A Flash From The Past ~ An Avengers Reacts Story

Five ~ Tony

Natasha and Clint were eating something in the kitchen, when Hayden's voice called through the ceiling.

"Hey, guys," Hayden said, "Can you all come back to the other room, now?"

"Really?" Clint whined, "I'm still hungry!"

"You haven't stopped eating since we got to this room!" Natasha said, as they all began to make their way to the screen room.

"Ok," Hayden said, once everyone had sat down. "The next memory is going to play now."

"Is it still about me?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Kylie answered.

"Great, it's still about me," Tony sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve said

"Have you said that before?" Clint asked.

"Guys, the memory is starting!" Hayden said, as they all turned, the black screen slowly transforming into a video.

On screen, young Tony, seeming to be around ten, but still small and scrawny for his age, was sitting on a set of stairs, listening to Howard talking from far away. It was clear that the boy's father was in the next room.

"Don't be so hard on the boy, Howard. He is only ten. He 's a child!" That seemed to be Peggy arguing with Howard.

"Wait," Tony said, standing up. "Stop! I don't want them to know this."

"Tony, calm down-" Kylie tried.

"No, stop this. Now!" Tony said.

"Tony, what happens in this memory?" Natasha asked.

"You don't need to know," Tony said.

"We're gonna find out, so you might as well tell us," Clint said.

"No," Tony said and sat back down.

"He is useless!" Howard yelled back on screen. The whole team gasped at this. "Only a waste of money. He's not worth it! He doesn't deserve to be here!"

"How could he say something like that?" Steve cried.

"Dick," Bucky muttered under his breath. He really didn't feel bad at all for killing him now. 

Young Tony ran upstairs, on the verge of tears. He slammed the door of his room and put his hand under his mattress, searching for something.

"Stop it," Tony said, standing again. "Stop it, right now." Tony walked towards the screen, ready to destroy it, but hit an invisible wall. "What is this?"

"Um, we thought this would happen," Hayden explained, "So we set up a barrier."

"Tony, what's wrong?" Bruce asked, "Why don't you want us to see what's going to happen?"

"Because I'm ashamed," Tony sighed in defeat and sat back down.

On the screen, young Tony seemed to find what he was looking for and pulled it out. It was an old razor.

From the looks around the room, there were mixed reactions. People like Thor, Steve and Bruce didn't understand what was going on. Others like Bucky, Loki, Natasha and Clint knew exactly what was going on. Some had a knowing look on their faces, as if they knew what Tony was feeling.

"Is the young Stark going to build something with the blade?" Thor asked, confused. But his question remained unanswered as the memory played on.

Young Tony took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "I deserve to die. I need to be punished."