A Face In The Papers

An Unexpected and Unwelcome Encounter

A/N: Hello!:) This is my first work ever posted on here (I have an Ao3 and Fanfiction account) so please let me know what you think!

Tony has dealt with the Media his whole life.

Being the son of the legendary Howard Stark had its drawbacks (not counting the bruising and alcohol induced rages that encompassed most of his childhood). His mother had tried to keep the invasive reporters out of his life, but once Howard had heard about the amazing publicity Tony offered him, there was no going back.

Press conference after press conference was set up, and young Tony Stark was the main attraction. Like a monkey at a zoo, he was watched, preyed upon by the hungry vultures circling overhead. His father dressed him up in the finest dress clothes he could find, the Stark Logo pressed into each shirt and easily assessable to the always watching cameras.

Every Saturday it was the same.

The same shouted questions, and the same invasive touching. Hands grabbing at a freaked out and panicked 8 year old, shoving microphones into his face and scowling in annoyance when all the boy would do was back away.

"Just one more question!" They would say, fingers sharp as they dug into the pressed satin, claws scratching Tony's arms, and eyes seeming to glow in the flashes of cameras. "Just one more picture. Just one more statement."

Just one more, one more, one more. . .

It was never just one more anything, and they were always there, always pushing for information and relentlessly searching for any speck of insecurity. He had tried to be brave, to ignore the raging frown hidden underneath his father's charming smile every time he would refuse to answer a question, but sometimes it would be to much and his little 8 year old mouth would go on a rampage. Article after article was published, Tony's face on magazines and blown up on Billboards across the country, the news of his graduation from M.I.T a few years down the road trashed by fake stories of his supposed cheating.

Nothing became sacred, all of his personal problems made public, and his whole life turned into cheep entertainment for nosy assholes. The death of his parents was the final straw, and Tony embraced the flashy lifestyle with his head held high and his heart in his throat, hiding his sorrow and nausea behind a carefully crafted mask of narcissism and self-importance.

He played the part, made the whole world believe that Anthony Edward Stark was nothing more than a self proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, and that his heart was as cold and hard as the Arc Reactor shoved into his chest. That was the image he had created for himself, not his father, and he would keep anything that was his, no matter the consequences. He would continue to be a heartless bastard in the limelight and never let anyone close, not even people with flashy cameras and notepads filled with writing.

At least until he adopted Peter.

______________

The McDonald's was packed.

Tony feels his stomach drop as Happy pulls into the parking lot, the tires going over a speed bump and crunching on the gravel. Stopping for only a second to let a mother with 3 kids cross, the black mustang is carefully parked in between a puke green van and the curb, the sunlight bouncing off the windshield as they turn. Once the car was in park did Happy turn around to face his boss, his eyes widened.

"Uh, Tony? Do you really think that it's a good idea to go in th-" The grumpy man begins to ask, but Peter's squeaky voice cuts him off, breathless with excitement.