'I'm sorry we're late, we were...what is that? You're wearing this in the house now?!'

Howie raised an eyebrow as he shut the car door. He carried his briefcase, containing his suit, STARKpads and several pieces of paper for Tony and Pepper to sign. He followed Pepper in, raising the other eyebrow at his dad sat lounging in his newest suit.

'What is that, like Mark XV?' Pepper said with a raised eyebrow.

'Something like that.' Tony said, standing up.

Howie shook his head, walking into the kitchen. He placed the briefcase on the counter, pulling all but the suit out and lining them up. As Tony walked towards Pepper, giving her a massage, Howie grabbed a breakfast bar out of the draw, chewing on it as Pepper stood up. He tried to both ignore them and not be seen ignoring them. Having parents was weird. Howie paused at that thought, wondering when he had started to think of Pepper as a parent.

'Did you like the custom rabbit?'

Howie snorted, thinking of the huge thing outside the door. He had struggled to keep a straight face when he and Pepper had arrived home. Apparently, it had taken Tony a lot of thought to find a good present for Pepper, and that was what he came up with.

'Did I like it?'

'Nailed it right?'

Howie grabbed a smoothie out of the fridge walking towards the sofas. He sat down, trying to not watch as Pepper got closer to Tony.

'Why don't you lift up that facemask and give me a kiss?'

Tony tapped his head and Howie looked up, eyebrows furrowing at the hollow sound.

'Huh, yeah, dammit. No can do. You want to just kiss it on the, uh, facial slit?'

'Why don't I run down to the garage and see if I can't find a crowbar to jimmy that thing open?' Pepper said walking past him. Howie stood, wanting to see his dad get in trouble.

'A crowbar? Yeah...' Tony suddenly jumped. 'Oh, except there's been a radiation leak.'

'Since when?' Howie said, dodging under his dad's arm.

'Since this morning, and its dangerous.'

'I'll take my chances.' Pepper said over her shoulder.

'That's risky, at least let me get you like a Hazmat suit or a Geiger counter or something like that...' Howie leant round the top of the stair, seeing his dad doing chin ups. He looked back at the suit rolling his eyes and sat down at the top of the stairs.

'Busted.'

'This is a new level of lame.'

'Sorry.' Tony said, not sounding sorry at all.

'You ate without me, already?' Pepper said, looking up at Howie. The boy held his hands up, not getting involved. 'On date night?'

'He was just...' Tony gestured to Dummy, who raised his camera to Howie. The boy leant down to pat his head.

'You mean you were.'

'Well yeah, I just mean we were just... just hosting you while I finished up a little work.' Tony was stuttering down and Howie knew he was done for. 'And yes, I had a quick bite. I didn't know if you were coming home or you were having drinks with Aldrich Killian.'

'What? Aldrich Killian? What are you checking up on me?'

'Happy was concerned.'

'No, you're spying on me.'

'You did try and spy through my glasses.' Howie pointed out. 'Very rude.'

Pepper pointed at Howie. 'Seriously? You're using your own son to spy on me?'

'You were looking at some guy's big brain. Howie, how was the brain? Impressive?'

'I didn't think so.' Howie said, with a shrug. 'I think Pepper disagreed.'

'Howie...' Pepper said, sighing. 'I found the science impressive. And if you two are going to gang up on me, I'm going to bed.'

Howie stood, knowing the conversation was over and he would be in trouble if he stayed where he was.

'Hold on. Come on. Pep. Hey, I admit it! My fault. Sorry.'

Howie froze at the top of the stairs, out of Tony's sight. His dad didn't say sorry to anyone, he had gone off the head when Rhodey suggested something was wrong. Howie sunk to his knees, listening in.

'I'm a piping hot mess. It's been going on for a while. I haven't said anything but...nothing's been the same since New York.'

'Oh really?' Pepper said, clearly still annoyed. 'I didn't notice that, at all.'

