Summary: Tony is no stranger to paternity claims from his female conquests, there's a system in place for them. But when one of the tests actually comes back positive, he makes a rash decision to not tell anyone about it, not even Pepper Potts. All Mary Parker wants is for Tony to spend a little time with their son, and she'll badger Tony Stark into showing up at least twice a month in any way that she can.
And then he goes missing for three months in Afghanistan. Tony has a lot to think about in his life now, how he wants to run his company, how his life is going to change with the arc reactor, and what he's going to do about his son, Peter. Then, the Avengers Initiative pops up, and in waltzes his childhood hero, and enemy, Captain America.
Follows IM1, IM2, Avengers, Cap2. Not canon-compliant, but follows the plots.
A/N: So, this took me a little longer to finish, because I was thinking I could wrap up the first movie in this chapter... It happened, but it took a little longer. But you guys get a Really long chapter in exchange. Obviously, this is no where near the end. I'll be posting some pictures, on my Tumblr, into the crazy planning I went through for this, and how this ended up way beyond my expectations. ( .com) Unbeta'd as usual.
Again, guys, holy frijoles! You guys really love this, and I can't believe it! It's amazing, and I hope to keep it as good as you like it. Thank you to Everyone who Kudos, who Comments, who bookmarks, and just Loves this story!
Marvel owns stuff, not me, except my imagination.
Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.
Anyway, enjoy more cuteness! Some of the lines were taken from the movie directly, (I'm watching it as I go), and that's all owned by Marvel, not by me.
December 2006
"Peter's still into coloring, right?" Tony asked as soon as Mary picked up the phone.
There was a pause on the phone. "Tony?" Her sleepy voice echoed through the workshop. "What time is it?"
"Uhh," Tony looked up from his project and blinked a little.
"It is currently 6:27 in the morning," Jarvis supplied for them.
"Tony, why are you calling me at six in the morning?" Mary pushed her face into her pillow.
"Well, I didn't actually know what time it was," Tony admitted. "But, I had to make sure that I was still right before I started to dive back into a project, because you know how my brain works sometimes-"
"If anyone actually knew how your brain worked, they would probably get commendations from the science community," Mary mumbled to him.
"So, Peter's still into coloring?" Tony asked again, looking at his designs.
"He is," Mary affirmed. "His attention span to things is longer than most toddlers, but he still loves it." She rolled onto her back in her bed now, phone laying on the pillow by her hear, refusing to move from her blankets.
"Awesome," Tony nodded. That's really all I needed to know-"
"Tony," she frowned a little, as her own brain started to catch up with her. "Why do you want to know?"
"For reasons."
"I need to hear those reasons," she prompted. There was a bit of silence, but she could hear things being moved around in the workshop. She knew when Tony was in his workshop when they talked on the phone. "What did I tell you last week, Tony?"
"Mmmm, Peter doesn't like strawberries this week?" Tony guessed, taking a big swig of coffee from his mug. "Is he over that yet, by the way? If he's going to suddenly love them, I want to make sure I have some next time he comes over."
"No, I said don't go overboard with Christmas," Mary deflected his fast paced rambling. "Although, no, he still has not forgiven strawberries."
"Right," Tony nodded. "I remember that now. Hey, what's the plan for Christmas, again?" Tony wouldn't say that he was actually kind of looking forward to Christmas this year, but he would be lying if he didn't say that he was excited to have a reason for it this year. Mostly he wanted to make sure that Peter had a memorable time.
"You said that you were going to work on getting Pepper out to see her family, and you would let me know what that happened," Mary reminded him. "Typically Peter and I go over to my parents on Christmas morning though, and he opens his presents there, and we eat lunch."
Tony hummed, nodded a little. One of the downsides to trying to keep Mary and Peter from the public eye, was that he couldn't actually make their own traditions on holidays. He knew that Mary would never do it on purpose, would never keep him from spending time with Peter on the big days of the year, but he would always have to take the backseat to celebrations. Tony didn't take it personally, it was something he had learned to deal with from a young age, most of his best memories were of holidays spent with his butler Jarvis.
"It's what we've down the past two years," Mary said a little quietly. "It's been a while since they've had someone to spoil for Christmas-"
"And of course they should," Tony said automatically. "He's their grandson, and that is the right of all grandparents." Tony glanced over at the shell of the new armor he was still working on, then back to the current plans in front of him. "And for the record, I haven't bought him anymore presents."
"Good," Mary said, taking the distraction from what was becoming an uncomfortable topic. "Because I don't want him expecting to get so much every year. He still needs to learn that he earns presents for being a good boy, and that if he acts out, or does something that he's not supposed too, that he won't get whatever he wants either way."
"Good thing he doesn't entirely grasp the concept of being obscenely rich, yet," Tony said with a little, self-deprecating, smirk.
"If it were true what you're implying, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Mary had that spark of optimism that Tony envied sometimes. "You would have blown Peter and I off as nothing more than a dirty secret to be kept in the closet, paid off with lots of money."
"If I remember right, that's what I tried to do," Tony reminded her.
"Yeah, but then I pulled a fast one on you, and shoved an infant in your arms-"
"Which was highly ill-advised!"
"-and I saw your face practically melt." He could Mary was smiling now. "Peter found your heart that day." Tony blinked at her words, glancing over to the old arc reactor that Pepper had left for him in his workshop.
'Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart'
"Yeah," he said quietly. He cleared his throat before talking again. "Pepper is gone, by the way. To see her family, not gone gone, just off for the holidays." He knew he was starting to ramble again, but it was an old fall back that he was used to, and it worked for him. "She almost didn't go, wondering how I was going to actually survive without her, and I had to promise that I would call if I needed her, or that I would call Rhodey."
"Are you going to call?" Mary asked. Tony wrinkled his nose a little; Too many people actually wanting him to do the responsible thing when it came to himself. Let him work on one thing at a time, and right now that was being a father, no, a Dad, to Peter, and working on the Mark II armor. Wait... that was two things, wasn't it?"
"Tony?" Tony blinked when he heard Mary's voice again, and remembered that she had asked him a question.
"Right, of course I'll call," Tony nodded, agreeing in much the same manner that he had with Pepper. "But, I won't need too, because I won't be alone. So that's all settled. I'll just be here, so you let me know what's good for you and Peter, cause I know that the FBI probably doesn't give all their Agents holidays off, and that's when we'll do stuff. I have a seriously open schedule, able to accommodate practically anyone." Tony eye briefly glanced over to the mini bar in the back of the workshop, before making himself get up to grab his tools.
"I will let you get another hour or so of sleep, before Peter wakes up, and we'll talk soon," Tony said, feeling his ability to socialize with other humans starting to dwindle.
"Bye, Tony." Mary let out a little sigh when he hung up. She knew that he was going to find a way to hang up either way, and she knew there was no way she was going to go back to sleep. Time to work on the holiday schedule.
Tony took a breath, leaning against the bench. "Two is probably too young to have a fully functional drafting table, huh?"
"Perhaps for his birthday, Sir," Jarvis told him. "Perhaps he will take up painting next."
"Maybe wait and see what subjects he'll be best at during school," Tony thought out loud, heading back over towards the Mark II armor. "Let's continue with the mobility tests today, J."
