Chapter 3

Tony was a zombie as he walked toward his car. For the first in his life, the great Anthony Edward Stark found it difficult to process all that had happened. He didn't know if it was because of the exhaustion or because of the tsunami of emotions. He was experiencing a different kind of pain, a new kind. When he had come here, he hadn't expected anything, but he hadn't imagined seeing someone there to hold her and take her away from him. Pepper's mum was right; he had let her down, and was the only one responsible for this situation! What could she do? She couldn't wait for him all her life, especially considering the manner of her dismissal. She deserved to be happy even if it was without him and if it was hurting him like hell.

"Hey!" His thoughts were cut off by a small voice to his right. He turned his head and spotted Pepper's son leaning on the door-frame of the barn. "Why are you crying?" He asked.

Tony eventually cracked a smile to the kid "Hey there. I'm not crying, I'm just tired" He put back his sunglasses on his nose, "and the sun is really bright here."

"If you say so" Dane replied doubtfully, scanning Tony from head to toe.

Tony took a better look the boy. He was quite young but seemed mature for his age. He was wearing a grey striped tee shirt under blue jean overalls. He had dark hair, and those wonderful blue eyes. Tony's heart broke again as they reminded him that it was Pepper's son, the son she had with another man. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Ok Kiddo, I have to go, but it was nice to meet you." He said continuing on his way to the car.

"Wait!" He called after him, "You're Iron man, aren't you?"

Tony stopped and looked back at the boy "Yes, I am Iron Man," he grinned and added "Do you want an autograph or something?"

"No, thanks," Dane answered abruptly, yet politely. Tony was surprised by his answer; it was the first time that he heard a little boy refusing something from Iron Man. "It's not that I don't like you, I mean, in fact, I like a lot of things about Iron Man and his technology and I wonder how the arc reactor works and everything but mummy doesn't like you at all and she gets upset or even cries sometimes when I talk about Iron man. So, I have to hate you." The boy explained.

If Tony was in a less emotionally compromised state, he would probably have been impressed by the intelligence of this little boy, talking about arc reactor technology and not about 'superpowers' as most children did. But, he wasn't in his normal state of mind - he only heard the last part. Pepper was crying because of him… "What do you mean?" He asked in disbelief.

"I love mum so much, and if she's crying because of you, you've gotta be a bad guy!" stated the boy.

"I guess that's true." answered Tony. Dane was right, he was a bad guy! He needed to get out of her life, and stay out.

"What did you do to her?" Dane asked him.

"Don't worry about that kiddo. I'm leaving and never coming back. You and your mom don't ever have to see me again." He told him.

"So why did you came here in the first place?" Dane asked.

Damn, Pepper had passed down her logic to her son. She had always found the flaw in Tony's own. "I don't really know…" he said.

"Did you come to apologize?" asked the little boy.

As sad as Tony was, this question made him smile. "Yeah, probably, but it is too late; I should have come earlier." Tony stated sadly.

"How do you know? You didn't talk to mummy," Tony closed his eyes; it was too complicated to explain to this little guy "I'm sad that mummy doesn't like you because if she did, I could ask you for help," Dane said, visibly upset, "I'm sure that the creator of Iron Man could solve my problem." He added.

Tony was intrigued. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm working on the old motorcycle that I found here - grandma told me one day that it belonged to my grandfather," The little boy explained. "Mummy didn't like it at first, but she eventually let me do it if I promised to be careful," Tony was listening Dane, amazed "Come on, I'll show you!" Dane said as he grabbed Tony's hand and pulled him inside the barn "That's my workshop," The little boy said, proudly showing the space with his hand.

