Mary steps out of her room, making her way over to the living room as she fixes her dress slightly. For Tony's birthday, he requested that she dress how she did back in the forties. So there she stood in shoes and a dress she hadn't worn since she and her husband danced for the first night of the rest of their lives. The emerald dress had been through many decades, but always came out shining. The last she wore it was the night Bucky proposed to her, one of the most happiest nights of her life. She stood in the hallway leading towards the living room and accidentally caught wind of him and Natalie talking. "Do you know which watch you'd like to wear tonight, Mr. Stark?" Natalie asked her boss. Mary could only guess what sultry and tight dress the assistant was wearing. Mary liked the woman, but she could choose any type of dress and look beautiful, but she chose to wear ones that draw the eyes of men. And that wasn't Mary's style.

"I'll give them a look." Tony responds, "But set aside the one my godmother gave to me." He adds and Mary's heart flutters, "I'll probably wear that one."

"Mary Barnes, right?" Natalie asks, "She was your godmother?"

Mary can hear Tony pause, she knows her godson is trying to figure out how to respond. "Rogers- Barnes. She hyphened it the moment she could." Tony corrects his assistant, "Always wanted a part of her family with her." Mary peeks her eyes past the wall to see her son fixing his tie in the mirror. She wanted to fix it for him, but with Natalie present, she couldn't without drawing unwanted questions.

"She must be special to you." Natalie comments.

"She raised me. I love my mother, but Mary, Mama Ree as Rhodey and I called her. She was the one who raised me." Tony states quietly, then looks over at Natalie, "I should just cancel the party, huh?" He asks suddenly, sitting down on the sofa as Natalie walks over to him with a drink for him.

"Probably." She responds.

"Yeah. Cause it's, umm.."

"Ill-timed?"

"Right, sends the wrong message." Tony says and Natalie sits down on the arm of the chair in front of him.

"Inappropriate." She says as she holds out the ointment to apply to his black eye, but Tony stops her, shocking Mary slightly.

"You know the rule. Only Liz takes care of me." He states, taking the ointment from her, then looks over at the wall where the hallway connects, "Liz.. Can you stop eavesdropping and come put this ointment on my face?" He quips quietly. Mary softly walks into the room, her hands clasped in front of herself.

"How'd you know-"

"Because i know you." Tony states, causing Mary to look down at her shoes, smiling softly. Her hair was curled and pinned, framing her face the way Tony remembered as a little boy. It warmed his heart.

Natalie watches the two, then looks at the drink, "Is that dirty enough for you?" She asks her boss.

Mary walks over to her godson, sitting down beside him on the sofa. Tony greets her by taking her hand in his, kissing her temple as he looks up at his assistant, watching her then sighs, "I gotta say, it's hard to get a read on you. Where are you from?" He asks as Mary begins to apply the ointment to his eye carefully.

"Legal." Natalie responds.

"Can i ask you a question, hypothetically?" Tony asks, "Bit odd." He adds, then glances at his godmother, hesitating as he debates whether or not to ask the question in front of his beloved Mama Ree. "If this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?" Tony asks.

Mary's eyes widen slightly as her hand freezes where she was applying the ointment, "Tony?" She questions and all her godson does is grip her hand.

Natalie pauses before answering, then smirks slightly, "I'd do whatever i wanted to do, with whoever i wanted to do it with." She answers then stands up, walking out of the room, leaving Mary and Tony alone.

Tony looks at his godmother, and all he sees is the reaction he expected from her. "When were you going to tell me, Anthony?" She snaps. "That you were dying?"

"I just couldn't find the right moment.."

"Bullcrap." Mary snaps, "Do not give me that crap, Anthony." She states, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she'd be all alone, "You- you promised me!"

Tony wraps his arms around Mary tightly, trying to calm her down before she goes into a full blown panic attack. "I should've told you, you're right." He says, just wanting to calm her down, "I didn't tell you because i couldn't handle this reaction. I can't see you like this, Mama Ree. I never wanted you to lose anyone else."

"I'm already losing you!" Mary exclaims quietly, "And you never told me!" Tony doesn't say anything, there's nothing he can say that will make it up to his godmother. So all he does in hold her tightly in his arms until she's calmed down. "We were suppose to do this together, T." She says quietly, "How can i help you if you don't let me in."

"Never again will i hide anything from you, Mama Ree. I promise."

"Swear it."

"On what?"