"Very good, Sir."
Tony looked at the holographic tree, tilting his head a little. "What about blue and red lights, Jarvis?" The lights around the pine tree shifted to different patterns of red and blue, the silver and gold ornaments reflecting the colors. "I think that looks better." He pushed a few of the presents for Peter closer tot he base, rearranging them, nodding when he was done.
"I'm glad to see that you got the tree finished on the night of Christmas Eve, Sir," Jarvis said and Tony was in the process of rolling his eyes. "I was certain that you would still be working on it until Boxing Day."
"We don't celebrate Boxing Day in this house," Tony pointed up towards the ceiling. "Don't you forget it."
"If I didn't already know your AI, I'd say it was weird that you're talking to your house." Tony whipped around when he heard Mary's voice. He staggered a step back when something slammed into his legs.
"Daddy!" Tony grinned when Peter looked up at him, eyes bright despite how late it actually was for the little boy. Tony picked up Peter and peppered his face with kisses, making the toddler giggle. "Merry Kissmas."
"Merry Kissmas, Petey." Tony grinned at him, then looked at Maria, who was setting down Peter's bag and jacket, and then a bigger canvas bag that looked three times as big as Peter. "I thought you two were going to be at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight."
"Well, seems like Grandma and Grandpa had a Christmas party in the morning, so they were going to be gone all day tomorrow," Mary said, taking off her jacket.
"Granpa is gonna be with his old friends," Peter said matter-of-factly. "We opened presents there already!" Tony could see Peter's eyes lean over to look at the presents on the floor, then he saw the tree. "Cool! Mama! Look at the tree!"
Tony smiled and walked closer to it, holding Peter on his hip so they could both face it, Mary coming over to standing next to them. "Do you like it?" Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Do you remember that new tablet I was working on?" He asked, looking at Peter. "And how it could make all those cool images show, like a movie? Well," Tony reached forward with one hand, the programming recognizing his hand, and he 'picked' up one of the ornaments.
Peter's eyes widened, mouth opening, and passing his own hand through the ornament. "How did you do that?"
"Put your hand out," Tony told the little boy. "Palm up." Peter followed his word, putting the hand that passed through the ornament out and open. Tony moved the ornament over and let it settle in Peter's hand, looking like he was holding it now. Whenever Peter moved his hand, the ornament moved with it. Jarvis had already scanned him into the system, to recognize him for any hologram action, tracking his movements.
"Mama!" Peter grinned, eyes shining, holding his hand out to show Mary. "Look, Mama!"
Mary chuckled and leaned in to kiss Peter's cheek. "Look at that, baby. You're just like Daddy now." Peter squealed and grinned.
Peter rolled the ornament back and forth between his hands, grinning as he watched it. He suddenly looked over at Mary, face very serious. "Mama, will Santa know to come here? He's never been here."
"Of course he will baby," Mary said as she pushed some hair off his face. "He always knows where you are." Peter let out a breath of relief and nodded, and went back to playing with the ornament. "But, you'll need to go to sleep soon, cause you know he won't come if you're still awake." As if on que, Peter yawned, leaning his head against Tony's shoulder. Tony smiled, taking the ornament back and putting it back on the tree.
"But 'm not tired." Peter yawned again, in opposition to his words.
"I think you are, buddy," Tony said, shifting Peter in his arms so he was laying on Tony's chest. Peter nodded a little, closing his eyes, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck, head still pillowed on Tony's shoulder.
"He likes to sleep on people," Mary said, smiling a little at Tony. "And you have the nightlight."
"Jarvis, lights at 70% please," Tony said quietly, the lights dimming in the room. "I thought you two would staying at your parents place." They both headed over to the couch, Tony gently sitting down, careful not to disturb Peter. "And how did you get in here without Jarvis telling me?"
"I asked Jarvis at the door to let us surprise you." Mary smirked a little. "Peter kept asking when we would be coming over here, and if you had someone coming over for Christmas, like Grandma and Grandpa."
"I have the robots, and Jarvis," Tony said, hand rubbing Peter's back. He took a breath, pressing his lips together for a second. "I'm glad you came though," he said quietly.
They sat on the couch, Peter starting to give off little snores, before Mary spoke again. "In the morning, I was going to make apple pancakes."
"I've got some fresh apples in the pantry." Tony nodded towards the direction of the kitchen. "And some cinnamon, too. Should be a good time." Tony tried to hide a yawn, but Mary was staring right at him as he did it. "I'm fine."
"You need to get some sleep, Tony, and you've got a sleeping toddler on you, so it's the perfect excuse to go to bed." Mary tried to get him up from the couch. "It's late, and he's going to wake you up at the time that you will sometimes go to bed." Tony wrinkled his nose a little, letting her push him up to his feet. "It's a natural fact, children and Christmas, and waking up too early."
"Dummy and You can help you with any other presents for Peter," Tony started to say as he headed for the stairs up to the bedrooms. "And Jarvis can give them directions to help as well. Don't give them anything fragile though, it's why I haven't put Butterfingers on present duty."
"Good night, Tony," she smiled at him. Tony looked at her for a second, then nodded, giving a little smile. He continued upstairs, pausing between the doors to his room, and Peter's room.
"I think that perhaps, young Master Peter would prefer sleeping with you tonight, Sir," Jarvis said, sensing his creator's hesitation.
"I don't want to wake him up, though," Tony said, looking towards the door to his room.
"If you put on your bracelet, I can wake you before a nightmare sets in." Tony had created a bracelet tied to Jarvis, one that could sense when his body was entering different states of sleep, and tracked his vitals. In extreme situations, the bracelet could emit a small shock to the wrist, enough to break deep sleep. It allowed Tony to get some sleep, but try to avoid most of the nightmares he still had.
Taking a deep breath through his nose, Tony nodded and went into his room. He put Peter down on the middle of the bed, and quickly changing his clothes. Tony moved the blankets, pulling Peter over to him, running his fingers through Peter's hair a little, Peter's hand instinctively resting on his arc reactor. "Merry Christmas, kiddo," he said softly. "I'm glad you're here." Tony bit back a yawn and closed his eyes.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Tony grunted, opening his eyes. Peter grinned at him, pushing his shoulder. "Wake up! We gotta get Mama! It's Kissmas!" Tony grabbed Peter and started to tickle his sides, making the boy squeal with laughter.
"Is that so?" Tony laughed as he tried to keep the wiggling boy in his lap. "Is it time to wake up now?"
"Yes!" Peter screamed with laughter, trying to get away from Tony's hands. "The sun is up! Present time!"
"Actually, you have to eat first," Mary said from the doorway, smiling at them.
"Mama! Help me, Mama!" He wiggled around, giggling, reaching out for Mary.
"Mmmmm," Mary touched her chin as she hummed. "I don't know, it's looks like Daddy is having fun. I don't know if I should stop it."
"Mama!" Peter squealed and curled up when Tony hit a particularly ticklish spot by his neck. Mary laughed and walked over, going to take his hands. Tony smiled and reached over to pull Mary down on the bed.
Mary laughed and wrapped her arms around Peter. "I've got you my son!"
