Leo surveyed the quiet house. Uncle George had already left for work, and Aunt Jenny seemed to have taken Aunt May and Peter Parker out for a massive supermarket run, probably stocking up for the upcoming holidays.
He had left a single, succinct note on the kitchen table: 'Mr. Stark is dragging me out to Los Angeles for the winter break. Don't worry about me, I'll be back in a few days.'
With the domestic situation sorted, Leo slung his small backpack—containing his current power core, some essentials, and the Astral Projection book—over his shoulder. He sped off, flying low and fast towards Tony's expansive Malibu mansion.
He entered the underground workshop directly through the secure garage passage, using the newly memorized code.
As soon as he stepped into the massive, echoing space, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Tony's hands were resting lightly on Pepper Potts' shoulders. They were standing closer than usual, both staring intently at each other, caught in a moment of silent, dazed contemplation. They hadn't exchanged a word, but the atmosphere was thick with unspoken tension.
"Um, did I come in at the wrong time?" Leo muttered, secretly raising a hand in a small, embarrassed wave.
The two glanced at Leo, their focus momentarily broken, but they quickly returned their attention to each other, largely ignoring the interruption.
Tony looked at Pepper one last time, a strange mix of resignation and relief in his eyes. "Okay, that's it."
He walked towards Leo, and a sleek robotic arm carrying a chilled bottle of champagne glided smoothly to a stop beside him.
"Believe it or not, I've been thinking about this for a long time. Months, actually. I even wasted time looking at some utterly unsuitable candidates and seriously considered who was the most appropriate person for the job," Tony declared, his voice theatrically dramatic.
He gripped the bottle. "And then I finally realized... it was you. It has always been you."
With a sudden, theatrical pop, Tony uncorked the champagne bottle, the cork flying high and the foamy liquid spraying outward.
"I thought there would be endless legal issues, endless arguments with the board," he continued, holding the bottle aloft. "But, as the controlling shareholder, I can designate my successor, which, as of five minutes ago, is officially you."
Pepper, having followed Tony, listened to his pronouncement in utter shock. She unconsciously sank onto the nearby sofa, staring blankly at Tony, the reality of what he was doing finally sinking in.
Tony poured two generous glasses of the expensive, celebratory liquid, then looked down at Leo.
"You're lucky you caught the tail end of the good news, kid. If you were older, you could drink this, but…" Tony leaned down, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Don't you dare tell Pepper about my secret little health problem. She'll fire me."
He turned and walked over to Pepper, handing her a glass of champagne. "Congratulations, CEO Potts."
Pepper looked at the champagne, still bewildered, her mind struggling to process the monumental weight of the appointment. A flood of emotions hit her, and her eyes involuntarily welled up with unshed tears.
"I... I don't know what to think about this, Tony."
"Don't think about it, just drink it," Tony instructed, sitting down next to her on the sofa.
Pepper took the champagne, still looking stunned, but hastily clinked glasses with him. The crisp, delicate sound of the crystal ringing together finally broke the tension, and Pepper let out a shaky, involuntary laugh.
Both of them downed their champagne in one gulp.
Leo silently poured himself a small amount of the forbidden champagne into a third glass. Looking at the two people in front of him, who were now sharing a private moment, smiling genuinely at each other, he suddenly felt that the expensive champagne in his hand had lost all its flavor.
He was just about to take a tentative sip when a sharp voice reached him. "Leo! You are not allowed to drink that! You're not twenty-one yet."
Pepper, the newly minted CEO, had instantly spotted Leo holding the wine glass. She walked over, exhibiting a renewed, authoritative energy, and took the glass right out of his hand.
She downed the champagne in one, practiced gulp. "I think I need to calm down, Mr. Stark," she said, her voice now firm and businesslike. "I'll get back to work now—there are about a million contracts waiting for my new signature."
"Oh, it seems our new CEO has already started working," Tony remarked, walking over as well, a small smile playing on his lips. "Who told you not to drink faster? She's the boss now, kid."
Pepper paused only to give Tony a sharp, meaningful look before leaving the studio with an undisguised, if slightly teary, smile on her face.
"So, what happened?" Leo asked, watching Pepper's departing figure.
"I gave the position of CEO of Stark Industries to Pepper," Tony said simply, pouring himself another glass of champagne. He clapped Leo on the shoulder. "By the way, have you grown taller again? You look like you're trying to catch up to me."
Leo shook his head with some regret. "She thinks this is a good thing, doesn't she? Tsk tsk, she's going to have a lot of headaches later."
"But what brings you here, kid?" Tony sat back in his chair, pushing the wooden cigar box in front of him aside.
"I have a feeling that something is going to happen soon. Your public arrogance and the Senate hearing are going to invite trouble, and your condition is definitely getting worse, which is not a good trend for you to be flying around," Leo replied, his tone serious.
Leo walked to a nearby trash receptacle and picked up a palladium fuel plate that was mostly charred and melted.
"In a replacement palladium reactor, the palladium neutrons are damaged and escaping the containment field. This type of reactor is inherently less efficient and more toxic than a built-in toroidal reactor," Leo observed, using the complex, technical language that Tony respected.
