Tony Stark // Iron Man (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ironyman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rekindleme2014-10-02 12:39 am
ironyman) wrote in rekindleme2014-10-02 12:39 am
Entry tags:
tony stark not allowed to be happy, news at 11
Who: Tony Stark & Steve Rogers; Later, Tony Stark & YOU! (Special guest appearance by sadness)
Where: The dumb superhero apartment + first and second districts
When: first part September 16th, second part September 16 to present
Summary: Tony Stark's life gets more complicated and terrible, and then he goes on an angst walk.
Warnings: Talking about death and sad stuff. Also probably swearing and/or alcohol because Tony.
Repairing the suit's going to take a long time. The physical damage alone is pretty extensive, thanks in part to Barnes. But the coding is the bigger issue, and the one that's going to occupy the larger part of Tony's time. And admittedly, not having an available armor for the first time in years--plus inevitably needing to continue not having one for so long--is a little unnerving. (... Okay, a lot unnerving. But that's the idea of the Clean Slate Protocol, and he's already cheated for long enough. Sure would make it easier if Pepper was here, though.) But even geniusesshouldn't can't work all the time, so Tony is taking a mandatory, insomnia-preventing break.
... By experimenting with snack combinations. Because he's taking a break from the suit, not science, okay? Grapes and pretzels? Surprisingly good. Potato chips and olives? Awful, procedure never to be repeated. Next up: blueberries and peanut butter.
Surely he won't get any terrible news on such a fine day as this!
---OPEN---
As it turns out, Tony's luck isn't that good.
The last time Rogers returned he brought Tony a headache--he kinda liked the little shit, after all. This time, he brought... Tony doesn't even know what to call this.
Bucky killed his parents.
Yep. Bucky Barnes, war hero turned scary ninja assassin, murdered Howard and Maria Stark.
Forgive Tony if he needs a minute to process that.
It's not even that he's angry. He's not, not really. Barnes was brainwashed, he knows that. Tony's read the file. And it's not like he had the best of relationships with his parents anyway. Not to mention it was twenty years ago and even Tony doesn't hold that a grudge for that long. Especially not against a guy who doesn't even remember doing the grudge-worthy thing.
Tony's been wandering the city a lot since he found out, not because the outdoors gives him any particular peace of mind--it doesn't, sorry, roots and trees aren't his thing--but to avoid... something. Rogers. Barnes. Thinking about the whole screwed up situation. Unfortunately, thinking is one of the things Tony Stark does best, so the end result is an unsettled-looking engineer walking slowly through the city with an iced coffee. Occasionally he stares into the cup like it contains all of life's answers.
Where: The dumb superhero apartment + first and second districts
When: first part September 16th, second part September 16 to present
Summary: Tony Stark's life gets more complicated and terrible, and then he goes on an angst walk.
Warnings: Talking about death and sad stuff. Also probably swearing and/or alcohol because Tony.
Repairing the suit's going to take a long time. The physical damage alone is pretty extensive, thanks in part to Barnes. But the coding is the bigger issue, and the one that's going to occupy the larger part of Tony's time. And admittedly, not having an available armor for the first time in years--plus inevitably needing to continue not having one for so long--is a little unnerving. (... Okay, a lot unnerving. But that's the idea of the Clean Slate Protocol, and he's already cheated for long enough. Sure would make it easier if Pepper was here, though.) But even geniuses
... By experimenting with snack combinations. Because he's taking a break from the suit, not science, okay? Grapes and pretzels? Surprisingly good. Potato chips and olives? Awful, procedure never to be repeated. Next up: blueberries and peanut butter.
Surely he won't get any terrible news on such a fine day as this!
As it turns out, Tony's luck isn't that good.
The last time Rogers returned he brought Tony a headache--he kinda liked the little shit, after all. This time, he brought... Tony doesn't even know what to call this.
Bucky killed his parents.
Yep. Bucky Barnes, war hero turned scary ninja assassin, murdered Howard and Maria Stark.
Forgive Tony if he needs a minute to process that.
It's not even that he's angry. He's not, not really. Barnes was brainwashed, he knows that. Tony's read the file. And it's not like he had the best of relationships with his parents anyway. Not to mention it was twenty years ago and even Tony doesn't hold that a grudge for that long. Especially not against a guy who doesn't even remember doing the grudge-worthy thing.
Tony's been wandering the city a lot since he found out, not because the outdoors gives him any particular peace of mind--it doesn't, sorry, roots and trees aren't his thing--but to avoid... something. Rogers. Barnes. Thinking about the whole screwed up situation. Unfortunately, thinking is one of the things Tony Stark does best, so the end result is an unsettled-looking engineer walking slowly through the city with an iced coffee. Occasionally he stares into the cup like it contains all of life's answers.
no subject
Oh. Something he needs to tell Tony about. Okay...?
Tony pulls the plate back and tries out his experimental snack. Huh, not bad.
