Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters and don't earn any money with this story (sadly)

Warnings: Angst, mind-control, WIP, future frostiron, rating M is just for precaution (future chapters).

It was another day of excitement and sadness in the life of Howard Stark.

The sun had already set a long time ago when he finally returned to his home, the keys tinkling softly as he opened the door. When he stepped inside there was only silence to greet him, no welcoming voices, no laughter. But that was the life he had chosen.

He dropped the keys and reactivated the alarm system in a flurry of numbers, his thoughts again straying to the happenings of the day. Gosh… He desperately needed a drink. Needed to sort his mind and deal with those emotions and memories whirling inside of him.

In their quest of finding America's icon, the soldier, the friend, they had come upon a relict they had not even dared to imagine finding. The Tesseract, glowing eerily at the bottom of the ocean. The Tesseract, the device that had led Hydra to greatness and installed fear in their enemies. Fear of their red skulled general and fear of the power that he had held in his hands and that had destroyed him in the end. And now it was finally in the grasp of Stark Industries.

The possibilities that opened themselves up to Howard made him dizzy and his hands twitch in anticipation.

And yet, the excitement was dulled when his thoughts drifted to the young and promising man that had still not been found but he had not yet given up.

He dreaded having to pass the news to Peggy, to see her brown eyes flood with sadness as the man she had loved would still not return to her.

Steve Rogers was more and more becoming a distant memory in the minds of the people that knew him and searched for him. Uncertainty of whether they were actually looking for the man or the body rising up and while they lay awake at night they felt that their hope was dwindling. He would not give up though. He would continue his search, not for Captain America, but for the kid from Brooklyn that would have done the same for him and anyone.

He sighed as he entered the living room of his mansion, already feeling another headache coming up and craving the scotch to drown the pain, both physical and mental.

His wife and son were probably already asleep like any other night and even though it bothered him that another day had passed without seeing them, he just could not find it in him to change himself. The less they knew of his problems, the better. He was an engineer and director of Stark Industries first and a father and husband second, and he knew that the shadows of the war and the constant search for the Captain weighted heavily on the whole family.

His hand reached for the familiar bottle only to stop midway when he finally registered that he was not alone. His breathing stuttered and he whirled around. His thoughts racing as he rattled off the possibilities in his head: burglar, terrorist, kidnapper… only to come to a stop when his eyes finally fell on the person, negating all of his previous assumptions.

"How did you get in and what do you want?" he asked, his voice firm and echoing in the large room. This wasn't the first time someone sought out Howard or kidnapped his child in order to achieve some gain, be it weapons, blueprints or money.

"Please, as if I would want something so simple and… human" the voice was more of a drawl, layered with amusement as the words left the other man's smirking lips, speaking Howard's thoughts.

The other man took a step closer, the light that reached him illuminating his presence. Tall, at least six feet, and lean. Clad in black and green fabric that looked like leather and yet had a quality to it that made it unlike anything Howard had seen before. What Howard had first thought to be a weapon was actually a kind of staff, clutched firmly in the other's pale hand. And even though he had seen his fair share of weapons, this staff somehow seemed much more deadly.

The other man seemed to be at ease with his surrounding, his presence overshadowing everything of interest in the room, easily demanding attention without any effort.

"It is as simple as that. You have something in your possession that I desire to call my own, recently arrived actually. You'll hand it over to me or you will die." The smile never left those lips as the man took another step closer to Howard, raising the staff in his hand.

Understanding dawned upon him. "The Tesseract." he whispered. How was it possible? No one but his team knew that it had been found and they would never betray him.

"Are you Hydra? Do you want to continue the legacy of the red skull?" he asked as he involuntary took a step backwards. He knew if the Tesseract came into the wrong hands then everything would be the same as before. The war, the fear, the killing and the dying.

"My plans are none of your concern, mortal." The black haired and green eyed man sneered. "But if you continue to be that uncooperative than I have no choice but to take it by force."

The staff began to glow, lightening up the room even further and Howard knew with certainty that this was going to be his end.

