A/N: The most important thing I have to say here is this: I'm sorry. I haven't been on in forever. I haven't even done much writing while I was away. It's just laziness. That and the fact that I haven't had much drive to write. So, I want to apologize for that. I also want to say that I don't know anything about Tony. Yay! So this might be really bad. Sorry.

WARNINGS: Use of alcohol, deaths of parents (car crash), and he's Tony, so...mentions of past playboyism (nothing at all detailed).

Tony Stark

My name is Anthony Edward Stark. I go by Tony, since Anthony Edward is obviously too much of a mouthful. I don't like anyone calling me Anthony. That's the name my father used. I try not to remember my father too much. He wasn't cruel, really, but he was...aloof. He didn't give two shakes a rat's backside about me. He also owned a business where he invented things. My mother was sweet, but she always seemed very tired. I was quite the genius, though. Instead of doing the things that most children my age did, I stayed in my room - where I had a sort of lab - and worked on various bits of engineering. I created some small robots while I was holed away in that room. My father was only slightly interested. He cared about it, but not enough to talk to me about them. He was invested enough to pay for me to go to MIT when I was only fifteen, though. I got into the school, where I studied electrical engineering and physics. I got two masters in those fields of study when I was nineteen. So, in a sense, I didn't really have much of a childhood.

Coming back from MIT was...kind of stressful. It was hard coming back to my old life after spending so much time away from my parents. At the institute, I could do whatever I wanted. I had friends, I had women, I had booze. Not to mention all the money I could ever want. Coming home took all that away. I was still able to talk with my friends, of course, but I couldn't see them all the time. I quickly got bored, so I worked with my parents at Stark Industries. That was still boring, though. I spent all of my off time with pretty women and glass bottles. I had very few real friends. A couple years after I started working for Stark Industries, my parents were in a car accident. They both died in the wreck. When they passed, Stark Enterprises became my responsibility. That responsibility took away my freedom. I could no longer do whatever I wanted. I mean, I could have. If I had, though, the business would have gone under and I wouldn't have been rich anymore. And I liked being rich. Still do.

With the responsibility of running the place came the ability to hire who I wanted. I met Pepper shortly after I took over Stark Enterprises and hired her as my secretary-ish person. She took care of the paperwork and making appointments and whatnot. Not long after she was hired, we began our personal relationship. She was the first girl that I had really loved. Everyone else had just been pretty. But Pepper was smart, pretty, and she had attitude. She wasn't likely to take my crap. That instantly drew me to her. Lucky for me, she was willing to give me a shot at being good enough for her. I've been told before that she was almost perfect. It isn't true. She's perfect in every way.

With Pepper's help, Stark Enterprises became even more successful. I started making weapons, which she thought was a bad idea. It turns out that she was right. As always. I sold those weapons to the wrong people. These wrong people used the weapons to kill a lot of people. People who didn't deserve it. People who should have been able to live for a much longer time. Since then, I've stopped manufacturing weapons. I work on things that will hopefully help people now. Things like clean, free, reusable energy. Needless to say, Pepper is happy with the change.

Shortly after I started making these improvements to mankind, I met the Avengers. We're a kind of ragtag team of super cool people with awesome abilities and incredible brain power. We were called together to defeat Loki, Thor's crazy evil brother who was trying to take over the world. We later found out that he wasn't so bad, once he wasn't trying to kill us. He stays with us now, constantly getting on our nerves and under our skin. But all in all he's an okay guy. He's bearable, at least.

Meeting the Avengers gave me my best friend, too. Besides Pepper, that is. That best friend is Bruce Banner. He's my science buddy. I was a huge admirer of his work before I ever met him. He pioneered in the study of gamma radiation. That led to his giant green rage monster syndrome, though. That's not something he's proud of, so I usually try not to talk about it. If he has to stay on the subject of his 'other side' too long, he gets pretty upset. He doesn't mind talking about gamma, but if the subject of his condition is brought up, things can get ugly. I don't think he realizes just how valuable that side is. He's saved us all a few times. He was a huge help during the fight with Loki. I don't know what we would have done without him. I owe him my life. He saved me from an enormously big fall that would have undoubtedly killed me had he not caught me. So yeah. He's not just a cool scientist now. He's totally awesome, and my best friend.

