It Only Takes a Second

- LXIII -

Harry was writing some last minute recipes on to notecards when he heard a knock at the door. Glancing up, he saw his dad in the doorway holding a mug of cocoa.

"Hey," Tony grinned when his son set down the pen and greeted him with a smile. "How's it going?"

"I think I'm almost finished," Harry replied, glancing down at the mess that he had created before him. Different notecards were strewed all across the desk, and he fleetingly wondered if he should consider typing them so that they were more legible.

Tony made his way over to the desk and, at glancing over Harry's shoulder, let out a low whistle.

"You've really been busy," he observed, setting down the mug of cocoa carefully, trying not to slosh the mug's hot contents.

"I just want to make sure everything is perfect," Harry sighed, turning and looking up at his dad with big, green eyes.

"Come here kiddo," Tony helped pull Harry out of his seat carefully, and wrapped him up in his arms. "Everything is going to be perfect, because you've poured your heart and soul into this place. When I became your investor, it wasn't just because you were my kid. It was because I knew that you had a special talent and that you would love to share it with others. Is that still the case?"

"Yeah, I really enjoy it," Harry responded, smiling as his dad pulled him back so that he was standing at an arm's length away.

"Then everything is going to be perfect because you love what you're doing, and you're having fun doing it."

Harry's eyes pricked with tears, and he quickly blinked them away. For what felt like the millionth time in the past few days, Harry was overwhelmed with an incredibly lucky feeling. He couldn't believe that Tony was his dad, Pepper was his mom, and the rest of the team was his family. He had Peter, and new friends from the bakery. It was something that he never could have ever imagined for himself.

"Thank you dad," Harry buried his face into Tony's chest as he gave him another hug. He inhaled the smell of coffee and soft scent of motor oil that permeated the faded Black Sabbath shirt. On anyone else, the smell would have been strange and off-putting, but on Tony, it smelled like home.

Beside his face, the arc reactor emitted a dull shine through the thin t-shirt, and Harry realized he had never asked what it was, or asked any questions. In the past, he had felt that if something wasn't directly told to him, it wasn't his business to ask any more questions. Now, he felt as though he could be inquisitive without coming across as rude or nosy. Now, he had a family that was patient and kind.

"Hey dad?" Harry began tentatively, pulling back from Tony who gave him an encouraging nod, eyebrows raised and ready to hear the question.

"Can I... I was just wondering if I could ask...?" Harry trailed off, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Sure, kiddo, you can ask me anything," Tony said seriously, before tacking on a joke to the end of the sentence. "But you may or may not get an answer."

This helped break up the tension that was forming in the room as Harry smiled. Stepping around his son, Tony took a seat on the edge of the bed and patted the comforter to indicate that Harry should sit down beside him.

Carefully, Harry took a seat as well before continuing on. He placed his hand gently over the arc reactor, and looked up to meet Tony's eyes.

"What happened?" His voice was barely above a whisper, and he chastised himself for asking. Maybe there was a reason that nobody had ever told him. Maybe Tony didn't want to talk about it, or he was born this way and hated when people asked him, or-