Pumpkin- Tony Stark

Mrs. Davis

"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do." Tony said as he walked towards one of the alleyways, "By the way, when you said your sister had a watch-" He slid his sleeve up to show the kid the dora watch on his wrist.

"Yeah?"

"I was hoping for something a little more adult than that."

Harley laughed, "She's six! Anyways, it's a limited edition. When can we talk about New York?"

"Maybe never. Relax about it."

"What about the Avengers? Can we talk about them?"

"I dunno. Later. Hey, kid, give me a little space." Tony said, lightly pushing the kid.

Tony looked at the memorial that was in front of him. Most of it was lit by candles, with lots of small notes and presents around them. There were several black figures on the walls, as though they had been painted there. They reminded Tony of the stories of the eruption of Pompeii or the explosions in Nagasaki. Where the heat was so intense, people were blasted into nothing but shadows.

"What's the official story here? What happened?"

"I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts. He won a bunch of medals in the army. And one day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up, right here."

Tony touched the wall where the black was. There was nothing to feel as though there was paint. These weren't painted.

"Six people died, right?"

"Yes."

"Including Chad Davis?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Yeah. That doesn't make sense." Tony said after a moment, looking around. He sat down next to the kid, "Think about it. Six dead. Only five shadows."

"Yeah. People said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to Heaven. Except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."

Y/N would've liked that theory, Tony felt. "Do you buy that?"

"It's what everyone says."

There was some more silence as Tony contemplated everything in front of him.

"You know what this crater reminds me of?"

"No idea. I'm not- I don't care." Tony sighed.

"That giant wormhole in, um, in New York." Harley said with enthusiasm. "Does it remind you?"

"That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it."

"Are they coming back? The aliens?"

"Maybe. Can you stop?" Tony asked, frustrated. He wished he wasn't like this, but he had never been good with kids. He knew subconsciously he was acting like his own father, but he was frustrated. He missed Y/N and Everleigh. He wasn't sure what was going on or anything that could help him find the Mandarin.

"Remember when I told you, that I have an anxiety issue?"

"Does this subject make you edgy?"

"Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?"

"Are there bad guys in Rose Hill? Do you need a plastic bag to breathe into? Do you have medication?"

"No." Tony breathed out.

"Do you need to be on it?"

"Probably."

"Do you have PTSD?"