Note: Hello! So, not as far into the timeline as I wanted in this chapter - no visitor like I promised last chapter - but a lot more depth than I planned, so I like it anyway.

I love how so many of you were into JARVIS and whether he overheard or not. It is partially answered here, and the rest will be answered at a much later date - but there will be answers, so no worries. I have outlined the trilogy and have flowcharts and everything explaining this universe - so much energy I could have put into my PhD, but oh well. This is more fun anyway ;)

Please enjoy!

Chapter 13

Tony tried to settle into bed and sleep, but his mind was too restless. Today had been a hell of a day.

'She's a lady! Whoa! Whoa! She's a lady! Talkin' about the' –

As fast as he could, Tony reached to his Stark Phone and answered it, "Pep?"

"H-hi, Tony," Pepper replied, her voice hesitant and soft, nothing that Tony was used to.

"Pep –" Tony started, but was interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Tony, for how I acted today," Pepper said, and he could tell she was teary. "I should have said something before this – how I was feeling. So, I'm sorry that all of this just seems out of the blue. You deserved better than me yelling at you and storming out."

"I just – I just don't understand, Pepper," Tony replied and yearned for understanding. "I thought we had a good thing going. I realize we had been – distant lately, but why today? What did I do exactly that made you leave?"

They remained silent for a moment and all they could hear was each other's breaths.

"I guess, today was just the straw that broke the camel's back," Pepper said, and Tony could tell she was crying now. "Ever since New York, I – I have seen you in danger and taking risks but never as your girlfriend. Watching you fall from space, Tony. It nearly killed me – you nearly died, and – And I understand, in my head that was the choice you made in a split second and everything turned out fine, but I just can't help but – but wish you had made a choice that made it where you didn't nearly sacrifice yourself and still saved New York – that you thought of me – what your death would mean to me –"

"Pep, I did – I tried to call you –" Tony interjected.

"I know that, Tony," Pepper replied. "I know that intellectually, I already said. But my heart can't change. I cannot stop this voice in my head that tells me the next time you go out, I'm going to lose you. You're going to become a martyr, again – and – and some women are strong enough to do it, to send their men off to war, to the police force, but I – I'm just not cut out for it, Tony!" And Pepper began crying out in full.

"Shhh, shhh, Pepper," Tony murmured, trying to get her to calm down as his own eyes misted over.

"And then today – you're just, just putting yourself out there, again, into danger!" Pepper continued once she could breathe again. "Except this, this danger is not your body or your life, but your heart. And I just became so frustrated – you wouldn't listen to me or my very real concerns, and I, I realized that we were broken, Tony. I, I didn't trust you not to leave me, to, to fall on that sword that would leave me heartbroken, or – I didn't even trust myself to be able to survive it! And you didn't trust me when it came to your personal life, about who you let, let into your heart – a life that I was a part of. We were supposed to be a team, but – we're not anymore. So I had to, I had to –"

"You had to leave," Tony sighed, finishing her sentence.

"Yes," Pepper replied. All was silent for a moment, and then Pepper coughed and took a breath. "So, I understand if – if you would like me to step down from my position. Being CEO was supposed to be temporary anyway –"

"Do you want to leave?" Tony asked, and then quickly clarified. "The company I mean? Because, Pepper – I'm s-sorry I made you feel that way. You're my best friend aside from Rhodey – I don't want to lose you altogether. Please – please stay."

"OK, Tony," Pepper replied after minute. "I will, then."

"And, Pep –" Tony started, and then took big breath and ploughed through. "I did try – I really did, to make this work. I do love you, I always will, just – please remember that. I tried." His voice cracked at the end of it.

"I know, Tony," Pepper said, and it seemed her tears were back. "That was what made it so difficult for me to say anything before I lost it today. I knew you were trying. It was just – I – I couldn't –"

"I know, Pep, I understand now," Tony replied.

"Tony, I – I hope my gut is wrong," Pepper said. "I hope that you and Harry get along fine and have a great relationship – I really do."

"Thanks, Pep," Tony said and looked at the time. It was past one in the morning. "I guess it's time I go to sleep. Goodbye, Pepper."

"Goodnight, Tony," Pepper replied and ended their call.

*HP*HP*HP*

An hour after having said goodbye to Pepper, Tony still lay awake. He had tossed and turned in his bed, unable to quiet his mind.

It was so unreal. Pepper was gone now. Yes, she would still be in his life, and after a few awkward months they will probably be back to their previous relationship, and she would be mother-hening him again.

Until then, Tony was going to be OK. He was not going to throw a tantrum or try and win her back. She had made her decision and – maybe it was for the best anyway. He had never been a relationship kind of guy. This would just be a little blip in his history. If he could not make it with Pepper, the personification of patience – if Pepper could not put up with him and his actions, then who would, or could? It would be fine. He was fine with being alone –

Although, now, he was not alone anymore.

It still felt like a dream – him having a child.

"JARVIS, how was Harry after he went to his bedroom?" Tony asked, finally giving in to the urge to check in on his son.

