AIR FORCE BASE

"The future of air combat. Is it manned? Or unmanned?" Rhodey spoke up to a group of fellow uniformed Air Force soldiers. "I'll tell you in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern it's outcome, or a pilot's judgement."

"Colonel?" Rhodey turned behind him to find Tony interrupting. "Why not a pilot without the plane?" Tony joked, as Rhodey saw fit to introduce to them the changed man. "Look who fell out of the sky, Mr. Tony Stark." The pilots all greeted Stark generously as he continued to shake their hands. "Speaking of manned or unmanned," Tony began.

"You gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break." He pointed to them, continuing to joke. "Just remember that, spring break, 1987! That lovely lady you woke up with... gets Zach everytime I tell him that story."

"Don't do that!" Rhodey flushed, embarrassed of the revelation Stark just blessed them with. "What was his name – Was it Ivan?" The pilots laughed their asses off, just as Rhodey turned back to Tony. "Don't do that, they'll believe it." Rhodey quickly warned before directing himself back at the group. "Give us a couple minutes, you guys."

The group of pilots walked off, just when Rhodey gave his whole attention to his best friend. "I'm surprised." Rhodey chuckled. "I swear, I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon!"

"I'm doing a little better than walkin'." Tony answered graciously, earning a "Really?" from Rhodey. "Yeah, Rhodey, I'm working on something big, I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it." After Tony's talk with Obidiah and his experiences with Yinsen and the Ten Rings in the Kunar Province, Tony wanted to experiment, tinker around with the concept of an Arc Reactor, the very thing in his chest, closeted off from everyone.

Rhodey chuckled once more. "You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, 'cause that little stunt you at the press conference," Rhodes shrugged his shoulders, still keeping contact on him. "That was a doozy."

Tony sighed. "This is not for the military." He answered truthfully. "I'm not... it's different." Rhodey shook his head, leaning to his side. "What, you're a humanitarian now or something?"

"I need you to listen to me."

"No, what you need is time to get your mind right," Rhodey explained bluntly. "I'm serious." Tony simply smiled. "Okay." "It's nice seeing you, Tony. Tell Amara I said hi." Rhodey ended their conversation and walked off, leaving him with only "Thanks."

"Wait, who's Amara?"

TONY'S WORKSHOP.

Tony arrived back at his workshop, ready to craft up his ideas at his computer and hologram. He tapped a couple of keys into a holographic keyboard, and spoke up. "Jarvis, you up?"

"For you, sir, always." The A.I of the mansion answered obediently.

"I'd like to open a new project file," Tony commanded. "Index as Mark Two."

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?"

"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now," Tony answered as he set up the proper programs for his holotable. "I can trust Zach though, we will see. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"

"Working on a secret project, are we, sir?" Jarvis answered once again, as a hologram his iron suit built from the scraps of his materials appeared from the table. "I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands," Tony dictated to himself and Jarvis, removing the crude design of the old helmet and the bulk from the armor. "Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good."

UPSTAIRS OF THE MANSION — THE KITCHEN.

"So you're telling me you had a four-year relationship with a girl at the University of Cambridge," Amara began as she stirred a hot cup of coffee, while keeping an eye on Zach and her toddler, Jayden. "Moved in with her, were going to propose to her, and she just left?"

"That's about it, Mimi," Zach answered and looked back to a blubbering Jayden, making noises with his mouth. "Awww, you're so cute, aren't ya, buddy!" He gave him small, gentle pokes at the toddler, who giggled in glee and squealed with joy. "Who's a cutie, huh? You are!"

"Esa jodia puta! Te juro que si la veo otra vez es que la ahorco, nadie jode a mi hermano así!" Amara swore. "Felizmente le voy a joder la vida y no me va a importar un carajo!"*

(That little bitch! I swear if i ever meet her, i will strangle her, no-one hurts my little brother like that! I would happily fuck her life up and not give a single shit.)*

"Mimi!" Zach scolded and covered Jayden's ears, knowing full well what she had said.. "There is a child present!" Amara took her baby into her arms and patted him. "Ay, my little angel doesn't know Spanish yet, mi amor," Amara said. "He is just my adorable baby boy." She coddled her child, as Zach could hear audible yawns as Jayden was returned to his baby holder. "But if I ever, ever meet this bitch, she will not know what hit her." She seethed coldly and took Zach into her own arms.

