Hero

Howard would admit that he never really had the best relationship with his own father. His own father had been colder and more calculating than Howard was. Tony didn’t know how good he had it. Still, he could also admit that the relationship between Tony and Peter was unlike anything Howard had ever seen before.

For one, the two joked around constantly. Howard didn’t even see his own teenager joke around like the older version of him did. Tony teased Peter almost constantly. Howard expected to see the boy roll his eyes and snub his father, but Peter almost always smiled and responded with something equally as snarky. The second thing that surprised Howard was how often they touched. Tony didn’t even want to come near his father, much less hug him. Though, Howard wasn’t too eager to hug the other either. However, Peter had no qualms about throwing his arms around his dad at any given moment. Tony’s eyes would crinkle in amusement before he threw his own around Peter’s shoulders. A bit more subtly, Tony would ruffle Peter’s head a lot. Howard did notice the boy roll his eyes at that and fix it, but there was always a small smile on his face as he did so.

Peter was nothing like Howard’s son. Howard had been surprised to learn that Peter really had no intentions of just skipping ahead to college like his son was currently doing. The reasons seemed so petty to him: friends, his Aunt, and even Tony.

“Aren’t you supposed to encourage the boy’s education, Anthony?” Howard grumbled one night at dinner. They had finally dressed everyone properly, so they didn’t walk around the house looking like slobs. Morgan was particularly happy with the arrangement, picking out a pair of jeans despite Howard’s complaints.

“He’s the smartest kid in his school,” Tony bragged. “He’ll get into MIT when he’s ready and be the best one there, too.” Peter blushed and picked at his food. Maria hid a smile behind another bite of food.

“So, you’re saying he’s nothing special,” Howard replied with a sigh. Peter sunk down in his seat a bit.

“I’m saying that he’s allowed to grow up like a normal kid despite how intelligent he is,” Tony corrected, a little aggravation showing through.

“What can he do?” Peter opened his mouth but immediately closed it when he saw the warning glare Tony shot at him.

“Whatever he wants to,” Tony answered. It wasn’t the answer Howard was expecting. Anytime Howard asked his own son whether he had actually achieved anything while he was away, Tony would rattle off a list of the things he built or won. It was always a pretty lengthy list, but Howard knew he could do better. He had expected the same thing from Tony now, but he was still getting used to the idea that his son had grown and changed. The rest of the meal proceeded fairly quietly. Tony grew more worried with each day that passed without Strange showing up, and he realized he might need to take matters into his own hands soon enough.

“I want cake, Daddy,” Morgan pouted prettily, knowing her sad eyes almost always won Tony over. It was late, and Tony originally had no intention of giving Morgan or Peter any sweets. But Peter wasn’t in a good mood, and Morgan’s puppy eyes were irresistible. Jarvis had a small smile on his face as he watched Tony’s face morph from one of resistance to defeat.

“A small slice,” Tony agreed. Morgan and Peter both threw celebratory fists into the air at the news, making Maria and Jarvis smile and Howard’s frown deepen. Jarvis brought out a couple of small plates and glasses a milk for the two of them.

“What do you like to do, Morgan?” Maria asked while Morgan happily ate her cake.

“I like to draw,” Morgan started off, her eyes flickering up to the ceiling as she thought about things she did. “I like to go outside. I like to play Legos with Peter. I like to build—”

“Build what?” Howard asked before the little girl’s attention could be diverted to something else. She shrugged.

“Pete and I made a pretty house.” Again, it was not the answer Howard was expecting. “Pete builds robots that I can play with.”

“Do you like robots?” Maria asked before Howard could start interrogating Peter again. Morgan nodded enthusiastically.

“Mommy won’t let me make one yet,” Morgan pouted. Howard raised an eyebrow at Tony. He shrugged.

“She’s too young.”

“You were building at four.”

“In dangerous conditions,” Tony pointed out. “She needs to get better at hand-eye coordination, and she’s barely tall enough to see over the workstation with a stool. She has plenty of time.” Howard didn’t look pleased, but Tony was barely giving him the time of day.

“I am big enough,” Morgan pouted. Maria giggled, absolutely enamored by her.

“Not if you gain your daddy’s short genes.” Peter snorted almost immediately, trying to cover it up with a cough when Tony shot him a glare that had no malice. Tony then turned to his mother with his jaw dropped.

“I’m not short!” Tony protested. Morgan giggled, shoving another piece of cake in her mouth. Her face was beginning to be covered in chocolate.

