Try To Remember
There really was something to the phrase “Hindsight is 20/20” and it was annoying Tony to no end. He’d gotten so wrapped up in the big picture, that he’d forgotten the smaller picture which hurt him in achieving the bigger picture.
It was a rather vicious cycle.
Dressed in a smart Tom Ford suit, he strode down the hall. Along the way, he took the time to speak with employees who stopped him. Some still expressed how thankful they were that he was okay. Others just wanted to chat.
For a couple, he remembered details from the previous timeline and was able to carry on conversations.
This time around, while he still wanted Pepper to act as CEO, he needed to be more involved. There was so much he could do as Tony Stark, not just as Iron Man. Along the way last time, he’d lost sight of that. Despite his bravado, he thought he only had something to bring as Iron Man.
Finally, he approached the board room and entered. While there were three open seats they’d yet to fill, the rest of the board was there.
“Good morning, gentlemen. Let’s get started.”
Pepper made her way in, an assistant carrying her tea. She took a seat to his right and he took his at the head of his table. “It’s been an eventful few weeks, both personally and within the company. I have a lot to share with you as we prepare to enter the fourth quarter. Our electronics line won’t be ready for this holiday season but we are looking at announcing them at the Stark Expo with a mid-2009 release date.”
“Do we have projected figures on that?”
“Sales and marketing are teaming up with the R&D behind the devices to work on wording and estimates. I should have those to you before our meeting near Christmas.”
The board nodded at that.
“Pepper, would you like to present the next bit?”
She nodded and stood. “Last week, we broke ground on Stark Tower in New York City. It will take approximately two years to complete. Once it is completed, it will be the tallest building in New York and will be completely running on our own clean energy. Stark Industries will be the first business on the planet to run on complete energy independence.”
As Pepper spoke, diagrams appeared of the Tower and Tony felt nostalgic for the building. While he’d had his reasons, he’d regretted selling it. It had made it harder to see Peter and despite his history there, it had felt like home.
“Next week, I will be attending a conference at MIT. There I will do two announcements. First off is the creation of The September Foundation. They will work with the Maria Stark Foundation to fun STEM schools and young prodigies in their projects. I will be donating sixty million dollars of my own money into the fund to start.”
“The September Foundation?” A member towards the other end of the table looked at him questionably. “Where did the name come from?”
“From my mother. It’s from lyrics from ‘Try to Remember’ from The Fantasticks.” Tony let himself zone off for a second to remember the sound of his mother playing on the piano. “It was the last song I heard her play and it was one of her favorites.”
It was one he periodically played, especially if he was missing her. Or wanted to feel close to her. It helped him think sometimes.
He shook the melancholy thoughts away. “I’m also going to announce the creation of Starkanium. Apparently some people-” He glanced at Pepper who knew where he was going with this and looked less than amused. “frown at the idea of me naming it Baddassium.”
That earned him an exasperated huff from Pepper and chuckles from the other board members.
“That poises us to become THE name in Clean Energy. We can revolutionize the world with what my Dad and I discovered. Make a difference, change lives. These headquarters are already powered by the large arc reactor Howard built. I plan to modify it with the advances I’ve made to his ideas. From there, we plan to expand this as we expand internationally.”
“I’ve got discussions going in London, Hong Kong, Rome, Johannesburg, Sydney, Lima, and Rio de Janeiro,” Pepper spoke up. “By the time the Expo starts, Stark Industries and its new direction will be an international enterprise.”
Tony grinned. “As I said in my first meeting back, welcome to the future, gentlemen.”
“How will we staff these other offices?”
“We will offer opportunities for our employees here to go abroad. Just as we will offer the chance to move to New York when the Tower is built. Tony and I plan to relocate there ourselves with trips back here.” Her hand went to her stomach. “There’s a good chance this one won’t know the term jetlag.”
That earned her some chuckles. So far, the board hadn’t been antagonistic at Pepper’s pregnancy. It probably had to do with the fact that Tony having an heir made the company seem more secure.
They forgot he had two already. Morgan might be the only one of the three to be his by blood, but in every way that mattered, Peter and Harley were his. For years, he’d dreamed of the chance to introduce them to Morgan. And in a few short months, he’d finally have that chance.
“From there, we will look at hiring additional staff.” Luckily for them, that was easier than it had been last time. They knew the best people to put in various positions because they’d already staffed an international empire. Things would happen on a much larger and faster scale than they had last time.
He was so excited. He’d half-forgotten how fun ruthlessly taking over a market was. Last time, he’d been tied up in dying, the Avengers, and more. This time, he could enjoy every step.
“What about the medical side you mentioned a few months ago?”
“We are looking for flagship projects. Once we identify some, we will bring them under the Stark Industries branch and start expanding there.” Once again, an easier task than last time, considering they knew of some projects even this far back they could have fun.
Plus, Peter was working on a prototype to turn his webs into emergency bandages. He’d done a lot of the work before Thanos, it was just a matter of reproducing it and documenting it.
Tony got his first patent at 9. He was fairly certain Peter would beat him.
“Dr. Stark, tell us more about this September Foundation and how we can help.”
Tony smiled, more than happy to answer.