"Gonna tell me I'm adopted or something?"
no subject
"It has to do with Howard- your dad. Both your parents, actually." Steve finally managed to say, still looking a bit uncomfortable. But he was going to go through with this, even if he ended up with a fist in his face or something worse.
sliiiides in here
He forced his shoulders to relax when Rogers proceeded to "both your parents", free hand coming up to tap idly where the arc reactor used to be and almost immediately flinching away. Right, not a great idea on still pretty new scar tissue. Habit.
"Right. Wow, 'cause that's, ah, that's not ominous at all." And he took another bite. Nothing to see here, no budding sense of dread at all.
:|
"...HYDRA. They survived the war." And wasn't that a bitter realization when it happened? Steve preferred to know who he had to punch, but at the same time, he had hoped that HYDRA was gone when he pulled the plane into the ice. "Grew from within SHIELD. Long story short, they were responsible for the car crash your parents were in."
don't you give me that look
"Um. Okay. What?"
Tony grimaced because obviously he'd heard Rogers wrong. Had to. No way he heard right. Because otherwise it sounded an awful lot like Nazis killed his parents fifty years after the World War II. Which sounded like the plot to a really bad Indian Jones sequel.
"Hey. No, no, no," Tony said with a dismissive gesture and firm shake of his head. "You don't get to 'long story short' me on this one, you're gonna have to go back. Rewind. More information."
:|||||
"Red Skull's death wasn't the end of HYDRA. They survived, including Zola. The SSR hired him because of his knowledge, but he brought HYDRA into the organization, growing like a parasite." He remembered everything that computer told him and how his sacrifice meant nothing. Maybe some of it was true, but they stopped Project Insight in the end. That was something. He just needed to take down the rest of that organization.
"Some people found out, like your father. So, they couldn't leave that be. Hired... an assassin to kill him." He figured that Tony would get the hint now, but if not, guess he would have to go the fully direct route.
i'm so happy the first time i use this icon is on this tag
Tony could practically feel his blood going cold, and for a moment nothing before those two words mattered. Shit. He looked away from Rogers almost immediately, gaze dropping to the plate in his hand without actually seeing it. Why couldn't he stop finding out new and terrible things about his dad 20 years after the old bastard died? Why couldn't the old man just leave Tony alone? He certainly did when he was alive.
Except... Tony didn't have to struggle to remember the last conversation they had--he'd replayed it in his head enough. Howard had said he had something important to tell Tony. Maybe it was HYDRA. Maybe that was why he had to die on that specific day.
Tony didn't even have to think too hard about what his last sight might have been, too, and wasn't that a kick in the teeth? Damn it, he thought he was out of reasons to be pissed at Barnes.
"How'd you find out," Tony muttered tonelessly.
what a good time to use it
"Zola." Well, he could answer that question at least. It was going to be a bit weird to explain, but not difficult to talk about. "He... stored his brain into a computer. Survived to this day because of it. That was when he told me everything, the truth about HYDRA and SHIELD."
He looked at Tony, gathering himself to say the next few words. "Tony, I'm sorry. About your parents. HYDRA should've ended back in the 40s."
i thought so too
It was barely a question, muted and dull, and Tony didn't even look up to see the effect of his words. What was the point? The kicked puppy face Rogers no doubt was wearing would only make the dull empty feeling in his chest worse. He didn't even have the heart to say anything about Zola, just filed the information away for a later time. For a brief moment Tony's jaw tightened before his face smoothed back into inscrutable numbness.
"Fury?" He glanced up at Rogers, leaving the question unspoken. Was Nick Fury working for HYDRA?
no subject
Because he couldn't save Bucky. Couldn't get rid of HYDRA completely. That laid on his shoulders and his alone.
"Clean." Steve winced for a moment at his wording. Fury wasn't clean, not by a long shot, but he wasn't HYDRA. "He noticed HYDRA growing in SHIELD, tried to take them down."
no subject
"Great," he replied flatly, heaving a sigh. "I guess I should ask what tried means, but to be perfectly honest I don't really care."
He looked away, brow furrowing as tension came back to his jaw.
"So when you say forced, is that forced the way he was forced to try to kill me, too?"
no subject
"Bucky shouldn't have attacked you. That's his responsibility." He probably already said that, at least long time ago. But this mission with Howard and Maria... it was something completely different. Bucky had no will during that time. "HYDRA was still pulling his strings when your parents died."
how did this wall of text happen
"If he's so innocent why can't you say he killed them," Tony spat out.
First it was HYDRA was responsible, then an assassin, but when your parents died was the one that pissed him off. Died and killed were two very different things, and Rogers damn well knew it. Died was being abandoned, discovering a new level of alone after an absent father made a stupid mistake. Tony was fine with died. He'd made his peace with died. Killed cut out the mistake part, changed "abandoned" to "ripped away." And it jammed a big fat knife in a wound that had long since healed.
because tony
"He may be the one that pulled the trigger, but someone else forced him in that direction in the first place."
Not that it made the news any less painful, knowing that his best friend killed Howard and his wife like that. Steve always considered Howard to be a great ally, a friend of sorts even if they weren't on the battlefield together. His inventions helped them stay alive in the battle against HYDRA.