{Betrothal} Avengers Various x Reader

Guilt...

Third Person Pov

Tony blows on a candle and everything around him shimmers, then starts to dissolve. It's a hologram. "It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport . . . or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief, but . . . "

He takes off his glasses "Plus, 611 million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment? No one in the right mind would've ever funded it."

Standing on a stage in front of a large crowd "Help me out, what's the MIT mission statement? To generate, disseminate . . . and preserve knowledge. And work with others . . . to bring it to bear on the world's great challenges."

"Well, you are the others. And, quiet as it's kept . . . the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind's ever known. Plus, most of you are broke." He joked as the crowd chuckled at his joke.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Rather, you were. As of this moment . . . every student has been made an equal recipient of the Inaugural September Foundation Grant. As in . . . all of your projects have just been approved and funded."

"No strings, no taxes... just re-frame the future! Starting now!"He squits his eyes at the screen with your name appearing on the teleprompter above the audience. He didn't want you to deal with a large crowd again since you were still recovering.

"Go break some eggs."

The crowd of students stands up while applauding for Tony as he walks off the stage "Wow. Wow. That-uh . . . that took my breath away. Oh, Tony! So generous. So much money!" Tony ignored the MIT teacher as his microphone was taken off of his suit.

"Wow! Out of curiosity . . . will any portion of that grant be made available to faculty? I know, Ooh, gross," but hear me out. I have got this killer idea for a self-cooking hot dog. Basically, chemical detonator embedded," Tony continue to walk away as he was zooming out the MIT teacher.

"Restroom's this way, yeah?"

He gestured towards a direction "Yeah. Embedded in the meat shaft." MIT teacher confirmed the direction of the restroom as Tony's assistant quickly put her hand on his shoulder walking in front of him.

"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry about the teleprompter. I didn't know y/n had canceled. They didn't have time to fix it." She tried to explain her side of the story as Tony continue to ignore everybody.

He stopped his tracks taking a moment to himself " It's . . . fine. I'll be right back." He steps into a quiet corridor. He loiters by the men's room, then glances back at the stage door before walking towards the elevator. A woman in sober clothes is also waiting. Tony stops and turns his back to the wall.

"That was nice, what you did for those young people." The woman spoke out as Tony took a quick glance at her before continuing to stare back at the wall. 

"Ah, they deserve it. Plus, it helps ease my conscience."

"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But if you've got the money . . . break as many eggs as you like. Right?" He narrows his eyes and half-smiles, then turns to face the elevator. He looks surprised to find the button unlit and pushes it himself.

"Are you going up?" He pointed up at the elevator as the women stars back at him. "I'm right where I want to be."

She digs in her handbag; Tony grabs her wrist. He realizes what he's done "Okay, okay. Hey! Sorry, it's an occupational hazard." He lets go of her hand. "I work for the State Department. Human Resources. I know it's boring . . . but it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be."

She shoves a photo at his chest "His name was Charlie Spencer. You almost murdered him. In Sokovia. No thanks to your teammate y/n who saved his life! Not that it matters in the least to you. You think you fight for us. Only Y/n fights for us. You just fight for yourself."