Peter wandered through the mansion, taking in all the sights. His dad had brought him as he came to meet with the X-Men before the school year started. That’s one thing that blew Peter’s mind. There was a whole school full of kids who were different.
Sure they were a different kind of different from him but still.
“There you are, Peter.” He looked over to see Professor Xavier wheeling up in his chair. “Your dad is downstairs with some of my associates looking at something. I was thinking of taking afternoon tea in the garden. Care to join me?”
Peter nodded, the idea of an actual real-life telepath blowing his mind slightly. “That would be awesome, Professor.”
“Good, I’d love to chat with you. I have to say, your mind and that of your brother are unlike any mind I’ve been around.”
“How so?” Peter fell in step beside the professor’s chair as they made their way outside. A tea set already sat on a table and Peter took a seat.
“You’re two ages. It’s more noticeable in your minds because of your ages. It also makes me worried that you have no one to relate to except each other.”
Peter shrugged, not wanting to let his mind wander to how spot on he was. While he was happy that he was back, glad that his dad was alive, thrilled Uncle Ben was here, he just…
It was hard.
“I died. Did Dad tell you?”
“Briefly. Do you want to talk about it?” Professor X poured Peter a cup of tea, fixing it the way Peter liked.
Taking a sip, Peter sighed. “I should have known a field trip meant bad news.”
“How so?”
“One field trip ended up with me getting bit by a spider and ending up with powers. The next involved a confrontation with my first supervillain and my entire class almost dying. And then there was MOMA.”
“It’s been a bit since I went to the Museum of Modern Art. Is that where you were heading that day?”
Peter nodded. “And then the spaceship arrived. And I followed Dad into space and to that planet.”
Not wanting to talk about it, Peter pictured Titan in his mind. The desolate planet, the wreckage, the battle. Tony getting injured. And then Thanos.
“Most everyone disappeared real quick. At first, I thought I just felt bad because of the fight. I got thrown around a bit.”
And called an insect. That had been rather annoying. He was a person. A part arachnid person.
“But that wasn’t the case?”
Peter looked at the man. “You’ve studied genetics; your dissertation was on the X-gene.”
“It was.”
“I read it about a month after I got my powers. I was fairly certain I wasn’t a mutant, but it helped me understand how what had happened to me might be possible.”
“I’m glad it helped. You were fourteen when you read it?”
Peter nodded.
“It’s impressive that you understood it.”
Peter shrugged. “I’ve always been advanced. I was reading Dad’s and Doctor Banner’s papers in elementary school.”
“We’re getting off-topic.”
Peter sighed. “Well, you know how the body is made up of cells, atoms, and everything on a subatomic level.”
“Yes.”
“What if it suddenly wasn’t.” Peter looked at the man, tears in his eyes. “What if you just started to become undone? And this power, these abilities you’d used to do so much good, made it so much worse.”
“How so?”
“My healing tried to put me back together. My body was literally tearing itself apart and trying to put it back together at the same time.”
“That sounds painful.”
“Excruciating,” Peter admitted something he had never admitted to anyone before. “And then I was gone. And then I was back, and it had been five years. Then there was a battle. I got to see Dad for a second, and then he died. Next thing I knew, I was at the apartment, and I was little again.”
Taking a sip of his tea, Peter looked at the man. For the first time in months, someone that wasn’t in his family looked at him like he was the age he was inside. It felt good like he was seen. “And I’m happy. Dad’s alive. Ben’s alive. But for me, it’s only been a few months since I died. I have nightmares sometimes.”
“Your dad has mentioned it,” Charles said quietly.
“Did he ask you to talk to me?” Peter looked at the man, annoyance blossoming. He couldn’t believe that his dad would set him up.
“No. I wanted to chat with you since I met your father and briefly met you. I feel responsible that we didn’t rescue you sooner. But, finding people isn’t an exact science.”
Peter looked over. “The one day you knew where I was. Dad told you.”
“And I was able to find you. But with nowhere to start and you not being a mutant, it’s not as simple.”
“You did what you could.” Peter wiped away some tears. “And you found us in the end.”
Professor Xavier smiled at him. “You’ve been through so much. Even the age you are inside hides how much pain you carry. It’s okay, Peter. To have trouble processing what happened to you.”
“But what good will it do. It never happened, technically.”
“It happened to you, Peter. That makes it real. To you, to Tony, to all of you who came back. Your pain is no less relevant or important because to most of the world, it didn’t happen.”
Peter felt the tears fall. “I remember it, Professor. How much it hurt. How what was only a couple of hours later, I heard his heart stop. It haunts my nightmares.”
“There’s no shame in admitting that, Peter.” Charles looked at him gently. “I’m sure the others would want to know you’re hurting.”
Peter nodded, sniffling.
“Hey Charles, I think we’re done. Have you seen… Roo?” Peter looked up to see his dad rush over and kneel before him. His enhanced sense of smell was filled with the scent of aftershave and motor oil, and he flung himself toward it.
“Shhh, Roo. It’s okay.”
Arms came around Peter, and he clung to his dad and finally let himself cry over dying. He’d cried about Tony dying but never himself.
“I’ve got you, Roo.” The hands rubbed up and down his back. He felt them move so that his dad was sitting in the chair. “I’ve got you.”