My OC will be in this chapter. Probably, one of the only OC's I will have. Maybe a couple others, but he will be my main OC. He isn't a main character at all in this story, but I will have him in from time to time. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Twelve:

Day in the life of a boxing champ

Tony honestly had no idea what awaited him today. He had woken feeling pretty well rested which he knew was in no small part thanks to extremis and had gone to the cafeteria to see about breakfast. It was just his luck he had arrived at the same time as Colson.

"Anthony," the serious like man greeted.

Tony gave a small wave. He hadn't spoken much to Colson since his arrival, but Fury trusted him, so Tony believed he could also trust him.

"Are you having breakfast too?" Tony asked, watching the man stare at the line of waiting shield agents.

Colson glanced down at Tony before answering.

"Thinking about it. May just grab a coffee though and be done with it."

Tony frowned.

"You know, breakfast is the best meal of the day. It's considered the healthiest for you and the one that gets you metabolism started. Without breakfast, it's hard for our bodies to break down the junk we put into them."

Colson blinked. "Huh," he muttered, but that was all he said before he went and grabbed a cup of black coffee and with a quick glance at Tony, an apple off a nearby cart.

Tony grinned. Seems he had been listening and not just spacing out. Most people didn't listen to him. Most though believe him your average kid. He definitely wasn't average; he was learning that more and more.

In so saying, Tony got in line and picked up some eggs and bacon and a glass of milk before heading over to where Colson had sat down. He didn't really know anyone else here on the base and while he didn't actually know Colson either, he felt the older man would be welcoming.

He was right.

Colson greeted Tony's arrival at his table with a small smile before going back to the newspaper he had snatched from someone on the way over to his table. Tony just ate his breakfast and observed those around him for a while, silently wondering what each person's job was in this facility. He wondered if they all were agents or if some were unaware of the true depth of this building.

"You look like your deep in thought," Colson stated, not even glancing away from the page he was reading.

Tony just chuckled and Colson raised an eyebrow, curious.

"You're kind of weird," Tony said and Colson just shrugged.

"Back at you."

Tony felt suddenly much more comfortable with the man across from him and quickly opened up a new conversation.

"So…uh, what do you do around here?"

Colson lowered his paper and stared across the table at the boy.

"Would you like to see for yourself?"

Tony had never finished breakfast faster than he had that morning.

AVNGRS

Tony stared in awe from the observation deck as he stood beside Colson, watching the hard core training going on down below. On one side, shield agents were firing their laser pistols, demolishing the targets placed before them. On the other, sparring was taking place, and Tony wondered how many of them had gone up against Steve before.

He himself had begun to learn some basic moves from the captain and he couldn't help but wonder what else he had yet to learn.

"So, what do you think Mr. Stark?" Colson asked, turning to face the young boy beside him.

Tony grinned.

"It's really cool," he answered truthfully, "but call me Tony, not Mr. Stark. That makes me feel old."

Colsons lips twitched into a smile. "Alright, Tony. Would you like to fire a laser pistol?"

Tony turned to him, his mouth gaping.

"For real?!"
"So long as you follow instructions."

"Sure, yes, I mean, please!"

Colson chuckled to himself as he led the way towards the main floor, the boy staring in wonder at all the different machines and weapons they had passed. Upon arriving at the shooting range, the agents training there began to stop and watched as the boy entered the area. Most of them knew who he was, but some had only heard rumor. All were interested in what Colson was doing here with him.

"Hand me a laser pistol please," he called to one of the supervisors.

They quickly did as asked and handed him one, along with a pair of protective eye glasses and ear muffs.

"Here, wear these. They will protect you from the sound and light."

Tony quickly put them on as they walked over to the first cove where a target stood some ten feet away.

"Alright, take the gun with both hands. Wrap this hand," he said taking Tony's left and placing it over his right, "Overtop of this hand. Spread your legs a bit and get yourself situated to take a burst of power. Imagine your about to get slammed into. You want to prepare your body not to fall back immediately. Got it?"

Tony nodded.

"Now hold it firm and pull the trigger."

Tony shuffled to prepare and holding the pistol firmly in his hand, he released the trigger. A blast of light and energy shot out of the gun, sending him stumbling a bit as the laser burst through the targets chest. A perfect bullseye.

Colson stared and the rest of the men stared.

Tony laughed.

"That was awesome. Thanks!"

Colson just watched as the boy put up his ear muffs and glasses and walked away to look around.

"That kid was incredible," one of the men whispered to another and Colson could really only agree.

AVNGRS

Tony walked towards the sparring mat, watching as people took each other down, almost like a wrestling match. Others were doing a sort of boxing and moreover, some were doing a sort of kickboxing karate fight.

He couldn't help but be in awe of their skills, so it was unsurprising that he hadn't noticed the man come up beside him.

"You like the looks of this kid?"

Tony looked over at the person beside him. He was a tall man with shaggy brown hair and a shaggy beard. He glanced at Tony.

"The name's Alan, Jake Alan. And you're…"

"Tony," he said quickly, "Tony Stark."

The man smiled.

"You want to try sparring?"

Tony stared at him before looking at the mat. He thought of the arc reactor in his chest. Could it handle a sparring match?

Jake saw his reluctance.

"Hey, you're a kid. I won't go all out. We can take it really slow."

Tony twisted his lips before smiling. "Alright."

Colson looked around, having been searching for Tony for a while. Hearing the sound of men cheering, he made his way to the sparring mats only to stop dead upon seeing who was in the ring.

Major Jake Alan, a shield unit commander, and Tony were in the ring staring each other down. Smiles were splitting their faces and both wore helmets and gloves. Jake was instructing Tony on throwing a punch and Tony was doing his best to learn. Colson could only stand there and watch as Jake threw a soft punch before getting slammed in the chest by the boy before him. The men around laughed and cheered for the kid, while Jake play pouted.

"What? This kid comes along and now I don't get a cheer?"

The men just laughed. Tony also grinned.

"Alright short stuff, lay it on me."

Tony watched as Jake threw a punch. Thanks to Natasha's training on how to stop a knife with his hands, he easily blocked the thrust and went up with his own upper cut, catching Jake across the chin. Jake laughed, startled, and held his chin, working out the kink.

"Dang champ! That hurt. You could be a real boxer when you get older."

Tony just laughed and Colson found himself smiling along with him.

Tony Stark was definitely something special.

Hey everyone! If you have read my home page, you know I am having surgery soon and have been very ill. I wasn't planning to update until after my surgery, sometime in October, but I felt a real urge to do so on this story.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I needed some Tony moments.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and understanding!