Disclaimer: I don't own Tony, or any other characters from Marvel. However, the Scholl family is my own.

After crossing several draws, a dry riverbed, and going through several gates, Tony and Jake finally reached the ranch buildings. There were several buildings—both barns and houses—clustered together, along with a large corral. Vehicles of all shapes and descriptions (but mostly old and battered) were scattered throughout. Jake parked the four-wheeler in front of the largest house, which was white with a dark green roof.

"Well, here we are," he remarked to Tony. Tony nodded, his quick eyes taking in all the details of the architecture. It didn't appear to be an ordinary house: little details were evident, showing evidence of custom designing. Little things made the house more efficient—a little more overhang than usual on the south side, vents visible on the roof, and other small things. Tony stepped inside.

"Nice house you've got here."

Jake grinned. "Thanks. Dad and I built most of it ourselves."

They were standing in a mud room of sorts in the walk-in basement. Jake gestured toward an empty coat hook. "You can put your shoes over under there."

Tony started taking his shoes off as Jake called up the stairs, "Hey, Dad, I found someone out in the Baker pasture."

There was a vague reply, and then Tony heard boots coming down the stairs. A man with a long, bushy beard and and a wide grin came into view. Jake smiled. "Dad, this is Tony. I found him lost on the Baker place." He turned to Tony. "Tony, this is my dad, Erwin Scholl."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Nice to meet you, Erwin. Although, with that beard, I was expecting your name to be something more like Z Z Top." Mentally, he cringed. He had forgotten that since they didn't know he was Tony Stark, he couldn't get away with anything he wanted to say… But Erwin was laughing.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," he replied, extending his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Tony."

Tony smiled. It was nice to know that he hadn't offended Erwin. But now Erwin gestured them upstairs.

"Well, come, I want to introduce you to my family, and we can see about helping you get back to where you come from." He turned and led the way upstairs.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Tony saw a woman getting a meal ready. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a loose french braid. She turned and smiled at them. "Hello," she greeted, extending her hand toward Tony. "I'm Maria, Erwin's wife."

"Tony," he replied, as he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Maria."

She smiled. "So where are you from, Tony?"

Tony was opening his mouth to reply when he heard steps behind him and a voice called, "Mom? What's happening?" He turned around to see a staircase going up to a higher floor, and a girl about eighteen years old just stepping off the last step. As her glance fell on Tony, her eyes widened. She looked like she was about to say something, but apparently decided against that at the last minute. Recovering her composure admirably well, Tony thought, she smiled and came up to them.

Erwin grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Tony, this is my daughter, Daisy."

Daisy smiled. "Nice to meet you, Tony. What brings you here?"

Tony glanced down. "It's a long story, but it ends up with me getting lost." He paused for dramatic effect. "In the middle of your pasture. Jake found me and brought me here so I could get in touch with my people to come get me."

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

Maria rushed forward, all concern. "Oh, you need to call your friends? You can use our phone…it's fine, we don't mind." She directed Tony toward the phone. "Here, you can call right now, if you want," she smiled, placing the phone in his hands.

Tony hesitated. "I don't…"

Flapping her hands, Maria shooed him into another room. "Oh, don't worry about that. Call your friends, and then we can talk to you." She closed the door and left him alone.

Tony rubbed his forehead. Well, if that's how it is, I may as well call Pepper. Good thing I still memorize a few phone numbers…

Soon he was waiting as Pepper's phone rang.

"Hello, this is Virginia Potts speaking," her crisp voice came over the phone.

Tony gave a small smile. "Hey, Pepper, it's me."

There was a sharp intake of breath at the other end of the line. Then Pepper's voice rang out, sharp and clear. "I am so going to kill you when you get home, Tony! How dare you do this to me? Especially after the Extremis deal! You can't keep doing this to me, Tony!"

Tony chuckled. "I'm glad to hear your voice too, Pepper."

Pepper let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, at least you're safe. We know where you are because Jarvis tracked you."

"Okay, great. When can you send someone to get me?"

Tony could've almost sworn he heard Pepper smile. "Well, it turns out, we know someone who's going to that ranch tomorrow. But he's going to be staying there for about a week—do you mind staying there as well?"

"No, don't mind," Tony replied in an offhand manner. "Y'know, Pepper, it's actually kind of nice when they don't know I'm Tony Stark."

Pepper gave a short laugh. "I'm sure, Tony. But make sure you don't push it."

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Of course I don't."

Tony smirked at Pepper's reply. "Okay, fair enough."

