Chương 10: Uncle Tony

Mason stared at his reflection in the mirror, carefully adjusting his suit. Now that he no longer looked like a scrawny kid, the suit actually suited him. His square shoulders, strong jaw, and confident look made him look like a dashing young man rather than a kid dressed in his father's clothes. As he tightened his tie, someone spoke behind him, "You look good, kiddo. Almost didn't recognize you." Mason looked into the mirror, and there, standing at the door of his hotel room, was one Tony Stark.

Or should he call him Iron Man, considering the day's context? Pulling slightly on his tie, Mason greeted, "That's because I'm a changed man." he turned around, staring at him as he smiled, "Uncle Tony." Tony's smile brightened at the familiar form of address, and the two exchanged a quick hug before Mason asked, "Nervous?" Tony scoffed at that, breaking the hug.

"They're not the first greedy parasites I'm dealing with," he grabbed Mason by the shoulders, giving him a good look as he added, "Honestly, I'm more curious about you right now. I feel like you went through a bigger change than I did back in Afghanistan!" His hands pressed on his shoulders, questioning, "Is that actual muscle I'm feeling here?" Mason swatted his hands aside with a scoff, "I'm not the one flying around in a suit of armor. I am working on myself, not some outrageously expensive toy."

"You do realize we are here because the government considers this 'toy' a weapon, right?"

"Like they know what they're talking about." Tony laughed, and after a moment, Mason looked at the room opposite his and asked, "Did you speak with Elena yet?" Tony's smile dropped, his face turning more contemplative, and Mason could swear he saw a trace of fear in there as he muttered in a barely audible voice, "Not yet, no. Not sure she wants to speak to me. Not sure I can blame her, either."

"She will. After all, you are a changed man, armor or not, aren't you?" Tony sighed, knowing he had no choice but to address the issue. It had all started back when Old Mason was a child. Tony and Mason's father, Eric Tunt, were long-time friends, enough for Mason and his siblings to call him 'Uncle Tony' despite the lack of blood relation. They saw him a lot as children, and Elena in particular had started idolizing him.

Audrey had been too young to really understand how exceptional Tony was, and Mason had never shared that much with him. His older sister, on the contrary, had always been gifted. She was only 22, but she had already earned her doctorate from ESU, and beyond that, she had been tinkering with machines for about as long as Mason could remember. Considering Mason remembered his birth, she had been doing it for a while.

However, because they had been children, they had only ever known an 'innocent' version of Tony, the PG-13 vision of him. Then, they grew up, and they were exposed to the more unsavory parts of his personality. The Merchant of Death. The irresponsible playboy. There had never been any big confrontation, and Old Mason had been blind to most of it, but Elena and Tony's relationship strained with time, until they started avoiding each other. Finally, there came Iron Man.

Everything Elena hated about Tony, he had changed, cast away. Elena might not have said anything, but Mason knew it meant a lot to her, and they had never gotten to speak about it, since Tony had not visited them in a while. Understandably, too, considering all the changes he had sparked in his company in the last year. This senate hearing represented the perfect opportunity for them to speak, and the two were being uncharacteristically shy about it.

So, Mason decided to push things into gear and knocked at the door across from his, calling out, "Audrey! Come here a sec." There was some shuffling inside, which Mason easily picked up on thanks to his enhanced senses, and after a couple of seconds, the door was opened, revealing his two sisters. They were both dressed for the occasion, his little sister wearing a light blue robe, and Elena in a feminine suit. The whole family was present because Eric was there to represent Tony as his lawyer.

Of course, knowing Tony, he was going to want to do most of the talking himself, but Eric would be there to keep him in check and for the more tedious parts of the hearing. Meanwhile, Camille, as a high-ranking member of Stark Industries, naturally had to be present as well. So, the three siblings were there to support their parents. At the door, unlike her usual confident self, Elena had her head lowered, her expression just as complex as Tony's.

