Tony's face was stone solid. His body was visibly tense and his grip on his glass was so tight that if he were to squeeze a little bit more it would shatter in his palm. The other man's expression was a bit less dramatized as Tony's, but you could still feel the same intensity.

You didn't know what else to say. Honestly you didn't prepare to get this far, so all you did was wait for a response from your possible dad. Was he going to kick you out on the spot? Was he going to come to terms and accept it? Or maybe he'll laugh at you and call you a liar.

Tony stared at you, processing what you said. His demeanor lightened and he backed away. He rubbed his chin while walking to the window. Glancing out he stayed silent, deep in thought. You wondered what he could be thinking in that genius head of his.

"Who was your mom?" he finally asked.

You hesitated. You grew up without meeting your mom, but you knew who she was and what she had done that forcefully shaped you into who you were now. Stories were told of her and what she accomplished, making her to be your predecessor. The expectations were high to keep, if not then to raise the bar of her legacy. "Her name was Aubrey Y/L/N."

Tony kept his gaze out the window, but seemed to lock onto something to stare at as he thought. "I know a lot of Aubrey's and I don't really keep tab on-" His eyes shot up as his memory of your mother came to his head. "Wait, Aubrey Y/L/N… Dammit I knew her. We went to college together." Another long silence filled the room.

After what seemed like forever Tony finally managed to murmur a sentence, "Banner, could I talk to you in the other room for a second?" He stood up glass in hand and made his way to a door to another room. The man you now know as Banner followed close behind but not before taking a final look at you. The moment Banner stepped in Tony closed the door. At first there was silence, until you could hear muffled conversation. You couldn't tell who was talking or what exactly they were discussing, but you assumed it was about what to do with you.


"Tony, tell me what you're thinking." Bruce said after about a minute of silence in the room. He made sure that the door was completely shut just in case Tony wanted to use a few of his favorite profanities so it didn't bother you.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know what to think." Tony sat down on top of a desk, closing his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "I'm already under a lot of stress right now with moving, the stupid prototypes for the team, and this, whoever she is, is not helping."

"You want to talk to me about stress?" Bruce tried to bring some comfort to Tony, but his expression only showed annoyance. "Okay, I didn't realize how much this really bothers you. Don't you get a million people claiming to be related to you?"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed, "I've had a few women I might've spent a night with once demand money for their kid claiming to be mine but turns out their kid is nonexistent. But I mostly get a bunch of teen girls asking for me to be their 'daddy', and trust me I'm flattered, but no."

"So you've never had anyone directly say that they're your kid." Tony nodded his head and put his head in his hands, slowly growing frustrated on what to do. Bruce crossed his arms and thought for a minute, "She does look a little bit like you. It's possible that you're her d-"

"Stop. Stop right there and don't say it." Tony snapped, pointing at him, "Don't say the dad word. Dammit, I said it." He put his head back in his hands. So many thoughts were running through his head. If you were really his kid why would you confront him now? Maybe you were really a psycho that was about to demand for money. He was sure that he was careful with all of the women he was with.

Moments passed until Tony shot his head back up, "Do a DNA test on us."

"What?"

"Take some of our blood, spit, hair, whatever and do a DNA test. See if I'm actually her… you know, to see if she's legit. I'm too cooped up with Avengers stuff to deal with this, I know you can do it."

Bruce chuckled sarcastically, "Do you really think one of my is qualified for me to do that?"

"Yes." Bruce looked at Tony in disbelief, "Don't tell me you aren't able do it."

"No, I'm way more than qualified to do a simple DNA test." Bruce said defensively, "It's simple biology, even some B average high schooler could do it."

"Good, you'll do it." Tony stood up from the table and patted him on the shoulder, "I think we have some extra vials and other stuff needed tucked around here. I'll expect the results on my desk." He headed towards the door to pitch the plan to you.

"I'm not Maury you know." Tony looked back with a cocky smile while exiting the room.


The conversation lasted for about five minutes with a few rises and falls of their voices, especially Tony's. You sat there awkwardly, fiddling with the fabric of your pants until the two returned. You looked at them and stood up, waiting for one of them to speak. Tony went directly back to the bar, refilling his glass, this time nearly to the brim. He took a few sips turned away from you and Banner. You couldn't handle the silence any longer. "Well?" you said.

"Tony and I talked," Banner said, standing in front of you, "and we think that we should do a DNA test to see if he really is your-"

"Ah! Don't." Tony interrupted.

"If you two are… related." Bruce glared at Tony, "Only if that's okay with you."

Well, at least he didn't throw you out. At least not yet. "Yeah I'm fine with it." Actually, this was better than what you hoped for. Not only were you able to at least meet the man who might be your dad, but an actual DNA could prove it.

