"So where are we going?" Tony asked with a smirk. He had been working on the time machine when Pepper had come in, grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the lab and across town. She still wouldn't tell him where they're going.

"My apartment!" She briefly explained.

"And why are we going there?" He asked, keeping his smirk.

"Because!" She said. Tony, on the inside, swooned over her wide smile; but remained smirking on the outside.

"Because…?"

"Because there's someone there who might wanna meet you!" Pepper said. Tony was very curious now.

"And who might that be?" He asked.

"You'll see."

After a few more minutes of walking through town, they reached Pepper's apartment and Pepper swung the front door open to reveal her father, sitting on the couch reading a newspaper. He set it down to see Pepper standing in the doorway, still holding onto Tony's hand. He smiled.

"Why hello there son! Nice to finally meet you," He said with a half-smile, sticking his hand out for Tony to shake; which he did. They sat down on the couch and began a long conversation involving the meeting of 'my daughter and her beau'.

Tony, of course, hadn't seen any of this coming. He hadn't heard a word from Pepper about meeting her father, but it wasn't like he minded. He liked Pepper's dad. And he wasn't too bad at charming them both into approving of him, thankfully. He knew that if he made the wrong impression on her father, it wouldn't be too pretty; and he just plain didn't want to dive into that.

After a few hours, Tony and Pepper walked back to Tony's lab where Tony was finished with his time machine.

"What, you finally finished fixing that thing?" Pepper said.

"Oh, yeah. Earlier today I did that." Tony answered.

"Shouldn't you, you know, go back in time and fix what you messed with or something?" She commented.

"Eh, yeah, but I have time don't I?" Tony said with a smirk. Pepper folded her arms and glared at him.

"Aw, fine I'll go back."

"Hey Tony, I have to tell you something…" Rhodey said as he walked into the lab.

"What's up?" Tony responded. Tony didn't bother hiding the time machine from him because he wanted to explain it to him and say goodbye before he changed what he messed with.

Rhodey stopped as he saw the time machine sitting in plain sight.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the time machine and pretending to be surprised to see it.

"Oh. Yeah. About that. There's kinda this whole story behind it…" Tony explained. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"

"…well, it's about that actually. I know what it is and that means I know why you're here and I know there's something important you need to do." Rhodey explained. Tony was very surprised.

"How did you…?" Tony asked.

"I kinda overheard when you were talking about it to Pepper when she first saw it…" Rhodey explained.

"But anyways, I came to make sure you're not stalling fixing all this any longer." Tony let out a short breath of air indicating a short laugh.

"What, you're both being my mother now?" Tony joked. "I was really just about to do that. You guys worry too much."

After that, there was a brief silence followed, and then Tony knew it was time for goodbyes. So he said his goodbyes to Rhodey, then turned around for the hard part: saying goodbye to Pepper.

Tony turned to her with a frown on his face. He didn't want to say goodbye.

"All I have to say, Tony, is if you had the confidence to tell me how you feel in this timeline, I'm sure you'll have the confidence in your own alternate universe." Pepper said. Tony sighed.

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it then…" Tony said. He then pulled her into his embrace and kissed her with all his confidence for one last time.

"Before I go, there's one last thing I have to do." Tony said, watching as his father walked into the lab to grab a few things he had left in there from earlier in the day.

Once Howard walked in, he saw the large contraption sitting behind Tony and shot a questioning look at it.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you…" And so Tony began to explain the last few days to his father.

"…and I just wanted my chance to say goodbye. Because I didn't get to before. I-I guess I just still had some trouble letting go…" Tony finished. Howard hadn't had any idea any of this had happened. True, he had been suspicious as to what Tony's weird device was, but he didn't think it went this in-depth. He now felt very sorry for his son, and wondered who would do such a thing and why.

~…~

After saying the last of his goodbyes, Tony set the time machine for the date and time when he had meddled. He watched as the events played out in their correct order and stood by where he could not be seen and let the events flow the way they originally went. He watched sadly as they boarded the plane, the plane took off, then exploded. He watched himself as he crawled towards survival, pain centering in his chest and surging through his body. He knew what he was feeling then, and it was as if he was feeling it all over again.

But as he watched he realized that everything happens for a reason and this had happened so he could become Iron Man, but more importantly, meet who he would soon discover to be the girl of his dreams.

So yeah, Tony thought, what happened in my life was sad and I wish I could take back every minute of it. But in a way I'm also glad that everything happened the way it did, or else I'd never be where I am today.

And boy, am I glad to be where I am.

Okay well I just needed to wrap this story up for the same reasons I have for wrapping up my other ones: more time for other stories plus its at its end anyways…review?