On The Stand
For a year or so after Stane’s betrayal, Tony would have dreams of him making it to trial. He would envision a courtroom full of people, an almost overwhelming press presence, and the world finally discovered that his three months behind held captive weren’t a fancy vacation.
Of course, he’d wake up. For a bit, it was waking up to a world where he was dying. Other times, it would be washed away by the nightmare of the week. Still others, the sight of the ransom video would send his dream self into a panic attack that would force him awake.
They’d been in the past a little over six months at this point and Tony thought he was doing fairly well at rolling with the punches and living through things for a second time. Things were already dramatically different but at the same time, they were comfortingly similar.
This was not one of those times.
At that moment, Tony’s hands were shaking so bad that Pepper had had to tie his tie for him. He alternated between being calm and on the brink of a panic attack. It almost felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. He’d arrived at a moment he’d never gotten last time around. One that in the long term did nothing to prepare for Thanos.
But it would finally give him the closure he’d been seeking for years. For today, he was going to be selfish. Well, for the next few weeks. The trial had been going on for a week but it was his day to testify.
At one point, he’d been expected to sit through the whole thing. But, he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Stane without wanting to do what had happened last time. And he wasn’t the only one Stane had hurt. Tony had tried last time, but he couldn’t begin to track how many American soldiers died because of his greed. Like last time, he’d set up a trust for the kids of one of the soldiers that had been in his humvee. He’d paid for the other funerals as well.
It didn’t bring them back, nor did it ease the guilt but it was something.
Finishing off the Ten Rings over the last few months had felt just as satisfying as last time. He’d gotten in a contest with his past self to see if he could do it faster, better, and more efficiently.
But now, he was walking into completely unknown territory and he’d gotten used to having a vague idea of what would happen in whatever situation he found himself in. Once you have that for a few months, unknowns aren’t fun anymore.
He made his way from his recently purchased penthouse to the garage where Happy lay waiting in the car. Pepper walked beside him, his heels oddly comforting as they made their way together.
“Ready, Boss?”
“Mixed feelings, Hogan.” Tony slid into the seat with a sigh. “For years, I dreamed of this day. It’s surreal it’s here.”
“Just remember to tell the version of the truth we rehearsed and it will be fine. The Prosecutors have a wealth of knowledge and I nailed my own bit into Stane’s coffin the other day.”
As one of Tony’s dearest friends, his bodyguard, and recently appointed Head of Security, Happy Hogan’s testimony had been highly anticipated. To Tony’s surprise, he sat through almost a full day of questions as he was examined, cross-examined, and then a redirect.
Tony hoped that wasn’t an omen of what was to come. He was already dreading having to face Stane but to also sit still in a booth and talk and be handed things for hours was not something he wanted to do ever. It was only knowing this was a good cause and the closure it would bring.
Pepper put her hands on his bouncing ones, her thumb running along the dorsal side of his hand. “You’ll be fine. You’ve done this before. And if you can get through dozens of senate hearings.”
“Pep, please don’t remind me right now that I have those to sit through in a few months. I’m already dreading it and searching for a loophole.”
“They’ll just subpoena you like last time, Boss.” Happy quickly looked at him via the rearview mirror.
“Unfortunately, I’m aware.”
She shook her head, a soft smile on her face. “What I was saying, is that if you could face that, you can face this. You know he’s guilty, we know it, and now the world will get a chance to see it.”
“Burying it like we did last time was a mistake. Sure, our stock took a nasty hit, but it’s already rising with the announcements of the new lines coming in.”
“Exactly.” Pepper looked at the tablet in her lap, scrolling with her free hand. “Just be real and honest. And try not to be a snarky asshole.”
“You told him to be real and honest, Pepper.” Happy grinned.
“Very funny, Hogan.”
They turned the corner and saw that the press was swarming in front of the courthouse. Word had gotten out that he was going to be called to the stand today and they wanted to capture every second of it. As Happy pulled up, Tony brushed nonexistent lint off his suit, planted his sunglasses on his face, and opened the door to the roar of the crowd.
This was a stage that he’d been good at all his life. And he’d allowed himself to fall into the shadow here when it came to Avengers-related news. But that wouldn’t happen again. While he wasn’t actively seeking attention, he would embrace it and turn it the way he wanted.
“Mr. Stark!”
“Dr. Stark!”
“Did you know about Obadiah Stane’s illegal activities?”
