"So, what the hell did you hit?"
Maybe he could have broached the subject a little more carefully, but honestly, he didn't care.
His Father slowly turned around, eyes narrowing at Tony, who leaned against the wall. "I beg your pardon?"
"In the Caddy?" Tony smirked, "The one in the police lock-up? I thought Mum told you not to drink and drive?"
"Something you would know a lot about."
Tony refused to let himself rise to the bait, shrugging as nonchalantly as possible, "Over five years sober, thank you." He smirked, "What happened? Another invention gone wrong, leading to you getting drunk and going out to 'clear your head'… and then you hit something… or someone. All that was next, was to pin the blame on someone else."
His Father's face was twisted in fury, "How. Dare. You!" He snapped, "You dare accuse me of- "
"- Killing someone when you drove drunk?" Tony refused to back down.
He wasn't a scared teenager anymore.
"Hasn't Mum always said that you'd end up killing someone one day?" Tony smirked, "Looks like it's all gone to shit."
"… Like your marriage."
As much as he knew this was just his Dad baiting him, Tony felt his fists clenching at the vague mention of Steve, "What do you know about my marriage?"
"More than you'd like, I'm sure."
"You don't know a fucking thing about my marriage."
"Who do you think Steve talks to when you're not being a good husband?"
"When I'M being a bad husband." Tony couldn't keep it contained anymore, "I wasn't the one who cheated! Or did Steve forget to mention that?!"
Silence.
"Or did he mention it and you decided to encourage him? Because you always thought I wasn't good enough for him!"
"What did you do to make him cheat on you?"
Tony could practically feel his blood boiling, "I wasn't his long-lost best friend" he hissed, "I wasn't Bucky, and that shit is not my fault!"
There was a vicious smirk on his Father's face.
He knew that he'd just won.
"I didn't come back here for you." Tony hissed, "Because if it were up to me, I would never see you ever again." He glanced up to see his mother standing in the doorway, "And you do nothing to stop him."
"Tony- "
"- No, let the boy lash out." His Father waved a hand in dismissal, "Just so you know, I will be helping Steve get custody of Pete. I think that'll be the best place for him."
Feeling like his heart had sunken to his stomach, Tony took a shaky step back, before pushing past his Dad and storming out of the house.
Had he and his Dad ever had any good memories?
No… not even when Tony showed an aptitude for robotics and engineering, did his Father even seem remotely happy with him.
They never went fishing together or other bonding activities.
It was always work this, or work that.
A psychologist would say that was why he tried extra hard with Peter, trying to include him in as many things as possible. Personally, Tony thought that was just how you were supposed to treat your children.
Like they were your whole world.
Stopping just by the garage, Tony glanced at the doors, narrowing his eyes and leaning in closer.
No signs of a break-in at all.
…
"There is no way anyone else would have been able to get access to that car!" Tony argued to the officers, "It is behind one of the most advanced security systems in the world! How could a mechanic break into it?!"
"Mister Barton must have had the code."
"…. How?! No offense to Mister Barton, but he is not the sort of person my Father would even look at! Let alone give him the code to his garage!"
"He might not have spoken to your Father… but we all know how close you and Mister Barton were back in the day."
Today was a day for calming, breathing exercises.
Everyone seemed determined to annoy him today.
"If you were up to date on the gossip…" He started through gritted teeth, "… you would know that Mister Barton and I haven't spoken in years. And I know for a fact that Father changes that code every few months because of his paranoia!" He took a deep breath, "As I said last time I was here, there is no evidence that Mister Barton was behind the wheel during the accident, whereas I know my Father has had his fair few of drunken accidents."
Silence.
"I'd like to speak to my client, please."
…
"Clint, you need to tell me exactly what you did that night."
Clint frowned, "Do you believe that I did it?"
"No, but if we can get some witnesses who say they saw you at the time of the accident, we can clear your name."
"… I finished work at five and then I went home." Clint thought to himself for a moment, "I got back home at about half past maybe? And then I walked Lucky and- "
"- Lucky?"
Clint beamed, "He's a half blind dog I rescued from the streets. It was Lucky or Pizza Dog."
Tony couldn't help but smile at the thought of Clint with a dog, clearing his throat and trying to push that to the back of his mind. "Did anyone see you on this walk? A neighbour maybe?"
"… Kate might have seen me?"
"Kate?"
"Kate Bishop." Clint shrugged, "A rich kid I was tutoring in archery. She tends to hang out around the neighbourhood."
Tony ignored the surge of jealousy.
He remembered what rich teenage girls were like… tutoring in archery. More like standing there admiring Clint's impressive biceps.
"Tony? Are you okay?"
Quickly, Tony nodded, clearing his throat again, "Sorry… do you have a number for her? I should call her and see if she did see you and at what time."
Dutifully, Clint recited the number, as Tony scribbled it down.
"Anyone else?"
Clint shook his head, "No one that I can remember the name of…. And most of them probably wouldn't say anything because of- " Here, he paused, face flushing slightly, "- you know."
Oh, Tony knew all too well.
No one would want to speak out against Howard Stark and call him a liar.
"Are we going to have that problem with Miss Bishop?"
Clint shook his head quickly, "She has no respect for him in the slightest. Not like… she'll lie or anything if she didn't see me, but she won't let herself be scared into not saying anything."
Unable to stop the sigh of relief, Tony nodded, making a mental note to call Miss Bishop as soon as possible.
He needed to get Clint out of here, so that he could then focus on whoever was the real culprit.
Even if it was his Father.
…..
He sat on the wall just outside the prison, unwilling to venture too much further into town just in case he ran into his Father… or one of his brainless lackeys. He'd given Kate a call, and she'd promised to meet him outside the prison to speak to him.
"We'll just have to file another contingency." He sighed into the phone, hearing his clerk babbling frantically on the other end of the line, "No, I can't- It's a personal matter, okay?"
There was a beep indicating that he was getting another call.
"Hold on Happy."
He looked at who was calling, only to groan and answer reluctantly, "Why are you calling me Steve?"
"Daddy?"
Tony softened immediately, "Hey Petey, what are you doing with Papa's phone?"
"I wanted to speak to you… are you mad?"
"No, no, no, I could never be mad at you." Tony rushed to reassure his son, "What's up buddy?"
"I miss you."
"I miss you too buddy." Tony sighed, watching as a purple Lamborghini pulled up right in front of him, "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Promise?"
"I pinky promise." Those kinds of promises made all the difference in the world to a child, "I'll speak to you later, okay?"
"Okay, love you!"
"I love you too Underoos."
"Love you 3000!"
"Love you 3000."
He hung up the phone, looking up as a dark-haired girl strode confidently towards him.
"You're Tony Stark, right?"
"And you must be Kate Bishop? The girl with the best news in the world? Or so you claimed over the phone?"
The girl nodded, taking a seat by Tony, but not before looking up at the prison. "You know… I know Clint's a bit rough around the edges, but I never thought he'd end up in here."
"He's not going to be in there for much longer if I have anything to say about it." Tony sighed, "He said that you sometimes see him going out for a walk with… Lucky?"
"Pizza dog, yeah, I do."
"Did you see him on the evening of June 5th?"
Kate smirked, "And here is the best news in the world."