"On my daughter. Swear that you'll never hide something this important to me on Becca's life." Mary says softly, shocking Tony. His godmother rarely mentioned her lost daughter. He knew this was serious to her, just as it was to him.

"Alright." He mutters, taking in a deep breath and looking at her in her hazel eyes that always calmed him when life was hard. "I swear on Rebecca Sofia Barnes's life, that i will never hide things from you ever again."

"Better."

Tony kisses Mary's forehead softly, "Good."

Hours later, the party was raging hard and Mary was left alone by her drunk godson. It was his birthday and she wanted him to enjoy his party, but not like this. He had taken what Natalie said and did what he wanted, with who he wanted. So there he was, on the stage where the DJ stood, fully dressed in his Iron Man suit. The godmother looked around for any familiar face, breathing a sigh of relief when she spots Pepper.

"Pepper!" Mary exclaims over the loud, booming music. The two embrace briefly, then walk away from the crowd of people surrounding Tony. When they exit the main room, they find Rhodey, "Rhodey." She greets, her godson's best friend wraps his arm around Mary's waist to keep her close to him for protection.

"Hey, Liza, Pepper." Rhodey says loud enough for them to hear.

"I'm- I'm going to get some air." Pepper says.

"What's wrong?" Rhodey asks curiously. He had only just arrived, so he didn't know what Tony had become during his party.

The two women lead Rhodey to the main room, and motion with their hands, "We don't know what to do." Mary says.

Rhodey groans as he looks at his best friend, "You gotta be kidding me." He grumbles as Tony stumbles off the stage, crashing into glass shelving in his Iron Man suit. "That's it.. i'm making-"

Pepper grabs Rhodey's arm, stopping him, "No, no, no. Don't call anyone."

"Pepper, Liza. This is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck for this guy." Rhodey snaps, pointing at Tony with anger lacing his words. He was pissed with his best friend for how he was acting.

Mary places her hands on his chest, stopping him from acting on his emotions before thinking clearly on what to do. "I know. I know. I get it." She murmurs, "We're going to handle it, okay?" Mary says, "Just let us handle it." She states, motioning to her and Pepper.

Rhodey nods, still pissed, but slowly calming down, "Handle it. Or i'm gonna have to." He states to them as the two women walk off to try and tame the wild Stark.

Mary visibly cringes when Tony holds onto the microphone as she and Pepper make their way to him, "You know the question i get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?'" He says, and Mary is horrified when Tony closes his eyes, his face contorting briefly as he grunts, "Just like that." He states.

The crowd cheers for him as Pepper and Mary walk onto the stage. Pepper grabs the mic from Tony as he giggles, "Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" Pepper asks the crowd. The large group of people in turn cheer for him more.

Tony leans into Pepper, still giggling like a child, "I love you." He comments to the strawberry blonde woman. Mary's eyes widen as she tries to grab hold of her godson, helping him stand upright.

"Unbelievable!" Pepper says, faking her enthusiasm, "Thank you so much. Tony we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say goodnight right now, and thank you all for coming."

Tony's eyes widen, "No, no no. Wait wait. We didn't have the cake. We didn't blow out the candles." He says, looking over at Mary, "Tell her we still need to have the cake." He pleads childishly with his godmother.

"T, you're out of control. Trust Pepper on this one, okay?" Mary tells her godson.

"You're out of control." He quips back.

Mary rolls her hazel eyes, "It's time for bed. It's time." She states.

Tony groans, then turns back to Pepper, leaning dangerously close to her face with his own, "Give me another smooch."

"You're not going to be happy about this." Pepper states under her breath as Tony leans in even more.

"Come on, you know you want to."

"You. Just. Peed. In. The. Suit."

"I know. It has a filter system-"

"It's not sexy."

"-you could drink that water." Mary cringes at Tony trying to force himself on Pepper, but she knows her friend. Pepper wouldn't back down. She places her hand on her godson's armored shoulder, he turns to look at his godmother, smiling lopsided at her, "Hey Ma- Liza." He corrects himself.

"Hi, T. Just send everybody home, okay? It's time to.." Mary trails off, the hundreds of eyes staring at her making her uncomfortable and Tony takes notice.

"If you say so." He says.

"Okay. I'll take this-" Mary says as she takes the alcohol bottle from his armored hand, "-you take that." She states as Pepper hands him the microphone.

