Chapter 3

"Hey Tones, you doing alright? I heard what happened in Monaco a couple days ago with that dude with the-" Rhodey stopped mid-sentence when he saw Natasha casually lying on a table in Tony's lab while Tony made some adjustments to his nanotech armor. It was a strange sight for anyone who knew Tony, as despite his public persona, was a very private person. The only people who had access to the lab were those that he trusted most, and Rhodey never seen this woman in his life.

"Oh, hey Honey-Bear! Just the man I was looking for! I've got a little gift for you buddy!" Tony replied, not looking up from his work. "And are you seriously asking me if I'm alright? Did you even see that fight? That dude had nothing on me!" Tony quipped. "By the way, this is Natash-, I mean, Natalie, Natalie Rushman."

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes," Rhodey introduced himself as he shook Natasha's hand. "What's this I hear about a gift? Also, before I forget, I'm still cleaning up the aftermath from that mess of a press conference. Senator Stern is trying to use your fight with that guy as evidence that people are succeeding in mimicking your technology. He's on my ass to get you to hand it over. I'm trying to get them to settle down but it's a hard sell when there's evidence of a guy with fully functional techy whiplashes! I don't know what you want me to do Tony-"

"Hey there, slow your roll Sour Patch. Is this how people respond to gifts these days, with lectures?" Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not concerned about what some pin stabbing senator thinks of my suits, I've got bigger fish to fry." Tony gestured to a gray and black suit, "by the way, that's yours if you want it. As long as you promise not to hand it over to Senator 'Fuck you Mr Stark' or the grubby little hands of any other government officials."

"Are you drunk? I thought I'd have to steal one of these things and fight you for you to ever let me wear one of these."

"Look buddy, I'm going to be serious for a minute. Okay, maybe a few minutes, five minutes maximum, I'd go crazy if I was forced to be serious for longer than that." Tony took a deep breath, "I have a feeling, no, not just a feeling, I know that things aren't going to stay nice for long. There's something bigger out there, and when it comes, we, as in Earth, need the best defenders we can get. Look I know you probably think I'm just paranoid, but Rhodey, I'm a futurist, I see things. Things and situations that could cost us everything," Tony sighed before continuing. "I know that I don't say it enough, but you're the best friend that I could ever ask for. No, you're more than my best friend, you're my brother, and one of the men I know. I trust you more than anything so I need you to trust me on this too. Just, be careful with that suit and please don't hand it over to anyone...capisce?" Tony asked.

"Okay Tones, I'll trust you on this. Don't worry, I'll stand with you through whatever comes our way, as long as aliens don't fall out of the sky," Rhodey chuckled. "Also, how did you two meet?" Rhodey asked, gesturing to Natasha and Tony. Rhodey faced Natasha, "I've never seen you before, so forgive me if it's a little weird that you're just casually hanging out in here like chummy old friends. Tony never lets anyone into his lab, even Happy gets locked out of here half the time. Shit, are you two sleeping together?" Rhodey asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I know I'm an expert playboy, but I am perfectly capable of having female friends for more than their anatomy," Tony protested the accusation.

"Mr Stark and I met while he was signing over his company to Miss Potts. I'm from legal, and he decided to make me his assistant. I needed a new job, so I accepted," Natasha responded.

Okay...well, that cleared up nothing, but whatever. Tony's always surprising me with random shit. After some more banter with Tony and Natasha, Rhodey finally tried on the suit. He had an easier time piloting the suit right off the bat, probably due to his military training.

"See Platypus, you're a natural. What should we call you...Iron Patriot?" Tony snickered, unable to keep a straight face at the ridiculous name.

"What? Hell no...that sounds like the name of a boy scout trying and failing to be a badass. My name's War Machine," Rhodey declared proudly.

"Wow...War Machine? You say that like you had that planned out for months," Tony snickered.

"Whatever man, it's a cool name! Don't come at me like that! It's better than the dumbass 'Iron Patriot' name you came up with!" Rhodey exclaimed. Tony responded by putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay, if we're done here I'm gonna take my new suit for a joy ride," Rhodey said before leaving.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After Natasha left to...actually, Tony wasn't really sure what the former assassin did during her free time. But nonetheless, after Natasha left, Tony spent his time spying, no, checking on Peter. After all, it was the correct thing to do, right? At the moment Peter was a fourth grader at Midtown Elementary in the Gifted and Talented Program. Like the little genius he was, he'd already won the school's science fair two years in a row.

As Tony looked through all the photos of Peter that JARVIS could find, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from the kid. Though in this timeline, there was no guarantee that the kid would see him as a father. After all, Uncle Ben was still alive, and Tony would be damned if he let the uncle that Peter loved so much die again. Tony knew that Ben Parker had been killed by a mugger in the Parkers' apartment on December 8, 2015. He had comforted the teen on the two year anniversary of his uncle's death. Tony didn't have a concrete plan yet, but he was planning to find a way to get the Parkers out of their apartment on that fateful night.

