"First things first, we identify the victim." Tony pinned a photo to the whiteboard, "Mark Blackwood, the name ring any bells Clint?"

Clint nodded slowly, "Dating Hope Stevens, right? Shot up her bedroom?"

"Yeah… because she'd dumped him. Remember why?"

"Didn't he think she was cheating on him?"

"With?"

Clint thought about it for a few moments, before his eyes widened, "Your Dad…. She was an intern in his company. Your Dad liked her apparently."

"Yeah, Dad like the way that she dressed and paid more attention to her." Tony rolled his eyes, "He cried like a baby in court, said that he was drunk and that he would never do it again. Said that if he wanted to hurt her, he would have done… said he would never do it again, and the judge believed him. So, he was given the minimum of thirty days."

"Yeah, I think I remember the morning he got out." Clint thought about it for a moment, "We were getting coffee together."

"Yep, and while we did that, Blackwell went to his girlfriend's home… or ex-girlfriend, dragging her to the pond that was about fifty yards behind her house, pulling her into two feet of water and drowned her."

Kate froze.

"Dad was heartbroken." Tony whispered, "Everyone thought it was because she worked for him, but I always thought it was something more. He got twenty years the next time and would have been freed in April I think."

"So…" Kate cautiously spoke up, "… no offense, but I really think your Dad has a good motive for murder here."

Tony didn't say anything.

…..

"So, we should probably talk, right?" Clint whispered, after Kate had left, promising to try and get some gossip from her parents regarding the relationship between Howard Stark and the murdered intern, "Tony... right?"

"... Right." Tony turned to face him, "Let's not beat around the bush then... why did you abandon me?"

Clint looked taken aback by the words, before he nervously rubbed at the back of his head. "I… I don't want you to hate your Dad but… after you got hurt that time, when- when you were in the hospital… he reminded me that I wasn't any good for you."

"… Huh?"

"It was because of me that Barney attacked you…put you in a coma." Clint sighed, "Your Dad had a point, so-so I left."

Clint was right.

Tony did hate his father more.

"You should have talked to me." He whispered, "Left a note or something… but you left without a word, and I thought it was because-because- "

"- Because?"

"… Forget it. You left, I got married my Dad recommended, had a kid and I'm now going through a nasty divorce. Shit happens."

Tony moved to leave, neatly dodging Clint's attempts to pull him back.

He needed a stiff drink.

…...

A couple of whiskeys later, and Tony saw someone taking the seat next to him out of the corner of his eye.

"You never could take a hint." he muttered, not even bothering to look over at Clint, who was ordering himself a coke.

Vaguely, Tony could remember a conversation he and a teenage Clint had had, when he'd raided his dad's liquor cabinet, thinking that he and his boyfriend could get fantastically drunk, only to Clint to refuse.

"Bad history with alcohol." He'd muttered, followed by a vague comment about his brother and father, before grabbing a coke from the fridge.

"Nope." Present Clint said, popping the P, taking a sip of the coke, "Look, I know you're pissed, but we need to get all framed-for-murder mess sorted, before we sort out our mess, agreed?"

"… Agreed."

"Perfect." Clint downed his drink, "Because I have an informant."

…..

"An informant in a ballet school?"

Clint glanced over at him and smirked, "Remember Nat?"

Oh, how could Tony forget Nat.

Nat, Clint's best friend, who scared him half to death. He remembered their first meeting, wrongly believing that she was just a ditzy red head, until she flung him over her shoulder, to the ground, where the air was pushed right out of his lungs.

She was scary.

"She runs a ballet school?"

"A successful one." Clint confidently strode through the doors, waving at the receptionist, before heading towards a pair of studio doors, peering in through the windows. Tony watched from the sideliners as Clint started to sign something, pausing every so often before turning to Tony, "We can wait for her in her office."

"Yay."

"So, you're back in town." Nat's tone was cold as she scanned Tony from head to toe, "Looking every inch the rich kid you always did."

Amazing how innocent words could sound like an insult.

"Nice to see you too." He sighed, before Clint was stepping forwards.

"Nat… heard anything on the grapevines?"

She stared at them for a moment, before sighing wearily.

"Apparently, according to my ear in the station, they're considering bringing a case against Mister Howard Stark."

"Seriously?"

"He's all lawyered already of course." Nat shrugged, "Pretty much as soon as Clint was released from prison. With no other suspects for the theft of the car, and the fact that he was so sure that it was Clint, when it couldn't have been, has made everyone very suspicious."

"Do they have any real evidence?"

Nat scoffed, waving her hand in dismissal, "Nobody actually expects it to go anywhere. I think they're hoping someone will slip up and confess to the crime before they actually have to charge Stark with the crime."

Tony scoffed.

He didn't see that happening anytime soon.

"So, what do we do?" Clint asked, "Because I really don't think Howard is going to give up."

"We'll be ready." Tony promised him, despite not being entirely sure himself, "No matter what he throws at us, we'll be ready. Do we know who's representing my Dad?"

"Mike Kattan?"

Tony groaned, "Oh, of course he is."

Mike probably leapt at the chance to humiliate Tony like this.

"You know him?"

"All too well."

"Is he good?"

"A good lawyer… yes." Tony had to admit that, no matter how much it pained him to do so, "A good person… mostly, as long as I'm not involved."

"Shit."

"Yep." Tony leaned forwards, "So, we have to make this case airtight. Either we find out who really killed Blackwood… or we make sure my Dad is punished for it. Those are our only two options."

"So…" She leaned forwards with a smirk, "… When do we start?"

"First, we need to find another lawyer willing to prosecute the case."

Clint and Nat turned to Tony in confusion, who sighed and shook his head.

"It's a conflict of interest. Even if I really want to, I can't bring a case against my Father." Tony sighed, "Otherwise they defence can just bring up all the arguments me and Father had and say that this is all about revenge."

"Hmmm good point." Natasha thought to herself for a few moments, before smiling, "I have the perfect pair for the job."