"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

—Murphy's Law

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Ruven Allen/Iron Man's pov

You killed your own son. My conscience reminded me as I sucked in the ichor of the gods. Jet made me feel like the memories were fading away but I think it just made my recollections... slower.

You're not my son, I said, the son I had died with his mother. Both of their lives were stolen from me.

I had fought a war, ripped and tore my way through myriads of Commies with the preconceived premise of watching my son grow up. We should have went fishing, hunting, and played baseball together. Or if he was an inside type, we could have painted, watched TV, or played charades with Nora and Codsworth.

You were raised by thieves, I spat at the old man, you were raised by kidnappers who stole everything that I held dear in this world!

The echo of my laser musket blasted in my ears. Phantom pain invaded my throat from when I held his body and screamed. I felt like I was in a time capsule of that moment and couldn't get out.

"Ruven?" A distant voice said.

My efforts were in vain, my son's life was stolen from me. Stolen from him! We should've been-

"Blue? Are you okay?"

I sat up and my drugged gaze landed on the brunette at my door. The Caucasian girl removed her newsboy hat respectfully, and holding her hat close she stepped into the room with caution. Concern oozed from her mannerisms, her face dripped with pity, confusion even and it made me sick.

"What Piper?"

"Oh nothing," she started sarcastically, playfully saying, "just checking to see why a blue-spandex-wearing friend of mine is so... blue."

"Oh?" I stretched my back and spat back, "Do I know this guy? Maybe he's not in the mood."

"The smarty-pants I know is always in the mood. I just gotta stick to my guns for just a second and the gruff goof falls in line just like a little puppy."

I laughed, it was hollow but a hollow reprieve is better than none at all. "That's what you call it? Is it a cute pre-war puppy or a two headed mutant hound puppy?"

She barely contained a laugh and pulled up a chair from the kitchen, placing it in front of me. She plopped down and set her chin on the back of the reversed chair, shaking her head. "You got a vivid imagination don't you? Got any you can spare?"

"Nope," I drily said, grabbing another Jet from the crate next to me, "guy named Jet took it all."

She didn't appreciate this one bit. You wanna know how I found out? The serious look on her face after she swatted the plastic inhaler from my fingers made me freeze. When her brown eyes burned into me it turned my brain into something resembling green mush. "What the hell is wrong with you Blue? Everyone has been celebrating the fall of the Institute for months but here you are. Shaun is wondering what's wrong with you, what am I supposed to tell him?"

I'm trying to forget Piper. In a flare of anger I held in the retort, she doesn't know what that boy Shaun really is. I started twisting the old wedding ring on my finger anxiously and didn't even realize it.

"Why do you always do that?"

"What?"

"Fiddle with your ring, goofball."

You remind me of her... the woman whose life was stolen from me. And all I could do was watch. Of course, that'd be an incredibly awkward thing to say at the moment so I opted for silence. Piper sighed, "Look you know chems aren't my cup of tea. Chem usage isn't the problem," she pointed at the shattered plastic not far from us, "this is abuse and everyone with half a brain knows this isn't you. So please, please Blue, come and hangout with us. We'll help you through whatever's bothering you, okay?"

She patted the back of my hand, slipped her hat on, blew a rebellious tuft of hair from her face and then left the room. I was alone in my living room, only the echo of the closed door and the sound of water dripping from the ceiling into pots and cups was there to give me company. With a sigh I got up, made myself presentable and joined the others outside.