Hey everyone, hope your weekend is going well!

In this Chapter Tony is definitely on the OOC side, I kinda rationalize it in my head that if someone had been there for Tony in the beginning right after Afghanistan he would be more open and vulnerable. It kinda makes me mad that Rhodey wasn't there for him when Tony needed him. But rant over. Tony will also be meeting Peter for the first time. So fingers crossed for that.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Tony was more shell-shocked than anything when he got back to his house in Malibu. It was empty and quiet as usual. Even with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s warm-ish greeting.

'Don't waste your life' were Yinsen's last, dying words. Tony planned not to. So far, he thought he was on the right track by shutting down the weapons manufactory. Even though it was going to make a lot of people angry, especially his stock holders. Tony shivered involuntarily, he did not want to be at that meeting. Never-the-less Tony felt like it was the right thing to do.

He pondered over this as he made his way over to the fridge. Even after eating those cheeseburgers at the press conference he was still hungry, three months in captivity seemed to do that to a person.

As he opened the door he spied a sticky note with feminine handwriting on it. He took it off and used the fridge light to read what it said.

If you're ever in need of someone to talk to,

Call me.

XX Elynea Brown XX

Underneath her name was a phone number. Tony remembered her from the night before he was he had gotten onto that plane. It seemed like a life time ago when that had happened. If he had seen this before Afghanistan he would have chucked it in the trash bin. But now he held it like a lifeline, a connection to a simpler, easier time. She had been fun and pleasant to talk to but he needed more than a phone call right now. Especially after the talk with Obadiah. As he closed the fridge door he noticed another note. This one said:

If you're in need of something more

my door is always open

An address. Tony was out of the door before he could think twice.

I was shocked to find Tony to be the one standing behind the door. Especially so soon after Afghanistan, he had just gotten back this morning. I guess I had made more of an impact then I originally thought.

"Tony. Are you okay?" I asked looking him up and down. His arm wasn't in a sling like at the conference.

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Tony asked, a bit hesitant as he shifted his weight from one foot to another.

"No, no, of course not. Come on in." I insisted pulling him in by the hand. "I just have my godson sleeping in the other room, so we have to be quiet."

"Your godson?" Tony asked looking around the tiny apartment.

"Yeah, his parents are out of town for the week." I said guiding him into the living room and onto the couch.

"They take off often?" Tony asked sitting down next me, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"It has been more often recently, yeah." I admitted, Peter barley saw his parents nowadays.

"He doesn't have anyone else he can stay with?" Tony asked his brow scrunching up in confusion.

"He has an Aunt and Uncle but they are away as well. Second honeymoon or something. I was the last resort." I said indulging him. Talking about anything but what had had happened seemed to be what Tony needed at the moment. "But the kid likes me more, so it's no trouble."

"How can you tell that he likes you more?" He asked genuinely curious.

"I think it's because I dote on him the most." I admitted making Tony chuckle.

"What the kid's name?" Tony asked, no longer rubbing his hands together as he relaxed against the coach cushions.

"Peter, he's seven now." I said pulling my feet up onto the coach and placing my chin in my hand as I leant against the cushions.

"Peter, cute name."

"He's a cute kid. He loves super heroes. Batman is his favorite right now. And he loves science. Gets all A's on his projects, you know, and he won last year's science fair. He's a genius. I think the kid is going to be one of the world's top scientists someday." I gushed.

"You must really love him." Tony said smiling softly. A smile I had never seen of his face before.

"Yeah, I really do. Sweetest kid I'll ever meet." I admitted.

"Bet you'll have a lot of them then." Tony said.

I hesitated a moment before admitting, "I can't have kids."

Tony gapped incoherently for a moment before stuttering, "Oh Elynea, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, not your fault." I dismissed with wave of my hand. "I'm dealing with it. The doctors say that it's because of a nasty fall I had about a year ago. Too much damage, they said, to carry. Too… too dangerous." My voice cracking a bit as I spoke.

Tony started to pull me to his chest as my voice drifted off. But the moment was broken when my head hit a metal device on his chest.

"Ow. What's that?" I asked rubbing my head as I pointed to it.

"Oh sorry. It's a mini Arc Reactor, it's what is keeping me alive, at the moment." Tony apologized showing me the reactor imbedded onto his chest. "I'm probably going to update soon. This is becoming an antique."

"Ouch, that looks painful." I commented softly as I brushed my fingers across the torn flesh around the frame.

