I'm in a great mood today so I decided to throw my schedule of posting a new chapter every week into the trash and give you even TWO(!) today!

This chapter is shorter than the first (and the shortest so far in this story) and is something I personally call 'filler' chapter because it's just filling gabs. But enough of me talking, err writing, enjoy!

Chapter 2: Changes

Years had passed since that night where Maria had comforted Tony and they had told Jarvis about it who promised not to tell anyone instead he even searched for books that told stories about magic and books about Norse mythology (because of the strange clothes Tony had worn that first day they met). Tony read everything Jarvis and Maria bought for him on these topics when he wasn't busy studying technology and inventing new things.

But then – when he had just finished MIT with seventeen – Maria, Jarvis and even Howard had come to bring him home to celebrate a bit (Tony and Howard still didn't like each other but the older man had to uphold an image). On their way back home a large truck crashed into them, Maria (who had been sitting in the backseat with Tony) turned to Tony and tried to shield him as best as she could and whispered "I love you."

Their car had tumbled down the hillside and Tony had blacked out. When he came back to it, he realised something wet on him and quickly saw what it was: Maria's blood was all over him. She was dead, along with Jarvis and Howard, which left Tony as the only survivor. Tears welled up in his ears and ran down Tony's face. "I love you too Mother. I'm so sorry!" He cried some more before slowly extracting himself from the car, which wasn't easy since his leg was broken and his wrist hurt like hell. But in the end he got out of the car and saw the truck that had hit them, it seemed like the trucker had died too in the accident. Tony searched his pockets and lets out a relieved sob when he saw that his mobile phone was still working. He called an ambulance and waited at the crash side for it to come, meanwhile he tried to regain his composure – Maria and Jarvis wouldn't have wanted him to cry, they had always tried their best to make him happy and Howard didn't really deserve his tears.

The world mourned the death of the 'great' Howard Stark and Tony mourned Maria and Jarvis – but in his own way: he built another AI (he had already created three but this one would be different) whom he named Jarvis (and for everyone that asked JARVIS – Just A Rather Very Intelligent System). Jarvis became his confident, he told him everything he wouldn't tell anyone else and they both kept Jarvis' complete capabilities a secret from everyone they didn't trust completely, which included Obadiah Stane – Howard's business partner and now Tony's official guardian. 'Official' because he had another one, Maria had assigned this one but because of his type of work he couldn't really do anything that would catch the publics attention, instead he tried to help from the shadows.

In Maria's memory he created the Maria Stark foundation, which would donate funds to finance various charities and renovation projects but this foundation he could only create years after her death when he was finally twenty-one and CEO of Stark Industries.

Of course the press had written many stories since Howard's death about the young heir of SI – most which were untrue; he was no playboy, hadn't even slept with anybody once but the papers had often asked young females that had went to Tony's school or that he met at charities he had to attend and who claimed to have had sex with the Tony Stark. Tony didn't say anything about these claims; he again had this feeling as if such false claims had been normal even before he had been adopted by the Stark's (even though that wouldn't be logical, he had been only around four at the time). So he ignored what the press told the world about him and instead concentrated and his inventions and when Virginia 'Pepper' Potts became his new PA, also on other business related things (such as paper work).

He was twenty-six when he wanted to back out of the weapons business and instead concentrate on things that could really make a difference but Obadiah Stane and the board of Directors fought with tooth and nail against this and Tony dropped the topic – for now. He promised himself to get out sooner than later with or without the boards and Stane's approval.

And then came Afghanistan…