Izuku was half asleep when Pepper called him in a panic. He hadn't owned a phone before coming to America, but he had gotten rather good at using it.

There was a strange ache in his chest that he couldn't explain.

When he mentally filtered what Pepper was telling him, his heart dropped.

"What?"

"Something happened to Tony's convoy. We don't have all the details, but things are going to happen very quickly and in short order," warned Pepper. "Rhodey has already agreed to come back by morning to watch your mother."

Inko's quirk wasn't combat related. Rhodey on the other had did have combat training, and those in the know were very aware of how attached Izuku was to his mother. There was no easier way to extort Izuku right now than to hold his mother hostage against him.

As expected, Stane found out in very short order that Tony had left a son behind. And that he (or rather Izuku) had the presence of mind to set something up so that he had an adult adviser in the event something happened.

Tony had dismissed it, but agreed that Izuku didn't have the same rapport he had with Obadiah. So instead Pepper was listed as his power of attorney until Izuku proved he could handle it or became a legal adult.

Stane...was rather pissed about the whole thing. Tony hadn't mentioned this to anyone, at Izuku's request. Izuku had hoped to develop a stronger bond with his father and maybe pass high school before he was ready to tell people about his personal life.

Compared to Tony, Izuku was quieter and more reserved.

Izuku looked positively drained by the end of that meeting.

"That was terrifying," he said.

Pepper patted him on the head, as she had come to regard the kid as a little brother of sorts. Izuku had become used to being treated by the female members of the labs as a kid brother of sorts. Most of the men were indifferent, but the majority also tended to treat him as a younger brother or cousin.

All of them were completely shocked that Izuku was Tony's son, but upon further reflection they realized it made perfect sense.

"You did rather well, and none of them expected you to have the foresight to set an adviser just in case."

Izuku's bad feeling about Stane only got worse during the meeting. He tried to play the 'jovial uncle', but Izuku trusted his instincts and remained firm on having Pepper as his adviser.

He didn't care what Stane tried to imply about him having a crush on Pepper (okay, maybe a little one). He trusted her more than he did the older man.

Besides, Stane had made it clear that he prioritized the weapons division over the others. Izuku wanted nothing to do with him and his warmongering.

As expected, the second the media got wind of Tony's "secret love child" and that Tony had insured Izuku would inherit his place as the head of Stark Industries, they went absolutely nuts.

Tony had, in a rare show of common sense and foresight (for him), locked down Izuku's personal information hard with the help of Jarvis.

As juicy a story as it was, the odds of a reporter getting clearance on a minor...especially something as personal as quirk data...were zero. And if they did get their hands on the results, then it would only lead to a massive lawsuit via Pepper who had zero tolerance for that sort of behavior.

Inko had been given a personal protection detail (albeit very discreetly) in the form of new coworkers who were placed in strategic areas. Much like her son, she wasn't the least bit happy about this mess.

"It'll get easier once things calm down," promised Pepper.

"Does this mean I'll have to stop my training with Rhodey?" asked Izuku.

"I'm going to try and minimize the damage to your schedule as I can," said Pepper.

Izuku had, on the suggested of the therapist, started learning how to fight from Rhodey. Once the older man had come to terms with the fact Tony had a kid, he was all for it. It had done wonders to improve Izuku's confidence, though he had a long way to go.

Rhodey was looking into getting the kid a personal guard, as he was too young to properly defend himself. He would do it, but it would easily create a bigger conflict of interest than his friendship with Tony had and he didn't want to pressure the kid for the military.

To that end, Rhodey decided to call in a bit of...outside help.

"Izuku, this is an old friend of mine. Sam, this is Tony's kid Izuku," said Rhodey.

Rhodey was sure Sam and Izuku would get along like a house on fire. Sam was a good man, but since he was discharged he had been drifting for the most part. Being Izuku's trainer/bodyguard would be a good way to shake the rust off while still allowing him to feel useful.

Besides, Izuku might just make something better than the suit Sam had used before. He was Tony's son after all.

Sam, like almost everyone who ran into the kid, fell under Izuku's charisma after only a few days. The kid was that magnetic and he still didn't seem to have a clue how much influence he had around others.

If Stane thought Izuku was a pushover due to his age, he was sorely mistaken. Within a month Izuku went from nervous and uncertain to a will of steel in regards to the company.

"You don't seem to understand how much money this company makes in regards to the weapon's division."

"And yet according to every report I've seen, it was those same weapons that took out the convoy my father was in," deadpanned Izuku. "I've seen the specs on what's in development...unlike my father I have little interest in making yet another tool for creating death and destruction, regardless of how good this company is at it."