Tony holds the mic up to his lips, beginning to address the crowd, "Pepper Potts and Elizabeth Bryne." He states, and the crowd claps haphazardly. "They're right. The party's over." He states, walking off the stage and into the crowd, "Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after party starts in fifteen minutes!" He announces. Mary and Pepper exchange glances at each other. They did what they could without making any more of a scene. "And if anyone, Pepper and Liza, doesn't like it, there's the door." He adds, motioning to the door and a repulser blast goes off accidentally. Mary jumps in shock and fear, making her way over to Pepper. The glass that was blasted shatters instantly, while the rest falls to the ground in pieces. The drunken crowd cheers in excitement and Tony revels in the newfound love from the random people at his birthday party.

Mary and Pepper look across the room at Rhodey as one woman throws a bottle into the air and Tony releases another repulser blast. Pepper grabs onto Mary and they duck for cover from the glass that's now flying in the air. "We need to get off the stage." Mary says to Pepper and the woman nods as Tony fires at another glass bottle. It shatters instantly upon contact and the crowd screams in excitement.

Tony releases his arc reactor and Mary knows he's done it. She and Pepper hold onto each other as Rhodey's voice is loud and clear in everyone's ears. "I'm only gonna say this once." He addresses the crowd, dressed in his own Iron Man suit, "Get out." He snaps as the face mask closes over his face. The large crowd scatters instantly at the thought of an Iron Man fight breaking out. Rhodey begins to stalk towards Tony, clearly pissed off. "You don't deserve to wear one of these. Shut it down!" He shouts.

Tony holds the microphone up to his lips, "Goldstiene." He says, calling for the DJ.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

Tony giggles as he responds, "Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy's ass to." He states as the DJ turns on Another One Bites the Dust by Queen.

Rhodey wraps his arms around Tony from behind, "I told you to shut it down." He snaps, Tony smirks like a child as his face mask closes and his jet boots power up, sending him and Rhodey both across the room and into the walls behind them. They smash through a glass wall leading into the gym as they tumble apart. Tony lands on his feet while Rhodey is on his stomach. Mary's eyes widen in terror as she steps over the broken glass as carefully as she can.

"Boys! Please don't do this!" She shouts in attempt to stop them from destroying the house Mary have spend a majority of her life in. The life she had shared with Howard and Maria. The life she had spent raising her precious godson. Her Tony.

Tony ignores his godmother as he steps around Rhodey, "Now, put that thing back where you found it before someone gets hurt." He teases as he makes to exit the gym. But Rhodey throws the boxing bell at Tony's head and Mary knows nothing she says will change the fact that her two boys are fighting because of her godson's stupidity. Before long, the two men had destroyed the gym and Rhodey had forced Tony through the ceiling. Mary took this as her chance to escape the fighting and find Pepper again.

"Pepper!"

"Natalie!"

"Miss Potts." Natalie says as she rushes over to the CEO and Doctor.

"Don't you "Miss Potts" me! I'm onto you." Pepper snaps as Mary grabs onto her arm.

"Pep, we have to leave." Mary says, trying to get her friend out of the house that would most likely be destroyed soon. Tony and Rhodey crash through the ceiling, Pepper and Mary screaming at the scene unfolding in front of them.

Happy pushes through the crowd that still lingers to watch the fight, rushing towards the two woman caught in the crossfire of the fight, "Pepper! Elizabeth!" He shouts in panic. He grabs onto both of them, ushering them to leave the house, but Mary refuses when she sees the state of her godson. Tony and Rhodey throw punches back and forth, completely destroying the living room. Tony throws Rhodey into the DJ table, stopping the music abruptly. Soon after, Tony scares away the remaining crowd, the only person left is Mary.

Rhodey stands up, holding up his gloved hand, firing up his repulser as Tony lifts his own, "Put your hand down." He snaps.

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony snaps.

"We don't have to do this, Tony."

"You wanna be the War Machine? Take your shot."

"Put it down!"

"You gonna take a shot?"

"Put it down!"

"No!" Tony shouts, both repulsers going off.

"Drop it, Tony!"

"Take it!"

Mary is stunned into shock when the repulsers collide, her eyes are wide in fear in the realization that she wouldn't be able to find cover fast enough to avoid the blast radius. Tony sobers up enough to realize the his godmother would be killed if he didn't shield her from the blast. He dives for her, shielding her as much as he can as the blast destroys the living room of the Malibu Mansion. Both godmother and godson are knocked unconscious when the blast hits them.