'You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain them.' Tony said, his voice getting softer. 'Gods, aliens, other dimensions...I'm just a man in a can.'

Howie pulled his metal leg to his chest. Thoughts of New York always made his leg hurt, like a phantom limb. He pressed a button on his hip, releasing pain killers into his bloodstream.

'The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because you've moved in. Which is great. I love you; I'm lucky. But honey... I can't sleep.'

Howie's head bowed, feeling unreasonably jealous. He knew his dad wasn't sleeping but not because he had told him. He knew because he heard his dad walk past his room every night. His dad, who he thought trusted him with everything, was telling Pepper a secret he didn't think Howie deserved to know.

'You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know; I tinker. The threat is imminent.' Tony said, his voice breaking. 'And I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you.'

Howie's breath caught and he resisted the urge to run downstairs. He need to calm his breathing, needed to stop thinking about things in such a morbid way. Tony didn't mean like that, it came out wrong. Of course his dad still loved him.

'I'm gonna take a shower.' Pepper said, startling Howie out of his thoughts.

'Okay.'

'And you're going to join me.'

'Better.'

The two walked out of the garage, hand in hand, and neither noticed the boy crouched in the vents above their heads.

'Please don't be upset about this.' The blonde on the laptop screen said. 'You know he didn't mean it like that.'

Howie flopped down on the bed, looking sideways at his girlfriend. It was late, really late and Lizzie would probably kill him if she knew how late but he couldn't sleep. Not that he ever really got to sleep until about four in the morning, catching a few hours before his dad came crashing in to wake him up.

'He said "the one thing I can't live without".' Howie whined, lifting his leg up to remove it. 'One thing, Liz, he didn't even think of me.'

She shrugged, running a hand through her short hair. 'My dad used to say stuff like that all the time to my mum, then he'd turn around and say it to me. Did your dad know you were there?'

'I dunno.' Howie pouted. 'Don't think so.'

'And have you seen him since then?'

'No.' He grumbled. Under his breath he added. 'I hid in the vents.'

'Well then you don't know what he would have said if he knew you were there, do you? Stop moaning.'

He glared at her, pulling his hand off and placing it next to his leg on the side. 'You're supposed to be on my side.'

'I am on your side.' She said with a grin, leaning back in her chair. Wherever she was, classified of course, it was sunny, the sunglasses perched on top of her head and the vest she wore proving that. 'You can talk to me about anything.'

Howie smiled at her, closing his eyes slightly. 'I miss you.'

'Miss you to.'

'Yeah, yeah, we all miss each other. Can I have the computer?'

Another face filled the screen, eyes narrowed at Howie. Lizzie yanked the younger back, rolling her eyes.

'Hello Barton.' Howie said with a smirk. 'Like the hair.'

Sophie smiled, running her hands through her waves, recently dyed pink at the top, fading into purple as it went down. 'Thank you, Stark. Now I need the computer.'

'Why?' Lizzie said, glaring at her. 'You always use it.'

'I need to hack into SHIELD, find out where we're going next.'

'It's supposed to be a surprise.'

'Don't make me laugh.'

Lizzie rolled her eyes, pushing her fellow agent in training out of the shot. Sophie cursed off screen as she fell over, walking behind Lizzie with a scowl.

'She'll be back.' Howie said, rolling his eyes.

'Maybe. But I think I can get rid of her.' Lizzie said with a wicked glint in her eye. 'We share a tent and she talks in her sleep.'

'No way.' Howie said, suppressing a yawn.

'Yep.' Lizzie said, popping the p. When Howie didn't respond, she raised an eyebrow. 'You tired? What time is it there?'

'Umm...' Howie glanced at the clock, trying not to wince at the display. 00:56 was not good and he knew she wouldn't be happy. 'Half nine.'

'Really?' Lizzie said, clearly not buying it. 'You know I can just google the time difference between here and America.'

