A few minutes after.
We rejoin our wayward Father of two breaking into a garage of a random home which he did by simply walking towards the door and breaking the handle.
Tony saw a couch, came out of his armor and crashed on it, and sighed.
He was about to go into deep thought when a potato hit his head.
"That is not a real weapon you know?" said Tony to the kid that attacked him.
"It is! if my tests were anything to go by. I broke the neighbor's window with it!" said the kid.
"Yeah, whatev.."
"IS THAT IRON MAN?" Interrupted the kid as he saw the armor sitting next to him.
"Technically, I am Iron Man" muttered Tony.
"Well technically you are MIA," said the kid giving Tony a newspaper that he read.
"So whos home?"
"Mom already left for the dinner, Dad's on night duty."
"Hm...Here what I need, a set of warm clothes, A laptop, and a cellphone"
"I can and but for a price," said the kid after some time.
"What do you want?"
"I want the autographs of every single avenger even Hulks"
"Jake!?" came the voice of a woman.
"Shit! Mom's back! hide!" said Jake as he ran out of the garage and Tony simply raised an eyebrow but made no effort to hide.
Hushed voice.
More Hushed voices.
Panicked Hushed voices.
Hushed Voices.
"Freeze!" said the red-haired woman who came into the garage holding a Gun.
"I mean no harm," said Tony raising his hand in surrender.
"What are you doing here Mr.Stark?" Said the woman lowering the gun but she still had her finger on the trigger.
"I crash-landed a mile out of here, after escaping the terrorists that bombed my home. Sorry for breaking in I didn't see the lights on and my suit is out of power," answered Tony honestly.
"Aren't you a bit too far from your house?" said the Women
"My A. I malfunctioned" said Tony lowering his hands.
The woman sighed and was silent for a few moments and sighed.
"You probably don't want the cops to know, do you?"
"Thanks"
"Don't mention it. Feel free to use the garage and do you need anything?"
"A laptop, a cellphone, a change of clothes and, food, if it isn't too much?" asked Tony.
"I'll have Jake give them to you I need to return to the Dinner. I hope you don't mind if my Husband asks you a few questions or an autograph" said the woman and just left.
"That went...well," said Tony sounding a little confused.
A FEW MINUTES LATER.
Jake came to the garage holding a basket that had everything he asked for including a sandwich and a note that insisted on him having dinner with the family.
"What's the name of your parents kid?"
"Jessy and James. You might not know this but you guys saved us in new york."
"You don't sound so grateful tho?"
"Well we have had to keep moving almost every 2~3 months and sometimes Ninjas equipped with futuristic weapons would show up. So yeah Mom and Dad are not the trusting type."
"..."
"What?"
"I am not getting out of this am I?"
"I don't quite follow?"
"It was a rhetorical question, don't worry about it. Guess I will have to talk to your father about it, huh"
"Probably," said Jake
"What are you going to now?" asked Jake.
"Find my family" replied Tony.
An hour later.
"Welcome back J," said Tony looking at the laptop screen.
"It is good to be back, sir."
"Great now boot the suit up!"
"I am afraid I can't do that, sir"
"Why?"
"I am do not have the necessary protocols to operate it. I am building them as we speak"
"How was I able to move in it then? and How were we able to fly?" asked Tony sounding curious.
"From what I can tell the suit itself has a pre-built protocol to respond to the wearer's muscle movements. It is called 'Manual mode'. I believe the suit will be stuck in that mode until I finish building and implementing the necessary protocols." Said Jarvis.
"Okay, where is Pepper? Aron said she has 'Jigsaw' with her"
"I found 'Jigsaw' stationed above LAX with Miss Potts nowhere in sight," said Jarvis.
Tony cursed.
"How long before you can completely operate the suit J?"
"I need 13 hours to initiate the basic functions of the suit and 5 more to have complete control over it. The suit should be able to recharge itself completely in the meantime, if not used"
"Well hurry up with the modules" Tony nearly yelled.
"Rushing things might put them in more danger, Mr.Stark," said a voice startling Tony.
Tony turned to see an Asian man in his 30's with hair that was died blue.
"Who are you?"
"I am the man of the House. You can call me James" said the man extending his hand to Tony.
"Tony Stark you can call me Tony. Thanks for lending me your garage. I would have thanked your wife but..." said Tony shaking his hand.
"Yeah, She is more paranoid than I am but I understand where she comes from," said James with a smile.
"Come join us for dinner Tony, My wife makes killer meatballs," Said James inviting him.
"Sure," said Tony.
A FEW MINUTES LATER.
"You full buddy?" asked James to Jake.
"I am but I want to see the Armor!" Said Jake protesting and yawning.
"You can see it after your nap. It will still be here come on let me tuck you in" said Jessy as she carried a protesting and sleepy Jake to his room.
There was an awkward pause between the two men as both of them weren't sure what to say.
"Children are the most precious things a parent or a person can ever receive, especially to a man who had nothing," said James breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Said Tony agreeing with the statement which caused him to raise an eyebrow but he said nothing.
"I am grateful to you Tony, you saved them in New York which lead them to me and start something I did not know I needed," said James bowing toward Tony who was just sitting there awkwardly not knowing what to do.
"Um... Thank you?"
James shook his head.
"We just meet but I am going to take a gamble here. Ho.."
"Wait, wait, wait!" said Tony cutting him off. Which confused James.
"I know you have your problems but I am in the middle of my own. I am not sure I can help you" said Tony.
"Well, that's unfortunate" sighed James.
"Guys, you might want to see this?" Said, Jessy. From the door of the kitchen.
The two men looked at each other and went to the hall where the T.V showed Tony's destroyed villa with the Mandarin taking credit for it and threatening the president.
"Looks like our enemies are the same, Tony. Are you willing to at least listen to what I have to say now?" asked James after the end of the broadcast.
"Sure," said Tony after staring at the Man for a few moments.
"Well let's take a seat this is going to take some time," said James after sharing a look with his wife.
"What do you know about the Ten-rings?" Asked James after the three of them had made themselves comfortable.
"They are a terrorist organization from the middle-east that is currently treating the US as their playground now. They also love me enough to snatch my house from me." summarised Tony.
"You are close but not quite right," said James.
Tony just looked at him to elaborate.
"The Ten Rings is an organization created by a Chinese emperor around 4000 years ago to get the support of a man called the 'Mandarin'. Yes, that man is still alive and looks like a 40-year-old but that's not the point. He has absolute control in the organization while he has spies all over the world he is based in China and no longer cares about what happens to the world. The ones in the middle-east the ones that kidnapped you and the ones you destroyed were off-shoots created by some crazy followers of his while the one in the US is a fake created by the guy on T.V". Said James letting Tony digest everything that was just dumped in him.
"That doesn't shock me as much as it should. I wonder why?" Tony mused out loud.
"So, what does this immortal guy want with me?"
"Nothing, really. He was kinda annoyed when you stopped the weapons division but didn't care about it but had spies looking into you but stopped that when you saved his son in New York from a piece of rubble that would have crushed him. Now he simply doesn't care about you. He wants the fake Mandarin dead."
"How do you know all this?"
"I was tasked with protecting his son and keeping an eye on him and I lost him... once so now he wants my head. So if I can deliver the fake Mandarin..." said James.
"He might let you go" finished Tony with a sigh.
James just nodded.
"Let's do this. What can you do?" asked Tony to which James smiled.