Placing one hand on Tony's shoulder and the other on the cheery Audrey's, he effortlessly switched their places, saying, "Now, children, make up. I'm taking the gremlin with me." Audrey tried her best to resist, grumbling, "I'm not a gremlin!" but Mason's grip was unnaturally strong, so she was forced to walk away with him, leaving Tony and Elena alone. As they reached the end of the corridor, Mason picked up on the two's faint voices, "The nerve of him." Elena agreed, "Little shit got more assertive."

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Mason smiled as the two already started bonding over the remarkable experience it was being close to him, and Audrey grunted, still being led away by Mason, "Drop me already, I wasn't going to stick around. You could have at least let me say hi!" Saying that, she pushed her head past Mason's form, waving at Tony, who waved back with an amused smile, before Mason dragged her around the corner.

He noticed as he was leaving that Tony did not dare to enter Elena's room, and that she was not walking out of it either, but he figured it would take time, and if they needed the open door between them to talk, then so be it. Inwardly marveling at the human psyche and its strange defence mechanisms, Mason set down his 15-year-old sister and noticed the heavy make-up under her eyes.

It had been applied perfectly; Audrey had always been good at it, but he still noticed it and guessed what it was hiding, so he asked, "How many hours of sleep did you get?" Finally freed, Audrey slapped his chest with little force, doing so to mark her point rather than hurt him, and said, "It's not because you're turning yourself into some Buddhist monk that you have to become a health guru as well. And have you considered how selfish you're being?

After all, what would my poor followers do if I didn't sacrifice some irrelevant sleep time to entertain them?" Mason gave her an unimpressed look, pointing out, "Or you could act like a normal person and do it during the day." She rolled her eyes like he had said something stupid, and Mason added, "You're not planning on filming the hearing, are you?" Audrey snorted as she looked away, as if offended by the question.

"I'm not an idiot; that's probably against the law… although I could probably film a vlog around Washington later today," she looked back at him, studying him as she added, "Why don't you come with me? It would probably boost my female viewership." Mason ruffled her hair forcefully, making her protest angrily that he was ruining her hair as he said, "Really? You want to use your brother as a thirst trap? Have you no shame?"

Audrey distanced herself from him, fixing her hair as she pouted, "No one wants to see your stupid face anyway…" Mason sighed, and after a moment, conceded, "If you behave, maybe I will come with you." Audrey's expression instantly turned smug, like she had tricked him, causing him to roll his eyes but say nothing as a woman approached them. She was a red-haired woman dressed in a sharp grey suit, carrying a folder under her arm as she obviously intended to speak to them.

Although this was Mason's first time seeing her, given the context and his meta-knowledge, he already knew who she was before she even introduced herself. Unaware of that, she stopped before them, beaming them a warm smile that clashed with her professional attire, "You must be Mason and Audrey. Mr. Stark told me about you." Audrey leaned towards Mason ever so slightly at the arrival of the stranger, looking at her with a certain level of distrust for some reason.

Mason ignored the little gremlin, shaking her hand as he pretended not to know who she was.

"Hi, yeah. I'm Mason, nice to meet you. And you must be his personal assistant?" Her smile turned more professional as she nodded, "Yes, my name is Virginia Potts. But that's a mouthful; you can just call me Pepper." Seeing Audrey was about to say something, something probably not very friendly, he patted the top of her head, pressing just hard enough to get her to complain instead, and smiled at the woman, "It must have been hard looking after Uncle Tony. I understand he lives a… let's say hedonistic life.

Not to mention the troubles from six months ago." Said troubles being the advent of Iron Man, of course. A look of faint exhaustion appeared on her face just thinking about it as she approved, "It was a trying time, yes. The response to him announcing to the world he is Iron Man also added quite a lot to my plate, but I am managing. I only wish he would be more proactive as CEO."

Seemingly realizing she might have said a little too much, she quickly moved the focus of the conversation back onto them, "What about you? I believe Audrey was still in high school, but what about you, Mason?" The question might have sounded like a passive-aggressive probe if said by someone else, but Mason did not think she was the kind of person to do so, so he replied truthfully, "I graduated this year, actually. I have been using this summer to work on myself though, and still haven't found a job."