Some time after, Tony began to drift off at his desk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mr Stark? I don't feel so good…

I don't wanna go...please sir, I don't wanna go…

We won Mr Stark...we won...you did it sir...

I'm sorry Tony…

We're going to be okay Tony…

You can rest now...

"Tony? Wake up Tony. You're okay, you're not in Afghanistan anymore, you're home. Tony?" Pepper gently nudged Tony's shoulder.

"Pep? What happened? Where's Peter? Is Morgan here?" Tony asked groggily.

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, "Who's Peter, and who's Morgan?"

Suddenly the memories came rushing back to him. The third snap, his death, the cries of Rhodey, Peter and Pepper as he passed, the time travel. God, he'd really gone back in time and once again, the universe was depending on him. Shit, I need to breathe.

"Tony? Are you okay? Just breathe with me, okay?" Pepper gently rubbed his arm as she quietly counted to ten.

After Tony calmed down, he couldn't help himself and hugged Pepper tightly. He'd lost so much, and he needed the reassurance that she was actually there with him. They were both okay and alive.

Pepper initially flinched in surprise from the hug, but quickly hugged him back. "Tony I-" she began.

"Nuh uh, let me start. You've taken such good care of me all these years. You stood by me when I was at my worst, and didn't care enough to be better. You were one of the reasons I believed that I could be better. You've done everything for me and hell, you do everything better than me. I mean, for god's sake, you're running my company for me. I know that I am infuriating to be around sometimes, and you have got to be the most patient and strong woman that I have ever met. I can't believe it's taken me so long to say it, but, I love you Pep, so much. I love you 3000," the phrase that Morgan coined slipped out.

"Wow...you love me 3000? That is...a large number? I mean, you've never mentioned anything like that before. I don't...I don't know what to say," Pepper responded, obviously flustered. "I mean, one moment you're doing something really dangerous and nearly getting yourself killed, and the next moment you love me and you're extremely uncharacteristically sweet? I just, I love you too, but I never know if you're going to kill yourself, or destroy your own company, the company I'm trying to run by the way-"

Tony cut Pepper off mid sentence and kissed her. God, he'd wanted to do that for so long. Pepper leaned in and kissed him back, both of them sharing a moment of relief.

"Dude, get a room," a voice interrupted the moment. "You look like two seals fighting over a grape."

Pepper and Tony jumped apart in shock to find Rhodey standing at the door of the lab in his War Machine suit. "What the fuck? How long have you been standing there?" Tony asked accusingly.

"Long enough to want to barf. Like seriously, you two need to find a less disgusting way to kiss, that was awful. It's not like I was trying to be invisible, I literally made a ton of noise coming in, and this suit isn't exactly camouflage or anything. But seriously, it took you two long enough. I thought I'd have to see you guys awkwardly dance around your feelings for another few years," Rhodey responded. "I'll just...leave you two to fight over that grape." Rhodey turned to leave.

Tony and Pepper spent a good thirty seconds looking at each other before they bursted into laughter. "That was good right? That wasn't weird?" Pepper asked.

"I mean other than the fact that my best friend was creepily watching it happen from the corner of the room it wasn't weird at all," Tony looked at Pepper fondly. "By the way, what was it that you came down for anyway?" Tony asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that the company's gotten a ton of complaints after you failed to show up at the Queens expo yesterday. You were supposed to do a presentation and a personal tour for a select few VIP members," Pepper replied.

Well shit, he forgot. Can you blame me though? I mean, I agreed to do it before I came back in time, and you can't seriously expect me to remember that? Plus, it's my assistant's job to remind me of this shit, so if anything, this is totally Natasha's fault.

XXXXXXX

The next day, Tony made an appearance at the Stark Expo. After making an entrance with the suit and doing his typical 'I am Iron Man' speech on stage, he walked over to the VIP section for the private tour. He was fairly certain that he blew off the tour the first time around, but he figured that he might as well make some fans happy this time around. Plus, he didn't want to get on Pepper's bad side when things were currently going so well.

Suddenly, he felt a child bump right into his legs. He looked down to find a small child wearing an Iron Man mask. Hey, it's that kid who stood up to those Hammer Bots. "Peter! Come back here!" A familiar voice screamed.

"Sorry Aunt May, but it's Mr Stark! He's here!" A young boy exclaimed.

Tony turned around to find a younger May Parker running after her nephew, with Ben Parker following close behind. "I'm so sorry Mr Stark, he's just such a huge fan of your work," May said. "Don't worry, I'll get him out of your way." May turned over to Peter, "Come on buddy, Mr Stark is a very busy man and we can't be interrupting him."

Tony turned toward May and Ben, "it's not a problem at all." He bent down to Peter's level and said, "hey kid, I'm Tony. What's your name?"

Peter kept his mask on, seemingly at a loss of words. Ben gently nudged his nephew on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay Pete, introduce yourself to Mr Stark."