'That's great.' Howie said, yawning again. He struggled for the light clicking it off, and pulling the blankets over him. 'I need to sleep now, speak to you tomorrow.'

'No, actually you won't.' Lizzie said with a shrug. 'We're being dumped somewhere to improve our survival skills. No phone, computers, nothing. Sophie's going mental.'

'I'm sure she is.' Howie said with a sigh. 'How long are you going to be gone?'

'Two weeks.' Lizzie said with a shrug. 'Might be back for Christmas, I don't know.'

'You better be.' He said, holding a hand out to end the call. 'See you then.'

'See you.'

They smiled at each other, pressing the end call button at the same time. Howie took a deep breath, the light of his arc reactor filling the room. He leant back in his bed, wishing he could scratch at the leg that wasn't there.

A scream from down the hall made him jolt upwards.

He jumped out of bed, grabbing his crutches rather than his leg, which would take to long to re-attach. His left short leg hung uselessly down next to the stump where his left should have been. He rushed down the hall, hoping the attacker wasn't too good at fighting. He made to Tony and Pepper's room, walking in just as Tony's suit crumbled.

'I must have called it in my sleep... that's not supposed to happen.' Tony said, looking exhausted. 'I'll recalibrate the sensors. Just let me catch my breath, okay? Don't go, alright? Pepper?'

Pepper looked at Howie, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'It's okay, we're fine. It's okay.'

Howie nodded, his eyes wide. Pepper turned to look at Tony, eyes losing all their warmth. 'I'm going to sleep downstairs. Tinker with that.'

Tony's face fell and Pepper walked past Howie, who leant backwards onto the wall. He didn't look at his dad, breathing heavily. 'What happened?'

'Nightmare.' Tony said, lying down on the bed. 'Afghanistan, I must have summoned the suit.'

'Don't talk about Afghanistan, Tony.' Howie said. 'Please.'

'It's that where you know the Mandarin from? Howie?'

Howie glared at his father, jaw setting. 'Yes. No. I don't want to talk about it.'

'If you tell me, I can help you.' Tony pointed out, sitting slightly upwards. 'We can take this guy down.'

'I don't want to take him down, Tony.'

'You don't want to? What do you want then? We've got to save the world.'

'This isn't saving the world, dad!' Howie, feeling suddenly angry. 'This is you trying to be a hero, so you don't have to think about New York.'

Tony started shaking but, before he could shout back, Howie was hobbling down the corridor, back to his room. He threw his crutches in the corner and fell on his bed, ignoring the strange static around him as he tried to sleep.

When he woke the next morning, his alarm clock was in half and the top of his wardrobe had been cut off. Both were missing the other part, it having completely disappeared, and were singed along the cut.

They drove in silence, both wearing casual t-shirts above black jeans, though Howie had remembered to wear a jacket. When working on machines, it was the best thing to wear, especially when trying them out yourself. Tony and Howie hadn't spoken since the night before, the strained silence a strange thing between them. The only time they had been this distant was after Afghanistan, both broken and trying to heal. This time, they didn't have the luxury of privacy or the convenience of peace. There were no suit wearing agents to cover their tracks if they messed up this time.

They arrived at the hospital before any paparazzi did, JARVIS covering them. As they stepped out, Howie put a ear piece in, tapping it twice.

'FRIDAY, you on?'

'Yes, sir. How may I help you?'

Howie smirked slightly. FRIDAY was his own attempt at an AI, copying a lot of the work his father had done of JARVIS. She didn't have a personality yet but Howie was working on one and he liked his little AI.

'Keep me informed of when the press show up. I want to know as soon as the first one, five, ten and twenty reporters appear.'

'Yes, sir.'

Howie followed his dad into the hospital, nodding respectfully at the doctors that pointed them on their way. He walked beside Tony, trying not to look into the rooms as he went. People deserved their privacy after all.

'Sir, the first reporter has arrived.'

