2008.

Zach sat in his room back in Tony's Malibu Mansion on the coast of California, watching over the sea with a glass of whiskey in his right hand, gently spinning the liquid within and contemplating his life before taking a swig. Wishing he could be inebriated, he still sat there unbothered and untouched by anyone with heartbreak and regret within him. Added with the fact his father was missing and presumed dead.

Three months earlier, Tony Stark set out to the Kunar Province with his bodyguard, Harold "Happy" Hogan and Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, on behalf of the U.S. Army to present the Jericho missile, as a means to end the War on Terror.  However, things did not go as they were expected to.

~ Flashback to days earlier ~

"Rhodey!" Pepper welcomed him into the mansion, and ushered him in as Zach laid on the sofa, trying to nap. "Where's Tony? Did the Jericho go as planned?" Rhodey just stayed silent as he took a seat and nonverbally showed her a seat as well.

"What happened, James?" Pepper asked seriously, and detecting the change in tone, Zach sat up to face Rhodey as well. Rhodey wiped his eyes, and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry, Pepper," Rhodey finally spoke up. "But the convoy Tony was in on the way back... it was attacked by terrorists."

Pepper's hand went over her heart, as Zach clutched the cushions of the couch, leaving small burns on them which thankfully neither of them noticed. "The officers with Tony were all killed," Rhodey showed them the pictures of the bullet-ridden Jeep. "Tony's body was never found, leaving him either dead or captured. We don't know which one." Rhodey then made eye contact with Pepper. "I'm sorry, but you may have to be looking for another job if it is the former."

"I'm not leaving," Pepper firmly spoke up. "My boss may not be here, but my son is, Rhodey. I'm not leaving him alone."

"I know, but Zach is an adult now," Rhodey answered her. "I know, you've been a mother to him for years now, and--" "That doesn't change my decision." Pepper snapped. "He's my son. Regardless. I can try to keep a steady hand with this, let's hope Obadiah doesn't become mad with the power he's got."

"Obadiah's shit." Zach muttered to himself. "Always hated him..."

"Zachary..." Pepper scolded him. "Don't let him hear you saying that."

"Why am I being scolded, I'm right!" Zach shrugged. "He was always bossing me around as a kid, he's the one always making Stark Industries with all the weapons bullshit." He stood up, beginning to walk downstairs to Tony's workshop. "Whatever, going to Dad's workshop. See ya, Uncle Rhodey."

He traveled down the stairs as Rhodey looked back to Pepper, who looked back to Pepper and back to the stairs, Zach not being there. "He's still like that, is he?" Rhodey asked her, as she looked down and nodded.

"He's heartbroken, James." Pepper answered and looked at a framed photo of her and Zach, aged twelve and embracing Pepper as a motherly figure. "He's been down ever since he moved back. I just hope I can help him."

~ End of Flashback ~

Since the two years after coming back from England, Zach spent his first days back in his room, unpacking everything piece by piece to get his life back together. As well as doing something he never thought he would do again.

Have a one-night stand with his ex-girlfriend, Athena Fields.

Which then turned into more hookups.

Pepper was surprised to see her again coming out of Zach's room holding her clothes, but with more of Athena's visits, she became unfazed by her comings and goings. Other than the nights he spent with her, he kept himself inside the mansion. He took time to get over Ella leaving, with Goose trying to comfort him as if she were emotional support for him.

Suddenly, his phone rang aloud, disturbing his thoughts and looking over to see Rhodey calling him. Zach set down the glass of whiskey and walked over to pick up the phone, sliding the answer button and raising it to his ear.

Hey, Rhodey. What's up?"

"Zach! I got someone who wants to talk to you!"

The phone fumbled around on the other side as Zach grew more confusion over what was happening or who wanted to talk to him. However, his questions were answered as a familiar voice spoke up.

"Hey, kid! Ya miss me? That's right, I'm alive, kiddo!"

"DAD?!"

A DAY LATER

News broke out over WHiH about Tony Stark's emergence and revealed he was alive, heading back to the states and giving a press conference. Zach and Pepper stood by a U.S. army base, awaiting Tony's helicopter bringing him back. "I still can't believe it..." Pepper spoke to Zach in a hushed tone. "Your dad's alive!" She looked to her son, who was only a few inches taller than her. "Wow, have you always been this tall?" She questionably asked him, as he shrugged. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Normal, I guess." Zach answered. "Haven't been out in a long time... but Dad's back, and everyone is happy he is." He made an attempt to smile, as Pepper rubbed his arm in a motherly way. "It's okay, honey," She whispered into his ear. "You'll be over it soon, I'm sure of it." She pecked his head quickly and went back to stand and wait, as the C-17 arrived.

