It was sunset when Tony Stark parked his car outside the cemetery. He stayed sat in the drivers seat for a moment, taking a few steady breaths to prepare himself before he eventually felt ready to step out of the car with nothing but flowers in his hand and a head full of things he wished he'd been able to say.

He'd been toying with the idea of dropping by the cemetery on his way home all day, changing his decision at least once an hour, debating with himself while he worked. He hated visiting those places, feeling suffocated by loss and sadness at having to step foot in such a deafeningly quiet place.

It had rained every time he'd visited a cemetery but on that particular evening, the sky was a mirage of pink and red, the sun seemingly staining the sky with its rays as it disappeared over the hills in the distance, a handful of pale stars were just beginning to shine as he looked up.

The air was mild for early evening but Tony felt his body tense up when he started walking along the gravel pathway, sweat collecting on the back of his neck when he read the names on worn out headstones as he passed them.

The silence was worse than he'd remembered and he felt anxious at the sound of his shoes crunching on the stones beneath his feet, guilt-ridden at his presence breaking what felt like should have been an eternally peaceful silence.

Tony had swerved off the freeway and grabbed a bunch of red roses from a gas station before driving through the town to the cemetery. As he walked along the pathway, his cheeks flushed crimson when he saw not a single other red rose resting against the headstones, embarrassed at his offering.

He walked a little further, narrowing his eyes at a figure in the distance. He hadn't visited the grave before but had hoped he'd be alone that evening, never knowing what the right thing to say to someone in a situation like that was.

As he drew closer, Tony cursed under his breath when he realised that the only other living soul in the cemetery that day was sat on the grass beneath the same headstone he was walking towards.

In a state of panic, Tony contemplated turning on his heels and leaving, feeling like a quick escape would be easier than an awkward conversation with someone he didn't know in such a sensitive environment.

And he almost did exactly that, had the woman not turned over her shoulder and locked eyes on him as he lingered a few steps away. She tilted her head, trying to work out whether it was actually Tony Stark approaching her beneath the dawn of night time, or if the warm sun that she'd been sat basking in all afternoon was getting to her mind.

He cleared his throat as he walked towards her shyly, giving her a small smile as he held the bunch of red roses in his hand, his heart settling when he saw that there were six white roses already sitting neatly against the headstone.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to lay these down."

"It's alright," she replied, rising to her feet and brushing her legs clean of any grass, "I should be heading off now anyway, really. I've been here hours."

Tony nodded, bending down and placing the roses amongst the others that covered the ground in front of him. He felt an overwhelming rush of pain in his chest when he read the name Phillip J Coulson in thick gold lettering against a pale grey stone, sighing loudly in regret.

"How did you know him?" Tony asked, standing up and folding his arms as he looked down at the rainbow of flowers that dressed up such a dark place.

The woman let out a small laugh, making Tony raise a brow as he turned his head to look at her.

"Phil really didn't tell you much about his personal life, did he?" Her eyes were a pale blue that made Tony begin to question his memory, "Phil was my brother, I'm actually quite offended he never told you about me."

Tony gritted his teeth, drawing in a sharp breath as she smiled at him, slight embarrassment creeping back into his face as he laughed awkwardly.

"You know what," he said, pointing a finger, "He did talk about you. It's Sasha, right?"

She nodded once, holding up her hands in defeat with a shrug of her shoulders. After connecting the dots, Tony began to realise the similarities between his late friend and the girl stood before him. They held the same shy smile and innocent eyes, though her hair was darker than he remembered Phil's to be, despite it shimmering gold in the glow of the sunset.

"Whenever he said little sister I always imagined, you know, a little sister." Tony laughed quietly, holding a hand four feet above the ground as he spoke.

''You're not the first person to say that,'' she said with an innocent roll of her eyes, ''I don't think I saw you at the funeral, I'm sorry if I'm being ignorant, the whole day was kind of a blur.''

Tony just shook his head, burying his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as the two of them turned and headed back down the same path he'd just walked up. The sun was on his left hand side, illuminating Sasha's face whenever she turned to look at him.

''I wasn't there, actually. Truth is, I don't do well with things like that, the whole funeral situation. Your family were all there though, right?''

Sasha nodded. She knew what had happened to Tony's parents and it wasn't a surprise to her that he hadn't attended her brother's funeral, however she knew that Phil would've been more than understanding about his colleague's decision.

''Friends, really. It was just Phil and I, I'm the last Coulson - that I know of, anyway.''

Tony kissed his teeth, flashing her a sincere glance for a scarce moment, ''I know how it is.''

After walking in a rather awkward silence for a few moments, the two of them finally arrived at the entrance to the cemetery. The sun had finally vanished and the sky was slowly turning purple, casting grey shadows across the ground as the first few leaves of Fall graced the concrete.

''Well,'' Sasha cleared her throat and clicked a button on the keys to her car, the headlights of a matte black Lamborghini flashed a few metres down the road from them, ''This is me.''

Tony furrowed his brows, his lips parted slightly with confusion as he glanced between Sasha and the supercar parked behind his own.

''That's your car?''

''Like it? Fury gave me a cheque after Phil died, made sure I was taken care of.''

''Are you serious?'' Tony asked as he walked towards the car to admire it, placing his hands around his eyes as he peered through the tinted windows.

Sasha rolled her eyes, ''No. Well, technically he did give me a huge cheque, but I already owned this.''

Tony was almost speechless, but not quite. Sasha was dressed in black gym leggings and a matching zip up jacket, looking like she'd walked straight out of a hot yoga class, not out of a two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollar car. Knowing what he knew about Phil, it shocked him that somebody with the same Coulson name could actually have taste.

''How? What are you? Some kind of European soccer star's wife?''

''I wish,'' Sasha scoffed, clicking another button and letting the driver's side door raise above their heads, ''I'm a lawyer.''

Throwing her purse into the passenger seat, Sasha sighed as she sat down in front of the wheel, pressing a button on the dash to start the obnoxiously loud engine. It growled hungrily as the door locked into place, though she wound down the window as Tony stood on the sidewalk with his arms folded at his chest, one brow raised with an impressed look behind his red tinted glasses.

''A lawyer, huh? Least I have someone to call next time I get into trouble.'' He grinned and pulled out the keys to his significantly less expensive Audi, ''You live in the city?''

Sasha tilted her head, grabbing a pair of black-lensed aviator's from the glove compartment and sliding them over her eyes, ''Upper East Side.''

Tony scoffed, shaking his head with a devilish smirk, ''Should've known. Race you back to New York.''

an;;
ANOTHER new story!! Tony Stark is honestly my favourite character ever in the world and I know most of my readers might not even like Marvel BUT I'm honestly writing this for myself if nothing else lol.

That being said, if you are a fan of the MCU, I'd love to have your support on this book and I'm super excited to share it with anybody who's interested in reading!

lots of love xxx