"He spent half an hour talking to his hand-mirror and is now sleeping," JARVIS replied.

Talking to his mirror? Tony wondered what that was about, but then again, he could not judge. People who build A.I. and speak with them more than human beings should not throw stones, or something like that.

After a moment, Tony threw off the covers and crept as silently as he could out of his room and in front of Harry's door. He hesitated and then pulled up all his courage to open the door.

There on the left side of the bed lay his son, looking much younger than seventeen going on eighteen. His beautiful son with raven locks and pale skin that shone in the moonlight. The boy lay on his stomach with his arms wrapped around his pillow. It made Tony imagine Harry as a toddler, cuddled with his teddy. Not for the first time today, Tony ached with regret for not having been there to raise him. But there was nothing he could do about it now. Instead, he would make the most of it now.

Tony gently took off Harry's glasses, which had gone askew on his face from the boy's snuggling into the pillow. He set them on the bedside table and pulled the covers up from the boy's waist to his shoulders.

He then left the room to go to bed himself but not without turning and looking one more time at his son. His son.

*HP*HP*HP*

Harry woke up the next morning out of sorts. In his sleep-addled state, it took him a few minutes to realize that the brightness was breaching his eyelids and not from his dream. He thought for a moment that Draco had finally gave into the threat and took away his drapes, and he took his pillow to put it over his eyes, only to realize that he was not in his bed at Grimmauld. In a flash, the teenager sat up and a moment later remembered as he took in the bright, blurry room.

He was in New York City. With his father.

Reaching around, Harry eventually found his glasses on the bedside table. With his vision now clear, he took in the view again. It was beautiful and green – but also with enough city that Harry felt comfortable.

Before his quest to destroy Voldemort, all he dreamed of was having a family in a small country house with a garden; but his trek through the Forest of Dean made him shiver with fear. It was too quiet, the fear that something was out there, searching, hunting for him. Harry was not sure that he could ever spend time in the woods without that apprehension taking hold of him again.

But this, what he had now was nice. Enough green so he did not feel he was trapped in a concrete jungle like at Grimmauld, but enough city that he could blend in with a crowd and not constantly wonder if he heard the snap of a twig or the crack of apparition in the distance. Here he could maybe, just maybe, relax and just be normal.

Well, as normal as any kid who just met his father who happens to be a billionaire and superhero.

Harry rolled out of bed, and as he put his feet on the floor, he heard a voice above him that startled him.

"Master Harry, your father is in the kitchen attempting to cook breakfast if you should want to join him," JARVIS said.

"Oh, thanks, uh, JARVIS," Harry replied, then realized the wording of the A.I.'s statement. "Wait – attempting?"

"Yes, sir," JARVIS replied. "He is cooking eggs and bacon, but has not been successful according to the smoke detectors he had me disable."

"Why is he cooking, then, if he can't cook well?" Harry asked and then felt silly for doing so. It was strange talking to the A.I. as if it was a person.

"When I reminded him I could order room service, he said that he wanted to make you feel at home and welcome by having home cooking," JARVIS replied.

"Oh," was all Harry said, before he dashed to the kitchen.

And what a sight to behold it was.

Tony Stark, the Man of Iron and engineering genius, was fighting with a pan of burning eggs. Harry could not help but laugh at it, which signaled to his father that he was no longer alone in the slightly smoky kitchen.

"Oh, good morning, Harry," Tony said and scowled, scraping the eggs from the pan into the bin and throwing the pan into the sink. "I, uh, was going to make breakfast –"

"Yeah, JARVIS told me," Harry said smiling. "I can make breakfast for us."

"No, Harry, I can't let you do that –" Tony said, but Harry just smiled and took the pan from the sink.

"Please, it's no problem at all," Harry said, as he looked around the kitchen. He saw half a container of eggs and package of raw bacon on the counter. "Do you have any olive oil?"

"I dunno," Tony answered. "JARVIS?"

"There is a bottle in the top cabinet on Master Harry's left, sir," the A.I. replied.

Harry opened the cabinet and reached on his tiptoes to grab the bottle of oil. He then set about making breakfast. Tony just stared in awe as Harry made the most beautiful and delicious smelling eggs and bacon he had ever laid eyes on. Once they sat down and Tony began to eat, he decided that they were simply divine.

"This is just – there are no words for how good these are," Tony said as he shoveled more food into his mouth.

"I'm glad you think so," Harry chuckled. Tony looked up only to realize that Harry had no eggs or bacon on his plate – just toast.

"So, why aren't you eating this?" Tony asked, gesturing to his own plate.

"Oh, my stomach can't really handle greasy things in the morning," Harry replied and took a bite out his toast.

"Why didn't you say so?" Tony replied, feeling a little guilty now. "I was trying to make you breakfast and you ended up cooking – just for me."

"It's no problem," Harry replied. "I don't mind cooking –"

"Yeah, but a kid shouldn't cook for their parent," Tony replied and stopped eating his food. He had lost his appetite.

"I haven't been a kid for a long time," Harry snapped and turned his eyes away, feeling defensive. "And you didn't mind me taking over before."