Tony finished the rest of his drink in one go, then slammed the empty glass on the counter. "Bruce, could you be a dear and get the equipment for the test?" Tony didn't look at either you or Bruce. He kept his gaze on the surface of the bar counter. Bruce turned to Tony, then nodded his head silently and left. The second Bruce left the room Tony turned his attention to you, "So tell me, Y/N, was it?" He turned around and leaned back against the table, "What's your game plan here?"

"My what?" you asked, sincerely not knowing what he was talking about.

"You know, what do you expect after all of this?" He crossed his arms and approached you, his stance making him seem taller, almost like he was trying to be intimidating making you straighten your back a little. "Do you expect me to give you money? Or to live with me and cheer you on when I take the training wheels off of your bike? How about I tuck you in at night and read you a bedtime story."

His tone was growing more and more irritated with every sentence as well as your heart rate. You were feeling rage slowly fill you as he spoke mockingly, but you decided you needed to stay calm, for yours and his sake. "I don't want shit from you except for the truth. My entire life I've never had a clue who my dad could be until your name popped up. You were my only lead. If the results show negative, whatever. If it shows positive, I'll finally know and can have one question out of my mind. Either way I'll be out of your life when this is over."

Tony studied your face as if nobody had ever spoken to him like that before. "I believe you. I'm just disappointed that your mother isn't here herself. I'm not a fan of sending messengers if I can help it."

You looked at Tony with hope in your eyes. Maybe he could tell you more about your mom. What she was like, if she was anything like the stories you were told, or perhaps if she could've been the type of person who was capable of staying with her family. However, you didn't want to ask too many questions. You needed to figure out if he really is your dad, and asking directly what she was like could lead to him prying into your private life.

"So how is she nowadays?" Tony asked.

Shit. This was exactly what you didn't want to hear. You didn't want to lie, but you didn't want to tell him everything, not right now. "I never met her. She left when I was born and I was put into the system." At least most of it was true.

Tony turned away from the window to look at you. There was something in his eyes that actually showed some compassion, "Sorry kid."

"It's okay," you shrugged, "I want to know another thing though, what was she like?"

He walked back over to you, this time with less intimidation. He sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him. You sat down on the spot and focused on him. Looking at him closer you started to notice his facial features you didn't see before. How his wrinkles moved whenever he expressed something, the way each strand of his dark hair with a few grey streaks moved along his head, even his brown eyes and how they seem to shine for how dark they are. Your mind wanted to wait for the test to see if you two were related, but you could feel something deep down that said he was for sure your dad.

"She was something, I'll tell you that." Tony sighed, "We dated for a bit in college. Aubrey was funny, smart, straight A's but not as smart as me smart, but she had heart." He smirked, only causing you to smirk as well, "I can't really tell you much else because graduation night came a couple of weeks after we started dating, I was still attending but she was finishing her bachelors. We went out partying to celebrate and…" You stared, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Realization came to his eyes. "We uh… did stuff that night. And the next day she left me a note saying goodbye. Usually I'd be the first to do the walk of shame, but I didn't know that would be our last night together because I never heard from her again. I figured she was halfway across the country living her life."

"Did you try to call her at all?" Your anger started to fill up again. "Write a letter, get in contact with someone she knew, anything?"

"I thought she was spending her new life somewhere else where she was happier." Tony snapped, "If she wanted to get in touch with me she would've. Besides, she was just a fling."

His last words struck you like a bullet to the heart. You've never met your mother but you knew she was much more than some chick he could mess around with. "She wasn't just an occasional one night stand, she was an actual person. What if something happened to her and you were the last one to see her?" You stood up, your fists were clenching but with all of your energy you restrained yourself from punching something.

Tony stood as well, looking you straight in the eyes, "You were born, weren't you? So nothing happened to her after that night." You crossed your arms in annoyance and turned around. At this point you were acting like a stubborn teen but you couldn't care less, "You wanna be mad at me? Fine. But so what if I didn't contact her? She said goodbye to me , so that was that. So don't get pissy with me for moving on."

Suddenly the door opened with Bruce carrying some science looking tools like syringes and vials. "I got the…" He felt the tension in the room the moment he stepped in. "Should I come back later?"

"Nope. Let's get it over with." Tony went to the bar and sat on a stool, rolling his sleeve up for Banner.

You stood in place in silence, arms still crossed in anger.

Banner unwrapped a syringe from a packet with no question. It seemed like he knew Tony enough to know when to stay quiet and do what he says. You knew they were part of the Avengers, but you couldn't place on who exactly Banner was. Maybe he was just a scientist that worked with them and a good friend of Tony's. Whoever he was, this would probably be the last time you would see him until the test results were in.

