Tony had a memory he could hardly bear to revisit.
He had been wild and arrogant in his younger days, but something at fourteen had left him scarred.
Now Tony had another scar, acquired this very year.
After finishing up business at Stark Industries, Pepper Potts came home to find Tony hanging from the beautiful white ceiling, his face battered and bruised.
She covered her mouth in fright and hurried to find a way to get him down.
"Are you okay, Tony?"
Pepper lowered him, assuming someone had attacked him. Then Tony groggily woke up. "Oh, hey, Pepper."
The greeting tugged at the corner of his mouth, making him hiss in pain.
"Could you get me some ice?"
Pepper immediately wanted to call a doctor, but Tony couldn't bear the humiliation. After several rounds of pleading, he managed to avoid being sent to the hospital.
"Someone beat you up?" Pepper asked furiously. "Was it John?"
"Yes." Tony pressed an ice pack to his injuries, still visibly shaken. "I'm really glad you weren't here."
"That's outrageous!" Pepper felt awful for Tony. "Do your injuries still hurt?"
"Much better. What was it I said again?" Tony enjoyed her gentle touch. "I just said I hit on his mother, and I didn't even succeed."
Pepper's tender hand froze. The look she gave Tony went from sympathy, anger at John, and concern to confusion, shock, and even greater shock.
Then Pepper gave it about three seconds of thought.
She took Tony's ice pack and tossed it in the trash. That bastard could just drop dead.
JARVIS offered a timely reminder. "Sir, what you said was, 'I almost became your stepfather.'"
Pepper stopped on her way out and turned around to look for a baseball bat or something similar.
She was going to kill Tony