6 months late, I know, I suck. I've written out so many versions of this chapter, but none of them flowed right, were up to standard or allowed me to follow them up with another chapter. So I was stuck. Here is another attempt. You guys are amazing. I'm sitting at 81 reviews, over 800 followers and over 400 favourites. That's insane. This is by fair my most popular story and I hope that I don't disappoint any of you.

Chapter 5 - You won't get me on my knees.

Howard Stark had been doing business in London, organising back up schools for his son Tony, knowing that it wouldn't be long before something happened and he'd have to move schools. He'd waved off the car that had been waiting for him, wanting to walk through the city that had changed so much. He had spent very little time here, after the war, there were too many memories, and well, there were a fews years there where he was a wanted man.

Hands in his pockets, he walked through the streets slowly. He was getting on in age, his son was turning 11 soon, and most gentlemen, his age, were getting grandchildren sprung upon them. Howard had been a late bloomer, and Tony had been a surprise, not an unwelcome one, but a surprise none the less. He wasn't a bastard, no matter what the papers said. Maria and him had been married for a few years, it'd been a quiet ceremony, with only their closest friends. Howling Commandos and the higher ups of Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division were all there, as they should be, they were his closest friends, and he had helped found the government agency.

Howard ran a hand through his hair, sighing. He'd started giving more responsibility to his second in charge Obadiah Stane, just so that he wasn't so tired all the time. It was helping, but it had been part of the reason he had sent Tony off to boarding school, he hadn't the energy to help shape Tony's mind. His kid was a genius, without any doubt, but without the proper training, he wouldn't amount to anything. So he'd sent him off to the best school, he was already doing university work, not that the school had told him that.

Howard walked several more steps, not really paying any attention to his surroundings at all, just that he was headed in the right direction for his hotel. He almost walked past it, actually he had walked past. Then, he walked backwards and looked in. He would never understand why he had been interested in the scene, but he had stopped and looked.

A woman, well-off by her clothes, was trying to pass off a child to a orphanage worker. He could see the sign on the wall he was looking around of. He couldn't hear the words, but they were arguing, with the child being pushed back and forth between them. The eldest Stark couldn't help but stare in wonder at the child. He wasn't making a noise. He just followed the two with his bright emerald green eyes. And were they bright eyes, even from the distance Howard was away he could see the colour. They were bigger than what toddler's eyes should look like. Then they locked on to him.

Howard was stepping forward before he even realised he was doing so. Those eyes reminded him of someone, not the colour, but the expression behind them. It was something that reminded him of a friend he'd spent the last few decades trying to find. He couldn't leave this child behind like they'd left Steve behind.

When Harry had asked the story of how he'd become a Stark years later, Howard had struggled to put it into words. He hadn't even been able to remember the conversation he'd had with the horse looking lady. All he remembered was that he had walked away from that orphanage with a toddler in his arms, looking up at him, while he had papers in his pocket giving him full custody of one Harry James Potter. Howard would be damned if his new son would ever want for anything after this day. And he didn't.

Maria had been several years younger than Howard, in fact, she hadn't even been old enough to really remember the war that he had been a part of. But they had loved each other, even if they really didn't understand each other. The beautiful brunette had started as a desk clerk at Stark Industries, but her looks and her fast learning curve meant that she was quickly promoted to be one of 3 personal assistants for Howard Stark. After 6 months, the other 2 had been let go and she had organised his whole life for him.

3 years later and they were married. Another 3 years after that and Tony had come into their lives. It had been obvious from the start that Tony would inherit his father's brain. It hadn't taken much before Maria had stepped down from work, trying to spend time with her son. But unfortunately, Tony had never wanted Maria's attention, so she turned to organising charities, fundraisers, and garden clubs.

She had always wanted to be a mother, but her lack of patience and short fuse meant that it was a struggle with Tony, who at 4 years old, had built his first circuit board and outsmarted her and knew it. So when Howard returned from his London trip with a toddler, she'd taken her second chance. She dotted on him, glad to have a child that didn't make her feel like an idiot whenever she asked a question.

Howard had tried to get him interested in science, engineering, anything that he and Tony were interested in, but when items starting blowing up without Harry even touching them, they'd decided it best to just let it be. Instead Howard took time to teach him sport, taking him to baseball games whenever he was free (which admittedly wasn't often).

The age difference between Tony and Harry had always been problematic, they rarely if ever got on. Which was strange, because Harry worshipped the ground that Tony walked on and just wanted to be like his big brother. But with Maria giving Harry all the attention that Tony had never wanted but always expected, and Howard showing Harry attention by taking him to his favourite teams' games, tension was strife in their household.

Tony threw himself into his studies, advancing faster than he had been, in the hope that somehow, his father would notice, pay attention and give him praise for his achievements. So by the time Tony was 17, he'd graduated from MIT at the top of his class. Only his mother and his brother showed up at his graduation. Howard had found something at work that desperately needed his attention.

Tony had started working in the Science division of Stark Industries, learning about the company he would one day run, but also using his brain to go bigger and better than what was already there. And the gaps between the seemingly happy on the outside family, grew wider and wider.

It wasn't until he'd received a frantic call from his mother that Tony returned to his childhood home. Harry had received a letter, via an owl, telling him that he was a wizard. Howard was again away, he'd discovered something and was investigating and it was important, not just for the company but for the world, or so he'd told Tony as he'd walked through the science division to tell him he was leaving.

Only after having a giant of a man and a wizened man come in and talk to them about magic did Tony believe them and agree with his mother to send Harry off to Scotland to study magic. Tony did believe that it was just an undiscovered form of science that only certain genetics could use though, and one day he would prove it.

Life went on, Maria left to catch up with Howard and tell him all about his youngest son. She'd kissed her eldest on the cheek, patted his shoulder, smiled and told him that she was proud. And that was the last conversation they'd had. He'd gotten the phone call a couple of weeks later, telling him that on their way home, something had gone wrong. His parents had died in a car accident, leaving him and his brother orphans.

Harry managed to come back for the funeral, Tony still couldn't remember how he'd gotten in contact, the whole month had been a blur. But the 11 year old had gone back to school, said he was needed, given his older brother a hug, wiped some tears and disappeared with a bag in their living room.

The next few months were a blur. His butler, who had looked after him since he was a baby, passed in his sleep only a few months after his parents, and well, Tony had never handled emotions well. He focused on his drinks, made some impulsive purchases, and then he came back with a bang. He took over Stark Industries, moved the head office to Los Angeles, away from the memories, built a custom mansion run by a A.I system that he had, of course, developed himself, and then he made the company thrive.

And the rest they say, is history.

Okay, I know this isn't moving the story forward or anything but I thought it would help everyone get the history with the Starks. Let me know what you think. I do have another chapter in the works. Hopefully it won't be another 6 months from now, but you never know with my muse.

- Merci's Savior