Natasha woke up in an unfamiliar place. The room was grey and dreary, and she was wearing grey! She looked at the other who had too woken up.
"Okay, where the hell are we?"
Scott was the first one to speak up just as a flash of green erupted. Loki's gaunt form emerged.
"To answer your idiotic question, Lang, we, are in Stark's head."
"What." Scott gasped. "That's..."
"What the hell did you do?!" Rhodey growled from his corner. "And where is Tony? Let us out!" Loki just smiled and shook his head in mock apology. "Sorry, but you will be cooped up here for the next couple of hours."
"Why do you do such thing Loki?" Thor boomed. Loki rolled his eyes and replied," You'll see, you oaf." Thor looked at Loki uncertainly before settling to look at others.
Natasha glared at Loki and hissed, "And why excactly are we in that selfish, narcissistic bastard's head?" Loki sighed. "You'll know soon enough. Now take a seat, before I lose my patience. Oh and Doctor Banner and Miss Maximoff, you wouldn't be able to 'hulk out' or 'use magic' for the next few hours. You'll eventually be glad, you know." Wanda glared daggers at the god of mischief before turning to glare at the room.
Everyone sat down reluctantly, (especially Barton, Maximoff and Lang) but they did nonetheless. "Great, now let the show begin." Loki grinned like a maniac and clapped his hands. The next instant, a screen sprang out from nowhere, and began to roll, reminding Barnes of the 1940s cinema.
Tony looked about four years old, wearing a Captain America onesie and walking towards somewhere, holding something that looked like a circuit board. His brown hair was familiarly unkempt as he descended the stairs. He stopped in front a door that said, "Lab." He hesitated for a while before gathering up his wits and entering. In front of him, a man that looked about 50 sat hunched over something. "D-d-dad? I-I made something that you may like to see..." Tony said uncertainly as he inched towards his father. The man, Howard Stark, Tony's father, swivelled his head and looked around. "What?!" He barked. "I don't have all day you know!"
Tony inched back slightly and held out his hand timidly. "I-I made a circuit..." He hadn't finished his sentence when a calloused hand cane and snatched the board away. "A circuit board aye? Well, that means nothing useful. Now get the hell out." Howard drawled, pointing towards the door.
Tony forced himself to stand his ground. "It is! I mean...I just managed to connect..." he trailed off when a hand cane out from nowhere and slapped him on the face. "IT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" Howard roared. "Can it be used to find him? No! Can it be used by the expedition team about leave in one week to search for him? NO! He is a leader, a worthy leader. Steve drove that plane into the arctic to save everyone you know! If he is here right now, he would agree that you are not half he is, that you're a FAILURE! You are WORTHLESS! I am only keeping you here cause I need an Alive person to carry on my legacy."
Tony had backed away all this while with tears streaming down his cheeks.
"What...are you CRYING?" Howard crossed the gap between him and Tony and forced Tony to look at him. "Stark men are made of Iron. They do NOT cry, they do NOT show weakness, you understand? Now repeat with me. Stark men are made of Iron. They do Not cry Nor show weakness. Good. Now get out of my sight. Oh one more thing..."
Howard took a hammer and smashed the circuit board into pieces. "This piece of trash deserves to go away. Now get out of my sight."
Young Tony raced from the room as fast as he could.
