Tony Stark was a very active guy in his youth, it was not uncommon for him to change girls every week or two. He was also known for his very extensive and promiscuous sexual relationships, after which he usually forgot about his passion. Usually he preferred one-night stands, rarely more. Anthony Stark had a very difficult and complicated relationship with his father, Tony often felt unwanted in his own family, saying that after sending him to a boarding school, Howard almost glowed with happiness.
However, this had little to do with Hope Ainsworth. She met Tony in 1992, when Tony was 22 years old. Just a year before, his parents had died in a car accident, and so Tony was partying like crazy. At that time, he was constantly drinking and changing girls like gloves.
The only thing that saved Tony from becoming a lonely alcoholic was his natural sense of smell and charisma. Hope was a young girl at one of the parties where Tony was the main star. They, like all young people, wanted to have fun and relax, and so they leaned on alcohol, Tony more , Hope less. In the end, Hope ended that night the same way as the rest of Tony's girls. Waking up in Tony's arms, Hope realized that they had sex the night before. And a week later, she could not get through to Tony at all.
It was painfully obvious that she had been screwed and abandoned.
At first, Hope hoped to get through to Tony, after all, this was her first relationship, but after a month of fruitless attempts, she gave up.
But soon she realized that she was pregnant.
Hope Ainsworth was a rich girl, otherwise she simply wouldn't have been able to get to the party with Tony. She, like Stark, was the child of a wealthy family of entrepreneurs, they were doing well, after all, they owned a lot of hospitals, and in the field of medicine they were real giants, the same as Stark in the field of weapons. Maybe they didn't have billions in purchases, like Stark, but they lived in great abundance.
And Hope's own pride did not allow her to be an ordinary beggar girl who tried to get through to the father of her child.
And thus, in 1993, Leonardo Ainsworth was born.
1999 year
These six years for Hope were … Very difficult and stressful. Concealing the fact that she had a child from the press was a difficult task, but quite doable, especially considering her low social activity and absence from any " get-togethers ", parties or any closed meetings. Why did she go to a party 6 years ago? Because she was young and stupid, she wanted to feel life.
Well, she felt it completely.
Unfortunately for Hope , however , she became ill, and sick enough that even with her money and resources, she was helpless to wait for death. Who would have thought that a pack killer would be crazy enough to fire hollow-point bullets made of a toxic metal like palladium? Hope miraculously survived the shot itself, although it took several surgeries and blood transfusions to remove most of the shrapnel.
But "most" is not "all".
The remains of that bullet are still in her body and poison her organism, every day she gets worse and worse, Hope understands that she will not live like this for long. And having such a responsibility as little Leo, Hope could not leave just like that. Leo is the only and direct heir of her company, all her inheritance is already registered to him, after her departure he will become the main shareholder of the company "Hope International". While he grows, other shareholders simply will not let the company fall apart.
However…
After her death, Leo will definitely be assigned a guardian, and how he will be able to influence Leo and his future... A separate question. Hope herself does not wear rose-colored glasses and understands that such influential people as the shareholders of the most influential and rich international pharmaceutical company, as well as most private hospitals in the United States, will definitely assign the person they need to the role of guardian.
Hope is worried that her little Leonardo will be fleeced.
And as much as Hope hates to admit it, Stark can provide the protection Leo needs. After all, if Leo has a living father, what right do the shareholders have to send in some guardians? After all, Tony didn't hide his bad relationship with his own father, saying that he didn't want to be like him, so what's the likelihood that he'll become an irresponsible father? He's not some kind of psycho who doesn't acknowledge or take into account the feelings of those around him, right? And it's better to have Tony as a father than not have one at all.
And so Hope immediately wrote a message to Tony, as well as to Stane, demanding a personal meeting.
Well, if Tony doesn't want to come again, then ... Then she can just take him and drag him through the courts at any moment. After all, she has every opportunity to do so. Hope smirked vindictively, if there's one thing Tony won't tolerate, it's such a humiliating action as "paying alimony". And it will also hit his reputation and stocks pretty hard.
And while Hope was in a vengeful mood, someone knocked on her office door.
- Can I come in?
A pleasant, clear, thin childish voice was heard, which instantly brought Hope out of her thoughts.
- Yes, of course, come in, Leo!
Hope couldn't just send her child away, even though she was currently doing something very important. After all, Leonardo was the first thing in her life, and then she and everything else.
