Shadowplay | Tony Stark

FIFTY ONE - A LECTURE

Surprised was an understatement to describe how Joss Miller felt when he received a text message that evening from Tony Stark, inviting him to a bar in town for a drink.

The ex-sheriff didn't have any plans that night and was happy having a quiet night at home, however curiosity if nothing else about the abnormal invite made him pull on a shirt and jeans and walk down into the centre of town just after sunset.

The place was as crowded as it usually was on Friday nights and Joss said his kind hellos to familiar faces and friends from high school as he made his way over to the bar, spotting Tony sat alone with his head down.

"Hey man," Joss said, placing a hand on his shoulder as he pulled up a barstool beside him, "Mila didn't mention you were in town."

Tony shrugged and slid a bottle of Heineken in front of Joss, "That's because she didn't know I was in town until I showed up on her doorstep about a half hour ago. Cheers."

The two men tapped their bottles together before taking a swig, a lack of eye contact from Tony making it obvious to Joss that the superhero wasn't his usual, confident self.

"Look, she hasn't told me the details but-"

"Save your breath, agent. I don't need the lecture, I know I fucked up."

Joss raised his brows sarcastically and stifled a quiet laugh, shaking his head as he sipped on his beer.

"You do know you invited me out, right? We are gonna have to address the elephant in the room at some point."

Tony let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand across his face, through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. He turned to look at Joss with tired eyes and the offer of a small smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm being awful at the moment, I know I am," he blew out his cheeks and cleared his throat, tapping his beer bottle gently to his temple, "It's just so dark in there, you know? Without her it's...just all bad stuff."

Joss had noticed a shift in Mila's mood when he called round her home the day after Tristan's birthday to drop off some presents. They'd had a small chat on the porch only Mila didn't invite him in like she usually did and he could see the distress behind her eyes, the vacant look on her face that told him her mind was somewhere else.

He'd spent a lot of time with her since, helping out with Tristan after work and taking him for ice cream or to the park if Mila needed to run to the store or sort some things out at the salon on a Sunday.

She seemed happy on the surface but Joss knew how tired she was. Her skin wasn't as bright and neither were the whites of her eyes and he could tell almost all of her smiles were forced. Joss found out through word of mouth that Tony had stopped by on Tristan's birthday and despite Mila not mentioning anything about it, he made his own conclusion that something must've happened to take her shine away that afternoon.

"I get it," he nodded, "I know she might not have seemed it but she was totally broken at you guys' split. She was happy to be back home and all, doing the right thing for her kid, but I could tell that she felt lost without you there."

"She was?" Tony asked, leaning back on his stool with his arms crossed.

"Completely," Joss said as he rest his forearms on the bar, turning his head to glance at Tony with slightly narrowed eyes, "Look, I've known Mila forever. I used to walk her home from school, push kids over in the yard if they were mean to her, stand beneath her when she climbed on the monkey bars so I'd be able to catch her if she fell, and I always did. I'd like to think I always caught her before she hit the ground, you know? Or at least help her stand back up if I was a little too late. Whatever happened on Tristan's birthday though, no matter what I say or what I do, I can't seem to find the same girl looking back at me that I've known my whole life."