Whatever It Takes

Chapter Seven

Back in the compound, Tony slumped in his rolly chair before one of his many works stations, huffing a defeated sigh. His hand fit to his forehead and his elbow sat on the metal table. The conversation between him and Emma played over and over in his brain like a record spinning too quickly. Should he have said something? Should he call May? Should he leave her alone? He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to leave her alone forever. Like the world and their world wouldn't call for it. Honestly, he had to wonder if she had thrown her suit in the trash. Or a fire.

Still unnoticed, Rhodes stood in the doorway hoping to greet his friend, but being able to almost feel the weight of his friends thoughts told him he would be doing otherwise.
Rhodes put a foot forward, using a chair to support himself until Tony snapped to reality and jumped up to help his friend.

"You alright?" Tony asked quickly, wrapping an arm around Rhodes who gave him a half smile. "I was about to ask you the same thing."
A breath left Tony's nose, one edge of his mouth attempting to form the same half smile. It faltered, and it was clear as day what the answer was. Rhodes continued as he settled down into a chair across from Tony's. "Want to take a seat and tell me what's going on?" He looked up to ask. Tony sat back down and folded his hands in front of him as he dug around for the words. They shifted around in his head like game pieces trying to create a sentence. Rhodes waited patiently, as he always did.

"I dont even know what to think of it," Tony started, as if the games pieces all scattered and fled his thought process and left him to fend for himself. "I just..." a hand swept across his face, rubbing at every crevace his knitted brow could offer. Finally, he spit it out: "I think I have a kid."

Rhodes tried not to shift in his seat, but he couldnt help but cave to a somewhat confused glance. The first person that came to mind, he offered, "Pepper?"

"No," Tony replied quickly and half into his palm. His head started to shake. "No, no..." he sighed. Hand fallen away from his face, his eyes first fell to the shiny metal of the table. "You remember the girl I brought in?" Rhodes thought back to the Spider Girl that had barely made a sound. Not to him, anyways. He nodded, "yeah. Gotta say, she handled her own."

For a second, Tony's lip bred a faint smile before falling back to a troubled line. "Yeah, she did. And..."

Rhodes waited again. For some reason, Tony felt like he was waiting too. But for what? He was the one talking. He was the one in this. He knew. He saw the names, the obituaries. Maya hid her well, but not well enough. Why? Because those were his eyes.

There was no denying that. There was no denying her.

Like a last grain of sand falling from the hourglass, the wait was over. "I think shes my kid... Well, not think, she has to be." Tony sighed one last time. "Those were my eyes. Maya's hair. My curls, my lips, Maya's nose." Tony looked lost now, listing off the girls features almost to himself. "Shes my kid. She has to be."

Rhodey watched his friend carefully as what looked like years flashed before his eyes. He questioned gently, "is this like an ex - girlfriend or?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, "about 17 years ago. She died protecting me when Killian happened back in 2013." Rhodes waited again. So did Tony. He guessed it was open book now. Nothing to leave out. Nothing to hide. "We saw eachother for the last time on New Years in 1999. She must have gotten pregnant and hid her from me. I dont blame her..." Tony played with his fingers in his lap, "I kind of jokingly asked if there was a kid in the backseat one of the last times I saw her before she died. She joked back and said 'hes 13!' And... I guess since I specifically said 'please don't tell me theres a 12 year old kid in the backseat I didn't know about' she thought it would be best if I didn't know at all. If I had said something different..." Tony looked up from his fingers that were now next to shivering to Rhodes whose eyes were as calm as they could manage. "What if I got to meet her?" Tony poured, "what if I would have gotten her to not hate me?"
Rhodey pressed his lips into a tight line that passed for a smile. "You've got a chance now, Tone." Tony half scoffed, straightening himself quickly. "I doubt that," he said "she hates my guts now. Told me not to contact her. I don't really blame her... I just..." he blew a breathe past his breath that sounded like disbelief. "I really blew it this time."