Date: 28/12/2008
Location: Malibu Mansion
The night was quiet.
Too quiet.
Matthew had noticed the change the moment he woke up. Tony was gone. And so was the suite.
He should have expected it, but he had thought his brother had the curtsy to at least tell him he was leaving. Leaning back into his chair, he sighed, the frustration still building since the discovery of the unauthorized weapons shipment.
He'd tracked down three more shipments that were labelled as Foreign Aid and sent under the charities connected to the company. All housing the latest Stark issued weaponry and of course the Jericho missiles. He should have known, Stane is a man that only saw profit and not the consequences of that profit.
Maybe he did have a bit of hope that Stane would prove him wrong. That was probably why he hesitates to tell Tony , but the man did technically raise them. Even if it was the slightest bit of obvious grooming in his case. Curse him for having a heart.
His system pinged, pulling him out of his head .
[TARGET LOCKED]
The screen blinked alive, it wasn't Tony, it was his other interest. When Matthew first discovered Dr. Banner , he wasn't paying much attention to the man's scientific discoveries. He didn't really like the research on Gamma Rays or nuclear energy. The day the hulk was created changed that.
The static video of a green hulking berserker made a spark of his younger self show. The him before the incident. Before he noticed headlights in snowy woods. It was like a comic book character came to life, and much like every memory since his birth, he had a permanent image of The Hulk stuck in his head.
He read up on what little files remained about the doctor since and followed any video footage he could find of him . That was probably the only thing keeping him sane when Tony was taken. On second thought, maybe Matthew did go slightly insane.
On screen, buildings were collapsing, a multitude of soldiers were either being tossed un-survivable distances or were crushed in collateral damage. The scene was like the birth of a walking disaster . He was speechless for a moment, his eyes wide in sheer disbelief. The entire time he'd been watching, the most damage the hulk had done was structural. Even while Ross hunted him down, he'd never intentionally hurt someone. Right now though , he was actively and brutally dealing with Ross's soldiers. At one point, he even threw a car at a chopper. His aim spot-on to Matthew's astonishment.
"That's… unexpected" he couldn't help but blink blankly at the screen, another notification announcing itself on his side-bar.
>James (Rhodey )
Why is your bird in my airspace ?
"Bird?" Matthew muttered, not recalling any flight paths that might have crossed into military airspace. His brows knitted together in confusion as he typed back a response.
What are you talking about?
Instead of typing out an answer, he sent a photo of said bird. The flamboyant red and accented gold gleaming in the sunlight. The sharp lines that made up his mask caused Matthew's eyes to twitch.
That prick, where the hell did he go?
Where is he?
Matthew typed back , his earlier frustration coming back like a tidal wave .
Gulmira.
At that , Matthew frowned. Playing hero was something he should have expected, but attacking the attackers wasn't gonna make up for the fact that the village was basically destroyed. Now he has two problems, one being his brother's recklessness and savior complex. the other, the inevitable international arms race of who has a bigger army of mechas.
This is going to be absolutely delightful, said no one.
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The two stood in a stand still , Matthew frowning deeply , disappointment clear on his face. And Tony attempts to dodge the near visible aura coming off of him. The living room was the stage of this debate of wills.
" In my defence-" Tony started , attempting and failing to downplay the situation.
" Don't" Matthew's stoic face reminded Tony a little bit too much of their mother's . which probably explained who he got his temper from. No twelve year old should be able to punch the daylights out of someone , but the guy in front of him was a different story. A certain drill sergeant Thomas could attest to that.
" It was the right thing to do," Tony defended. Seeing nothing wrong with his actions.
"Vigilantism was the right thing to do?" His expression grew darker , annoyance now radiating like the very reactor that powers Stark industry.
"What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed."
"Oh come on," Tony scoffed, like this was no big deal," I didn't even touch down they wouldn't have hit me."
"The military was ready to shoot you down." Matthew stared at him in a mix of horror and disbelief .
Was he actually crazy?
Did he actually lose his god damn mind?
"But they didn't." Tony interjected , his 'I have valid point' expression only worsening the younger's mood.
"Do you have some type of death wish?" he huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, " I can't lose another...."
"Matthew, that wouldn't have-"Tony frowned, his first instinct was to placate but Matthew didn't give him the chance.
"Why is it that you keep finding yourself in danger? " The words were very accurate. If one were to watch the events of the last year, they would think that he possessed Murphy's law. The kidnapping was not the only thing that went wrong , a few other incidents ranging from minor to major were mixed in.
Like the incident with the malfunctional drone , the same one that was hacked into by some newbie hacker that he could never remember the name of but they worked for some radical organization that keeps popping up.
"I had to help." Tony pleaded, trying to convince him that his decision was life or death, although whose life they were talking about was completely different.
"No... you didn't. You just wanted to reconcile with the guilt you feel."
"That's not-" And he was , he knew that.
"I know you Tony. But doing this," he paused, looking away, probably remembering the sound of glass. Of compacting snow and wheezing breaths. " … I can't lose you too."
Tony flinched at the insinuation. He wouldn't-he couldn't. Not to Matthew, definitely not to Matthew. But he couldn't help but try to save those innocent people. No he doesn't have a hero complex , he just feels responsible. It was his missiles, his weapons, his dismissiveness that caused this. He had to do something . Even if it inevitably hurts Matthew in the process, he felt he had to do something.
He had to become a hero. He needs to inspire hope.