"The kid"
"The kid"
Tony could not say anything else apart from those two words. He couldn't drink nor eat. He couldn't think, he couldn't cry.
He was in shock.
Rhody's seen him in shock before, when he was rescued from the terrorist so many years ago but not like this. He looked so broken it hurt to look at him. His eyes were a hole of pain, anguish, fear, regret and love.
Love for a teenager who was too good for this freaking violent cruel galaxy. Love for a kid who stole Tony's heat. Love for a boy who has changed Tony in a way not even Pepper could. Tony become more than a hero, he's become a responsible, caring and compassionate mentor.
A father to a parentless boy.
And now, Tony was suffering the greatest tragedy known. The loss of a son.
"Pepper, I.. what do we do?", he asked the woman who looked at Tony with so much pain in her eyes.
She kneeled in front of Tony and she took his hands. But Tony didn't let her take his left hand, he looked lunatic, crazy. She looked at him confused and he mumbled something.
"Can you repeat, my love?", she asked him
"This is the only thing left", said Tony looking at his bloody and full of dust hand, "Only thing"
Oh.
The kid's ashes.
Tony probably hasn't washed his hands in hours because of that. It was unbearable.
"My love, we'll get him back. We promise you", said Pepper who looked determined. She looked at Rhody who didn't know how the hell they were going to do that but he was sure Tony would not rest until his kid is back in his arms again.
He felt the others entering the room. Rogers looked broken too and he could see Bucky has disappeared too, he looked defeated but he looked confused at the scene in front of him.
"What's wrong? Who else did we lose?", Rogers asked looking at Pepper
"The kid", she said and most of them didn't understand.
They haven't seen how important, how essential was the kid for Tony Stark. They couldn't see it.
Blind people.
"I told him he'd be alright, Pep", whispered Tony looking fondly at the remaining ashes of the kid, " I lied to him to his face and I had to hold him until he was… I.. failed him… I promised I'd protect him with my life and I failed… and he never knew how much I..", he broke down. He wailed with pain, it sounded so animalistic, so painful.
"Not Tony", said Happy who hasn't spoken a word since they all came back to the compound, "That kid knew. God, the kid looked at you as if you were made of gold. He knew you loved him and he loved you as fiercely"
They all looked in shock. Happy never talked so much and he never talked of feelings. They all could see how much the man cared for Spiderman.
"I was going to take him this weekend on a trip. He mentioned he wanted to go to Silicon Valley a thousand times and I know this guy…. Pete'd love him. It was going to be a surprise, I arranged everything with his aunt and I even invited those friends of him…", said Tony smiling sadly.
Pepper was crying now, caressing his head and all of them stayed in silent.
Rhody saw it then. He saw something burning inside Tony. His eyes recovered some focus, some fire, determination, rage.
Pure wrath.
"I'm going to kill Thanos, I'm going to make him suffer and I'm going to bring my kid back", he growled, "I don't care if I have to die a thousand deaths, I don't care if I will suffer the greatest pain on this fucking universe, I will make them burn in Hell and I will look for him in heaven and hell if I gotta"
He stood up . Pepper looked at him in awe while the other avengers looked at him devastated.
"I swear. I swear. I promise you, kid"