"Change of plans. I won't be able to make it."

Tony didn't know why he was torturing himself by reading the text from Pepper again and again. After Sokovia, the PR department had said he needed to do some charity work, so he had started the September Foundation, and today, he was going to announce it at MIT. Pepper had agreed to join him; not as his girlfriend, but as the CEO of Stark Industries. Tony had had hope. Maybe, just maybe, if he did something nice for her after the presentation, she would be willing to give him one last chance. One last chance, that was all he asked. But now, she wasn't coming at all.

"Come on, Dad, we're going to be late."

Confused, Tony finally tore his eyes from the screen. Ana was wearing a black business dress, a pair of stilettos, and she had a full make-up on. This was weird, because she had made it clear that she wasn't going to join him. "You coming?"

"Happy said Potts has canceled. There's no reason for me not to come."

Potts. That's what she called Pepper now, if she had to mention her at all. How could she do it? How could she act like Pepper was nothing but a stranger to her, to both of them? Tony used to think his daughter was a little angel. He still thought she was an angel, only a much more ruthless, unforgiving one. An angel with his mom's face and his dad's severity. An angel from Tony's personal hell.

"What?" she asked with an ice-cold nonchalance.

"Nothing…"

She snatched the phone from his hands, frowning. "She's made her choice, Dad. If she wasn't willing to be there when you needed her the most, she doesn't deserve you at all. Her loss."

It was the other way around, actually. He was the one who didn't deserve her. But telling this to Ana wasn't a good idea.

"Come on. It's going to be fun. I missed our trips to MIT."

He tried to smile and let her lead him out of the house, for he, too, had missed those trips. Or, anything about those simpler times, really.

Happy was waiting by the car outside. On the way to the airport, he tried to shake the uneasy feeling in his stomach, focus on all those students he was about to make very, very happy, or even Ana instead, but it was impossible. The fact that he might have to live the rest of his life without Pepper was gnawing at his mind, hollowing him out.

Happy and Ana had been observing him quietly the whole time. Once they were in the air, Ana asked, "So, what do you want to do after the presentation? How about lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled idly. "Lunch sounds great."

Her smile vanished. "Okay, never mind."

Damn it. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm trying…"

"You're not trying hard enough, Dad. Tell me, when was she hired by you?"

"In 2000." He still remembered the day he had met her. From the moment he had laid eyes on Pepper, he had known she was special.

"That means for the first thirty years of your life, you did just fine without her. You can do it again. No one is irrevocable. And the truth is, she was nothing before you made her Pepper Potts. Just a nobody. Now she runs our company. The one that has our name outside the buildings. She got what she wanted from you, and left. Because she no longer needs us." She turned to Happy, who seemed as appalled as Tony, and added viciously, "That's right, Happy. I just called Potts a gold-digger. Go ahead, let her know."

If Tony didn't know Ana well enough, he might actually believe she meant every word. "It's okay, Ana."

"Yeah, it's okay. That's what I've been trying to tell you for—"

"It's okay to care."

She snorted. "What makes you think I care?"

"You wouldn't be so angry if you didn't."

He was expecting another outburst, but to his surprise, her face softened and she took his hand. "I know it's not easy to process, Dad. She fooled me, too. For a time. Then, I opened my eyes and saw the ugly truth. Why she really left."

We both know why she really left, he wanted to say, but again, kept his thoughts to himself. Ana would choose to believe what she wanted to believe. What was easier to believe. That was how she coped with it. If only his coping mechanisms were as effective.

…

By the time they entered the conference hall, a group of technicians had already started setting up the BARF equipment according to Tony's instructions. He took a look around to make sure everything was being done right. This was a new technology.

"Dad, are you sure about this?" Ana whispered. "I mean, revealing such a personal memory to people…"

"It's just some college students. What's the harm?"

"Well, at least this time we'll be funding a decent bunch for a change," she said casually, but with a hint of complaint in her voice. Tony knew she hated the fact that he still funded the Avengers, even though she knew why he had to do it. The world needed the Avengers, and if he didn't give them the money, who would?

