Sunday Special II

157

…

16:40. December 21, 1991

It was four days to Christmas but instead of the joyful atmosphere one would expect from any household, the Stark mansion had a rather dreary one.

Howard Stark and his Wife Maria had just been laid to rest and a few 'family and friends' had stayed back to comfort a grieving Anthony who waa 21 this year.

(A/N: Googled it and saw that her name was Maria.)

That was what one would expect but…

To say that Tony was grieving would actually be a lie.

Tony had a rather distant but impactful relationship with his father Howard caused by his work over shadowing a great part of his life.

Growing up, Tony had shown exceptional intelligence and creativity but felt emotionally neglected by Howard, who focused more on his work than his son.

Having built his first circuit board at the age of four and his first engine at six, that was when he came to understand his fafher a bit and sought to meet his expectations by later enrolling at MIT and graduated summa cum laude at the age of 17.

This rapid advancement however, established him as a technological prodigy which his father never stopped boasting about, but for the last 17 years of his life, Tony never truly felt his father's presence.

It was like he was there physically and mentally, but emotionally…he wasn't.

This didn't affect him much though.

He had Aethon and the Hawthornes, not to mention his favourite aunt Peggy and the little chipmunk that always followed after Aethon whenever they met…Sharon.

Although Howard's work benefited Tony with immense wealth and technical knowledge, it also meant that Tony was largely left to his own devices, fostering a rebellious streak in him that was arguably controlled due to Aethon's presence.

It was arguable because Aethon never really talked him out of any crazy experiment he came up with, but rather even asked his parents to build him his own lab where they could run the experiments.

It was weird hearing such a request from a kid barely half a decade in age, but they did it nonetheless and while at it, the installed a lot of safety mechanisms in the case of Tony going out of line.

This aided him to continue building his skills in technology, science, and engineering, growing familiar with the inner workings of Stark Industries.

As Tony entered young adulthood, his relationship with Howard remained tense since Howard, focused on his work and often appeared critical and strict, which Tony interpreted as a lack of approval.

Despite Howard's genuine belief in Tony's potential, his often emotionally distant approach left Tony feeling unappreciated and resentful.

Having had a talk with Thena over this, Maria brought Tony over to have Thena give him an advice or two since Tony dreaded the woman.

For the first time in his 17+ years of life, Tony had the longest 10 minutes moment of silence he could and would ever experience again.

He didn't think there was any other form of silence that was longer than that, and to make matters worse, the only thing she said after the excruciatingly long moment of silence was: Try to Understand your father a little."

It was a harsh request to ask of a child in regards to their parents, but having the intellectual capacity he had, Tony tried and incorporated himself into the family company.

While this didn't exactly bring them closer emotionally, they got to interact on so many occasions that anyone who knew as Tony would eventually turn out would be shocked.

All was well and good until… Howard and Maria Stark were killed in what was was said to be a car accident.

This event deeply impacted Tony and currently, not even he knew what he was feeling.

…

"Dad, will Big bro be alright?" An 11 year old Aethon asked as he stood between Lucas and Thena who were watching the absent-minded Tony go through the motions as one shareholder walked up to share their condolences.

"It depends on what form of Alright really." Lucas replied as he saw he blank stare he gave everyone.

"Are you about to go into those mumbo jumbo of yours again?" Aethon took a frightened step towards Thena as he looked up to Lucas who chuckled and shook his head.

"This is neither the place nor time. Don't look down on your father even as a joke." Lucas said, his voice taking a scolding tone towards the end.

"Dear, why don't you apologise to your father?" Thena who was also looking absent minded said as she rubbed Aethon by the shoulders.

"I am sorry." Aethon said genuinely with a curt bow but Lucas rubbed it, scattering the hair he had spent so much time making.

"Apology accepted, but this will be your little punishment for the meantime." Leucadius said with a smile and then turned to Tony who was now by himself. "Come, let's go meet the richest bachelor of the century."

"Now you're just being unnecessarily sarcastic, Leuca. Stop it." Thena shot at him causing the smile to fall from his face as they began walking towards Tony.

The family of three walked quietly down the path, and as they reached him, the Lucas began, his gentle. "Hey," his gaze kind and steady, "I just wanted to say... your mom..? It was a pity, and dad..? Meh they were incredible people. We'll miss them so much."

Tony seemed to freeze for a moment at the very familiar voice and for the first time since the day began, truly looked anh one in the eye. "Uncle, Aunt and…A. I didn't see you guys coming but I sure heard you, uncle. What the hell?"

Lucas snickered to himself while Thena facepalmed. "What? I thought with you looking like a soulless zombie, anything I say would just fly over your head."

"First off, zombies have souls, second, don't you have my respect for the dead?" Tony spat back.

"Are you arguing with me, brat?" Lucas gave Tony a threatening side eye which Tony simply matched back until…

"You two, stop it."

"Tsk. Consider yourself lucky brat."

"Heh, says the old man who's whipped by his wife."

"Wha-! You-!"

"Tony?"

The atmosphere around the family and Tony went down by a few degrees and hearing his name only served to make the chill and shiver run down his spine simultaneously if that was even possible.

"*Gulp* Aunt T, calm down, it's not what it sounds like."

"I wonder…" Thena began as she gave Tony a piercing glare. ".. how did it sound like in your head?"

"Huh? It's..uh..um…"

"Big bro, you're one big scaredy cat. Disappointing." Aethon, as if right on queue joined in and cast Tony a look disappointment that was sure to leave a lasting mental mark.

"Wha-"

"Anyways, we came over to say our condolences. It doesn't seem like you need much of a consolation, so we'll be on our way." Thena said and turned towards Lucas. "Anything you'd like to add?"

Leucadius nodded his head as he looked at Tony for a good while. "The world is a pretty scary place Tony." Looking at the picture of Howard, he continued. "The Africans…west Africans to be specific…they have this adage: The person under the umbrella does not know how hard it rains on the outside"

Tony furrowed his brows as he tried to understand where this uncle of his was going with this.

However, without explaining himself, he patted Tony on he shoulder and said. "When the rain gets too hard bear, feel free to hit up this trusty uncle of yours."

His words were tender and caring as possible and after saying that, he turned and left.

Thena looked at Maria's picture before also stepping forward and resting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "If you need anything," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper, "we're here for you. You're not alone in this."

Tony seemed lost for a moment but before he could regain his clarity of thought the three had already left. He was sure he heard Aethon say something but he didn't…or rather couldn't grab it.

In comparison to the care and words of consolation he had heard today, this was the one that felt more genuine, but for some reason, it felt like they were drawing a line between them.

He of course understood what that meant.

As early as he graduated MIT, Leucadius had never once treated him like a child and always referred to him as Mr. in situations that were very casual, and in serious situations, he'd settle for brat.

He'd always wondered why this uncle of his was being unnecessarily unreasonable and confronted him.

That was when it all changed.

He saw another part of his uncle that he'd only show when with his father. Hell, Lucas even offered to buy him his first drink on the day of the party following his achievement at 17.

And in the last four years, if there was something he came to understand about his uncle, it was that he treated everyone as expects to be treated.

And currently, Tony was not just his friend's son, but the Heir to a billion dollar company.

…

(A/N: Alright. I feel this is good enough exposition and Timeskip, so I'm gonna go rest. Ciao.)