Chapter Text
Tony couldn’t believe what was happening, well, no, actually he totally believed it, he expected as much but still, it was chaos everywhere. He was worried about Rhodey and Pepper and all the people who were there for the expo. He thought taking the fight outside would help, not thinking that the people he was trying to save would also go outside in their attempt to save themselves.
He was flying after Rhodey, trying to catch up to him when he looked down and saw a small figure, wearing an Iron Man helmet about to be blasted by one of the suits. If it weren’t for the fact that the child was about to die, it would’ve been cute because the kid was pointing his hand as Tony usually did when he was about to attack. Without thinking twice about it, he came down, stood behind the kid, and blasted the think adding a “nice work kid” before taking off again.
Time passed, not actually counting as it seemed that the suits just kept coming when two things happened at once.
He heard it before he saw, the screeching cry of a child, and a few meters away, he saw Pepper and Happy, running from the enemy. Without thinking twice he came back down again to stand next to the kid who was crying as if the end of the world had just happened, little did he know that for the kid, it did. Not sensing immediate danger, well, more immediate than being attacked by his own creation, he retrieved the mask to ask the kid what was going on, why wasn’t he running.
“My uncle” – the kid cried, “he’s trapped”. Following his stare, he saw what the kid meant. Under one of the destroyed suits was a man, completely crushed under the weight. Running to it and taking the dead weight off, Tony realized upon seeing the horrible state of the man, that he was no longer alive. Turning back to the kid, he tried to come up with a way of delivering the news that his uncle was no longer with them when he saw a repulsor pointed at the kid, ready to charge. Without thinking twice, he launched for the kid, grabbed, and yelled at Happy who was a few meters away, and threw the kid at him and as surprised as he was that he actually threw a child into the air he was that Happy caught him without so much of a heads up. For all the years to come for Happy, he would always talk about how incredibly awesome that catch was and how incredibly stupid Tony was for doing it but more importantly, it was the first time of many that Happy would be there to catch him, one way or another. Tony would always deny it and assure that that was his plan all along.
It took less than a minute from the moment he spotted the kid to Happy catching him to him yelling at his friend to get the kid and his fiancé to a safe place.
A few hours later…..
Tony finally arrived home, wishing for nothing else than to shower and to see Pepper and hopefully, sleep for at least 3 days.
Upon entering his penthouse from the platform on the balcony, he realized that would not be a possibility. Without him knowing it, the picture in front of his eyes meant his life was changed forever.
The image before his eyes could pass as normal for any outsider; Happy sitting on one of the couches, coffee mug in one hand, cellphone on the other, Pepper on the other couch, tablet in hand, and talking on the phone while holding it with her shoulder because her other hand was busy holding a child.