#he walked from where the alien shit happened to this gas station in the desert of new mexico

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

s3e19

[dontcallmecarrie]

LTTR Shatterpoints

Yes, another one. At this rate the series might just end up being me remixing this one premise over and over again, because they just keep coming. Plus I’m trying to put off the inevitable major character death that I’d tagged for, there’s that too. Slow going, on that front. 

So, I’ve already done several everyonelives!AU shatterpoints [or, well, almost everyone], but I’ve been going over LTTR and looking at the buildup and one jumped out at me.

See, I’ve been trying to be as nice as I can to Howard, trying to show how his vices screwed him over and how WWII and everything that came after changed him. Hopefully, it showed through in both LTTR and the minific thing set in the same universe [Just Hide Behind Your Pride]. 

Howard, in my interpretation, is a complex character. The alcoholism is a huge vice I can’t overstate, and he cares but his communication skills are shit and add in his other issues and you do not get a case of ‘love conquers all’. 

Reason this all comes up is: in LTTR, I’m trying to be nice to his character. This shatterpoint, however, is anything but, even if it’s slightly happier in other ways.

Because in one universe, Maria stayed with Howard through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, and died at his side nearly two decades later. 

In another life, however, Maria Stark divorced her husband in 1973.

Howard’s alcoholism had become a bone of contention, not long into their marriage. Maria hated it—each fight was more exhausting than the one before it.

Because when he was home, Howard Stark was almost always drunk. 

And when he was drunk, he got loud, he broke plates and glasses and the only reason he never hit his wife was an unconscious, instinctive urge for survival, warning him even at his lowest to not provoke the other in the room, the gleam in her eyes sometimes putting him on edge in a way he could never explain sober.

In one life, Maria would’ve gritted her teeth and stuck it out, would’ve done her level best to try to keep her husband from crawling into the bottle and never coming back out, and even somewhat succeeded.

In this universe, however, Howard’s sense of self-preservation lapsed for a moment, and during an especially terse shouting match, he tried to hit his wife. Emphasis on tried, because Maria caught his hand. 

But that was the last straw, for her, and where before she’d politely pretended to buy it when Howard acted like he didn’t remember what happened when he was drunk, this time she looks him in the eye and smiles even as she says, “I want a divorce.”

Because before, Howard had been pushing everyone out of his life. That, she was willing to deal with. The secrets and the way he put her at risk because he kept bringing his SHIELD-related work home, she’d been dealing with. But she had her limits, and she drew the line at domestic violence. If Howard didn’t want her in his life, all he needed to do was say so and she’d leave. 

Divorce was a-okay with her, screw social norms, screw everything, she didn’t care, she’d married him out of love. If he didn’t love her back, then what was he doing wasting his time with her?

Howard, of course, tries to fight it. Tries to say no, he doesn’t want to, he was Howard Stark and that meant something, didn’t she know?

Unfortunately for him, Maria was just as stubborn as he was. 

And when he brought in the lawyers, she didn’t hesitate to bring up PR, and after making it clear that she didn’t care about his money, didn’t give a damn about alimony or anything, everything else fell into place. She even had a cover for it, ready to go the day after their last fight: anyone asked, they could say she was infertile, and use that if necessary. 

They didn’t have a child, after all, it’d be easy to pin it on that and she didn’t care about what the world thought about her as long as she could get this over with stat. And he’d never see or hear from her again, and everyone could carry on with their lives. [Or maybe she says something about spreading a rumor about infidelity, because Maria doesn't care about her reputation, she just wants out.]

From there, it’s a no-brainer, really. 

Howard’s not happy, but when it’s put that way, everything’s lined up perfectly and it’s not like he can argue. Not when he suspects that if he doesn’t sign, Maria might just end up walking out the next time he leaves for the Arctic. 

So he signs, and tries to ignore everyone else’s yelling at him as he does so. Because Peggy’s sharp enough to read between the lines, knows both him and Maria well enough to know that Maria wouldn't have divorced him without one hell of a push, and Jarvis had quit outright in protest. Well, not in protest, but the look his old friend had given him had stung. [Especially since there was an uncomfortable amount of truth in there.]