Tony's suit powers back up as he cradles his godmother in his arms, her hair is loose and disheveled, not like the way she had pinned it before the party. His eyes scanned her body for any injuries, her emerald dress was torn at the skirt slightly and was covered in dirt and sheet rock. He never wanted her to be caught in the middle of his fights as Iron Man, yet here she was. When he looks up, he spots Rhodey standing where the glass walls would be. Both of them know the damage they'd caused, not just to the house, but to their decades long friendship.

"I never wanted her to get hurt." Rhodey says quietly.

"Neither did I." Tony responds solemnly as he holds his godmother close, watching Rhodey take off in the silver Iron Man suit, leaving Tony alone with his unconscious godmother.

When Mary came to, she was in different clothing than when she remembered. She was in clothes from back at the mansion, a pair of her favorite jeans, one of Tony's Black Sabbath shirts, and a pair of her converse. She sits up but realizes she's not on any bed or couch. When she opens her eyes, she takes in her surroundings. Mary wasn't anywhere she recognized, but she knew who she was with. Her godson. She looked over at him, his helmet was off and seated in front of him as he was reclined, sunglasses on his face as he ate a donut.

"Tony.."

"Oh gosh, Mama Ree. You had me worried that you weren't going to wake up soon." Tony says, holding out a donut for her to take from the box he had.

"Where.. are we?"

"A donut shop, i don't really know where. I just needed to get out of the house, and i wasn't going to leave you alone after how badly i messed up." Tony replies, Mary could tell he looked ashamed about the damage he caused to their relationship, he always did. But she couldn't tell if he was sorry about the other things that went down the previous night.

Mary took the donut from her godson, smiling at it slightly, but when she took in just where they were seated and eating their breakfast, she was more than panicked, "T.. why are we in a giant donut.." She says as she tries not to move around too much, not wanting to fall off.

"Cause the shop was closed and i wanted to eat donuts." He quips back like it's the most obvious answer. The two continue to eat donuts out of the box Tony had acquired when a voice calls out for Tony.

"Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut." The voice says, and Mary's eyes widen in shock and glee. She hadn't seen her friend, Nick, in a long time it felt like. They had a lot of things to catch up on. "And kindly, would you please remove my boss from the donut as well?" Nick quips, causing Mary to chuckle. She was still technically Fury's boss, being one of the Co-Founders of Shield, but the world didn't need to know that.

Tony pulls his sunglasses down to the bridge of his nose, looking Nick over as Mary finished her donut. "Tony, do as he says, okay?" She says as Nick walks into the donut shop. Th godson groans, but nods, still hungover from his birthday party.

Mary is seated beside Nick in the booth because Tony still hadn't taken his armor off, and Tony sitting in a booth with the Iron Man suit on took up the whole seat. She sipped her coffee as Nick reclined his arm across the back of the booth, both men felt protective of her, especially when she had a deep bruise on her forehead and arms from the night before.

"I told you, i didn't want to join your super secret boy band." Tony quips to Nick.

Nick smirks, chuckling under his breath at the man in front of him, "No, no, no. See, i remember, you do everything yourself." He quips back, taking a sip of his own coffee, "How's that working out for you?"

"Not well." Mary states, then looks at Nick, "Can i be me? Or are your agents around?" She asks her close friend, she didn't want to keep up her appearance of Doctor Bryne right now, she didn't have it in her to keep up the lie. She just wanted to be herself for once in a blue moon without the eyes of the public on her.

Nick looks at his boss, smiling softly, "I have a few agents stationed outside, one might pop in, but they've been sworn to never tell anyone if they over hear anything. You're safe, Mary."

The woman sighs in relief as she leans back in the booth, smiling softly, "Thank you." She mumbles, then looks at her godson, "T?" He was being awfully quiet at the moment.

Tony stammers, his sunglasses perched on his face to drown out the light. He goes to take a sip from his coffee but puts the cup back down and stairs at Nick, "I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do i look at the patch or the eye?"

Mary laughs, "I've wondered about the too." She teases and Nick only smirks.

"Honestly, i'm a bit hungover. I'm not sure if you're real or if i'm having-"

"I am very real." Nick cuts Tony off, leaning across the table and looking at Tony, "I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet. Aside from your godmother."

Tony groans, "Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" He asks, turning his head away from Nick and Mary. The godmother gasps in shock when she sees the veins in Tony's neck reaching his chin almost.

"That's not looking so good." Nick states as he leans back into his chair.

"I've been worse." Tony responds tiredly.

