The plaza buzzed with energy. Booths stretched in all directions, showcasing everything from levitating wheelchairs to personal water filtration pods that fit in your pocket. Drone couriers zipped through the air delivering coffee, while children tested magnetic shoes that let them walk up short walls under supervision. Scientists, inventors, students, and guests swarmed every corner, talking, sharing, laughing, and filming everything they could.
The Expo was alive.
Tony walked beside Howard down the central path, the crowd parting subtly as they passed.
"You remember Senator Adams, don't you?" Howard said, nodding toward a man near one of the green-energy display towers.
Tony gave a slight nod. "Still has that stick up his spine, or did he get it surgically replaced?"
Howard didn't smile, but the twitch at the corner of his mouth was enough. "Play nice. He pushed through some of the early permissions for the Starfire initiative. We need him."
Tony adjusted his sleeve and extended a hand. "Senator. Glad you could make it."
Adams, a stocky man with perfectly styled hair and eyes that missed nothing, shook his hand. "Mr. Stark. Or should I say... the revolutionary?"
Tony smiled thinly. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. That comes next week."
Adams gave a humorless laugh. "You've got half of Capitol Hill calling me. Oil lobbyists are chewing glass. The medical board is in full-blown panic. What the hell did you just do?"
"Made it a little harder to ignore people suffering," Tony said. "You're welcome."
They talked for a few minutes before moving...
Next came a woman in her sixties with silver hair and a cane, Irine Lane, director of the Stark Biomedical Division. She stood near a modular prosthetic display. A boy with one arm was trying on a new limb that responded to neural pulses in seconds.
"Irine," Howard said, walking over.
She turned and smiled. "Well, if it isn't both Starks in one place. What's the occasion, besides the world changing?"
Tony returned the smile. "Just figured I'd check in on the ones actually making change happen."
Irine gestured toward the boy. "This is why I never retired. Every year, something new makes it all worth it."
A group of researchers approached next, foreign delegates from Europe, South America, and East Asia. Howard took over the introductions, handling them like a veteran businessman. Tony shook hands, nodded, and answered the occasional technical question, but his eyes were always scanning the Expo around him.
He was watching it happen. Real change. Not theoretical. Not hidden behind patent walls or NDA clauses. Open. Flowing.
A few booths down, a college team from Nairobi was demonstrating a solar-powered atmospheric water extractor. A crowd had formed around them, cheering when they poured clean water into a waiting glass.
Howard leaned in. "We built a company. But this? This feels like something bigger."
Tony looked around. "It's because it is. This is what the world looks like when the smart people get a seat at the table instead of a bill."
They paused in front of a display showcasing Susan Storm's RECODE simulations. There was a line forming of people just wanting to talk to her team. Mutants, parents, doctors... some hopeful, some skeptical, all listening.
Tony watched in silence for a moment, then said, "You still think I should've scaled it back?"
Howard didn't answer right away. He followed his son's gaze, took in the moment, and said, "No. You did what I couldn't. You took the fire and walked straight into the storm with it. Just be ready for the blowback."
Tony smirked. "Always am."
Over the next few hours, they talked and met many important people.
[Approx. 3 hrs later]
Backstage, the noise of the crowd faded behind thick reinforced walls, replaced by the low hum of cooling fans and the quiet buzz of light panels overhead. Cables ran neatly along the floors, and a few stagehands hustled back and forth, managing feeds and schedules.
Tony ducked past a row of curtain-draped partitions, loosening his collar as he moved toward the corner of the green room, then stopped.
Maria Stark sat calmly at a small folding table, legs crossed, a linen napkin laid out like she owned the place. On the table: two sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, a pitcher of lemonade, and a pair of glasses already sweating with condensation.
She didn't look surprised to see him. She poured a glass without looking up.
"Grilled turkey on sourdough," she said. "With extra mustard. Because you always come down from adrenaline with a crash and then get snappy when your blood sugar dips."
Tony blinked, then slowly walked over. "How did you even know I'd be back here right now?"
Maria glanced up, one brow raised.
"You've done three full circuits of the Expo floor, your tone shifted mid-speech, and your left hand kept twitching when you talked to the senator. That's your 'about to vanish for ten minutes' tell."
Tony pulled out the chair and dropped into it. "Either I'm way too predictable, or you're still secretly psychic."
"You're not predictable. You're just mine," she said, handing him a glass. "And I know how my son thinks when he's holding the world in one hand and pressure in the other."
Tony took the glass, sipped, and let out a long breath. "You didn't have to come loaded with snacks. I'm 22."
Maria gave him a look. "You're 22 and stubborn. You'd rather pass out from low blood sugar than admit you forgot to eat."
He unwrapped the sandwich. "Okay, valid point."
For a few moments, they sat in silence. The muffled sound of the Expo filtered in: cheering, announcements, the low murmur of hundreds of voices, all orbiting the storm he'd stirred up.
Maria reached across the table, brushing a piece of lint off his sleeve. "You know they're going to push back, right? The ones with power. The ones who made their empires out of people staying quiet and sick."
Tony nodded, chewing slowly. "Yeah. I saw it in their faces already. Some of them want to throw lawsuits at me. A few probably want to throw grenades."
She smiled faintly. "Let them try. Just don't carry all of this alone."
He looked at her. "You mean, let you worry?"
"I mean, let us help," she said. "You've built something amazing. But even fire needs tending."
He leaned back in the chair, watching the condensation trail down the side of his glass.
"I didn't expect today to feel like this."