So Howard Stark signs the divorce papers, and Maria Carbonell and Edwin Jarvis then proceed to vanish off the face of the Earth.

Not that the cameras care, of course: the world was interested in the rich business tycoon first and foremost, now that he was back on the market. Sure, there was a bit of speculation as to where his ex-wife was, but really the story presented was pretty much cut and dry, and interest waned after a while. 

Howard’s alone, now, in his mansion. Nothing but him and the bottle, and the knowledge that he had something good and blew it because the reminders of his brilliant, brilliant wife are everywhere. 

In SHIELD: 

Peggy won’t speak to him if it’s not for strictly professional reasons. Then, she’s absolutely glacial, and the look in her eyes is practically daring him to try anything. 

Nick Fury, Peggy’s apprentice of sorts, is also side-eyeing him too; has been ever since he got wind of the divorce, ever since he last saw Maria walking away with nothing but a messenger bag with everything��she’d had to her name prior to getting married. 

Hell, even Hank Pym had commented on it. 

he’s even worse after losing Janet, though: now Howard’s pretty sure Hank pretty much hates him, because he had a wife and let her go, instead of...well.

if there’s rumors of infidelity floating around, then it’s even worse because Hank just pities him and Howard hates it.

Even in Stark Industries, he can’t catch a break.

it’d been his Legal department who’d helped with the divorce, they’re the ones privy to the details. They’d mentioned, more than once, just how unusual it was, that the wife of a rich man didn’t care about alimony. Howard didn’t doubt they side-eyed him even now, sometimes.

his PR department is working better than ever, and also, very clearly, all-but-hated him. 

He’d known Maria had been involved in it, but to the extent where an entire department was acting like he’d fired their head after the divorce?

Obadiah, at least, does what he can to help. He hadn’t commented much on the divorce itself, beyond mentioning how much of a pity it was. 

However, he’s also starting to talk about remarrying, and Howard doesn’t want to think about it right now but his friend’s right, he’s not getting any younger but after Maria—well. He’ll figure something out. He’s busy right now, but...damn he needs another drink.

aka I’m not sure if Howard remarries or not, in this AU. Probably not, to keep things from getting too complicated and for added drama later on because...

On Maria’s end, she had to get creative to get back to Night Vale, but she manages it. She’s home, not two weeks after getting divorced, and with Jarvis in tow to boot.

...and finds out she’s pregnant shortly afterwards. 

Maria tries to let Howard know about it, but he’s always out and never picks up the phone. The one who ends up answering it is a newly-hired lawyer who thinks it’s a crank call and goes ‘you say you’re Howard’s ex, and that you’re pregnant with his kid? yeah, right, keep harassing him this way and we’ll sue’ [because he doesn’t recognize her voice, or whatever] which...yeah. Oops.

[aka Tony’s born and raised in Night Vale]

Tony’s born in Night Vale General Hospital, just like his mom, and grows up terrifying. 

Sometimes, sure, he’s curious about the outside world, about his biological father. But for the most part, he’s content with showing up Desert Bluffs when science fair season rolls around, or when Jarvis is doing his thing, or when his mom’s coming back from her job at the library. [Or maybe Maria works at Night Vale Community Radio as a sort of go-between of Station Management, or something?]

Thanks to the internet, he knows what his biological father looks like, and it’s really uncanny how much he looks like him. [Weird, but cool.] Both his mom and Jarvis have plenty of stories to tell, but Tony can also pick up pretty easily on what they’re not saying, too. 

Still, the older he gets, the more curious Tony can’t help but feel. 

And from there I can imagine a few ways things’d end up panning out: 

Option A: Howard dies in a ‘car accident’ before Tony can meet him. 

