CHAPTER 3

I stared at her, "How did you...".

"I'm a spy" she said, walking around the desk and sitting down next to me, "I'm thought to notice these things. And Dummy's pretty good at spelling".

"Spelling?" I asked confused and she nodded, "He ordered the encyclopaedia's to read out 'Desk'. And considering he never cleaned things before, and the fact he was sent to find you, it didn't take too much to put two and two together".

"You" I said, pointing at the robot who had wheeled back over, "Are not forgiven. But I'll rethink the whole junk yard thing".

He beeped in response.

"So... Are you hiding from us, or from yourself?" She asked.

"Both... Mostly myself" I replied quietly and she sighed, "Your going to have to come out sometime Stark".

"I know. Just... Just not yet" I replied and she nodded, "Fine. Your choice. But everyone's worried".

I gave an abrupt laugh, "Seriously? Cause there's honestly no point".

"Look... We do care. Everyone cares. We care and we worry about you. And right now, everyone's REALLY worrying about you".

"... Even you?" I asked and she smiled, "Even me. As much as I hate to admit it Stark, iv grown fond of your fucked up ways".

"I'm gonna take that as a complement" I shot back and and she laughed slightly, "You do that... But seriously though, you gotta tell us what's happening here".

"Nothing's happening" I said, just that bit too quickly. Natasha, of course, noticed it.

"Stark, you all but cried when Steve caught you. And you've actually cried since. So, something's up. And as Bruce said, your father was... The main source... Of the whole caring issues. My guess is its his fault you flinched aswell".

She was good, that I'd give her credit for.

"I take your silence as a yes then. My guess also states... that your father grabbed you when he was angry".

I swallowed back more tears, "...He was always angry". I silently cursed myself when my voice broke on that last word. Thankfully, she didn't bring it up. Instead, she stared at me, shocked.

"I'm right? Your father... Hit you?".

I avoided her gaze and stared straight ahead, "... Nothing noticeable. That would get questions asked he didn't want to answer. So he avoided my face and hands. But that was it. Everywhere else... Cut, hit, battered and bruised for days afterwards... I was just something to take his anger out on. A human stress ball as he said".

"... You've never told anyone before, have you?" She asked quietly and I shook my head, "If I did... He said...".

"He threatened you" she finished and I nodded slightly, "He threatened to put me in a body bag".

"Fucks sake. When people say you had a bad childhood... I never imagined..." She trailed off and I laughed, "That it was as bad as this? SHIELD doesn't know everything. The hitting part was just the tip of the iceberg".

She stared at me, "We have to tell the others".

"No" I replied simply and she sighed, "Stark, your own FATHER threatened to KILL YOU. Steve needs to know his hero wasn't all that".

"He won't listen to you. Iv tried" I replied and she swore, "Yea. You have. You've tried to tell all of us. And we didn't listen. Well, we're going to listen this time, if I have to drag them to a fucking chair myself".

"No point. Past is the past. What happened happened and now... now I'm seriously trying to forget it" I replied.

"... Does Pepper know?" She asked.

"As you said. Nobody listened" I replied and she stood up, dragging me with her, "Well she's going to know now. Jarvis, call the others up. We're going to have a little family meeting".

She shoved me down onto the chair in the corner, giving me a look that clearly stated if I tried to run this time, I wouldn't get very far. So I obeyed, sitting down and bringing my knees up close to my chest, gripping them with all my might. How the hell was I going to get through this?

Within minutes, the other 4 had arrived, bursting through the door and suddenly stopping when they took in the sight before them. Natasha pacing the room, absolutely furious, Dummy hiding behind the desk, shaking and scared of what was about to happen, and me curled up in the corner, completely terrified and gone as pale as humanly possible. Slowly, Bruce closed the door behind them, "What's happened?".

"What hasn't?" Natasha asked, turning to them.

"Has he spoken?" Bruce asked again and she nodded, "Yep".

"And judging by your really angry yet very protective stance, I'm guessing he's explained a few things, hasn't he?".

"Oh yea" she replied and Bruce glanced over at me, "and those few things happened because?".

"Howard Stark" she spat, sitting down on the desk.

"... We know that part. The whole disliking thi-" Steve started and she laughed, "No, no, no. Ye know NOTHING compared to what really happened".

"Natasha" I warned quietly and she looked over at me, "No, they deserve to know".

"Know what?" Pepper asked and Nat looked over at her, "Starks... Actually, I'll let him explain. Bruce, you might want try and remain calm".