"You've foiled my plans!" Tony exaggerated his movements, trying to reach around Mary to get to Peter. "I can't tickle him anymore!" Peter was giggling, grinning, face red as he caught his breath. "I guess that means that we have to go eat breakfast. And then, was there something else?"
"Open presents!" Peter exclaimed.
"That's right! Presents!" Tony chuckled and Mary sat up, still holding onto Peter. "I'll meet you in the kitchen, don't eat all the food before I get there." Mary nodded and the two of them disappeared from the room. Tony looked out one of the windows as Jarvis had raised the holographic blinds completely. He didn't remember waking up in the middle of the night, and he wondered if Jarvis had to use the bracelet. When he ran his hand around his wrist, it was empty. The bracelet was still sitting on the bedside table.
"Daddy!" He heard Peter call from downstairs. Tony blinked, then headed downstairs to the kitchen. First night of real sleep without nightmares, he wasn't going to question it. He half jogged down the stairs and saw Peter staring over towards the tree, which had gotten bigger over night, to accommodate the new presents. Tony had some other presents that had been labeled "From Santa", as did Mary it seemed.
"Santa did come! He knew where I was!" Peter jumped around and ran over to the presents, but not touching them. He let out a little squeak, and looked back over at Tony and Mary. "Mama! Daddy! Santa brought you presents too!" Tony blinked and looked over at Mary, who was looking at him with the same surprised look. They had both gotten each other presents, and neither had been expecting it. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad.
March 2007
Tony had taken his sweet time getting everything right with the suit, the Mark II. And then because there were so many pieces he had to design a custom machine to assemble it. Much like what they had put together in that cave in Afghanistan, this one would work with his robots, work with something that he knew, and could calculate.
The suit assembled, hugging his body like a glove, not too tight, not too uncomfortable, as much as wearing a suit of metal armor could be. He reached over, grabbing the faceplate for the helmet, getting used to how the gauntlet grabbed stuff, and locked it into place.
"Jarvis?" Tony asked, hearing everything power up. "Are you there?"
"At your service, Sir." Jarvis' welcome voice filled the headset, not too loud.
"Engage Heads Up Display," Tony said, watching the blue lights appear in his vision, the camera coming online to give him a full view of the garage, instead of only what he could see through the eye holes. "Import all preferences from home interface." Jarvis confirmed as Tony looked around, taking his first few steps on the ground. "Alright, what do you say?"
"I have indeed been uploaded, Sir," Jarvis told him, the AI running through the suit now, making it easier for Tony to navigate with its weight. "We're online and ready."
"Do a check on control surfaces," Tony said as he looked around, an idea starting in his head.
All the pieces of the suit started to move, making sure that nothing scraped, everything locked together, worked how it needed to be. "Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics." The screen started to minimize itself, and Tony knew that soon the armor station would reappear. Nope.
"Yeah, tell you what," Tony interrupted that. "Do a weather and ATC check." He looked towards the exit of the garage. "Start listening in on ground control."
"Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-" Jarvis tried to talk some sense into his creator.
"Jarvis," Tony said, a little smirk on his face. "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." He felt the power running to the boots, the flight stabilizers coming online, using the interface to start the maiden flight of Mark II. With less explosions this time. "Ready? In three, two, one!" He jumped up, letting the repulsors take over, speeding him out. He winced when he scraped against the side of the garage tunnel, but couldn't help but whoop as he hit open air.
Tony could feel the grin on his face, threatening to split as he spun, moving up and down, going higher to his own whim. He was flying! "Handles like a dream!" He grinned. He led the suit over the water, and saw the lights of a carnival nearby. "Jarvis, did Mary say what carnival her parents were taking Peter to, tonight?" He asked suddenly.
The display took over, starting to recognize people, read faces, until it zoomed in on one familiar face on the ferris wheel, two people sitting next to him. Tony grinned and moved a bit faster, doing a fly-by, watching as Peter saw him, and saw his eyes light up. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but he tugged on Mary's jacket and pointed up int he sky, at him, grinning. Mary blinked and looked over, and Tony was already flying away, back over the water, and heading up into the sky.
"What's SR-71's record?" If Tony was going to test this out, and eventually brag about it, he wanted all the numbers.
"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is eighty-five thousand feet, sir," Jarvis told him, showing him the information on the screen as well.
"Records are made to be broken," Tony grinned,, putting all the thrust into the boots. He watched the altimeter on the screen, and just kept going straight up. "Come on!" He would make it, make it to ninety thousand or more.
"Sir," Jarvis spoke up. "There is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring." Jarvis threw up the warnings, letting him know.
"Keep going!" Tony pushed. He was so close, he could handle a little ice. Jarvis kept the warnings up, but Tony kept the power going to the boots and gauntlets. "Higher!" Maybe he should have paid a little more attention to just how much ice was building up. He thought this briefly when the power shorted out on the HUD, and suddenly power sputtered from the boots, and then the gauntlets. He fluttered in the air, swinging his limbs around before he started to fall.
"We iced up, Jarvis!" He shouted, waiting to see the blue light up again in his eyes. "Deploy flaps!" He waited another half a second. "Jarvis!" He was falling, and falling fast, a weighted down hunk of metal in the air. "Come, we gotta break the ice!" He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or to the unresponsive Jarvis, but it was something that needed to happen. He reached one hand down, dragging his finger across the leg of the suit, waiting for his fingers to fall into the divot of the manual release.
He let out a breath of relief and pulled and twisted, hearing the flaps break up, hearing the ice chunks crackle off. Putting his arms and legs out, he tried to slow his fall as much as possible, waiting for Jarvis to recognize that it was now safe to reboot. He watched the ground from the eye holes, wondering if he should make them bigger, until the screen burst to life, the icons loading and minimizing, and finally, Finally, Jarvis was powered up again and he had control.
He was much to close to the street for comfort, but he shot across, gaining enough momentum, and shot back up, letting out a shout of laughter, tinged with relief, and adrenaline. Time to head back home, he thought. The adrenaline would wear off soon, and he wanted to be home before that happened.
Hovering over the roof of his home, close to the roof access, he stayed. "Kill power," he commanded to Jarvis. What he was not expecting was to fall through the roof, through the baby grand piano, through the roof, and land right on top of one of his collector cars. Dummy released the fire extinguisher, and Tony let his head fall back.
Once Tony managed to tape an ice pack to his shoulder, near his neck, he grabbed something to drink, and wondered over to his computer. Jarvis already had the specs up on the suit, and the flight. Obviously the icing problem would have to be dealt with first. It wasn't until the TV caught his attention, that he looked away from the rendering Jarvis was coming up with.
"-Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund has become the place to be for LA's high society." Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Jarvis, we get an invite for that?" Tony didn't actually remember this event happening.
"I have no record of an invitation, Sir."
"-hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial conference," the reporter said, and Tony was already having ideas. "Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic stress, and has been bedridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight."
"The render is complete, Sir," Jarvis announced, pulling Tony's attention away from the TV. Tony looked over and saw the Mark II, soon to be Mark III, in all gold. He wrinkled his nose a little, taking a drink from his glass.
"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" All gold? Really? The all silver had been pushing it, but it was just the testing model.
"What was I thinking?" Tony raised an eyebrow, detecting humorous amounts of sass from his AI. "You're usually so discreet."
