sorry, son. But Mr. Stark is a busy man..."

"Mr. Stark, my name is Ryan Porter. You knew my mom, Zelda."

That seemed to grab the man's attention. Because within a moment, Tony had turned to face the young lad. Pushing his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, he looked over the young man slowly. "Is that name supposed to mean something kid?" He asked, seeming to indulge the claim.

"It should." Ryan replied. "You... You and her went out for a while, years ago... I thought you'd at least remember her."

Tony snorted, as if amused at his statement. "Sorry, Ryan, was it? I've had a lot of relationships with a lot of people. I can't remember them all." Tony looked as though he was trying to get off the subject. "So what is it you want? An autograph? Trying to use an old connection to get one?"

But as Tony reached into his pocket for a pen and paper, Ryan let all of his resolve fall. He let all of the casualness fall too. His anxiety got the better of him, and before Tony could say anything more, he half-shouted: "Mr. Stark, I think you may be my father."

Tony looked at him as if he'd been punched in the gut for all of five seconds. But got his resolve quickly. "You said your mom's name was...?"

"Zelda... Zelda Porter." Ryan replied. "You dated her for three years. But you broke up with her after your third anniversary."

Tony sighed, as if he was trying to avoid this. And it was in that moment that Ryan realized that Tony hadn't been listening before, and now that he was, he knew her. "Sorry, kid. But you've got the wrong man." Tony replied. "You're only, what, thirteen?"

"Yeah..." Ryan felt his face go red.

"Well, I'm sorry to say this. But your mom and I dated fifteen years ago." Tony replied, being nothing but blunt in a way that already embarrassed Ryan. "And it wasn't for three years, it was for three months. Where the hell did you get this ridiculous idea...?"

"My mom told me..."

"Yeah, no offense kid. But part of the reason I let her go was because you could barely trust her." Tony's words pierced the young man like an arrow to the heart. "Maybe you should go talk to her and get the real facts before you come in here. Making comments like that in the middle of my company's lobby..."

"I can't." Ryan replied. "She's dead."

Tony's brow furrowed a bit, especially as he saw the dejected look on the boy's face. "Oh, well, my condolences then." He paused. "Look, I feel for you. I really do. But I can't be of any real help to you, kid. I barely knew your mom, and once we broke up I didn't talk to her again. So, I mean, you should probably..."

"Move on." Ryan grunted. "You're the tenth guy to tell me that."

"Wow. Number ten? Your mom sure got around."

"Tony." His bodyguard, Happy, took a step forward, taking hold of his arm. "Come on, leave the kid alone."

Ryan stood his ground, however, not letting his resolve fall again. "It's OK. It was a long shot." Tony looked a bit perplexed. "It was still worth a shot... Thank you for your time, Mr. Stark. I'm sorry for embarrassing you. I just didn't know how else to ask."

Tony watched him silently as Ryan turned around to leave. For a moment, he considered leaving on his way as he'd already planned to. But within another moment, the inevitable guilt of how he'd handled the situation set in. "Look, kid." Ryan turned his head back towards the multi-billionaire as he made his way over, and put a hand on his shoulder. "You need a ride somewhere, or something? Soccer game? School?"

Ryan shook his head. "That's OK, Mr. Stark. I've caused you enough trouble."

"Yeah, but that, that's bad publicity." Tony told him bluntly, poking the boy in the chest. "So let me drive you somewhere before we end up on the cover of the local tabloids. The last thing I need is a gaggle of reporters waiting to ask you questions."

"But you're not my dad."

"I know, that's what makes it bad." Tony lied - trying to hide his guilt.

He really didn't know what he was doing, but at least he could get rid of that tight feeling in his stomach.

Ryan had never ridden in a limousine before.

They sat on opposite ends, looking at each other rather uncertain. It was after a long - uncertain amount of time that Tony spoke up. "So, that took... Some form of balls to do." Ryan raised his eyebrow. "Do you always decide to publically ask your potential fathers that?"

Ryan shook his head, looking down. "I knew I would never get an appointment. What was I supposed to do?" He asked, to which Tony gave a casual, quiet shrug on his shoulders. "I should have known my mom was lying though... She always did."