They all looked over at me and I sighed, really not wanting to continue, "Ok, so I never actually told anyone but Natasha and now she's forcing me to tell ye. Right... Well... You see... I-kind-of-had-a-fucked-up-childhood-and-I-really-d on't-want-to-tell-you-this-but-my-father-used-to-h it-me-alot-and-said-he-would-kill-me-if-I-told-any one-and-then-once-he-died-I-thought-bout-telling-s omeone-but-I-didn't-and-now-I'm-telling-ye-and-ple ase-don't-hate-me-for-it-and-I'm-ranting-so-I'll-j ust-shut-up-now".

They stared at me confused.

"Let me translate for you" Natasha said, "His father treated him like a rag doll".

I buried my head in my knees, wishing and hoping and praying that this would all end here.

"You mean... No... He actually?" Bruce asked and Natasha nodded. Bruce actually swore, which made the others even more worried.

"What... What are ye talking about?" Steve asked and Natasha glared at him, "Your best buddy, the famous Howard Stark, beat up his only son. Numerous amounts of times".

"He... Hit Tony?" Steve asked confused and she nodded, "Hit him. Kicked him. Stabbed him. Everything. Course he was smart enough to threaten him to keep his mouth shut too".

"And if Tony told everyone?" Bruce asked quietly.

"He'd kill him".

"What? Kill him? As in-" Pepper started but Nat cut her off, "MURDER HIM. If Stark opened his mouth to ANYONE, his father would murder him".

"No" I said looking up at her and they all turned to me, "What?".

I smiled slightly, "He wouldn't kill me himself. Said that was too obivious. He would pay people to do it. Told me his whole plan. He'd go to Afghanistan to sell some new weapons, bring me and my mother along with him, make It look like a family vacation, a holiday. Then he'd pay a group of terriosts to break in, and kill me. Where do you think Obie got his idea?" I explained and they all stared at me.

"You... Your serious?" Pepper asked, her voice barely a whisper.

I shrugged, "Your fathers murder plan for you is slightly difficult to forget".

"Jeasus Christ" Steve muttered, sliding down to the ground. He looked devastated. Pepper started crying. Thor stared at me, suddenly looking VERY protective. Bruce's eyes had turned green. And Natasha was still furious.

So I stood up, walking over to the desk, and pulling open the fourth drawer. They all stared at me confused as I slowly took out a piece of folder paper, placing it on the desk before closing the drawer and going back over to my seat.

"What's that?" Natasha asked.

"That's the speech he was going to read at my funeral" I replied and Bruce turned to me, shocked, "You kept it?".

"Honestly, I... I just didn't want to touch it" I replied quietly, my voice breaking half way through.

Slowly, Natasha picked up the note, unfolding it to reveal my fathers neat and tidy handwriting.

"Can I?" She held up the note and I nodded, "Go ahead".

She turned back to the note, reading it out loud, "This is just a speech I put together earlier on, when... When I couldn't think of anything else to do. My son was, adventurous, I'll give him that much. And he could have had it all, fame, riches, a family, if he hadn't been taken from us so suddenly. I blame myself mostly, taking him and my wife with me to Afghanistan. After all, what place has a 14 year old surrounded by weapons. But I wanted to do good. Make a holiday out of it. Show him the world. Just trying to be a good father. That was it. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted this to happen. But it did. And now... Now I'm reading out something I wrote five minutes ago at his funeral. Anthony Stark will be greatly missed. By family, by friends, by the entire world. But most of all, by the people who knew him the best. Thank you" she finished, staring at the paper with as much venom and hatred as she could.

"That... That was the only time in his entire life, that he called me his son" I said.

"You were 14?" Steve asked quietly and I sighed, "... I... I was 14 when he wrote that note... I was... 3, possibly 4, when he threatened to kill me the first time".

"And how long did this go on for?" Pepper asked.

"Until the night that son of a bitch died" I replied.

"... What about your mother? Didn't she...".

"Care?" I asked her, "Yea, she cared. When it suited her".

"And Obie?" she asked, the tears streaming down her face.

I gave an abrupt laugh, "You know how his story ends. He seemed to care about me his whole life. Until he put my fathers plan into action. Turns out he knew all along".

"So that's why you think..." Bruce started.

"That nobody cares" I finished, "yea. Because in the end, everyone leaves. Everyone back-stabs me, and leaves just when I need them the most. And ye will too".