You Name it Baby

Chapter 6

Tony grumbled when JARVIS's voice pulled him out of his sleep.

He rolled over in the massive bed, crushing Samuel in the process. His hair was stuck up in every direction, and the pajamas he had gone to bed in had become all twisted.

"Jarvith don' you know I is s'eepin' 'ight now?" he mumbled, giving his best glare to the nearest camera.

"Young Sir, if you wish to spend the day watching your favourite movies you need to get up now, or you won't be able to get through the entire list." JARVIS said, sounding slightly amused.

Tony huffed, not wanting to admit that JARVIS was right. He crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom, but not before grabbing Samuel.

Tony scrambled onto the couch, curling up in one corner and cuddling Samuel close to him. He had the entire day off today, while he waited for Pepper to come back with the USB of Obadiah's files, and he planned to spend it being little right on this very couch. He had even made a sippy cup with juice all by himself, and he only spilled a little.

He had jumped out of bed this morning, excitement filling him with energy. He had peeled the soaked diaper off himself and quickly switched it for a fresh one. He hadn't bothered to take off the onesie he was wearing wanting to stay cozy in his pajamas all day.

"Jarvith?" Tony called out, lisping behind his captain america pacifier.

"Yes, young Sir?"

"Can 'ou p'ay d'agons?" he asked, already looking expectantly at the blank TV. He knew that JARVIS would know what he meant.

How to Train your Dragon began to play, Hiccup's voice filling the room. Tony grinned excitedly and settled down to watch his second favourite movie (his first obviously being The Emperor's New Groove.) He 'ooed' and 'ahhed' at all the right parts, gasping in horror when Hiccup almost died. What could be better than this?

..........

Tony ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last one in his haste to get down sooner. It was Christmas! His parents were out touring Rome, or something, so it would just be Tony and Jarvis; exactly the way they liked it.

His smile grew a mile wide when he reached the sitting room. It was beautifully decorated with an enormous fir tree sitting in the corner, sparkling and bright. A small pile of wrapped gifts lay under it, beckoning him to open them.

"Ah, Tony I was wondering if you would sleep right through Christmas!" Jarvis,-the real Jarvis, whom Tony's AI was named after- said, smiling at the ten year old boy in front of him. He was dressed in his butler uniform as usual, but had donned a red and white fluffy hat to mark the day.

Tony hugged him tightly, happy that he got to spend the best day of the year with his best friend and favourite person.

They settled together on the floor, Jarvis watching quietly as Tony unwrapped the presents from his parents first. His father had gotten him another tool set, and his mother a watch. He wrinkled his nose at the gifts and set them aside. Tony rolled his eyes at the business book Obadiah had gotten him. He knew Obie had only done that to get into Howard Stark's good books. Finally he got to open his gift from Jarvis. Tony tore open the plain brown paper, his curiosity going up a notch when he felt a smooth box underneath.

He shouted in excitement the second he realized what it was: the newest Captain America action figure! It wasn't supposed to come out for a few months! He stared in awe at the figurine; its face was very serious and ready for battle. It even came with a shield just like the real man. Tony loved Captain America-the one thing he and his father could agree upon. He had special sheets patterned with the shield, and had even created a prototype shield of his own out of iron last year. His father liked to tell him that the captain wouldn't like him, and he would think Tony was a "horrible waste of a boy", a thought that had driven Tony to tears until Jarvis told him that Captain America would love Tony if he met him. He would think he was even better than his father.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Tony yelled, hugging his friend with one arm, the other securely holding the precious toy.

"You deserve the world Tony." Jarvis said, cradling him to his chest.

..............

Tony jerked awake as a phone rang somewhere in the house.

He had fallen asleep on the couch, halfway through his fifth movie. Tony wiped the drool from his chin, his pacifier having fallen out and rollen onto the floor. He sat up groggily and reached for the phone lying on the coffee table.

Pepper was calling his house phone. He held it up to his ear and pressed answer.

"Hello? Tony?"

Tony couldn't answer. His entire body had seized up, freezing him with the phone pressed to his ear. The phone slipped from his hand, clattering onto the floor.

"Breathe." a voice said from behind him, guiding him to lie back down. Tony had no choice, his body would not obey his commands. Obie came into view showing him a small, silver device that Tony recognized.

"Ah Tony.....when I ordered the hit on you I was worried I was killing the golden goose." Obadiah smirked as he spoke he pulled a metal claw-like machine out a bag. Tony's eyes bulged, he felt his blood turn cold. Obie was going to take the arc reactor. His own creations were going to kill him and he could do nothing but lie here and watch it happen. He was trapped.

Obie carefully clamped the machine onto Tony's chest. There was a little whirring sound as it cut through the shirt he was wearing, and then he felt a lurch as it yanked on the reactor - his life source. He looked up at the man who was his father's best friend and then his caregiver- the man who had promised to care for him and love him when he signed the Little Adoption forms.

"The only reason I agreed to adopt you was because I knew that one day you would make me a legend. You think I give a damn about you? You're a freak Tony, a baby trying to play dress up in his father's clothes. Well, playtime's over, little boy."

Obie was talking again, but Tony could barely hear him. He had ripped the arc reactor right out of his chest, and the immense pain that spread through his body was choking him with its intensity. He tried to catch his breath, but he kept floundering like a fish, unable to get his lungs to cooperate. He was panicking, his was body going into shock he had less than five minutes left to live. He tried to speak as Obie left, tried to tell him that he wouldn't win, but nothing came out except a choked off gurgle....

.....Tony desperately reached for the old reactor, his fingers just brushing the glass. Suddenly his limbs gave out and he fell, his body crashing onto the floor as black dots blurred his vision. That had been his last hope and he couldn't even gather the strength to lift himself up to grab it.

He heard a quiet whirring sound before DUM-E's claw came into view carefully placing the arc reactor on the floor in front of him. Tony had never seen anything so beautiful.

"Good boy." he rasped, before surging up and smashing it on the ground. He snatched it out of the broken glass and jammed it into his chest, gulping in air the second it became connected with his body and activated, once again keeping the shrapnel from his heart.

He would live, and he was going to kill Obadiah.