Howard and Tony entered the hallway, Howard a step ahead while Tony was mentally cataloguing his surroundings. He was filled to the brim with unanswered questions, and his father had made it implicitly clear that he wasn't going to be answering anything.
Where am I? I don't even think this is Utah anymore! But where else could I be after just a day? But more importantly—
"Where is the girl I was with?"
"You mean the infamous Miss Natalia Romanova? You sure know how to pick your friends."
"She prefers Natasha," Tony snapped back, "And where is she?"
"Well—"
Before he got an answer, Tony was enveloped in Chamomile and Lavender scented white polyester and warm arms.
"Oh, Tony! I've missed you so much! You're father and I have been so worried about you! Look at you! Look how tall you've gotten! Look how skinny you are! Have you eaten? Are you ok?"
"Ah, hi, Pep. It's good to see you, too," Tony said awkwardly, backing out of his dad's personal assistant's arms. "But, um, where's mom?"
"Oh, she's at the hospital to pick up some medication, and then she's going to be preparing for tonight's party."
"Party?"
"You're coming home party, of course! Don't give me that look; we're all just really happy that you're home! We were all so worried!"
"Virginia," Howard warned. He motioned towards the backseat and locked eyes with his son.
"Get in, Tony."
After a silent sizing up, Tony acquiesced and got into the sleek automobile and angrily looked out the window. The world turned into colors spinning in a washing machine as Tony stared out the window and Howard began to speak.
"You've made it clear that you're reckless, you lack discipline, and you're a smart-ass. But you've also proven that you're resourceful, crafty, and a forward thinker. Obviously you think that your Mother and I aren't good enough for you, and you need more stimuli in your life, so I'm sending you to MIT for college this coming fall. You're going to be in charge of the Massachusetts' Research and Development branch of Stark Industries."
Tony gasped softly and turned to look at his father in the driver's seat. Howard, stoic and confident as ever, looked straight at the road and continued.
"You'll be taking over the company when I'm gone, and I don't want you to botch it up. The current head of the department, Obadiah, has agreed to house you and look over you, and he's stricter than I am. You will be assigned guards until you're no longer a flight risk, and you're going to keep your nose to the grindstone. If you even lift your head up to smell the roses, I will know, and I will have your head pushed back down. Do I make myself clear?"
Tony nodded noiselessly, prompting Howard to repeat himself harshly.
"Do I make myself clear, Anthony?"
"Y-yes, sir."
"Good. We'll make an announcement to those at the return party tonight, and you'll issue a statement at your first press conference tomorrow."
"Are we really having a party? I just got back, I just want to see…I want to see Mom, and I don't want to be surrounded by your colleagues and drunken ladies and be forced to make fake conversation. I just w—"
"You cost me a ton of money. You cost me a ton of business prospects. This is the best way to show everyone that you are safe, and clear up rumors, and introduce you into the society you're going to be a part of from this day on. Anthony, your bad decisions have made life immensely difficult for us. So for you to be sitting here telling me what you want and don't want…I don't want to hear it."
"Yes, sir."
"Tony…," Virginia said softly, turning so she could make eye contact with the boy in the backseat, "Why did you leave in the first place?"
Tony merely shrugged and turned to look out the window again, mind wanting to race, but finding itself restricted by tendrils of exhaustion. Adrenaline had been keeping him buzzing since he was woken up by Special Agent Hill, but now he was tired. The vibrations that ran through his skull as he rested his head against the glass matched the dull buzz of his thoughts. He closed his eyes and bits and pieces of memories resurfaced and gasped for air.
"Rhodey, I'm—I'm gonna do it."
"Tony, you're drunk."
"Yeah, so's my dad."
It was an unusually warm autumn night, the stars hidden by clouds. Moonlight struggled to break through thick barriers of condensation, muted and fragile. From the open windows of an extravagant house a few feet away, the strains of a live band playing smooth jazz wafted through the air, carrying with it the smell of hors d'oeuvres and the light cacophony of lilting chatter and laughter.
"Sure," the taller young man with warm brown skin and even warmer eyes replied, "but that's nothing out of the ordinary. Plenty of dads drink, but most 12 year olds don't."
"Most 12 year olds don't have parents who leave them unsupervised with the good stuff in a giant unlocked cabinet. Besides, I give you free booze and you love it."
Tony lifted his champagne flute toward Rhodey, who begrudgingly toasted his flask in turn.
"You gotta cool it, though. I'm going to Howard U this year, how am I gonna keep an eye on you when you develop a drinking problem by 13, kid?"
"You don't have to worry about me, I told you I'll be long gone by then."
Tony tipped back the rest of his drink and shook the champagne bottle beside him. "Damn, it's empty." He turned the bottle on its side and watched it roll down the hill in the direction of the party, stretched, and lied down on his back in the grass. His best friend, Rhodey, an eighteen year old who worked as a gardener for the Stark Mansion, followed suit, taking another swig of whiskey.
"Gimme," Stark pouted, reaching his arm out for the flask, rolling his eyes when Rhodey swatted his hand away.
"I don't even know why you're pouting, man. This is a white man's world, and you've got it so easy. I go to Howard, get a degree in medicine, and get hired by some backwater hospital because the prestigious ones don't want a black doctor…no matter how good I am, I'll always be 'good for a Colored doctor'. At least you'll have a future where you'll be recognized for your talents."