Mary looks up when she hears footsteps, her eyes widening slightly to see Natalie in a Shield tact suit. She knew that the redhead wasn't from Legal, that she was working for Fury and Shield. Mary just didn't know why. "I've secured the perimeter but i don't think we should hold it for too much longer."

Tony's eyes widen and he flicks his head to drop his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose as he drinks his coffee, getting a good look at his assistant, "Huh! You're... fired." He grumbles and Mary watches Nick get the biggest grin on his face at the billionaire's reaction.

Natalie smirks at Tony, "That's not up to you." She states, pulling up a chair from an empty table and sits down.

"Tony, Liz, i want you to meet Agent Romanoff." Nick introduces. Her eyes widen slightly, she had heard from Nick about Agent Romanoff but hadn't ever had the chance to meet her.

"Hi." Tony and Mary say in unison, both a little in shock.

"I'm a Shield shadow. Once we knew you were ill, i was tasked to you by Director Fury." Romanoff states plainly. Mary looks at Fury, he knew he had gone behind her back doing this mission with Romanoff, but he had reasons of his own for not telling his boss that her godson was sick and close to dying.

Tony leans into his hand, looking at the agent, "I suggest you apologize." He quips.

Nick removes his arm from around Mary to get a better angle at looking at Tony, "You've been very busy." He states, "You made your girl CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. You're abandoning your godmother's wishes of what she wanted for you." He lists off, "Now, if i didn't know any better-"

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." Tony quips, "And don't you ever say i'm going against Mama Ree's wishes." He snaps under his breath, slightly pissed at the director for insinuating that he was going to leave Mary all alone.

Nick leans back in the booth, holding his hands up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" He asks dumbfounded. He turns to look at Mary, "Is that possible?" He asks her. But Mary doesn't have any motivation to speak at the moment, still in shock over what's being laid out on the table.

Romanoff steps into the conversation then, "Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." She states, and Nick looks back at Tony.

The godson scoffs, shaking his head, "What do you want from me?"

"What do we want from you? Uh-huh. What do you want from me?" Nick states as Romanoff leaves the shop, "You have become a problem, a problem for Mary that i now have to deal with." He snaps, "Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe." He adds Tony only being able to listen to Nick rip into him and Mary not stopping her friend, "I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." He snaps, then looks at Mary, "Hit him. Or he'll fight with Romanoff." He says as Agent Romanoff walks back into the shop, holding out a syringe for Mary.

Mary takes the syringe, looking at Nick, then at her godson, "It'll help him?" She asks.

"I wouldn't endanger him." Nick confirms, and that's all Mary needs as she reaches across the table and injects the syringe into his neck, shocking him as he recoils.

"Oh, gosh, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony groans as Mary sits beside her godson, making him look at her, her eyes widen as the veins in his neck begin to disappear. She looks at Nick who simply nods, Mary smiles in thanks then looks back at her godson as he continues to talk smack to Nick, "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?" He asks Nick.

"What did Liz just do for you?" Nick corrects him, "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

Tony nods slowly, "Give me a couple boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."

Mary shakes her head, now that she knows what she injected into her godson, her mind can better assess him. "It's not a cure, T, it just abates the symptoms."

Nick leans across the table, looking at Tony, "Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix."

Tony looks up, eyeing Nick, "Trust me, i know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination of every permutation of every known element." The genius snaps.

"Well, i'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all." Nick states in reply, "And now that.." He trails off, waving Agent Romanoff away, the three watch her exit the room before he continues, "Now that Mary knows how to help you, how to properly help, she can. You've been keeping her out of your problems, keeping her at a distance."

"It stops. Today." Mary cuts in. "Do you hear me, Anthony Edward?"

Tony nods, looking at his godmother like he used to as a child when he knew he was in trouble with her, "Help me." He mumbles, and this time, Mary truly knows he's asking for her help.

When Nick, Tony and Mary are back at the mansion, Mary fully understand what happened between Tony and Rhodey. The three sit in the destroyed living room, agents scattered around the perimeter as the continue their conversation they had at the donut shop. "That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Nick says softly.

Tony shakes his head, he had changed out of his Iron Man suit into one of his robes. Mary was still in the clothes Tony had changed her into when she was passed out. "No, it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until i miniaturized it and put it in my.." Tony motions to his chest as he trails off.

Mary, who sits in between the two men, shakes her head, "T, i was there when Howard invented it. He said the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater." She states, her forearms leaning on her thighs, her hair in a loose pony tail falls to one side of her shoulder. "He was about to kick off an energy race that was going to dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big, something so big that it was going to make the nuclear reactor look like a.."