The outside world doesn’t learn about Tony until after a green rage monster crashes through and passes out in Mission Grove Park. Bruce Banner wakes up to a very apologetic Tony because “sorry, that knockout gas is still in beta, didn’t expect for it to do that”. The discovery that this small town just rolls with him having the Other Guy is mind-blowing, to say the least.

Bruce soon gears up to head off because he fell from the Helicarrier and knows they’re probably going to need help for whatever Loki’s up to, and gets a ride not via a moped, but one of Tony’s...creations. Not only that, but Tony goes with as well, because possible alien invasion meant science and he was, above all else, a scientist. 

The Avengers get a heart attack when Bruce Banner shows up after having disappeared from the Helicarrier. SHIELD gets a heart attack when an unknown shows up and starts doing heavy damage, and Steve Rogers gets a heart attack when said unknown lifts his faceplate and he’d been told Howard was dead, had died without children, yet this man’s his spitting image, what was going on?

Option A1:

[I’m pretty sure it’s been done before, but meh]

It’s not the Other Guy who crashes into their little town. 

Instead, it’s a hammer, followed by a very loud and very buff blond guy. Except here, the Destroyer gets taken care of by Street Cleaners, or Hooded Figures, and Thor has to jump through quite a few more hoops to prove he’s worthy. 

or maybe it’s Steve Rogers on his motorcycle, exploring America after getting unfrozen and trying to get his bearings back, only to stick around after he meets Tony. 

or maybe MCU canon ensues without Tony, for the most part, right up until Thanos shows up. Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong planet, because if Night Vale could take on a Smiling god, they could take on a Mad Titan.

Option B: Tony decides to visit the outside world the summer before entering college, and accidentally ends up interfering with the assassination attempt.

Tony’d gotten quite a few strange looks the entire time he’d been traveling, but he hadn’t realized just how much he resembled his father until he’s at a party in New York City and a security guard takes one look, pales, and proceeds to take him by the arm and all-but-frog-march him to an office. 

Less than an hour and quite a lot of yelling later, Tony meets his father. And is distinctly unimpressed. 

Of course, by then Howard’s probably remarried or something, which doesn’t help. Here, he doesn’t, because there’s no damn time between SHIELD and SI and more drama that way.

Especially since it takes several repetitions and a letter to explain that yes, actually, his mom had tried to let Howard know about his having a son, but nobody believed her so she’d given up after a while. No, he wasn’t after his money, Tony just wanted to at least meet his biological father even if it’s just the once, and now that he’d seen him he was okay with walking away, no harm done. 

Suffice it is to say, there is a lot of yelling. 

Apparently, everyone’s very interested in both him and his mom. Yes, she’s fine, she’s currently the one wrangling press conferences for City Hall, happy as a clam. He’s about to enter college, no, he’s not going to say where because he likes his privacy. Again, Tony just wanted to meet Howard, now that was done they could both go on with their lives, simple. See? No? ...well, shit. 

so, so much yelling.

Howard, for his part, had been urgently called away from the party, and escorted by a very tense security team to a small office on premises, who’re keeping him updated on the situation. It sounds ludicrous, like a bad joke, but when he first sees the young man languidly slouching in the tiny office chair, all doubts vanish. Because Howard couldn’t deny it if he wanted to—the resemblance was just too much. And Tony—that’s what he called himself, even as he’s lazily waving a school ID for Anthony Carbonell— had his mother’s eyes.

The evening just gets more mind-blowing from there, really. 

Howard Stark has a son, and he never knew—heads would roll for that alone, he was sure. Howard has a son, who didn’t seem to care about his money, who’s only remark remotely to that effect had been a joke about child support but nothing else. Howard has a son, who’s a genius, because he’d been doodling on a piece of scratch paper for like 5 minutes that looked disturbingly like the schematics for a laser gun of some kind. All right then. 

Given the number of bombs being dropped in succession—his ex-wife and his old friend were both alive and well despite having vanished off the map decades ago, he had a son he didn’t know about who was about to enter college—Howard feels he’s excused for clocking out early. He’d expected a gala, and got...this. 

