Tony Stark (takes place after issue 20)

"We are the X-men."

To think I would be under supervision of a bunch of teenagers is something I'd never thought would happen in a million years. However, I also know that this responsibility was thrust upon me after Mom and Dad died.

If you would think that being the son of a billionaire is everything that you have ever dreamed of, then I cordially invite you to go and fuck yourself. It isn't by any means the life that is portrayed in big-time, Hollywood movies. In fact, it's a life of extravagance and decadence, but that doesn't mean everyone can handle it by any means. Look at actors like Heath Ledger, Robin Williams, Marilyn Monroe, and Cory Monteith. They all rose from stardom, and fell to the mercy of addiction, depression, and other issues. They had access to everything that they could ever hope and dream for, yet they fell from grace and glory.

My father, Howard Stark, was living proof of this.

Tony Stark clenched his jaw hard as he stared out the huge window of his office in Stark Industries. Clutching a glass of whiskey in his hand, he downed it down and poured himself another glass.

My father had been the definition of an alcoholic. He would just simply reach for the first bottle of hard liquor. And I knew to stay away. When he got drunk, he got angry. Although Mom often tried protecting me, she got the brunt of physical abuse from the hands of my father.

This went on until my father approached Charles Xavier.

The professor instantly became more of a father to me than my biological father. He took me under his wing and began trying to help my old man get sober. But those attempts were pointless.

It all came to a head when my mother and father died in a car accident.

Even after we buried them, their deaths impacted me. Like my old man, I began the life of partying, young and stupid. I'll admit that back then, I was a bigger moron than I am today. I would drink until I got piss-faced. I remember how Hank Pym and I one night got so wasted we jumped up on a table singing the ABCs, or at least, that's what Reed Richards and Susan Storm have told us.

Then, by the time I hit my thirties, Pepper, the prof, Happy, Rhodey, and Moira MacTaggart took it upon themselves to try and force me to get back on track. And I'd had no choice in it. Being the heir of Stark Industries, I had to take over not just that company, but X-Corporation.

Many out there, when they heard my father was starting X-Corp, they'd thought it was a joke. They'd thought it was the stupidest idea to come from my father. And they are still saying it to this day. In fact, now that Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren, Bobby and Forge have publicly exposed who they've been in secret over these last few months, people are probably sitting at home, laughing their asses off right now about it.

"Talk about us becoming one of the biggest jokes in the universe. Senator Kelly is taking us as seriously as he takes Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren," Tony groaned out loud as he poured himself another glass of whiskey.

However, I've come to realize something over these last few months. And that is that there are others out there suffering way worse than I have ever suffered. Jean had been trapped in the Looney bin for most of her adolescent years. Scott had been used as a living weapon by an abusive foster father and had faced more physical and mental abuse than I ever did. Warren had been thrown away by his own family and had lived like a street rat. Hell, the poor kid just lost his girlfriend at the hands of his former best friend! And Bobby's family is cutting back on communication with him.

The kids are truly something great. In fact, they're already beginning to adapt well, considering all that they've been through these past years of their lives. And God-bless that they are great kids, because if they weren't I would be concerned.

However, now, they will be taking big beatings from the public now that their identities have been revealed to the world. As if people didn't take X-Corporation seriously before. Now they've learned we've been housing a team of superheroes in secret. It's truly something that I am not looking forward to needing to face. I know that my future employees feel the exact same way; Warren especially.

The fact that Warren had to deal with so much betrayal in his life, especially from Cameron Hodge, just rubs salt into the wound for him. Add to that, Hodge murdered his girlfriend, who had chosen to ally herself with us from the beginning when she and Warren began dating. But Candy had made her choice. That doesn't mean it's any less devastating for Warren to put up with. Add to that, he's publicly known as the X-men's "Angel". I cannot help but have sympathy for him.

Dealing with grief is one thing.

Dealing with grief in the public eye is another.

Tony swallowed hard as he set his glass down, finally. Moving to sit in his office chair, he turned off the news and closed his eyes briefly.

Of course, I feel the loss, too. Candy had been a friend, and was going to eventually become one of my CFOs. She was so smart, and so talented when it came to business. Now that she's gone, it's a tough pill for everybody in the company to swallow down.

But Warren hasn't been handling it well.

In fact, the poor guy has been going out clubbing almost every night to try and get his mind off of it. But the alcohol, best I can tell, isn't making it go away for him.

I want nothing more than to not see Warren stumble down the path I'd stumbled down. I want the kid to be better than me. I don't want to see him fall into the trap of being like me when it comes to dealing with grief.

Now, we're not just facing the death of someone we'd loved. We are dealing with the X-men being known publicly. It is truly something that is compiling, one thing after another.

But I do know that the X-men would no doubt be able to handle themselves, like how they've done for the past couple months or so.

I don't have much faith in anything. But I've got faith in them.

A/N:

And there you have it, the final bit of reflections for Peace in Our Time volume 1! Thank you to crimsonknight700 for reviewing and supporting this, because I love writing insights for these characters, and I'm glad you appreciate it as much as I do.

Be sure to go and read volume 2 of Peace in Our Time! Excelsior, everyone!