I'm so sorry I haven't updated since forever. My computer totally shut down and rebooted itself, ERASING EVERY PROGRAM I'VE EVER DOWNLOADED INCLUDING MICROSOFT WORD. Remember when I said I'd kill my computer in an author's note on 'The Trouble with Serums'? Well, now it's officially dead to me. I'm sneaking a chapter on the family computer right now.
Pain clouded his vision as Tony tried to sit up from the hard surface on which he lay. He whimpered from the agony and collapsed back onto the surface, his whimpers turning to screams as figures, cloaked in darkness, bent over him, scalpels and knives clutched in their dark hands. They were there to hurt him—why? What had he done? He tried to shout at them, but before the sound touched his lips they were cut off by a scalpel digging into his chest, and oh god, they were trying to kill him, he was obviously dead and this was hell, oh god, LET THIS BE A DREAM, WAKE UP FOR GOD'S SAKE!
Anthony awoke in a cold sweat, the darkness still clouding his thoughts. Then he realized that it wasn't the remnants of the dream, that it was actually pitch-black. He let out a shudder before composing himself, and stood up, groping for the light switch. Finally his hand hit the metal lever, and he quickly flipped it upwards, lighting up the freezing place.
Although four thousand dollars could let you rent a nice townhouse in downtown Manhattan for a month before finding a job, the apartment Anthony had bought was far from a nice townhouse. It was a small, windowless room with half rotten floorboards and bugs creeping along the white walls. The only appliance found in the room was a mini refrigerator, and that had come with the apartment (even though Anthony wasn't sure it could even be called an apartment, seeing as it was just a room). It was just down the street of the bar he had walked into. There wasn't even a bathroom—a community bathroom was located just down the hall for him and all the other hoodlums living there to use.
Even though he still had thirty eight hundred dollars left in his pocket (the room had only cost one hundred dollars, and that was a bit high-priced) all Anthony had bought was a threadbare quilt crafted by an old woman downstairs, and she only charged fifty cents for it, claiming that he was her son, when in truth she just had bad vision and Alzheimer's disease.
Anthony sighed as the light fixture dimly lit the room, touching the white-washed walls in relief. He went over to the mini fridge and yanked the door open, grabbing a beer and opening it while sitting cross-legged on his quilt. There, he sorted out everything he knew so far, as he had been doing since the day he woke up.
It had been two weeks since he had woken up. He didn't remember anything but a very pretty woman's face and his first name. No one on the side of the city he was in recognized him, excepting the old lady. He had a metal cylinder in his chest. He had nightmares about the cylinder got into his chest, making him a bit of an insomniac. He was scared of water, loud noises, the dark, and falling. He had four thousand dollars but no cell phone. He was utterly alone, and—dare he say it?—terrified.
He was terrified of not remembering who he was. He was also petrified of remembering. What if his life had always been like that? What if he had a huge enemy after him, and he had no idea? What if his friends weren't looking for him? What if he had no friends? What if the kind of man he had been was a terrible one? What if…
Anthony shook his head and stood up, stretching. He flicked off the light switch, and stumbled back to his blanket, snuggling into it. He closed his eyes, but he knew sleep wouldn't tempt him. He was simply going to wait until morning came.
~Amnesia~
Bruce straightened his tie, looking at his mirror. He sighed at his completely black outfit. Black suit, black dress shirt, black tie, black shoes, black socks. Of course, you have to wear black to a funeral.
It had been two weeks since he found the helmet. Thirteen days since Pepper stopped talking to him. It was too early for Tony's funeral. Tony always postponed business and even personal events. Why couldn't this one be postponed also?
But, after Pepper's…episode, Pepper had begun sorting through Tony's electronic files, finally making herself to come down to his old lab. After about an hour, Pepper had found a file labeled 'My Awesomely Sad Funeral'. It took another hour for her to open it.
Inside had been exactly what he wanted for his funeral, including a coffin that was so technologically advanced that it would keep his body looking normal for one hundred years and plans for what church he would want, what and who would be there, and even refreshments (he requested a LOT of booze). Pepper had assumed that it was all done while he was dying of Palladium poisoning, but she was shocked nonetheless. What kind of nut job would plan out their own funeral? There was even a document inside the electronic file that had Tony's last goodbyes to everyone he had been close to. It had instructions for Tony's best friend, James Rhodes, to read aloud for everyone.
Bruce tried to get the gumption to leave his bedroom and go down to the black limousine sitting outside the tower, but he couldn't. Bruce instead went over and almost collapsed on his bed.
Even though Bruce still believed that Tony was alive, it still brought closure to the situation. It was easy to believe that he wasn't dead without a monument dedicated to him in the same graveyard where his parents lay. Even though they had not found a body, the funeral still meant that everyone thought of him as merely a memory, and this was their last way to honor him. All Bruce wanted was to lock himself up in his room and try and figure out where Tony was.
Bruce sighed at his reflection one last time, running his hand through his hair. Then, Bruce headed out to join the others in the limousine.
Pepper wouldn't look at him the whole way over.
This is a bit of a filler chapter, honestly. I know, I hate fillers as much as you do, but it's meant as a transition to the next chapter, where Tony's funeral happens. And don't worry, they'll find him in the next few chapters .
~Don'tEvenBlink