Today is one of those days where the two best friends get into an argument and one of them turns really big and green and smashes stuff while the other tries to hide and calm him down. Things don't always work out for the smaller person. Sometimes he gets his leg hurt and he has to sit around all day. But then there are times when it isn't just the smaller guy's leg that hurts. Sometimes it's his neck and back, and he can't move. Today happens to be one of those days.

Bruce and I were in the lab, working on a few things. We had a disagreement on the subject of whether or not the Hulk was really a 'bad guy'. Bruce said that he was, since he had no control over the big guy. I didn't think that he was, since he has saved countless people - myself included.

Anyway, this argument got pretty heated. Eventually it brought out Hulk himself. Instead of being the Hulk that saved lives, he was the angry Hulk, who smashes things. This angry Hulk kind of smashed me. He got so mad that he couldn't stop. We've kind of developed a little bit of a way for Bruce to influence how Big Green and Angry reacts and what he does. Nothing worked this time. He punched through a window, threw some stuff, and pretty much completely demolished my lab. I'll have to get a new one installed. But that really wasn't what was on my mind. I was more concerned with the huge green fists coming right at me. Eventually, he caught me. I mean, there's only so much I can do to get away from a guy who takes up almost the entire room. Once all my awesome hiding places were destroyed, I had nowhere to go. He picked me up by the leg and held me up in the air. He stared me in the eye and slammed me into the remains of one of the tables in the room. A second later, he snapped out of it and shrunk back down to a normal sized person.

That brings us to where we are now, really. It's only been a day, and I have been confined to the bed. I'm only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. And even then, I need help. Ugh. So yeah, it's been pretty boring the past day. Usually I'm always moving. Always busy. Now I only get to stare at the ceiling. And there's only so much entertainment you can get from a plain ceiling. There isn't even a cool pattern on it. It's just...white. I sleep a lot. I've actually just woken up from a sweet little nap when I see Bruce sitting in a chair beside the bed. By the way he holds his head in his hands, he doesn't know that I'm awake.

I try to speak, but something is caught in my throat and all that comes out is a strange gargled sound. It gets his attention, though, and he looks over at me. It looks like he's been crying. His eyes are red and puffy, as is his nose. His glasses are crooked on his face. He looks surprised that I'm awake. He just stares for a moment. I croak again, trying again to talk. This jolts him into action and he jumps from his seat to get a glass of water. He gently holds it up to my lips and assists me in taking a small sip.

He asks if I'm okay, and I manage a small nod. He throws his arms around me, squeezing tighter than he probably should. I can't stop him, though. Honestly I wouldn't even if I could. After a moment, I feel my shoulder start to get wet. Bruce is crying again. I know this might not end well. If he gets too worked up, he could get big green and nasty again. He seems to have it under control, though. After a long hug, he pulls away and just looks at me. I'm lucky that my back isn't broken. I'd be in the hospital if it was. And I could kiss my Iron Man days goodbye. Thankfully it's just a sprain or something. Anyway, it'll heal. I know how close I was to being paralyzed, though, and so does Bruce. I can tell by the look in his eyes. He glances down at his clasped hands before looking back up at me. He still has tears shining in his brown eyes. I manage a smile, but it kinda backfires and he looks even sadder. We just sort of stare at each other for a minute. I look away when it gets to be too much. I can practically feel how he upset he is. And it really upsets me, too.

Bruce draws a breath and I can tell that he's about to speak, so I turn and look at my best friend again.

"I love you."

My name is Anthony Edward Stark, and even though I brought forth the Hulk, I am loved.