"You deserve something worthy of your love, Zachy," Amara whispered. "I'm saying this as your big sister, pequeñín, okay? I just want you to know that, love." Amara leaned his head towards her lips, and kissed his forehead. "Your happiness is very important to me, Zachy."

"I know," Zach whined and buried himself into his sister's shoulder. "Even if we haven't seen each other in so long, I know you care a lot about me, Mimi." Amara still continued to hold in, rubbing his hair. "Just as much as my baby boy," She whispered. "I love you so much, Zach."

"I love you too, Mimi," Zach whispered back, as Amara smiled again, and let go of him, only to peck his cheek. "I know, I still find it adorable you call me "Mimi"." Amara laughed and ruffled his hair, making him laugh. "You never let anyone else call you that at M.I.T!" Zach argued playfully. "And the first time I said it was when I was trying to study for a test, but you were telling me to get some sleep!"

"Oh, I remember," She chuckled again. "Come on, Mimi, I needa study for this important test!" the two had a gentle laugh together, as Amara continued to rock Jayden to sleep.

"Zach? What's going on –" Zach heard Pepper's voice come across from the hall until she emerged to see him and Amara. "Who is this? I swear, Zachary, you better not be having another hook-up–" But someone had followed after her, a certain older bald and bearded gentleman that Zach had despised for most of his life.

Obadiah Stane.

"Oh no, You must be mistaken, Miss Potts!" Amara quickly came to Zach's defense. "I am actually Zach's assistant, a friend of your boss's got me this job," She explained quickly, as she noticed Zach staring intently at Stane. "I'm also a friend of Zach's, I was his dormmate at MIT."

"Oh, wait a moment, Amara!" Pepper exclaimed and put her hand on her chest. "Oh my goodness, it's such a pleasure to meet you! Zach's always been telling me about his big sister at M.I.T!" She quickly went to shake her hand. "I'm Zachary's adoptive mother, Pepper, but you... already knew who I am." Pepper turned back to Stane, who smiled in the way Zach always hated to see; a wide shit-eating grin exposing his teeth. "And this is Obadiah Stane, he was Stark Industries' interim CEO, but now he is Tony's business partner."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Rosas," Obidiah smiled and shook her hand as well, before looking to Zach. "Zach! I just got some pizza all the way from New York! I got you some!" Zach scoffed to himself before answering Stane. "I'm not hungry, Obadiah." He responded coldly. "I'll have it later."

"Will do, and could you get your father for me?" Obadiah asked of him. "I need to speak to him about something."

"Sure, should I also grab a pack of fucking cigars and a bottle of his finest bourbon?" Zach answered sarcastically, surprising everyone in the room as he walked down to Tony's workshop, fighting the urge to flip off Obadiah. "I'm so sorry about that, Obadiah," Pepper immediately apologized to him, as he calmed her down. "Here, let me go join him. Amara?" She asked her, who turned her head back to Pepper. "If you need a quiet place for your baby, go to Zach's room."

Zach ventured down the stairs to Tony's workshop, just as Pepper followed after him. "What the hell was that, young man?!" She scolded him furiously. "I know, you've never liked Obadiah, but you had to lash out at him like that?"

"I hate him!" Zach argued back. "It was always him calling the shots on Stark Industries all the time before Dad became the CEO, and he's still behaving like he is!" His hands ran red hot with rage, which would have burned him, but thankfully didn't. "The name on the building isn't Stane Industries, it's STARK. I don't care if he was friends with Grandpa, IT'S. NOT. HIS. FUCKING. COMPANY!"

Zach huffed for a few moments, and then calmed down, taking deep breaths. "Sorry, mom," He apologized, and held his head down. "I just... had a lot of stuff I hate about him." Pepper rubbed his cheeks sincerely and just looked at him kindly. "Just don't think about him, honey." Pepper said just as sincerely. "Just ignore him and – what the hell is your father doing?"