“My Mommy’s tall! I can be tall like her!” Morgan said. Maria’s eyebrow perked up, and she grew a glance at Tony.

“She’s gorgeous isn’t she? You always went after the pretty ones,” Maria asked. “She has to be, considering how pretty Morgan is.” Pepper thought Morgan’s ego was going to be big because of Tony. Tony laughed at what she would think about his mother.

“Actually, she’s the only one who could put up with me for this long,” Tony answered.

“Where’d you meet her?” Howard asked.

“She was my PA…” Tony trailed off. “She, uh, became CEO of Stark Industries.” Tony couldn’t help himself. He was fucking proud of her all the time, and he knew what his father’s reaction would be. Howard had paused, slowly turning to look at Tony. His face was starting to turn red, but Tony no longer got scared like he would have all those years ago. Even Maria looked completely astonished. Tony could’ve softened that blow by acknowledging that Tony was technically dying, but that would just freak his mother out.

“You let this woman take your position—”

“I gave her the position,” Tony corrected. “Before I married her,” Tony rubbed it in. Maria gave him a look that indicated that she knew what he was doing.

“You’re clearly just doing this to make me angry,” Howard muttered. Tony nodded.

“Is it working?” Howard glared at him and said nothing. The room fell silent except for the scraping made by Peter and Morgan as they finished up their slices.

“If I may, sir,” Jarvis said when he entered the room. “It is getting quite late. It may be an appropriate time to get Miss Morgan into the bath and ready for bed.”

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” Tony said, getting up. Morgan grinned to show him her chocolate covered teeth. Hardly anyone was surprised at this point when Morgan jumped up to grab her dad’s hand as they headed out of the room. Jarvis started to clear the table. Peter cleared his throat before dismissing himself from the table. Maria turned towards Howard.

“What?” He grumbled.

“Stop being so hard on him,” Maria chastised.

“Hard on him?” Howard scoffed. “He’s purposefully trying to get me riled up. Did you hear what he just said? He gave my company away to some chick he fu—”

“After he made it a multi-billion-dollar business,” Maria reminded him softly. “Something you haven’t even foreseen happening.”

“What does it matter?” Howard complained. “I might as well give up now. He gave it away, ruining our legacy. His son acts like he has no intention of going into the business—”

“You don’t know that, Howard. He’s a smart boy. He may work in the research and development department.”

“Who know what his daughter will do. He can’t even be bothered to teach her anything.”

“She’s a child.”

“And doesn’t it bother you that they act like they don’t know us?” Howard ended angrily. Maria sighed, because it did bother it. She realized that she loved Morgan and Peter in the little time that she’s known them, but they acted like she was a stranger.

“I don’t think we’re around anymore, Howard.” Howard snorted.

“Yeah, because the little shit probably pretends we don’t exist.”

“I think we’re dead.” Howard froze. Maria could see his brows furrow, so she knew he was thinking.

“Dead?” Maria nodded.

“I know you think Tony has it out for you—”

“Think?”

“But he’s a grown man now. He’s not going to keep his children from his grandparents because he didn’t get along with you when he was a teenager.”

“How do you know that? Did you not just hear him?” Maria giggled despite her better judgement.

“You’ve egged him on just as much. If you want him to respect you now, stop treating him like the child you just sent off to college.” Maria’s smile dropped, and she cleared her throat. “Besides, even Tony looked like he had seen a ghost.”

“You’re sticking with this death theory?”

“Don’t bring it up?” Howard scoffed.

“Why? It’s my death.” Maria gave him a deadpan look.

“He clearly doesn’t want us to know. Howard, look at me,” Maria demanded. Howard heaved a sigh and looked at her. “We don’t know how long we have. It could be months, or it could be years.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“Every time Tony leaves, you guys are left off on a bad note.” Howard looked like he was ready to argue but stopped when he saw Maria’s face. “We can’t stop our deaths, but you can fix whatever problems you have. Whether you do that now with the Tony years into the future or with the boy trudging his way through school is up to you.”

“So, I’m at fault here?” Howard grumbled. Maria didn’t say anything, but the look on her face said it all. Howard groaned.

“And another thing,” Maria added while standing up, “We may be dead before his son is even born, so leave a good impression.”

