In the courtyard, the evening breeze was cool.
Maria brought warm black tea for Lynn and Howard.
"That kid was so easily coaxed by a few words from you that he didn't know which way was up."
Howard looked toward the laboratory and scolded with a smile, but his eyes were full of the pride peculiar to a father.
Lynn lifted his teacup, the steam misting over his eyes and brows.
"Geniuses always need an audience that can understand them, especially when that audience is the one they've dreamed of."
Howard smiled, but the smile quickly faded.
He turned his head, looking at the estate he had built with his own hands under the night sky, and suddenly sighed for no reason.
"Lynn, I've been feeling uneasy lately."
His voice was very low, carrying a weariness that even he himself had not noticed.
Lynn did not speak, only quietly sipped his tea, acting as the perfect listener.
"I've started researching the Super Soldier Serum again."
Howard revealed a secret.
"From Steve's data, and those manuscripts Dr. Erskine left behind that you gave me back then, I discovered some brand-new things."
"Some… more stable, and more powerful potentials."
When he said this, he didn't have the excitement of a genius discovering a new World; instead, his brows were deeply furrowed.
"But ever since I restarted this project, I've felt… that someone is watching me."
"Everywhere."
"My emails, my call logs, even the security logs of my laboratory have minute traces of having been reviewed. The method is very clean, as clean as the style of S.H.I.E.L.D.."
A stern look flashed in Howard's eyes.
"I suspect there is a spy inside S.H.I.E.L.D.. No, not suspect, I can be certain."
Lynn put down his teacup, the bottom of the cup clinking against the saucer with a soft sound.
The shadow of HYDRA had become so thick that even an outsider like Howard Stark could smell the stench of rot.
"My friends… are all pretty much dead."
Howard's voice became somewhat hoarse as he looked at the night sky, as if looking at the faces of those who had passed away.
"Steve, that stubborn kid from Brooklyn, a Super Soldier actually died before us, and has been dead for decades."
"Jarvis, that old pal who could always wake me from a hangover and remind me to shave, also passed away last year."
He extended his finger, as if wanting to touch those non-existent stars.
"Colonel Phillips, with his body full of old wounds, in the end, still couldn't make it."
"Peggy…"
He paused, his tone complex.
"She is my superior now, DirectorCarter. Between us lie confidentiality agreements and countless reports. When we meet, we only ever talk about official business."
Howard turned his head, and those eyes, which once always shimmered with the light of wisdom and confidence, were now surprisingly fragile.
He looked at Lynn, this man who hadn't changed in appearance for decades, a man forgotten by time.
"When I count them all, you are the only real friend I have left, Lynn."
Lynn met his gaze without a word.
Howard suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I understand, Lynn. I understand that you are not a simple person."
"I realized that from the moment you appeared beside Dr. Erskine."
"You always manage to appear at the most critical place, say the most critical words, and obtain the most critical things at just the right time."
"Can you dare to say you didn't tamper with the notes on the Super Soldier Serum?"
Lynn's expression did not change at all.
Howard waved his hand, as if dismissing those meaningless past events.
"But that doesn't matter anymore."
"I don't care if you used me in the past, nor do I care what you did with those technologies."
Leaning forward, hands clasped, Howard looked at Lynn earnestly.
"Lynn, I hope you can promise me one thing."
Howard's voice sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
"I can give you the brand-new serum formula I've developed, as well as all the technical data I've compiled over the years regarding the Arc Reactor."
This condition was enough to make any country or organization in the World go crazy.
The Arc Reactor meant a brand-new era of energy.
And the upgraded Super Soldier Serum could take Dr. Horton's research to the next level.
Lynn still did not speak; he just watched Howard.
"Also."
Howard continued to sweeten the deal.
"I will return all the shares you previously distributed to me, and also…"
"I will give you 4% of my shares in Stark Industries, plus the 1% you already had; from tomorrow on, you will be the largest shareholder of Stark Industries besides me."
From 1% to 5%.
This was not just a leap in numbers.
It meant that Lynn would have real say in this Military-industrial giant that would influence the entire World's landscape in the future.
"And the condition? Howard."
"Tony."
Howard uttered the name.
"I worry that after I die, with Tony's personality, there will be no one in this World who can keep an eye on him, and even fewer who will genuinely care about him."
"Obadiah is a very good business partner, but first and foremost, he is a businessman."
"Peggy… she has her own position and responsibilities, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is already enough of a headache for her."
"The jackals in the Military will only treat Tony as another version of me from whom they can extract value, and they might even destroy him because of his unruliness."
"I am asking you, Lynn."
He used the word "ask."
"If one day, Tony encounters a real, life-threatening crisis…"
"I hope you can, for the sake of our friendship, and the little bit of it that remains…"
"Help him once."
"Let him live."
This was Howard Stark.
A genius who sensed that his twilight was approaching, paving the last path for his only heir.
He used the most brilliant crystallization of his life's wisdom to trade for a seemingly ethereal promise.
What he was betting on was Lynn's humanity.
Even though he knew that the humanity of the man before him was colder than an iceberg.
Lynn was silent for a long time.
He looked at the bloodshot eyes of Howard, at the new white hairs at his temples, and at that most genuine fatherly love hidden beneath his shell of pride.
Finally, Lynn nodded slowly.
"Fine."
He only said one word.
There were no impassioned guarantees, no hypocritical comforts.
Just one word.
But Howard's constantly tense shoulders completely relaxed upon hearing this word.
"Thank you."
Lynn picked up the now slightly cool black tea and drank it in one gulp.
He had accepted this entrustment.
And he had also taken the chips that were enough to change the course of the future.
Howard's life had already entered the countdown.
That death carriage from S.H.I.E.L.D., which in reality belonged to HYDRA, would soon stop on that country road on December 16, 1991.
And he himself, in the future, would appear in the capacity of both "Godfather" and "Guardian," rightfully standing beside that young genius who would lose his parents and be coveted by the whole World.
To guide him, to shape him.
In this transaction, there were no losers.
It was just that the price would be paid by history.
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