"No, but I thought you would be making something for yourself," Tony explained.

"Yeah, well, if I like to cook and you like to eat what I cook, then what's the problem?" Harry asked, an anger swelling within him. He had done something nice and now it was being shoved back into his face.

"That's not the point!" Tony exasperated and struggled to articulate what he was feeling. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you like this. You're my child."

"But I'm not a child," Harry stressed and then looked back into his father's eyes. He had to make it clear to the man that he would not be coddled – he would not have another Order of the Phoenix on his hands. "I'm nearly eighteen – I don't need to be babied!"

The two fell quiet for a moment, until Tony broke the silence.

"OK, I get it, you're not a kid," Tony said slowly, trying to choose his words wisely. In the one day they knew each other, Tony realized he would have to watch what he said, for fear of stepping on a verbal land mine and setting the boy off – which was a completely new concept to the man, who reveled in speaking before thinking and watching the chaos ensue. "But – you are my kid, so – you know what, how about we just forget this conversation?" Tony said, and changed the subject slightly. "How did you learn to cook? Thank you - it really is wonderful."

"Um, my aunt taught me," Harry replied stiffly and turned his head away. "And, uh, you're welcome."

"Oh," Tony replied and mentally groaned. It had not even gone noon and he screwed up the morning. First causing the boy to get defensive about breakfast and then reminding him of his dead aunt. Great. He pushed the plate away and stood up from the table. "So, what do you want to do today? I just have to sign some forms and send them to the office, but other than that I'm free."

"Don't you have work or something?" Harry asked, curious about what his father actually did day-to-day.

"Uh, well, yes, but nothing I can't put off," Tony answered.

"I don't want you to have to put your life on hold because of me," Harry responded. "If you have to work, it's fine. I'm sure I can entertain myself."

"C'mon, I'm not gonna abandon you the very first day you're with me!" Tony exclaimed and stood. "I want to get to know you better. All I know is what Balderdash told me. And it's my life, so if I decide to take off work to get to know my son, it's my choice." When Tony saw Harry was about to object, he continued. "How about I take you back to my workshop? I can work on some projects, and we can talk."

Harry nodded. That was fair.

"Great!" Tony said and stood from the table. "I'll wash up here, and we can get ready to go."

Harry went to his room and started to get ready. Harry had thought nothing of cooking for the man – he was used to it at the Dursley's and even though he had gotten out of the habit at Grimmauld with Kreacher making meals, it was not a skill he had forgotten. And unlike with the Dursley's, he actually enjoyed cooking for Tony. The man did not expect it and actually seemed in awe of his cooking. Although he would be hard pressed to admit, it actually did feel nice in hindsight to know that Tony had bristled at Harry cooking for him only. It was a clear indication of how Tony was different from his other relatives.

When discussing how to go about recreating Harry's history, there was some discussion between Balderdash and his client about what to do concerning the Dursely's. According to Balderdash, it was simple enough to change the dates of the Dursley's 'fiery fatal car accident on the M4' to correspond with their new story. The only concern would be if someone were to do a thorough enough background check that they would contact the neighbors to gain more information about it; and it was highly unlikely that anyone would go to the lengths to make transatlantic phone calls.

During the summer after the end of his sixth year, he was able to convince them to fake their deaths, move, and change their name in order to be protected from the Death Eaters. They now lived in Majorca (with Marge) as the Davies family. At first Vernon had wanted to be bribed to leave everything in England behind, not understanding the level of danger they were in; but after Remus detailed what exactly would be done to their bodies and corpses if they were to stay and Petunia's panic attack, the muggles had no issue with abandoning England for the sunny island.

Both Draco and Ron could not understand why Harry insisted the Dursley's go into hiding, with everything they had done to him – which was slightly amusing since it was one of the only things they were ever in agreement on. But, Harry just could not have more blood on his hand from those who died because of him. Even his loathsome relatives. So on they went to the Mediterranean and him into war.

Harry shook his head to stop the grim memories from descending to the forefront of his mind. It was no matter now. It was over. He needed to focus on the here and now.

And that meant finding his dragon-hide gloves.

Draco's theory was a good one, that the dragon-hide would prevent his magic and electricity from interfering. He could test it today in Tony's workshop. If he could interact with the gizmos and gadgets he eye when he was first in there, then it would make sense he could touch Tony.

He found them at the bottom of his school trunk, underneath his robes. The pair was gift from Charlie for his seventeenth birthday: black Hungarian-Horntail gloves from the shed skin of the horntail he went up against in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"You ready, Harry?" Harry heard Tony call out to him.

"Almost ready!" Harry called in reply as he put on his gloves.

It was time for an experiment.

AN: Will Harry's experiment be successful? How will Tony and Harry do in the lab? Will Tony ever stop putting his foot in it? Only the next chapter will tell: Father and Son in the Workshop.

Also, for those who are readers of my SPN/HP crossover "Death Master and Angel Son", the last day to vote in the poll for Harry's animagus is Friday midnight PST.

See you next time! Love, Insie.