The Missed Call
CHAPTER 2: THE MISSED CALL
Not many people know everything about Tony Stark despite their claims. He can most likely count all of them apart from JARVIS and his bots in one hand.
One.
There’s Pepper, who no matter what every tabloid says, wasn’t his girlfriend. She makes a very good friend and a very scary CEO though. Even when she was still his assistant, Pepper always did have a way of making him do weird things like eat three meals a day or sleep when he’s up for more than 48 hours. Tony trusts her the most.
Two.
He knows Rhodey since he was a gangly and awkward 15-year-old college freshman. He’s seen the man’s skinny ass more times than he wished, which for a teenager whose mind was only focused on machines and codes wasn’t much, to begin with. James Rupert Rhodes saw him enter that tiny two-person dorm room with a backward shirt and a cable wire hanging from his front pocket and declared themselves brother.
Three.
Despite what others think, Tony does know Happy’s real name is Harold. He hired him himself so of course, he does. Tony found him teaching self-defense to a woman when he lost a bet and went along with Rhodey to his “gym day”. Happy is one of the very few people he trusts to drive him.
Four.
Of all the Avengers, it was a bit of a surprise when Tony connected with Clint the most. They would have assumed he’ll science away with Banner the moment they moved to the tower, but instead he and Clint were huddled over a Wonderful Work 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle in the middle of the living room. Clint had a certain playfulness in him that soothed Tony’s anxiety to be perfect and collected. Clint was clumsy and loud for a spy, just as Tony is twitchy and socially inept for an infamous billionaire.
Four. Eight billion people in the world and only four of them knew certain things about Tony Stark. There used to be a few more, and there could be a few more if Tony decides. Natasha could be one if not for her spying on him a few years ago. He was still sore about it, especially because she never really apologized. They’re friends now, Tony thinks, but some hurts don’t go away easily.
Bruce could also be one, but apart from geeking together, Bruce tends to avoid talking about their personal lives. Tony understands very well. If he was in Bruce’s shoes, Tony wouldn’t likely talk about his past anyway. Not that he talks about his own in the first place.
And then there’s Steve. If there’s one person anyone can and should trust, it’s Captain America. Perfect and brave Captain America. Tony wasn’t sure where he stood with Steve. They weren’t enemies. He was sure of that. But they weren’t exactly friends either. So far, Steve seems to avoid him outside missions. He isn’t sure what to think of that.
So yes, Tony only had four people in his life who knew certain things. He wasn’t worried about it. It’s hardly ever going to matter anyway. After all, he gave it all up six years ago. He signed the papers and everything. It doesn’t matter if it became his greatest regret, nor does it matter that he wished he can do anything about it. Because he can’t. Obie made sure nothing can be claimed from him in the years to come.
The only thing that kept him from hating himself and everything around him was the fact that Harry had two parents who love him with all of their hearts. At least his son— if he can even call him that— will never get to experience the neglect he got from his own father. As far as he knows, James Potter loves Harry like he was his own blood. Lily was kind enough to send him a letter and a picture of Harry at his first birthday, regardless of what Obie had made them agree on. It’s still and will always be hidden within a secret compartment of his wallet.
The thing was, it wasn’t even his action that resulted in Harry, but a spiteful and creepy ex who thought stealing and freezing their partner’s semen was normal. It wasn’t like Elijah had any use of it. Really though, people shouldn’t give their kids biblical names if they don’t intend to raise them well and proper. Elijah sold Tony’s frozen sperm to a bank as his own which was then “used” by a British couple. When it was confirmed, Elijah then came barging into his office to demand 5 million dollars for his silence.
Never it be said that Elijah was smart.
It was easy putting Elijah to prison. The problem was that the couple, James and Lily Potter, weren’t willing to terminate at all. Even if they were, the pregnancy was already in the late stages. Tony wasn’t cruel to kill a woman and a 7-month-old fetus. Instead, Obie made the couple sign a shitload of NDAs and an agreement to never contact Tony in the future. Then he made Tony sign a termination of parental rights. It was all hush-hush. Even the lawyers and judges in the case had all been paid graciously for their silence.
Tony tried to forget about the baby biologically linked to him. It was easy the first two years as he was spending most of his time drinking and partying if he wasn’t busy working on projects in his lab. Things changed when he was kidnapped. He promised himself that if he ever gets out alive, he’ll reach out to the Potters, Obie be damned.
He never did. And not because he forgot or that he changed his mind, but because his life was too chaotic for a tiny baby. Finding out Obie was behind his kidnapping had taken a toll in his life. He trusted the man for as long as he could remember. The betrayal had hurt him more than anything. Becoming Iron Man was the final nail to receding that decision. The life of a “superhero” wasn’t safe for little Harry.
And when he found out about the palladium poisoning his blood, he was glad he hadn’t done anything. For one, he doesn’t agree with Tennyson when he said it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. He did, however, put half of everything in his name to Harry’s. They were supposed to find it on his desk all laid out and ready to file when he dies.
Turns out, it never did get filed. Tony survived the poisoning. Then he was back to believing it’s safer to keep his distance. When the Chitauri attacked, he was relieved Harry was safe in England. It was a continuous cycle of wanting to reach out and wanting to keep him safe for almost 6 years.
**
There’s a malware in the system.
Over a decade since having created JARVIS, it was the first time a hacker managed to pass through his impenetrable programming. He created about a thousand false systems to lure any hacker into thinking they succeeded only for their systems to burn to a crisp, yet it was the first and only time someone managed to actually do it.