Banner stuck the needle inside of Tony's arm and began to draw the dark liquid of blood which he then injected into a vial. You'd expected some sort of reaction of pain from him but he was still, almost like he was used to being poked with needles. Although, he is an inventor, so maybe he does some experiments on himself involving them. Either way, you weren't excited for what comes next for you.

You've had shots before. Quite a few, actually. So you thought you would be used to needles as well as Tony, but when Banner opened a new syringe and went over to you for your turn, you hesitated before rolling up your sleeve. The moment the sharp needle pierced your skin you winced, but tried to relax as the blood filled the syringe.

It was over before you knew it when you realized Banner handed you a cotton pad to clean your wound. You pressed the pad against the mark where the needle pierced you, knowing it'll be a bit sore later. Tony on the other hand simply wiped his wound once and tossed the used gauze onto the counter.

"Okay kid. We'll call you when we get the results." Tony plopped down from his chair, throwing away the gauze.

Banner took out a piece of paper and wrote something down. He handed the paper to you, on it what appeared to be a phone number. "You can call me in about two to three weeks for the results. Or text. Or whatever people do nowadays."

You smiled. It made you feel better that Banner was trying to be the better person in the room, "Thank you. I'll be sure to do that."

"Wait two to three weeks ?" Tony interjected, "Can't you get it done by tonight?"

"It takes time to do a DNA test, Tony." Banner said, "I technically could do it in one night, but I'm only one person and have a lot of other stuff to do. And like you said, you're too busy to do it yourself too."

"It's okay if you take your time." You said, taking his attention away from Tony, "I'm just grateful that I got a chance to even do this." You extended your hand, in which Banner gladly shook it. "It was nice to meet you. And I look forward to seeing the results." You eyed Tony, his face expressionless. It was almost like he was waiting for you to go, so you showed yourself the elevator.

"You got a place to stay?" Tony spoke up before you stepped into the elevator. You were surprised that he was interested, almost like he cared. What if you said no? Maybe he would offer for you to stay there despite the move, but saying no would be another lie.

"Yeah, about ten minutes from here."

"Oh, good. Then you can get a taxi or something." Tony placed his hands in his pockets and looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with you. And for a moment you thought he was actually being generous, but instead he wanted to be an egotistical jerk one last time before you left. You gave a forced smile to the men as you entered the elevator, pushing the button closing the doors.


The two watched the doors close in front of you, once you were out of sight Bruce crossed his arms and glared at Tony. "What the hell was that?" He questioned.

Tony looked at Bruce, raising a brow in confusion, "What'd I do?"

"I don't know, acting like a complete ass to her?" Bruce began to put away the blood and syringes carefully into the box, "She just wants to know the truth."

"Or she could be lying to try and get money from me." Tony poured another glass of alcohol without even seeing what he was pouring.

Bruce crossed his arms while rolling his eyes in annoyance, "Are you deliberately trying to make her seem like she's in the wrong? Yeah, I get it that it might be scary to find out you have a long lost kid, but it doesn't mean that you can act like a jerk to her. And for what? Just to turn out like your own father?"

"I'll never be like my father." Tony hissed, "He was the one when I was growing up that was never there for me. Why should I all of a sudden be there for some kid claiming to be my daughter?"

"So that's what this is about," Bruce said, lowering his arms, "You're trying to distance yourself from her so she won't come back. Even if she's your kid or not."

Tony stayed silent, gently swishing his drink in the glass until he broke the silence, "I don't want to end up like my dad. He was rarely there for me, and when he was it was to make some snarky comment or to humiliate me. If she really is my daughter I know I'll turn into an exact copy of him. Hell, I'm already halfway there."

Bruce sat next to Tony at the bar, staring directly into his eyes, "Then prove yourself wrong. You do that to everyone else. Prove to yourself you won't end up like him." Bruce patted Tony on the back in reassurance.

Tony smiled in return, then finished his glass and stood up. "Okay, time to make it right then."


The walk home seemed longer than normal. You were tired physically and emotionally from your little discussion with Stark. Sure, you didn't expect it to go rainbows and sunshine, but at least it didn't end in a fist fight or the authorities. Now that you thought about it, if he wanted to kick you out he could've done it the second you told him. Maybe he would've gone all the way and put on his Iron Man suit to force you out. As cool as that sounded, you really didn't want to fight a metal man.

It felt like forever until you arrived at the apartment building you were squatting in. The building was about six stories tall and very worn out, while some bricks embedded in the wall stuck out. A few of the windows were either cracked or broken entirely with some makeshift duct tape attempting to cover the holes. The walls on the side were nearly coated with ivy that was a rotting brown from lack of treatment. This is the building you called home, at least for now.

