Hacking into the Pentagon, may not have been one of Tony Stark's brightest ideas. In his defense, it was a dare and he was drunk. It had been fun. He would admit the bonus of popularity was not unneeded. He just hadn’t expected to be caught.
Now he was at home and Jarvis was leading him down to his father’s office. Why did he have to get caught? It wasn’t even the Pentagon that caught the hack in their systems. No, he was caught by some stupid teacher, who recognized that what he was doing was hacking, and not some other project. His drunkenness didn’t help.
The imposing door of his father’s office was at the end of the hall. Jarvis knocked three times, and they heard a bellowing
‘Enter.’
He remembered why he resented coming home.
Jarvis and Tony entered the office. It wasn’t often that Tony was here, and it was never willingly. The few times he was here, it was either very good or very bad.
‘Leave us,’ his father said calmly to Jarvis. The calm before the storm if you will.
His father continued to read the reports, on his desk, uninterested that his son was in his office. Tony put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
‘So who did you try to hack?’ His father asked without looking up.
‘I didn’t’
‘You didn’t what, Antony?’
‘Try, father,’ Tony bit back, ‘I didn’t try to hack the Pentagon, I did hack them. Successfully. While I was drunk.’ He knew he shouldn’t have said that last part. He wouldn’t have, had he not been away at boarding school for 7 months, where the worst punishment was detention.
An eerie silence developed in the room. At least his father was finally looking at him. Angry. Tony paled. He wouldn’t come out of the office unscratched.
‘Will you ever take anything seriously?’ Howard said.
‘Some would argue that it is a great achievement,’ murmured Tony, more to himself than to Howard. He gave a half-smile. And it was. To his friends. But his father would not see it that way, Tony knew.
‘What was that?’ His father said, standing up from his chair and making a scratching noise as the legs slid over the floor. Tony flinched at the noise.
‘To some, it would be a great achievement’ Tony repeated, louder this time.
Howard stalked toward his son and grabbed him by the chin. It hurt, a little. His father’s silent anger had now turned into controlled rage. Tony tried to take a step back, but his father held on.
‘You listen closely, I will not tolerate this behavior from you. What would have happened if you were caught, huh?’ his father said, ‘What would have happened then? You could have ruined Stark Industries’ reputation. We made the defenses of the Pentagon. The papers would sure have a field day.’
Oh yes, of course, the papers. It is always about those damn newspapers. The pristine image Howard had cultivated after Tony was born. Their perfect family, their family of geniuses.
‘I knew I wouldn’t get caught,’ Tony said quietly.
‘And how did that work out for you?’
‘I didn’t anticipate the teacher to walk in. You didn’t fix your mistake in the code. The hacking was almost easy.’
His father let go of his face and slapped him on his cheek. Tony almost fell at the force behind the hit.
‘You will be expected to make weapons in the future. Soon, after start attending MIT. The public will have to trust you to make them. Your little adventure could have easily broken that trust.’
Tony fidgeted with an elastic on his wrist to get his emotions back under control. He knew he had gone too far, and now he was to face the consequences.
‘You have to learn discipline, discipline, and self-control,’ So the rationalist approach today. It was better than the other option, when his father was drunk and went into an unadulterated rage. It was better than when he started hitting and kicking Tony where he pleased, for as long as he pleased. At least this would not result in broken bones. This would not result in having to wear long-sleeve T-shirts all summer. This was better, Tony convinced himself.
So he stayed silent.
In the corner of his eyes, he saw his father walking to the wooden cabinet in the right corner of his office. He took out a cane. He swished it a few times through the air. Tony shuddered.
‘Hold out your hands, Antony. They are the ones that caused this unfortunate turn of events.’
He pulled his right hand out of his pocket, and then his left hand. He stretched his arms out. His palms were up, and he would not move. He would not move. He shot his father a defying glare and stared straight ahead.
‘Look up. This is the result of your… great achievement,’ Howard said before the punishment started.
That is when Howard brought down the cane on Tony’s hands. Hard.
‘One,’ Howard said. A red strip formed on Tony’s hand. Tony knew that there would be a lot more of them by the time he would leave the office. Stark men are made of iron.
‘Two,’ Howard said, bringing down the cane for the second time. Howard didn’t know what on earth Tony had been thinking. Hacking into the Pentagon? And the boy didn’t even have a reason. If it had been him when he was a teenager, his father would have beaten him bloody. The boy needed to learn how to control himself.
‘Three,’ he continued, and the boy was still standing there, insolent and defying. His head up like he owned the world.
The fourth hit, Howard hit harder, deigning to get through his son. Tony sucked in a breath. It hadn’t been worth it. This hadn’t been worth the popularity boost Tony had gotten at school amongst his senior peers. He had just wanted them to like him.
The next three hits were fast. Tony winced. Don’t react, don’t react, Stark men are made of iron. Tony looked down at his hands and noticed that there were now multiple lines on his palms. The lines ranged from his fingers almost to his wrist and were spread almost perfectly even.
‘I need you to be better, Antony.’ Tony felt the cane, push against his chin, forcing him to look up. He was now looking straight at his father. 'I need you to be better. Look at me, boy!'
Reluctantly Tony looked into his father’s eyes and noticed that the rage had boiled down to quiet disappointment. Tony squirmed under the look his father was giving him.
When the next hit landed on his palms, Tony clenched his teeth. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. Stark men are made of iron.
The hits continued to come, and the mantra continued. Stark men are made of iron, Stark men are made of iron, Stark men are made of iron. He would not break. He wouldn’t give Howard the satisfaction.
After the twelfth time, the cane drew blood. Tony hissed, the pain was getting too much. His eyes began to water. Stark men are made of iron.
The cane hit over and over and over again, and by the time Tony’s vision started to blur, his hands were covered in blood. A few drops had leaked onto the carpet too.
Tony pulled his arms away from the cane, ‘I can’t father, I can’t please stop. I’m sorry. I promise I will be better.’
Howard tapped Tony's folded arms, to get the hands back in place.
‘Hold out your hands, Antony,’ When his son made no move to do so he said, ‘Always the same, you cannot take responsibility for your actions. You’re a child, Tony.’
'Get out,' Howard waved his son away with a simple hand gesture.
His son was a coward. Howard wished his son was more like Captain America. Brave, loyal, and patriotic. In those days there at least were real men.