Flame

Chapter 25

Once dressed I make my way out of the closet and back into the main room where Steve is sitting in bed, reading a book. I make my way over to my table and grab my phone and car keys before walking around the bed and over beside Steve.

"I have to leave but i'll be back in a couple of days" I say as Steve puts his book down and kisses me

"Do you have to go doll?"Steve questions as he kisses my neck

"Yes and in case you've forgotten you have a mission in an hour" I remind him ,smiling

"Be safe doll" Steve says as I get up

"I think I should be telling you that" I say kissing his check before walking over to the door " I love you" I tell him before making my way from our room and out of the compound.

Sat playing the piano is Maria Stark and laying on one of the couches is Tony and the other one Kathleen sits with her head in her book completely blocking out the rest of the world.

"Who's the homeless person on the couch? And who's the bookworm?" Howard Stark asks as Tony chuckles and stands up and his sister soon stands beside him wrapping an arm around him.

"This is why I love coming home for Christmas... right before you leave town"Tony says to him as he kisses his sister on the head

"Be nice dear he's been studying abroad"Maria says to Howard

"Really? Which broad? What's her name?"Howard asks Tony

"Candice" Tony answers as Howard pulls his hat off

"Do me a favour? Try not to burn the house down before Monday" Howard says looking over at Kathleen who nods in reply with a small smile

"Okay so it is Monday. That's good to know, I'll plan my toga party according"Tony says as he pulls Kathleen even closer to him

"Where are you going?" Kathleen asks her mother politely

"You're father is flying us to the Bahamas for a little get away" Maria answers her daughter smiling

"We might have to make a quick stop"Howard adds on

"At the pentagon. Right? Don't worry, you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary"Tony says making Maria stop playing the piano

"You know they say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true you'll be a great man someday. I'll get the bags" Howard says as he walks out of the room and Maria stands up

"He does miss you both when you are not here and frankly you're going to miss us. This is the last time we're all gonna be together, you know what's about to happen. Say something if not, you'll regret it" Maria tells her children as Howard walks back in

"I love you dad" Kathleen tells her father with a smile

"Love you Dad, and I know you did the best you could"Tony tells her father before her mother kisses him and his sister before her and her husband leave.

"That's how I wished it happened. Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF. God, I gotta work on that acronym. An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to... clear traumatic memories. Huh."Tony starts as the hologram disappears

"It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport... or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief, but...Plus, 611 million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment? No one in the right mind would've ever funded it." I continue to speak to the audience as I step forward

"Help me out, what's the MIT mission statement? To generate, disseminate... and preserve knowledge. And work with others... to bring it to bear on the world's great challenges. Well, you are the others. And, quiet as it's kept... the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind's ever known. Plus, most of you are broke"Tony says and the crowd chuckles and speak with him

"Or what he meant to say was that you were. As of this moment... every student has been made an equal recipient of the Inaugural September Foundation Grant. As in... all of your projects have just been approved and funded." I tell the crowd who start to applause and cheer making me smile

"No strings, no taxes... just reframe the future! Starting now."Tony adds on as the Telepromter reads'Now I would like to introduce the head of the foundation: Pepper Potts.' But Pepper isn't here "Go break some eggs." Tony says before we walk off stage

"Wow. Wow. That uh... That took my breathe away. Oh, Kathleen! Tony! So generous. So much money! Wow! Out of curiosity... will any portion of that grant be made available to faculty? I know, "Ooh, gross," but hear me out. I have got this killer idea for a self-cooking hotdog. Basically, chemical detonator embedded..." A man says to us but we keep walking not really in the mood to talk

"Restroom's this way, yeah?" Tony asks the man

"Yeah. Embedded in the meat shaft." The guy says as his assistant comes over to us

"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry about the telepromter. I didn't know Miss Potts had cancelled. They didn't have time to fix it." She apologises to him

"It's... fine. We'll be right back" I tell her and we walk off down the hall

"That was nice, what you did for those young people." A woman says to us as we wait for the elevator

"Ah, they deserve it. Plus, it helps ease my conscience" Tony tells her and I place my arm on his shoulder

"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But if you've got the money... break as many eggs as you like. Right?" The lady says to us not amused

"Are you going up?" I ask the lady, being polite as I push the button

" I'm right where I want to be."She replies as she digs in her handbag making Tony grab her wrist.

"Okay, okay. Hey! Sorry, it's an occupational hazard." Tony tells her as he pulls away

"I work for the State Department. Human Resources. I know it's boring... but it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be." The lady says as she shoves Tony a picture "His name was Charlie Spencer. Your murdered him. In Sokovia. Not that it matters in the least to you two .You think you fight for us. You just fight for yourself." The lady explains "Who's going to avenge my son, Stark? He's dead... and I blame you two." She says glaring at us before walking off