2/life goes on

Tony and Pepper's spirits had been at their lowest since the day before...

Their only son had been kidnapped in the middle of the evening and right in front of them, but there was nothing they could do to stop it...

Tony was sure that they would find him soon enough thanks to his contacts and influence, but deep down he knew that these people were well prepared, even a little too well prepared for his taste!

That's when he figured out that maybe his son's illness wasn't a coincidence and that it was all part of someone's plan, and he wasn't wrong...

after all these people must have been preparing this for at least several days! It was not possible otherwise!

Pepper was devastated and the tears wouldn't stop flowing...

how could this have happened? She knew there were risks, but she never thought for a second that this could actually happen!

She berated herself many times for having listened to the nurses and not to her instincts when the power went out... she was especially angry at herself for having taken Peter out that day...

So she burst into tears once more, but this time much louder than the previous ones, she finally realized that she would probably never see her baby again.

She continued to cry over and over again until a voice brought her out of her trance state...

"We'll find him... Pep...'' Tony tried to calm her down but to no avail, so he took her in his arms.

If Tony's theory was correct then either he or Pepper had already met these people in some way...

Whether directly or indirectly, his child had become seriously ill to the point where he was worried for his life, but the most disturbing thing about it was that it did look like a setup!

Tony racked his brains like never before, and then an idea came to him!

He didn't like her but that's all he could think of at the time!

But it would take years, maybe, only if the worst hadn't already happened...

He was prepared to wait for the kidnappers to make one false move!

Luckily they had done a painting session on his first birthday, if he hadn't done that then maybe there would be no hope or less.

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January 2003

Tony had worked tirelessly to find his son, he had also taken the handprints from the painting Peter had done and scanned them, and given them to the FBI and the US police in the hope that one day they would come up...

he had also donated his and Pepper's blood in the hope that his son would be found sooner!

He had seen and reviewed all the security footage from that night, but he had found nothing suspicious...

He didn't want to admit it, but the chances that his child was already dead were high, but he couldn't give up hope so soon! Couldn't he?

*

Pepper had started to get depressed and could not work for the moment, she cried every day and also had panic attacks and nightmares!

Her son had become her whole world and he had disappeared without a trace anywhere, so it goes without saying that she was not at her best...

the worry for her child was constant and she even considered the worst-case scenario, which made her even sadder and more worried...

several arguments had broken out between her and Tony in the month since Peter's disappearance...

the couple was in a bad way and threatened to fall apart at any moment!

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Obadiah Stane, The man could not be happier than he actually was! The pest as he liked to call him was gone for good!

Only Tony was left who could threaten his 'throne'...

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The year 2005

There was now a taboo subject in the Stark family and it was their son, they didn't talk about it but they knew how each other felt about it...

Pepper knew that Tony spent more than half of his free time looking for him every day, and she was grateful for that but it just reminded her of painful things...

Tony had accelerated her AI programming because he knew it could be the key to all her problems...

After some time Tony had finished his AI JARVIS but obviously, he was not able to trace his son or his kidnappers, Tony realized that no matter how hard he tried, he could never get a trace of anyone...

After debating internally for a long time Tony let Jarvis search passively every night, even violating some people's privacy in the process...

Every day that passed Pepper was looking at videos or photos of her only child, she didn't want anymore! She wanted Peter back! But she knew that the chances of that happening were getting smaller and smaller as time went on...

she had managed to get out of her depression phase but the subject was still sensitive to her...

after Tony's AI was ready she had spent several days searching with the help of JARVIS, but like Tony, she soon discovered that everything she was doing was useless...

She also found out about all the efforts her husband had made, going to spy on the FBI and creating several protocols in case her son was found, which reassured her because, since that day Tony showed no or less emotion than before, it was also that which had the effect of putting back together with the pieces of their broken couple...

Tony did not show any emotion because he was in fact concentrating and actively thinking about every detail he could get out of that night, which made him look cold on the outside.

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The year 2009

Just as things were finally starting to look up for the Stark couple, it was Tony's turn to be kidnapped on a trip to Afghanistan, all to demonstrate the effectiveness of his missile in person...

Tony swore silently, his bad luck, no! His family's bad luck was out of this world!

Pepper was devastated, but instead of going back into a depression-like she did the first time, she spent most of her time looking for her husband thanks to JARVIS...

But once again, it was without success!

Many ideas crossed her mind, but all were too chaotic!

What if it was the same people?

What if it was an attack to destroy all the Starks?

Pepper didn't know if she could handle losing her son and her husband in the space of 8 years...

She didn't know if she was strong enough to deal with it...

She started to get paranoid to the point where she thought she would be next! But she didn't care, all she wanted was the safety of her family!

So with that in mind, she thought about the similarities between the two abductions.

and... There was only one!

Only a few employees of Stark Industries and the military knew that her beloved son was in the hospital that day! The same thing in Tony's case.

The location of the Stark Industries Jericho test was known only to the U.S. Army...

So Pepper dug around and looked for any traces in the army and again, nothing came up...

There were only Stark Industries and its most experienced employees left...

Pepper searched and dissected each employee and her suspicions were lessened because despite everything she did nothing stood out! And then it was Pepper's turn to swear, she didn't hesitate to scream out in frustration many times!

Now she didn't know what to do...

she didn't know who to trust, except Jarvis and Rhodey...

Rhodey was in Afghanistan actively searching for her husband, so she couldn't bother him if it meant her search for Tony was slowed down...

after a few weeks of not leaving her house, Pepper received a call from the US Army...

"We found him!" were the words that gave her hope.

If Tony was alive then maybe her son was too...

what did he look like now?

He would soon be 10 years old...

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Unfortunately, the events after Tony's return went pretty much as they should have...

But before he died Obadiah said a few things to Tony... ''Your son is dead! He is dead! Do you hear me, Tony?''

Obadiah died only seconds after saying these words, Tony's victory was very bitter.

Obadiah died and all his assets were taken over by Tony and Pepper.

Neither Pepper nor Tony knew if Obadiah had played a role in their son's demise, but his declaration was an emotional blow to both...

Tony Stark's emergence as Iron Man took place sometime later, and SI's stock quickly recovered.

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A few years passed, and the events, or rather the invasion of New York took place.

Then later it was Ultron's turn to appear, when he created him Tony hoped to find his son and protect the world.

Although his goals were noble, the end was not and it did not justify the means...

but it proved that Tony Stark had not given up!

No, how could he? If he gave up now, then what would be the point of all his past efforts?