Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.

Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please exercise understanding of personal sensitivities before and during reading.

Author's Note(s): So this languished in my WiP folder forever and a day. Now it's being released into the wilds of the internet.

Challenge/Competition Block:
Stacked with: MC4A (Generic Circle & Games/Special Events Circle)
Individual Challenges: Shabbat Habit; Chilled MCU Bribery (Y); Writing with Music; Pink & Orange; Military MC; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion (x3); Ethnic & Present (x2); The 3rd Rule; Claimed; Setting Sail; Gender Bender (x2); Lunar Era; Old Shoes (Y); Marvelous Cinema; Inks & Stinks; Gwen's MCU Checklist (War Zucchinis); Skittles [Bi Butch]; In a Flash; Bucket Listing; Greatest Gift
Other MC4A Challenges (Prompt): SpB [1E](Ribbon/Cord); TrB [2E](The Dragon); SuB [2C](Desire); AU [2B](Flower Shop); FaB [2E](Legacy); Set [4A](At Night); WiB [5C](Home); Vocab [5B](Tangent); Ship (War Zucchinis)[Fa Mic 1](Flower Shop AU); Chim [Otis]("Wait for It" - Hamilton); Fire [Easy](Genius); Hunt [Fa WD](Anxiety)/[Wi WD](Black Character)/[Fa Set](At Night)/[Wi Set](Hometown); Garden [Chore List](Arguing/Debating)/[Bed Types](Garden/Greenhouse/Solarium)/[Plant Types](Found Family)/[Avengers](James Rhodes/War Machine)/[Word Song](Everything)/[Rose Types](Blue Canary); Hang [03](Nontraditional Family); Harvest [Settings](Flower Shop)/[Relationships](Parent & Child)/[Items](Flowers)/[AU](Flower Shop AU)/[Tropes](Gender Bend)
Representation: Autistic Fem Tony Stark/Fem James Rhodes; Edwin Jarvis/Ana Jarvis; Jarvises are Iron Fam; Howard Stark & his A-Plus Parenting
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenge(s): Hot Stuff; Mermaid; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Middle Name; Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only; Clio's Conclusion; Deadliest Catch; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Muck & Slime; Rock of Ages; Under the Bridge); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Abandoned Ship; Surprise!; Turtle-Duck; Sitting Hummingbird; Some Beach; Getting On)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Terrarium); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; Evolution); O3 (Oath); SS (Schooner; Shout); ShoE (Terse; Onus); Measure (Ennui; Rampant); Share (Ameliorate; Dragoman); DP (Terse; Taciturn; Yearn)
Word Count: 809

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Blue Canary
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Antonia Stark knew that people had expected more of her than she had become. As her parents' only child, everyone had expected she would take over her father's business empire or at least her mother's charity work. She knew that they had expectations about who she would marry, too. She had been raised with those expectations, after all.

She had heard the whispers that had followed her all the way through school, especially as she skipped grades like some other girls skipped rope on the playground. She had heard the whispers about how she had earned her grade point average at MIT, too. When she had graduated summa cum laude with her four doctorates while other people her age had been starting their senior year of high school, those same rumors had not even been whispers. They had been considered facts, despite the lack of evidence to support them.

Through it all, her plants had been her sole source of solace. She had kept a few potted plants since her early childhood. The wife of her father's butler, Ana Jarvis, had taught her all the tricks for keeping them happy and thriving. Ana had been born in Hungary and had fled her home country right ahead of the Nazi invasion with the help of Edwin Jarvis. Ana had been more like a mother to Toni than Maria had for most of her life, and that included introducing little Toni to the joy of plants and everything green.

When Toni hadn't wanted nothing to do with the daily operation of the weapons company that Howard had built, it had been the Jarvises who had supported her decision. Even with a controlling interest in the company's shares, there was no reason for Toni to actually run Stark Industries, after all. Howard himself barely ran it, having shuffled off most of the responsibility to the Board of Directors years ago so that he could focus on his obsessive search for the wreckage of the Valkyrie and whatever remains might still exist of the legendary Captain America. Obadiah Stane had been the CFO for decades before Toni had been born. He had more than enough experience to qualify for taking over as CEO and head of the Board if Howard wanted to fully retire.

Of course, Howard hadn't been pleased with Toni's plans for what to do instead of taking over Stark Industries. The few weeks between her defending her last doctoral thesis and the car crash had been filled with arguments and screaming tangents about responsibility. Maria had tried to play peacemaker between her husband and only child, but what had hampered her efforts had been her stance that Toni should just give into Howard's demands. Even Jarvis had tried to get Toni to see how much she could do at the direct helm of the company.

The fighting had come to a head on the same night as the Stark Industries Christmas Gala. Howard had stormed out, shouting over his shoulder how he planned to disinherit Toni and be done with it, and Maria had anxiously fluttered out behind him to the car. Toni had immediately gone up to her room to pack, silently vowing that she would be gone by the time they got back.

She had been opening the front door to leave with her bags when the police officers had been pulling up to inform her about the wreck and how neither of her parents had survived.

Even with Ana and Jarvis there, Toni had called her Rhodey. Despite the miles between Mather Air Force Base in California and the Stark mansion in New York, Rhodey was back in time for the funerals. Toni later learned that she had been refused leave and had just left her commission to be there, but at the time, all Toni could think about was how Rhodey's arms around her were the only thing keeping her from falling apart, from shattering into a billion pieces.

Rhodey only went back to her precious birds to stand for her court martial and accept her dismissal. There might have been a pit stop somewhere along the line to give a head's up to the two friends she had made during flight school, if the way that Carol and Maria would spontaneously visit or call even years later was any indication. But Rhodey left and then came back to Toni.

She had left and then came back to stay.

Even when Toni had decided that she had wanted to open a flower shop instead of taking up the mantle of anything at Stark Industries, Rhodey stayed. Even when Toni moved into the apartment above the shop, Rhodey had stayed.

And when Toni had plucked up her courage to kiss Rhodey right after closing the shop on the surprisingly busy first day, Rhodey had stayed then, too.

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An Ending
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