Tony's eyes wandered over to the hot rod that he worked on little by little, the one he had been working on before his flight to Afghanistan. "Tell you what, throw a little hot-rod red in there." He finished his glass, pushing back away from the computer desk as Jarvis made the changes.
"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile." Tony almost laughed. "Render is complete."
Tony got up, taking the ice pack off, slipping his watch back on. "Hey, I like it. Fabricate it, paint it. Don't wait up for me." Tony walked off, heading for his bedroom to get changed.
Tony mildly enjoyed the little bit of attention he got when he pulled up to his own event, mainly because he liked proving people wrong about him. He gave a brief greeting to Obie, and moved on, mostly so he wouldn't have to actually talk to any reporters. He could play up the bad boy role for a little longer. The people he cared about knew what he was really like now.
Inside, he ordered a scotch, needing one badly now with all the cameras around him, turning when he heard his name being called by his ear. "Mr Stark?"
Tony turned his head a little. "Yeah?"
"Agent Coulson," the man pulled out his badge, flashing it real quick.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah," Tony nodded a little. He thought he remembered Pepper saying something about this guy. "The guy from the..."
"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Department," the man supplied.
"God, you need a new name for that," he muttered, looking over into the crowd again. He saw a woman with her hair up, a long blue dress with an amazing back plunge, and a glass of champagne in her hand, and he thought she looked familiar.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot." The Agent was still talking, right he was still there. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you." Coulson kept going. "There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things."
"Let's just put something in the books," Tony said, nodding, still staring at the woman.
"How about the 24th, at 7pm?" Coulson suggested. "At Stark Industries?"
"Make it April, and we're good." The woman turned around and Tony's eyes widened a little when he recognized her. It was Mary. She looked over towards them, then blinked when she saw Tony. "I'm going to go find my assistant, and put it, in the books. Yeah." He finished his scotch then headed over towards Mary.
"Tony," Mary nodded to him a little, smiling.
"You look fantastic," he greeted. "I didn't recognize you."
"Well, that would probably be the point of this fancy dress," She told him, finishing her champagne. As she put the glass on the tray of a passing waiter, Tony took her hands, leading her to the dance floor. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
"I could say the same," Tony countered.
"Well, you were talking to my new boss, so I came here with government clearance." Tony raised an eyebrow at her answer. "I didn't tell you, I got a new job."
"You did in fact not tell me," he said, pinching her arm a little bit. "You now work for the agency with too many names?"
"Yeah, there's actually a group put together for coming up with a better name," she admitted. "Tony, why are dancing?"
"Because you surprised me by being here, and I don't actually want to talk to your boss," Tony told her.
"You aren't afraid that someone might get a picture of this?" Mary raised an eyebrow.
"We're just dancing," Tony countered.
"It's not just a dance, though," Mary said, not unkindly. "You're you, Tony, everybody knows who you are, and how you are with women."
"You most of all," Tony smirked and Mary let out a little snort of laughter. "Are you worried about what others will think?"
"I'm not, but I thought you wanted to try and keep Peter and I out of the press?" Mary asked, knowing that Coulson was watching as they danced.
"He's not here right now, and there are no cameras inside the hall," Tony reassured her, and himself. "They don't let the press, with their cameras, inside the hall."
"Nice save," Mary pushed his shoulder a little, moving him off the dance floor as the song ended. "Because we both know there are some paper journalists wandering around here."
Tony hummed a little. "Want a drink? I need a drink."
"I'm technically on the job, but I'll take a water," Mary chuckled a little, letting Tony move towards the bar faster. Tony barely noticed Coulson intercept Mary as he went up to the bar, placing a drink order. He didn't even notice the blonde come up on the other side.
"Wow, Tony Stark." Tony almost jumped at the voice and he tilted his head to see the familiar woman standing there. He remembered her, briefly. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Carrie," Tony guessed.
"Christine," she corrected, not surprised that he didn't remember her name.
"That's right," he nodded, reaching for the drink that the bartender handed him.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight." Tony raised an eyebrow. "Can I at least get a reaction from you?"
Tony briefly wondered about which part. "Panic. I would say panic is my reaction."
"'Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in the this latest atrocity," she continued, going on a righteous anger now.
"Yeah," Tony turned to face her a little more, and he could feel Mary coming up behind him, taking her water. "They just put my name on the invitation. I don't know what to tell you."
"I actually almost bought it, hook, line, and sinker," she continued, and now Mary was leaning out to get a look at this woman.
"I was out of town for a couple of months before, in case you didn't hear." Tony was getting annoyed now.
"Is this what you call accountability?" She pulled out some pictures from her purse and Tony frowned. He took them, looking through them, Mary looking over at them. "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"
"When were these taken?" He felt his ire rising. His weapons, the weapons that he had halted production of.
"Yesterday."
"I didn't approve any shipment," Tony looked back up at her.
"Well, you're company did," the blonde shot back at him.
"Well, I'm not my company." His brain stopped for just a second. He knew who Was the company at this moment. He gripped the pictures, leaving the drink, and headed outside, the two women following behind him.
Tony found Obie, pulling him away and up the steps, Obie pushing the other cameras away a little. "Have you seen these pictures?" He flashed the pictures to him, clearly showing the Jericho missiles. "What's going on in Gulmira?"
"Tony, Tony," Obie tried to soothe him like an upset child. "You can't afford to be this naive."
Tony frowned. "You know what? I was naive before, when they said, 'Here's the line, we don't cross it. This is how we do business.'" Tony looked at him, really not wanting to believe what was happening. "If we're double-dealing under the table..." He paused, looking for any reaction from the man that was like his father. "Are we?"
The cameras, the reporters, they were all clambering for a picture, wanting the two heads of Stark Industries. "Let's take a picture," Obie said after a moment of silence. "Picture time!" His tone was like that of talking to a small child, talking to Peter. As if he would ever let the man talk to him.
Obie put his arm around Tony's shoulders, leaning in so only they could hear. "Tony, who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction again you." Tony thought that his face had gone pale, the blood rushing from his face at the words. "It was the only way I could protect you."
Obidiah clapped his shoulder before moving down the stairs, his bodyguards following. He was done for the night. He left Tony standing on the stairs, staring after him. Christine walked away after a moment, and he could vaguely hear Mary telling him to move, before heading back into the event as well. Tony had a lot of thinking to do.
Tony didn't bother going to sleep when he got home, going straight down to his workshop. He immediately found any report about Gulmira, needed to see what was happening. That was Yinsen's home, and it was his name that was destroying it. When he saw the face of the man that had held him captive, still alive, he checked out, turning the Mark III gauntlet into a weapon.
"Sir," Jarvis spoke after a moment, into the silence of the shattered glass of his workshop. "Ms Parker is on the line."
"Deflect, Jarvis," Tony said. "I-"
"Tony," Mary's voice sounded through the workshop. The traitor AI.
"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping," Tony said, taking the gauntlet off, placing it down on the table. One of the robots would grab it, putting it back with the rest of the suit.
"It's almost nine in the morning, Tony," she told him. The engineer blinked a little, unaware that that much time had actually passed. "After last night-"
"Too which part are you referring," Tony interrupted her. "The part where you were there, working for the government agency trying to get my attention? Or the part where my own partner is still selling weapons, to the enemy? Or the part where I was made to look the fool of the company that has My name on it?! Please, enlighten me, Mary!"
