Tony is 25, and there are five people on this earth that he calls friend.
Tony is 25, and he wakes up in a cave with a car battery in his chest. The number of people who matter to him goes up by one.
Tony is 26, and Yinsen dies to save his pathetic life. He returns to America with an iron resolve that he'd never had before, in spite of all his good intentions. He has an iron suit now, but it's more than that. There's something about Tony that is harder. As if the iron has somehow gotten under his skin.
He gets home, and Rhodey's by his side, and Pepper and Happy are on the airfield, waiting, and Obie is at SI, waiting. It helps, a little. Something in his chest eases at the sight of each of them. Tony's not expecting Efren in any of those places. He hopes that his friend will be at home when he gets there, but the house is dark and empty. JARVIS, his brand new AI, only a few months old when Tony disappeared, tells him that it's been months since Efren came by.ย
It hurts that he's not there. But tony knows Efren goes off-grid a lot. He knows how much he struggles with stressful situations. He tries to wait patiently, but the days turn into weeks and Tony misses him. Tony's missed him, for nearly a year in that cave. He missed everyone there, of course, but Efren's the only one who's not here.
Tony is 26 and he's alone when he discovers the depth of Obie's betrayal.
Tony is 26 when he steps into a gold-titanium alloy suit, and kills his mentor.
Iron Man is a purpose, a new meaning to his life that he desperately needs. It's a responsibility, and a duty, and atonement. Keeping his identity secret becomes a game, as much as a necessity. It's also a pretty good distraction.
He tries searching for Efren, but Tony's expertise is tech and Efren's expertise is off-grid and there's not exactly much overlap there. If Efren wants to disappear, how the fuck is Tony supposed to track him, with a sniffer dog? ( If Efren wants to disappear, maybe Tony shouldn't even be searching for him. )
He refuses to believe that he's dead. It's a logical possibility, but. Something in Tony recoils violently at the thought, every time.
Months pass. A year. Nearly two. Tony and Rhodey take down Ivan Vanko while Pepper deals with Justin Hammer. He meets Rafa, again, and helps him tear down Norman Osborn with vicious glee. Happy somehow makes friends with a SHIELD spy sent to infiltrate the company. Tony's never felt less alone in his life. But Efren's not here. Nothing can make up for that.
Tony is 28 and Team Iron Man are called out to a situation downtown where apparently a group of mutant rights anarchists are causing problems. It's the type of politics Tony would prefer not to get involved with, but if there are civilians in danger, he knows where he needs to be.
Tony is 28, and mid-fight he turns a corner and comes face to face with Efren for the first time in fucking years.
( Not exactly face-to-face. Iron Man's golden mask is expressionless and unmoving. )
Every thought in Tony's head screeches to a halt. He is literally frozen in shock as he stares at Efren. His friend, Efren. His friend, Efren, who is clearly working with this Xerox guy.
Tony can't attack him. There isn't a single bone in his body that could attack him. He can't even move.
"Efren?" he says, and the suit would modulate out the dumbstruck, desperate emotion in his voice, except that JARVIS has already muted him. Because Tony Stark knows Efren but nobody knows that Iron Man is Tony Stark and Iron Man should not know Efren. JARVIS has explicit instructions to protect his identity if there's no life at risk.
So there's no sound. No voice. Tony takes a thudding, heavy step forward------
Something hits him from behind. Tony's not sure if he reacts on instinct, or if JARVIS has taken over the suit. he feels like he's just along for the ride, as he struggles to process what's happening, struggles to breathe.
When he whips back around, Efren is gone. ( He doesn't want to hurt him. Doesn't want to scare him. He wants his friend back. ) Tony goes after him.
