Clarice Ferguson stared down at the boy on her doorstep, wondering if she should slam the door in his face. No one should have known about her son, outside her friends she had told personally. They knew that giving up her son had been a dreadfully difficult decision and would never betray her trust by telling someone else without her decision.

She narrowed her eyes, ignoring the boy's offered hand. 'Who told you about that?'

The boy's smile dropped and he pulled his hood down. Clarice's lips pursed as she fully took in the green eyes and familiarly shaped face. He was definitely Tony's son, he even had her father's light brown hair. Lowering his hand, he started fiddling with his bag, trying to get something else.

'No one told me. Well, FRIDAY, she's an AI, found out who you were through CCTV and the handwriting on your note.'

'My note?' She said, trying to process what he was saying. He was speaking very quickly and she assumed he was very nervous.

'Yeah, yeah, I've got it here.' He finally pulled out a book, showing her the front page. She smiled at the letter stuck there, remembering write it. She forced herself not to tear up, looking down at the child she now knew was definitely hers. He smiled up at her, his grin very wide. 'What does the B stand for?'

'Blink! Everything okay?'

'It's fine, Piotr!' She shouted back, holding a hand out to stop Howard looking past her. 'It is fine, isn't it, Howard?'

'Is what fine?' He said, bouncing slightly on his heels. He put the photo album away. 'If you're busy, I can go, I just needed somewhere to stay for a bit. Oh, and its Howie, by the way.'

She shook her head, holding the door open and ushering him in. 'No, no, you can stay, as long as you don't have a problem with sleeping in a mutant safe house.'

The way Howie's face lit up suggested he definitely didn't have an issue. He tried to look past and she held her hand out again.

'Are there X-Men here?' He said, eyes lighting up. As he raised a hand to pull off his hoody, Clarice noticed a small patch of purple skin forming on his knuckles.

'Technically. Not including me, there's three but they're all on leave at the moment.'

'Why?' Howie said, stuffing his hoody into his bag.

'Well, some people decide to actually raise their kids.' She said, wincing as soon as the words were out.

Howie, who was taking his shoes off, shrugged. 'Eh, some people are stupid.'

Clarice nodded, walking into the dining room. She smiled at the people at the table, walking into the kitchen. Howie followed her in, skidding to a stop at the table and staring at the people sat there. His eyes were wide and the two men, sat beside their wives, glared.

'Is there a problem?' The blue furred one said, handing the baby in his arms to the dark skinned woman beside him and standing up.

Clarice stuck her head round the door of the kitchen, glaring at Howie in hopes that it would get his attention. Instead, he just grinned at Kurt, Kitty and Piotr, clearly wanting to ask them loads of questions.

'Howard.' She said, causing his grin to drop. 'Could you come in here?'

'Howie, Howie. Everyone calls me Howie.' He muttered as he walked around them. The little steel skinned girl next to Kitty leant round to look at him. He smiled, waving his prosthetic hand. She grinned widely waving her own metal hand. 'I only wanted an autograph.'

'You were staring.' Clarice said, pulling him into the kitchen. He sat down on the counter, disconnecting his entire leg and tinkering with it. 'It's rude.'

'I'm sorry but Nightcrawler and Shadowcat are out there.' Howie said, as if what he was saying was obvious. 'They're so cool. They were in Excalibur.'

'Still rude to stare.' She said. 'What are you doing?'

'Fixing my leg. It got a bit water logged and I've got to leave tomorrow.'

'Why? Where are you going?'

'New York. I have a friend there, he'll help me out.'

Clarice nodded, taking the food she had been preparing out to the others. They smiled at her, Kitty and Amanda shifting their babies so they could eat easier.

'You staying Clarice?' Kitty said, spooning some pasta onto her daughter's plate.

'I need to speak to Howie.' She shrugged. 'We'll come in soon.'

'Yeah, who is he?' Kurt said, stopping his son from jumping into the food with his tail.

'My son.' Clarice said, watching their faces cloud over. All four had met him when he was a baby. 'But don't say anything, I don't want to freak him out.'

They all nodded, waving her away. Howie, still sat on the counter but with his leg back in place, raised an eyebrow. 'What'll freak me out?'