"Honey, do you really want to do this right now?"

She smiled sweetly, and took his arm. "Of course not. Everything looks good here. Come on."

They went to the backstage, arm in arm. Someone started preparing them for the presentation at once. Soon, they could hear the collective murmur of the students filling the hall.

Eventually, a guy said, "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Stark."

He put on the BARF glasses. Ana shot him one last concerned, disapproving glance, but didn't say anything.

"How do I look?"

"Like the most handsome man in the world," she replied, smoothing his blazer.

He winked at her, and then it started. Tony's last moments with his parents.

His dad was preparing to leave the house, his mom was singing and playing the piano while waiting for him. Tony was back from Cambridge for Christmas, lying on the couch, covering his eyes with a blanket because the room was too bright for his taste.

His dad lifted the blanket.

"Wake up dear, and say goodbye to your father."

"Who's the homeless person on the couch?"

He got off the couch. "This is why I love coming home for Christmas, right before you leave town."

"Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad."

"Really? Which broad? What's her name?"

"Candice." Thank goodness Ana didn't know Candice was Irene's best friend. The one Tony had cheated her with. Ana had never asked for the details, and he had never said anything.

"Do me a favor? Try not to burn the house down before Monday."

"Okay, so it's Monday. That is good to know, I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where are you going?"

"Your father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little getaway."

"We might have to make a quick stop."

"At the Pentagon. Right? Don't worry, you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary."

"You know, they say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true, you'll be a great man someday… I'll get the bags."

He leaned against the wall, crossed his arms stubbornly, and started waiting for their departure.

His mom stopped playing. "He does miss you when you're not here. And frankly, you're going to miss us. Because this is the last time we're all going to be together. You know what's about to happen. Say something. If you don't, you'll regret it."

He turned to his dad."I love you, Dad. And I know you did the best you could."

She kissed Tony on the cheek, and then they walked out of the house, to their deaths. End of the memory.

"That's how it should've happened. Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF. God, I gotta work on that acronym… An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories."

He tried to see if he could blow out the virtual candle on the piano. It was going to need a few upgrades.

"It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport, or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief. Plus, six hundred and eleven million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment, no one in their right mind would've ever funded it. Help me out, what's the MIT mission statement? To generate, disseminate and preserve knowledge. And work with others. To bring it to bear on the world's great challenges. Well, you are the others. And, quiet as it's kept, the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind's ever known. Plus, most of you are broke."

They laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Rather, you were. As of this moment, every student has been made an equal recipient of the inaugural September Foundation Grant. As in all of your projects have just been approved and funded. No strings, no taxes, just reframe the future! Starting now."

Then he looked at the prompter. This was the part where he was supposed to introduce Pepper. They hadn't changed it. Well, at least his daughter hadn't left him alone. It helped, to know that she was somewhere in the backstage, waiting for her cue.

"Now, I'd like to present another MIT alum. My daughter, and my greatest creation: Ana Stark."

Ana walked into the stage with her usual fake confidence and fake smile. "Thanks, Dad. I missed being here as much as you did, but I'm afraid my presentation is going to be terribly boring compared to yours."

People laughed again. This was the most intimate bit of her speech. The rest was about the rules. Tony had said all projects had been approved, but there were still deadlines and plagiarism policies. Ana explained them briefly, then turned to him for help to wrap things up.

"That's all, everyone. Now go break some eggs."

They returned to the backstage. There was this bald guy staring at him and applauding like crazy. That was never a good sign. "That, uhm, that took my breath away. Tony, so generous. So much money. Wow! Out of curiosity, will any portion of that grant will be made available to faculty? Ugh, gross, I know, but hear me out."

"Didn't I just said it's only available to undergraduate and graduate students?" Ana snapped, and it was enough to make him shut up and scurry away. She was no longer bothering with even a fake smile.

