Tony had woken up Monday morning even more exhausted than he had been the day before. He knew it was mostly worry over his arc reactor (at least Maria's worry transferring to him).

So that he could get it out of the way early, he had contacted his close friend Jane Foster instead. He knew she was busy with other endeavours, but she was the only one he trusted to assist him with the tests he had promised Maria he would run on his arc reactor. He could still remember how frustrated and worried she had been when she realized he'd known about it all day and hadn't told her. Tony didn't like seeing her upset, so he was doing everything he could to rectify his error.

Jane had met him in the office, which was thankfully empty save for a few people, and they had run every test either of them could think of to make sure the node was safe and not a threat to his well being. It had taken hours for them to make sense of it all, but the important thing was that the condition that warranted the device in the first place had not returned with it. The benefits of it seemed to be present, as he had been able to hear the clack of Jane's shoes on the floor quite some time before she had entered the lab to greet him. Unless the power ran out, it didn't seem there was much harm in the arc reactor, and that had come as a huge relief to him.

Knowing that there wasn't an immediate threat, he was happy to go about the last few hours of his day - responding to e-mails, mostly - until a particular one from his wife caught his attention.

"Dave is one of us. Come to my office."

And so, without a clue of what he was getting himself into, Tony strolled over to his wife's office a few doors down. It had been Tony that had first brought up the possibility Dave was one of them. Given that most important people in their lives seemed to be involved one way or the other, it only made sense. Maria was worried that he might be a Hydra spy, and Tony almost wished that was a possibility the minute Dave walked through the door.

"Dad?" he had said immediately. Something about seeing him in person as Tony had been what had made him realize this man was his father - his father that was seven years younger than he was. In a way, it was logical given Howard Stark had died in a car crash when Tony was just 21 years old. The look of confusion on both of their faces was obvious, and he very nearly didn't hear their friend Victoria - Peggy Carter - enter the room and shout out a similar sentiment of surprise.

There was so much that had been left unsaid before his father had passed, so much that he had to tell him. The weird thing was all Tony could think about was how he wished it was his mother instead. It was a cruel thought, but there was a lot less baggage where Maria Stark was concerned.

"You were dead. I was at your funeral. Twice," he said, the twice referring to the passing of August Bergmen's father, also named Howard.

Luckily for his sanity, Howard was just as reluctant to talk to his son as his son was to talk to him. When the opportunity arose, Tony excused himself by saying, "I need air," and leaving the room. He went straight to his office and hoped no one would follow.

A few hours later, Maria came knocking. Given her appearance, he assumed she was ready to go home. Tony, as usual, pretended everything was fine. In most cases, where Maria was concerned, things were fine.

"What should we order for dinner?" he asked her as he settled into his coat and took her hand to walk with her to the elevator. "Pizza and Chinese?" Tony laughed at her answer but didn't question it, offering to order the Chinese while she took care of the pizza. After the day he'd had, nothing seemed more ideal than relaxing with bad food and spending time with his wife.

He would talk more to his father the next day. Maybe.