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"Fri, run the program" once a year on this day Tony still did. Sitting in the empty lounge room of Avengers tower databases flashed on the screen as FRIDAY sifted through the global internet and he poured himself another drink. even if he told pepper he didn't quite a few times- but some part of him had to. Luca was dead in his head. he went to therapy. they had a funeral. he accepted it.
But today he had to. At this point it was a tradition. "Yes sir, one match". The man sighed and ran his hand over his face. He couldn't hope. Not anymore. It was too cruel. "Show him." Photos popped up on the screen of a boring looking white boy, but something burned in Tony's chest. Something in him could see his own facial features reflected back through the screen. not a lot, he didn't look much like tony, not enough where anyone would notice- but just enough that tony would. He stared at his face often in a narcissistic way mostly because he was famous and it was kind of unavoidable.
the worst part was the eyes. his mother's brown eyes stared back at him from this random child's awkward yearbook photo. tony took a deep breath and repeated to his heart, which had speed up in a way that jolted the arc reactor, that he couldn't hope.
"what's the- DNA? facial recognition?" "Neither. oddly enough this child has no DNA in any known databases." Tony's breath caught again. somebody- somebody didn't want this kids DNA public. possibly. but it was enough of a maybe to get him to stand up in his empty lab, the sun rising over the new day- the day Luca had gone missing, 9 years ago. "Then what was the hit?" he asked FRIDAY, confused.
"He reportedly was forced to take a state mandated IQ test about a month ago as his school had found that he was in academic terms, a genius. which would make him, without your involvement-" "extremely rare. one in, what three thousand?" "1 in 2,326, sir. the top 0.043% of the population. which isn't incredibly rare but his age and physical description match Lucas, which is why I added him to the program."
tony removed his shaking hand from over his mouth as he stared at the sunrise. this was enough, enough for him to piss off pepper, enough for him to start his futile crusade again. enough for him to walk with numb legs to the iron man suit. "Sir, perhaps you should go by car." "I know i need to stop FRI, but I have to." he said out loud, reassuring himself of the probable mistake he was about to make. but I'm not hoping. I'm just checking. "Yes, I know sir, but he lives in Brooklyn not 40 minutes away. a car would be.... less conspicuous, boss." tony smiled. Friday was on his side. "Facial wise, what do you think FRI?" he stepped into the elevator "I think he has your mothers' eyes, possibly. oh, and most teenage boys get their growth spurts at 13, making his shortness attributable to you, sir." tony huffed a laugh as he moved to the parking garage to his red Audi.
he stepped in and asked her "alright. tell me everything we can find about this kid. within the 40-minute timeframe though i doubt we'll have that much." "Yes, boss. since age six he's been raised by his aunt in law and her husband, the uncle passing three years ago. he was mugged and shot in an alley seemingly in a random act. the police never found any useful suspects and the case was dropped." the gears were already turning in Tony's brain. did the shooter know about the kid? what are the chances of it being random? "This is starting to feel like an old detective thriller. what happened to his supposed parents- i mean parents. just parents." it felt like swallowing a dry pill down to say outload. this wasn't his kid. he needed to stop. pull over the car. not supposed. not yet. not hoping. "Plane crash, they were scientists who worked for SHEILD. any other information regarding them is restricted." his pulse speed up again. like a photograph in a frame covered in dirt he was holding in his hands, knowing once he whipped the rest of the grime away, he'd see a picture he didn't want to. there was something so clearly hiding here and tony hoped in his heart it was what he wanted to find. even though he promised he wouldn't.
"Then hack it, FRI." "That's the odd thing, boss. it's that I can't." fire burned in his gut. now he needed to get Natasha involved- and if he was a sane person a lawyer. offer the parkers money for the DNA. but a part of him turned off the road and parked 20 minutes from his destination. something was off, here. and whether it was about Luca or not he could be putting this random child in harm's way- if his uncle's death wasn't an accident. if there was something in those SHEILD files. if iron man showing up at his door would cause him trouble- aside from the usual kind.
tony walked to the subway, glad he wore his repulsor watch at all times now. he had his sunglasses on, stood in the middle aisle and kept his head down, hoping most people would just assume he was one of those lame finance dudes who- unsuccessfully, because they weren't him- tried to look like tony stark. he smiled at the thought of such an easy disguise. it was pretty ballsey, but he was known for that anyways. the subway was luckily still pretty empty. it was before anyone would leave for work or school- leaving only a few outliers on here so early.
he got off at the destination FRI had put on his GPS and a security guard asked him as he left for the stairs "Hey, man. are you Tony Stark?" fetching some arrogance from his teenage self who rode the subway he replied, "Don't worry about it." and kept walking. he wondered how long it's been since he ever tried denying his identity in public to a random, normal person. probably as long ago as the last time he had ride on the subway- decades.
climbing the stairs next to people who smelled and breathed gross smells too loudly and shouted into their phones next to his ear made him realize just how removed from society he has been since Luca's disappearance. back then he partied and did drugs and wasn't any less infamous than he is famous now, but some part of him was normal. some part of that horrible tony stark could relate to this. now he was iron man, and he couldn't relate to anything. it ached deep in his bones when they went to the farmhouse and saw Clint's family. when Steve relayed how out of time he was and Tony could relate to that more than any normal life, to any person on the planet. he should've told Steve, as they shared that bed in that house.
maybe he should call him. he'd been putting it off since Ultron. he knew Steve still blamed him. he still blamed himself. he sighed, waiting for traffic to stop to cross. when was the last time he really had to wait? not just wait, but didn't have the option not to or get hit by a car? months ago? years?
he trudged up streets filled with garbage and arguing people in beat up cars to a townhouse converted to an apartment complex- the kind that didn't bother locking the front door and he guessed didn't have cameras either. as he walked up the stairs to the fifth floor, he contemplated what child him would've turned out like raised here. after his parents died and he stayed in the city for the anonymity the sheer population provided he liked to pretend he really was a New Yorker. that the subways and dingy underground parties where his home. but he knew he was a prep school kid and this was just another mask he wore for fun. like when he pretended to be a LA celebrity. maybe the realest time in his life was when he was a world traveling drunken philanthropist right after Luca was born. Japan in the morning, Chile in the night. the rich parties with the well-paid hookers who were clean. the politicians and other outgrown rich kids- they were all middle aged by then, weren't they? who were still mentally 20 like he was. they never stood a chance. he almost laughed at the thought of it. the man had probably seen the skyline of every notable city in the world. the ballroom of every palace. and now he was standing in a dingy Brooklyn apartment, knocking on a paper-thin door, hoping for some impossible reality to be true.
after he knocked his stomach sunk. this wasn't real. it couldn't be. and it was stupid that he'd walked here- really stupid. what the hell was he doing? a middle-aged lady opened the door with a smile. he was shocked out of his thoughts by how beautiful this random lady was.