(Not a request. Just my brain at work. A Songfic with "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables. So that means...MAJOR ANGST!) 
                              
                              
                              Tony wandered into the room, walking in a daze. The guilt and grief he was feeling weren't at all calmed by the scotch in his glass. How could they be? He pulled up short when he realized what room he'd wandered into. The briefing room. His eyes darted around the table as memories flooded his mind. Memories of the days before. 
                              There's a grief that can't be spoken
 There's a pain goes on and on
 Empty chairs at empty tables
 Now my friends are dead and gone
                              Here they talked of revolution
 Here it was they lit the flame
 Here the sang about tomorrow
 And tomorrow never came
                              From the table, through the corner
 They could see a world reborn
 And they rose with voices ringing
 And I can hear them now
                              The very words that they had sung
 Became their last communion
 And the lonely barricade
 At dawn
                                              Tony's memories were somewhat pleasant at first. Visions of all his friends laughing and joking around. Then, the not so pleasant memories came. Memories of arguing with Steve over the Accords. Memories of the disagreements between all of them. The fights they all endured. The dream of a better tomorrow. A tomorrow that would never come. At least not for them. 
                                              It hadn't meant to happen. Their enemy had just been too strong. Too resourceful. They never stood a chance. Tony had watched in horror as his teammates fell one by one. If he closed his eyes, he could almost hear their screams. 
                              Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
 That I live and you are gone
 There's a grief that can't be spoken
 There's a pain goes on and on
                              Phantom faces at the window
 Phantom shadows on the floor
 Empty chairs at empty tables
 Where my friends will meet no more
                                              Tony didn't know how he'd managed to escape the same fate as the rest of the Avengers, but he did know that he hated himself for it. He should have been among the casualties. He knew that. Perhaps, just perhaps, if it had been him, they would have survived. Tony sank into a chair as the faces of his friends flashed through his mind. 
                                              He could picture them quite clearly. Rhodey. Steve. Natasha. Clint. Wanda. Sam. T'Challa. Thor. Bruce. Peter. Even Bucky and Pietro. In Tony's mind, they were all glaring at him, accusing him of abandoning them when they needed him most. It did nothing to ease his guilt. He could hear their voices, as if they were in the room with him and no amount of booze could cover the sound. 
                              Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me
                              What your sacrifice was for
                              Empty Chairs at empty tables
                              Where my friends will sing no more
                                              Tony drained the contents of his glass before hurling it across the room. What had been the point of it all? Why had the Initiative even been started if this was going to be the end result?! He was the only one left. It was all for nothing, so what was the point? His dark eyes were scanning the empty room again when he heard the door open. 
                                              He barely heard you call his name. His mind was too full. It wasn't until you were standing right in front of him that he finally broke. Tony looked up to see you looking down at him with sad eyes and the man lost it. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around you and pressed his face to your stomach. Then, he did something he rarely ever did. Tony wept. 
                                      
                                          
                                   
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Readers Assemble!
FanfictionAvengers reader inserts! Feel free to request! I will write for: *Tony Stark/Iron Man *Steve Rogers/Captain America *Bucky Barnes/ Winter Soldier *Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver *Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch *Sam Wilson/Falcon *T'Challa/Black Panther...
 
                                               
                                                  