Fallen Thorn (Steve R., Bucky B., Thor) Book 3

16.

Nobodies POV

Soft piano is playing. Tony Stark's mother, Maria, sits at a piano. A young Tony is on the couch.

"Try to remember the kind of September/When grass was green... [She stops singing as Howard Stark walks in, but continues playing.] Wake up, dear, and say goodbye to your father." Maria says "Who's the homeless person on the couch?" Howard ask

Tony, wearing a Santa hat, staggers to his feet and chuckles.

"This is why I love coming home for Christmas... right before you leave town." Tony says

"Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad." Maria says "Really, which broad? What's her name?" Howard ask

"Candice." Tony says

Howard pulls off Tony's hat.

"Do me a favour? Try not to burn the house down before Monday." Howard says

"Okay, so it's Monday. That is good to know. I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where you going?" Tony ask

"You father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little getaway." Maria says "We might have to make a quick stop." Howard says

"At the Pentagon. Right? Don't worry, you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary." Tony says

Maria stops playing the piano.

"You know, they say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true, you'll be a great man some day. I'll get the bags." Howard says

He walks out of the room, and Maria stands up.

"He does miss you when you are not here. And frankly, you're going to miss us. Because this is the last time we're all going to be together. You know what's about to happen. Say something. If you don't, you'll regret it." Maria says

Howard walks back in.

"I love you, Dad. And I know you did the best you could." Tony says

Maria leans in to kiss Tony on the cheek, and when she leans back, an older Tony Stark is standing in the background. Howard and Maria walk out, leaving the two Tonys.

"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 says

He blows on a candle and everything around him shimmers, then starts to dissolve. It's a hologram.

"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... [He takes off his glasses.] Plus, 611 million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment? No one in the right mind would've ever funded it." Tony says

He is standing on a stage in front of a large crowd. A sign reads MIT Alumni Honors: Tony Stark.

"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

The crowd chuckles.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Rather, 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." Tony says

The crowd breaks out in applause and cheering.

"No strings, no taxes... just reframe the future! Starting now." Tony says