"Yeah... Let's not get into any sob story. I've heard enough of those from enough "illegitimate children" that have shown up at my doorstep." Ryan's eyes bulged at that. "Don't look too shocked. You're number twelve."

"Did you take them all in a limo?"

"No, because none of them pulled a desperate stunt like that."

Ryan literally wanted to go and die somewhere at that comment. He looked outside the window, watching as the world rolled by. "I just want out of my situation, Mr. Stark." He explained. "I mean, you were an orphan too, right? You can at least understand..."

Tony looked a little confused. "You're an orphan?"

Ryan shrugged. "I think so. Dad's out of the picture, my grandparents are dead... That pretty much makes me an orphan." Tony frowned, but finally nodded in agreement. "But lucky for you, you got a multi-billion dollar company. Me? I got a list of possible father's and crappy stints in multiple foster homes."

Tony held out a hand. "OK, seriously kid. If we're going to make it through this car ride, you need to stop with this. You're depressing me, and I have lunch with a business partner in an hour." He explained, tapping the watch on his wrist. "So you have ten seconds to get yourself out of that puddle of self pity or I'm dropping you off here."

Ryan looked at him annoyed. "You know, you're kind of an ass."

Tony chuckled, as if finding the words amusing. "Well, at least you don't hold back. Usually a kid like you would be worshiping the ground I walked on. It's annoying really."

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "No offense, but my favorite "superhero" was Captain America. You know, the guy from the forties?" Tony frowned, clearly very acquainted with the namesake - though hardly in person. "Maybe if you can bring him back from the dead I'd be starstruck. Or at least were in the Iron Man suit."

And with that - Tony actually smirked. It was almost strange, but he liked this kid - if only because he didn't hold back. It was actually amusing. "I didn't exactly bring my portable suit with me." He explained. "So where do you go from here?"

"Nowhere else. The last guy is in Nebraska." Ryan groaned, leaning back as he stared at Tony. "I guess wait until I'm eighteen and go looking then."

"Yeah, I'd say you're going to need a miracle with your mother's apparent memory."

"Watch it, she may not have been all there... Or really very nice to me... But she was still my mother."

Tony tried to hold back another quip in response to that. Though he supposed it was only fair, no one liked a guy talking badly about their mother. "Right, well, how much further are we to your foster home?" He asked.

"Boy's home." Ryan corrected. "And almost there... Don't worry, you won't hear from me again after that."

"Who said I was worried?" Tony pushed his sunglasses up his nose again. "I can honestly tell you this isn't going to effect me much at all. Other than making me late for my appointment."

"Don't look at me. You're the one that insisted." Ryan shrugged.

"You know, with that attitude maybe I'm wrong. Let's do a paternity test!" Tony replied sarcastically.

He was surprised when instead of taking offense, Ryan only laughed. He looked at Tony, and then added. After a moment, he looked at Tony, clearing his throat. "Look, thanks for the ride and all. You really didn't have to." He explained.

"Eh, it's like I said, reporters and all that junk..."

"No one could get tipped off that quickly." Ryan explained. "I know you were just trying to be nice, so thanks..."

After a moment, Ryan looked out the window again, and with one finger pointed out a large building. "Uh... This is my stop." Tony knocked on the window to give a signal to Happy before the limo came to a stop. "Uh... Thanks again."

"Don't mentio it. Don't show up again unannounced like that and we'll call it even." Tony replied, giving a tip of an imaginary hat.

Tony watched the boy get out rather quietly, but didn't have to for long. Within moments, he and Happy were yet again driving down the streets of Los Angeles. But even as he got his mind back in gear towards the meeting he was about to go to, he couldn't help but let his mind travel back to the boy...

He was quite the character. And even if he was a bit... Unusual, he had to admit, he'd certainly gotten his attention. And whether that was a good thing or not, he assumed, would be revealed in time.

In the meantime, he knew that Pepper would give him a mouthful when he told her the story.

A/N: Woo, first chapter at last! I really hope this came out as good as it did in my head. It's my first Marvel-set fic so if anything is OOC about Tony or any others just feel free to let me know, I am all for constructive feedback after all.