The lavish sitting room was filled with the beautiful pairing of dulcet piano tones and a woman's soft singing. The singer was the picture of elegance and wealth; without an inch of the arrogance that usually follows such qualities. On the couch lied a young man, deep in a peaceful sleep. Moments later, an older man walked into the room and pulled the blanket that covered his son.
"Wake up, dear, and say goodbye to your father." The woman at the piano said.
"Who's the homeless person on the couch?" The older man asked.
A young Tony Stark arose from the couch and stood in front of his father, a small chuckle escaping his mouth.
"This is why I love coming home for Christmas... right before you leave town." He said.
Howard Stark gave a sigh and placed both hands into the pockets of his clearly expensive suit.
"Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad." Maria Stark told her husband.
"Really? Which broad?" Howard asked, staring blankly at his son. "What's her name?"
He reached forward and took the Santa hat off of Tony's head, throwing it onto the couch.
"Candice..." Tony replied.
"Do me a favour, try not to burn the house down before Monday."
"Okay, so it's Monday. That is good to know." As he spoke, Tony moved to stand beside his mother. "I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where you going?"
"Your father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little getaway." Maria answered, without looking up from the piano.
"We might have to make a quick stop-" Howard began, stepping forward to his son once more.
"At the Pentagon. Right?" Tony cut him off. "Don't worry, you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary." He let forward and told his mother.
"They say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true, you'll be a great man someday."
As his father spoke, Tony moved away to the far side of the room. He leaned against a doorframe, arms crossed over his chest while he avoided all eye contact. Howard left to collect his baggage, leaving Maria alone with her son.
"He does miss you when you're not here." She told him. "And frankly, you're going to miss us."
Maria rose from the piano and made her way over to the young man.
"Because this is the last time we're all going to be together." She continued, coming face to face with Tony. "You know what's about to happen."
Tony looked up to meet his mother's eyes.
"Say something." She said, placing a hand lovingly on his arm. "If you don't, you'll regret it."
By this time, Howard had returned to the room with a bag slung over his shoulder. He stood silently for a moment, looking at his wife and son. Tony turned to face him.
"I love you, Dad." He said. "And I know you did the best you could."
An older Tony Stark watched on as his parents walked away from their son for the last time.
"That's how I wish it happened." He said.
Currently, Tony and I were visiting M.I.T where the former was presenting Stark Industries' newest technology; Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing. Or 'B.A.R.F', as he referred to it as. I stood at the side of the stage watching as Tony explained the holographic scene to the auditorium full of college students.
"As of this moment, every student has been made an equal recipient of the inaugural September Foundation Grant." Tony announced. "As in, all of your projects have just been approved and funded!"
The auditorium erupted in happy cheers as they rose to their feet to applaud.
"No strings, no taxes, just reframe the future! Starting now."
Tony turned his head to look at me and ushered me forward with a wave of his arm. I smiled and shook my head. Ignoring my rejection, Tony spoke once again.
"Please welcome my partner, Ophelia Madden!"
He shot me a sly smile as I had no choice but to join him on the stage. The crowd began to applaud once more, but with significantly less enthusiasm. Now standing beside Tony, he clapped a hand on my shoulder.
"Credit where credit's due, we wouldn't be where we are today without Ophelia's hard work and dedication to Stark Industries."
Tony turned his eyes back to the holographic teleprompter and his face fell.
'Now I would like to introduce the head of the foundation: Pepper Potts.'
Tony was at a loss for words; something that didn't happen very often.
"Go break some eggs!" I said, covering for Tony's speechlessness.
As the crowd rose and began to applaud, Tony and I walked off the stage.
"Thanks." He mumbled to me.
I nodded in response, not mentioning the subject any further. I knew he wouldn't want to talk about it.
"Wow, wow! That took my breath away!" An excited M.I.T teacher said, approaching me and Tony.
The teacher rambled on awkwardly, whilst Tony remained silent and avoided all eye contact. I gave the man a kind smile as he continued to speak.
"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 hotdog..."
"Restroom's this way, yeah?" Tony asked, clearly not hearing a word that was said.
"Yeah." The man answered, before going right back in to the topic of his strange invention.
One of Tony's assistants came hurrying over and apologised profusely for the confusion with Pepper.
"It's fine. I'll be right back." Tony said, before hurrying off.
I followed him out of the stage door and into the hallway.
"Tony, wait up." I said, my heels clicking against the polished floor as I caught up to him.
He stopped outside the restroom door before turning and walking away to the elevator. He joined a sombrely dressed woman, both of them standing in silence. Reaching Tony's side, I opened my mouth to speak. However, the sombre woman beat me to it.
"That was nice, what you did for those young people." She said.
"Ah, they deserve it." Tony answered, not meeting her eyes. It was clear he was not in the mood for conversation. "Plus, it helps ease my conscience."
"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But, if you've got the money..." The woman turned her head and looked at me and Tony. "Break as many eggs as you like. Right?"
The two of us stood in silence, processing what the woman's intentions could be. Tony moved to stand beside the woman and pressed the elevator button.
"Are you going up?" He asked.
"I'm right where I want to be." The woman responded, looking sternly at the billionaire.
My eyebrows furrowed slightly at the woman's words. Did she have a problem with Tony? She hastily reached into her bag. I stepped forward, my palm beginning to glow slightly.
"Okay, okay, hey..." Tony said, grabbing the woman's hand.
"Let's just all calm down." I added cautiously.
The woman stared first at me, then at Tony. It was clear she didn't have any violent intentions. Tony removed his hand.
"Sorry, it's an occupational hazard." He apologized.
The light in my hand went out, yet I kept a careful eye on the woman.
"I work for the State Department." She told Tony. "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."
I noticed how the woman spoke with a hint of sadness in her voice, like she was grieving. I felt my heart sink within me. The woman shoved a flyer into Tony's chest.
"His name was Charlie Spencer." She said. "You murdered him. In Sokovia."
Her eyes never left Tony for a moment. Even though we never spoke about it, I knew he harboured the same regret that I did over what happened last year; knew the same nightmares of the pain we caused kept him awake at night as it did me.
"Not that that matters in the least to you." The woman continued. "You think you fight for us? You just fight for yourself." Her voice oozed with hatred.
Tony slowly shook his head, unable to say a word.
"Who's going to avenge my son, Stark? He's dead... and I blame you."
Without another word, the woman turned and walked down the hall. Slowly, I stepped forward and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. We stood in silence, the weight of what the woman said still hanging in the air.