"Triple A battery." Nick states, Mary nodding in agreement.

Tony pours himself some sparkling water and for his godmother, handing her a glass, looking between his godmother and her close friend, "Just him, or was Anton Vanko in on this too?" He asks.

Mary hesitates, looking at Nick for assistance, "Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin." He explains for his boss. She had only heard of Anton a handful of times. Howard never spoke about him around her when he was alive. "Anton saw it as a way to get rich."

Mary nods in agreement, "When your father found out, he had him deported." She states, "I remember that vividly."

"When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia and spent the next twenty years in a vodka-fueled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco." Nick finishes the story for the two, looking at Tony, waiting for his response.

Tony looks between his godmother and Nick, "You told me i hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven't tried everything? What haven't i tried?"

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Mary says to her godson and Tony raises an eyebrow, not believing what he's hearing.

"He said that?"

"Yes." The godmother answers, taking Tony's hand into her own.

"Are you that guy? Hmm? Are you? 'Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart." Nick states, leaning forward, looking at Fury intensely.

"I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan." Tony says solemnly.

Mary moves to sit beside him, wrapping her arms around his arm, his hand moving to her knee, squeezing it in reassurance, "What do you remember about your dad?" She asks him.

Tony shakes his head, "He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you both are telling me he said the whole future was riding on me, and he's passing it down. I. don't. get. that." He states enunciating each word to make his point, "You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

Nick shakes his head, "That's not true."

"Well, then clearly you knew my dad better than i did." Tony remarks.

Mary nods, smiling softly, "As a matter of fact, he did. Howard was one of the founding members of Shield." She explains as agents bring a metal crate around and set it in front of Nick.

"What?" Tony asks in shock, looking at Mary, "You never told me this."

"I never thought it was necessary for you to know. You never want to hear anything about your father." Mary points out as Nick stands up.

"I have a two o' clock." He states.

"Wait, wait, wait. What's this?" Tony scrambles, standing up with Nick and Mary, looking the crate over in confusion.

"Okay, you're good right?"

"No, i'm not good."

"You got this, right?"

"Got what? I don't even know what i'm supposed to get." Tony stammers.

Mary looks over, seeing Phil Coulson again for the first time in a while. She and him exchange waves as she says goodbye to Fury, hugging him. "I'll help him." She whispers to her friend.

"I know you will. That's why i know he's good." Nick says, then looks at Tony, "Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?" He states as he puts his jacket back on.

"Yeah.." Tony trails off.

"Oh, and Tony, remember. I got my eye on you." Fury says, hugging Mary again before walking off. Natasha steps forward, drawing Mary and Tony's attention.

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." She states before walking off.

Mary looks around, then at Phil, smiling softly at him. She had thought about telling him her secret, letting him in her inner circle of the people that knew, but she wasn't sure she could trust him just yet. Tony looked over at Phil, "Please. First thing, i need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab." He states, walking towards the agent Mary had grown to like. "If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice." Tony rambles.

Phil shakes his head, "I'm not here for that. I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises that does not bring harm to Doctor Bryne. If you attempt to leave, or play any games. I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?" Coulson states without any hints of remorse, causing Mary to laugh under her breath.

Tony nods solemnly, "I think i got it, yeah."

Coulson smirks, "Enjoy your evening's entertainment." He states, briefly saying goodbye to Mary before walking out of the room. Tony and Mary both look at each other then over at the crate the agents had left for Tony.

Property of H. Stark it read on the top of the crate.

"I don't think i've ever seen that before." Mary says softly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you and my dad were founders of Shield. I knew you were. But him?" Tony asks as he lifts the crate into his arms, starting to walk down to his lab.

"I was waiting for him to tell you, but he never did. And so i thought he didn't want you to know. I never understood why, but that's why i didn't tell you. Peggy was the other Co-Founder. The three of us based out of the SSR and went from there." Mary explains as she follows her godson.

Tony only nods, not really wanting to hear anything more until her finds out what's inside the crate. When he sets it down, he unlatches the locks, lifting the lid up. Inside the crate was blueprints for the very first Arc Reactor that Anton Howard designed. The godson opens up the prints, looking them over quickly before setting them down on the ground. He pulls out an old newspaper about Vanko. He sets that aside then pulls out old files and pictures, unveiling rolls of film. Mary sits down beside Tony as he find the right player to show the film. When the film begins to play, Mary is taken back to her past. She remembers Howard recording the film they're watching.

