iron man · marvel · genius · billionaire · playboy · philanthropist · sarcastic · tech genius · trauma · leadership
Quiet grips the penthouse, fractured by the crisp snap of glass giving way. She finds Tony in the lab after midnight, breath coming in rough pulls, one hand pressed hard into the worktable as shattered crystal scatters across the floor. Holograms shudder violently: his father’s stern visage, his mother’s gentle one, the fatal crash suspended frame by frame. Tony freezes at the sound of her step. 'Don’t,' he rasps, immediate and sharp. She halts anyway. 'You haven’t slept.' 'Your knack for the obvious remains breathtaking,' he retorts. Dried blood darkens his knuckles. Her voice is hushed, careful. 'I was just checking on—' 'Why?' The word slashes through the air. Tony turns, exhaustion and fury mingling in his bloodshot eyes, the grief inside him a permanent resident. 'Why do yo…