Peter slowly took off his mask and shyly said, "I'm Peter." Peter looked at the ground before nervously rambling. "I'm a huge fan of your work in arc reactor technology and clean sustainable energy. I've read all of your papers and reports and I think you're really awesome Mr Stark! Not that Iron Man isn't cool too, because he totally is, but I think you're even cooler."

Tony couldn't help but smile at the kid's rambling. Damn it, I'm getting teary eyed. This kid's making me a softie. "Oh yeah? You into science?"

"Yeah! I love science. I like going through the dumpster to find parts to build computers and things," Peter replied with a gleam in his eye.

"How would you all like to come to the VIP section for a personalized tour? It's starting in…" Tony glanced down at his watch. "Actually it started like ten minutes ago so we better hurry. Pepper's going to be on my ass-" May coughed softly, "I mean butt," Tony corrected himself. "Pepper is going to be on my butt if I don't make it there after blowing it off the other day."

"Miss Potts sits on top of your butt?" Peter asked with fake innocence.

"What? No, no, no! It's just an expression! It just means that she'll be really mad and-" Peter snorted. "Wait, you were just messing with me weren't you?" Tony asked accusingly.

Peter just grinned back at him. Man, I've missed that little shit. "Anyway, what do you guys say. Want a free tour?" Tony asked.

"Are you sure Mr Stark? We've only paid for general admissions tickets and you're a busy man. We don't want to impose," said Ben.

"Like a said, it's not a problem. I'm always happy to help the next generation of scientists," Tony replied with a grin.

XXXXXXXX

Tony showed the VIP group around the expo, but the only people he paid any attention to were Peter, May, and Ben. Interacting with Peter again brought about a joy that he thought he'd never have again. Even as a child, Peter's intelligence did not fail to impress him.

By the end of the tour, Peter was rambling freely, the initial shyness completely gone. "-And then Ned, my best friend destroyed the entire lego set by accident when he sat on it. We had to rebuild the whole thing but I didn't really mind."

"Hey Pete, I'm starting a junior internship program for young scientists like yourself. I'm only accepting one or two applicants and I think you would be a great fit," Tony said impulsively. Well that was a complete lie. But if he accepts, I'll get to spend more time with him.

Peter turned towards his aunt and uncle. "Can I?" he asked.

May looked at Ben before turning to Tony, "Does this internship cost money? I'd love to send Peter over there, but money's a little tight right now and-"

Tony cut her off. "Nope, it's completely sponsored by me. All Peter's gotta do is show up after school hours whenever he can, and he'll work with me in the lab. I just bought a new Headquarters building in New York, so it'll be close to here." No, I haven't. I can buy the Avengers tower a little earlier this time around though.

XXXXXXX

After convincing the Parkers to take the "junior internship", Tony purchased the Avengers tower in New York. It didn't take much to convince Pepper to relocate the Stark Industries headquarters to New York. Turns out that she'd been thinking the same thing anyway. After all, most of their contractors and major business partners were located in New York. He built several floors of living quarters on the upper floors in preparation for the Avengers. Pepper moved in with him on his floor, while Natasha and Rhodey moved in on the lower floors.

When Nick Fury showed up to recruit him for his super secret boy band, Natasha once again "revealed her identity". This time around, Tony wasn't as abrasive and accepted the position. To his dismay, his file still claimed that he was volatile and didn't play well with others. Thanks Natasha. However, the conclusion summarized that despite these traits, he was willing to make the sacrifice play for the greater good of others, and that both Tony Stark and Iron Man were indeed, recommended.

Peter began coming to the tower everyday after school, and sometimes even came in on the weekends. Happy constantly complained about being a babysitter and having to listen to the kid's incessant rambling. "He never stops talking, never." But Tony could tell that the kid had grown on Happy. After all, Happy did punch that Flash kid after realizing that he was the reason Peter was constantly sporting a black eye. Just like the first time around, Peter was an excitable kid, always eager to please. Unlike the first time though, Tony made sure that he was always accessible to the kid, and made sure that the kid knew just how special he was.

Tony ended up getting the surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest. Having to wear the arc reactor 24/7 was annoying anyway, and the shrapnel was painful.

A few months went by, and Tony and Natasha searched for the Winter Soldier. They went through the SHIELD, CIA, and FBI files and followed every lead they got. Every lead ended up being a dead end. Barnes really knows how to hide, doesn't he?

XXXXXXX

"Sir? My sensors are detecting an abnormal energy surge from the Tesseract. After you asked me to track its heat signature last year, I was able to detect its normal energy release pattern. It is currently radiating an unprecedented amount of energy, which is due to become unstable," Jarvis interrupted Natasha and Tony's bickering. They were once again hanging out in Tony's lab, which had become a regular occurrence.

"Shit. It's two days before the alien invasion! Loki's probably here now. We need to get to P.E.G.A.S.U.S right away," Natasha said frantically.

"JARVIS, let the Parkers know that I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to meet with Peter tonight. Let Peter know that I promise to make it up to him," Tony said before grabbing Natasha and flying off.