Chapter Text
The Iron Man takes flight.
Late in the night, Tony Stark flies over the devastation left by the invading alien army. His ex, Pepper, had repeatedly told him that this fascination with the destruction was an unhealthy obsession. Per usual, he tuned her out. Unusually, this time she filed for divorce. Strangely enough, she wants to keep being CEO on the grounds that their working relationship can’t be made any worse by a divorce and she wouldn’t wish the job on anyone else. Tony thinks that she just really enjoys being a CEO. She’s damn good at it.
Iron man swoops down the street, taking a closer look at the damage. People are going to be busy for years fixing everything. Then he hears a sound. “Jarvis, identify sound.”
“It most closely matches crying baby, sir. Next closest match is for squeaking door hinge.”
“Find me that baby, Jarvis.”
“Switching vision to infrared now, sir.” It takes him only five minutes to find the small heat signature, but it feels like forever. He swoops down beside a car seat, left in the middle of the street. There is a letter placed over the baby, who is strapped to the seat.
“Jarvis, how old is this little guy?”
Jarvis whirs silently. “I have no information on how to identify babies.”
Tony shakes his head at the oversight, and his nano-tech gauntlet peels back allowing him to pick up the folded letter. He flicks it open and reads it.
If you are reading this, then you have found my child. If she still lives, she is yours to do with as you wish. Perhaps it is cowardly to leave this decision up to fate, but I cannot keep her. I should probably have smothered her in her cradle, but I am too soft-hearted. The one thing I will tell you is her name, Sonia. Do not try to find me.
Tony peers into the car seat and notices the child looks cold. He can’t hold a child wearing the suit, and the night is cold. He tucks the letter under the little girl and wraps the blanket around her as best as he can. Then he picks up the car seat, admiring the convenient carry handle, and flies for the tower, keeping his altitude low. Not knowing much about babies, he doesn’t realize that the child should have been dead of exposure hours ago. The night is very cold.