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People barely remembered that there were two Stark sons. Yes, two. Tony had an older brother. You’d think that the older son would’ve taken over Stark Industries, but no, Tony got it. Then you’d think that this older son would’ve been spiteful and angry, but no. No, he wasn’t. In fact, Tony’s brother was never the business type. He was smart but not Tony Stark smart. Instead of taking after his father, he took after his mother with her piano skills. When their parents died he did take over Stark Industries until his brother was able to because he was a good brother and knew that Tony wasn’t mentally prepared. Hell, he wasn't even an adult! After that Matthew Stark all but vanished out of the limelight. He moved to Italy, where his mother had grown up and made a name for himself. Instead of going by Stark, he went by Carbonell, his mother’s maiden name. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his father’s name, it just made life easier for him. Or at least that’s what everyone, Tony included, thought.
The thing that no one knew was that whilst Tony and Matthew got half of everything when their parents passed and Tony got Stark Industries, Matthew got SHIELD. Howard had been one of the founders and at one point when Matthew was old enough to understand certain things, he’d been given two options when Howard was doing his will. Matthew could either get SI or be part of SHIELD. He went for the latter because he didn’t want his younger brother to be a part of something dangerous and because he had no desire to run SI, but he knew Tony did to a degree. He knew his little brother wanted nothing more than to show his designs to the world and what better way to do that than to own SI.
So with Tony and the world under the assumption that he lived in Italy, Matthew was sent on missions by his uncle -because Nick Fury was practically their uncle as he was always around much like Aunt Peggy, whereas Phil Coulson was Matthew’s best friend and perhaps somewhat like an uncle or cousin to Tony given the age gap. All while keeping an eye on his brother and when he could, he'd visit the youngest Stark.
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This story starts in the early hours of the 29th of May in 1974. Maria Stark lay screaming in labour as she eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy. When Howard came in to see his wife and newest son, he brought his five-year-old son inside too.
“Would you like to hold him?” His mother asked with a gentle albeit exhausted smile and he nodded taking the baby in his hands carefully,“Hi, Tony. I’m Matthew, your big brother!” He exclaimed quietly and proudly as he stared down at his baby brother with a big smile and mentally, Matthew promised to always protect the little human in his hands.
Tony took after their dad with his brown hair and chocolate eyes; unlike Matthew who was almost a male replica of their mother with his dirty blond hair and blue eyes. The youngest Stark tended to follow his older brother like a little duckling. Actually, Matthew was awfully reminded of a little kitten when he looked at his brother due to his adorable and feisty attitude.
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In 1978, Matthew held four-year-old Tony’s hand and led the boy into their dad’s workshop.“Daddy, I made this!” Tony squeaked happily and released his brother’s hand so he could lift up the circuit board.“I’m busy, Anthony.”“It’ll be quick, I promise!” He exclaimed“Go away!” Howard growled and stared down at his youngest. Inwardly, the man flinched as terror-stricken Bambi eyes stared widely up at him.“Come on Tony, dad’s a bit busy, so why don’t we go find mum and Jarvis and you can tell us all about your creation?” Tony nodded solemnly but Matthew grabbed his hand and walked them out, but not before shooting Howard a glare that caused him to sigh heavily and slump down in his chair once they were gone.
The Stark patriarch called the news and for the first time since his birth, Tony was once again in the newspapers much to the children’s dislike and Maria’s anger. He had been trying to do a good thing, Howard that is, but clearly he didn’t know his sons enough to realise they didn’t want to be in the papers. They didn’t want to be known to the public. They didn’t want to have no privacy. They just wanted a supportive and loving father. Instead, they got Howard and a horrifying lack of privacy. Though it was Tony who was in the news instead of Matthew, (secretly to the latter’s delight).
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Almost three years past and once again the child genius was in the news showing off a V8 Motorbike Engine that he built. Howard had his arm around his son as they posed for pictures, Matthew stood once again off to the side showing his support by smiling at his brother and opening his arms when the photos were finally done, causing the six-year-old to rush off to hug him.
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Two years later Matthew started high school and whilst the pair were still close, they weren’t as close as Tony had been sent off to a private boarding school a year ago. The oldest Stark son often found himself wandering around the manor with a sad expression. He could remember the horror on his brother’s face when their dad said he was going away. Tony had cried himself to sleep clutching Matthew, who quietly shed a few tears too. The boy knew that his little brother no longer sought the love and attention he always wanted from Howard, in fact, Tony rarely even talked to the man let alone looked at him when he was home.
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The two brothers practically lost all communication in 1986 when Matthew went off to MIT, they spoke at least once every fortnight or so on the phone, though Matthew ended up having a go at Tony when the younger brother informed him about hacking the Pentagon on a dare. Matthew was furious and sadly, Tony didn’t bother to call or pick up the phone after that. He knew he should’ve been more gentle, his brother was sensitive and far more emotive than anyone knew given the boys' facades, but Matthew blew up at him and as a result, their fractured relationship cracked away even more.
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Things began to look up when Tony started MIT barely a year later in 1988 at the tender age of fifteen. You’d think that with them being in the same area, they’d see each other more and be close again. But no. Sadly, it was Matthew’s fault. He was twenty. He was wild. He partied too much and drank too much. Sure he checked on his brother sometimes, but he wasn’t as good a brother as he should’ve been. Though he would forever be thankful for a man called James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. The man was Tony’s first friend, first real friend and he was there for the young Stark unlike Matthew and so he could not be more grateful for Rhodey. The blond could recall multiple times where he would actively avoid his brother but, of course, he couldn’t keep it up. The day Tony found him and saw that his brother was still trying to get away from him, he all but broke. Shouting and screaming at the brother he loved and looked up to, Tony just let all of his anger and anguish out. That was the first time he had met Rhodey in person as the man had come over and wrapped a comforting but stern arm around Tony’s shoulders and led him away. Matthew flinched at the angry glare his brothers' friend had sent his way as the pair left.
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At age twenty, his uncle, Nick Fury, had approached him about SHIELD, the organisation that his father had co-founded. His father had told him about the agency a few years before and had given Matthew a choice between running Stark Industries or getting to be apart of SHIELD whether it was just helping out occasionally or not doing anything, it was really all his choice as his dad made changes to his will. Matthew said he would like to become a SHIELD agent and Howard had not been too impressed with the agent part but was perfectly fine with SHIELD being chosen which meant SI would be left to Tony. Then once he was twenty, his uncle had approached him and his training had begun. He’d pushed his brother away because he knew if he really did become an agent sent into the field like he wanted to, then his brother could get hurt because of him. Which was also why Matthew had gone for SHIELD because then his brother wouldn’t be put into dangerous situations as he ran the company…
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“Your brother’s competing in the 4th Annual MIT Robot Design comp.” Was the first thing Matthew heard as he opened his dorm door to reveal Rhodey,“So I’ve heard.” He said shamefully bluntly and uncaringly causing the other man to glower at him,“He wouldn’t say this out loud and given the way you’ve been acting, I don’t blame him. But. He would want you to be there supporting him.” Rhodey stated before turning on his heel and leaving, not once did the man stop to see what Matthew would say.
In the end, he did turn up. He watched with a small smile as his brother showed off his robot. Only Matthew could tell that Tony was nervous as he presented Dum-E. It was moments like this that the blond wished he had tried harder, to have been more supportive. He missed his brother but, there was actually a reason he had pushed him away.
“And coming in first place for the 4th Annual MIT Robot Design Competition is…Tony Stark!” As everyone clapped and cheered, Matthew caught his brother’s eye and winked at him with a small smile and a clap. Tony looked down with a shy smile at his brother’s praise and when he looked back, Matthew was gone.
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1991 was a busy year. Tony and Matthew both graduated from MIT and Matthew’s training intensified, whereas Tony…well, he began to party and drink. Countless times he had had to call Aunt Peggy to go and talk some sense into his brother. Then December hit. Matthew had been planning to drive over for Christmas with the family, but Tony had already been there. He was recovering from a major hangover, promising to look after the house when his parents went away for a few days, saying they’d be back by the twentieth if everything went to plan.
“Agent Carbonell.”“Yes?”