Mary didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm looking into it, Tony," she said gently. "But, I need you to let me do this without your intervention." Tony was about to shout at her, but she kept going. "So, I'm going to drop Peter off to you, today." Tony stopped, blinking.
"I don't think that's a wise idea," Tony grumbled. "This probably isn't the best time-"
"Then consider this one of the important lessons of being a parent," Mary replied instantly. She wasn't going to coddle his emotions right now. "If you're having a bad day, if you don't fell like doing, life, you don't get to take a day off." Tony wasn't aware until he was already doing it, but he was sitting down as Mary gave him what for. "You don't get to go to your child, and say "I'm sorry, but today I just can't handle being an adult right, please understand that I'm going to put something else ahead of you."
"I wouldn't-"
"Your damn right," Mary snapped at him. "Now, I'm telling you that I'm dropping Peter off with you today, because I think that this will be good in two ways." She took a breath, composing herself again. "It will let me get done what needs to get done, to help You. And you will calm down enough to think about your response needs to be, rationally."
"I don't want to be rational about it," Tony grumped, slouching back a little on the couch.
"I know, but it's called being an adult. Now, go take a shower, and get dressed in clean clothes," Mary told him. "I'll be there with Peter in forty-five minutes.
While Tony was in the shower, he wondered what he could do with Peter. It gave him the time he needed to calm down, enough so that hopefully Peter wouldn't be able to see that something was wrong. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Peter in any way, in case he was still angry.
It wasn't until Mary showed up that Tony knew what he was going to do. She was carrying in a still tired looking Peter, his backpack in her hand, diaper bag over her shoulder. Tony saw the Captain America shield on the back of Peter's jacket and was hit with an epiphany.
"Hey, Petey," Tony said, going over to take him from his mothers arms.
The toddler wrapped his arms around Tony's neck. "Hi, Daddy."
"He's still tired from the carnival last night," Mary said as she put his stuff on the couch. "But, he knows he has to stay awake until after lunch, right, baby boy?" Peter nodded, giving her a tired smile. Mary leaned in, kissing Peter's cheeks. "Mama has to go to work now."
"Tell mom not to worry, we won't get into much trouble." He smiled when Mary gave him a warning look. "Go on, don't be late to work now." She hummed a little and went off with a wave.
"I've got something special to show you, little man," Tony said, adjusting Peter in his arms. The boy was growing quickly, and soon he wouldn't be able to hold him like this for long, but Tony would keep doing it as long as he could. "Only one other person knows about this, and that's Rhodey. You remember, Rhodey right?" Peter nodded, sitting up a little in Tony's arms.
"He's the fly guy," Peter giggled.
"That's right," Tony chuckled, heading down the hall, towards where his own, seldom used, study was. "I used to go to school with Rhodey, so we've known each other a long time. He was around when I made this room that I'm going to show you. So only Rhodey, and now you, will know about this."
"Cause I'm special," Peter preened a little, a look of mischief on his face. That look was pure Stark.
"That's right," Tony smiled. he reached a door at the end of the hallway, a little panel slid out from the wall, lighting up. Tony put his hand on the panel, the panel scanning his hand, and there the sound of a lock unlatching. The door clicked and started to slide open.
"This is a collection that I started when I was just a kid, just a little older than you." Peter blinked, adjusting his eyes to the lower level lights that were turning on. He looked around and took in his surroundings, before letting out a little gasp.
"It's all Cap'n America!" He exclaimed, starting to wiggle in Tony's arms.
Tony put him down, but took his hand, walking over to the different displays. "Yeah, it is. I was a big fan when I was a kid, and I collected everything." Peter got as close as he could to the glass, seeing a large collection of comic books. "Did you know that my Dad actually knew Captain America?"
Peter's eyes got big and he turned to look at Tony. "Really?" He whispered. "He knew the real Captain America?"
Tony nodded. "He was friends with him." Tony channeled his childhood, when he was still young enough to be happy when he thought of Captain America, before he realized that Howard gave more attention to a dead man than to his own son that was there in front of him. "I wanted to be just like Captain America when I was younger." Peter reached up to Tony to be held again, and he obliged, moving on to show him the other displays. There were magazines, and his old posters, costumes that he tried to make with the maids and nannies. "He was brave, and had no fear, and did what was right, to make people safe."
And suddenly, Tony knew what he had to do.
Tony glanced at the map as the in suit phone began to ring; Rhodey. He was pretty much expecting this call. "Hello?" He knew it was Rhodey, but flying this high and this fast, it was still a little hard to hear. "Sorry, hello? Speak up please."
"What the hell is that noise?" Rhodey asked, Jarvis boosting the volume.
"Oh yeah, I'm driving with the top down." Kind of a half truth.
"Yeah, well, I need your help right now." Tony noted that Rhodey was sounding a bit serious.
"It's funny how that works?" Tony couldn't keep the little bit of snark out of his voice.
"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive," Rhodey said. So they did see his handy work then.
"Well, that's a hot spot." If Tony could have shrugged int he suit, he would have. "Sounds like someone stepped in and did you job for you, huh?"
"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Was Rhodey accusing him of something? Something that he completely did do, but still.
"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon." His excuses were getting bad.
"I thought you were driving."
"Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog." What?
"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?" He could tell Rhodey the truth.
"Nope!"
There was some chatter in the background. "Okay, good, cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."
Two planes behind him. "That's my exit." He cut the line and took a turn. Time to lose them, avoid the attention for everyone's sake. He forgot that sometimes the military had the right training, and it was getting harder to evade what they were throwing at him. When he deployed flaps he quickly up underneath one of the planes and latched on, trying to get his breath back. Maybe it was time to call Rhodey, before Rhodey had to call Mary and Peter.
"Hello?" Oh, Poohbear did not sound happy.
"Hi, Rhodey, it's me." Time to tell him the straight facts.
"I'm sorry, it's who?" He hated when Rhodey got sassy.
"I'm sorry, it is me." He took another breath. "You asked. What you were asking about is me."
"No, see this isn't a game." Oh yeah, he Was at work. That was the Colonel voice coming out. "You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?"
"This is not a piece of equipment. I'm in it. It's a suit," he blurted out quickly. "It's me!" Stunned silence is what he would have wanted earlier. Then the plane started to roll, and he was quickly losing his grip. One more high speed roll and they shook him loose. His sensors inside the suit spun, and he grunted when he suddenly hit something.
The stupid plane! He regained control of his thrusters and started going again once he saw the pilot eject. ... But he didn't see a chute. He turned, making a downward arc, Jarvis scanning the chute functions to see how it jammed. He could get it open.
"You've been reengaged," Jarvis toned through the helmet. "Execute evasive maneuver."
"Keep going!" He kept his downward movement. His suit would most likely survive, the pilot would not once he hit the ground. He slammed his hand against the chute pack, let out a burst from the repulsor, sparking the mechanism and watched the chute explode and catch air. He let up on the thrust, then turned and headed back towards home, watching the other plane follow it's fellow pilot, knowing he had dropped off radar enough to disappear close to the rocky side of the landscape.
