Chapter Text
Tony Stark was always known as the smart kid that partied hard and seemed to get by life with little work.
They said he was hooked up on drugs and would have sex with anything that breathed. They said that most of his blood was probably alchohol. They said that he'd never be as good as Howard.
All his life the two have been compared. Howard being this almighty God and Tony the other one people know only because of his last name. Stark.
Sometimes Tony wondered if he was really a Stark. He didnt have the personality of a business owner, or the made of iron attitude Howard wanted him to hold.
He learned though.
Tony remembers each time Howard drilled that thought into his head like teaching a dog not to pee on the floor.
It would haunt him to his grave
On a certain occasion Tony was just 4 years old and he had just finished making a fully functional circuit board and wanted to show it to Howard.
Not dad nor father, always Howard.
All he wanted for Howard to be proud.
What ended up happening was Howard going on a drunken spree and bashing Tony in the head while saying he'd never be as good as Captain America.
Tony tried though
He really did
He looked up to America's golden child when he was younger.
Oh how he wished Howard would praise him like that.
He then realized heroes were childish and if he wanted saving hed just do it himself.
Over the years Tony noticed something in him was flawed.
He couldn't seem to socialize or make friends.
He always came off as flirty and wanting to get into someone's pants.
That's probably why he got known as playboy.
He didnt entirely object to the title, he needed a public persona
So he rolled with the claims not really caring what the critics thought.
It all started to backfire though when everyone he knew started looking down on him. They called him a whore, a slut, a good for nothing tramp, and the one that stung most, a disgrace to Howard's legacy.
Tony was sure why it stung so bad
But it just made his emotions boil
He shut himself off from the world.
He didnt need people
So he made robots
Friends that would be around till you were dead
Friends that would never leave nor judge you
Friends that would see who you really were
He loved his friends.
They were the best decision of his life.
His first friend was Dummy, he wasnt that smartest in the bunch but he still loved him
Next was Butterfingers and You, twins, they were his little sunflowers. Always ready to learn.
His third, and most successful was J.A.R.V.I.S, or J.
Jarvis was his universe. He was to good for this world, way beyond than anything he's ever made.
Jarvis made him see hope.
Jarvis was the light in his path, a symbol for the good to come eventually.
That was the day his friends upgraded to family
Him, Dummy, Butterfingers, You, and J, were all one big happy family.
The newest addition to their family was Colonel James Rhodes.
Tony didnt know why or how this man walked into his life but he was glad that he did.
Rhodey was there when Tony learned his parents died and hed have to be in charge of Stark Industries.
Rhodey was there when Tony would have 3am break downs.
Rhodey was always there and he was grateful for it.
Everything seemed to crash when he took charge though.
Business was a lot harder than he initially thought.
There was always so many people wanting his attention at all times, so many people wanting his opinion, so many people wanting new weapons, just so many people.
He didnt know how to handle it
So his playboy mask was back up and he then fell into an sea endless of alchohol
His trip to Afghanistan broke him.
He was captured and tortured for 3 months.
The waterboarding, branding, cutting, strangling, stabbing, burning, electrocuting, and more really did something to a man
Tony wandered why he wasnt dead
During those 3 months though he met a man named Yinsen.
Yinsen was his guardian angel. Yinsen fueled his diminished flame.
Yinsen foolishly died for him.
Him of all people
Him, a no good murderer.
Why?
Why did for someone with all this blood on his hands?
But he wouldnt let this affect him
Stark men are made of iron after all.
That's where Tony decided the name for the suit him and yinsen built that day.
Was called ironman.
Tony left with two things that day, the Arc reactor, a reminder of Yinsen, and a new look on life, that he would not care for anyone other than himself.
He was iron man, and iron he would remain.
When he got back he decided he would no longer make weapons.
As he expected everyone called him crazy but that was okay.
He was a bit crazy anyways.
Obidiah was only one person who vocally reacted to this.
Obie was always a friend. He was around even when Howard was alive
Obie was welcomed with opened arms to Tony.
Until the day he decided to rip out his reactor and hurt Pepper.
The day Obidiah left with his heart he laughed.
It wasn't funny at all but he still laughed
He should of expected this from the person he trust the most. A brutal backstab.
A bit of his heart was gone but so was his sanity.
After that Tony closed himself off some more, then he learned he was dying.
Apparently from palladium poisoning.
Tony couldn't find himself to care though. Infact he welcomed death.
He's cheated it so many times already he probably owed it.
But before he could Tony met S.H.E.L.D.
The leader, Nick Fury, had saved him
Why? He didnt know, it was something to do with him being ironman
He had the girl hed recently known as Natalie Rushman stab hom in the neck with a cure.
That was just another cut to him. Another person hes tried to trust runaway with another slice of his heart.
Furry also wanted him to be a part of the avengers team.
Though it apparently wasn't him that was invited only ironman.
This confused Tony, he was ironman though? He was the one controlling the suit without him ironman wouldnt exist.
But instead he just played it off as he always did, a cocky smirk and a choked snarky renark.
The teams first battle was...interesting.
He could tell right off the bat that nobody liked him.
Everytime hed say something hed receive these icy glares and rolled eyes.
It didnt affect him
Stark men are made of iron.
The only hard time his mask had was when Captain decided to say
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that away what are you"
The words echoed in his mind.
He was right
Without this armor Tony was nothing
Just a man striving to outdo Howard's legacy.
He was nothing.
Trying to make his name into something just proved to be a disaster
But he wouldnt show it.
Stark men are made of iron
And that was the one thing the world was going to know him as was
Ironman.