First Ironman/Borrowers crossover! This takes place in 2004 and it´s just a little introduction ;). My assumed ages of Tony Stark are: 31 in Ironman, 33 in Ironman 2, and 35 in the Avenger movie.

Prologue

I never understood why Borrowers wanted to know next to nothing about Beans. I found them interesting and really creative. Other Borrowers would try to stay away from Beans as far away as possible, but I tried to be as close as I could without being "seen". It was just the thrill that came with it that made me do it. Maybe I should start from the beginning.

My name is Maximus Runner. Most Borrowers would have as a last name the place they lived, but my mom was never a settler. She and I used to go from place to place; living behind walls, floors, ceilings, you name it. We learned to adapt to every new location and tried not to get attached to things. We traveled all around the U.S., from Chicago to Seattle to Arizona… My mom used to say: "If we´re going to stay in just one place we might as well never had lived at all". Maybe that´s what got her killed.

I was only 8 when she died. We had been living in a trailer in Texas, borrowing from a male Bean who spent most of his time out doing who knows what. She told me to wait where we were currently living (underneath the trailer) while she went to restock on our food. She never came back.

After waiting for some days, I knew she wasn´t going to come back. I couldn´t stand staying near there, so I headed north. After a year of bouncing from state to state, I heard through the walls of the living room I was, news about some billionaire who was this big inventor and a genius and who owned a big company. What caught my attention was the fact that he was making breakthroughs in technology. I had always loved to be near wires and making things work with just a little spark, the satisfaction of making something useful on your own! In an impulsive move, I decided to check him out. So I hitched a ride to California as soon as possible and headed to the Stark mansion.

It took me a few days but I was finally there. The place was spectacular outside the gates. I had to be really careful when entering because of all the security of the place. I sneaked in at night, underground. After passing the gate I had to cross all the lawn and enter through the garage. I had to bite my lip from gasping. This guy was loaded. I passed by Ferraris, BMWs, and so many more it would take me way too long to finish. After dodging tires, I quickly dislodged an outlet. I had to climb wires until I finally found a vent. I decided to spend the night there so I took off my backpack (coin purse) and used it as a pillow.

The next day my back was stiff from sleeping in cold stainless steel. After stretching I started exploring. Through the vent openings I began mapping the mansion, which was kinda difficult with all the rooms it had within. Everything looked out of a Bean´s magazine, you know the ones with really modern and totally uncomfortable useless things. I passed by rooms that had statues and paintings, unused bedrooms, bathrooms in which the sinks could be my own mansion, and so on. Finally, after going down near the garage I discovered a room that looked like a lab. From my position in the vent near the ceiling, I could see stainless steel tables that had all kind of things on them, from wires and papers to food that could grow life on its own. There were also machines dismantled to simple metal, tools that were so simple like screwdrivers and so complicated that could kill me. All put together, you could build anything you could ever imagine. I think I found my own personal heaven.

While I was admiring and aching to reach down there and touch or build something, I heard loud footsteps coming from the other side of the glass door. While I made sure that I wouldn´t be seen in my position, a male Bean entered the lab. He had messy jet black hair, a goatee (I have no idea how it´s actually called), and a t-shirt of one of my favorite bands AC-DC, plus some jeans and snickers. He looked to be around 29 and in good form. I realized he must be Tony Stark, the billionaire, philanthropist, genius and many other things.

"Jarvis, put on some music and show me last night´s work."

Just when I thought he was talking through some type of phone, music started to sound LOUDLY out of nowhere. I had to cover my ears from the deafening sound and searched for my earplugs in my bag. I found the cotton balls and stuffed them in my ears. Ahhh, better.

Now that I wasn´t at risk of becoming completely deaf, I recognized the song from Santana. I looked over to the Bean and watched him as he started working in something that was some kind of weapon. I had never been interested in weapons, only focusing on things like cars and mp3s. While I didn´t understand most of what he was doing, I did recognize that the man was good. His hands moved like they had a mind of their own while he was keeping the beat of the song. I stayed there for hours just watching him work and build and invent and doing so much things, I just wanted to do at the moment. It was at that moment that I decided to stay and live in the Stark mansion.