It was the year 1975 and Howard Stark was in his prime years as the owner and head of Stark Industries, the world leader in technology. He was an omega, which wasn't too much of an impediment unless you were male and desired male alphas. Or if you were claimed against your will. Or if you got stuck in an abusive relationship.

Howard happened to be male, and he did in fact desire a male alpha. His mate. Steve Rogers. They had been mates since shortly after Erskine had administered Steve the super-soldier serum. Howard was attracted to the strength of Steve and Steve was attracted to Howard's youth and intellect.

They shared many heats together, allowing Howard's body the freedom of heats. They managed to conceive a child.

But tragedy struck long before they even knew about their unborn child nestled within Howard. Steve had been deployed to war in Germany again, to combat the HYDRA group. Steve left after a private goodbye within Howard's home. It was the last time they ever made love. Steve had whispered words of love and promise, of a future when they could be together and have children like heterosexual couples. He assured Howard that he would return and he would continue with the gay rights movement plan, they would have a family.

But Steve didn't return. He crashed a HYDRA Plane into the cold arctic waters off the coast of northern Russia. He painfully gasped for air as the cold icy water enveloped him, calling out Howard's name.

"I...Love...you...Howard..." Steve rasped as he lost consciousness. Darkness and cold surrounded him and the cube of light he has confiscated stayed as a beacon of hope. If it was bright and blue, maybe someday someone will find him. Maybe he could go back to his beloved Howard and they could be a proper family.

Howard received word of Steve's 'death' over the telephone. He barely contained his sobs as the official spoke in solemn tones that Steve would not return.

Howard fell into a dark state. He refused to leave his room or see any of his friends. But he ate everything that was given to him, because he had figured out why he was bloated and was experiencing nausea. He was pregnant.

It seemed ironic to Howard that just as he lost Steve, this little miracle had taken his place. But Howard vowed to protect his little baby from everything in the harsh world they lived in. So he made a deal with an old family friend and arranged to marry his Alpha daughter. She was a strong willed person. And very possessive.

She agreed to keep Howard's child's true parentage a secret, telling the press that it was her child through artificial genetic reconfiguration. Howard had made it up, as there was no such thing. But it caught on. Soon, people from alpha female, omega male couples were asking for the procedure and Howard had to become an expert in biomedical engineering in a week. The added stress wasn't good for him, or the baby.

To top it off, his wife Maria had begun drinking. She lost all semblance and mind when drunk. She was much stronger than him, despite her slightly smaller stature. Howard had to contend with the physical abuse of his hateful spouse and try his damn hardest to keep his unborn child safe. He just had to keep it alive and eat enough to keep himself somewhat filled out with extra fat and he would be okay.

But the baby was born grossly premature. It was obvious that the babe was conceived much before Maria and Howard were married. One reporter had caught wind of this and Maria almost allowed him to ruin her husband's life and accomplishments but Howard had paid him off wealthily to keep his mouth shut.

Young baby Anthony Edward Stark was born premature, only six months gestation, with a plethora of medical issues. He was diagnosed with IgA deficiency at a young age. And ADHD at age ten. His father shielded him from Maria's abusive wrath, but couldn't keep him innocently unaware for long. Young Tony Stark often assisted his father in dressing wounds and rubbing ointment on bruises. He was told early on that Maria wasn't his biological parent and that he had another Father. Howard didn't tell Tony about Steve's identity at all. The wounds were too fresh for the omega. Howard still cried out for Steve at night when his body ached from bruises and his mind yearned for his true alpha.

Tony showed signs of being an abnormal genius at age two. He could read simple words and had an extensive vocabulary. His math skills were at a third grade level at his second year of life. Howard home schooled him at the Stark Industries office away from Maria. Tony spent much of his childhood learning how to read properly by reciting his father's business grants and old files from the dusty archives. He learned mathematics from programming calculators and writing scripts of endless equations out and inputting them into SI technology. He learned physics from his father's good friend, Brian Banner. Bruce Banner, Brian's son, had a knack for gamma radiation. He wasn't as advanced as Tony, but he was very proficient in basic gamma studies. Brian took Tony and Bruce in to teach them physics and robotics. Tony fell in love instantly. With the academia, and with Bruce.

They were destined mates from age 12, bonding mutually and asexually. Tony's first heat would signal the beginning of the sexual relationship.

Howard, all the while, began to strongly advocate for homosexual rights to bond and marry almost immediately following Tony's birth. The movement gained speed quickly. Howard divorced Maria when Tony was 14; she died very shortly after from liver failure. Howard stayed in his position as head of Stark Industries until his untimely death in 1992. Tony was 17.

Bruce consoled Tony as best he could, trying to keep him sane. But then an ill-timed accident tore them apart. Bruce was working with the gamma machine in the bowels of SI offices when a young maintenance maid foolishly pushed the red, shiny button activating the machine to full blast. Tony watched in horror from the viewing deck as Bruce... Transformed. He was enveloped in bright light, and then a green monster emerged from his mate's body. Tony was petrified. He couldn't move of breath. The thing was large, green, hulking in stature and musculature.

The thing escaped the compound, taking Bruce with it. Tony lost his father and his mate in one fatal blow. He didn't see Bruce for three days. Tony was on the precipice of suicide when Bruce showed up battered and bloody, without a shirt on and his pants ripped beyond repair, exhausted and dehydrated. Tony had thrown himself at Bruce, clinging to the only think keeping him sane.

But the 'thing' that Bruce turned into, that was a problem for a while. Bruce skirted shyly around everything. Any conflict that arose would be expertly diffused and avoided. Tony didn't even catch on until some years later when an argument between Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D and it was over before it began.

When Tony was 27, he was abducted.

He remembered waking up to a car battery attached to his chest and his father's arc reactor technology keeping him alive. Yinsen, as was his fellow captive's name, had helped him build a rudimentary suit of armor. The Afghanistani rebels had gotten their hands on Stark Industries weapons. It didn't bode well with Tony.

He blasted his way out of the cave, crushing whatever he could fit underneath his large metal foot. He was saved, luckily, by S.H.I.E.L.D agents. One Natalie Rushman, who later on turned out to be Natasha Romanov, was hired to be his personal assistant and guardian.

Tony continued to improve on the metal suit with Bruce's help. They slaved over the schematics and had JARVIS, Tony's AI, create the parts. The suit could protect Tony from harm, allow him to fly, withstand three times the force with which the Hulk smashed. (They decided to call the monster Hulk)

Natalie Rushman reported everything back to Director Fury, of course. Which lead to a closer watch on Tony and Bruce.

Then, just as Tony figured out how to create a more efficient superconducting core for his arc reactor, Steve Rogers was found just off the shore of northern Russia, clutching a chain in his frozen hand. Miraculously, he had survived the deep freeze. Tony was astounded, as was Bruce. One Phil Coulson was over the moon with delight, but that's another story.

The chain that was held tightly in Steve's hand had a dog tag that held the faded message: 'to my most precious, HS'

No one knew who HS was, and they deemed it unimportant. When Steve regained consciousness after being thoroughly defrosted and rejuvenated, he called for Howard, for Bucky and for Erskine. The medical staff was sad to inform him that he had been frozen for 29 years and all of those people had died. Steve requested time alone, which he spent sobbing over his loss. He lost Peggy, his surrogate sister, bucky, his guardian Angel, and Howard, the love and his life. He lost the chance for a family. He lost everything.

Tbc~