Lessons In Love: Chapter 100: Circles (Part 5)


The trip was planned and the car was packed. Tony and Steve were ready to go. Tony was really amped up. He had the keys in his hand, and if his mother wasn't hugging him, he'd be out the front door.

Howard told his son to join him in his lab. He needed to talk to him, so Tony headed after his father.

Howard sat down at his desk, and he silently waited for Tony to stop looking around and touching things. Howard glanced at the time, and he kept waiting.

Tony touched a tool. He ran his hand over a few pictures, then he picked up something that was on one of the shelves. His father was quiet, so Tony started getting nervous.

He thought that he was in trouble or something. Tony detected a lecture in his future. He finally arrived by the desk, and Tony took a seat. He hopped up on the desk, and parked it by a stack of papers.

"Uhh, whuts up?"

Howard watched Tony's legs. He started kicking them, and he seemed nervous and antsy to leave. He wondered if Tony was still using drugs. They took out everything that they could find in his room, and they monitored for that all the time.

Tony seemed sober, and there weren't any new stash spots showing up, so Howard decided not to ask him about his drug use. Tony was young, and Howard understood what he was up to.

"The car will need maintenance along the way. You can't just drive a corvette across the country, Tony. It will need your attention as you go."

"Ok."

Those legs were moving faster. Tony started kicking them a little more and then he started fixing his clothes. Howard inhaled slowly, and he waited for him to ease up.

"Is that all?"

What the EFF? Tony wanted to hit the road and drive off into the sunset. He thought about how Steve was waiting, and he looked over at the door. Howard Stark saw that busy mind. He gave a small sigh, and decided to confess what he really had to say to his son.

The father stood up and he walked in front of Tony. The baby Stark looked up at his father, and his nerves started going crazy.

"You need to slow down. Take your time, and think about what you're doing today Tony."

Howard needed to stop one of those legs. He gently touched Tony's left knee, and it caused Tony to sit up a little straighter.

"I don't think you've been listening to Stephen, and I don't think you've been seeing Steve. You've been rushing about, and zipping around with two people. It's going to bite you in the ass, kid."

Howard tapped Tony's forehead two times. Knock, knock. That comment concluded what Howard had to say. He was arranging travel plans of his own, and Tony saw him look at his watch.

Howard smiled at his son, and he just left it at that. Tony was quiet for a while, and he stopped kicking one of his legs. He heard his father, and of course, he didn't agree.

He thought that he heard Stephen perfectly, and he could see Steve all the time. Tony looked pretty puzzled, and it made Howard softly laugh.

"Don't rush to Brooklyn."

The father gave his son a hug. Tony returned the embrace, and he kept thinking about what his father told him. Slow down? He thought about that all the way to the car.

Tony didn't know how to slow down. Those words were basically foreign to him. It did not compute in his young mind at all.

Steve got in the passenger seat, and Tony looked over at that adorable person. He saw Steve. Uhh, hello? He looked very golden and handsome. Tony wanted to climb over onto his lap.

Whoa. S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N? His mainframe was about to burst.

Tony turned the engine on, and that powerful corvette fired up. Steve kept staring at the beautiful dashboard. After all the baby soldier had seen, he thought that the sound of the motor was "something else".

He really liked the car, and it gave him a bit of an adrenaline rush. Howard watched the two of them drive away. They were off on their little adventure, while Howard settled on one of his own.

He was headed to Aurora, Nebraska. He wanted to speak to Stephen's father, and he gave that information to Maria as soon as the corvette was gone.

Tony went in one direction, while his father went in the other. He had a bad feeling about Stephen, so he decided to pursue what he felt in his gut.

In that same moment, Stephen was walking down a sidewalk in Manhattan. He was with Victor, and the two of them were headed back from where he caught the bus.

The would-be-sorcerer was hearing all about mutants, and the giant classroom that Victor was in. Stephen smiled at his brother, and he told him that he spent most of his time in a mirror bubble.

Victor told him that was weird, and Stephen agreed. Before they reached the apartment, Stephen took a detour.

He found Bleeker Street, and he glanced up at a peculiar building. It looked very old, but oddly familiar. Stephen felt like he had seen it before in a dream.

His heart was telling him to head in that direction, but he decided against it. Stephen told Victor that they could head somewhere else, and get some food.


Chapter: END

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