"Good. Now, it would probably be best if I spoke with Mrs. Scholl."

"Oh, right, yeah. Good idea."

Tony left the room, phone in hand, and explained a little bit to Maria. She smiled and took the phone from him.

"Is this Mrs. Scholl?" Pepper asked as she heard a friendly voice greet her.

"Yes, that's me, but you can just call me Maria."

"Why thank you, Maria," Pepper smiled. "Did Tony explain the situation to you?"

"A little bit," Maria replied. "You can't pick him up right away, so he needs to stay for a few days?"

"Well, not exactly. But his friend is coming to stay at your ranch tomorrow, so we were wondering if it would be alright for Tony to stay with his friend."

"Oh, I see," Maria responded. "I think that would be fine… You might want to talk with my daughter, though. She's the one who arranges things for our guests."

"Oh, yes, please, that would be good."

Pepper heard the phone being transferred and then a new voice at the end of the line.

"Hello, this is Daisy," the voice said. "I presume I am speaking to Pepper Potts?"

Pepper's eyebrows rose in surprise. I thought Tony said they didn't know who he was. "Why, yes. How did you know?"

Daisy laughed. "I recognized him. But don't worry, I don't think any of the rest of my family did. So he would like to stay here while his friend is here?"

When Tony handed the phone over to Maria, he was instantly attacked by three small children.

"Who are you?" a boy about seven years old asked.

"Will you play with us?" a girl about five years old demanded.

"I can wite my name!" a girl about three years old declared. And all these statements were said at the same time, very loudly.

"Hey, kids, leave Tony alone," Erwin intervened. "Tony, meet my youngest children: Ryan," Erwin motioned toward the boy, "Mandy," the five year old girl, "and Kylie," the three year old.

"It's nice to meet you kids," Tony knelt down so he was at their level. "I'm Tony."

Mandy covered her face with her hands and peeked out through the fingers. Ryan looked down. Kylie smiled. " 'ill oo pway wiv me?"

Tony laughed. "Okay, I'll play with you guys. Unless you bite. Then I won't play with you." He looked at them in mock seriousness. "Do you guys bite?"

All three shook their heads vehemently and stared at him with wide eyes. Erwin chuckled. "They're a bit shy at first. Don't worry, they'll warm up to you."

Just then Daisy came out. "So I guess you're staying with us for about a week?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, if it's ok with you guys. I don't have a problem with that."

Erwin grinned and clapped him on the shoulders. "It's great! We'll enjoy having you here, Tony."

Jake came out a bedroom. "You're staying with us for a week? Nice."

"Time to eat!" Maria announced. "Everyone sit down."

After an excellent meal, Tony stood up from the table. "That was delicious, Maria," he complimented. "A meal like that—I'm tempted to either stay here forever or steal you so you can cook for me at my home."

Maria laughed. "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to be disappointed then."

Smiling, Tony turned to Erwin. "Is there anything I can do to help around here? Seriously, I don't want to be a burden."

"He's a mechanic, Dad," Jake put in.

Erwin smiled. "Hmm, well, I don't have any projects that you could work on right now. But I think Jake might…"

Jake grinned excitedly. "I have an old Bronco. I've fixed it up a lot, but it still needs work, would you like to help me fix it?"

Tony nodded. "Sure, I would be happy to help. Actually, I love working on cars."

Soon Tony was tinkering around the old vehicle. Jake had gone to look for a part they needed, and Tony was lying underneath the car. He heard footsteps behind him and scooted out from underneath to see who it was.

Daisy was looking at him cooly. "I know who you are," she stated promptly.

He raised an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"

She raised an eyebrow right back at him. "Hmm, let's see… Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist. Iron Man. Tony Stark." She glanced at him. "That about right?"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Wait… how did you know about that?"

Daisy shrugged. "We don't have TV. The rest of my family listens to the news on the radio. I research it. On the internet. So I know what Tony Stark looks like."

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain you quoting me," Tony retorted.

Daisy gave a half-smile. "I have my ways." She raised one eyebrow at him. "You're not the first to come here, you know. There's another guy who really likes it here." She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Suddenly she grinned. "Wait… I think you might know him… He was…" she trailed off.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Who else comes here?"

Daisy's eyes danced mischievously. "I can't tell you. But you will meet him before you leave. I can promise you that."

Well...that last scene could have gone better. When I imagined it, it was brilliant. I'm afraid it lost most of its luster. Anyway, tell me if you've guessed who else is coming to the ranch, or how Daisy knew that line...