From behind them, Tony had some machine rigged to his arm, as Pepper took a cube shaped package and walked into the workshop. "I thought you were done making weapons?" Pepper asked him as Tony turned to see his assistant and son.

"It is!" Tony said, showing off the the machine. "This is a flight stabilizer, completely harmless." He fired up the stabilizer, but instead of the intended effect, as Tony flew backward towards the wall, scaring the both of them. "I didn't expect that!

—------------------------

Tony emerged back from the workshop with Pepper, as Zach stayed back downstairs. Obadiah was playing the piano, and from down the hall, Amara (whom Tony had now learned about) was taking care of her son in Zach's room.

"How'd it go?" Tony asked Stane, who gracefully kept playing the piano. "It went that bad, huh?" Obadiah continued to play, but still answered. "Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad."

"Sure doesn't," Tony retorted as he opened up the pizza box, admiring the pie in the box as he went for a slice, folding it the traditional New York style. "Oh, boy." "It would have gone better if you were there." Obadiah left the piano and Tony munched on the pizza. "Uh-huh, you told me to lay low," Tony retorted again. "That's what I've been doing. I lay low, and you take care of all...."

"Hey, come on" Obadiah grabbed his drink and marched down the stairs. "In public. The press." He went by to sit next to Tony. "This was a board of directors meeting."

Tony looked back at him with shock. "This was a board of directors meeting?" He asked Stane, whilst continuing to munch and crunch on his pie. "The board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction." Stane explained.

"A what?"

"They want to lock you out."

(a/n: correct me if i'm wrong but is this a reference to Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man in 2002? Where Norman is told he needs to leave his company? ya know... "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED?!")

"Why, 'cause the stocks dipped 40 points?" Stark said carelessly, which led Pepper to speak. "Fifty-six and a half." Stark turned to her. "It doesn't matter, we own the controlling interest in the company."

"Tony, the board has rights too." Obadiah explained. "They're making the case that you and your direction isn't in the company's best interest."

"I'm being responsible!" Tony spoke louder. "That's a new direction for me, for the company." Stane's mouth went agape at his reaction, as Stark stumbled for words. "I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that... this is great." Tony picked up the pizza box and started to leave the conversation, while Stane still tried to pull it in his favor. "Oh, come on, Tony! Tony!"

"I'll be in the shop with the kid," Tony announced to them. "About time we had some father-son bonding."

"Hey, hey! Tony, listen," Stane stood in front of him. "I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them." Stane pointed to the circle in his chest. "Let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, draw some specs–"

"No, no, absolutely not–"

"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!"

"This one stays with me!" Tony reaffirmed to Stane fiercely. "That's it, Obie. Forget it." "All right, well, this stays with me." Stane took back the pizza box but left it open for him to take some. "Go on, here, you can have a piece, take two. Get some for Zach too."

"Thank you."

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?"

"Good night, Obie," Tony finished up and left the room to flee down back to the workshop, but little did he know...

Zach found the plans for the Iron Man suit.

DAYS LATER

After days of testing, Tony had a full suit of silver armor, but painted with the finishes of hot-rod red and gold. He had also received a very welcome package from Pepper; a glass stand commemorating the first Arc Reactor with the words "PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART."

(a/n: sniff... i'm not crying as i'm writing this... who's cutting the fucking onions?!)

However, Tony had recently found out there was a very high-class event he was supposedly not invited to; the Firefighter's Family Fund at the Disney Concert Hall. But he had decided that he was going to crash the party and let loose again. After all, the suit's fabrication would take about 5 hours, he had plenty of time to kill.

—------------

"Weapons manufacturing is only one small part of what Stark Industries is all about," Obadiah announced to the press. "And our partnership with the fire and rescue community..."

"Hey, Tony, remember me?"

"Sure don't! You look great, Hef," Tony crashed in and patted a Hugh Hefner look alike, who turned around to reveal himself as not Hugh Hefner, but an elderly man with extraordinary wisdom, and an incredible catchphrase.

"We're going to have a great quarter," Obadiah finished and turned to Tony. "What's the world coming to when a guy's got to crash his own party!" Obadiah laughed to himself as he admired Tony's outfit, looking dapper. "Look at you! What a surprise..."