"Everything is achievable through technology." Howard says on the film. Tony leans back in his chair, flipping through the notebook he had found. "Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace." He states, moving around his miniature model on the table behind him, "I'm Howard Stark, and everything you'll need for the future can be found right here." He states, but trails off, "City of the Future? City of Tomorrow? City of.." he trails off, walking back to his place in front of the table then walking back, "I'm Howard Stark, and everything you'll need for the future can be found right here." He restates, Mary laughs lightly when she sees Tony's head pop up on the film, playing with his father's model, "So, from all of us at Stark Industries, i would like to personally.." he trails off as he looks over, seeing Tony playing with the model. "Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that? Put that back." Howard states, "Put it back where you got it from." He says more firmly, making Mary cringe. Kid Tony puts the model back as Howard calls for Maria, "Where's your mother? Maria?"

Tony and Mary watch the film play out, Mary appears in the film, not looking any younger than she does now. She picks her godson up in her arms, planting kisses all over his face. The two watch Mary on the film bicker with Howard, "You could stand to be kinder to him, Howard. He's a child." Mary on the film snaps at her friend. "All he wants is your attention."

"I don't have the time, Ree. You give him enough attention as it is." Howard snaps back.

"Because you don't." Mary snaps again, clearly pissed off as one of Howard's assistant's tries to escort the two out of his office but she rips her arm away from the man, "Don't touch me. I know my way out." She snaps at the assistant, exiting the room.

Mary shifts beside Tony on the couch, "I did what i could.." she mumbles to him.

Tony looks over at his godmother, "I didn't realize the two of you fought over me.."

"I fought for you since the moment you were placed in my arms at the hospital." Mary remembers, "You were my spitfire, still are. You became my life and i wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of you being happy."

Tony faintly smiles at his godmother's words, then looks back at the screen, the film still rolling. "I think we got-" Howard is cut off as the film jumps around and then Howard appears on the screen again, drink in his hand. He talks to his filming crew as he finishes his drink. The film jumps again but Mary looks at some of the pictures Howard had stored in the crate. Tony flips through another page in his father's notebook until he turns up a blank page, looking past it to find more blank pages. He sets the notebook down as the film changes again, only Howard's still in his office, but in different clothing as he leans his backside against the table. "Tony?" Howard says in the film, shocking Mary and Tony both as they set their drinks down on the table to watch, "You're too young to understand this right now, so i thought i would put it on film for you." Mary's friend gestures to what's behind him, "I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future." The film pans around the models of the Stark Expo on Howard's table, "I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world." Howard says with a tone of voice Mary hadn't heard from him since when he was Becca's Uncle Howie. It made her heart sore knowing that the man she thought of as her brother was still there. Even if she didn't know it then. "What is and always will be my greatest creation, is you." Howard finishes and the film stops.

Mary wipes her eyes with her fingers as she looks over at her godson. "Are you okay?"

Tony looks at his godmother in shock, nodding slowly, "I will be. But first i need to fix a few things." He mutters, "You said we'd do this together, right?"

Mary nods, "I did."

"But this is something i have to do by myself. I need to fix what i've broken."

"I know you do. And i'm so proud of you." She says softly, wrapping her arms around her godson tightly. The next morning, Tony left to fix his relationship with Pepper. Mary told him to start with her first. He had found his father's old model of the layout of Stark Expo and brought it back with him to his lab. He and Mary put it back together and he went to work with Jarvis. He found what Howard had left him. The plans to finish the Arc Reactor.

Tony got to work, building what he needed to do what he needed to do. Mary helping where she could by handing him tools and fitting into the tight spaces only her tiny frame could fit. They both are distracted when Coulson enters the lab, "I heard you broke the perimeter." Coulson says, drawing their attention to him.

"Uh, yeah. That was like, three years ago. Where you been?" Tony quips as Coulson walks around the equipment to get to them.

"I was doing some stuff."

"Yeah, well, me, too, and it worked." Tony states, "Hey, i'm playing for the home team, Coulson, you and all your Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Now, are you gonna let me work or break my balls?" He asks as Coulson looks around, then pulls out a dismantled metal, red, white and blue shield with a silver star in the center. When Mary turns around, her eyes widen in shock.

"What's this doing here?" Phil asks, raising the prop in the air.

Her hazel eyes dart between Tony and Coulson as she stands there in shock, the tools she had in her hands fall to the ground, "Steve?" She mumbles in disbelief.