"Mr. Stark, you should be completely transparent about your situation—especially to yourself."
Tony paused his furious typing on the keyboard. "It seems you've learned a thing or two from watching me all this time," he admitted, a rare flicker of respect in his voice.
"It's still early, Leo, and things are a bit better than the worst-case scenario I ran in the diagnostics," Tony said, forcing a relaxed, unconcerned tone.
If Leo hadn't been intimately familiar with the symptoms of palladium contamination—knowing that the poisoning didn't happen gradually but only accelerated over time—he might have believed the lie. Tony would have to stop wearing the Iron Man armor to slow the process, but that was clearly impossible for him now.
Leo didn't press the issue. He was never in a hurry to solve problems he was fully confident he could handle when the time came.
"Hopefully, Mr. Stark. Any fun plans lately, other than watching your father's old expos?"
Leo sat down to the side, settling into the comfortable pattern they had established back when they were building the Mark II.
"Of course. I'm going to Monaco in a few days. Stark Industries participates in a massive Grand Prix there—a racing event. Have you ever watched a real race? How about we go together? It'll be a nice, quiet vacation for me after dealing with that Senate clown."
"Not bad," Leo conceded, a wicked thought forming. "I want to go check it out. It must be very exciting, and certainly better than watching the news."
Tony continued typing away at the computer, inputting numerical code that Leo couldn't quite decipher, but it definitely didn't look like he was designing the Mark 6. It looked like he was building a complex, hidden financial shell—perhaps transferring ownership of assets to Pepper.
Leo, carrying a new, fully charged, and significantly more powerful reactor core—a perfect, internal toroidal design—returned to his room to continue his training. He needed to push his Iron Bones to the critical 50% mark before they left for Monaco.
The next afternoon, Leo stood patiently by the side of Tony's private boxing ring, watching Tony and Happy Hogan train. Happy, Tony's loyal bodyguard and driver, was exhausted and sweating profusely.
"If I wasn't worried about making too much of a sudden move and accidentally hurting you, Boss, you'd be lying on the ground right now," Happy gasped, leaning on the ropes.
Tony landed a quick combination of punches on Happy's gloves. "Worry about him or worry about yourself, Happy. You couldn't beat him even if there were ten of you. Maybe I should have hired Leo as my bodyguard instead."
The two continued their playful, yet serious, banter until the door to the gym opened. Pepper walked in, accompanied by a new face.
Her name was Natasha Romanoff, currently operating under the alias 'Natalie Rushman.' Her sleek, wavy burgundy hair, a tight-fitting, low-cut white shirt, and high-waisted black flared pants—accentuating her beautiful face and athletic figure—immediately captured Tony's attention.
Tony momentarily lost focus, delivering a devastating flurry of punches that sent Happy tumbling into the corner of the ring, begging for mercy.
Tony successfully caught the attention of the two women, pointing to the new beauty with an obvious, appreciative grin.
"What's your name, miss?"
"Rushman, Natalie Rushman," Natasha replied calmly, her tone cool and professional.
"Come on, please come up to the ring," Tony invited, throwing open the boundary ropes with a flourish.
Natasha walked over, bent down smoothly to step between the ropes, and stood up, looking directly at Tony. Her eyes were sharp, evaluating, and utterly focused on her target.
Even Tony felt a small spike of embarrassment under her intense, unwavering gaze. He smiled and pointed at the winded Happy. "Could you teach my poor driver a thing or two? He could use a lesson in humility."
"No problem at all," Happy replied, regaining his composure and starting to walk toward the new challenger.
Leo, however, who had been observing the new arrival with his Golden Eyes—registering an almost unnerving level of concealed combat capability and intense focus—suddenly reached out and stopped Happy with a hand on his chest.
"Let me do it, Happy. How can you, a grown man, think of bullying a beautiful woman? I'm the one who needs the lesson."
Leo, now slightly taller and more muscular, walked up to Natasha with a polite smile, looking directly at the internationally renowned Black Widow agent—a highly trained assassin inserted directly into Tony's life by Nick Fury.
Natasha's persona, including her alluring appearance and subtly dismissive personality, was entirely tailored to Tony's usual patterns and perfectly designed to capture his interest and lower his guard. This was her routine contact procedure.
Tony, however, seemed more interested in confirming her identity. He walked straight to Pepper's side, his eyes still on the ring. "Who is she, Pepper?"
"She's from the legal department, Tony. And she looks like the type who could get you into a very expensive sexual harassment case if you don't keep your mouth shut," Pepper replied, her voice laced with warning.
Tony turned to the newly appointed CEO. "I need a new personal assistant, boss. That job is far too below your current pay grade."
"I have three very promising, qualified candidates, and I'm waiting for you to interview them later this week," Pepper countered sharply.
"I don't have time for interviews. I need someone right now, and I think I've found her," Tony said, looking intently at the beautiful, deadly agent standing opposite Leo in the ring.
"Absolutely not," Pepper snapped, a flash of unmistakable, possessive jealousy in her eyes.