"NO!" a light voice pierced through the air as a small body collided with the man opposite of him, stalling him in his movement and yet not rattling him. "Tony!" Howard rasped, surprise and panic rising up inside of him as he watched his little five year old son trying to keep the other man at bay, failing miserably but not giving up.

In a flash the pale fingers of the intruder curled around the thin neck of the little boy, not squeezing but applying enough pressure to let the intent be known, ceasing Tony's movements. "How dare you, you lowly mortal. I'm a God! No one tries to attack me and gets away with his life." The hissed words were only met with a defiant look from the boy's brown orbs.

"Gods don't exist. They are a figment of people's minds to explain what they cannot grasp." The high voice carried no fear, neither for the other man, nor what he could do to him.

Howard could not stand to watch this. Sure, he had raised, or partly raised, his son to not be scared easily and to speak his mind. It was a necessary thing to be done if he would one day take over Stark Industries, developing weapons himself, but he never would have expected it to lead to his death.

Instead of breaking the small neck with a flick of his wrist, the other man just smiled, clearly amused and intrigued by the five year old. "So you must be his son, Tony Stark." he asked, raising his eyebrow as the other just continued to stare at him "Anthony for you." the young voice growled, sounding more like a kitten rather than a lion.

"Anthony…" the tall man mumbled.

Howard did not like this. Not only how the man still would not let go of his son's neck but also the flicker of interest that had arisen in those green eyes. Even though it replaced the anger and desire of killing that had clearly crossed his face earlier it spoke of dark and malicious intent.

"Are you a smart boy, Anthony?" the man purred, slowly easing the grip on his neck. When the boy did not make a move to draw away he let go altogether, studying him closely.

It was obvious to anyone that it was the right question to ask when Tony's eyes began to shine and the small body was puffing up. "Of course! I already built my own circuit board and I'm working on my first own engine!"

"Is that so…" the man mumbled, clearly fascinated and a calculating look in his eyes.

"I have a deal for you Howard Stark."

The voice once again addressing him ripped him out of his thoughts and he knew instantly that it was not going to be a deal, but a take and accept situation that he was facing.

Knowing that he had his attention the black haired man continued. "You may keep the Tesseract, your life and that of your family, thereby possibly saving countless other mortals. In exchange I will gain… an insight… into your son's mind."

As he had expected… It was not a deal the man was proposing but an ultimatum. If he did not accept the deal he would not only kill his whole family but take the Tesseract anyways.

But something inside of him craved the Tesseract, wanted to possess it and use it.

Surely just accepting would be the right decision for everyone?

What could the 'god' possibly find in Tony's mind that could be of any value? He was only five after all. He did not want to imagine what he could do with the power of the blue cube.

By accepting, he would save the lives of millions, in exchange for only one person.

"Deal" the words had left his lips without him even realizing it.

A smile crept on the thin lips, unsettling him more than he let on. "You mortals are so predictable yet not unlike some of the gods I know, abandoning your child so easily in exchange for power."

Howard swallowed, but the lump in his throat could not be dismissed so easily, his eyes never leaving the man as he raised his staff, bringing the tip closer to Tony's heavily breathing chest.

He could not do it. Could not look into his son's eyes, knowing that he would find only anger and betrayal staring back at him.

It was over in a blink of an eye as the blue light from the staff's core travelled to the tip and seemed to be absorbed by Tony's small body, drawing a sigh from his young lips.

Relieve passed through him like a gush of warmth as he saw his son unharmed only to turn his insides cold when he saw he saw his eyes. The brown orbs, the same as Maria's, had turned an abnormal shade of light blue that made him shudder when they fixed on him. "What have you done…?"

His despair was only met with a cool smile as the man put his hand on his son's shoulder. "I have done what we agreed on. I gained myself a permanent insight into your son's mind. You would probably call it… control. But as you were so eager to agree I focused more on my interpretation of it." He gave the small shoulder a gentle tap, sending Tony back to his father. "Don't worry; you will hardly notice any difference, considering how much you have taken part in his life up until now."

He took a step backwards "Another piece of advice, human. Never make a deal with the God of Lies. You will always come short. But it is too late for that, isn't it?" he grinned and just like that he disappeared, leaving distrust and fear behind that would slowly but surely destroy the Stark family.