Tony sat on the toilet seat while Morgan was literally covered in bubbles. He had turned away for two seconds only to look back and see she had poured practically half the bottle into the bath. She gave him a mischievous smile, and Tony knew she committed the deed with purpose. Morgan seemed to be having a good time, and Tony just had to hope that Peter hadn’t gotten himself trapped with his dad. Tony had faith that Jarvis wouldn’t let that happen.

Tony allowed himself to sag back and look as tired as he felt. The stress was starting to get to him and so were the memories. Tony had been so caught up in keeping secrets and getting home that he never let himself think about seeing his dead parents and Jarvis again. Seeing his mom interact with his children was something that he’d never get to experience again. It put a lump in his throat because of how happy Morgan seemed to be to spend time with her.

Being around his father again reminded him how stressed he had been to become a parent in the first place. God, Morgan was so different from how Tony was at her age. Tony could barely stand to look his own father in the eye, while Morgan would get sad if Tony didn’t take her hand in a timely manner.

Peter was entirely different too. Sure, Tony didn’t raise him, but, if Tony had been like Howard, the kid would’ve already been off to college by now. Instead, Peter came over sometimes to babble on about some movie he watched with Ned or tell him how he aced that essay he stayed up all night to work on. Peter told him what he was actually interested in instead of Tony who kept quiet about everything. Tony could distinctly remember telling everyone how much he hated his father and all the snorts he got, waving him off as a moody teen too young for college. Peter, on the other hand, looked thrilled to see him every time, no matter how much Tony thought the kid was sick of seeing his face.

Tony was thrown back into reality when a wad of bubbles hit his face. He looked down at Morgan, who looked like she didn’t lose any ammo from her large fleet of bubbles. She giggled, and Tony smiled.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Jarvis asked Peter when he walked in to see the young boy sitting by himself.

“Uh, sure?” Peter answered. Jarvis brought him a glass of water, remembering Tony’s last request that his son not have caffeine too late. “Thanks.”

“Are you enjoying your stay here?”

“Uh, it’s nice. I get to miss school.” Jarvis smiled. “So, you raised Tony, right?” Jarvis was taken back but nodded. Jarvis knew he was getting up there and age and had little chance of knowing Tony’s children. That made the interaction all that more valuable. He hadn’t, however, been expecting to have Peter know more about him than his grandparents.

“I suppose you can say I did,” Jarvis whispered. “Did he tell you that?”

“Not directly,” Peter responded. “His A.I., FRIDAY, told me about her predecessor.”

“I don’t suppose FRIDAY is anything like his current A.I., DUM-E?” Jarvis mused. Peter snorted.

“Uh, DUM-E’s smarter now, but he’s got nothing on FRIDAY. FRI is, like, the smartest person I’ve ever talked to. Well, she’s tied with Karen. Karen is the A.I. T—er, my dad made for me.”

“How smart?” Jarvis encouraged him to continue talking. Peter looked excited to keep doing so.

“She knows the answer to any question I ask. To be fair, she has access to the internet, but she also helps me solve physics problems. I have to do that when Dad isn’t paying attention though, because he says it’s cheating.”

“She sounds quite interesting,” Jarvis replied honestly. “How does she know about me?”

“Oh, Dad’s last A.I. was named Jarvis,” Peter explained casually. Jarvis froze. “Something happened to him, so he’s gone now. It makes him sad to think about it, but FRIDAY’s great.”

“Well, I’m very honored,” Jarvis told him. Peter smiled at him. “I heard earlier that you were quite the little genius, just like your father. What do you like to do?” Peter blushed.

“Uh, mainly science. Not biology very much. I can’t remember how muscles work very well. I like chemistry and physics though,” Peter stammered out. “I mean, Dad’s a lot smarter though…”

“I have no doubt that your father is very proud of you,” Jarvis said with a smile. “He told me himself how smart you are.”

“Yeah?” Peter stammered. “That’s cool.” He was going to smack himself for sounding so stupid.

“Does he not tell you this himself?”

“No, he does, but that’s just things adults do,” Peter mumbled. Sure, Peter’s stomach got tingly with pride every time Tony complimented him, but adults were supposed to say stuff like that.

“On the contrary,” Jarvis said, taking a seat across from Peter with his own cup of tea. “I cannot recall Howard doing the same for Anthony. I don’t think it’s common for many parents to relay to their kids how proud they are. Like love, it’s expected to be inferred. I’m glad Anthony hasn’t made the same mistake.” Peter’s face was flushed. Jarvis smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make the same mistake, Peter. Anthony needs the encouragement just as much as you.”

