Step Into Action

Since Mary and Richards death, almost nine years had gone by. And the hurt he felt hadn't gone away. A dull pain stayed with him everywhere. Even when he met Harley Keener, who he cared for as a son as well. 

Things didn't change when he dated Pepper, and that blew up in his face. 

Hell, even saving the world as Iron Man still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had a secret he hid from his team, from everyone, that burned away at him.

But he kept it. 

Peter had Tony changing his ways, despite not being anywhere close to him. Hell, Tony stopped making weapons as soon as Peter was born. He built his suits to protect, and when Obadiah betrayed him, when everyone thought he was dead, he came back. 

And somehow, with the help of Bruce and... surprisingly Thor, Tony created life, Vision. And while his team fought all the time, he cared about them. He respected them. Something that wasn't expected of him.

Hell, the world was surprised when he gave his Ex-girlfriend the company, naming her CEO. Despite their failed relationship, he knew she was perfect for the job.

Nine years...

It all seemed like a few days ago, but no, nine years.

"Tony?"

The man startled, moving to face Rhodey. "Sorry, spaced out for a second there."

"I can see that. You okay, you've been spacing out a lot more lately," Rhodey questioned, his voice dropping with genuine concern.

And Tony sighed, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Thank's for caring Honeybear."

He wasn't quite convinced, but knew Tony wasn't going to spill. "If you ever need to talk, I'm always there for you."

"I know. Thank you." And maybe one day, Tony would talk. But today wasn't then. 

"I have to head back to base, but if you need anything, don't be afraid to call. Don't be a stranger."

He cracked a smile at that. "I wouldn't dream of it. Safe journey." 

Rhodey waved goodbye and left Tony's lab, where his eyes went back to his current project. Recently, a new superhero appeared, wearing what looked like pajamas. And Tony could tell this hero was a kid. He knew he would need to reach out soon, help the kid train, so he was doing some pro type builds of a possible suit upgrade. 

Maybe his fatherly affection was just to makeup for the fact he couldn’t parent his own kid. Still, it didn’t stop him from trying to help younger heroes and scientists be safer.

Harley already gave him enough heart attacks with all his visits. Last visit he nearly blew up his lab. And that said, he was jumping into training an enhanced science kid. He was asking for his lab to be blown up at this point. 

Still, he’d rather help train young superheroes and Scientists in the safety of a lab he could always fix/repair/replace, instead of having them endanger themselves using inferior resources. 

As he was going through his designs, FRIDAY made an announcement. “Mrs. Potts is on her way up.”

Oh, must’ve been time to approve some new interns. Ever since meeting Harley, Tony asked pepper to simply ignore everything except their abilities, and so she would read out interns applications, listing only their strengths and weaknesses.

I’m doing so, a lot of younger people became interns, more women, disabled, poc, all of them had higher chances. Not to say that Tony ever judged those things before, but getting rid of all possible biases helped find good employees. 

And Pepper actually liked the system as well, using it to employee her own interns. Tony handled most of them, but PR, Buisness, so on, Pepper had her own control of. 

And the company was thriving under this change. 

Tony pushed aside his work, waiting for Pepper, who would no doubt show up in the lab, because Tony rarely left besides training. Or when Harley was there, because he’d be damned if that kid slept less than he did.

Barely a minute passed after he pushed aside his work when Pepper walked in. She carried a stack of papers in her hands. 

Now, not to bore you with the process, but it really was just listing the accomplishments of the applicants and their good and bad qualities. Tony only really liked a handful. 

“Ah, I think you’ll like this one,” Pepper informed, smiling at the applicant. “They are top of their class, and have an interest in bioengineering, and have even disassembled old stark phones and built them to surpass even new ones. They list Bruce Banner and you as their scientific heroes.” She went on to describe all the things this applicant had done, and it was honestly impressive. Pepper was right, this was definitely someone Tony would want working for him. “Ah, this line is my personal favorite. ‘Oscorp sucks.’ I don’t think the applicant intended for that to be on there. They typed it up after all.”

Tony chuckled, smiling a bit. “I think we found the perfect applicant. Send me their file after they are accepted, same with the other applicants I liked.”

Pepper smiled, nodding. “Will do Tony. I really like this applicant. They may surpass you one day. And you could help cultivate that.”

“I’m sure half our interns could usurp me if they put their minds to it,” Tony joked. “We only hire the best.”

With a laugh, she pulled the papers off the desk, tucking them under her arm. “I have a meeting soon, so I’ll send out the acceptances later. Don’t stay holed up here for too long. Dum-E and U will serve you oil in a mug again.”

Tony’s face scrunched up in disgust, but it relaxed to a smile rather quickly. “I really should scrap them,” He threatened, with no genuine urge to. They were part of his work, his life. His little robotic creations. And Pepper knew that. She knew Tony treated those little robots like his sons. Kinda how he would treat vision like his kid from time to time.

Hilarious to watch, seeing as vision was… you know… an AI who looked and acted like an adult. And even more hilarious when Vision went along with him. The amount of times he accepted sandwiches with the crust cut off was funnier than it had any right being.

“We both know you won’t.” And she turned on her heel, leaving the lab. 

Tony simply smiled after her. While their relationship didn’t work out, he cared deeply for her, and admired her strength and confidence. Whoever ended up with her would be lucky. Though, Tony wasn’t allowed a break from action today, because FRIDAY’s voice chirped quickly after Pepper’s departure.

“A man is at the desk looking to speak with you.”

Tony shrugged, not really caring too much. “You normally don’t tell me about that stuff. A lot of people want to talk to me.”

“The man’s name is Ben Parker.”

And Tony’s heart stopped.