So he heads home early, and has Tony come with him because hell, might as well get to know his son, right?

...of fucking course there’s an assassin. What is even his life—why’s his son throwing a fireball at their attacker?

aka Tony ends up fighting off the Winter Soldier and saves his father’s life. And Howard has so many questions as to when and how a seventeen-year-old managed to pick up the skills to take down a veritable Terminator. 

Shit goes down, and Howard’s blood pressure skyrockets because he keeps getting more questions and Tony’s very good at keeping secrets. The most Howard gets is his son’s hometown, but even that’s a dead end—he should know, given he looked long and hard for it, back when he’d married Maria, and it didn’t seem to exist anywhere he could find. 

Tony leaves, not long after, but at least Howard managed to wrangle a promise of keeping in touch because...well. He’d just discovered he had a son and wrapping his head around it all was going to take a while. 

Time passes, and he manages to keep it mostly quiet, with only the people in his social circle being made aware of it. He wouldn’t have believed it himself it he hadn’t experienced it, if he didn’t have the Winter Soldier in custody and currently getting treated for his various third-degree burns, if he didn't have a few photographs of his son(!). 

Nick Fury had managed to meet his son as well, actually: Howard had called him as soon as he’d arrived home, because of obvious reasons, and when his old friend had shown up he’d taken one look at Tony’s carefully keeping watch over the man who’d been privately revealed to be Barnes, before turning around and just giving Howard the single most deadpan look he’s ever gotten. [Part of Howard thinks he might’ve been shocked by the Barnes thing, if the rest of the evening hadn’t desensitized him to it.]

...then Howard and Co. find out about the HYDRA thing after interrogating the newly-captured Winter Soldier, and you guys can guess the rest on that front. 

Peggy learns about Tony from Nick Fury and just gives Howard a look because she suspects him at first, but then Tony visits again during the weekend and she gets to know his son. Tony’s very amiable, disturbingly well-versed in interrogation and brainwashing tactics and whatnot, and when he mentions ‘yeah, mom wanted me to know dad but the lawyers said they’d sue’, she finally drops it. Obadiah, meanwhile, gets caught flat-footed in all this, and gets sloppy in his double-dealing. Since this is so soon after the HYDRA scare, he gets made not long afterwards.   

Steve Rogers wakes up to Bucky sitting in the chair next to him. 

Well, technically no: he wakes to the sight of Tony very carefully and very deliberately removing the screws in his sleeping friend’s chair, and running away cackling when Bucky fell backwards. 

“That little shit,” Bucky growls after running a hand through his hair and cursing even more because apparently Tony got glitter on him too, and makes to chase after him before a strange sound comes from the bed, and his thoughts derail because Steve’s awake. And laughing at him, but first things first.

“You get off this time!” He calls down the hall, and after another look at Steve, adds, “And get your dad!”

Then he turns to Steve, and smirks. “What he doesn’t know is I switched out all the coffee in the house for decaf, so he’s going to be crashing soon.” Then he sobers, and smiles with more warmth than before. ���Hey, Steve. It’s been a while.”

...okay I think it’s safe to say I have a problem with making AUs. Anyone mind my remixing LTTR multiple times?

[stallingdemons]

Savior

She found herself in an abandoned warehouse just a few blocks from the run down apartment her father had rented until he gathered the insurance money from their original apartment that had burned down days before. [Y/N] sat with her feet dangling over edge of the catwalk, her body facing the industrial sized window that overlooked the dirty and deserted streets of the city. 

Looking down, she pulled out the pill bottle from her hoodie pocket. Running her fingers over the label, she fought back the tears. Closing her hand over the prescription bottle, she looked out the window and mustered up the courage to uncap the poison in her hand. 

Just as she was about to swallow all the pills, she jumped at the sound of glass shattering below her. She cursed as the oxycodone fell from her fingers and onto the warehouse ground. Standing up, [Y/N] peered over the catwalk and noticed a figure struggling to stand. Her eyes strained to adjust to the dark. Gasping when she caught sight of the famous red and blue, she scrambled off the catwalk and down the stairs to the first floor. 

