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MY STORY BEGINS WITH MY PARENTS.
The funny thing is though, neither of them wanted to have a child. Even from a young age, my parents both despised the idea of having a tiny creature just like them that depended on them for virtually everything.
Little Tony Stark seemed to have everything the world could offer and he thought so too until he was 8 years old and realized something was wrong. I'm not really sure if it was a process of realization or if he was lying awake in bed one night and it just dawned on him. But at the age of eight, Tony Stark realized that his father was an asshole.
I don't know what caused this revelation but based on the stories I've heard, I can make a couple of educated guesses.
Maybe he was thinking back to his favorite memory with his father. He was six years old or so, and his mother had woken him up saying that he would be accompanying his father to work. Tony was afraid at first but quickly realized by his mother's expression that this was a good thing! He was spending time with his father!
An asshole of a father, but his father nonetheless.
Little Tony jumped out of bed, overjoyed to help his father. He slipped on his favorite Doctor Who sweatshirt (which he still has to this day), haphazardly gobbled down his cereal before saying goodbye to Jarvis. He dashed over to over to his father with a smile even though Howard held his usual cold expression.
He didn't hold his father's hand but he told himself he didn't need to. Dad's always been that type of person. The two climbed out of the car to an oncoming crowd of reporters and his father smiled.
Howard Stark actually smiled.
Seeing this little Tony Stark giggled. With a burst of confidence, he reached for his father's hand. Howard tensed under his touch but he didn't shake it away either. Tony considered that progress.
The rest of the day went as planned with Tony working on a motor with the help of his father. Tony Stark was happy. So happy in fact, that he didn't pay attention to the man with the big camera following them around. Only later did he realize that the only time his father showed him genuine affection was just for show.
The year after that, when Tony was 7 years old, his father sat him down to tell him a story. Tony was excited of course. His father never told him stories. Tony tugged his body away from the arm of the couch as he peered at the book his father had propped open.
Taped onto the page was an old photo containing four people.
There was a much younger version of his father. He was smiling wide and had both of his arms swung over the shoulders of the people around him. He seemed happier than Tony had ever seen him. Howard was happier in the middle of a deadly world war than he was around his family.
Next to Howard was a younger version of Tony's Aunt Peggy. He loved Aunt Peggy. She stood tall even though she lacked a couple of inches compared to those around her. And despite the smile she held, her eyes made it clear that she could hurt you without even trying. Aunt Peggy was really as badass as they made her out to be.
Next to Aunt Peggy was another man who stood a couple of inches higher than Howard did. The man had a handsome face and dark tousled hair that still seemed to hold shape despite its messiness. I now knew him as Bucky Barnes, a man so special that he was worth ruining everything for. He wasn't a terrible guy, even saved my life once or twice, I just, really don't like him.
On Howard's other side was another, taller man. He had light hair, a stocky build, and a white star plastered over his uniform. Tony recognized this man from some of the history books he had read. Captain America.
Howard took his pointer finger and tapped on the Captain. "This, Tony," he began, holding a warmth in his voice Tony hadn't been lucky enough to hear before, "is Steve Rogers."
Tony nodded. Yes, he knew that.
"He was my friend during the war." Tony nodded again. He knew that too. "Today is his birthday." Yet another thing Tony knew. He was confused now, why was his father telling him this?
And then he went on. And on. And on about Captain America. Twisting tales of grandeur together with a smile on his face and a wild look in his eyes. Tony liked that night if he was being honest.
He enjoyed the next time. And the next. He didn't dislike the fourth or fifth time much. It got a bit annoying the sixth and seventh but he could handle it. By the eighth time of Howard describing how perfect and ideal of a human Steve Rogers was, Tony Stark despised the man.
At the age of 8, Tony realized that his father didn't care about him. His father didn't really want him. He wanted someone like Captain America. Someone brave and noble and perfect. Someone, in his mind, he couldn't ever be.
So, at an early age, Tony Stark decided he didn't ever want to be a father. Being a father would mean he would have to ruin a perfectly good human and he wasn't okay with that.
But things never seemed to go as planned with the Starks.
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- *****I M P O R T A N T***** ok listen, I need to justify the comment Dom made about Bucky. bucky is my fav, I love him and I think both teams SHOULD JUST BE FRIENDS. But, Dominic is Obviously super salty and he sees bucky as what made the Avengers fall WHICH ISNT TRUE BTW and also as the guy who hurt his dad so Dom is super bitter about it BECAUSE HE'S AN ANSTY TEENAGER DONT COME AFTER HIM