'I'll tell you some other time.' She pulled herself up onto the counter opposite him, raising an eyebrow. 'You don't have anything against mutants?'

He shrugged. 'My best friend's a giant wolf and I'm half machine. Can't exactly judge.'

'So, if you were to discover you were one...'

His brow furrowed. 'Can you tell just by looking at someone? I thought very few could do that.'

'No but the purple on your knuckles is a bit of a clue.'

He turned his hand over, raising an eyebrow slightly at the skin there. He didn't seem upset or even shocked, just interested.

'How did you know you were a mutant?' She said, as he ran his metal fingers over the skin. As she looked at him, she spotted other tiny patches of purple, probably ignored and assumed to be bruises. It reminded her a bit of vitiligo, although his skin was gaining colour rather than losing it.

'Huh?' He said, finally glancing up. 'Oh, yeah. Don't move.'

He held his hands out, concentrating hard. A small portal appeared above both his palms. Clarice grabbed an apple, throwing it through one and delighting when it came out the other. The portals disappeared, Howie blinking up at her.

'Sorry, lost my concentration. I can make bigger ones when I'm panicked.'

Clarice smiled. 'What like these?'

She spread her hands wide, multiple portals appearing around the room. Howie's mouth opened wide in amazement and he put a hand through the nearest portal, laughing when it appeared on the other side of room. Clarice watched him with a grin, her smile slipping slightly when his did. His eyes widened as he looked at the portals, eyes drooping. His lips pursed and he dropped his hand.

'Why'd you give me up?' He said quietly, not looking up.

She sighed, taking a moment to chose the right words. It was a difficult thing to explain, especially to the person who it affected the most.

'I wasn't going to. I was going to raise you at Xavier's, surrounded by dozens of people that would love you but the mansion was attacked. Dozens of soldiers raided the place, you were almost killed. I couldn't risk that again, so I gave you to Tony. I thought you'd be safe there, I really did.'

'I was, I am.' He said, trying to comfort her. 'Mostly, anyway.'

She smiled. 'I know, I asked Xavier to keep a eye on you. When you got back from Afghanistan, Scott and Jean had to force me to stay in America. I really wanted to hurt those terrorists.'

'Dad got them. In the end.'

She nodded. 'When you flew through that wormhole...I was terrified. Don't you ever do that again.'

He smiled, small but genuine. 'I'll try.'

She smiled back, dispersing all the portals once he removed his arm. 'Come on. Lets see if they left us any food. After lunch I'll teach you how to make better portals.'

He grinned, jumping off the counter.

'You know what keeps going through my head?' Tony said, fixing Harley with a stare. The boy looked up at him, eyebrows raised. 'Where's my sandwich?'

Harley rolled his eyes but walked off, leaving the newspaper on the side. Tony leant over the suit, checking the metal and seeing if the hinges were still smooth. It would work, probably, but without JARVIS, he couldn't call it. He was sort of stuck.

He flopped in the nearest seat, grabbing the newspaper. He might as well read what they were saying about him and check up on Howie and Pepper. His eyes instantly latched onto the headline, his brow furrowing slightly.

Iron Men gone for good?

'Men?' Tony muttered, refusing to think about what that could mean, convincing himself it was just a typo. He flicked to the correct page, reading over the report. Luckily, it wasn't written but one of his old flames because he had gotten sick of how they wrote about him.

If someone had told the Stark boys they were taking a risk when they decided to challenge a terrorist, I doubt they would have listened. Both Anthony and Howard II Stark would probably have seen it at a challenge.

Tony frowned at that. He would have but not Howie. Howie would have listened to people, as long as it was someone who he trusted.

Of course, it's very possible someone did tell them. Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and Tony Stark's live in girlfriend or Elizabeth Rogers, recently returned from the dead, away on SHIELD business and dating Howie Stark, both could have dissuaded them. But if they tried it didn't work and now the whole world has to reap the consequences.

Tony rolled his eyes, picking up a nearby screwdriver and fiddling with the suit. He left the paper on the chest plate, so he could still read as he fiddled.

Yesterday, at about 11am, helicopters were seen outside Stark Mansion in Malibu, the address of which Tony Stark had given out the day before. The helicopters made quick work of the house, destroying it in minute. To fully see what happened, visit our website.