The hacker was smart, but Tony was smarter and faster. Before the malware could do anything, Tony had flicked them off like a bug on a shirt. He shut everything down and combed through all the files and codes, making sure nothing was exposed or damaged.
He wasn’t even halfway through when he noticed an encrypted file in his system. You see, Tony has about a million encrypted files ranging from experimental weapon designs to a picture of Rhodey wearing a bra. None of them were locked by an 8-digit pin. This one was.
No encrypted file is inaccessible to Tony. Whoever put them in his system is either very stupid for thinking differently or very smart to figure out he would never think to look into his own creation. He had his bet on Natasha doing it to hide her blackmail material.
What he found had him step back and throw up. The ground beneath him suddenly felt life quicksand and he couldn’t do anything but let himself be swallowed whole. He thinks he heard JARVIS going back online and the bots whirring around him but his eyes were stuck staring at the files on the screen. His heart was beating unusually loud in his chest, he can almost hear it through his ears, and he might have forgotten how to breathe?
He suddenly wished it was HYDRA trying to infiltrate Stark Industries, or Rhodey pulling a prank on him.
“Sir, your vitals are above the safe perimeters. As per Protocol STE-1029, I shall inform the nearest available trusted person right away,” JARVIS spoke concernedly and hastily in the background, yet Tony still hadn’t even noticed. He was now slumped on the floor beside his own vomit, shaking and staring at nothing.
If he were asked how long he stayed that way, Tony couldn’t say. It might have been a minute or an hour before someone—Steve— came down in his lab like a man on a mission. By then, Tony had moved to staring at his wallet that fell on the floor in front of him.
“Tony! Oh my gosh!” Steve dashed and knelt beside his teammate who by all accounts never appeared to have noticed his presence. He wasn’t even fighting when Steve pulled him up in his arms and carried him to the couch.
“JARVIS, what happened?!” Steve demanded, unaware of what else to do other than get angry on Tony’s behalf.
It took a minute for JARVIS to respond. “Sir has recently found out grave news that was kept from him. I have already contacted Ms. Potts for that matter.”
This was beyond Steve’s expertise. He wasn’t great at comfort or reassurance. Whatever Tony found out must have been horrible for him to go on such a state. Not knowing how to help, Steve sat beside him and started whispering whatever useless encouragement from the SHIELD psychiatrist he can think of.
Out of nowhere, Tony started muttering the same sound over and over again. Only because Steve’s hearing is above average that he was able to decipher the mumbles.
Harry. He kept repeating Harry. Whatever the news was must be related to this Harry. Steve had great memory even before the serum, and as far as he can remember, there was no Harry in Tony’s file.
It was a relief when Pepper came crashing in, stilettos and all. Steve had run out of memorized quotes. He watched as Pepper crouched in front of Tony and made him enumerate random things he can see around him. Steve wasn’t sure what it’s for but it certainly helped bring Tony back to reality. He shelved that at the back of his mind in case it happened again.
“Tony, are you with us?” Pepper asked softly, so unlike her usual stern voice she uses to make Tony attend meetings.
Tony gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod but he wasn’t looking at either of them when he spoke. “Pep… Harry.”
That name obviously meant something to Pepper because she tensed for a second and breathed heavily. “It’s been years, Tony.”
Sensing it’s a private matter, Steve slowly backed away to give them space. Even though the last thing he wanted to do was leave the lab, to leave Tony, Tony wouldn’t want Steve to watch him break down further than he already had. Whoever Harry was must have been important.
By the time Steve left the room, Tony had started to sob. JARVIS had taken it to himself to direct Pepper to the screen and let her skim through the files when Tony couldn’t make out the words and simply pointed at it. The anger and sadness she felt were insignificant to the pain and rage Tony must be feeling.
Pepper was never one to coddle, and she knew Tony was never one to accept being coddled. She has to do what she can do on the matter.
“Tony, listen up,” she ordered the man before her. “We’ll fix this. I’ll call every goddamn lawyer in our paycheck and set this shit straight then we’ll go over to the cemetery and hammer his tombstone to pieces, you hear me?”
Amidst his tears, Tony was able to chuckle. Destroying Obie’s grave sounded like such an awesome idea. The small window of brightness quickly dwindled down when he glanced back to the files. In it were about twenty emails from the Potter’s lawyer, three left phone messages, one recorded conversation between the lawyer and Obie, and copies of the NDAs. All these were dated four years ago, a month before he was kidnapped. Why Obie kept these, Tony had no idea. But he thanked all the stars he did because no matter that it hurts him so much right now, at least Tony found out about it. Finding out that his son’s parents had died from a car crash four years ago… god, Harry was just a baby! felt worse than when he heard his own parents died in a similar manner. Wasn’t that fucked up?
All these years… all those times he wanted to reach out but didn’t. He could have had Harry with him all these years. His son could have grown up knowing he wasn’t alone in the world. His files, the ones in Obie’s folder, never said anything about where Harry went to. But Tony knew. He knew everything there was to know about James’ and Lily’s lives. The only living relative both had was Lily’s sister. Petunia Dursley. What an awful name. Based from the accounts from the Potters, Petunia and her husband, Vernon weren’t the kindest of people. He shuddered to think that Harry was forced to live with them.
He was done crying and feeling sorry for himself. He had the last four years doing nothing but that. It was time to step up.
“I missed the call, Pep.”