Tony and Tiffany walked through the door with Pepper and Happy following closely behind.

"Do you still need me boss?" Happy asked.

"No I'll call you tomorrow" Tony said.

"I can stay if you need me to stay" Pepper offered.

Her mind was reeling over the fact that Tony had a teenage daughter. She was trying to wrap her mind around it. And the fact that he was oddly calm about it was even more unsettling

"I'd appreciate that" he said as he went to his mini bar to pour another whiskey.

"Tony?" Tiffany said.

Tony looked over at his daughter with soft eyes and smiled. He was still in awe of her.

"What is it? Do you need something?" he asked.

"My mom told me to give this to you. They're photos of me. One from every year of my life" she said handing him an envelope.

Tony opened it and smiled as he leafed through the photos. The site of her as a baby nearly brought a tear to his eyes. His was still very much in disbelief but didn't have the time to adjust. This was serious and he needed to protect his daughter.

"You were a beautiful baby and you're beautiful now" he said putting them back on the table.

She smiled at him and stood their awkwardly. Neither of them knew what to say.

"Pepper can you get Tiffany situated in whatever bedroom she chooses. I have something to take care of" he said as he brought his drink with him into his home office.

He turned on his lamp and flopped down on the chair. He grabbed the letter Rachel had given him and put it in front of him. This was it. He was going to find the closure he needed. He opened it slowly. He felt as if he was about to read something that would determine whether he was going to live or die.

Dear Tony,

Let me start by apologizing for leaving the way I did. It all started when I missed my period. I bought one of those home pregnancy tests and it came back positive. I took three more and all had the same results. What I didn't know the third time was that my mother was home and she saw the stick in the garbage. I came from a broken home and so my mother saw this as an opportunity. She called your father up immediately and demanded he pay for the child. He agreed to it on one condition. His condition was that we disappeared effective immediately without you ever knowing about the baby. He felt as though it would distract you from school and taking over his company. As far as I know this was your fathers sole decision and your mother didn't even know I was pregnant. My mother locked me in a room while she got the money from your father and virtually packed up what little we had. She let me out and dragged me into the van and we left. I remember crying for the entire ride. I cried and cried for days. My heart was broken so badly. We lived in our car for a while and then when we settled she kept me locked away in a room with no phone. And she destroyed all the letters I tried to write to you. And then I met Greg. He was a nice enough guy and he adopted Tiffany as his own when she was a baby. She loved him and always thought he was her father. My mother never gave me a dime of the money your father had given her for Tiffany. So when I met Greg I saw an opportunity. I learned to love him but never the way I loved you. Tony you were my one true love. At this point in time he had gotten himself into some shady business and I thought it was even more dangerous at that point to reach out to you. For her and for you. I thought someone may kidnap her and hold her for ransom since you have money if they knew she was yours. I wanted you to succeed and do great things. And you did. You have achieved such wonderful things. You became Iron Man. This is no way justifies my actions but I thought you deserved to know. I did what I thought was best and I apologize. And that's why I need you to protect Tiffany. My husband was killed and we witnessed it. We have been on the run since and they are trying to kill us. No one knows you're her father except my mother and your father and both of them are dead. I'm trusting you to keep her safe. I'm not going to make it back Tony. I'm tired of running. Please tell Tiffany how much I love her. Our child was made from the truest, purest love anyone could ever have. Take care of yourself Tony.

Love,

Rachel.

Tony hadn't realized that he had shed a few tears until one of them landed on the letter and the ink started to run. He downed the whiskey in his glass and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt as if he was reliving a nightmare from his past. One so painful it took him years to get over and it was all because of his father. He kept his eyes closed hoping it would keep the memory away but it forced itself into his mind anyway.

A bleary eyed Tony sat up when he heard a knock at his door. His heart skipped a beat in the hopes that it was Rachel. When he opened the door it was his mother.

"I made you those cookies you love" she said putting the tray on his dresser.

"Thanks mom" he said forcing a smile. He felt like he wanted to die inside.