“Oh my god.” She panted as she made it to the figure. Slowing her steps, she assessed the situation. It was definitely Spiderman, that she knew. What she didn’t know was why he was covered in enough blood to fill up a bathtub. Shrieking when he collapsed onto the ground, she ran to him. 

Kneeling on the hard ground, she propped him up on her knees. She looked down at her hands that were now covered in sticky, wet blood. “Oh god.” [Y/N] shuddered, she hated blood. Clearing her throat, she gently tapped his masked face, “Hey? You with me?” She scanned over the rest of him, her eyes widening at the ripped suit and exposed torso. Her heart rate increased, he wasn’t just covered in blood, it was his own blood. 

“Holy shit. Hey, hey, hey!” [Y/N] shook him slightly, “We need to get you to a hospital!” She pawed at him, struggling to find a cellphone. Finally finding one, she cursed loudly as it slipped from her hands “I need you to stay with me!” Trying to unlock the phone with her blood soaked fingers, she screamed when he grabbed her forearm. Leaning down, her brows knitted together at the muffled sounds coming from where his mouth was located. “What? I can’t, I don’t know, I can’t understand you.” He continued to mumble with her still unable to understand him. 

Taking in a deep shaky breath, she set down the phone away from the spreading blood puddle. “I can’t understand you with your mask on,” [Y/N] said gently. Biting her lip, she reached for the bottom of his mask. “I have to take your mask off, okay?” Not waiting for him to answer, she gently and slowly revealed the face that laid underneath. [Y/N] gasped softly when she finally removed the cover, her heart sped up even more. How was this possible? 

“Peter?!” [Y/N] cried out. Spiderman was a kid, a teenager? More importantly her lab partner in Chemistry. So many questions rolled through her brain but was quickly cut short when she remembered that she needed to call 911. 

Peter’s eyes fluttered, his mouth moving but very little sounds coming out. “Call Tony, not 911, please.” He croaked out. 

“What? Tony?!” She yelped, who the hell was Tony? “But, you need help!”

“Call......Tony......please.”

[Y/N] started to shake, she could feel his body temperature start to drop. Struggling to find this mysterious Tony number, “Come on, come on. Yes! Okay, come on, please pick up....pick up, come on.”

“Listen, Parker. You better have a damn good reason-”

“-Oh my gosh! Thank god, um, Peter told me to call you. I don’t know why, I should be calling 911. He’s bleeding out....there’s a lot of blood. I don’t know what to do. We need help! Why am I calling you instead of 911, oh my god, I’m so stupid. He’s probably going to die because of this phone call. Oh my god.” 

[Y/N] leaned her head against the frame of the window that showed Peter sleeping soundly in his hospital room. Her hands and arms were free from his blood but the reminder of almost seeing him die in her arms were still soaked into her clothes. 

“Here you go, kid.” 

Standing up straight, she looked up to see Tony hand her a fresh set of clothes. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a pressed smile. “You can get changed over here.” Patting her back, he calmly spoke. “He’ll be here when you get back, I promise. Come on.” 

Reluctantly following Tony, she thanked him and closed the curtain to change. Wincing as she peeled off her clothes, she looked around to find a spot to place them.

“There’s a little washing station off to her left there.” 

Following his direction, she sighed in content to know that she could wash the rest of the blood off. “Um, thank you.” 

“Yeah, no problem.” Tony twirled around, his hands clasped behind his back. “So uh, Peter’s never mentioned you before. Are you two friends?” 

Running a wet towel over her torso, she shook her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “No, not really.” Running it over her legs, she sighed again. “We’re just lab partners.”  

“Oh.”

Quickly changing into the fresh clothes, she slid the curtain open. 

“Much better?” He smiled as she nodded.

Guiding them back to Peter’s room, he slowed his steps as he got to the window. It was a close call and Tony was so unbelievably thankful that he made it. 

