Chapter Text
All Tony wanted was to take his son to the park for ice cream. It had been a hard week for both. The media was getting annoying again, nosy as ever. He finally escaped his meetings. Granted, Pepper would kill him, but seeing his son’s smile covered in ice cream made it worth it.
Tony never thought he’d be a father, yet here he sat with his three-year-old, staring at melted ice cream. This was a sight he never expected. A drunken night after a party led to Andy being dropped off with him when the mother was deemed too irresponsible. Tony was shocked they gave him the kid, given his track record. Luckily, Pepper helped him through those first months. Without her and F.R.I.D.A.Y, Andy might not have survived in the tower.
Tony was worried that the park would have been crazy busy today given the fact it was a Saturday in the summer, yet it wasn’t too bad. There were still a lot of people here with their kids. Luckily, the bracelet around Andy’s wrist ensured he wouldn’t be lost that easily. It held a small tracker, though to an untrained eye it was a simple bracelet with a popular kid show character on it. Andy was finishing his ice cream, and his hands were clearly sticky. Kids get sticky so often, often enough that Pepper started making him carry a small bag whenever he took Andy anywhere out of the tower.
Taking the empty cup from Andy, Tony tossed it into a nearby trash can and took his son’s hands. “Let’s get you cleaned up before you go play.” Tony grabbed a wet wipe and started to wipe off his kid's hands and face.
Andy laughed as Tony wiped off his face. The kid would laugh at anything. It didn’t even matter if it was funny or not. It was a heartwarming sight. No one could get mad at the little face in front of him. As much as Tony just wants to scoop him up and take him home and never let him go. He knows the kid needs time to be a kid without being in front of a camera.
“Go on and play, kid. Stay in sight of the bench though.” Tony smiles as Andy walks over to the playground they’ve been sitting in front of.
Tony watches his kid play. A small smile on his face as his kid goes down a slide for the tenth time. The smile drops when his phone goes off. A simple check reveals it’s Pepper, probably calling to tell him how much trouble he’s in for ditching all those meetings. Tony glances back at Andy before accepting the call. It should only be for a moment, and the kid has a tracker on him.
“Hey Pep. I took Andy out to the park. We got some ice cream as well.” Tony leans back against the bench as he speaks.
“You ditched five meetings, Tony. I get you love the kid, but you need to warn me when you do these things.” Pepper sounds like she’s planning his murder.
“I know, but I haven’t been able to spend much time with him this week. We’re bonding; it’s an important part of childhood.”
“Just don’t waste all day there. I swear if you get back before dinner I will send Happy to hunt you down.” Yep, Pepper is clearly planning his death.
“We won’t. We’ll see you tonight.” Tony puts away the phone and looks back at the playground. Though instead of a heartwarming sight of his kid coming down a slide again, he’s met with a heart-stopping sight. His kid isn’t on the playset anymore, and the bracelet he was wearing just minutes ago is sitting at the bottom of the slide.
Tony doesn’t even think before he’s standing up and running towards the playset. There’s no sign of his kid anywhere. The only sign he was even here is the bracelet on the ground. Tony quickly picks it up, yelling his child’s name. A few other parents look at him for a second like he's crazy. Though after he goes up to a couple of them, asking them if they saw where his kid went, their gaze changes from being creeped out to a worry for the kid. After ten minutes of pure panic, Tony finally gathers enough sense to call Pepper again.
He doesn’t wait for Pepper to say anything before he’s basically yelling into the phone. “Andy’s gone. I was talking to you, and when I looked back, he was gone, and his tracker was on the ground.”
“Okay, okay… Take a deep breath. I’ll be there in a minute. He couldn’t have gotten far.” Pepper is clearly trying to be the voice of reason in all of this, but there’s a hint of panic in her own voice.
Tony spends the next couple of minutes waiting for Pepper to get here; he is still searching every part of the park. Once Pepper gets there, it only takes her a moment before she decides calling the police is the best course of action. The next couple of hours are some of the worst in his life. Multiple detectives ask him questions, and the park is closed off. Eventually someone talks to Pepper, and she comes to Tony. Whatever they told her is something he needs to know, but it’s clear no one wanted to tell him to his face.
“Okay so, they’ve searched the whole park…” Pepper sits down next to him. “They’re going to keep some cops here, but they can’t keep the park closed for that long. They’re going to make a missing person report… A detective is going to come back to the tower so they can get some DNA on file and get some photos… Okay…”
“I looked away for less than ten minutes…” Tony holds his face in his hands. “Ten minutes…”
“I know, Tony… but no one could have seen this coming. We’re going to do everything we can…” Pepper rests a hand on his back. “We should get back to the tower, the sooner the better…”
Tony can only nod as Pepper leads him to a car. The ride is silent; the detective follows behind the car and meets them at the door. Pepper leads them both back up to the living area. Tony breaks away once the elevator opens. Going straight to the bar. Pepper leads the detective to Andy's room, and Tony doesn’t see them for at least twenty minutes. Once they do come back, they make a beeline for him.