Rhodey was now escorting a wheelchair-bound Tony Stark down the runway. As they reached the end, Tony held out his hand for Rhodey to help him up to his feet, rejecting a stretcher as he made his way towards his assistant and his son. However, no-one knew the pressures Tony Stark had gone through, and was now a ghost of his former "Merchant of Death" persona.

Managing a smile, he limped forward to Pepper, as she put on a brave face. "Your eyes are red," He noticed as Pepper let out a few tears. "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

"Tears of joy," Pepper corrected. "I stood strong, especially with this one here." She pointed out to Zach, who couldn't help but smile for the first time in a while. Tony then grinned as he limped more to his son and put his hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey, kid," He managed. "I'm sorry for ignoring you before the Jericho launch, I'm going to make it up to you, alright?" The two smiled at each other as Zach embraced his father. "Right now, I'm just glad to see my old man is still kicking," Zach chuckled as Tony cracked up and patted his shoulder, before moving on to Happy.

"Good to see you again, Sir," Happy greeted Tony as he held the limo door open for him, as Tony noticed something with the "Forehead of Security's" hair. "You do something to your hair?" Tony asked bluntly, to which Happy smiled back and answered. "Wouldn't dream of it, Sir."

Zach had helped his father into the car, as he and Pepper got in after him, while Happy started the limo and began their drive. "Where to, Mr. Stark?" Happy asked from the front. Tony was about to respond, but Zach had cut both him and Pepper off. "Hospital, Happy."

"No, kid -- to the office," Tony argued and struggled to move in his seat. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are only two things I want to do." He struggled to sit up again. "I want a cheeseburger... And I want to hold a press conference."

Both Zach and Pepper looked back to Tony with a stunned look on their faces, while Tony just awaited his cheeseburger. "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."

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

MALIBU MANSION

The car had arrived at Stark's Mansion, where multiple members of the press and Stark employees were outside, along with Obadiah Stane, who was waiting alongside with a wide smile on his face. "Look at this!" Stane burst, and pulled Tony into his arms. "Tony, we were going to meet at the hospital."

"No, I'm fine," Tony reassured him, but Stane just pushed it off. "Look at you! You had to have a burger, yeah?" Tony laughed and shrugged. "You get me one of those?" Obadiah asked hopefully, peering into the Burger King bag he was holding, but Tony pulled a cheeseburger out and held it. "There's only one left, I need it, Obie."

The five walked into the open galley, where the members of the press were waiting for Tony to speak. Pepper and Zach however were standing in the back, waiting for Tony to start eventually. "Miss Potts? Mr. Danvers-Stark?" A man to her left spoke as she turned to face a man with thin hair in a suit, who spoke in a nice, calm tone, as Zach mentally cheered that someone had finally gotten his last name right.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" He asked her, while she looked to Tony and back to him. "Oh, we're not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now–" "I'm not a reporter." The man clarified but still kept a smile. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"Lots of big words from a short man," Zach muttered, and Pepper gave him a light nudge, and spoke up. "Quite a mouthful." She replied as Coulson gave a light shrug. "I know," He admitted whilst handing her a card. "We're working on it."

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA..." Pepper said truthfully. "We're a separate division with a more specific focus," Coulson stated. "We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

Pepper nodded with appreciation and scoured her mind to think of something. "I'll put something on the books, shall I?" Coulson solemnly nodded. "Thank you." He said calmly, as the press conference began. Stane was preparing to make opening remarks to start, but Tony spoke up ahead of him, feeling a twang of nervousness spark within him.

"Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?" He asked as he plopped down in front of the podium, confusing everyone, pulling out his wrapped cheeseburger from his pocket. "Why don't you just sit down?" He waved them down as the members of the press looked to each other and complied with his request, all getting down to the floor to Tony's level. "That way you can see me, and I can..." he broke off his sentence, but made another in its stead. "A little less formal and..."

Tony took a bite out of the cheeseburger as Rhodey leaned down to Pepper & Zach, wondering why Tony was acting like this. "What's with the love-in?" He asked curiously, to which Pepper just looked back. "Don't look at me, I don't know what he's up to." She answered back, as Zach just waited to see what his father said.