"Nah, I'll be recognized for my dad's talents," Tony spat, sitting up and resting his chin on his knees. "Even now, people look at the stuff I do and say, 'well of course he did such and such, he's Howard Stark's son' or 'Howard must have helped him with that'. And it's even funnier because my dad doesn't give a shit about me!"
He grasped a fistful of grass and promptly dumped it on Rhodey's chest. Rhodey shot up, threw a handful of grass back, and shoved Tony playfully.
"Man, cool it!" Rhodey grew serious and laid back down, lifting his hand and blocking out the silhouette of the moon. "So things haven't gotten any better?"
"Not really. He comes home from the workshop drunk. He comes home from the office drunk. Sometimes, he comes back with lipstick stains on his shirt, and gives them to mom to clean. She cries a lot. She doesn't know I notice, but I hear her every night. He still yells at us a lot and stuff. I don't care, but it really affects mom, so. Yeah."
"Man, I'm sorry. My mom left my dad when he first even thought about raising his hand at her. Her whole family came down, packed us up, and we left. Grandma was livid; she didn't take no shit, man. I'm sorry your mom sticks with him."
"She's afraid to leave, I think." Tony turned to Rhodey, face solemn but eyes hinting at rascality. "I'm not. I'm gonna do it."
"You wouldn't last an hour in the real world, kid."
"I don't think I can last an hour in this house, old man."
"Hm. If you skip town, it'd better be after I graduate! I'm keeping you from dying of liver failure. Plus…it'd be cool if you came. It is your daddy's money that's sending me to college, after all."
"I wouldn't miss your graduation for the world, man. Let's toast to it!"
Tony snatched his best friend's flask and quickly took a swallow of it, lightly grimacing at the burn like an experienced drinker. Rhodey snatched it out of the boy's hands and smacked him with his free hand as he tilted the opening to his lips.
"What the hell, man! You took the last sip!"
Tony shrugged and laughed, lying back down and cupping his hand to the sky, grabbing the few stars that peeked through the clouds.
A door slam jarred Tony awake, and Pepper's arm reached backwards to tap him on the leg.
"Come on, get up!"
"Where are we?" Tony asked bitterly as he exited the vehicle, tired of being woken up by strange people in strange places. At least when I was on the run I had familiar faces to wake up to. There was a pang in his chest that he tried to suppress.
"We're in Dugway, Utah. Most of the stuff that your dad makes or finds for the government: Flamethrowers, biological agents, weapons—gets tested at a base here. So when we found out you were spotted in Utah, he pulled some strings to get us a nice house to stay in here while people were looking for you."
"I've been all over the United States…did you get houses everywhere else I've been, too?"
"No, just here."
"It's like you knew I'd be caught…"
Virginia gave a tight lipped smile and got out of the car. "You'd better hurry up; you have to be back at the base at 5:00. If you want to get any sleep, you have to rush and get your dad's lecture out of the way."
Tony's eyes widened when he took in the expansiveness of the house. It was massive and mostly empty, except for a table full of alcohol bottles and mechanical parts.
"There's no way mom is ok with this," Tony thought with a frown.
"When will mom get back?"
"After we're back at the base," Howard replied, stopping directly in front of Tony and putting his hands behind his back in military fashion.
"Now, let's talk punishment. When we get back home, there will be no telephone, no television, no leaving the house without supervision, you will spend the day working with me in the workshop or in the office, and you will not talk back to or disrespect your mother, myself, or Ms. Potts. Furthermore—"
"Furthermore? Are you even serious right now? I'm not a soldier, dad!"
"Don't I know it," Howard sniffed and continued. "Furthermore, from this point on, you will cooperate with SHIELD and the military and tell them all about the team of criminals you have taken to calling your 'friends'—"
A yelp of disapproval left Tony's mouth, but Howard merely raised his hand to stop any words from following suit.
"…and aid in the arrest of said criminals. Failure to do so will result in corporal punishment. Agent Coulson, Agent Hill, and whomever they have deemed appropriate, have my express permission to punish you however they see fit, and believe me, they can be very creative. Do you understand?"
"No."
Determined black eyes met equally determined brown ones as the father and son stared at each other with explosive heat.
"No? What part didn't you understand?"
"The part where I GET MY FRIENDS ARRESTED!" Tony screamed, balling his hands into fists.
"I think you understand it pretty well, because that's all it is. You will aid in the arrest of—"
"I UNDERSTAND IT, I'M NOT GONNA DO IT!"
There was silence. The two gazes didn't falter until Howard took controlled steps toward Tony and grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him closer to eye level.
"Don't you dare raise your voice at me again. I will not be disrespected by you, or by anyone else. Now I'm going to let go, you are going to walk down the hallway and turn into the second bedroom on the right, you are going to take a shower and change out of these filthy rags, you are going to take a nap, and then we are going back to the base, and you are going to tell Agent Coulson everything you know. Understood?"
"Roger," Tony sneered, bringing his arm up in a mock salute.
"Then march," Howard sneered back, loosening his grip on his son and walking towards the expansive collection of alcohol on the table. Jerkily, he lifted a bottle to his lips and took a gulp of it as Tony stomped down the hallway.