I am really grateful to those who read the story so far and liked it. It's always good there's someone wanting more – it really motivates me. Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

'Have you ever been to America before, James?' Tony asked cheerfully. The boy didn't feel like talking, but decided that if he were nice, maybe people would be kind in return. Not that he had ever experienced that in his life, but it was worth giving it a go.

'Yep. I came with my dad a couple of times. He wanted to show me how he does business overseas and meet a couple of people. But I didn't get much time to see anything, except from a couple of conference rooms and board meetings. ' He sighed. His father saw him as nothing more than just an heir to the family fortune and now the only person who seemed to be interested in what happened to him – his mother – was gone. Tony felt weird. As if he wasn't listening to a story of a kid from England, but his own.

'Well, you can catch up with that now, I'll show you around, take you to a couple of cool places. Fancy that?' he winked at James.

'Well, I don't want to be a problem, I know you've got work and everything…' James expected to be dumped in his room for the rest of the month and occasionally offered food, not a proper holiday abroad. Besides, his father told him, not to interrupt 'Anthony' – he was a businessman and needed to look after his reputation.

'Are you kidding me, buddy? You're a life saver. I'm drowning in paperwork, lectures, board meetings, phew. Anything that can be an excuse for leaving that will be great.' Tony put his glasses back on. James couldn't help, but stare at the man, unsure of what to do. He behaved like a sixth form student, not a successful businessman. 'So, would you like that?'

'Yes, yes, sure. That'd be...um, great. Thanks.' As soon as James finished speaking the driver coughed. Tony immediately directed his attention at him.

'If I may say so, Mr. Stark; I'm sure Miss Potts won't appreciate that sort of behavior. In fact, I think she will be rather…furious. To put it mildly. '

'Oh Happy, it's so adorable how you care about me. But for now, just don't worry and be…happy.' James and Tony both laughed, while the driver didn't seem to be too amused. But then, what was the point? That man would never change, would he?

The car pulled up on the driveway. A driveway? James wasn't sure, it seemed so, but it was the size of his father's entire parking. That was still nothing compared to the house: it looked as if it had been taken out of the Jetsons cartoon and put in Malibu, California. White walls, marble additions, loads of glass and curves. Beautiful, was the only thing that came to James's mind.

'Hi, you must be James!' the boy turned around to see a tall, red-haired woman heading towards him, waving a hand. Her hair was tied neatly in a ponytail and her suit was fitted so well, that James could distinguish every curve of her body.

'Yeah, that's me.' He outstretched his hand in greeting towards her.

'Virginia Potts. But just call me Pepper, as my friends do.'

'PEPPER!' their introduction was interrupted by Tony's loud yell.

'Friends?' he asked quietly, winking at the woman. She blushed, and ran straight towards the car.

'Tony, are you all right?' she sounded really worried. He was sitting inside the Rolls Royce, with a panicked look on his face. 'Tony, has something happened?' She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to talk.

'I just realized…it's just…this boy had never had a proper American cheeseburger. 17 years! And he never ate a proper cheeseburger! Do something about it please. And then join us in the living room. Ok?' James couldn't believe his ears. He had heard that the man was eccentric, but he never expected such a thing to happen. He tried to object, not wanting to trouble Pepper with his lunch, but he was dragged away by Tony, who seemed to be very eager to show him around the house.

James was quite a bright boy, but he would never be able to comprehend, how one person, could need such a big house. Some five bedrooms, each of them with an en-suite bathroom, two kitchens, a huge living room – one upstairs, one downstairs and a gym.

When they were sitting in the living room, waiting for Pepper and Happy to come back with the cheeseburger, James's attention was drawn towards a row of electric guitars standing by the wall.

'Do you play?' the boy asked, hoping that he would find something in common with Tony.

'Nah. I wish I had time. The best I can do is just listen and enjoy. Do you, kid?'

'Well, when I'm at school yes, but when my dad is around, there isn't much time for that,' he said, regret filling his voice. 'I have to study and all that…' James did play, more importantly could play. But as his father said, there were supposed to be no things interfering with his academic performance.

'I see. They've been standing there, idle, for ages. Never had time to use them, but feel free to practice. They're all yours.'