“Mr. Stark, I know today has been a lot, but I just need a few more details for the report.” The detective holds a small notebook in one hand, and in the other is a bag filled with some of Andy’s stuff.
“Just ask already.” Tony doesn’t bother trying to act nice. All he wants to do is lie down and cry.
“Okay then.” The detective takes a breath before asking the questions. “I need to know Andy’s full name, birthday, eye color, hair color, and also any birthmarks.”
Tony answers the questions with a drink in his hand. Once the detective is done writing down the answers, they leave. Pepper stays with him for a couple more minutes before she leaves him as well. After an hour of standing around drinking his sadness away, Tony finally makes his way to bed.
THE FIRST MONTH
One month passes with nothing. No signs of anything. Not even a single clue. Andy Stark's missing person’s report is going off all over the country. The media offers as much help as they can. They help get awareness out, but in the end it does little to nothing.
MONTH TWO
Nothing again. The cops try their best, but no tips come in. The media is still going crazy, but nothing comes of it.
MONTH THREE
MONTH FOUR
MONTH FIVE
MONTH SIX
MONTH SEVEN
MONTH EIGHT
MONTH NINE
MONTH TEN
MONTH ELEVEN
ONE YEAR
Nothing. It’s been a year, and there are no signs of anything. The cops have died down their search; Stark tech is still pouring money into finding Andy. The media reposts the same old information. The only thing new in the search is the photo of what Andy would look like a year older. Tony can’t look at that picture for more than a minute.
YEAR TWO
YEAR THREE
YEAR FOUR
YEAR FIVE
The police say they can’t do much anymore. They say they’ll keep the case active so if any DNA hits happen they’ll know, but besides that. They’re useless. Stark Tech stops publicly searching for Andy. Now, when Tony is getting interviewed, people just avoid the topic altogether.
YEAR SIX
YEAR SEVEN
YEAR EIGHT
YEAR NINE
YEAR TEN
Tony can’t even pretend anymore. He knows his son is either dead or too far away for him to reach. The police don’t even bother giving him emails anymore. Stark Tech now just gives money to missing kids programs. Tony is too busy now as Iron Man to appear on talk shows. Andy Stark's missing poster with his picture of how he’d look pops up in the media, but that’s the biggest effort in years.
YEAR ELEEVN
YEAR TWELVE (CURRENT YEAR)
Tony loves working with Peter. The kid is smart, and he’s too nice for his own good. He’s been spending a lot of time in the workshop with him these past couple of weeks. It's good to see the kid so happy to work on something other than hero work.
“Do we have anything else to work on?” Peter looks over at Tony from his stop at the workstation.
“We’ve been working for hours, kid. We should probably call it a night.” Tony puts away his goggles.
“It’s not even that late,” Peter speaks up with a small whine.
“The sky would disagree with you. I’m not sure what time your aunt told you to be back, but I think you’re already running late.” Tony stands up as Peter slowly gets up as well.
“She said to be back by ten, and I have like two hours left.” Peter follows Tony as he goes to the kitchen area to make himself a cup of coffee.
“Then you can stay for another hour, but you need to eat something. I only need Pepper yelling at me for not eating.” Tony grabs a protein bar from a cabinet and tosses it to Peter.
“Okay, okay.” Peter eats the bar as Tony drinks his coffee.
Peter looks around the room as if he hasn’t been in his same room hundreds of times. Yet every time he seems to lock onto a new detail of the room. Last time it was a picture from the first battle the Avengers were together. All Tony can do is stand around and wait for the question to come.
“What’s with the kid on the wall?” Peter points to a picture of Andy on the wall, and Tony freezes. In the time Peter has been here, the picture of Andy has seemed to disappear, and yet now Tony has to tell this story to a kid who would be his son's age.
“That’s my son. Andy.” Tony’s voice is cold. This topic isn’t a light one.
“Oh… I didn’t know you have a son. I’ve never seen him around.” Tony sighs and places his cup down.
“He went missing when he was three. About 12 years ago now.” Peter’s eyes widen when Tony shares the information that has kept him up for years.
“Oh…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring anything up…” Peter looks down at the bar in his hand.
“It’s okay, kid. I should have expected it at some point.” Tony looks at his cup and then dumps the rest of the coffee down the drain, knowing if he wants any sleep, he’ll need as much help as he can get. “You should probably get going. May isn’t one to go easy on the curfews.
“Yeah… I should… I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Peter quickly grabs his stuff and makes his way to the door.
“Of course, kid. Same time, Happy will pick you up.” Tony simply watches as Peter leaves.
Tony stands there in the kitchen for a moment, looking at the picture of his son. He hasn’t been able to look at the picture of his son at the age he would be now, but after tonight, with his head already going down into a dark place, he might as well. He slowly opens the email the police sent him. It’s the only thing they send him anymore. Inside the email is a PDF of the photo they made of what his son might look like at 15. Tony looks at it for a long while before shutting his phone off before it gets covered in tears. The only thought in his mind besides sadness about his son is the fact that it’s ironic how similar that picture and Peter look.