The door to her office opened and a small child, about 6 years old, walked in. He was very cute, so much so that it was hard to tell if he was a boy or a girl. However, Hope knew that this was her Leonardo. His bright, clear, lively and piercingly kind blue eyes looked at her with childish adoration. His long brown hair calmly reached just below his shoulders, giving him some kind of aristocratic charisma from the 18th-19th century. Clean, shiny white skin only emphasized this, and the small blush on his cheeks made him only sweeter and more handsome, especially in combination with his gentle smile, large eyelashes and this kind look.
()
In other words, Leonardo was a very sweet child. Literally a copy of his mother Hope, and she was considered a real beauty in her time.
And seeing her son, Hope couldn't help but smile. He was too sweet and kind.
- So what did my little genius do this time?
Hope gently patted Leo on the head, which made the boy smile even wider and even spread his chest with pride.
- I made a portable server!
After that, he took out some kind of box from behind his back, after which he opened it. To Hope's surprise, there was a very thin screen, and at the bottom, the keys from the keyboard began to appear.
As Hope herself understood, it was some kind of nonsense in the form of a "hard light structure". What it was, what could be done with it, what the pulsations had to do with it, their frequency and amplitude, as well as the appropriate plastic, Hope did not know. Leo tried to explain everything to her in detail, but even after half an hour she still did not understand anything.
Hope knew that Leo was a true genius from birth. He hardly cried as a child, learned to read, write and count very quickly, and then began to absorb knowledge like an obsessive. Hope was not afraid of this, what else could she expect from Stark? On the contrary, Ainsworth helped Leo develop his talent with all her might.
Leo's previous invention was somewhat similar to a cell phone. Except it was modular, had no buttons or touchscreen, and the work area was also foldable and made of some plastic, hard light, and some other crap.
For the sake of interest, she gave it to one employee to compare with the flagships on the market. And who was surprised by Hope when this "scroll" easily overtook all its competitors on the market, surpassing them in productivity by three or four orders of magnitude, and the battery lasted almost three days under maximum load?
Hope took the trouble to patent all of Leo's inventions and key components for creating all of his crafts.
What was wrong with that?
She had already discussed the possibility of mass production of these scrolls with Obadain . Stark Industries, although an advanced technical company, did not produce electronics, or rather , it did, but how would the latest air defense radars or smart-guided missiles help in creating electronics for civilians?
In general, with such a relationship, Obadiah Stane will definitely come, and knowing that Hope has such a genius in her company, even Tony Stark himself will get off his ass and come to see him, at least for the sake of satisfying his own interest.
- And what can this portable server do?
Hope had always been extremely gentle with her son, because she knew that he liked that kind of relationship, especially displays of affection. And open interest in the child's life is also a display of affection. Hope had taken the time to read a couple of books about child psychology and how to raise children. Leo's eyes practically lit up.
- Oh! It can do almost everything a scroll can, only better! For example, here's a model of the movement of all the celestial bodies in the solar system!
After this, Leonardo showed a model of the solar system. It contained everything that could be imagined for the next 50 years. The location of the planets relative to each other, the optimal dates for launching rockets and satellites to other planets in the solar system, the paths that various asteroids and comets from the Oort cloud will take near the earth , even the supposed global warming of the earth with similar emissions of carbon dioxide, as well as climate change caused by this warming.
And seeing such massive data sets on such different bodies with so many parameters, Hope doubted that this was a "portable server."
- Leo, this is a rough model, right?
- Maximum accuracy! Up to 0.0004%! I calibrated the system for a long time so that it would give reliably accurate forecasts in the shortest possible time, eight systems and methods of data processing and two operating systems for analysis! One for collecting information and analyzing data with key parameters, and the second is exclusively occupied with calculating the model!
Leo talked about his new "toy" with incredible passion and enthusiasm, characteristic only of children. Hope listened to Leo and was touched by his behavior, at the same time she was covered in a cold sweat, because the "portable server" was more like a portable supercomputer. It does not take a genius to understand how much this will strengthen the entire industry and the military.
It's already hard to hide in the world, since every city is full of cameras, it's just scary. What will happen if these cameras become "smart" and start monitoring marked objects themselves ? Start doing everything for people themselves? It will be a real information war, where one extra word can cost a life. And how much more intense will surveillance of any important people become? Just one hint of the government's actions being unjustified will be enough to kill.
It can be said that freedom of speech will die completely.
And Hope understands this, as well as the fact that they will first start watching Leo himself.
- Leo, this is a wonderful invention, but let's agree that you won't show it to anyone else, okay?
Leo immediately looked at his mother's face in surprise. Like any other child, he wanted recognition from his parent. And he gets this recognition in full, but Leo was still too naive and inexperienced to understand Hope's train of thought.
- Okay, but why?