"I'll see you inside," Tony spoke softly and made his way in, but Stane still stopped him. "Hey, listen, take it slow, all right?" He warned him carefully. "I think I got the board where I want them."

"You got it, just cabin fever," Tony brushed him off. "I'll just be a minute." He marched his way inside, as his first objective was to obtain a glass of Scotch. "Give me a Scotch, I'm starving." He tells the barkeep, who immediately starts preparing his drink. However, a certain agent was waiting by the bar as well.

"Mr. Stark?" Agent Coulson asked for him as he turned to look at the gentleman. "Agent Coulson." "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah," Tony recalled. "The guy from the..."

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Coulson spoke with authority.

"God, you need a new name for that," Tony commented whilst taking a sip of his Scotch. "Yeah, I hear that a lot." Coulson responded, but still kept a glimmer of a smile on his face. "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things."

"Let's just put something on the books." Tony suggested just as he noticed someone in the crowds; Pepper in a very elegant dress. "How about the 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Stark Industries?" Coulson offered, just as Stark put out his hand to shake. "Tell you what. You got it," Tony said in nearly a haze, not taking his eyes off Pepper. "You're absolutely right. Well, I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll make a date."

Tony trailed towards Pepper, who stuck out to him in a crowd of multiple people. "You look fantastic!" Tony commented, just as Pepper turned around, not expecting him to make an appearance. "I didn't recognize you!"

"What are you doing here?" Pepper asked him. "Just avoiding government agents. Hey, speaking of, where's Zach? Did he come with you?"

"Yes, he did, he's over there with Amara, talking with...Athena." Pepper pointed out to him. "But are you by yourself?"

"Yes! Where did you get that dress?"

"Oh, it was a birthday present," Pepper answered, earning a "That's great" from Tony. "From you, actually." "Oh, I got a great taste..." Tony kept looking at her. "You want to dance?"

"Oh, no," Pepper politely disagree, but Tony still pressed on. "All, right. Come on."

"Thank you, no."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No, no. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss," Pepper argued. "In front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back."

"You look great and you smell great."

As the two continued their bickering but eventually started to dance around, Zach & Amara were striking conversation with Athena, who was attending the event as she had family who served as firefighters. "Well, I am going to get another drink," Amara spoke up. "I'll let you two talk..." She quickly rubbed Zach's shoulders and escaped off to grab a cola, as she swore off alcohol for the sake of her child.

(Barbara Palvin as Athena Fields)

"So, what's gonna happen tonight, Zachy?" Athena whispered to him as she drank her champagne. "Another one of our... nightly pleasures?" She trailed her fingers down his jaw and to his chest, where her fingers laid on the top button of his suit. "I'll be honest, I'm still recovering from our last one."

However, Zach took her hand off him but kept it in his hands. "Athena... I can't be like this person anymore," He confessed to her, as her expression went from lustful to understanding. "This isn't who I am, I've become this person because of all the shit I went through. My real mom, Jarvis dying, my girlfriend leaving..." He took a deep breath. "It's made me into this person, and I'm about ready to say, I wanna leave it all behind me. Like the steps my dad is taking."

"The drinking, the sex, I want to give that lifestyle all up, and I just hope you understand–" Zach was hushed by Athena, whose face seemed more sympathetic. "I understand, babe," she spoke up. "I thought this was just going to be a one-night kinda thing, but we spent so many times hooking up, and I realized that's not the person I fell for all those years ago." She cupped his face in her hands, and looked him deep in the eyes. "And you can be a better person, you can help people, just like your dad's doing. But I still love you, even if we're not together anymore." 

She leaned in to place a quick, chaste kiss on his lips and as she pulled away, she smiled at him. "Make all of us proud, Zachary Danvers-Stark. I'll see you around." With that, she smiled again, and walked away, just as Amara returned.

"So you took the baby steps, have you, mi hermano?" Amara asked him as he nodded. "I'm so proud of you, champ!" She congratulated him with a hug and another peck on the cheek, but in his mind, Zach was thinking. What Athena said got to him.

He could be a better person by becoming a hero.

"Yeah... thanks, Mimi," Zach smiled at her. "But I have ideas. And a crazy story I've never told you. Where's the most secluded area in this place?"