“Director Fury needs you.”“I see. Thank you.” Matthew said as he headed to speak with the bald man in his office. Knocking twice on the door, he entered when given permission and took a seat in front of the solemn man. Several awkward moments of silence passed before anyone spoke, “So…are you Uncle Nick or Director Fury? Because I’m getting mixed vibes.”“I really wish I wasn’t the one to tell you this.” The man murmured before getting up from his chair and walking around to the one beside Matthew all while ignoring the blond’s comment. Placing a comforting hand on his knee, Nick leaned forward and gently held one of the man’s hands, “Matthew…there’s been an accident. Your parents were in a car accident and…I’m sorry to say, neither of them made it.” He froze. Why wouldn’t he? He’d just learned that his parents were dead. His mouth was slightly agape with the shock and horror as several tense moments passed by.“Oh god.” Was the first thing he muttered, taking his hand away from Nick’s and running both of his own through his hair, gripping tightly to his dark blond locks. He stood up and began to pace, his hands trembling at his sides as he clenched them and unclenched them repeatedly, “Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. No. No. No. You’re lying. This is a horrible, horrible prank.”“Matthew.”“Fuck. Shit. No. No. What am I going to do now? I’m barely an adult. I don’t know how to do anything.”“Matthew.”“Oh god. Tony isn’t even an adult and he’s already an orphan.” As he spoke those words he froze and turned on his heel to stare at his eye-patch wearing uncle with wide and horrified eyes, “Oh god, Tony…you didn’t say anything about him. Is he…is…is he dea…dead?” He choked on the word as he brought his hands up to his mouth. Nick sighed silently, concerned and soft eyes fell on the panicking young man as he walked over and hugged him.“He’s fine. He stayed home. He’s currently at your home.”“I need to go get him. I need to see him. I need to go, Uncle.”“I know. I know. Ssh. It’ll all be alright.” He stepped out of the hug, placing his hands on the tall blond’s shoulders and staring into his blue eyes, “Agent Coulson offered to drive you there. It’s a five-hour drive, but he can probably cut an hour or so off the trip. If you’re okay with being in a car, that is?” Matthew just nodded as his mind blanked. Fury rubbed his back once or twice before Coulson knocked and came inside.
“Hey, Matt.” Coulson murmured hugging his best friend. The two had done some of their training together and had become great friends. Though, Phil was five years older than Matthew. “Let’s get you home.” He gently led his friend out of the office and once Matthew was outside, Phil was called back in,“Agent Coulson, there’s something I need to ask you.”“Sir?”“About an hour away from Stark Manor, there’s something I need someone to check out. If it’s not too much hassle, I’d like you to. Like I said, if you’re going that way, what’s an extra hour?”“I see. I’ll check it out if you give me the information and I’ll crash at a hotel.” Coulson answered mentally noting to check if his work-emergency-overnight bag was still in his car as Nick handed over a small file.
“Thank you, Agent.”
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“I can’t get a hold of Tony.” Was the first thing that Matthew said when he finally spoke about forty-five minutes into the drive. Coulson had assumed that’s what the man had been doing on his phone.“I’m sure he’s fine. He rarely answers the phone anyway.” Phil murmured and was glad to see a small smile on his friends face at his last comment,“I hope so-“ He was cut off by the ringing of his phone, hastily grabbing the technology, he answered, “Tony!” He yelled through it,
“You haven’t heard from him either, I guess then.”
“Who is this?”“James Rhodes, Tony’s friend.”“Oh. Hi. Yeah.” Matt stumbled not sure what to say as the two rarely if ever spoke.“I was calling to see if you’d been in touch with Tones. I’ve called both of his mobiles at least a hundred times, even tried the landline. My ma’s called him on her mobile and our landline quite a few times too, she’s freaking out. I’ve left a shit ton of texts, I’ve actually run out of them now, same as calls, which is why I’m using the landline.” Rhodey paused to take an audible breath cutting through his rambling before continuing, “I’m sorry about your parents. We saw it on the news just now and whilst they didn’t say anything about Tony being involved in the accident, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t and now he’s not responding to us and we’re all freaking out, is he okay?” Before he could continue with his rambling, Phil took hold of the phone (despite driving as he’s a bad boy) as he had heard the majority of it,“Hello Mr Rhodes, my name is Phil, I’m currently taking Matthew home, I’m a friend of his, you see. Tony is currently at home, he was not involved in the accident, please don’t fret, he’s perfectly fine. If you would like I can give you a call back on my phone once I see Tony so you can have more clarification that he is alright?” There was a silence on the other end,
“That would…that would be great. Thank you, sir. My ma and I would appreciate it so much.”
“Not to worry, Mr Rhodes. I highly recommend that you make yourself and your mother some chamomile tea to help calm your both down and I’ll be in touch within the next few hours.”“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.” The man on the other end said, his voice barely a whisper as relief flitted through it. The call ended and Phil handed the phone back to Matt, who was staring at him with grateful, albeit worried eyes. That alone caused Phil to speed up, though he made sure that Matthew was alright with it given that his parents and just died in a car accident. Matthew’s response was merely for him to go faster.
“Tony!” He shouted once again as he answered the phone,
“I’m sorry, darling, it’s me, Aunt Peggy. I’ve just seen the news and…I am so sorry my dear boy. I’ve booked a flight and should be with you both in the next few days. I know you might not want me-“
“No!” Matthew quickly interrupted, “No, please, we will need you.” He could picture the sad smile on the British woman’s face,“I’ll be there soon. I love you and give Tony my love as well.” The call ended briefly, but there wasn’t much to say. His parents were dead. At least his aunt would be there to pick up the pieces.
Phil broke countless speed limits, but by the time he was driving up the driveway of Stark Manor, the sun was rising and they’d made it there in just under four hours. Surprisingly, Matthew turned to Phil, though it was obvious that the twenty-two-year-old wanted to run inside,“Do you need a place to stay?” He asked quickly, eyes darting to the front door,“No, it’s fine. You go be with your brother. Fury wants me to check out some twenty-year-old archer circus guy. If you need anything -and I mean anything, please give me a call.” The two shared a brief hug and Coulson watched as Matthew ran inside as fast as he could, almost tripping up the stairs. He waited ten minutes to see if his friend would come back outside in case something was wrong and when he didn’t he called the Rhodes, telling them the two brothers would be alright before he headed off to scout out the area that held one Clinton Francis Barton.
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A few hours earlier.Tony waited for a good twenty minutes after his parents left before he put some music on, hooking it up to the loudspeakers that echoed all throughout the quiet Stark Manor. He stripped his jeans off and in only his socks, boxers and t-shirt he grabbed a beer bottle and began to dance like a lunatic around his house, using the hastily emptying bottle as a microphone. He had a laugh. He enjoyed the emptiness of the house and used it to the fullest. At one point he crashed onto the couch after gathering all the empty bottles and placing them on the coffee table. With a box of pizza and another full bottle of beer, Tony turned the TV on and faintly listened to the news as he searched through the TV guide magazine.
“…Behind me lies a tragedy. Tonight the country and the world has lost a legendary man and a wonderful, charitable woman. Roughly half an hour to an hour ago a car accident stole the lives of Howard and Maria Stark…”
Tony froze. Eyes glued to the screen unseeingly. The bottle in his hand cluttered to the ground spilling beer everywhere. He stood up not knowing what to do or how to react. Then his eyes caught the picture of his dad. He lost it. He picked up the empty bottles and one by one, he threw them at the wall. Shards of glass scattered everywhere, some pieces cutting into him, but he didn’t care as he kicked, punched, upturned and threw pieces of furniture about. He tugged at his hair. Screaming. Shouting. Crying. The one thing he didn’t touch? His mother’s grand piano.
Stumbling outside into the garden, he fell to his knees and leaned backwards as exhaustion settled in. A bottle of his dad’s whisky opened and sitting loosely in his hand as he threw his head back and swallowed harshly whilst staring at the sky, careless of the liquor spilling down his cheeks.
“You bastard!” He screamed to the sky, “You killed her! You killed her! You stupid, selfish, bastard. You took her from us. You killed her with your fucking drunk driving! I hate you. I hate you so fucking much.”With no one around for miles, Tony let all of his anger towards his father out, curses upon curses were hurled into the cold and silent night as the starless sky stared down on him. He went to have another swig of the burning liquor but nothing came out. Peering drunkenly into the bottle, the seventeen-year-old poured it upside down and watched as a single drop fell out and onto the grass. Rage welled up inside of him and he staggered to his feet and with surprisingly good aim, he chucked the empty bottle. It crashed through the glass door, shattering both itself and the door. Swaying, he made his way through the door, stepping heavily over the wooden frame that remained intact.Exhaustion smacked him in the face and he felt himself falling on all fours onto the bed of glass. He stared in drunken amazement as crimson began to stain the floor before whatever strength he had left vanished and he fell completely into the sharp and transparent material, luckily nothing was badly cut (his face and neck narrowly avoiding the shards). He stared at the piano that sat innocently to the left of him, undamaged and untouched, tears silently streamed down his cheeks and he closed his chocolate eyes for a mere second and somehow passed out.