"Tony, you still there?" He couldn't help but let out a little smile at Rhodey's voice.
"Hey, thanks."
"Oh my god, you crazy son of a bitch." Tony had to laugh at that one now. "You owe me a new plane, you know that right?"
"Yeah, well, technically he hit me." Tony took in a breath, letting Jarvis take control of the directions for a few seconds. "Now, are you going to come by and see what I'm working on? Peter misses you, too." Guilt trip, that's what good parents did, right?
"No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better." Even Rhodey sounded a bit out of breath. "Now, what am i supposed to tell the press?"
"Training exercise. Isn't that the usual BS?" He'd heard that a million times.
April 2007
Tony was wrapping a few things on his computer when he heard Pepper's heels coming down the stairs. He had to go and get Peter from Mary's parents soon, and he really did not want to be late. Mary said that she had a late appointment and Peter wanted to spend the night again, and how could Tony say no when his son wanted to spend time with him.
"Hey, you busy? You mind if I send you on an errand?" Things had been a little awkward since she had caught him trying to get the damaged Mark III suit off. "I need you to go to my office." He grabbed something from his desk, having just completed the programming on it. "You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests. This is a lock chip," he said as he put the thumb drive in her hand. "This'll get you in. It's probably under Executive Files. If not," he started to shut down his computer again, "they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading."
Pepper looked at him. "And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" He hated that tone.
"Same drill," he said easily. "They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them." He stood up. "I'm going to find my weapons, and destroy them."
"Tony," she paused, gathering her bearings, and Tony didn't like that. "You know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."
"There is nothing except this," he looked at her. If he didn't, if he didn't try to stop this, to change his name, his legacy, Peter's legacy. "There's no art opening. There is no benefit, there is nothing to sign."
"Is that so?" Pepper waited for an answer, but he really didn't have one that she wanted to hear. "Well, then I quit."
"You stood by my side for all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction." He felt his throat closing a little, but he kept his tone strong. "And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"
"You're going to kill yourself Tony." She looked at him. The strong woman that she was, the only one that had been able to keep up with him. The only one he had for a long time. "I'm not going to be a part of it."
Tony let out a little sigh. "I should be alive." He couldn't look at her. "Unless it was for a reason." As much as he loved his son, Peter was not enough of a reason for the Universe to keep him alive. "I'm not crazy, Pepper," he said softly. "I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."
Pepper eventually walked back over, took the device, and nodded. "Don't come right back here, just in case. Wait an hour or so." Peter would be asleep by the time that Pepper came back with the drive. She nodded one last time and left the workshop. He knew he was asking a lot of her, but he also knew that she could do it.
Tony took a breath, and pushed himself away from the desk. He grabbed his jacket, and the keys to the town car. He really did not want to get another look from Mary's mother if he was late again.
Mary checked the text from Tony, a picture of him and Peter in the car, having picked him up from her parents place, then tucked her phone into her jacket pocket. She had to idly wonder if Coulson knew that Peter was Tony's son, or if he just had her come with him to Stark Industries because of what happened at the Benefit back in March.
"Ms Potts?" She looked up when Coulson spoke, Pepper Potts coming the stairs, in a bit of a hurry it looked like. The last time she had seen the red-head was when Peter had been only a month old. "Did you forget about out appointment?"
"Nope, right now, come with me." Both Mary and Coulson stood up quickly at her words, especially when she didn't stop walking. Pepper glanced at Mary, but looked back at Coulson, then glanced behind her. Mary looked behind them as well. She got a shiver down her back when she saw Obidiah Stane standing there, watching them leave. Something didn't feel right. "We're going to have it right now."
"Right now?" Coulson was a little confused, and he didn't handle that very well yet.
"Yeah, walk with me. I'm going to give you the meeting of you life." Pepper headed them for the door to the parking garage. "Your office."
Mary was surprised that Pepper waited until they were in the car to speak to her. "I've met you before," Pepper said as she slid into the backseat of the car, Mary into the passenger seat. Coulson glanced at Mary, but it was a little knowing glance, and that told Mary everything she needed to know.
"I had a meeting with Mr Stark a couple years ago," Mary said plainly.
The infamous Pepper Potts had one of the best memories in the business. "You came with the baby, claiming that Tony was the father." Mary just nodded once, and Pepper narrowed her eyes a little. "Was it all some sort of set-up to try and get Tony under government surveillance?"
"No one can keep Tony under constant surveillance," Mary commented. Pepper noted her casual use of Tony's first name, and it seemed that she was starting to put things together. "Today has no connection to what happened almost three years ago." Mary just wanted all of this to be over. There was a tangled knot in her stomach that she just couldn't shake, and she didn't like it.
The phone started to ring and Tony kissed the top of Peter's head as he helped put the last dish in the dishwasher. "Stay right here, buddy," Tony said. "I'm just gonna grab the phone, then we can have some ice cream." He smiled at Peter's little cheer and half jogged out to the living room to find the phone. He glanced around, wondering why Jarvis hadn't announced who was calling, and why it was going to the handset anyway.
He tracked the sound to the couch, and picked up a couple pillows until he found the phone. He plopped down on the couch and looked at the caller ID. Now it was really weird, if Pepper was calling Jarvis should have automatically put it through, he knew that Tony had been waiting for this call. "He pressed the button, opened his mouth to answer-
Everything in his body locked up, every nerve going numb, a high pitched sonic noise traveling through his ears and shutting down his body. His eyes widened when his body started to slump, falling without being able to control his own movements- No, there was someone behind him, there was a hand on the back of his neck, slowly bring him back to rest against the back of the couch.
"Breathe." That voice, he knew that voice. His body tried to desperately pull air into his lungs, the one word triggering an unconscious bodily action. "Easy, easy." There was a soft thump, something being put on the couch beside him, and then there was a little device entering into his eye sight. "You remember this one right?" Stane. "It's a shame the government didn't approve it. There's so many applications for causing shot-term paralysis."
Obidiah walked around the couch, grabbed Tony's jaw and moved his head to look up at him. When he let go, Tony's head drooped a little to the side and Tony thought that his body was going to seize up again. He saw Peter's hair on the couch next to him.
"Tony." Tony's eyes moved to look back at the man, the traitor, trying to pour every ounce of hatred into his gaze. "When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose." Obidiah reached over, towards where Peter was, his Peter, but pulled something out of a small case. Obie, Obidiah, his partner, the man who had helped raised him, was the reason that he had been kidnapped in Afghanistan? He had tried to have him killed? He should have figured it out sooner, he shouldn't have brought Peter here. What about Mary?
Stane put something heavy over the top of his reactor. "But, you see," Tony felt the device start to heat up, gears working on something, "it was just fate that you survived that." Tony gasped at the slight pop, the feeling of the arc reactor being shifted until something had grabbed onto the edges. No, not the arc reactor. He couldn't save Peter if Stane took that from him. Stane twisted the device gently, and slowly pulled out the arc reactor from his chest. "You had one last golden egg to give."