"I never got to say goodbye to my dad... I never got to say goodbye to my father.." Tony began in front of the reporters. "There's questions I would have asked him, I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did." Cameras flashed all around him and Obadiah, but he didn't care. All he felt was shame, that he allowed weapons in the hands of terrorists.

"If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts," Tony went on. "Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels." He paused, collecting himself once more, and spoke up. "I saw... young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend and protect them." Obaidah gave Tony a stern look, and he was praying no one caught the wing of it. "And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

"Mr. Stark!" A reporter called out to him, and Tony called on him to answer his question. "What happened over there?"

"I had my eyes opened," Tony answered as he stood up, walking around to the podium, drawing Zach's attention. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." He stood behind the podium, firm on it and his beliefs. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing divisions of Stark International–" The crowd went crazy in a cacophony of questions as did Tony's closest in the back, while Obadiah in a rush, took to Tony to usher him aside. "-until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will look like."

As Tony left the stage and Obadiah took the spotlight, Zach had mixed feelings of what was to come. His father would no longer be a warmongering profiteer, somewhere out there, Ella would have been pleased, and the best feeling was the silent "fuck you" to Obadiah, who was desperately trying to avoid the solution Tony had just put out.

LATER THAT EVENING

"Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready? SELL, SELL, SELL! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells? Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plans! Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't even make weapons!"

Pepper watched the newscaster on the TV yammer out the consequences now that Stark Industries is no longer making weapons, leading for competition from Hammer Industries (however, they suck). "Pepper!" Tony blared over the intercoms, startling her just a tad. "How big are your hands?"

"What?" Pepper asked.

"How big are your hands?" Tony repeated, confusing her even more, "I don't understand why–" She began but Tony spoke again. "Get down here, I need you." Pepper rose from her chair and made her way down to Tony's workshop, as she input a code to unlock the door, and more confusion rose from her as she found Tony on a chair, leaning back with a circular disk implanted in his chest. "Let's see 'em, give me a hand." Pepper rose them from afar, and Tony leaned up to clearly see them.

"Oh, wow, They are small, very petite, indeed," He said confidently as he held a bright, glowing object in his hand. "I just uh... need your help for a sec. I didn't wanna bother you before, tried calling Zach, he never answered." Tony took a deep breath. "God, I was a dick before I left. But would you be so kind as to help me here?"

"Zach's still getting over things, he should be – Oh my god!" Pepper cried as she saw another object in his chest, a glowing circle within the circular inlay, assuming Tony was being kept alive by this strange contraption. "Is that the thing that's keeping you alive?"

"It was. It is now an antique," Tony answered, as he showed her the different one in his hands. "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump."

"Speed bump, what does that mean?" Pepper asked once again, to which Tony graciously answered. "It's nothing, just a little snag." He reached for the Arc reactor in his chest. "There's an exposed wire under this device..." He groaned as he carefully removed the existing unit from his chest, making Pepper's face squeeze from unconformity. "And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short. It's fine." He handed the device to Pepper, who took it like it was foul-smelling trash.

"What do you want me to do?" Pepper quickly asked, hoping this will be over soon, placing the reactor down and turning back. "That is irrelevant," Tony said, giving her the other one. "I want you to reach in," he carefully instructed her. "And you're just gonna gently life the wire out."

"Is it safe?" Pepper cautiously asked as she looked inside the cylinder in Tony's chest. "Yeah, it should be fine," Tony pushed. "It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes "beeeep."."

"What do you mean Operation?"

"It's just a gam, nevermind. Just gently lift the wire."

After moments of commotion and disagreeing, along with Tony nearly going into cardiac arrest, Pepper finally installed the new arc reactor safely inside Tony's chest. He laughed as Pepper looked at her hands, now covered in inorganic plasmic discharge. "Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again," She scolded him as he removed the monitors from his body, and stood up. "What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper held the old Arc Reactor in her hands, as Tony organized everything again.

"That?" He asked. "Destroy it." He tapped on his new Arc Reactor. "Incinerate it."

"You don't want to keep it?" Pepper asked again, to which Stark chuckled. "Pepper, I've been called many things. "Nostalgic" is not one of them."

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts." Stark answered again, but then looked back at her, whilst shooing his robot, DUMI-E. "Is the kid alright? I didn't even bother to check on him, I was so focused on Jericho..." He said, putting his hand to his head. "God, I feel like the world's worst father."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, he's still your son," Pepper calmly answered. "You're back, so you get plenty of time with him. He's going to need some guidance though." She added with a deep breath. "Even though you're not blood-related, he's doing a lot of what you would do."