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The blond ran into Stark Manor, screaming his brother’s name barely a second after he had opened the door. As he walked in he spied broken objects and upturned furniture. He got closer to the living room and saw the door to the garden was…broken. Looking down he saw his brother, bleeding, unconscious and crying.
“Merda!” (shit) He cursed in Italian, “Come on, Tony. Wakey-wakey.” He murmured earning a groan from his brother, who slowly opened his glassy eyes and allowed Matthew to help him up. The older brother wandered over to the kitchen that was still intact, gently pushing his brother in front of him and into a chair as he reached into a cupboard and got out the first aid kit. They were quiet save for the hisses of pain Tony released as his cuts were being cleaned.
“Matty…are they really…gone?” His brother asked quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper as it broke through the silence when Matthew placed the final band-aid on his brother. Blue eyes met chocolate ones and he nodded solemnly,“È vero, piccolo.” (it’s true, little one) It broke Matt’s heart to say those words, it was the first time he had said those words and he watched as tears silently slipped down his brother’s cheeks, he clenched his eyes at the sound of Tony’s choked sobs. Gently Matthew pulled his brother from the chair and the two slowly fell to the ground as the blond wrapped his arms around Tony, pushing his face into his brother’s brown locks as tears slipped down his own face, he felt his shirt get wet as Tony’s tears seeped through it. Eventually, his younger brother fell asleep and with a grunt he lifted the light seventeen-year-old up and took him to his bedroom.
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He groaned heavily as he woke up. HIs head was pounding and slowly he sat up. Blinking rapidly as brown eyes looked around. He was in his bedroom. Rubbing at his temples, Tony twisted in his bed so his feet and legs were hanging over the side. Getting up slowly, he made his way downstairs towards the faint sound of the piano singing softly through the quiet house. Tony’s eyes widened as he saw the state of the living room, clearly forgetting most of what had happened the previous day. Though it all came rushing back within seconds.
“Matty?” The blond patted the spot next to him on the piano bench, before continuing to play their mothers (and theirs) favourite song, ‘Try to Remember’. Doing as he was told. Tony began to hum the lyrics as his brother played,“Try to remember the kind of September, when grass was green and grain so yellow.” He sang quietly with his head leaning against his brother’s shoulder. “Cosa facciamo adesso, fratello?” (what do we do now, brother?) Tony asked and Matthew paused,“I couldn’t sleep so I prepared the funeral, did some calls and sorted everything out.” He answered stiffly, “Funeral is on the twentieth. So three days.”
“I’m sorry.” That got Matthew to turn to his brother, who was staring down at his bandaged hands in his lap,“Whatever for?” He asked confused and Tony waved one of his hands out gesturing to the room behind them,“For this. For the mess. For…for breaking out like…like an animal.”“Piccolo, I don’t blame you. Hell, you found out about…about them on the news. You had no one around to comfort you. If I wasn’t told and comforted, I’d have done the exact same thing.” Matt paused and pressed down on three piano keys, “Had I been here, I’d have broken the piano. You at least didn’t.”“I couldn’t bring myself to. I wanted to though.” He admitted and Matt wrapped his arm tightly around his brother. They sat in silence, lost in thought as tears trickled down their cheeks once more, “Ho paura".” (I’m scared) He whispered as if it were a terrible secret,“Anche io, Piccolo. Anche io.” (Me too, little one. Me too).
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It was 1995. Matthew had taken over Stark Industries for the past four years until his brother turned twenty-one. It was difficult to do anything for SHIELD in the meantime, but he still went over and assisted them if they needed some help as long as it wasn’t field work. But now as his brother celebrated his twenty-first, Matthew handed him the metaphorical keys (and the literal ones, in a way) to the company. Wishing him luck. He wanted to tell his brother to keep an eye on his ‘new’ business partner, Obadiah Stane, but he knew Tony wouldn’t listen because he saw the man as a father figure almost. So doing the next best thing, Matthew decided to keep an eye on the bald man. But with SHIELD sending him out on missions with Clint Barton, the most recent ‘stray’ that Phil brought in a few years ago, who was also Matthew’s partner (Phil was their handler), it became difficult to make time for Tony and to do so without the archer being suspicious.
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In 2005, Clint was the one who brought in a stray. He had been sent on a solo mission and was tasked with assassinating a young Russian assassin who had started to appear on SHIELD’s radar as a threat to global security. He didn’t follow through as he saw she had potential to become a good person. His argument was that if he could change and be given a second chance, then why couldn’t she? Matthew backed him up, surprisingly and eventually Coulson relented and spoke to Fury in private, where he finally agreed. She was the Black Widow. Slowly, she began to trust Clint and Matthew (well not completely but no one completely trusts another) and they became a small team. They were partners that would be sent on missions together and within SHIELD they became quite a famous trio with their skills. Sadly, with Natasha now involved, it made things far too complicated and difficult for Matt to sneak off and see his brother as much as he wanted to, though Tony was often too busy making stuff and being forced going to meetings.
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“What’s going on?” Matthew asked as everyone was rushing about and Coulson was leading him away to Fury’s office. It was currently 2008 and he’d called his brother last week to wish him a happy thirty-fourth birthday.“Matthew.” The man began to panic, this was far too reminiscent to when his parents died, so it could only mean one thing, “Terrorists have captured your brother.” He fell limp like his strings had been cut as he fell into the chair beside him, “We’re sending some people out to help look for him and I believe Colonel Rhodes is doing all he can too. I’m sorry.” Fury murmured and Matthew cried silently.
“Phil’s going to take you to Tony’s Malibu home and we’re giving you as much time as you need off…that’s if you want to, of course.”“Please.” He choked out with a nod,“Agents Barton and Romanov will be under the assumption that I’ve sent you undercover.” He added.
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“Oh, darling.” He heard her before he saw her, turning on his heel he spied his aunt standing there with a suitcase, she opened her arms and he gently ran into them, “My sweet boy.” She murmured and he could feel tears slipping from her cheeks, “He’ll come back to us. I promise you, he will be alright. He always is.” The eighty-seven-year-old woman whispered and gently lead him to the couch where she continued to hug and comfort the crying man.
The days that passed turned into weeks and soon three months had passed without a single whisper of Tony. JARVIS was equally as distressed as Peggy and Matthew, both of whom had been staying at the Malibu home. Even the bots, Dum-E especially, were freaking out. When finally, finally he appeared.
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Rhodey led Tony out of the plane where Pepper stood with an arm looped through Peggy’s. For the first time in months, Tony smiled once again like he had when his best friend had found him. He all but collapsed into his aunt's arms and then they entered the car.“Has…he been in touch?” Tony asked quietly as they drove to the conference the billionaire had wanted, both women nodded,“We’ve been staying at your home.” Peggy answered clutching onto his hand as though he’d vanish if she let go, “JARVIS and the bots have been worried. That AI of yours has been constantly estimating your return.” She murmured bringing a smile to Tony’s face,“They missed their daddy.” Tony stated, “What was his estimation?”“0.25%,” Peggy whispered and Tony squeezed her hand as Pepper looked on at them with a gentle smile.
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He watched from the corner of the room as his brother sat down and man, if Tony wanted to, he could rule the world. He spied Coulson talking to Pepper briefly before he returned to watching his brother as Phil made his way back over. The two watched together as Tony talked to the reporters whilst eating his burger.“…that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be…” Matthew smiled. He couldn’t be more proud of his brother. Before he could be seen he vanished, telling Phil that he’d be going to wait for his brother at home.