“Yeah…”

Tony knew his parents, particularly his father, would be absolutely pissed for him showing up at home randomly, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit. He was tired of college and all the shitty people that came along with it. It was kind of a shame that he’d rather be at home where he would no doubt get lectured rather than miles away. Tony had been packing a bag when Rhodey walked into their dorm.

“Going somewhere?” He asked, dropping his backpack down. Tony glanced over at him.

“Home.” Rhodey scoffed.

“Home? You can’t just leave,” Rhodey protested. Tony laughed and zipped up his bag.

“Watch me.” Tony walked out the dorm and slammed the door behind him. He was outside, wondering how he was actually going to get home without a ride. He huffed and stood for a few more minutes before he heard footsteps. Rhodey walked up next to him, dropping his own overnight bag on the ground. “What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with.” Rhodey answered casually, putting his hands in his pockets.

“What?” Tony exclaimed. “Why?”

“Because, you’re clearly not going to listen to me here, so I’m going to make sure you come back to school eventually.” Tony scoffed.

“That’s what my mom and dad and Jarvis are for. I think the only way my dad would let me stay home is if he had to bury me.”

“Then why are you going back?”

“Because I need a break from this shit, so I’m willing to deal with that shit for a while.”

“Well, then you’ll need me to get you through that shit,” Rhodey concluded. Tony gave him a blank stare. “I care about you, man.” Tony groaned.

“Stop! You know I can’t stand that gushy stuff—”

“You’re my best friend—”

“Rhodey! Jesus, fine!” Tony relented, covering his ears. Rhodey smirked and picked up his bag.

“Come on. You clearly don’t know where the bus station is.”

“There’s a station?”

It was the first time Tony had traveled home from school without Jarvis or some other driver to retrieve him. It was also the first time Rhodey had been to his house. Tony couldn’t lie to himself, he was self-conscious. Rhodey had reassured him since they started being friends that he didn’t really think Tony was a brat, no matter how many times he teased. However, he still was afraid Rhodey would see the literal mansion and change his mind about him.

“This is, uh, my house,” Tony said as a cab pulled up. Rhodey nodded.

“Your family has interesting tastes,” Rhodey said. Tony snorted and nodded.

“That’s one way to put it.” Tony paid the cab driver, and they stood in front of the gate. They had come all this way, and Tony was just now thinking of the consequences of ditching college. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“Yep. Ready to go back to school?” Rhodey agreed. Tony groaned.

“I’m already here. I might as well see my mom.” Rhodey smiled at Tony, so he glared back. “Don’t give me that look.”

“Mama’s boy—”

“I will leave you on the porch, Rhodey!” Rhodey laughed while Tony composed himself. “Listen, it’s not my mom I’m worried about—”

“It’s your dad. Yeah, I know about your daddy issues, Tones—”

“Don’t call them that!” Tony exasperated, horrified. Rhodey frowned.

“I’m sorry? Your issues with your father…” Tony glared. “It’s fine. All kids get homesick. Just explain the situation to them—”

“I’m not all kids!” Tony explained. “He’s going to be so pissed.” Tony actually sounded horrified, making Rhodey’s frown deepen.

“Well, that’s what I’m here for.” Tony’s shoulders sagged.

“What are you going to do? He’s my father.”

“Whatever you need me to do, even if that’s just pulling you out of here to go back to school.” Tony huffed and rolled his eyes. He pressed the button to alert Jarvis that he was at the gate.

Jarvis usually had a kind smile on his face when he saw Tony. Maybe Tony came home too soon, because Jarvis actually looked disturbed.

“Master Anthony,” Jarvis greeted. He had yet to move out from in front of the doorway.

“Jarvis!” Tony greeted enthusiastically, throwing his hands in the air. Jarvis’ genuine smile appeared on his face as they shared a hug.

“You’re supposed to be at school,” Jarvis pointed out, looking over his shoulder at Rhodey. Rhodey gave a sheepish wave and a smile. Tony turned.

“Oh, right. This is Rhodey.” Jarvis perked up.

“Ah, so you’re the infamous James Rhodes I’ve heard so much about.” Rhodey’s head immediately snapped toward Tony, wondering what of the many embarrassing stories he could have told. Jarvis smiled at Rhodey. “Thank you for taking care of him.” Tony’s jaw dropped as Rhodey coughed awkwardly.