17 MINUTES LATER...

Tony had stepped back inside, making his way back to the bar after an awkward conversation which nearly had them kissing each other. "Two vodka martinis," He order the barkeep once more. "Extra dry, extra olives, extra fast." He said as he placed a bill inside a champagne glass. "Make one of them dirty, will you?"

The barkeep went on to produce two more drinks, just as Tony recognized a familiar face making her way towards him. Christine Everhart, a WHiH reporter, and someone he had slept with before he went for the Jericho launch. "Wow... Tony Stark!" she exclaimed, walking to his left as Tony acknowledged her presence. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh, hey," Tony said and squinted his eyes. "Carrie."

"Christine," She corrected, resulting in more of a back-and-forth with each other. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight." She questioned him. "Can I at least get a reaction from you?"

"Panic," Tony honestly answered. "I would say panic is my reaction."

"Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity."

"Yeah, they just put my name on the invitation. My son and assistant were already down, I don't know what to tell you."

"I actually bought it, hook, line and sinker." Christine kept on droning. "I was out of town for a couple months, in case you didn't hear." Tony seethed, but Christine pulled out a picture, interrupting him as she handed it to him. "Is this what you call accountability? It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"

Tony paid no more attention to her, she had lost him after Gulmira. It had indeed been in Tony's mind. His fellow captive, Ho Yinsen was from Gulmira, before being taken and seeing his family die. Tony examined the photos, seeing the terrorists were hauling Stark equipment, cratefuls of it. Including Jericho. "When were these taken?" Tony asked her.

"Yesterday," Christine accusingly answered. Tony shook his head, turning back to her. "I didn't approve any shipment."

"Well, your company did."

"Well, I'm not my company." Tony took the pictures and went straight to Stane, who was still warding off paparazzi. "Have you seen these pictures?" Tony accused Stane. "What's going on in Gulmira, huh?!"

"Tony, Tony," Obadiah whispered. "You can't afford to be this naive."

"You know what? I was naive before, when they said, "Here's the line, We don't cross it."." Tony repeated back at him. "This is how we do business." If we're double-dealing under the table... are we?"

Reporters argued with the two for a picture, to which Stane gave in and put his arm around Tony. "Come on, picture time!" He cried, turning around to the press, but leaned in to whisper once again. "Who do you think locked you out?" He rasped. "I was the one who filed the injunction against you. It was the only way I could protect you."

Obadiah left Tony there, standing still with his eyes wide, as Christine, Zach and Amara all watched from a distance. The only thing Tony could hear was the sound of his beating heart, rumbling with fear.

--------------

"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern-day Heart of Darkness."

Back at his home, Tony fumed with anger, twisting the screws of his gauntlet, as he watched the current news report on what was happening in Gulmira. His name, his weapons, and how he was betrayed by the closest father-figure he had in his life. He flexed the fingers of the gauntlet, turning it to test the motor functions.

"Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant."

Gunshots rattled on the TV, as terrorists left & right were killing people, and Tony felt enormous guilt laying on his shoulders and conscience. It amazed him how Obadiah was heartless to care about innocent lives dying out like a candlestick. A couple of bullets was all it took.

"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings. As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees."

The repulsor hummed as Tony unnervingly kept watching with anger spewing, tightening each screw. Tony stood up, flicking off something in his path, and looked at the glass wall to his left.

"Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia. Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop. A child's simple question, "Where are my mother and father?" There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."

And Tony just snapped. He put up his gauntlet and blasted a light, knocking it off its screws in the ceiling, and dangling around. And then, he shot the glass walls, unbearing to see himself for the damage he had caused to families all over the world. And then he decided. "It's time to suit up."

He stepped into a platform as the floor began to shift, revealing various components of his ensemble, with any hydraulics sending up, fixing and adjusting the armor to him. The last thing was his helmet, as two mechanical arms carefully snapped the two on his head, and the faceplate above him, and Tony shut it, revealing the blue eyes within the suit, and he blasted off to Gulmira.