Then, an assistant approached them. "Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry about the teleprompter. I—"

"You idiots had one job!" Ana scolded her, fuming. "One job!"

"I know Ms. Stark, but Ms. Potts canceled at the last minute, and—"

"I don't care."

Tony put a hand on her shoulder. "Ana, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" She looked at the poor girl again. "Tell me, was it an accident, or did someone do it on purpose?"

The assistant frowned in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're all fired!"

A look of fear crossed her face.

"No one's fired, don't worry," Tony assured her, then led Ana out to the hallway, where they could speak in private. "Kid, what the hell was that? I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're embarrassing me."

"I'm just watching your back."

"And I'm trying to make sure you're not going crazy. Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe you weren't ready to go back to the world."

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. When I saw Potts' name on the teleprompter… You're right, I overreacted."

At least her apology was genuine. Tony had got used to these constant mood swings. These days, she was constantly vacillating between compassion and cruelty, calmness and agitation, enthusiasm and apathy. One moment, she was the sweetest girl ever, the next, she was acting like a lunatic. Yeah, she had been a ticking time bomb ever since JARVIS' death, but that bomb was ticking a lot faster now. Something had changed, but he had no idea what it was. She wasn't telling him. And Tony couldn't find it himself either, no matter how hard he looked. The only thing he could do was to remind her that she could share anything with him.

He pulled her into a quick hug. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Okay. I'll be waiting over there, by the elevator."

Ana went into the bathroom, and Tony to the elevator. He could feel the gaze of the woman standing over there on himself. He approached, wondering what this one wanted.

"That was nice, what you did for those young people," she started.

"Ah, they deserve it. Plus, it helps ease my conscience."

"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But you got the money. Break as many eggs as you like. Right?"

This was getting suspicious. He looked at the elevator button, and realized she hadn't called it. She had been waiting for him, then, not the elevator. He pressed the button, hoping whatever this was, it would be over before Ana returned. "Are you going up?"

"I'm right where I want to be." Her hand went to her purse.

"Okay, okay, hey!" Instinctively, he stopped her. But when he looked at her face again, it wasn't the face of a killer. She just had something to say. He released her hand. "Sorry, it's occupational hazard."

"I work for the State Department. Human Resources. I know it's boring. But, it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be." She slammed something she had taken from her bag on his chest. He looked. A picture, of a young man.

"His name was Charlie Spencer. You murdered him. In Sokovia. Not that it matters in the least to you. You think you fight for us? You just fight for yourself. Who's going to avenge my son, Stark? He's dead. And I blame you."

He didn't know what to say. Sorry? He was sorry. He really was. But this woman was living with what was his greatest fear: Losing your kid. He could hear the pain of it in her voice. What could he possibly say that would ease her pain? There was nothing that could be said.

"Hey!" Ana's angry voice and hasty footsteps echoed in the hallway. Shit. Shit, shit, shit… Ana had been looking for someone to go nuclear on today, and this woman had given her more than enough reason.

"Ana, let's just—"

She snatched the picture from him. "So, this is your son, huh? Well, I'm kind of becoming an expert on revenge myself, so let me tell you something: You have to dig deeper than this if you want to find out who really killed your son. Start by asking the right questions, like who manipulated who into building Ultron in the first place."

Thankfully, the elevator was here. He tried to pull her, but she stayed put.

"Does it matter?" the woman asked. "Wherever you go, you bring death with you."

"Of course it matters! We're trying to protect everyone, even ungrateful assholes like yourself! What? Even if Sokovia had never happened, your son would be killed by aliens later! Would that be better? Because they're coming to kill us all! Today, tomorrow, ten years from now… They're going to kill us all, and we won't be able to stop them because of cowards like you!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Tony dragged her into the elevator before things got uglier, and gave the picture back to the woman.

Once the door slid shut, he said, "Honey…"

"What?" she asked defensively. "This wasn't what I meant when I told you to keep your thoughts to yourself, you know. You have to let people know that Ultron wasn't your fault. Why are you protecting the Maximoff girl?"