“He’s my friend. That’s what friends do,” Rhodey stuttered out. Tony turned back and raised an eyebrow at Jarvis.

“Did my dad find out I ditched and kick me out the house already?” Tony mused. Jarvis looked uncertain.

“No, it’s just a difficult situation to explain.” That made Tony’s stomach drop. He couldn’t settle on a single situation that would make Jarvis nervous while simultaneously keeping him out of his own home. His mind went through a million possibilities before everyone was distracted by the sound of light footsteps and a tiny girl that came up beside Jarvis.

Tony and the little girl stared at each other for a while. Tony wasn’t really one for kids, but the child was absolutely adorable. Her hair was dark and damp, so Tony guessed she must have just come from that bath. She was dressed in a set of tiny silk pajamas, which, if Tony didn’t know any better, he would say were courtesy of his own mother. What child wore silk pajamas?

“Do you have a secret little sister you hid from me?” Rhodey whispered, also looking at the girl. Tony slowly shook his head.

“Not that I know of.”

“Really? Because she looks just like you.” Jarvis didn’t feel nervous often, but he thought his heart might have skipped a beat when Morgan ran up to him at the perfectly inconvenient time he decided to greet the unexpected guests. Morgan was smart, but she was curious. Jarvis didn’t know what to do to get her away without clueing in the younger Tony what was going on.

“That’s weird,” was all that Morgan said. Jarvis’ jaw would’ve dropped if he hadn’t composed himself better. Tony and Rhodey frowned at her as the little girl trotted away. Tony pointed to where she went.

“Who was that?” Tony asked.

“Who’s at the door this late, Jarvis?” Maria Stark came up behind Jarvis, dressed in her own silk pajamas with a robe. Her eyes fell on Tony and Rhodey before they bulged out.

“Tony?” Jarvis stepped aside as Maria stepped forward to wrap her arms around her teenage son. “Christ, what are you doing home? Are you hurt?”

“Only my soul,” Tony mumbled into her shoulder. She pulled back and smacked his shoulder.

“Seriously, you can’t just show up out of the blue! I thought you were in trouble. At least give me a call!” Maria looked over his shoulder at Rhodey. “Rhodes?”

“Good evening, ma’am.” Maria scoffed, giving him a hug as well. Over her shoulder, Tony mouthed the words “Good evening, ma’am,” to mock him. Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Why did you leave school.” Tony threw his head back and groaned, pushing his way into the house. Both Jarvis and Maria slightly protested, but Tony was too caught up in his own thoughts.

“Because I fucking hate it!” Tony complained.

“And I’m here to make sure he didn’t die getting here and eventually comes back,” Rhodey added. Maria gave him a soft smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“Also, what’s with the little girl?” Tony remembered. “Do you guys have a secret family when I’m not around?” Maria gave him a dumb stare.

“Of course not. It’s complicated. That’s why I really wished you had called ahead.” Tony snorted.

“Well, I’m not going now. I want answers. Who’s here?” Tony walked through the house with everyone trailing after him. Jarvis and Maria talked over each other, each trying to come up with an explanation. Rhodey looked confused at what they were saying, but Tony was hardly paying attention. Tony eventually made it to a sitting room where a teenage boy was sitting on the couch. The boy looked up when all the people came in, and his eyes widened.

“Da—I mean…” Peter trailed off when he saw Jarvis and Maria frantically shaking their heads behind Tony. Peter jaw eventually dropped open when he realized who he was.

Tony had no idea who the kid on the couch was. He looked about his age, but that provided no explanation. What more, he was wearing Tony’s MIT hoodie. Tony was almost certain that he had that in his own bag. What was going on?

“Who the hell is this?” Tony exclaimed. The expression on his mother’s face looked troubled, and Jarvis looked like he was still trying to come up with an explanation.

“I-I’m Peter…?” Peter introduced himself, making it sound like a question when he saw how concerned Maria looked at him speaking again.

“Yeah, who the hell are you?” Tony demanded, walking closer. Peter sunk in the couch as the younger Tony got in his face. Peter was amazed, actually, to see Tony this young. If Peter didn’t know that Tony was around his age, he would have guessed that this Tony was barely reaching his teens.

“I’m a family friend…” Peter tried, cringing at Tony’s expression. Tony stepped back, looking distraught. Tony looked up at Jarvis and his mom.

“So, what, Howard’s got some secret kid? He sends me away, so he can deal with this dude.” Maria moved towards Tony, but Tony flinched away.