Tony rolled his eyes, as Harley brought him a sandwich. He smiled at the kid, taking a bite and holding up his hand in a spot on gesture. Harley glanced at the paper but Tony shooed him away, getting a small laugh out of the boy.

There was retaliation from the Starks but the footage suggests only one of them was fighting. An eye witness claimed that only the elder Stark was in a suit, begging the question of what Howie was doing while Tony defended their home. Cowering in a corner, perhaps? Howard Stark is probably known best for hiding away when things get tough.

Tony took a deep breath. They were being mean about his son. Howie wasn't a coward, he had helped save the world. He had flown into a wormhole just so Tony didn't have to die alone. As soon as the Mandarin mess was over, Tony was going to make sure the writer of the article lost their job.

But, despite Tony's best efforts, he was just too outmatched. It wasn't long until Tony, or at least his suit, was seen falling into the water and Howie was seen tumbling in after him, without a suit. Whatever reason the younger Stark had for not helping, it certainly backfired on him. Neither Stark has been found and experts are saying its very unlikely either survived. There is a possibility that, as he was in the suit, Tony survived but many have given up hope for Howie.

Starks, if you're out there, good luck with whatever it is you're doing and stay safe. If you're not, we all miss you.

Tony crumbled the paper, throwing it away from himself. His breathing was getting ragged and he couldn't focus. His son was dead. Howie, the boy he had raised from a month old, was gone and Tony hadn't been with him. In fact, he had challenged the people who killed him, he had drawn them to the house

He was responsible for Howie's death.

Tony started crying, unable to make the tears stop.

'And...smile!'

The camera flashed, Amanda grinning as she put it down. The babies had been put to bed and their siblings had been giving toys to play with. The five adults and one teenager were in the living room, Howie getting a picture with the X-Men. They'd all wanted Amanda in the picture but she had shook her head, taking it instead, using an old camera that printed instantly.

She handed Howie the photo as they all sat down, each couple to a sofa, Howie and Clarice sitting on armchairs.

'So where you headed next Howie?' Amanda asked, leaning slightly against Kurt. They had been chatting over lunch, and he had managed to explain most of the story to them.

'New York. I have a friend there who'll look help me.'

'Help you do what?' Piotr said, leaning forward, resting a hand on Kitty's knee. 'You didn't say what your plans are.'

Howie shrugged, resting on one elbow. 'I have to help my dad. FRIDAY will be able to track the Mandarin, and James'll get me in to his base. He's quite good at breaking into places.'

'Don't you want some help?' Clarice said, eyebrow furrowing. 'You could get hurt.'

Howie shrugged again. 'I mainly need help getting there, and its better if there's less of us, then we're less likely to be hurt. Besides, James can't actually get hurt.'

'Let me guess, the Monstrosity?' Kurt said with a smirk.

'I think its a stupid name but yeah, that's him.' Howie smiled, turning to look at his mother. 'Is it alright if we go now?'

'Now?' She said, eyes going wide. 'Don't you want to stay a bit longer?'

Howie smiled sadly. 'Very much, yes. But, I sort of have to help my dad.'

Clarice nodded, standing up. 'Alright then. I'll be back in a bit guys. You still have that money I gave you?'

The last bit was directed at Howie, who nodded, patting his bag. 'You didn't have to.'

'Twelve missing years of Christmas and birthday presents kind of says I do.' She smiled, rubbing her hands together.

Howie turned to the others, grinning. 'See you around, I guess.'

Kitty launched out her chair, hugging him. He froze slightly and blushed, but didn't push her away. When she pulled away she smiled at him, cupping his face briefly. He smiled back, stepping through the portal his mother had made. He glanced around the alleyway as Clarice followed him, closing the portal.

'What was that about?' He said, pulling his hoody back on.

'Let's just say you have a lot more godparents than you think.' She said, smiling. She placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. 'Stay safe, okay. I don't want to read about my son dying for the fourth time.'

'Fourth?' Howie frowned. 'When was the third?'

'This morning.' She said, winking slightly. 'Now go find you friend.'

He nodded, turning around. He wondered if he should have hugged her but you don't hug people you've know four hours, even if they did give birth to you. Howie stepped out of the alley, glancing around at New York. He spotted the building James worked in and smirked to himself.

Time to get to work.