Howard walked in behind her.

"This is the fifth class you've missed. Tony I'm warning you. If you're not up and at class tomorrow morning I will pull you out of this apartment and out of this school and you will get a part time minimum wage job that I chose until you decide to take this seriously" Howard yelled.

"Howard he is suffering from a broken heart. How can you be so insensitive? He needs time. Tony knows the work. He will make it up" Maria snapped.

"I mean it. He has until tomorrow morning to get himself sorted out" Howard said as he stormed out of the room.

"Why did she leave me mom? Did I do something wrong? I thought I treated her well" Tony said trying not to cry in front of his mother.

"No sweetie. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why she left. I wish I could make this easier for you" she said hugging her son.

"I love her Mom. The pain is so bad. How can I make it stop? "he said no longer able to control his tears.

"Maybe you should try and go back to school. I think keeping busy will distract you from the pain and each day the pain will get less and less" Maria said as he brushed her sons' hair back with her hand.

"But what if she calls while I'm in class?" Tony asked.

"Honey it's been two weeks. I don't think she's going to call" Maria said as she pulled her son in for a hug. She held him tightly while he cried into her shoulder.

Tony shook the memory away and stood up. The anger inside of him was rising to an almost boiling point. He poured another drink and downed it quickly. And that wasn't enough. He repeated the process two more times and finally he was feeling all the drinks he consumed hit him. He was so angry he flipped his desk over. He opened the door and walked passed Pepper and Tiffany and he looked violent and murderous.

"Tony?" Tiffany asked.

He stopped to look at them and they were both frightened.

"I'm-im goin dwnstirs" he said as he slurred.

"Tony I think you should go to bed and sleep it off "Pepper suggested.

"I'm fin" he mumbled.

He stepped onto the stairs and that was it. He went tumbling down to the bottom. Pepper screamed and hurried after him. She felt his pulse and he was still alive but he hit his head pretty hard. Pepper grabbed her cell and called an ambulance. They checked him out and confirmed it wasn't a concussion. He was just drunk and had a nasty bump. She thanked them graciously but declined their advice to take him to the hospital. She knew he would be livid if she did that. Instead she shot a text to his Doctor to see if she'd make a house call in the morning.

"We need to get him into bed" Pepper said to Tiffany.

Tiffany was still in shock over the whole thing and it took her a moment to hear what Pepper was saying. Tiffany grabbed Tony's feet and Pepper grabbed him under the arms and they very slowly dragged him up the stairs step by excruciating step. He was as heavy as a sinking stone and they finally got him onto the bed.

"I'll take care of the rest" Pepper said.

Pepper started with Tony's shoes and socks. Then she went for his belt and pants. And lastly his tie, dress shirt and jacket. He was whimpering and muttering nonsensical drabble. She opened his drawer and was greeted by a menagerie of adult toys. She slammed it shut quickly and opened the drawer under it. There she found his pajamas. She took out a pair of pants and slid them on him as best as she could. She grabbed the shirt and started to wrestle it on him. Her attempt was unsuccessful and she just left the shirt on the night stand. She took Tony's wallet and phone out of the previous clothes he had worn and put it on the nightstand. She bundled up his laundry for the dry cleaning. And decided she couldn't leave Tiffany alone tonight. She went back into that drawer and grabbed a pair of his pajamas for herself.

"Is Tony ok?" Tiffany asked with some concern.

"He's going to be alright. The Doctor is coming in the morning just to be sure" Pepper reassured her.

"You don't have to stay. I can take care of myself" Tiffany said.

"It's no biggie really. I'm here super early anyway. When your father goes on these benders I need to make sure he's awake for work" Pepper explained.

"Is he always like this?"

"Your father is a very complicated man and he has a lot of demons. He's shown so much growth recently. Tonight was a little slip up for him. He will get back on track" Pepper said believing it to be true. Tony was changing for the better.

"The time zone change is really hitting me. I'm going to bed" Tiffany said.

"Goodnight" Pepper said as she sat on the couch even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't sleep.