Tony could have killed him there, if he could move, as Stane leaned over him, like he still had any right to be this close to Tony. "Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?" Tony wanted to lash out, to throw his body at Stane, to get him as far away from his son as possible. He had made a promise to Peter, to protect him from everything. "Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. now what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"
Stane gave one finally pull, and Tony thought his heart had just stopped. It might as well have as Obidiah disconnected the arc reactor from his body. His body filled with ice, movement slowly starting to come back, but not enough to stop Stane. He watched the man he had once looked up to, look at his arc reactor, like it was his own invention.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Stane breathed. "Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece, look at that." Stane dropped down onto the couch, between him and Peter. "A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. This is your legacy." Stane smirked a little, then reached over, pulling Peter up by his arm and into his lap. He could see that Peter was unconscious, a little trail of blood that had come from his ear, but he was still breathing, still alive. "Or, is this your legacy? This brat, that you've tried to hide, all too well, from everyone, from me. Well, he certainly looks like you, I'll give you that."
Stane turned a little, putting the arc reactor into the small case he had, locking it up. "I wish you could have seen my prototype." He watched Stane grab Peter, throwing him over his shoulder, to hang like some discard piece of clothing. "It's not as," he paused, searching for the words. "Well, not as conservative as yours." He turned to look at Tony. "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this, I would have preferred that she lived. But, out of one last consolation, if you do what I want, this time, and just die, I'll be sure to drop the brat off with his Mother. He never saw my face, he still has a chance."
Tony heaved in a breath, trying to force his body to move as Stane started to leave the living room. He had had to stop him! He had Peter! The front door opened, then closed again, as Tony threw himself onto the floor, panting for breath.
Peter.
Mary moved almost as quickly as Pepper did from the offices to the cars. She was on the phone with someone, maybe Tony, she wasn't sure, she wasn't listening, but all Mary could think about was the information that they had gotten from Pepper. Tony had almost been killed, and he was still in danger. Stane had built some sort of suit, from what Tony had built in the desert, and they had to get to him.
"-don't know. He's not answering his phone." Mary looked over at Pepper as they got into the cars. "Please go over there and make sure everything's okay." Peter was with Tony. "Thank you, Rhodey." Rhodey, the Colonel, she could trust him to keep them safe. Now she didn't have to commandeer the car form Coulson.
Tony stumbled out of the elevator, nearly hitting the floor, until he opened the door to his workshop. There, there was the other arc reactor. He gasped, body feeling cold, slowly dying, shrapnel tearing it's way closer to his heart with every exaggerated beat. Why did the workshop suddenly feel so big?! He had to get to the suit, he had to get Peter back!
Tony focused, focused on the thought of Peter and pulled himself across the floor of the workshop. The floor was filthy, he really should clean up. Focus, Tony, arc reactor! He was almost there, it was there, on top of the counter top, all he had to do was grip it, with, his, fingers-
He gasped as he fell to the ground, strength fading, giving up. He couldn't do it, he couldn't even gather the strength needed to go and save his son. He-
The whir of Dummy's arm brought his attention, the arc reactor there, in his grasp. Dummy sounded so hopeful. Tony was going to upgrade the shit of this stupid little robot after this. "Good boy." He used the momentum of his arm and smashed the glass of the casing, freeing the arc reactor. He'd have to make do with this model until he could get the other one back from Stane, or make another one. But first he had to get Peter.
He forgot how hard it was with his own hands to get the reactor plugged in, and it didn't help that his hands were still shaking as the effects of the paralysis wore off, and his own weakness from the shrapnel combined together. He almost cried with relief, slumping over, at the sound of the click, as the reactor connected in his chest. Now he just had to catch his breath.
"Tony!" There was more yelling in the house. Rhodey? "Tony!" He was being rolled over, Rhodey, he was there. "You okay?"
"Where's Pepper?" Whenever Pepper was, that's where Stane would be going. He could save them both.
"She's fine, she's with five agents." Five agents? "They're about to arrest Obidiah." Oh no, Coulson, and-
"Mary." Tony heaved himself up, Rhodey helping him. "Obidiah's got Peter, Rhodey, he has him." Rhodey's eyes widened and he let Tony guide him over to the assembly station. "I've got to get over there." The floor started to move and Rhodey took a step back, the suit starting to assemble around him.
"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Rhodey breathed, and Tony felt a little satisfaction from it. Tony felt he strength of the suit helping him as he recovered a little, and used the repulsor to move the car from the hole still in his ceiling. "You need me to do anything else?"
The faceplate dropped in place and lit up, the HUD coming to life. "Keep the skies clear."
Mary and Coulson were the first agents inside the room after blowing the lock, Pepper behind them. Everyone drew their weapons, her senses on high alert. They saw a suit there, off to the side.
"Looks like you were right," Coulson said. "He was building a suit."
Mary tilted her head when she heard a sound, like something bumping around a vent. She moved quietly to the side, following the sound, the other agents fanning around the room. She followed the sound over to the computer station, leaning down. It's where the sound stopped. Until she heard, something like, a whimper?
Mary pulled back on the door that gave access to the wiring and gasped when she saw Peter huddled in a ball. "Peter," she breathed, putting her weapon back in the holster quickly, and grabbing onto her son.
"Mama!" He cried out at the same time that Pepper screamed. Mary turned, holding tightly to Peter, and stood, seeing the giant suit chasing after Pepper.
"This way!" She shouted to Pepper as she started to run for the door. Mary had to get Peter out of there, but it seemed that the suit, with Stane most likely inside of it, was after Pepper. The agents started firing their weapons as they ran, and she caught eyes with Coulson, giving her a little nod, and she moved with a little more purpose. Peter was crying in her arms, holding onto her tightly.
There were sparks and the sound of an explosions behind them, Stane on the war path. The were out the door, Stane getting stuck on the concrete behind them, and they were headed towards the cars. "Get in the car!" She shouted to Pepper. "Get out of here!"
Pepper was suddenly pressing a finger to her ear. "Tony! Tony, are you okay?" She was talking to Tony, he was still alive then. Mary was rubbing Peter's back as they talked. "Obidiah, he's gone insane! He built a suit, and-"
The ground rumbled and Mary looked around. Concrete started to move from in front of Pepper, something coming up. Correction, Obidiah Stane was breaking through the ground with his suit. He flung the concrete up and Mary ducked down to cover Peter. Mary saw out of the corner of her eye Pepper fall tot he ground, a smaller piece of concrete catching her in the temple. She was still alive, she could see the movement of her chest. Mary stood up, about to check on her, but was stopped by the giant of a machine.
"Where do you think you're going?" He pointed a hand towards her and Peter, Peter starting to cry louder, his grip tighter on Mary. "You just had to intervene. I would have let you and your son live, but now, your services are no longer required." Mary's eyes widened when the machine gun in the arm started to whir to life.
"Stane!" Mary and Stane looked over, something shooting through the sky towards him. That was Tony's voice! Tony slammed into Stane, driving them through the ground, and out of sight. She took a trembling breath and went over to Pepper, freeing one hand to check on her pulse, while never once letting go of Peter.
She could still feel a strong pulse coming from the PA. "Peter, Peter baby, are you okay?" She turned her attention to Peter, knowing that Stane was going to come back in the immediate five seconds. "Did he hurt you, baby?" she brushed her hands all over Peter's face, arms, back, everywhere. She saw the little trail of blood, and felt her heart stop a little. "Peter?"