You lived with two other girls, Maya and Lilly, in a cramped two bedroom apartment. You met them a few months ago when they distracted an on duty cop when they noticed you were trying to steal a bag of chips from a gas station. You ran into them one more time since then when you saw them at a bar being hit on by two sleazy guys. You warned them that you would break their elbows if they didn't back off. They should've listened. Ever since then they swore to be your best friends and even offered you to stay with them since they knew you were struggling on your own. You've only been living with them for about a month, but you were so comfortable around as if they were your family. Deep down you knew you couldn't stay with them much longer. You were raised not to make any close relationships, that they will tie you down and cloud your head. But you were free now. You could do whatever you wanted to do. However, the back of your mind kept stabbing your with the thoughts of what you were once taught.

You opened the creaky front door, greeted by a snoring Maxwell that sat behind the front desk who was supposed to be watching the front door. You smiled, as this was a routine you were accustomed to. You jogged up the stairs to the third floor instead of taking the rickety elevator, which was probably a safer bet due to its condition.

As you made your way to the apartment, you glanced at the dirty floor and stained walls. You could hear the couple above you argue like they usually do, and the middle aged man adjacent from you's TV on full blast like always. But another noise caught your attention, the sound of a bottle smashing the floor. It sounded like it came from your apartment. Your instincts kicked in as you sneaked your way to your door. You noticed the door was slightly ajar. Carefully you slid your hand on the rough wooden door and opened it. To your relief it was Elliot, Lilly's boyfriend that she's been seeing for a few weeks.

"Holy shit, Elliot. You scared me." You said, putting your bag on the table next to the door, "I thought you were a burglar."

"Oh, hey uh… Maya?" He slurred, he was clearly tipsy.

"Y/N. So close though." You joked, taking your jacket off and lazily throwing it on the sofa. You looked around the messy apartment and noticed the other two weren't there. "Where's Lilly?"

"She went out to get more booze and stuff." He swayed your way, balancing himself on the sofa. His face was inches away from yours, you could smell the bitterness of whatever he was drinking, "But we could have a bit of fun while she's out."

You stepped back and slipped pass him. This was an occasional thing that he would do, but you knew he was just drunk. You made your way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "I think I'm just gonna get some food and head to bed. It's been a rough day."

"So you like it rough, huh?" You felt his hands against your shoulders as he slid them down to your waist. You closed the refrigerator door and turned to him, grabbing his hands gently taking them off of you.

"You really don't wanna do that." You warned, his eyes piercing at you.

"But I oh so do." He snatched his hands away and before you could even react he pinned you against the counter. You struggled to get away, but his hips held your waist against the edge of the counter, the corner of it digging into your lower back. His hands gripped your wrists against the surface as he pressed his forehead and pelvis against you. "I just want some fun. It can be our secret."

"Dude, get the hell off of me!" You yelled.

Before you could kick him, a familiar face approached behind Elliot. The figure tapped him on the shoulder, making him turn around to face none other than Tony Stark. This was probably the only time you were glad to see him again.

"How about you let the girl go, and you can keep whatever's under the belt in one piece." Tony said calmly.

Elliot laughed, "Mind your own business and get the hell out." He turned back to you and attempted to kiss you on the neck. Before his lips touched your skin he began to seize up. You realized he was being tazed by Tony. In an instant Elliot collapsed on the floor, still twitching from the electricity. You looked to Tony, on his hand seemed to be a metal glove, maybe a part of his Iron Man suit.

"Okay kid, long story short I'm sorry I treated you like shit." He grazed his bare hand over his gloved one, the metal retracting into a thin bracelet around his wrist. "Now let's get going."

You looked at him puzzled, "What? Where are we going?"

He took your hand, helping you step over the still twitching body of Elliot, "Like hell you're staying here. It won't be permanent, but it'll be better than being near Twitchy." You didn't argue with that, so you grabbed your bag and jacket and let Tony escort you out.

The two of you exited the building, a shiny Ferrari parked just outside of the entrance. It was tacky, but damn you'd be lying if you didn't think it was cool. Tony opened the door on the passenger side allowing you in. You slid in and put on your seat belt, the door closing behind you. Tony soon entered the driver's seat and revved the car, the engine purred to life as he accelerated the ferrari down the road.

A few minutes passed of nothing but silence. You didn't really know what to say since this all happened so fast. Tony Stark coming in to save the day felt like something straight out of the news, but this time he wasn't saving a train or burning building full of people. It was just you. Some girl he met only a few hours ago who claimed to be his kid.

You couldn't take the silence anymore, "Thank you."

Tony stared at the road. You couldn't tell what he was thinking until he spoke, "Don't worry about it."

"Are we going back to the tower?" You asked.

"We don't have any beds there." He said, making a turn that passed the tower.

"Where are we going?"

"The closest place I know that'll keep you safe. Avengers Headquarters."