"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make due." Tony Stark walked along the sidewalks of the small town of Rose Hill, Tennessee with a small boy by his side, "By the way, when you said your sister had a watch..."
"Yeah?" The boy came to a stop beside Tony.
"I was kinda hoping for something a little more adult than that." Tony pulled up his sleeve to flash a pink 'Dora the Explorer' digital wristwatch.
The pair continued walking and turned into a street with a dead end. Harley laughed, "She's six." The light from candles could be seen flashing on the wall at the end of the road, "Anyway, it's a limited edition. When can we talk about New York?"
"Maybe never." Tony's voice was flat. "Relax about it."
What about the Avengers? Can we talk about them?"
Tony brought up a hand and held the palm of it toward the boy, signaling to be quiet, "I dunno. Later." He placed the hand on the kid's shoulder and pushed him away lightly, "Hey, kid, give me a little space."
The pair came to a stop in front of what looked to be a small remembrance shrine. Tony bit the inside of his cheek and scanned the area.
They walked closer and Tony questioned, "What's the official story here? What happened?"
"I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts." Harley came to a stop next to two lanterns that were lighting up the area and sat down next to one as Tony walked closer, "He won a bunch of medals in the army. And one day, folks say he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb." Tony approached a shadow on the wall of one of the people that died and placed his hand on it, tracing it, "Then he blew himself up, right here."
The billionaire moved around and looked at all the crosses and flowers. "Six people died, right?"
"Yeah."
"Including Chad Davis."
"Yeah, yeah."
Tony stepped backward and counted the shadows that rested on the walls again, "Yeah. That doesn't make sense." He sat down next to Harley and pointed at the walls, "Think about it. Six dead. Only five shadows."
"Yeah." Harley replied, looking down, "People said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to heaven." The kid met the man's gaze, "Except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."
"Do you buy that?"
"That's what everyone says." The kid was silent for a few seconds, "You know what this crater reminds me of?" He gestured to the ground under them that had been disturbed by the explosion.
"No idea. I'm not... I don't care."
Harley gestured to the sky, "That giant wormhole in, um, New York." He was smiling, "Does it remind you?"
Tony had two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose and he looked at the boy, "That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it."
"Are they coming back? The aliens?"
Tony's voice got slightly louder and more rough, "Maybe. Can you stop?" The man's heart started beating a little faster at the memories and he desperately hoped the boy would realize how the questions and conversation were affecting him. "Remember what I told you, that I have an anxiety issue?"
Harley did not get the hint, "Does this subject make you edgy?"
"Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?"
YOU ARE READING
His Iron Heart - Tony Stark x Reader
Fanfiction"You can start over. It doesn't matter what you've done." His best friend since childhood, Y/n L/n supported Tony Stark through thick and thin. She watched from the sidelines as his playboy side worked it's charm on every female he saw and supressed...