- It's a really good invention, but it can attract the attention of many bad people, and that's dangerous. Let's agree that you won't show this server to anyone for another 10~15 years, and then you'll decide for yourself, okay?
Hope understood that Leo wouldn't be able to hide the pig in a poke for long, sooner or later, but it would jump out, by accident or malicious intent. However, Hope believes that Leo will be smart enough and well-off by the time she indicated. And besides, he will already be a Stark, not an Ainsworth, right? And the US has a completely different relationship with the Starks than with the Ainsworths.
Hope extended her pinky finger for her son to swear. Leo looked surprised, but extended his pinky finger back.
- That's good. What else did you do while I was working?
- I read books on biology and genetics. "The history of the development of medicine", "How the features of the central nervous system affect a person's character and temperament", "The influence of the X-gene on the development of adolescent children", "Features of gene replication and reading".
Yes, these were not the simplest books, but what else could you expect from a genius? And again, these were the "very best" books that exist now. Not the most useful, not the most basic, not professional, especially Gen X, but they were the most eye-catching, truly a child's choice.
- Oh, what interesting books you read. Was it interesting?
- Yes, it was interesting, especially the last two. The part about the hawk genes was fascinating. I didn't know that there was such a big difference in genes. While some genes can easily mutate almost non-stop, maintaining minimal vital activity of the individual, the hawk genes have remained unchanged since their appearance.
Hope smiled again and stroked her son's head.
- Well done, you remembered everything correctly. The thing is that the HOX genes manifest themselves at the very beginning of fetal development. If some mutation occurs in the HOX genes, then either the individual will not be viable, or the number of these HOX genes will simply change, without affecting anything. These genes themselves are simply markers showing other genes where organs and tissues will form.
And so began another lecture for Leo.
The next day
Obadiah Stane nearly has a heart attack after receiving Hope's message. He can't imagine that a promising new business partner would just write to him and Tony and demand a personal meeting, threatening legal action and a guaranteed drop in the company's stock price.
Tony Stark was also surprised, and therefore even he himself wanted to know the reason for such an impudent action.
It wasn't hard to fly a couple of states and arrive at the main office of Hope International . They were met by a couple of security guards, who did their job quite professionally, and then let them inside.
Hope met them in her office. She looked ... Well, not very good, pale skin, bags under her eyes and a tired look from her once beautiful eyes. Her child was sitting next to her, Leo was not a completely unknown person, although his relationship with Hope was hidden and not advertised. But what can this conspiracy do against a company whose customers are the government? Stark and Stane have many acquaintances in the government. It is not difficult to find out about the birth and delivery of a boy when he is entered into the database.
However, only Stane knew about this, as he kept an eye on all the big players, and especially on those who offered him any kind of deal. And the scrolls are a very big deal, capable of making them the kings of civilian electronics, because various mobile devices are now actively gaining popularity.
- Oh? I see time only makes men better. How did you end up like this, Hope?
Tony was in high spirits . What can I say if the eternal does a party animal treat everyone in much the same way on a regular basis, throwing out caustic jokes left and right?
However, Hope was not in the mood for jokes.
- I can't say I'm glad to see you, Tony. But we still need to talk business.
- I agree with this, but I don't think it's appropriate to have such discussions in front of a child.
Stane hinted at Leo, who was sitting on Hope's lap. Hope looked at the time and "remembered" something.
- I agree with that. Leo, before you go, you need to take some tests. I'll then send them to the lab to check your health. So open your mouth.
It wasn't the first time Hope had turned something like this around, she had been doing exactly that for the last month, justifying it by Leo's sudden allergy. And so Leonardo himself didn't suspect anything, obediently opening his mouth, allowing the DNA sample to be taken.
Tony was a bit confused, while Stane began to suspect something was wrong . He actively follows the media and various companies, and therefore knows what is usually the hottest topic in celebrity courts. Divorce, division of property, determination of the child's place of residence and determination of paternity.
- Well , Leo, you can go and rest. It should be quiet in the Hall now, so you can watch movies there.
Hope gently stroked Leo's head, handing him the scroll. And being a naive boy, Leo did not suspect anything like that, taking the scroll with childish joy.
- Thank you. I won't disturb you anymore. Goodbye.
He had already said the last to Stane and Tony. Who were watching the boy and the scroll with great curiosity, respectively. And after the door closed, Tony continued.
- And this is a very interesting toy, I want to say. Even I can't say right away how it works. Can you introduce us to the modern Da Vinci who created this masterpiece?