Peter wasn't crying as loudly now, his sniffles calming down a little. "He was going after Daddy," he said through breaths, his little chest heaving with mostly shock. He was scared. Mary wanted to kill Stane herself. "He said he killed Daddy! Mama!" He started to cry again and she held onto him tightly. There was a low rumble and she looked up, seeing something streak up into the sky.
"Peter, look up, look at that baby," she pointed up, and turned the little boy to the sky. "He didn't do it, that's Daddy up there, right now." Peter hiccuped with little sobs, looking up, wiping his eyes with his arm. Mary was barely aware of Coulson and a couple other agents coming out. They were moving the wounded ones to the cars, Coulson stopping to lean down by them and Pepper. "Daddy's still alive, he came back to protect you."
"Ms Parker," Coulson said quietly, and she looked over at him. Someone was already moving Pepper to the backseat of the car, and Coulson was handing her the bluetooth device Pepper had been using to talk to Tony. "Hello, Peter." Coulson had met Peter a couple of times, at home, right after she had started her new job. "Would you like to sit with me in the car? That way your Mom can help your Dad stop the bad guy?"
Peter looked at Mary, his little jaw wobbling with tears, and fear. He didn't want to leave her, he didn't want anything else to happen, but when he looked back up into the sky, he knew that his Daddy would need help.
Mary hugged Peter tightly, kissing the top of his head. "We'll just sit in the car, and I promise that you'll be able to see them the whole time," Coulson continued. Peter nodded a little.
"You are my brave little boy," Mary whispered to him. "My very brave boy, just like Captain America."
Peter shook his head in the negative this time as Mary let go to let Coulson pick him up. "No, brave like Daddy."
"Potts!" Mary stood up quickly, looking up when she heard Tony's voice, slipping the ear piece in.
"Tony!" Mary exclaimed.
"Mary?" Tony looked up.
"Oh my god, are you okay?!" She moved forward a little, knowing that Coulson would take care of Peter, no matter how much she wanted to keep him with her. She couldn't let him get hurt anymore though.
"I'm almost out of power, I've gotta get out of this thing." He started to disasemble the suit manually. "Did you find Peter? Is he okay?"
"We've got Peter, Tony, he's going to be fine," Mary breathed out. "Just, hurry up back down here."
"I'll be right there." Tony flipped the faceplate up, about to take off the helmet, when a rumble on the roof caught his attention. Stane landed and aimed his weapons right at Tony. Tony's eyes widened and the faceplate went back down, moving back to avoid the hit. How had he survived from the fall?
"Weapons status?" Tony breathed out, as he jumped at Stane. The giant arm of the suit caught Tony, and started to squeeze.
"Repulsors offline. Missiles offline," Jarvis reported mournfully. Stane squeezed again, the HUD display starting to crack, and more red than anything was flashing in his face.
"Flares!" Tony shouted, and smoke and light filled their visions, giving him the opportunity to get away.
Mary was looking up towards the roof, starting to look around for a ladder, or anything to get up there to help. "Mary!" Tony whisper shouted.
"Tony!" She looked up again, antsy on her feet.
"This isn't working," Tony whispered, and Mary listened very closely. "We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof."
"How are you going to do that?" She asked, looking in towards the giant arc reactor in the building.
"You're going to do it." Her eyes widened a little at Tony's words. "Go to the central console, open up all the circuits." She was already moving, running inside of the building as he gave directions. "When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know, you're going to hit the master bypass button. It's going to fry everything up here."
"I'm already in, Tony," she told him, pulling off the panel to get access to the circuits.
"Make sure you wait till I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time," Tony said, moving away as Stane thumped closer.
Mary looked at the circuits and blinked, both impressed and overwhelmed at what she saw. She started to pull on the main power levers before heading over to the center console. There was a faint clink and she looked up to see Tony slide over onto the glass. She bit her lip, sparks in the air. "It's ready Tony, get off the roof!"
She gasped, ducking when the glass suddenly broke, showering the ground. "Mary!" She looked up at Tony's shout.
Mary would have to push the button. Tony hung from the edge of the framework, Obidiah trying to still hit him with his missiles. "Time to push the button!"
"You'll die!" Mary shouted back.
Time was running out. If that's what would happen, and it would keep both Mary and Peter safe, then that's what had to happen. He made a promise, and he was going to keep it. He wouldn't let this be Peter's legacy, he wouldn't let danger keep coming after him. "Just do it!" He shouted back down. Stane launched another missile and the roof shook, making him dangle, to where he could see Mary now.
"Tony!" She shouted, tears in her eyes.
"Push it!"
Mary pursed his lips together, then slammed her hand on the button, vaulting over the bar, and running from the building as the arc reactor over powered, lightning and sparks flying through the air like a giant tesla coil. She cleared the building, running towards the cars, turning around, hoping for any sign on Tony, as an explosion suddenly rocked the building, fire bursting in plumes from the windows and doors and the roof.
"Tony!"
Mary held onto Peter as they sat in the back of the limo, running her hands through his hair as they watched the little TV of the press conference. Tony had been whisked away by more agents, SHIELD as they had come up with now, and poor Peter hadn't even been able to speak to him. They had both barely gotten any sleep, but Coulson had assured them that Tony was awake now, and doing fine.
The door opened, Coulson slid in as Tony took the podium. Peter perked up in Mary's lap at the sight of Tony, a bit of relief winding through his little body.
"He'll come out here as soon as he's done," Coulson told her. "Take as much time as you need, the Director will be handling Tony for the next couple of weeks." Mary nodded a little, her arm still around Peter's middle, even as he tried to scooch closer to the TV. "He doesn't know you'll be here, so it should be a nice surprise."
"Thank you, Coulson," she smiled at him, kissing his cheek. They both stopped, blinking a bit at the action. "For a lot, last night, and today." She hurried through, sure that her cheeks were blushing a little. Coulson nodded a little, and pat her arm, ruffling Peter's hair a little, and slid out of the limo.
-"truth is." Mary looked back over, hearing Tony's voice, hearing his hesitation. She didn't like where this was going. "I am Iron Man." The press room exploded with shouting and pictures, and Mary just wanted to facepalm. This was going to make it difficult, again, for them to be a family without the press.
"Is Daddy coming here now?" Peter asked quietly, looking back up at Mary. Tony was gone from the screen. Mary pulled him back against her chest and nodded.
"As soon as they can get him out of the building," Mary said, nodding. It didn't take long until the door opened again, the voices of reporters following, and Tony slid in the limo quickly, the door closing, and he let out a breath.
"Daddy!" Peter launched himself at Tony, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck. Tony gasped a little, surprised, then realized what was happening and he wrapped his arms around Peter immediately, closing his eyes tightly. "Daddy, I was so scared, and then you were gone, and I couldn't find you, then Mama was there..." Peter started to let out little sniffles, bumbling through his words and thoughts.
"It's okay," Tony sussed, pressing his nose into Peter's hair, rubbing his back. "I'm here, I'm here now. There's no more bad guy to hurt you. I'm so sorry, so sorry, Peter," Tony whispered. Mary dabbed at her eye with the knuckle of her finger, but had a little smile on her face. They'd make do, they always had until now.