"Because I cannot hide behind an orphaned kid and let her take the blame! Not for something I was already going to do!"

"You would've done it the right way if she hadn't messed with your head. You would've never used the Scepter for a shortcut. Besides, how do we know if that woman was telling the truth? For all I know, she might be an actress someone hired just to mess with you!"

"I'll look into it," he said, but deep down, he knew that wasn't necessary. The elevator stopped, they got out, and started off to the parking lot, where Happy was waiting.

"Where to, boss?" he asked.

Tony looked at Ana. "Lunch?"

"I'm not hungry…" She was still fuming, and her mood wasn't going to improve anytime soon.

Tony sighed. "Airport it is, then."

…

Ana was still sour during the flight, at least until they saw what had happened in Lagos on the news. Tony was horrified, but a cruel smile was playing about Ana's lips, which made him even more horrified.

"Ana, people died," he reminded her.

"Yeah, because of the Maximoff bitch. Maybe now they'll see her for what she truly is."

"I'll handle this. You just stay out of the conflict. Cap has a soft spot for her."

"And you have a soft spot for all of them. You know, the ones who mind-raped you, choked you, or tossed you around like a ragdoll…"

"What exactly is it you want, Ana? You said you weren't going to make me choose, but now…"

"I want my father back!" she yelled. "The man no one dared to cross! Not this soft, whimpering, gullible crybaby you've become! I want things to go back to the way they were!"

It hurt, to be looked at with so much venomous scorn by your baby girl. He knew she didn't really mean any of those words. He knew she didn't love him for his money, fame, or even his genius. If he went bankrupt today, had an accident and got paralyzed from the neck below, Ana would still be by his side. She wouldn't mind living in a trailer park, spoon-feeding him and cleaning soiled bedsheets all day. Not that this was the future he imagined for her, but there was something reassuring about a daughter's unconditional love.

"If you want me to trash the suits again…"

"I don't want you to trash the suits! I never have! It's not the suits, Dad. It's the Avengers. They ruined you. Even when you were a weapons manufacturer, you believed you were saving the world. But you never begged anyone on your knees for forgiveness for every single life your inventions took. I honestly prefer the Merchant of Death over this pathetic shell of a man. At least I was the one thing he truly cared about. Now you give your heart to anyone who wants to tear it apart."

"Ana, you are my heart. You will always be."

She smiled bitterly. "Yeah, I guess that explains why I'm so broken."

He didn't say anything, and just looked out the window. He didn't know how to fix her, and this was a first. For ten minutes, they sat in tense silence. At some point, Happy left them alone, probably to give them a chance to sort this out without an audience.

Finally, Ana started, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I don't really think you're weak. You're just refusing to use the strength you have. I wish I knew why. I'm tired, Dad. I'm tired of wondering if Thor's going to fry you with his hammer, Rogers is going to tear you in half, Maximoff is going to suck the life out of you in your sleep, or a random stranger is going to shoot you on the street. I love you. I just want you to stop setting yourself on fire to warm others. Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. You're just trying to help."

"I've been thinking… Maybe there's no stopping what's coming. Maybe we should focus on making most of the time we have left, not hurting each other, having no regrets by the time aliens show up again. I, for one, will certainly regret this temper by then."

This confused him. Ana wasn't someone who would throw in the towel, especially not when it came to aliens. "I thought you had a plan. The Nexus, Project Sneak Peek…"

She gave a surrendered shrug. "I don't think they'll work, Dad."

"Where did that come from?"

Another shrug. "Just a hunch."

He moved onto the seat beside her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I won't let anyone hurt you," he promised.

This wasn't the first time he was making a promise they both knew he couldn't keep, but for the first time, Ana's response was a skeptical look. He didn't think she did it on purpose; she wasn't trying to hurt him. But he had seen it for a second there, and it hurt to know that his daughter had finally lost faith in him.