“He saved me once,” [Y/N] said softly. 

“Hm?” Tony asked, distracted from his thoughts. 

She motioned towards Peter, “He saved me, about two weeks ago.” Hugging herself, she bit her lip. “My apartment building caught on fire and I was stupid enough to go back up the six flights to get something and just as I was about to go back down, the stairs collapsed on me.” [Y/N] met Tony’s eyes, “I never got a chance to thank him and for the past week and a half, I’ve been sitting next to him.” 

“I’m sure he knew,” Tony reassured. Following her gaze to Peter, he frowned, “What were you doing at that warehouse anyway? Seems a bit morbid to be a teen hangout spot.” 

[Y/N] inhaled slowly, “I lost my mom during the battle of New York. We were on our way to see a movie when everything hit the fan. Our taxi got flipped over on its side and the doors were jammed. So, my dad kicked the window out and threw me. I broke a few ribs and my arm but I didn’t feel it at the time because all I could focus on was the fact that there were aliens swarming the city. My mom had suffered a concussion from the wreck and was fading in and out of consciousness so my dad climbed out first to get better leverage. He was a little shaky from it all too so he lost his footing and fell to the ground. I just remember standing there in shock and in panic from it all that I almost didn’t notice the gas leaking from the other cars. I screamed for my dad to hurry but the taxi blew up before he could even stand up to try.” 

Tony stood in silence, his heart breaking. He felt responsible for everything that had happened in New York. And it hurt even more to be standing in front of someone who had lost so much during it all. 

“You asked why I was in the warehouse and the reason was that ever since that day, my dad was never the same. And to a degree, I changed too but he just became so cold. Every time he looked at me, I could see disgust in his eyes. I reminded him so much of the woman he failed to save that he couldn’t even bare to look at me. Abuse isn’t just physical, Mr. Stark. It’s verbal too and every day since then, that was what I had to deal with. Him degrading me as a person, making me see myself in a way that my mother would never let me see myself as. I went to that warehouse tonight to be reunited with my mother. To be reunited with the one person who would have loved me no matter what.” 

Tony inhaled sharply. Nodding, he placed a warm and firm hand on her shoulder. “I tend to be hypocritical at times and this is one of those moments when I say I believe in fate which I normally don’t. But, had you not gone to that warehouse, Peter would be dead. Instead of ending a life, you saved one.” 

Peter’s eyes fluttered open, groaning from the pain, he went to raise his hand to his head but immediately regretted his movement. It felt like he had been hit with a train ten times over. Blinking, his eyes adjusted to the girl sitting in an arm chair with a Chemistry book in her lap. 

“[Y/N]?! What are, what are you doing here?” Panic started to settle into his bones. 

She looked up from her textbook, untucking her legs from underneath her, she set the book down. “You were involved in a serious car accident-”

“-wha?” Peter tried to recall this accident but all he remembered was being seconds from being ripped apart. 

“Peter! You’re awake!” 

“Aunt May?” Peter exclaimed, completely dumbfounded at what was going on. “I don’t understand.” 

Aunt May started to sob, “Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay! I was so worried about you.” 

[Y/N] stood up, grabbing her backpack, she smiled. “It’s okay if you don’t remember the car accident, Peter.” Walking over towards him, she gently patted his hand. “You were walking me back to my apartment after our study session when you pushed me out of the way of a speeding car. I can’t thank you enough for saving my life. Hopefully one day I can return the favor.” Just as Aunt May wasn’t looking, she winked and motioned a phone signal with her hand and mouthed call Tony. Turning towards Aunt May, she smiled, “If it’s okay, I’ll leave Peter’s schoolwork with you.” 

Aunt May nodded, tears soaking her eyes. “Of course!” 

Handing it off, she looked at Peter. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll see you around.” 

Peter still dumbfounded, nodded. “Yeah. uh, see you around.” 

Once she left the room, Aunt May wiped away some tears. “I know you’re in pain and everything but she’s cute!”