'Thanks,' James murmured, with a smile appearing on his lips. 'May I…' he pointed at a black and white instrument, that caught his attention, standing amongst others. Tony just nodded and gave the boy an encouraging smile.

James picked the instrument up. It felt great. Every time he held a guitar in his hands, he felt like he was the happiest person in the world. Music and maths – two things that made his existence bearable.

'Oh my God…that's the same model that Dave Murray was using. . awesome.' James sat down next to Tony and started tuning the guitar. Tony was just sitting next to him, anticipating what the boy had to offer.

Happy stopped right in front of the entrance to the house. Pepper got out of the car, with a huge bag filled with burgers and pushed the door. She was surprised to find, that the handle was actually shaking. Seconds later, she heard a sound of a guitar and…something which she would place between the sounds of wounded animal or a human being, dying. Has Tony gone mad and started experimenting on animals or worse, people? After all he had done, she wouldn't be surprised. She quickly ran towards the source of the sounds –Tony's workshop. The closer she got to the room, the shakier the floor got and the louder the sounds. She really didn't mind the guitar, but the moans really worried her. She opened the door and found the source of both: the guitar riffs and the screams. James was jumping up and down on the sofa, producing really good chord progression and clear sounds. Tony was standing on his desk, holding a microphone and yelling on top of his voice. Having stood in the doorway, staring for a while, Pepper muted all the equipment in the room. Tony immediately jumped off the desk and ran towards her.

'Pepper!' seconds later he was joined by James at her side.

'YOU'VE BEEN THUNDERSTRUCK!' having finished their performance, they exchanged a high five and a fist punch and stared at Pepper as if nothing had happened. She couldn't help giving a quiet laugh, seeing how well they've been getting on so far. Then Happy entered the room, with a gun in his hand.

'What's going on here? , are you okay? I heard some horrible, horrible sounds, as if someone was dying or something! What happened?'

'Tony was, ekhem… singing…' that was the only thing Pepper managed to spit out after she and James burst out laughing. She knew it was unprofessional, but there was no way she could stop herself. The expression on her boss' face was priceless. He looked as a child, who had just had his favorite toy stolen. The man snatched the bag with cheeseburgers from her hand and started climbing the stairs, leaving James, Pepper and now even Happy, trying to put themselves back together.

When they got back to the living room, Tony was sitting on the sofa, eating a cheeseburger with the TV on.

'Help yourself traitor,' he told James, pointing at the bag.

Tony was amused when the boy started apologizing, thinking that he really hurt his feelings when he was laughing back in the workshop. Surprisingly, James remained silent for the rest of the meal. Tony was hoping that he'd managed to break the ice and the boy would cheer up a bit, but he still seemed uncomfortable.

'You OK?' Tony murmured. 'How's the food? You've just experienced what the good ole' US of A taste like.'

'Good, thank you.' The boy murmured. Suddenly Pepper ran into the room with a terrified expression on her face. Tony pushed the bag with the burgers towards her, but this time she really didn't seem to be too keen on eating.

'No time for that,' she said angrily. 'Tony listen. You remember that bulletproof stand at the expo, don't you?', he nodded. 'The President was about to make an order, for you to put the same thing in the White House, you know: there are all those terrorists and madmen just waiting to shoot him from behind the corner.'

'Oh great! They finally understood what bulletproof means. That stuff they already have is so outdated. One little missile and up they go…' he seemed to be quite pleased with himself.

'Exactly. One of your little missiles and your own thing goes up! The expo building is in pieces, it's a miracle no one died there!'

'WHAT?! We've run tests on it, it's impossible, it's just…' The expression on Tony's face hardened.

'Well, you can tell that to the shareholders. The value of our shares just plummeted by 27%.

Not to mention all the calls we got from the DoD and SHIELD.'

Well, that's it! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help the cliffhanger. And I hope that Tony pretending to be Bon Scott isn't too out of character, but as soon as I imagined him doing just that, I had to put it in (don't even ask how the idea came to my sick mind :P).

Please REVIEW. You feedback serves not only as motivation but I can also improve my writing ;) So please spare me a minute if you can!