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“Piccolo.” Tony turned at the voice and saw his brother leaning against the wall,“That’s not creepy.” The genius joked almost forcefully before rushing into the open arms. That’s when Matthew felt it. Pushing his brother to arm's length, he stared down at his chest, noticing how tense his brother got.“What is that?” When he got no response he stared into those golden eyes full to the brim of emotions. He was scared and worried (both of them were). “Tony, what is on your chest?”The man began to tremble slightly as eyes watered,
“Matty…let’s take a seat.” Tony murmured as he gently nudged his brother towards the couch, “I think…I think I should maybe tell you…what…umm…what happened over there.” Taking a few deep breaths and clutching his brother's hand like it was his lifeline, Tony told the almost forty-year-old everything that had happened, everything he hadn’t planned to share with anybody. He just let it all out. He snuck a look at his silent brother. “Matty?” He asked when he saw the rage in his normally calm eyes, the older man exhaled loudly,“Those…those…quei bastardi! Mostri!” (those bastards! Monsters) Matthew spat in anger, tears of frustration welled in his eyes as the man paced,“Matty.”“Li darò alla caccia. Ognuno di loro. Li ucciderò. Uno per uno.” (I am going to hunt them all down. Every single one of them. I’ll kill them. One by one.) The blond continued to rant angrily in Italian,“Cazzo di inferno.” (fucking hell) Tony muttered to himself when it became apparent that his brother wouldn’t snap out of his rage, “When you’re done threatening already dead people, come find me.” He yelled before walking off and heading to his workshop. There was something he needed to make…or remake…technically…it was another arc reactor.
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“Don’t ever, ever ask me to do that ever again!” Pepper exclaimed as she cleaned her hands and Tony set the new arc reactor in place,“I…I don’t have anyone but you.” They stared at each other,“You have your brother and your aunt. Tony, you’re not as alone as you think you are.” She murmured and he just shrugged,“They’re barely around though. Unlike you.” Which was true, they’d both returned to their normal lives after seeing that Tony was alive and well (though he could let Peggy off as she was old and frail),“It’s my job to be around.” That stung.
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“Hey Rhodey, I’m working on something and I want you to be a part of it,” Tony said with a small smile when the two were alone, his friend grinned,“You’re going to make a lot of people happy.” Tony’s smile slowly faded as his friend thought he was lying about shutting down the weapons department and after explaining to the now unhappy man that it wasn’t something for the military, Tony’s smile all but vanished at Rhodey’s next words,
“What you need, is time.” He tried to force a laugh, but the look in his friend's eyes told him otherwise. Rhodey was being serious and if that wasn’t a stab to his artificial heart, Tony didn’t know what was. “Look, maybe you should spend some time with your brother, he’ll help you out.”“Funny you should say that.” Tony started with a frown, “My brother was proud of me for shutting down the weapons manufacturing.” Rhodey sighed and the two went their separate ways.
Time for a new project. He was going to rebuild and improve the Mark 1.“JARVIS, open a new file, call it ‘Mark 2’.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Did he talk to you about how he escaped?” Fury asked Matthew once the man returned to SHIELD,“No, sir. But he did tell me plenty of other things.” The blond shivered as he recalled the horrors his brother faced, whilst Fury grunted in annoyance,“Alright. Good thing Agent Coulson has secured an interview with them. Your brother appears to have a crush on Miss Potts.” Matt grinned, he knew that,“Happy Hogan and I both have bets on when the two will get together.” The corner of the bald man's lip twitched in amusement,“Wouldn’t hold onto that bet of yours, the two of them are awkward as hell, it’s like a crappy teenage love story.”“Damn right it is.” Matt murmured in agreement“Anyway, Agents Barton and Romanov have been inquiring about you, so best go give them a cover story of where you’ve been for the past few months.”“Will do, Director.”
He wandered down the colourless corridors and knocked on Natasha’s door before opening it. Unsurprisingly, the moment he stepped in a knife flew past him and landed in the dartboard next to the door. It hit the bullseye. A millisecond later, Clint was dropping down in front of him from the vent (he totally did not have a nest up there, nope not at all).“Hey, guys.” He said not at all fazed by their actions,“Dude, you’ve been gone forever!” Clint exclaimed as he smacked Matthew’s back and pushed him over to sit on the bed beside Natasha whilst he pulled up a beanbag (that the childish man had dubbed as his and threatened to shoot anyone who touched it in the arse),
“Been busy. Fury sent me on a mission.”“Where? What was it about? Why weren’t we back up?” Clint pressed,“It’s classified,” Matthew answered with a smirk causing Clint to groan in annoyance as it was the phrase Matt used all the time. The blond braced himself as Clint tackled him.“Boys! That is enough!” Came Natasha’s voice as they roughhoused on the floor, “I swear you’re ten-year-olds trapped in forty-year-old bodies.” At the comment of their ages they stopped and jokingly began to cry into each other's shoulders (totally not helping their point),“Don’t remind us!” Clint cried,
“What are you complaining for? You’ve got three years till you’re forty! I’ve got less than a year!” Ranted Matthew as he collapsed onto the bed sulking,“Sad times.” Nat murmured looking down at her nails uncaringly,“Shut it! You’ll be crying when you turn thirty!” Clint exclaimed,“Yes. In six years. When you will both be old, old forty-year-olds.” She made a show of bringing her hands up to her mouth in mock-horror, “Oh dear, Matthew you’ll be forty-five.” Said man had pulled himself into a sitting position and at that sentence, he collapsed once again. Minutes of silence passed in the room before the two men began to laugh their heads off, Natasha shared a quiet chuckle -she couldn’t let anyone in SHIELD think she was anything but a ‘terrifying-murderer-who-got-the-job-done’ after all.
——LINE BREAK——
“Director, we’ve got a problem. Stane seems to have been in charge of Mr Stark’s capture.” Coulson said through the phone and Fury called Matthew in immediately seconds after he saw that JARVIS seemed to have gone down in Tony’s Malibu home (they had fancy tech that allowed them to keep an eye on the man’s wellbeing),“I need you to go check on your brother. Stane seems to have gone… bad for lack of better words.”“Wait, check the security cameras he has.”“JARVIS is down.” Fury stated,“No. The ones you had me install.”“Surely the AI removed them.”“Nope. JARVIS cares about Tony as much as we do and once I explained to him he more or less said that Tony’s safety is his priority and if the cameras were merely extra backup in case something happened and J couldn’t help then they could be put in.” Matthew explained as he messed around on Fury’s computer.
“Agent Carbonell, I’m going to need you to stay here.” He stated to the blond after they watched the security feed of Stane ripping the only thing keeping Tony alive out.“Stay. I cannot trust you if you are emotionally involved. You’d be too compromised.” Despite wanting to rip Stane’s head off, Matthew nodded and allowed Fury to lock him in the room (the older man knew if he didn’t lock his office door, the younger agent would go against orders and rescue his brother…or kill Stane…or both). Once Fury was gone, he hastily set to calling Rhodey and Pepper, but neither picked up as their phones were busy. He set to pacing as he repeatedly called them until one would pick up.
——LINE BREAK——
He sat there paralysed as the man he looked to as almost a father ripped his metal heart out. Obie -Stane sat beside him gloating and exclaiming as he praised Tony maliciously.“Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she lived. Though it brings me joy that I have an excuse to kill your brother now. He has never trusted me and has been more of a pain in my ass than you. Can’t keep him alive, he’d come after me and well, it’ll give me some pleasure knowing I killed not only you but also your brother.” He murmured as he stood up and ran his hand uncomfortably soothingly through Tony’s hair before gripping and pulling on it painfully, “Oh, Tony.” He murmured almost lovingly before leaving Tony, who had gotten some mixed love-hate vibes, to die.Only the threats against Pepper and his brother allowed his body to fight against the paralysis. He threw himself into his lab, energy draining as shrapnel inched closer to his heart with each passing second.“Good boy.” He whispered as one of his children bots handed him his old arc reactor. Rhodey arrived moments later.
——LINE BREAK——
Matthew sat in Fury’s chair watching with clenched fists as Stane taunted his brother and pulled his arc reactor out. Rage burned in his piercing blue eyes. “Oh god. Oh god. Tony. Come on, kiddo. Come on, piccolo. Get up.” He murmured and all but screamed in joy when the man got his old arc reactor back in and Rhodes arrived.
Minutes later Fury came back into the room with a sigh,“He’s alright. Stane has however built a suit. Coulson is on it and we have people checking on your brother.”“He’s fine. Dum-E helped him.”
“Go get some rest.”“No. I can’t. I need to see him.”“No. What you need is rest. Go grab an hour or so of sleep and I’ll come get you when the situation is fully under control.”“Fury. I’m fine. I just need to see Tony. Hell, I just watched him almost die!” “I understand Matthew.” The man said and something pricked his neck, he spied a gun in Fury’s hand,
“Wha…” Was all he could mutter before he fell unconscious, Fury caught him before he could hit the ground as the tranquilliser took effect.“Sorry, kid, but you’re too compromised when it comes to Tony.”