Sitting on a luxurious chair with Stane , Tony pondered the reason for his summons here. Naturally, it was because of the scroll, it was too innovative an invention to remain silent about. However, like any other invention, it requires production capacity and equipment to be created. It would not be possible to create a reactor based on cold thermonuclear fusion in the Neolithic. And Stark has the capacity and equipment necessary to create the scroll .
Hope has a genius in her acquaintances or someone hidden among her employees. We also cannot rule out the possibility of another genius appearing. There are quite a few geniuses of world scale.
Stane personally bets that one of the leading employees of the next super soldier project like Weapon X has a genius in electronics. Stane has absolutely nothing to do with such projects, but he knows people involved in "military genetics and bioengineering", like Trask or Stryker . It is quite natural that such projects like super soldiers will need a lot of medicine and other drugs.
Hope International is a perfect fit here. You start a war somewhere in the Middle East, there are US military bases there, you set up a lab there, and then you create your own soldiers, and if something happens, you don't suffer terrible losses because of a mad soldier. And Hope itself supplies its medicines to the base.
Stane doesn't think that this picture is too complicated, because if there was such a genius, he would immediately contact Stark Industries for serial production, there is no need to have difficulties with an intermediary who will also take part of the proceeds for himself. Relatives of people associated with such programs like super soldiers should not advertise. And it is better to do everything through second or third hands.
Hope coughed into her fist.
- Unfortunately, this … Da Vinci is currently unavailable, so I can't introduce you. We'll talk about the exact agreement regarding the scrolls a little later. First…
Hope pulled out a machine from behind her desk. A very, very famous kinship machine … The kind that is used a lot in court… She placed Leo's freshly collected DNA into one piece, then handed an identical stick to Tony.
- Come on, Tony, we won't start talking until we prove that this is your child.
And it must be said that this demand was equally disliked by Tony and Stane.
- I don't like it here anymore … Do I have to do this?
Hope shook her head. She knew Stark wasn't going to leave her.
- Tony, either we do everything quietly and peacefully, agreeing on everything here and now, or I start sending news about you to all the media, after which we will do the same thing in court, only with a guaranteed seizure of a piece of your shares. Do you want to stop being the main shareholder of Stark Industries?
And it must be said that this was the most terrible threat for Tony. Yes, even with the most terrible scandal that will thunder throughout America for many months, he will be in chocolate. Yes, his shares will fall in price, yes, he will receive less money for a couple of months after this whole story, but his main buyer is the US government. The top does not care about the person, they care about weapons, the money will come in the same way as before. In fact, he can even benefit from the loss of shares, since he can buy them back at a convenient opportunity.
But what if the main shareholder loses his position?
Tony will lose his freedom of action, he will be obliged to take into account the other shareholders for the rest of his life, because in this case, with his next trick, they will simply devour him .
Tony doesn't want this.
- Okay, let's say it really is inevitable, but how will I know it's not a setup? After all, with all these bells and whistles of your company, you can make the programmers work on the result.
Hope understood this too, and so she prepared herself.
- This machine will be connected directly to the printer, there will be no computer, and you can choose the order of tests. You, Stane, me. You understand that I won't be able to set up an arbitrary set of tests?
Tony was still … A little horrified by the whole situation. The death of his parents had been very traumatic for Tony, especially because of his extremely strained relationship with his father. The very idea of being someone's "dad" made Tony shudder. And much to Tony's chagrin, he couldn't rely on his "Uncle" Obadiah right now .
- Okay, let the first test be between you and the boy.
- Okay, the first one is between me and Leo. We'll wait 10 minutes. We can't think straight while our "paternity" is being determined, right Tony?
Much to Stark's chagrin, he couldn't say anything. He could feel his knees shaking a little right now. Tony knows full well that he could be Hope's father, they had unprotected sex. A panic attack is coming.
The first test went quickly, as soon as the machine finished its work, the printer printed the result.
- So. After analyzing the DNA of patient A , Leo, and B, I estimated the probability of kinship at 99.8%. We are related, which is not surprising. Who's next?
Tony took a look at the sheet of paper, it said approximately what Hope had said.
- You and Stane.
The situation repeated itself.
- So. After analyzing the DNA of patient A , by me, and B, by Stane , the probability of kinship is estimated at 17%. This shows that we have common Alleles common in our population. We are not related.
- You and me.
- After analyzing the DNA of patient A , Tony, and B, I estimate the probability of kinship at 0%. We are not related, Tony.
- The boy and Stane.
Tony grew more and more nervous as the tests were conducted. Hope's absolute certainty, as well as the uncertainty of the situation, made Tony nervous. The possibility of fatherhood really frightened Tony. Even Obadiah's heavy hand of support did not help. Tony was too unaccustomed to being in an unfamiliar environment, where he had absolutely no opportunity to influence the situation.
