Interlude
Little Anthony Edward Stark crawled from the side of his mother's chair, gurgling and laughing as he made his way to his father's legs. As soon as he reached the pristine shoes and fabric, he reached out and tugged as hard as his chubby hands could.
Above him, Howard jerked the folder out of the way and frowned down at the baby boy. "What are you doing down there?"
Anthony sat back on his bum and reached up toward his father.
"Son, I need to work…"
"It won't kill you to have him sit in your lap," Maria said from behind Anthony. Anthony turned his head as his mother picked him up off the floor. "He's a good boy."
Anthony giggled and clapped his hands together as he was settled into his father's lap. Howard huffed and settled his papers around his son before going back to work.
The images swirled and Anthony grew into Tony.
Tony knew his way around machines before he knew how to speak. At first, his parents had been worried about the lack of coherent words coming from him, but that was soon forgotten. Once Tony Stark began talking, he never stopped. He learned faster than Howard could teach, and further than Maria ever studied.
Tony built his first piece of machinery at the age of four and he waited hours for his father to come home so he could show it off. Howard said he would be back by six, and the clock was ticking its way past eight. Maria had long given up waiting for her husband and shuffled off to her study for a nightcap.
Tony sat on the edge of the couch, steadily ignoring the moving of Jarvis, and stared at the door. It was well after ten when Howard opened the door and stumbled into the room.
"Dad!" Tony jumped up and ran toward him. "Dad, dad! Look!"
Howard rubbed his eyes. "Not now, Anthony."
Tony held up his hands, the circuit board balanced on them. "But dad, look!"
Howard patted Tony's head as he stumbled by. "Maybe tomorrow."
Tony watched his father walk off, tears threatening his eyes.
Nothing made Howard happy, not unless there was a camera involved.
Tony let himself smile at his mother as Howard stood next to him and the bike that held the engine he built. Howard laughed for the cameras, talking about Tony's accomplishments as if he hadn't just looked them over the night before. He was a proud father of a prodigy child. A genius. "A true Stark."
Tony let himself selfishly bask in the glow of his father's attentions, even if he knew that it would end soon. Obadiah stood off to the side, explaining Tony's creations to any reporter that came to listen. Obadiah knew everything because he was always there. He was the one Tony ran to about whatever knew thing he built.
The reporters and cameras stayed for two hours and, by the end of it, Tony felt as though he were flying. His father had never let go of him the entire time. His father was laughing with him. His father was there.
And then Howard was back, standing and brushing off his pants once the reporters left. "You need to bathe," he told Tony as he went to the only phone in the room. "You still have grease on yourself."
"Howard…"
Howard shook his head at Maria and dialed a number. After a moment, he smiled. Tony hadn't seen that smile in a long time. "Fury, it's me. Found him, yet?"
Tony looked away before he could see that smile fall. He knew Howard was looking for someone. Someone that would never be found.
"Come on," his mother said, pulling him toward the door. "Perhaps we'll go for some ice cream…"
There was always a search, always someone to find, and it was never ever Tony.
Tony clutched his admissions letter to MIT tightly, facing down his father. "I'm going," he insisted. "Mother would have wanted me to go."
"Your mother isn't here."
"Because you drove her off always looking for your lost girlfriend!"
The slap snapped Tony's head sharply to the side. Father and son stood there, one shocked and one angry, as Tony's face reddened. Tony wished Obadiah was here; at least he could calm him father down enough to convince him that this was a good idea.
"You would never make it at MIT," Howard said, his voice low.
"Are you mad because I got accepted on my first try? Or because I got accepted so young?" Tony finally looked back to Howard. "Just think of it as another boarding school. Ship me off again and don't look back."
"I won't pay."
"That's fine, I'll get loans."
Howard's eyes narrowed as he picked up a half-empty glass of scotch. "You'll drop out within a month."
"I'll graduate a year early."
Howard snorted before taking a sip of his drink. The phone rang next to them and Howard jumped, grabbing it before Tony could even think to reach out for it. "Howard Stark."
Tony turned around and walked to the door. "I'm leaving in a week," he told Howard.
Howard, who was too busy swearing at the phone and telling whomever was on the other end that he needed to be found. Another few million dollars pushed into the search would surely do it.
Tony just wished he knew who he was supposed to live up to.
Sobriety was rare, but it was Tony's favorite time. A sober Howard at least cared enough to see him.
Tony leaned against the window of the rented car, watching as London streets flew by. There was something peaceful about London that New York or Malibu just didn't have and he wondered if he could convince Howard to build an estate out here. They probably already had one, though, and Howard was keeping quiet about it.
"The conference is important," Howard said after a while. "I want you on your best behavior. Don't talk unless spoken to, and don't show off your untested ideas."
Tony knew the speech, he knew the drill. "Yes, sir."
"If this works like it should, we'll have a few more supporters and can go back home very rich men."
Tony let himself laugh. "Dad, we're already very rich men."
The smile that played across Howard's face was a gift, one that Tony knew he would cherish for the rest of his life. He hadn't seen that smile in years.
"Yes, son. Yes we are," Howard said as he gripped the wheel tightly. "But we'll be richer."
Tony kept smiling, praying that he wouldn't mess this up. That he wouldn't be the one to take that smile off his father's face. "Bragging rights to Obi, then?"
"Damn right. He'll be upset that he didn't want to come after all." Howard turned down an empty road. "Come on, what do you say to seeing what this car can do? We've got some time before we need to be there."
Tony straightened in his seat. "Come on, dad, let her go. I bet she can push a hundred and twenty."
Howard laughed, actually laughed, and pressed his foot down on the accelerator until the car passed eighty. They were both still laughing as he released the pedal to slow it back down and Tony was glad he didn't actually try to push it past that. This was enough for now.
Two more turns and the brakes would fail, but at least his last memory of his father was of his smile.