GULMIRA

The Ten Rings were storming every place they could, shooting them up and throwing explosives, not caring for anyone inside. They took every able man, and left their wives, children, and elderly alone. One of their leaders had called for everyone out, and pushed a family to their knees. They tried to escape, but the Ten Rings had pulled the man out to take as their prisoner, ready to be executed. His son escaped one of their holds and ran to his father, only to be pulled by the neck by the leader and proceed to beat the father.

Then in the sky, a man in a red and gold iron suit landed on his knee and rose up to face the leader. One of the terrorists started shooting, only for him to be punch into the air, and more suffered repulsor blasts to the chest. Iron Man then turned around to more of the capacitors, only to find them ready to kill the women and children. Tony, under the suit, knew he couldn't have their deaths on his conscience, and lowered his arms. However, he had another solution.

In his Heads-Up Display, he targeted each person either as "HOSTILE" in red, and "CIVILIAN" in white. As his analysis was done, two flaps emerged from his shoulders, a full set of miniature missiles mounted on them, flew out taking out each Hostile in his way. The boy ran back to his father, crying for him, with a warm embrace from the father.

But Tony's work wasn't done. He marched off to find the leader, who had cowarishly hid behind a wall, praying that the man wouldn't find him. He began dialing a number on his phone, but was too late, as Tony's arm burst through the wall, like a mechanical Kool-Aid Man. The arm opened and grabbed Bakaar, pulling him out to the civilians he was terrorizing. "He's all yours..." Tony smirked under the suit to the civilians before flying off again. And as he did, Bakaar was left to his former hostage's feet, and to their mercy.

Tony left from Gulmira and scanned for any of his weapons, which he found while cruising at Mach 0.16. But just before he could take out the Jericho missiles, a tank missile struck him down mid-flight as he plummeted to the ground. However, due to the armor's durability, he clawed back up to face the tank, which shot another missile at him. He moved to his right, and looked back to the tank, raising his fist up for a missile of his own, smaller and from a hatch in his suit, and shot it at the tank.

He turned away from the tank and walked away, as the tank blew up into pieces. Stark then faced heavy gunfire from armed militants on the other side, but he didn't bother as he flew up and unleashed the laser capabilities of the suit, blowing up the Jericho missiles and killing the militants in the process. Then for Tony, he was smooth sailing from there.

Or so he thought.

STARK'S WORKSHOP – THE FOLLOWING MORNING.

"So your mother – your birth mother – and you were exposed to something, and now you have powers?"

"Yep."

"And your mother, Carol, is alive, and no-one knows she is?"

"Right again."

"And now the only people in the world who know about that are that bitch and me?"

"Yeah, plus my cat's an alien, who was given to me by my mom."

Goose paraded on Tony's holotable, as Amara was in shock of the revelations cast upon her. "That cat... is an ALIEN?!" Amara shouted as she looked back at Goose, who was simply licking her paw and meowed at her. "H-How?"

Zach took a piece of scrap metal laying around, muttering, "Dad wouldn't notice if this was missing, right?" and threw it in the air, catching Goose's attention as she stood on her hind legs and opened her mouth, unleashing the tentacles as she swallowed the whole thing, breaking it apart and consuming it. Goose then closed her mouth, and then went back to behaving like a cat.

Amara sat there with her eyes widened at what she had just witnessed. "I'm never letting my baby go one step near her," She pointed at Goose, as Zach sighed. "Goose doesn't harm humans, trust me," He assured his sister. "Plus, Goose behaves like a cat all the time in front of people." Goose walked back to Zach, as Amara leaned back, but she was just rubbing her head on Zach's hand.

"Who's a good Flerken?" Zach cooed to the alien creature, as Goose meowed even more. "Goose is!" Amara just sat there gawking at how her brother was treating Goose, as Zach then let Goose walk around. "Anyways, that's the whole story," He commented as he stood up and walked to the holotable. "But what you and Athena told me really got to me. That lifestyle isn't who I am. It never was."

"I was just hurt, and I had no-one," Zach continued. "But that doesn't have to be me. I can make differences in the world, especially with these." He raised his fists, as they pulsed with cosmic energy. "I can help people, fight the battles that they never could. I can be a hero." Amara looked softly to her little brother and placed her arms on his shoulders, internally growing even prouder of him. "And it can start from here." Zach smiled as he turned on the holotable.