Tony wraps his arm around Mary's shoulders, kissing her temple in comfort as he looks over at Coulson and what he's holding, "That's it. Bring that to me." He states, standing in shock as well as the puzzle pieces fit into place in his mind.

"You two know what this is?" Phil asks as he hands Tony the shield prop, and Mary nods slowly.

"It's exactly what i need to make this work." Tony states, holding it in his hands, testing it, "Lift the coil." He tells Coulson. The agent lifts the coil and Tony slips the shield in between. When Coulson sets the coil back down, Tony reaches behind him and places a level on top of the coil, "Perfectly level." He states under his breath, "I'm busy. What do you want?"

Coulson shakes his head in disbelief, realizing that only Mary had known what the shield meant. "Nothing." He answers, "Goodbye. I've been reassigned."

Mary and Tony raise their eyebrows in shock, "Huh?" They say in unison.

"Director Fury wants me in New Mexico." Coulson says, looking at Mary slightly.

"Fantastic. Land of Enchantment."

"So i'm told."

"Secret stuff?"

"Something like that." The two men clasp hands, saying their goodbyes, "We need you."

Tony nods, a small smile on his lips, "Yeah, more than you know."

"Not that much." Coulson finishes. As he moves to leave, he stops, looking back at Mary and Tony, "The Director wanted to know if Doctor Bryne could come with me to New Mexico. Said she could be of use to the people there."

Mary's eyes widen as she looks at the agent in shock, "Me?" She asks dumbfounded. "What could i do?"

"Yeah, why does he want her? She's mine." Tony states childishly, pointing between both of them with his wrench.

"Like you said, secret stuff." Coulson states, "But he said you'd be a valuable asset to the mission, should you choose to come with."

The hazel eyed Doctor looks at her godson, and he looks at her in return. He didn't want her to leave him, but he knew that if she could be helpful elsewhere, then she should go. He sets the wrench down and wraps his arms around his godmother tightly, "Go, but come back to me in one piece, alright?" He tells her.

Mary smiles, nodding, "I'll bring back a souvenir for you." She teases, kissing his cheek as she hugs him tightly. When they're done saying goodbye, she steps under the coils, walking towards Coulson. "So! What's in New Mexico?" She asks as they leave the lab, Mary glancing back at her godson as he watches her leave. Tony had a large smile on his face as he watched his godmother leave to do what she loved doing best, taking care of others.

Coulson smiled softly as he pulled a file out of his suit jacket, handing it to her, "You're privileged to more information than i am, so this is for you." He states as he climbs into the driver's seat of his car, "Anything i need to know about you more than what's on your file at Shield, Doctor Bryne?"

Mary sits down in the passenger seat, buckling herself into the seat, "Can you keep a secret?" She asks.

"Does Director Fury know this secret?"

"Yes, and Tony and only a select few others."

"I'll keep your secret, Doctor Bryne, you have my word."

Mary nods as Coulson speeds off from the mansion, "How well do you know Nurse Rogers?" She asks.

"Captain America's sister? I know a great deal. Mary Elizabeth Rogers-Barnes. Married to Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes and a Co-Founder of Shield. Godmother to Tony Stark." Coulson lists off facts about Mary.

The doctor nods slowly, smiling softly, "I'm glad you know so much about me." She teases, "Helps ease the process of telling you that i'm not Doctor Bryne. That that's only my cover name for the public. That i'm really Mary Rogers-Barnes, sister of Steven Grant Rogers. My husband really is James Barnes. We had a daughter, Becca Barnes, but she was taken from me when she was five in 1950."

All Coulson can do is drive with a blank expression on his face. His idol and hero's sister was sitting beside him in the same car. How, he had no idea, and he had many questions piling in his mind. "How-"

"Serum." Mary says, already knowing his questions, "Schmidt injected me with a serum that stunted my aging. I've been twenty three for almost seventy years." She adds.

Coulson whistles in shock and awe at the woman beside him, "And you've been Doctor Elizabeth Bryne for how long?"

"A good while. I don't like giving dates." She states, "We can discuss more later, but i'm glad someone aside from Tony and Fury know. I don't like hiding who i truly am if i can help it."

Coulson nods, understanding as much as he can, "I'm glad you felt that you could trust me enough to reveal something that big."

Mary smiles as she rolls down the window of her side of the car, her hair whipping in the wind, "Me too, Phil, me too."