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous. You’re making assumptions.”

“So, you’re saying he isn’t Howard’s kid?” Maria was starting to look angry.

“No, and I would appreciate if you would stop insinuating that your father had an affair!” Maria was near yelling. It felt quiet after her outburst. Tony glanced back at Peter who was shrunk into the couch.

“He’s smarter than me, isn’t he?” Tony muttered. “He’s already graduated, so you’re introducing him to the company.” Maria stopped him from talking when she came forward to wrap her arms around him.

“Even if Howard did have a secret child—which he doesn’t—I’d never let them replace you. Tony, please.” Maria used her hands to make Tony looked at her. “Stop with the assumptions.”

“Whose kids are these?” Maria looked pained, looking back at Jarvis.

“They’re family friends of mine, young sir,” Jarvis spoke up calmly. “It took some convincing for your father to allow them here, so…”

“So you didn’t want me here to aggravate him further,” Tony finished, looking away instead of at their faces.

“What’s going on in here?” Everyone seemed to freeze when they heard Howard’s voice. Despite how late it was, he was still dressed in his day clothes. He had a tired expression on his face that was slowly being overtaken by one of pure anger when his eyes rested on the young Tony. “Is that—”

“Your son from college?” Maria answered. “Yes.” Howard looked like he was about the burst in anger, making him move slightly behind his mother without realizing it. Rhodey moved a bit closer as well. “And his friend…”

“And you’re ditching the college education we pay valuable money for, because…?” Howard asked, slowly walking forward. Peter was watching the scene with wide eyes, noticing the stark difference between how Howard and the younger Tony interacted compared to him and Tony. Tony looked genuinely scared to confront his father. Peter couldn’t even imagine being afraid of Tony. The only thing he was afraid of when it came to Tony was disappointing him, which Jarvis had pretty much just confirmed to him was a baseless fear.

“It’s complicated,” Maria answered. Howard scoffed.

“Don’t cover for him, Maria! We’ve got stuff enough stuff going on here without you coddling him and letting him stay after ditching school,” Howard yelled.

“I’m not leaving my son out on the porch!” Maria retaliated. She turned towards Jarvis before Howard could continue to yell. “Jarvis, could you please make sure everything in Tony’s room is in order.” The request was simple, but the tone suggested something else. Jarvis immediately picked up on it and nodded. Jarvis nodded and turned to leave but froze when he saw a figure in the door.

Tony was pretty certain that Morgan was sitting on the bed when he left to use the bathroom. She was gone when he returned, immediately stressing Tony out. He tried not to freak out since his mother and Jarvis were in the house, but he couldn’t help but think of a billion bad scenarios should she run into the other occupant by herself.

Tony started searching nearby first. He wouldn’t be surprised if Morgan had involuntarily gotten him involved in a surprise game of hide and seek. He cautiously opened doors, calling out her name softly as he did so. He waited for the patter of tiny feet or a giggle that almost always gave her away, but he heard nothing.

He walked faster throughout the house, checking every door along the way. His stress was pretty high when he finally heard fast footsteps coming up from behind him. He turned to see her smiling innocently. He sighed in relief and dropped to one knee.

“Hey, baby, I’m going to need you to not run off and give Daddy a heart attack, yeah?” Tony said. She smiled wider. “What are you smiling about?”

“I saw something weird.” Tony’s stomach dropped. That’s not what any parent necessarily wanted to hear from their toddler.

“Weird? Where?”

“Outside?”

“Did you go outside?” Tony asked. Morgan shook her head. “Then how’d you see it?”

“He was at the door silly!” Tony frowned.

“Who?” She pointed at him, then she frowned. She got closer and ran her tiny fingers over his goatee.

“He didn’t have this.” Tony sighed. He was too tired for this conversation.

“It’s past your bedtime.” Morgan pouted but held her hands up anyway. Tony stood and picked her up in his arms. He was walking back towards his room when he heard some yelling and froze. He recognized Howards voice, and he cursed internally. He didn’t know where Peter was, but he couldn’t take a chance on him being somewhere else. With Morgan still in his arms, Tony raced to where he heard the voice.

Everyone except him and Morgan were in the living room, plus guests. Tony froze, trying to shrink back a bit when he inevitably saw a younger version of Rhodey and himself. Jarvis was about to walk out the way Tony came in when they made eye contact. Everyone in the room turned towards the new guest.