'Thank you, FRIDAY.'

They stepped into the room, Howie's breath catching in his throat. He hadn't known Happy particularly well but the man had always known about him and always brought him Christmas presents. Even when no one else did, Happy knew about him and didn't press anything.

He looked a wreck and Howie almost wished they had accepted Killian's Extremis rubbish. His face was covered in cuts, his arms littered with burns and his eyes closed. Howie looked at the television as Tony turned it on, flicking to the right channel.

'Five reporters, sir. Now ten.'

'Thank you.' He muttered under his breath, sighing. He pulled something out of his pocket, placing it next to Happy. The stuffed purple elephant looked unnaturally colourful next to the white hospital bed but it was the first thing Happy had ever given him. Howie wanted to prove he hadn't thrown it away.

Tony sighed, putting down the remote. 'Sunday nights, PBS Downton Abbey. Its his show, he thinks its elegant.'

'It is elegant.' Howie said with a slight upturn of his lips. FRIDAY informed him of the twentieth reporter arriving outside. By the time they left, that number would probably double.

'One more thing... make sure everyone wears their badges.' Tony said, heading back for the door. Howie stood too, bumping his shoulder against Tony's. 'He's a stickler for that sort of thing, plus my guys won't let anyone in without them.'

Howie nodded, walking out of the room ahead of his father. Some of SI security were sat outside Happy's room, smiling sadly at Howie as he passed. The two Starks walked out, locking eyes with the journalists as they went.

'Sticking with me?' Tony muttered as they walked forward.

'No thanks.' Howie said, running a hand through his hair. 'I've got my own thing to say.'

They split, going to opposite sides of the car. Howie had to struggle through the crowd, stopping with his organic hand on the handle of the car.

'Mr Stark. Anything to say to the Mandarin?'

Howie looked up, his hand tensing around the handle. 'Yeah, I've got a bit of advice.'

The reporters all grinned, happy to have got the scoop.

'My dad is over there threatening the man who calls himself the Mandarin, saying he's going to find him and drag him screaming back to America. But my advice to you, whoever you are, is turn yourself in.'

One of the reporters rolled her eyes but Howie didn't stop talking.

'We might seem dangerous. Two guys in suits that can take down building and fend off aliens. But when it boils down to it, we're just two guys who got kidnapped four years ago. The guy who kidnapped us? The real Mandarin.'

Some reporters started scribbling, eyes wild. Others looked sceptical, glancing at each other.

'I know this because a couple months ago I was kidnapped by a god who was possessed.' Howie said, refusing to allow his voice to waver. He was saying this, he wasn't backing down. 'The man who I was given over to stayed in the shadows and tried to kill me- would have killed me, if my friends weren't so impressive.'

Someone laughed in the crowd, but only the one. Behind him, Howie could hear Tony talking, clearly angry. Howie glanced back at his own spectators, smirking slightly.

'That man wouldn't take kindly to someone stealing his name, letting him take the blame for crimes he didn't commit. He will come for you, sooner or later, and he won't have any of the mercy that we would, any of the justice. He will kill you and it will be painful.'

The journalists were silent, just staring at him with wide eyes. Howie looked right down the nearest camera, making sure his gaze didn't flicker.

'Now I don't know if you're actually a terrorist or just pretending to be one for some god forsaken reason. But, whoever you are, look at your choices of opponents and make a choice. Make the right choice and turn yourself in.'

He went to get in the car when someone shouted out again.

'Mr Stark, what if he doesn't? What are you going to do?'

Howie ignored the static in his ears as he replied. 'I'll go get him myself if I have to. We will get this man. I just can't guarantee we'll get him first.'

Howie stepped into the car, slamming the door shut. Tony got in a second later, the two of them driving off.

'Did you threaten a terrorist?' Tony said, glancing sideways.

'I think so. Did you?'

'Yep.'

They looked at each other, both torn between laughing and moaning.