Tony cracked a smile at the name of the Kid's space. Workshop… He removed his sunglasses and took a look inside the barn. It didn't look like his own workshop, but nevertheless, it looked perfect. He quickly spotted the bike in the background; it was an old rusty Indian 440. He followed Dane next to a table where the engine was dismantled, in the midst of screwdriver and other tools. "Ok, here we are," began Dane "You see that connecting rod?" he asked, pointing to the item with his finger. Tony nodded. "Well, I replaced it with this one, but the thing is that it doesn't give proper rotating movement to the piston. So I was thinking…" The boy stopped as he saw Tony with a far-away look in his eyes, not really listening. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Tony was frozen; this was too hard for him. He couldn't speak and do thing with Pepper's son as if everything was normal. He didn't have the right to do that. "I'm sorry kid, I can't help you." Sadness appeared on Dane face. "I mean, I'm not supposed to be here, I'm not sure your mother, your grandmother or even your father will be happy if they find me here."

"But mummy's at work, grandma's in the kitchen cooking, and I don't have a dad. So it's ok, you can help me. It won't take long." Dane argued, almost begging.

"You don't have a dad?" Tony repeated in disbelief.

"No, I don't," confirmed the little boy.

"Everyone has a father, kiddo." Tony stated.

"I have a father, I don't have a dad. He left us." Dane said sadly.

Tony felt a flare of something like anger. Why would this guy leave Pepper? She was a beautiful, smart, and astonishing woman; no one could let her down like that! He knew he had done so, but that had been different - it had been for her safety! And there hadn't been a child involved! The boy was so smart, so sweet, so special. "Why?" he asked.

"I don't know - he left before I was born, and when I asked mummy, she cried every time, so I stopped. I don't like to see her crying." Dane explained calmly.

"Son of a ***!" Tony thought. This guy was a weak coward to leave Pepper when she was pregnant. He understood Dane; he didn't like the idea that this guy had made Pepper cry. And if he knew who this bastard was, he would show him what he deserved! Anger was now racing through his body. Pepper was so damned worthy. For what good reason could he have left her?! There wasn't any reason in the whole world to let her down! No, no one! He realized that now! And it was not only about Pepper but also about this little man - how could you not love him? He was so outlandish, maybe no more than 4 years old and yet already so smart… and… and… and… "No…" was the first word that appeared in his head! "Impossible" was the second one. Then, his eyes locked in Dane's, and time stopped as everything seemed to click in his mind. He froze. His heart stopped beating, his eyes stayed widely opened, his mouth gasped, his muscles completely stiff, and his hand clammy; he didn't breath anymore, his lungs started to burn… It seemed like the ground gave way under his feet.

"Tony?" Dane's worried voice woke him from his drowsiness.

He blinked and stared again at the little black haired man. He opened his mouth, but words got stuck in his throat. After a while, he whispered: "How… How old are you?"

"4 and a half" He said proudly "I'm little short for my age, I know, but mummy say that I'll be big, strong and handsome when I'm older." He said smiling.

Tony's heart jumped through his chest. He was called a genius, and yet it had taken him this long to figure it out! Everything was in front of him since the beginning and he hadn't seen it! He took so long to figure out what was obvious. He couldn't believe it! He was so selfish! It was so him! He had a son, and he didn't even know! He had let Pepper down when she was pregnant, he had done to her the worst thing that you could do to someone, and in this second, in this barn, he hated himself so much that it hurt. His knees went weak - he was almost shivering.

"Hey Tony, Are you alright? Dane asked, worried, Tony looked at him. "You look sick," he added "maybe I should call grandma,"

Tony fell on his knee, overwhelmed. "No, it's ok, I'll be ok. Don't worry… euh … what's your name again?"

The boy grinned "My name is Dane. Dane Anthony Potts."

If he needed more proof, he just got it. "Dane," Tony repeated slowly.

"Yes," Dane said scanning Tony. "You definitely look sick; I'll go to call grandma." Dane said starting to move.

Tony grabbed him. "No, it is ok, I'll be ok Dane, don't worry." Tony cracked a smile and added "So, what's wrong with this piston - show me."

"Are you sure?" Dane exclaimed, excited.

"I've never been so sure of anything else, in my life." Tony answered, smiling at Dane.