"We're a weapon's company," said Stane, patiently.

"Just because my father and grandfather went into weapons doesn't mean I want to do the same," said Izuku. "I would rather put my faith in people, rather than something that can just as easily be used against me."

Stane switched tactics, as this was clearly going nowhere.

"Our military contracts are rather clear. Our job is to supply them new weapons and we still owe them," said Stane.

"Actually, the contract in question doesn't specify weapons," corrected Izuku.

That had been something Pepper had warned him about when he mentioned downsizing the weapons division. Stane made a lot of money off that, and he would definitely fight it every step of the way.

Which was why Izuku pulled up the contract and spent seven long, painful hours going over every inch of the thing. And he found a loophole.

Stane stared the kid down. Izuku didn't back an inch. He had suffered worse from Bakugo in a foul mood.

"I've read over every inch of that contract. Nowhere does it state we have to explicitly supply only weapons."

Another board member was intrigued. They were one of the few not on Stane's side.

"What did you have in mind?"

"There's already an abundance of weapons floating around the market, and I really don't want to give any villains, terrorists or general extremists more ammunition that could be used against us," said Izuku firmly. "Compared to our weapons division, the ones in charge of developing health care, armor and other support measures are severely lacking. In fact most of our budget seems to be geared towards killing people."

Stane was seething. Izuku had been appalled at how much was given to the weapon's division, and that was before Tony got involved.

"It seems to me that we could fulfill our contractual obligations to the military by developing some better armor that they could use on their vehicles and planes. Never mind the advancements that could be made to help injured servicemen," said Izuku.

"That's a soft approach. Our competitors will eat us alive," said Stane with a scoff.

Izuku stared him down, it was strangely intimidating.

"Right now our competitors are the least of my concerns. We need to stabilize the company and show that we aren't going to fall apart just because my father was taken out unexpectedly. By and large, people prefer stability over the shiny new toys," said Izuku flatly.

Part of his classes had included economics, and he had a lot of help from Pepper among other things.

Stane looked and saw that the board was more or less allowing Izuku to do his thing much like they had with Tony. They wanted to see how he would handle the company first before they made any rash decisions.

The fact that Izuku wasn't trying to shut down the weapon division entirely spoke well about him.

Izuku was dead tired. Even with Pepper helping with the bulk of the paperwork, he still had a lot to keep up with.

Which was why Sam, Rhodey, and Pepper had arranged something special for him.

"Wait...there's a hero convention in town?" said Izuku, his usual excitement kicking in.

"Yup. Sam and Rhodey are going to swap places occasionally, and I don't want you to get too crazy on the spending," said Pepper. "You have an exclusive VIP pass that will allow you to meet whatever pro hero you want and get their autographs. For the next three days you get a break from company paperwork."

Considering the benders Tony went on, letting his kid have fun at a convention slash recruitment drive for Pro Hero agencies trying to get a leg up was minor. Besides, Izuku had been holding up rather well for the past two months, he deserved a little break and acting his age.

Sam and Rhodey kept an eye on Izuku, and despite his excitement, the kid was pretty good at staying within range of them. He didn't try to run off ahead regardless of how excited he was.

There was one time he almost did though. In all fairness, they had kept the fact that this particular Pro Hero was there from him as a surprise.

"No way, All Might is here?" said Izuku, practically vibrating in excitement.

Rhodey had the presence of mind to grab the back of Izuku's shirt.

"Pepper found out, and she knew you liked Pro Heroes," said Rhodey.

Izuku definitely deserved it, even if he failed to notice the reporters watching the entire thing and discreetly taking notes.

The kid was in heaven, especially when All Might was nice enough to autograph his book.

Izuku wasn't completely idle during the convention. He spoke in depth with the pro heroes and their subordinates about the gear they used and what they believed would make their jobs easier. Most heroes with any sense got their gear custom made by a reputable dealer, but the tech that was available was sadly lacking and rather expensive.

Stane had scoffed at the idea of improving the division in charge of making said gear, but the people who actually worked in that division were still singing Izuku's praises because a lot of side projects that had been denied funding or were given too low a budget were having the dust shaken off and given a second look.

As much as Stane bitched about the fact that the weapons division was losing over half it's budget to other departments, those in charge of the other departments were slowly coming over to Izuku's side.

Especially the pro hero division...they absolutely adored the kid.

When Izuku returned to his 'work', it was with a slew of new ideas. A few were easily implemented within three weeks, once given the go-ahead and a proper budget.

Stane was not happy that a mere child was able to more than make up for the income he would have gotten selling weapons to the military using such soft methods.

What no one expected was that three months after the incident, Tony would reappear without any warning at all.