"Only when they first put it in. I don't feel any pain now." Tony assure me. Vaguely I knew that he was lying but I didn't push him.

Tony pulled me back against his chest, this time being careful of the reactor. We held each other tight until sleep over took us. The warmth of Tony's arms and the faint glow of the reactor where the last things I was aware of as I drifted.

I was awoken to someone pocking my face with their finger.

"Ellie!" Poke. "Ellie!" Poke. "Wake up!" Poke. "There's a strange man in the house and you're sleeping on him." A soft voice whispered frantically.

I opened my eyes to see Peter standing right up against my face with wide, frantic eyes.

"It's alright Petey, he's a friend. He just need someone to talk to and we fell asleep." I assured him getting off Tony as gently as possible. "Have you had you breakfast yet?" I asked picking him up and taking him to the kitchen. Despite being seven, Peter is still light and small having not reached his growth spurt yet.

"No, the cereal is too high for me to get. But I got the milk, and a spoon, and my bowel." Peter informed me.

"Good job, buddy." I praised holding out my hand for a high five, which he gave gladly. "Alright, what cereal would you like?" I asked setting him down on the stool and opening up the cupboard.

"Cinnamon Crunch, please." Was Peter's immediate answer.

"I'll have a bowl of that." A groggy voice pipped up.

Peter and I turned to see Tony get up from the couch and walk over to the counter. His hair sticking up in all directions and his eyes slightly glazed over with sleep.

"You're Tony Stark. I've read all your papers in the science magazines. You're really smart." Peter burst out excitedly as Tony sat down in the stool next to him.

"Have you now, and which was your favorite?" Tony asked, interested but clearly not believing that the seven-year-old kid in front of him had read all his papers.

"The one about the Arc Reactor that powers your factory. I remember that you said that it can proved clean energy by using fusion energy. My school went to see it. It was huge. And loud." Peter answered before digging into his cereal that I put in front of him.

Tony stared at Peter with wide eyes.

"I told you, the kid was smart." I pipped in as I set a bowl in front of him, then went on to make my own.

"Yeah, but that's something most par… guar… family members exaggerate because they love their kid so much. Not that the kid is actually smart enough to read from the science magazines and understand it." Tony blurted.

"I don't exaggerate Tony, not with him." I told him pointing my spoon at him.

"Alright I believe you. Don't skewer me with a spoon." Tony said raising his arms in defeat. Peter and I chuckled at him.

We ate our cereal in relative silence until it was time for Peter to get ready for school.

"Is Mr. Stark going to be here when I get back? I want to ask him some more questions about his robots." Peter asked as we waited down by the bus. He had asked Tony question after question while getting ready. Tony was surprisingly more than happy to quench his thirst for knowledge, even if it was just for a couple of minutes.

"I'm not sure. We'll see okay, Tony is a very busy man remember." I told him.

Peter nodded thoughtfully before getting on the bus. He waved goodbye to me as they drove off.

"Good kid, I like him." Tony commented when I came back up to the apartment. "Smart too."

"I guess it's not every day the great Tony Stark approves of a seven-year-old boy." I teased.

"No, it isn't, you should be documenting this. This is a once in a life time event." Tony agreed.

"I'll go get my camera." I teased laughing at him.

"Thank you." Tony said looking at me earnestly.

"For what?"

"For just… being a friend when I needed one… so just… thanks." He stuttered.

"Anytime." I replied still smiling at him.

"I mean it Tony, anytime." I added when he didn't look convinced.

We smiled at each other for a moment before Tony got up.

"Guess I should be going." He said fiddling with his keys as he made his way to the door. His hand hovered over the door knob before he turned back to me.

"Hey, here's a crazy idea. How about you come back to my place and hang-out for a bit."

I was about to protest, but when I saw the desperate look in Tony's eyes, I stopped myself.

"Sure, I'd love to." Tony's face split into a huge smile. "We just have to remember to get Peter after school."

"It'll be done." Tony assured me. And just like that we were off.

Just wanted to add that I took some ideas from the Amazing Spiderman movie, not really a good one in my opinion not going to lie, when I though of Peter's parents. I kinda figured that they would be very busy people. And with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, a fellow fic writer gave me the idea of them loving to travel. Please don't take any of this as canon, I'd rather not have my first comment to be a rude or angry one.
Thunder and Lightning by EowynPevensie09 is the fic that inspired me, if you guys want to check out her story, its awesome! I love it!

Please like and comment! See yeah soon!