Shadowplay | Tony Stark

TWENTY SIX - THREE AGAIN

Tony raced down the backroads surely breaking every speeding law possible the next day, eager to get back to the lake house and make sure Mila and Tristan were safe and sound.

Of course, he'd checked in with Mila on the phone the night before, but his heart wasn't able to rest until he saw with his own eyes that they were both happy with smiles on their faces.

The discovery of the previous day at the HYDRA base had taken a toll on Tony's mind. He'd been unable to think of much else and after Joss' revelation of Logan taking up a job at the police department in a neighbouring town, the anxiety and stress that Tony felt crushing his lungs had only intensified.

The intel that the police departments fronting for HYDRA could uncover was colossal, that had been proven when Tony found out that they'd known about him staying at Mila's home the whole time. It panicked him deeply to think about how easily they could find out where Mila and Tristan were staying, and what would happen to them if they did.

It didn't take long for the Avengers to piece together the fact that HYDRA were in search of the Tesseract to act as a catalyst in their plan, and while it certainly dealt the team a good hand to know that they had the Tesseract safely locked away, they also knew it wasn't unrealistic to assume HYDRA wouldn't stop at anything to get it in their possession.

The sky was a perfect crimson gradient with a scattering of white clouds as Tony pulled his car around the front of the lake house, his heart beating out of his chest as he saw Tristan running across the porch with a wild grin on his face, dirt and grass on his knees from playing outside all day.

He killed the engine and jumped out of the car, slamming the door shut and crouching down on the gravel with his arms wide open, waiting eagerly for Tristan to jump into them with a whirlwind of force, almost knocking the breath from his chest as the child threw himself at him.

"You're back!" Tristan screamed happily, his arms curling around Tony's neck tightly as he buried his head into his shoulder.

Tony let out a huge sigh of relief as he hugged Tristan, almost feeling tears pool in his dark eyes at the warm embrace, silently thanking God that everything was alright.

"I'm back, I'm back. You miss me? Where's Mommy?"

Rising to his feet, Tony held out his hand and Tristan grabbed hold of it, both of them walking across the sunset towards the house.

"We missed you. Mommy's making dinner."

Tristan skipped towards the house with a spring in his step, swinging his and Tony's arms back and forth with a permanent smile etched onto his lips, his world feeling so much brighter now the three of them were back together again.

Having never had a father in his life, Tristan wasn't used to having anybody around day to day apart from his mother. Since living with Tony, however, the child had grown used to being a family of three, falling in love with the man who kissed his cuts and bruises better and read him bedtimes stories. He felt safe with Tony, happy, too. Most of all, he really hated it whenever they were apart.

Opening the front door, Tony was met with the homely scent of dinner cooking from the kitchen. He peered around the corner, still being led by Tristan's hand, and smiled once he saw Mila stood stirring pasta on the stove.

She was wearing sweatpants and a tank top, her hair tied up out of her face and her skin free of any makeup, though as she turned around to look at Tony for the first time in two days, he felt his breath get taken away from his lungs for the second time that evening.

The golden sunset was breaking through the windows like stained glass in a church, casting a perfect orange glow across Mila's face. Her green eyes seemed auburn in the bronze colour, though her smile was the brightest thing of all, making Tony feel like falling to his knees at her feet, his soul turning weak with the only thing being exchanged deep eye contact.