Maria tilted her head. "Like what?"
Tony exhaled through his nose. "Like it mattered. Like people actually saw it for what it is."
She smiled again. This one was proud. Bright. Sharp.
"It's because they did, sweetheart. And you didn't just give them a new future. You gave them hope and the belief that there are still good people in this world who care for them."
Tony looked down at the last bite of his sandwich.
"…God, you're good."
Maria reached for her lemonade, her smile widening. "I had practice. Your father used to fall apart every time he invented something important, too. And he didn't even have nanotech or media coverage."
Tony stood slowly, brushing crumbs from his hands. "Thanks for the fuel-up, Mom."
"So, you, Natasha, and Yelena..." She said with a knowing smile.
Tony paused mid-step, then turned back, eyes narrowing with exaggerated suspicion. "What do you mean you, Natash, and Yelena?"
Maria sipped her lemonade, unfazed. "Oh, please. You think I haven't noticed the sideways looks? The hushed conversations? That little smirk you get when someone mentions their names?"
Tony scratched the back of his neck. "Okay, first of all, there is no smirk. That's just my face processing complex logistics. And you only met them like thrice."
Maria raised a brow. "Complex logistics. Is that what we're calling feelings now?"
He slumped back into the chair with a groan. "We are... It's complicated."
Maria leaned forward, folding her hands on the table. "I don't need to know if it's complicated or not. I just need to know if my son is happy."
Tony didn't even need to rethink his private life's decision and his love life. He simply loved them both, and they loved him.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I am."
Maria nodded once, satisfied. "Good. Then don't screw it up."
"Wow. That was fast. No questions? No 'what are your intentions with my son' moments?" Tony asked.
"No. I talk to them often, behind your back of course, when Yelena calls me to learn cooking or Natasha calls me to know your favourite books and music... Well, I trust them. I just hope you know what you're doing. And as long as you are happy, I'm good," She replied with a warm smile.
..
[A few minutes later...]
Tony left the backstage room feeling lighter, the last of the sandwich fueling more than just his body. He buttoned up his suit jacket again and made his way through the quieter side corridor of the Expo center, moving past the buzzing control stations and reinforced partitions.
He headed toward the VIP section.
After everything she'd pulled off today, he figured Susan deserved a check-in.
He reached the door marked VIP 7 and knocked twice.
Susan stood there, sleeves rolled up, hair now loose from the formal bun she'd worn earlier. Her expression relaxed into something warm the second she saw him.
"You survived the mob," she said, stepping aside.
"Barely," Tony said. "But your section stole half the spotlight. So I figured I'd come and borrow some back."
She smirked and motioned for him to enter. "Come in. I want you to meet a couple of people."
Inside, the room was big, designed for comfort with soft couches, a stocked refreshment bar, and a wall screen still looping Expo highlights. But it was the two figures inside that caught his attention.
A younger guy leaned back on the couch, clearly mid-story, gesturing animatedly with a bottle of soda in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. Blonde hair, movie-star jawline, and the kind of chaotic charm Tony could spot a mile away.
The other was solid. Broad-shouldered, red hair, wearing a simple jacket and jeans. His posture was more reserved, but the way his eyes tracked Tony showed a sharp awareness.
Susan walked over and gestured between them.
"Tony Stark, meet my brother, Johnny Storm. And that over there, trying to look like he's not bored by all of this, is Ben Grimm."
Johnny grinned and stood, offering a handshake. "Big fan. The new holographic tech made my job a thousand times easier. And your presentation was just awesome. I saw those investors' faces. Ha! They must have lost billions of dollars, all thanks to you. Good job. You just destroyed some people and probably made them poor."
Tony shook his hand. "Johnny Storm… You're the one who turned down a full ride at CalTech to build a rocket bike in your garage?"
Johnny shrugged, not at all ashamed. "And it flew. For twelve seconds. Then exploded. But those twelve seconds were beautiful."
Tony chuckled, already liking him. Then turned to Ben and offered his hand again. "And you must be the infamous college roommate who could bench press a car."
Ben got up and took the handshake, strong grip, and grounded presence. "Just the front half of the car. It was an old Volvo."
Susan sat on the arm of the nearest couch and watched the three of them, clearly enjoying the subtle dynamic test happening in real time.
"So," Tony said, glancing between them, "You two thinking of joining the big cosmic science ride?"
Johnny nodded. "Susan gave us the overview. Space. Radiation. Closest to the Sun. Sounds like a Tuesday."
Ben leaned against the wall with arms crossed. "Sounds insane. But I trust her. If she's going, I'm not far behind."
Tony raised an eyebrow at Susan. "You already pitched them?"
She shrugged. "They've known about my research for years. And you said I could bring two people. I chose the ones I'd trust to hold the line if the ship exploded."
Johnny turned to Susan. "Wait, it might explode?"
"It was a metaphor," Susan replied dryly.
Tony rubbed his chin. "I mean, it's not off the table. But we've got eject systems. Mostly."
Ben exhaled and shook his head. "Jesus."
Johnny flopped back on the couch, arms spread out. "Okay, but hear me out... what if it explodes and we get washed over by cosmic radiation? Do we get superpowers? You know, like mutants?"
"Johnny," Sue gave him that look.
"What? Just curious," He shrugged.
Tony snapped his fingers. "That's the energy I like to hear."
Susan rolled her eyes. "Don't encourage him."
Tony looked around the room again, more thoughtful now. This is it. The perfect team. Instead of Reed, it'll be him.
---
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