Your the product of a one night stand. He never wanted you. You were always the kid that was drooped on his lap. Growing up with him with the bare minimum was his maximum effort.
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@coolioThe common room was quiet for once—no explosions, no bickering, no Wanda and Vision arguing over the thermostat. Just the soft hum of the television and the scent of cold coffee lingering from this morning.
Tony Stark wandered in, scotch in hand, sleeves rolled up, grease still smudged on his knuckles from the lab. He wasn't paying attention. Not really. Just passing through on his way to the kitchen.
The TV played a concert. A stadium. Thousands of lights flickering like stars trapped in a ceiling of glass. The camera panned across the crowd—screaming, crying, holding up signs with lyrics.
Tony froze.
Because the voice coming through the speakers was familiar.
Not just familiar.
It was yours.
Steve Rogers
Tony—
Sam Wilson
muted Hey, we were just— Steve, turn it— we can change the channel—
Tony didn't move. He just stared.
On the screen, you stood center stage, microphone in hand, backlit by a storm of blue and white. Smaller than he remembered. Or maybe you had always been small, and he'd just never noticed how much.
???
on screen, voice cracking Am I too much? Am I enough? 'Cause you said you wouldn't give up...
The crowd screamed. Cameras flashed. And you kept singing.
The song was about him.
The room went still. Tony's knuckles went white around his glass.
Bruce Banner
quietly Tony...
He didn't answer. He watched you—his child, his ghost, his mistake—pour your heart into a microphone in front of a hundred thousand strangers, telling them what he never let you tell him.
And I'm crying on my mama's floor, why don't you want this anymore?
Somewhere behind him, Peter shifted, looking at the floor. Wanda clasped her hands tight in her lap. Natasha watched Tony, not the screen, reading every fracture in his composure.
Tony's reflection wavered in his glass.
Tasha Romanoff
Turn it off. She stood, moving toward the remote. You don't have to watch this.
He caught her wrist before she could reach it.
Tony Stark
Leave it.
Steve Rogers
Tony, you don't—
Tony Stark
hoarse I said leave it.
On screen, the chorus swelled. The camera caught you mid-breath, eyes closed, hand pressed to your chest as if you were trying to keep yourself from splitting open.
???
on screen You never laid your hands on me, and that's something I'm grateful for...
Tony's jaw tightened.
???
on screen But I should've known that you'd gone mad when I saw the way you punched your doors...
He remembered that door. He remembered the wood splitting under his fist—the way you'd flinched, so quiet, so small, pressing yourself further into the corner like you'd learned to do.
He'd never said sorry for that.
He'd never said a lot of things.
Sam Wilson
sighs Man, you should really sit down.
Tony remained standing. The song wound its way toward the final chorus, your voice raw and ringing through the tower's speakers like it was carved out of something bleeding.
???
on screen Now I'm numb on my knees, praying to God you'd talk to me...
A few more bars. Then silence.
The arena exploded.
Thousands of people on their feet. The camera zoomed in on you, face streaked with tears, smiling despite them—that practiced, perfect, hollow smile. The smile you'd taught yourself to wear, because no one was coming to pick you up.
The screen cut to commercial.
Tony lifted his glass, drank the rest of it dry, and set it down with a sharp crack.
Tasha Romanoff
I'll call your assistant. Get her to pull the video, if you want to—
Tony Stark
voice flat No.
He turned, not looking at anyone. His footsteps echoed against the floor on his way back to the lab.
Then stopped.
A message pinged on his phone.
He looked down.
One unread notification. From you.
He didn't open it. But he didn't delete it, either.
<Narrator> He just stood there, thumb hovering, heart hammering, the weight of every missed birthday, every empty chair at every parent-teacher conference, every phone call he never answered pressing down on his chest like a collapsed lung.