"Jarvis!" Zach spoke up. "I need you to access my dad's private server, please?"

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," The A.I spoke from within the house. "I'm afraid your father will not let you do this course of action."

"Come on, man!" Zach whined. "Even after my whole epiphany? Can you just... let me access it, just this once! And don't let my dad know?"

"I suppose just this once will not hurt." The holotable projected something, old specs of a suit of armor with crude design, Zach assumed it was something Tony had made earlier, and a new one, more sleek and intricately designed.

"My dad's been making this armor in secret," Zach deduced. "And I'm guessing he has a prototype of this right now, wherever he is. But look at this," He zoomed on the second model of the armor. "This armor is jam-packed. Rockets on the arms, missiles on the shoulders, flight repulsors, and a functional miniature Arc Reactor."

Zach gasped in awe, as he turned to Amara in excitement. "It was a concept dreamed up by my adoptive grandfather, Howard Stark," He explained. "It was designed for clean, renewable energy, as my dad told me, but when Stane took over, he dismissed it as a publicity stunt."

"So you want to make a suit like that, you're saying," Amara asked, as Zach shook his head. "Well, in principle, something like that, minus all the clunky metal. Maybe a little for protection." Amara shushed him, and with a smile of her own. "I know where to get some things for this venture..." She calmly told him. "But I will do it on a couple of conditions."

"Yeah?" Zach asked, as Amara laid out her conditions. "One, promise me you won't get hurt being a superhero," She told him with a pointed finger at him, as he nodded. "Two, I will be your person-in-the-chair." Zach looked puzzled, and pointed his eyes to the ceiling. "So... you'd be like Oracle to Batman?" He asked.

"Yes, whoever that is," Amara described. "And my last one, you better keep visiting me and your nephew when you're a big superhero, you hear me?" Zach nodded his head fiercely. "Absolutely." He responded. "And just so you know, I was never gonna stop visiting anyway, I will be there for him, even when he graduates high school."

"Good enough for me," Amara smiled again and held her brother's cheeks in her hands, placing another kiss on his forehead. "My little brother is going to be a superhero!"

"And also, how do you know about the materials, Mimi?"

"My fiancé was in the military, I know my way around protective materials."

"Well, that's great!" Zach answered. "Jarvis, fire up the fabricator. I'm gonna need some armor on the legs, arms, shoulders... and a helmet."

STARK INDUSTRIES

Pepper entered Stark Industries after a heated conversation between her and Tony, which involved corporate espionage into the whole company she was working for. She had been recently caught up with Tony taking himself out of the armor after his work in Gulmira and a little snafu with the U.S. Military, which was thankfully covered by a mere training exercise incident. But now, she was on a mission to uncover how the weapons were put into the hands of terrorist organizations like the Ten Rings. She was originally against it, but after seeing how much of a change of heart Tony had, she was on board.

Luckily for her, Tony's old office was unlocked and empty, and she immediately got to work. With the lock chip given to her by Tony, she inserted it into a USB hub on the desk, which immediately got her access into the company files. The computer was instantly scanning and not long after, had found the ghost drive hidden.

As it was opened, a series of files were shown, the first two of which was full of invoices and weapons designs. But the third was more interesting, as it had found a heavy, and much bigger mech classified in Sector 16. "Sector 16?" Pepper asked herself. "What are you up to, Obadiah..."

But the next file was a video, with the room full of armed militants, and one read of a script, speaking in Urdu. One of them had a sack over his head, which was later revealed to be Tony.

(a/n: i know a little of Urdu, but what I am translating is not exact to the actor who said this line before Pepper translated it.)

"Today, we have tirelessly found the man you wanted to be captured. But it was the Merchant of Death, Tony Stark, now in our grasp. You can see!" The speaker said in Urdu. Since Pepper did not understand what they were saying, she typed a simple command, "TRANSLATE." and everything came to light.

"You did not tell us the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark. As you can see, Obaidah Stane..."

"Oh, my god..."

"Your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up."

Pepper still couldn't believe what she was hearing. Obadiah Stane wanted to kill Tony Stark.