Pepper did not react to the admission, having likely made her research already. Before she could say whatever was on her mind, though, Audrey suddenly placed herself between the two of them, narrowing her eyes at Pepper as she practically barked, "Don't you dare mock my brother for not having a job! He's doing a lot to become better!" The two adults were taken aback by the sudden outburst, something that embarrassed Audrey as she realized what she said.

Thankfully for her, Mason diffused the situation instantly, ruffling her hair as he reassured, "I'm sure Pepper was not about to, but thank you for defending my honor, charming knight." Audrey gave him a look of utter betrayal, like he had pushed her down a cliff, which might honestly have been better in her books compared to this humiliation before a stranger. All that was forgotten though, as Pepper chuckled lightly, adding, "No, of course not. It is very important to take care of oneself.

In fact, if you ask me, you are much better off taking your time than rushing in blindly. I did so myself, and I spent some miserable years before landing this job." Somehow, her honesty seemed to win over Audrey, who asked eagerly, "Really? What did you do before this?" Pepper considered whether to answer the question for a second, before shrugging, "After I got my BA in accounting, I spent a few months as a model, because I thought it would be an easy job. It was horrible.

Then, I found another job in accounting, but my boss was a creep, so I quit that too." Audrey scoffed at that, "And you're telling me Uncle Tony isn't flirting with you every day, Ms. Model?" Pepper laughed, shaking her head, "Believe it or not, but Mr. Stark has boundaries. And with him, I know for sure I was not promoted to my position for my looks, which is much more validating than you might think."

"See? People do always talk behind my back!" Pepper, who had been absorbed in their conversation, looked past Mason as she heard Tony's voice. Turning to look over his shoulder, Mason spotted Tony and Elena walking their way. Tony's words had clearly been intended for Elena, who smiled slightly. Their talk had been short, but it must have been fruitful, seeing them now.

Of course, years of awkward exchanges were not that easy to completely erase, so Elena still looked a little reserved, but it was miles better than what it used to be. This made Mason happy for her, since Tony had always meant a lot to her. Walking over to them, Tony gestured towards Pepper, his tone making it clear he was boasting as he asked, "Did she tell you the story of how she became my assistant?"

Pepper pursed her lips, her cheeks flushing a little, as she quietly intoned to Tony, "You don't need to tell everyone the story!" Tony royally ignored her, easily drawing them in by making wide gestures as he started telling them, "It was four years ago. I was in my office, doing CEO things, when she barged in. She was just an accountant by then, one among thousands, so I had no idea who she was."

Although blushing faintly, Pepper still corrected with her professional tone, "Technically, I was no longer an accountant by then." Tony laughed uproariously, "That's right! There was this meeting that day, and Pepper here," he vaguely gestured towards her, as if showing a prize, "interrupted the entire meeting to tell everyone she spotted a numerical error on a projection. Mind you, that was not her project, yet she spotted it with a single glance. But she was new, so they didn't believe her.

When she insisted, her boss even fired her!" Although it was Tony telling the story, Elena looked at Pepper with bright eyes as she asked, "What did you do then?" Even Audrey was interested in what was shaping up to be a 'Girl Boss' moment. Pepper did her best to remain calm, although even she was feeling a heat rise in her chest under the clear admiration. She explained, keeping it brief to move on, "I was convinced of my findings, so I went directly to Mr. Starks.

He listened to me and hired me as his personal assistant."

"Pepper!" Tony sounded outraged, "You are a terrible storyteller! Kids, listen here, Pepper did not just 'come to me'," he made air quotes, "she stormed into my office, and when my security tried to stop her, she threatened them with pepper spray!" Mason cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Is that where the nickname comes from?" Tony clicked his fingers, pointing one at Mason, "Exactly!

Anyway, she saved the company millions of dollars, so I hired her, fired the guy who fired her, and the company has thrived since then. An excellent choice on my part, wouldn't you say?" Elena rolled her eyes, although there was no real vitriol in her words.

"And somehow you managed to make it about you in the end." Tony was about to refute, but then Mason's parents arrived, alongside Tony's bodyguard, Happy Hogan. It was time for the hearing.