——LINE BREAK——
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you, Piccolo!” Matthew whispered as he hugged his brother as the group waited for Rhodey to introduce Tony so the man could give a speech about the ‘Iron Man’.“You don’t need to apologise.” Tony murmured, “What could you have done? You’re usually in Italy.”“Yeah.” He sighed, “But still, I’ve got to look out for my little brother.” They smiled at one another,
“Are you staying for the conference?”“Certainly. I’ll be at the back of the room in the corner with Phil.”“Okay.” The tension in Tony’s shoulders seemed to vanish at the confirmation before he turned to Phil, “Thank you for everything, Agent.” Tony winked as he said the nickname and Coulson just chuckled.
As Tony spoke his eyes tended to drift over to where his brother was staring with warm blue eyes, he glanced down at the cards as the annoying Christine Everhart continued to irritate and distract him with her questions.
“…or insinuate that I’m a superhero.” He rambled,“I never said you were a superhero.”“Didn’t? Well…good, because that would be outlandish…” He paused, “and fantastic.” He murmured more to himself as he caught his brothers eye and cleared his throat,“I’m just not the hero type. Clearly. What with this laundry list of character deflects,” Matthew shook his head at his brother's self-deprecating words, “all the mistakes I’ve made…largely public.”
“Just stick to the cards.” Rhodey murmured,“The truth is…” Tony looked down at the cards before his gaze flickered back up, the corner of his lip twitched into a smirk as he said the next four words, “I am Iron Man.”
——LINE BREAK——
“I wish he’d stop having such a low self-esteem.” Matthew murmured,“Hmm.” Coulson hummed in agreement, “He has always been like that. Don’t take this the wrong way but I reckon it was mostly your father's fault.” “I agree.” The blond muttered with a sigh as they continued to listen hopefully as Rhodey presumedly told the youngest Stark to stick to the cards.“I am Iron Man.”
“I don’t know what I expected.” Coulson murmured loudly over the wild reporters after Tony’s confession, “Nor why I bothered wasting sleep to create a cover story.” Phil sighed heavily and smacked the taller man on the arm when he caught Matthew failing at hiding a grin,“I mean, we are Stark’s. I was trained out of the flaunting behaviour.” He then gestured with his eyes to his brother, “He, on the other hand, wasn’t.”
“Director Fury’s going to be pissed.”“Yeah.” Matthew agreed as the two left unnoticed, “But, our uncle will be damn proud and amused.”“That he will be.” Phil admitted with a nod before mumbling, “I swear that man has a nicer twin or something because those two personas are extremely different.” Matthew couldn’t help the roar of laughter that escaped his throat.
——LINE BREAK——
“Anthony Edward Stark!” His Aunt Peggy shouted down the phone, “What on earth did I just see on the news?” “Okay. Peggy. Lovely, beautiful, badass, Aunt Peggy, please remember that I am your favourite and you cannot kill me!” Tony sung down the phone with terror in his eyes as he drove home, she sighed heavily,
“You know I love you, my darling, but I’m just worried. It’s all far too much in far too little time. You were kidnapped and tortured for three months, now that -that bastard Stane tried and very well almost succeeded in killing you and now…now you’re risking your life as a superhero? Darling, you could…you could…”
“I know, Aunt Peggy…but…I guess I don’t have a real reason.” He whispered, “I just want to do…something good. To fix my wrongdoings. To prove that…that I can…that I can help people the right way.”“My darling, never doubt that you aren’t a good person. You are. You have such a pure soul. You didn’t know and it’s not your fault.” He knew better than to argue with the woman even if he knew it was his fault. “Just…just keep safe my darling. Stay in touch. How’s your brother?” “I will. And he’s alright, we talked before the conference, he felt really bad about not being able to do anything, but that’s silly because the moron wouldn’t be able to do anything, he’s not a spy!” Tony chuckled and if he noticed that Peggy’s laughter was slightly forced.
——LINE BREAK——
“‘I am Iron Man.’” Tony frowned, he knew that voice and walked closer as the figure turned around, “You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Mr Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.”“Cut the dramatics and formalities, Uncle,” Tony said as the man finished talking and the lights flickered back on as JARVIS rebooted the systems, the pair took a seat,
“You should’ve stuck to the cards, Tony.”“You know me. Eccentric. Unpredictable. Etc. Etc.” He waved his hand as he listed words,“On one hand I’m disappointed and pissed off. On the other…I am somewhat proud. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished this year, it hasn’t been easy for you.”“Amen to that,” Tony muttered as he slumped down in the couch before suddenly finding he couldn’t sit in the spot that he’d almost died on by his father figure. So he stood up, “Was that all, Nick? Or are you here to recruit me for your little agency?”“I’m actually here to talk about the Avenger Initiative.” The bald man spoke for quite a while after Tony moved from the couch and onto one of the armchairs. Soon he was done and the two were standing up, Tony led his uncle to the door,“You heard from Matthew? He was there at the conference but he left soon after.”“I think he has a gig in Italy.” Fury murmured and it wasn’t a lie. It just depended on how you defined ‘gig’, Tony defined it as Matthew doing a piano performance, whereas Fury really meant Agent Carbonell was on a mission assignment in Italy.“Oh. I…is it bad that I wished he had stayed a bit? It’s just…”“It’s alright, Tony,” Nick said silently wishing he hadn’t sent the agent off so quickly,“Before you go…do you…do you…” Tony coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the ground, “Do you know anyone who wants a $5000 couch for free?” Fury glanced behind the man at the couch and dawning hit him,“I see.” He murmured to himself, “I do know someone.” He nodded and before he left, he gave Tony a hug.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He was dying. Tony that is. The very thing keeping him alive…was killing him. If that wasn’t irony…then Tony didn’t know what was. He and JARVIS were searching for a cure but…they were unsuccessful. The AI kept informing him that he should tell someone (read as Pepper and Matthew), but Tony just muted him.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” His brother asked staring at him through the computer as they were (as normal people who didn’t have the technology Tony did,
called it...) ‘face-timing’,“Nothing is ‘going on’,” Tony growled in frustration,
“Sure. Sure. I believe you. Do you want to know why I am calling you, Tony?”
“Well, I’d like to think you called me because you’re a good brother and care for me, but go ahead, tell me,” Tony answered sarcastically and clearly unamused,“Pepper called me. She said someone needed to talk some sense into you. It confused me at first because no one can talk sense into you, but if anyone could it would be Pepper. But then I saw that you had made her the CEO of SI. Apparently, you’ve been doing some crazy things at the minute, Tony. So please, don’t lie to me and say nothing is going on.” Matthew ranted,“It’s called spring cleaning.” Tony shrugged, “I’ve been sending things to charity and doing a bunch of good things, so why are you complaining?”“I’m not complaining!” Before he could continue, Tony spoke some more“By the way, do you want any of my properties? I’m planning on selling them, probably going to convert one or two of them into orphanages or something.”
“Fucks sake, Tony, I just want to know what the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re not the first to wonder that.”
“Tony, take this seriously!”
“I am.”
“No, you’re fucking not! Honestly, have you been drinking again?”
“Fuck you.” Tony hissed, blatant anger burning in his emotive brown eyes. There was a long silence as the two stared at one another, daring the other to break away from the stare-off first. Unsurprisingly, it was Matthew who broke away first. He’d never been able to stare into his brother’s eyes when he was very emotional as they conveyed so much of it.
The blond coughed and spoke up with a smile,“So guess what! I think I’ve grown again.” It got the response he wanted as he listened to his brother stifle a snort,“As if! The only height changes you’d get in your old age is shrinking!” He retorted,
“Hey just because you’re midget doesn’t mean you get to hate on us fabulous tall people.
“I am not a midget, I am compact! God only lets things grow until they’re perfect, it didn’t take long for me to be perfect unlike you.”
“Sure. Sure. I’d accept that excuse if you were religious.”
“Well, it’s your fault I’m shor -compact! So technically I can hate you as much as I want because you stole the tall genes I was supposed to get leaving me with nothing!” Like before another silence fell on them, but unlike before it lasted only seconds before the two were laughing like madmen.
——LINE BREAK——
“You find out what’s wrong with him?” Fury asked as Matthew took a seat beside Phil in the Director’s office,“No, sir.” He answered with a heavy sigh,“Time for Plan B. We send Agent Romanov in as the notary, knowing your brother, he’ll end up wanting her as his PA or something.”“No. No. Absolutely not!”“Do you have a better plan, Agent Carbonell?”“Send me in.”“Like two years ago, you’re too emotionally invested.”