Tony squinted his eyes and looked back to his faithful assistant. "How do you mean?" He asked, as Pepper's eyes piqued with sarcasm. "He's bringing home a lot of girls, Tony." She motioned to him. "And recently, he's been having a lot of those with that one girl he used to date."

Tony looked at her in surprise and rubbed his chin. "Damn... he better be have protection..." He mubbled to himself. "I don't wanna have a small child running around, calling me Grandpa just yet."

"Tony!"

"Right! I'll talk to him when I see him first thing."

MALIBU MANSION -- 11:39 P.M.

Zach had returned home later that night, after yet another hook-up with Athena, almost buzzed but still having the effects of a hangover. Fortunately, he was still able to walk normally, and sooner or later, the effects would be gone. But he wanted it to go away, so he quietly stumbled into his home, and went to the kitchen, sitting at the island and held his head in his hands.

He still wasn't over the feeling of Ella leaving, even when things were getting better. He wished he could tell someone how he felt, but he couldn't. He figured Pepper would lecture him on and on, and he couldn't build up the guts to tell his father. And his real mother was god-knows-where in space. He still couldn't understand why Ella left, things were going so great. Or did she find out about the ring, and wasn't ready just yet?

Suddenly, a container of Aspirin was slammed on the table, along with a cup of hot coffee near him, and he received a slight tap to the head. "Ow..." Zach whined. "What was that for?"

"This lifestyle isn't good for you, Zachy," A voice spoke back to him, Zach assuming it was Pepper . "It's really unhealthy, gonna take a toll for your liver sometime later in your life."

"Please..." Zach sassed as he popped an Aspirin in his mouth and took with his coffee. "I didn't drink that much..."

"Sure, you did." The voice answered with sarcasm. "I don't know why you're doing this, but it has to stop."

Zach's eyes squinted for a minute, and he lifted his head from the table. "Pepper already knows what I'm going through..." He whispered softly, only to jerk his head up and find a familiar face from his days back at M.I.T. A young woman in causal clothes, with her arms crossed and staring back sternly at him. "Oh... I fucked up." Zach whispered and put his head back down. "Hi, Mimi."

(Ana de Armas as Amara Rosas)

The person in front of him was Amara Rosas, who was his roommate at M.I.T. She was two to three years older than him, and was always a big sister to him. Amara loved that he thought about her as a sister, and treated him like her little brother. And not to mention, she was very protective of him, just like an older sister and had a habit of swearing in Spanish. "Don't you "Mimi" me, Zachary!" Amara scolded him. "You need to sober up, hombre joven! We can talk more when you aren't drunk!"

Moments later, Zach procured a raging headache with Amara sitting next to him, rubbing his back. "Okay, I feel slightly less buzzed," Zach spoke up. "But what are you doing in California, Mimi?" Amara sighed and looked back to him. "It's simple, really," She responded to him sweetly with a smile. "I moved here, so my son could have a good future."

"Son?" Zach asked himself and turned to her. "You're a mom?" Amara nodded again and pulled out her phone, showing him a picture of her and an infant, coddling him in her arms. "His name is Jayden, and I love him with all my heart." She sighed admirably. "Just wish his dad, my fiancé was able to see him." Zach looked back at her, as a single tear dropped out of her eye, and he wiped it off her face. Amara took his hand in hers and clutched it, rubbing it with her thumbs. "He died before Jayden was born, he was serving in Iraq."

"But I'm here now, and fortunately for me, a friend of his, James Rhodes," Amara attempted to smile. "Was able to get me a job here."

"Really?" Zach asked, grateful he was going to see her more. "Where?" Amara smirked and punched him lightly. "Right here, pequeñín." She chuckled. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you a lot more." 

Zach laughed hysterically, while she kept a straight face. Upon notice of the gesture, Zach's face turned to seriousness. "Wait, really? You're going to be my babysitter..."

"Not like that, Rhodey said it would be how Pepper is to your dad," Amara explained. "But enough, what you need is rest. You need it, little one, come on."

"Fine..." Zach whined as Amara got up with a smile and pecked his head. "But I do wanna meet your son tomorrow!"

"Oh, of course you will," Amara teased. "I told Jayden lots of stories about his uncle Zachy!" Zach smiled as if it were the first time again, and wrapped Amara in his arms, as she chuckled and held on to him. "I missed you," Zach muttered. "We have so much to talk about, sis." Amara smiled again and held on tighter. "We can talk tomorrow, little one. And I missed you too."

"It's good to see you again."