If They Knew All About You

Hands Off!

Tony's heart was beating in an unnatural rhythm. It had been for days, unable to calm down. Not after he had prevented Ross from busting both the boy and the Rogues. Not after he had managed to snatch him from the clutches of those kidnappers aided by the Rogues. Certainly not after he had found out the truth about the kid. About Peter. Aiden. Not even Pepper had truly managed to calm him enough so he could drown out that erratic fast beating of his heart.

That alone should have been enough for him to realize that his plan had been flawed. Should have been enough to make him reconsider, turn around before it was too late. Maybe he could have stopped this. Maybe he could have kept the kid hidden away, out of reach from Barnes, protected from the press, the police, all of them if he had just stayed. He had failed though. He hadn't managed to do what had been most important. Sacrificing his own needs, his own desperate craving to keep his son close, had done nothing but make things worse.

He couldn't get the kid's voice out of his head, his painfully distressed pleas, his voice too heavy to even really string together a whole sentence. It had been pure agony and only Barton and Doctor Cho's combined efforts had been able to stop him from rushing right to that damn hospital.

Waiting and staring at the machines hadn't been enough. He had delved right back into research mode. Nobody could hold a candle to Tony in research mode even as his hands were shaking and his mind was racing. Clarke. Fucking Clarke was in on this somehow. He knew something and Tony still had no idea what that was, but the idea made him sick.

"Boss, my algorithm registers and active FAD alert."

And just like that, Tony's heart froze.

Barton looked up at the ceiling, then at Tony. "What does that mean?"

He had already jumped out of his chair, one swift motion with his hand had FRIDAY pull up the data. "It means I'm trending."

"Trending where?" A deep frown on his face, the man came closer, eyes squinting at the different numbers and keywords. "Oh, that..."

"Yeah." Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. "That seems to be everywhere."

Tony's name had popped up simultaneously all over the internet. But not just his name.

Avenger Tony Stark's long lost son rumored to have resurfaced in New York.

Kidnapped son of billionaire philanthropist in police custody after violent attack in Queens, New York City.

Violent fight between fugitives Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier leads to arrest of boy identified as Aiden Elliot Stark, son of Iron Man and billionaire tech genius Tony Stark.

NYPD match fingerprints of local boy with those of Aiden Stark, lost son of billionaire Avenger Tony Stark. Captain America and the Winter Soldier arrested in connected struggle.

His throat closed a little more with every headline that popped up. In and out. He tried to focus on his breathing. This... they... fuck.

"How... how can they—" He pulled up one article after the other. "FRI, any mention of the kid's name? Any— Shit. Fucking shit, I..."

"Tony, just breathe..." Barton stood close to him, brow furrowed. "This is a good thing. This will help."

"Help? Help?" He stared at the New York Times' breaking news story and there in bold letters they had printed it all.

Young boy from Queens.

Arrested in connection to fight with Captain America and the Winter Soldier.