“Besides, he’d be a bit suspicious.” Coulson murmured agreeing with Fury and causing Matthew to sigh again and rub at his temples.“Okay. I get your points. But if something is really wrong, I need to know.”“Certainly.” Fury murmured as he made to call Natasha in, “You do realise you won’t be able to meet with Tony during Natasha’s cover. Phone calls must be limited and absolutely no appearances.” Matthew clenched his hands angrily but nodded,“I understand, sir.” He muttered before standing and leaving.
——LINE BREAK——
For once Clint and Matthew got to have some guy time as neither of them had any missions or assignments and Natasha was away on one. So they sat down on the beige sofa (that to Matthew was very familiar but he couldn’t quite work out why) and turned the TV on. The archer wanted to watch the Grand Prix World Racing Event in Monaco, so with some beers and food, they settled down to watch it. Unprofessional? Most likely. Did they care? Most definitely not. The TV screen showed Tony walking out onto the track talking to the reporter,“What’s the point of owning a race car, if you don’t drive it?” Came the billionaire’s voice through the speakers,“No way.” Clint gasped, “Is he actually going to?”“Fucking hell.” Is all Matthew could say as his grip tightened on the pillow he was holding, they watched as he spun around the track.
“What’s going on?” Clint said as the cameras zoned in on someone entering the track and standing in it,“That’s…I…shit!” He exclaimed as the madman sent a car flying, the man sliced down on the front of Tony’s car and Matthew forgot how to breathe.“What’s he doing? He seriously thought it would be smart to attack the maniac without his Iron Man suit!” Clint shouted before turning to Matthew, who looked like he was going to throw up, “Matt are you okay?”“Need Coulson.” He gasped out and ran out the door, down the corridors, pushing people away as Clint tried to catch up. The archer caught up just to witness Coulson slamming the Director's door in his face, though Phil did send a warning message with his eyes in the brief second they met that Clint had yet to decipher.
——LINE BREAK——
“Matthew. You need to breathe.” Phil murmured as he crouched down in front of the panting man,“What’s wrong with me?” He said in between pants,“It appears that you’re experiencing a panic attack.”“Tony.” He blurted out once the pain in his chest faded, “Tony, is he…is he alright?”“Yes. Agent Romanov has informed us that the man who attacked has been put in jail and that Tony has no critical wounds. Just a slight concussion and some cuts and bruises.” Fury answered,
“Good. Good. If you don’t mind me, I’m just going to go and kill my moronic little brother.”“Hold it.” Nick called holding his hand up, “You ain’t doing jack shit. If you go in there all guns a-blazing, you’ll be blowing Romanov’s cover.”“You think I give a shit! My brother almost died… again!” He shouted and Fury sighed, “Fine. I’ll tell Agent Romanov that I need her to explain the situation in person, that’ll give you an hour to be with him.”
“Thank you,” Matthew said it almost breathlessly before he rushed out.
——LINE BREAK——
“I tried.” Is all Matthew heard as Rhodey walked past him and Pepper, “Maybe -hopefully, you can knock some god damned sense into him.” The last part was directed at the blond, who nodded silently as he made his way down to his brother's workshop. Taking a seat next to Tony, Matthew sighed heavily, rubbing at his worried eyes,“Tony…come on. Tell me what’s wrong, please.”
“Nothings wrong. I’m just…experimenting. Checking off my Bucket List.” Tony began to count on his fingers, “Annoy everyone. Check. Get the senator to swear at me on live TV. Check. Give someone else the joys of running SI. Check. Drive my racing car. Check.”“Give your brother a panic attack. Check.” Matthew added with a slightly malicious bite in his tone, he noticed his brother flinch slightly,“…it’s my thirty-sixth birthday…” The dying man murmured confusing his brother at the sudden topic change, “I…I was going to have this big party surrounded by strangers and…I was thinking about cancelling…would you stay? If I cancelled, we could just have a nice…a nice and healthy birthday dinner.” Before Matthew could respond, he got a message. It was from Fury telling him Natasha was on her way back.“I…I would, Tony. I really would. But I have some things to do. I can’t just cancel on them like you.” He didn’t mean it in a harsh way, but once again Tony flinched at the ‘like you’ part as some of Matt's annoyance about having to go slipped into his voice,“I see. Okay. Bye. You know where the door is.” Was all the youngest Stark said and with a sigh (gosh Matthew was sighing a lot) the blond nodded and stood up to leave.
——LINE BREAK——
“I should said fuck you to Fury and just stayed with Tony, then then maybe he wouldn’t have lost his fucking mind.” Matthew ranted under his breath as he paced back and forth in front of Coulson who merely stared at him, “Stupida fottuta testa di cazzo!” (stupid fucking dickhead)“Well, at least it appears that Natasha has worked out what’s going on with your brother and they’re both trying to help him.” Coulson was not supposed to say that and as Matthew’s pacing paused and his head whipped round to stare at the sitting man, Phil found himself regretting everything,“What did you just say?” “Just…let’s just calm down, do some breathing exercises and if you wait till the Director returns, he can tell you.”
“Then he best hurry up!”
——LINE BREAK——
“You were dying!” Matthew’s voice echoed through the Malibu Mansion, he no longer had to worry because Natasha’s mission had finished and Ivan was dead.“Yes. Yes, I was.” Tony responded with as he continued to mess with one of his Iron Man suits,“For fuck sake, Tony, actually try and give a damn!”“You think I don’t give a damn? I was the one that was dying!”“Were you ever going to tell us? Or were you just going to wait and let one of us trip over your fucking corpse?”“What was the point of telling anyone? Huh? I looked for a cure, I couldn’t find one. Telling anyone would’ve just led to tears, constant -constant mothering and stupid reassurances that everything would be fine! Who would want to put up with that bullshit as they’re dying? Huh, who?” Brown eyes watched as his pacing brother began to pull at his blond locks, “I didn’t want that, Matty. I thought if I gave my things away, made Pepper CEO and all that good stuff. I thought if I went out with everything thinking I was a terrible person, if everyone hated me, then things would be easier.” He rambled,“You selfish bastard.”“Our parents were married.” Tony commented, “Matt. I had made my peace with death. By that point, J and I couldn’t find anything. I was ready to go. ‘Not with a bang, but with a whimper’.”“Don’t you dare start quoting poetry with me.” Matthew growled before silence fell and the pacing intensified.
Several long minutes past before the tall man came to a sudden pause in his pacing. Tony could practically see the light bulb appearing above Matthew’s head.“You’re done.”“What?” Tony furrowed his brows in confusion,“With Iron Man. That’s it. You’ve had your fun. Lock the suits up and throw away the key because you’re done.” For the first time during their argument, Tony stood up.“Excuse me?”“I said you’re done. No more Iron Man. Give the suits to the government or something, I don’t care but you are not doing this shit anymore.”“You’re joking right? Because ha ha, abso-fucking-lutely hilarious.”“I am sick and tired of hearing that you’ve been dying or something. So yes. You are done. We’re going to go talk to Pepper and get the correct paperwork to give you the CEO title back, then you’re going back to work as per usual. I’ll stick around to-““To babysit. That’s what you mean right?” Tony interrupted, anger blazing in golden eyes, “If this is about my ‘safety’” Tony did bunny fingers at the last word, “then that is the biggest piece of BS that I’ve ever heard. I got kidnapped because someone in the company wanted me dead. As a result of that, the company’s not as safe as you may believe.”“Tony.”“So basically, it’s going from a good albeit dangerous thing, to a boring and dangerous one.”“Shut the fuck up Tony!” And he did, in fact, the loud voice of his angry brother made him flinch away slightly. “Just shut up.” Matt’s voice was quieter now, “You are done. I will not allow you to play superhero anymore because that’s what you’ve been doing. You’ve been playing dress up.” That was the wrong thing to say. Tony’s eyes welled up with tears and he stepped away, clenching his fists.“Out.” His voice was almost a hoarse whisper, but with the next words, he was screaming, “Get out! Go on! I hate you! I hate you so fucking much! Don’t come back here again!” His throat ached at his screaming and his brother stared down at him. Matthew stared conflicted. He was furious with his brother but at the same time, he wanted to comfort him. All he did was turn sharply on his heel and he stormed out. Slamming the door as he went, not waiting around to watch as his brother stumbled to the floor and released an almost animalistic cry.