- After analyzing the DNA of patient A , Leo, and B, Stane , the probability of kinship is estimated at 3%. Again, there are common alleles that are common in the population.
- Me and the boy.
The next 10 minutes were the longest and most nerve-wracking of Tony's life. He stared at Hope and the car. Even a wit like Tony couldn't come up with a joke in this situation.
Hope herself looked at Tony with an impenetrable gaze, thinking about what Tony could teach her son? Yes, Tony is a genius, this and his charisma are what attracted girls in his time. However, now ... Now Hope understands that he is far from the best choice for the role of a boyfriend and especially a husband. Tony does not think about the future, he does not want to bear any responsibility, and what is most terrible, he cannot bear it. The very thought of fatherhood makes him panic. What can we talk about if he cannot even pronounce the name of his supposed son?
What is it good for anyway?
Well , Tony can still pull off the role of sugar daddy . He has money, he's handsome, witty, he can do something in bed ... As for the rest? He'll forget about his passion right after the night.
Hearing the sound from the printer, Hope quickly took the sheet of paper.
- Finally, after analyzing the DNA of patient A , Tony, and B, Leo, the probability of kinship is estimated at 99.99%. You are Leo's father, Tony... You know what that means, right?
It's as if some thread has snapped inside Tony. He understands that he's in deep shit right now . And right now he doesn't have the strength to react . Maybe it has something to do with Leo not being around? That's probably true .
- What do you suggest?
Stane finally decides to join the conversation. Tony is not much good for anything right now . Well, Hope also switched to Stane.
- First, legitimize Tony's paternity, after all, Leo has the right to communicate with his father. That's why I want you both to start taking care of Leo little by little. I'm not asking you to go to Disneyland with him every day, buy him expensive gifts or anything else, just pay attention to him and keep an eye on him when I can't.
Stane was quite surprised, because these were very simple conditions. All that was needed was to look after the boy. Hope could now make a real scandal and start outright extortion.
- And no scandal?
- And no scandal. And when the press asks about it, we'll say that we just realized that we're not right for each other as a couple, but we have to raise children. No more, no less. Well, I'll also ask you to keep an eye on his entourage, but it's in your interests, too, no one wants to be bullied, right?
Stane first of all , after all , Hope had no hope at all for Tony himself in his current state, and Stane is at least a responsible man, managing a huge company, while Tony hangs out in bars, casinos and other parties, from time to time creating new weapons.
- These are quite logical arguments. But why did you contact us about this issue only now? I don't want to guess anything, but you don't seem like someone who can't raise her son on her own. Even looking from the outside, I can tell that he adores you.
This was also an expected question, after all, for six whole years she had not even tried to contact Tony.
- I don't have any superpowers , so I have no resistance to heavy metal poisoning. Part of the expanding bullet that hit me is still poisoning my body. At this rate, I won't last long, I think you can understand my next train of thought.
For Obadiah, this was not a problem. However, the loss of such an influential player as Hope International from the active game in the economy, even if temporarily, is bad. It cannot be said that Leo will lose money, and investors too, after all , there are not stupid people sitting there, but rapid growth will suddenly stop. This is especially true for distribution in Europe. After all, all contracts are concluded exclusively by the main shareholder and his authorized representative, which Hope does not have. If no one concludes contracts, then no one will go to meetings and create divisions in other countries.
But at the same time ... It would help Stark Industries' reputation if they at least formally helped Hope with providing aid to the victims. And it would also increase the company's resilience to external changes.
- Of course, we will take care of this, it is in our interests.
- And what about the creator of this scroll? Is this toy of his a unique arrangement or not?
Tony calmed down somewhat, although Hope could see traces of nervousness.
- I'm not a prophet, but I'm sure that with his genius this won't be an isolated case. What about your further contacts... I will ask him to make a couple more scrolls for work, however, you can't count on a prompt response and especially a call, he won't always be able to pick up the phone.
Naturally, Hope was now blatantly lying. However, what was stopping her from asking Leo to make a couple of scrolls linked together? He had already learned how to make complex operating systems, the test for trying to hack the scroll had also passed successfully, not to mention that the programming language there was completely different from that of computers. Hope did not understand such subtleties, there was something about the simultaneous use or reading of different data from one source. For Hope's mind, this was too complicated and illogical.
Obadiah himself did not see any logical holes in Hope's actions. After all, geniuses who create such a miracle are capable of much, especially the one who was awarded the title of genius by Tony himself.
That was the day they made the deal.
Sadly, Hope passed away the following week due to poisoning.