——LINE BREAK——
He sat on the ground for god knows how long. All he knew was that he was waiting for his brother to walk back through those doors. Matthew always came back. Why would now be different? Tony waited and waited. His eyes on the door as his right index finger traced absentmindedly over the old silver line that sat on the inside of his wrist. The scar was always hidden. Always lost beneath the strap of a watch or bracelet, hidden by the cuff of a shirt or buried beneath layers of make up. Still, that didn’t mean the dark secret wasn’t there, nor did it stop Tony from running his fingers over the scar as it had become his nervous tick.
He waited for his brother to come back, but the man never did. That day turned into a week. That week into a month. That month into two years.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Two years went by without any communication between the brothers. Though Tony would occasionally call Fury or Coulson to see if they knew how he was, whereas Matthew would ask Pepper about his brother.
It was now 2012. Matthew had met a god, the God of Thunder to be precise as he was backup down in Mexico with Barton and Coulson. The god took a liking to Matt due to him bringing Thor coffee when he was being interrogated. Then he’d met Captain America and the man was actually rather nice, but Thor forbid (see what I did there) that Steve ever met his brother. The youngest Stark had practically grown up with Captain America this and Captain America that -see Howard did spend quite a lot of time with his oldest son before Tony was born and then after as Matthew was around more, but the only time his dad ever really spoke to Tony was when he was talking about the famous Captain and well…Tony wasn’t happy as he grew out of his fanboy stage.
——LINE BREAK——
“Agent Coulson. I need you to go and hand the notes over to Tony.”“Do I tell him about his brother, Director?”“No. No, he can’t know about that.”“Sir, are you sure that’s best?”“No, I am not.” Is all Fury said.
——LINE BREAK——
“Mr Stark we need you to look this over. ASAP.”
“You know I don’t like being handed things, Agent.”“My bad.”“I love to be handed things, so let’s trade,” Pepper added taking the laptop before she passed it to Tony,“You alright, Agent? You look stressed.” Tony stated as he walked away showing some concern for“This is just really serious, Tony.” Is all the man said before walking away with Pepper leaving Tony to do his homework as Phil drove her to LaGuardia.
——LINE BREAK——
Things had settled down slightly. The not-quite-a-team-yet-but-not-killing-each-other-team were all (except for Steve) sitting around discussing the situation and trying to work out what Loki, who was sitting patiently in the cage, was planning to do with the information they got from Natasha’s interrogation.“Agent Carbonell is heading towards you, Director.” Someone said through his earpiece and Nick swore hoping no one heard but Tony was standing close enough that he heard the name“Carbonell?” Tony muttered and all heads turned his way, “Carbonell. I recognise that name. Why do I know that name? Car…bon…el.” He murmured the syllables slowly and as his eyes widened in realisation the door opened to show a tall blond man, who spotted Tony causing his own eyes to widen. “No.” He stated, “No. This. No. What?” Tony rambled in startled horror. Both of them were stopped from saying anything else as Steve came in and slammed a HYDRA gun onto the desk. Conversations were forgotten as everyone began to yell at one another,“Tony let me explain.”“No, you stupida fottuta testa di cazzo!” (stupid fucking dickhead). There was an explosion sending everyone flying. Matthew and Nat watched as Bruce hulked out and it would appear that the two brothers wouldn’t be having their conversation any time soon as they had different things to do.
The two spies found Clint and managed to snap him out of it…and by snap, they hit him over the head really hard.“Nice left hook, Nat,” Matthew commented with a whistle as he hoisted the unconscious man over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry to take him.
——LINE BREAK——
“Agent Coulson is down.” Fury said over the earpieces, Tony stood by Steve as they quietly listened in, waiting for more news, “They called it.” Had he not been in his suit, Tony would’ve fallen over.
They gathered at the table; Fury tossed some cards onto the table in front of Tony and Steve, the later picking them up as the Director continued to talk. He felt his uncle place a hand subtly on his back as Fury walked in between their chairs and Tony accepted the comfort silently. Soon it became too much and the genius stormed out with Steve hastily following after him.“Was he married?”“No. But there was a cellist. They were as serious as they could be what with him in this business.”“I’m sorry.” Steve murmured clearly realising that Tony knew the man well and cared for him, “He seemed like a good man.”“He was.” Tony stated, “He was a fucking idiot.”“Why? For believing?”“For taking on a god. By himself.”“It was his job.”“That was out of his league. He should’ve waited for someone.” They bickered back and forth before Tony looked at the spot where Coulson died, he glared at the blood on the wall,“He made it personal.” He quickly interrupted.
——LINE BREAK——
“They called it.” Fury said over the earpieces and Matthew fell back against the wall in horror. It was his best friend. Nick found him on the floor with his head buried in his hands and crouched down beside his oldest nephew. “He’s alive.”“What?”“I had to tell them. They needed the push.” He explained as though it was that simple, but Matt only continued to stare in distress,“That’s so fucked up.”“I know. But it was the only way. He’s in surgery and technically he was dead when I told everyone over the earpiece. Come on, let’s get back to work. You can see him soon.” He stood up and held a hand out for the man, who after several moments took it.
——LINE BREAK——
The two spies sat in the hospital bay talking about what had happened. Trying to lighten the mood and break the awkward silence that had fallen after the explanation, Natasha randomly started speaking again.“So Matt knows Stark, apparently.” The words she used weren’t exactly descriptive but her expression and tone caused Clint’s eyes to widen in surprise but understanding,“Wait, wait, wait! So not only is the ‘mysterious-and-secret-girlfriend’ a ‘mysterious-and-secret-boyfriend’, but it’s also Tony Stark?” He exclaimed,“Seems so.”“What the hell?”“To be honest, it makes some sense. I mean he does always act peculiarly after something Stark did.”“True. Especially the Monaco racing bit, he had a proper freakout.”“But they’re both men?” Came Steve’s voice causing the two of them to turn around to find him standing in the doorway all suited up,“There’s a lot you need to catch up on, Cap. It’s much more acceptable now than it was back in your day.”
Clint stated.
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“Stark you hear me? You have a missile headed straight for the city.” Fury said to Tony through the earpiece, he didn’t want to say it, but what choice did he have. Matthew stared at him in blatant horror,“No. Fury.” He tried to contact his brother, but to no avail, as everyone turned to the screens to watch as Iron Man took ahold of the nuke. Matthew’s phone began to vibrate and he hastily answered it,“Tony, Tones. Don’t do this. Please don’t do this, Piccolo.”“Sorry, Matty. I love-“ The call cut off as Iron Man disappeared into the wormhole and Matt dropped his phone with a gasp. He felt his uncle coming up behind him and grabbing him as his legs began to fail. Everyone around them cheered victoriously but Maria’s own grin vanished at the sight of Nick and Matt staring painfully at the screen.“Oh my god, he made it.” Matt gasped again falling to the floor in relief as his brother came through the wormhole just in time before it closed.
“He’s not slowing down.” Fury muttered more to himself as he eyed the relieved man on the floor.
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“Shall I call your brother, sir?”“Yes please, JARVIS.”“Tony, Tones. Don’t do this. Please don’t do this, Piccolo.” He heard his brother beg through the phone,“Sorry, Matty.” He whispered, “I love-“ The call cut out and all Tony could do was stare in fear at the army of aliens in the distance. He let go of the nuke, watching as it hit the ship. Once he saw that, he closed his eyes. A silent prayer of forgiveness to his brother echoed through his mind before everything went dark. He felt himself falling and falling, but then there was nothingness and he was dead. He was just…dead.
A roar. A heartbeat. A gasp. His eyes startled open. He was alive. How…wonderful and terrifying. For him that is.
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His brother was fine. His brother was alive. His brother…was going to kill him. The first time they see and talk to each other in two years and Tony discovers that Matt was an agent.
“Oh, our conversation is going to be fun.”“You did bring it on yourself. You were a hypocrite last time.”“Not helping, Phil. Not helping.” Matt said from where he sat beside the hospital bed, “You doing alright?”“I’ll be fine. Have you seen my cards by any chance?”“…Ask Fury about them. I’m sure he’ll be able to give you an answer.” More or less, Matthew just wanted to watch as his best friend ripped his uncle a new one for destroying his cards.
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A few days had passed since the Chitauri attack. The Avengers including Thor who had come back from Asgard, sat around sharing tales (Thor was entertaining them with yet another story about a victorious battle he partook in) over beers/alcohol. No one from SHIELD had really been in touch since the day Thor took Loki back home. There had been a lot of cleanup though, which was probably why there was a lack of communication. Not that the team of superheroes minded, they were exhausted and welcomed the peace with open arms. But the peace wouldn’t last much longer as Matthew walked in beside Pepper. The genius had his back to the pair and didn’t notice them.“Tony.”“Yes, dear.” He said turning at Pepper’s voice, his eyes narrowed at the sight of his brother, “Oh, it’s you.”
“Tony, we need to talk.”“Hmm, do we? I’m rather content with not talking for another -what was it, two years?” He stated sarcastically,“Look, let’s just talk.”“Let me check my calendar as you can see I’m currently busy. How does the 12th of never work for you?”“I’m being serious.”“So am I.”“Would you two just kiss and makeup already?” Complained Clint and causing the two to all but retch,“What the fuck Barton?”“Ew, gross man.”“Well, this is your ‘mysterious-and-secret-girlfriend-turned-boyfriend’, right?”“What Clint is trying to say is that isn’t Stark the person you’ve been running off to see?”“Yeah since I’ve known you, you’ve acted all peculiarly, like your whole ‘it’s classified’ answer was more just a way for you to keep the secret. Holy shit, isn’t that commitment, you’ve been seeing him for like twenty years -is he that good at sex? I mean I’ve heard rumours!”“Oh my god, stop!” Matthew and Tony exclaimed in unison,“I’m actually going to puke,” Matt added as he shivered though Tony got a twinkle in his eye,“For your information, my dear Legolas, I am an excellent sex partner. Those rumours aren’t exaggerated at all.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows causing the archer to chuckle before they returned to the situation at hand.“Look. You’ve got the wrong idea. We’re brothers.” Matthew explained pinching his nose, “And if you wouldn’t mind, I need to talk with my brother.”“Oh, you need to talk. In this situation I think I’m the only with the right to ‘talk’.” Tony did bunny ears around the last word.
The Avengers minus Tony wandered out of the living room to give the brothers some privacy…though that wasn’t too say that they didn’t eavesdrop…though, honestly, no one thought they could go anywhere in the Tower without hearing their yelling.
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“Were you ever going to tell me?” Tony asked,“No.” His brother answered with a grunt as he slumped down in his seat,“Fottuto ipocrita.” (Fucking hypocrite) Tony muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe you. Two years ago you were ranting and raving about me being in constant danger and yet there you are working for SHIELD.”
“Woah. Woah. Woah. Hold your horses, I, at least, have training. You’re a civilian.”“I made guns! I made weapons, I tested them, so don’t go insinuating that I’m helpless!”“You’re going to get yourself killed, Tony! Forgive me for not wanting to have to bury my brother alongside my parents!”“How do you think I feel?” He screamed, “I was under the happy assumption that you lived a peaceful god damned life playing piano and eating pasta in Italy. How do you think I would feel if suddenly you turned up dead and I had to learn then that you were a fucking agent?”
“We are not turning this around on me. We are going to talk about two years ago.” His brother suddenly stated,“Oh really. You want to go there.”
“The alien attack was a fine example about what I was saying. You fucking died. Again.”
“Hold that ‘again’ because all the other dances with Death have been nothing more than close calls.”“You sure about that?” Matthew growled and quick as lightning he grabbed Tony’s wrist, pulling the sleeve away to show the deep and jagged silver scar, “Because I remember quite vividly going home and finding you in a bathtub of crimson. You were dead for five minutes before the doctors saved you.” As he spoke Tony tried to tug his arm back and out of his brothers vice-like grip.“Stop it.”“Tony. You’re going to get yourself killed because you just don’t care about yourself.”“I wouldn’t be harming anyone!”“You’d be harming yourself! The reason you fucking took the nuke was because you didn’t care. You didn’t care if you died. Don’t try to convince yourself you only did it for the betterment of New York.”“Fuck you, Matthew. Fuck you.” Tony hissed as he continued to pull his brothers hand off of his wrist, “I’m not suicidal, you deficiente!” (moron)“Damn it,Tony! I’m not saying you are, I’m just saying you have no regard for your life and I’m fed up of it. You’re more important than you think you are and I don’t want you to go throwing yourself at the next villain.” Matthew exclaimed in exasperation as he released his hold on his brother. “I’m just trying to look out for you. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.” Tony just snorted,“Good job with that.”
“All I have ever done has been to protect you.”“Yes.” Tony falsely agreed, “Because leaving me all on my own was protecting me.” His tone may as well have been the definition of sarcasm. Slumping down in his seat, Matthew rubbed at his face with both hands.“Tony that was the only way. If people didn’t see us together, then any enemy of mine, wouldn’t come after you.”“I don’t give a shit! Do you know how horrible it is to be so completely alone?” Tony’s voice began to crack, “I don’t want to be alone. Why am I always…alone?”“Oh, Piccolo.” Matthew moved and wrapped his arms around his little brother, he slumped into the hug, “You’re not alone. You never were.” He whispered placing his head on top of Tony’s,“You left.”“I did.”“I said I hated you.”“You did.”“I didn’t mean it.”“I know.”“I’m sorry.”“Why are you sorry? I am the one who’s at fault. I am so sorry for everything, Piccolo.” They sat in peaceful silence before Matthew spoke again, “What happened to us, Piccolo?”“I don’t know. I really don’t.”“I swear to you, Piccolo, I will be around more.”“Good.”
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“You’re still eavesdropping?” Natasha asked Clint as she and the others returned to the living area“Yes.”“Clint.” Steve somewhat growled in disapproval,“There’s been shouting. Then screaming. More shouting. Then crying. Don’t look at me like that, think of it as me making sure they don’t kill each other!”“Considering how quiet it is in there, they might’ve.” With that said the group went back in and found the two brothers hugging and asleep. A whimper startled the group and Matthew snapped awake as he stared at his shaking and sweating brother.“Tony.” He said repeatedly not bothering to acknowledge the others as he attempted to wake the crying man, “Piccolo.” Tearful, scared eyes opened and Tony stumbled off of the sofa, Matthew crouched down next to his brother, “Piccolo, what’s wrong?” He diverted his gaze to look at the others who nodded and left. When his brother opened his mouth, Matthew hastily cut in, “And don’t give me any of that ‘I’m fine’ bullshit.”“Nightmares.” He muttered,“Really? I had no idea.” Matt responded sarcastically,“I’ve been having nightmares since Afghanistan. The wormhole is just the newest on the long list.”
“Tony.” He wanted to say more but he wasn’t about to risk them both arguing after just fixing everything. Thankfully his brother took the very words he wanted to say from his mouth.“…Matty, I need help.” It was a broken whisper and Matthew held his brother closer, which only prompted Tony to continue, “I’m too scared to close my eyes because all I can see is the aliens ship out in the distance. All I can feel is death and emptiness. The past few days all I’ve done is build and build, forgoing sleep because threat is imminent and I need to make sure my suits can go against it.”“What do you mean ‘threat is imminent’?”“I’m not crazy. I swear I’m not crazy.” Tony suddenly said at Matt’s question, his eyes wide in worry,“I never said you were.”“There’s more out there. I know it. I know that attack was just the start of it all. I don’t know when the next fight will be, but I know it will happen. I know. I swear I’m not crazy.”“I know you’re not. It’s alright, Piccolo. Ssh.” He whispered as Tony began to sob quietly, “It’ll all be alright. I’m here. We can be as prepared as possible for this future attack.”
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Unfortunately, Fury ended up calling Matthew to go back to work. Though, now that Tony knew about his brother’s ‘occupation’, it meant the man would be around more, in fact he had a floor in the tower all for him. As the two siblings were saying their goodbyes, Tony handed Matt a deck of cards.“What are these?” He asked suspiciously staring down at the Captain America image,“For Agent. Give him my love.” Tony stifled a chuckle at the deadpanned look his brother sent his way,“Should I be worried that you know about him being alive?”“Hey I didn’t hack SHIELD…” For that information at least, “But I know Agent doesn’t just carry his cards around and there’s been no funeral nor have you been completely distraught. Therefore one plus one plus one equals Agent Coulson living!” Matt just shook his head and to Tony’s annoyance, ruffled the shorter mans hair.“Hey, Tony,”“Yeah?”“Iron Man’s my favourite superhero. You’re the best one out there, kiddo.” His brother smirked with genuine honesty and love in his eyes, Tony didn’t respond but his expression was enough of an answer.
“Ci vediamo dopo, Piccolo”(See you later, little one)“Ciao, fratello. To voglio bene.” (Goodbye brother. I love you)“To voglio bene” (I love you too) Matthew murmured as the two hugged once more before the older man left.