“What does this mean for the future of Stark Industries?”
“How did you not see the problem with your own company?”
It took every ounce of training he had not to respond to that last question. Because if he was honest, it was a question he’d been asking himself for over a decade.
How had he not seen this coming?
There was a part of Tony Stark that adored the feeling of being in front of a crowd of people and being the center of attention. He’d been shoved into that role at a far too early age and it was one of the easiest to embrace. It was why his entrance to the Stark Expo had been so over the top, he loved the attention.
But, for once in his life (or was it lives at this point), Tony wished he could hide away.
“We call Dr. Anthony Edward Stark to the stand.” Theresa Watson, the Federal Prosecutor quickly stated as things began to move.
Pepper gave his hand one more reassuring squeeze before he stood up, straightened his suit, and made his way towards the witness stand. He could hear the shutters of cameras going off, working to get the shots that would no doubt be splashed across front pages tomorrow.
Stepping into the booth, he nodded to the judge before placing his hand on a Bible and taking an oath to tell the truth.
An oath he knew he would have to break at some point in this process.
Tony shoved aside those thoughts and took a seat, getting comfortable because he knew he would be here for a bit, barring small breaks.
“Dr. Stark, can you start by telling the court about your relationship with the Defendant.”
The moment Tony had been hoping to avoid was in front of him and bracing himself, he looked Obadiah Stane in the eyes. Those eyes had always been slightly aloof and cold, not dissimilar to his father. But today they held rage and utter loathing.
“He is my godfather, I’ve known him since the day I was born. He also acted as a regent of sorts between the ages of 16 and 21 for Stark Industries and then served on the board and alongside me until earlier this year.”
Theresa nodded. “Why did he have to act as regent?”
Tony swallowed. “Because my parents died in a car accident in 1986 when I was 16.”
Died, were killed by an old brainwashed friend, what’s the difference these days.
“And you took over as CEO when you were 21.”
“Correct. Mr. Stane stayed on as my right-hand man and helped me navigate the waters of taking over my father’s legacy.” That was the most diplomatic way he could put it.
“Did you suspect that he was selling weapons to America’s enemies?”
Looking at Stane, Tony felt some anger, anger that had been long forgotten in favor of other more recent and maybe more painful hurts. But, coming back in time like this, he could allow himself to feel what he’d felt before. His therapist had said his feelings were valid and that he could acknowledge them.
Right now, Tony was angry.
“No. I figured out something was wrong when a missile with my name on it went off mere feet away and embedded shrapnel in my chest.”
That caused people in the courtroom to murmur and talk amongst themselves for a minute. After a bit, people settled down and the Prosecutor turned back to Tony.
So far, this wasn’t too bad.
“How did Obadiah Stane come to be involved with Stark Industries?”
“A few years before I was born, Howard and Obadiah met. While Obadiah knows next to nothing about how to manufacture weapons, he does know how to secure deals. One of the traits I did get from my father was my ability in my lab and my utter lack of desire to handle the business end, more the production side. He hired Stane to help with that, and I’ve promoted Pepper Potts to fill a similar role. If you send someone to launch a missile at me, Honey, can this one not have my name on it. I’d appreciate it.”
That earned him chuckles, an eye roll from both Happy and Rhodey, and a glare from Pepper before she put her head in her hands in annoyance.
He was older and wiser, but sometimes he really couldn’t help himself.
Theresa eyed him warily. “What did his responsibilities include?”
“Stane handled a lot of the PR and HR side of things. Honestly, outside of R&D and our warehouses, I let him have free reign. At the time, I thought it freed me up to make new products for us.”
“But now?”
“Now, I wonder if I should have seen it sooner.”
“Objection, speculation.” The defense attorney said into the microphone.
“Sustained.” The Judge spoke. “Ask another question.”
“Of course, Your Honor.” Theresa turned back to him. “I want to take a second and say how grateful everyone is that you survived.”
“Thank you.” Tony nodded, having heard similar sentiments for months now.
“I want to talk about that. You mentioned the missile.”
Tony nodded. “It was one of mine. You don’t miss your own name in nice bold letters feet away as it beeps before the detonation sequence.”
“And you weren’t wearing a vest?”
“Oh, I was,” Tony remembered clawing at it as things faded to black. “But this was designed to be armor-piercing. Great when I thought this was going to help our boys in the Middle East. Not so great when it’s literally blowing up in my face.”
That caused more murmurings in the courtroom.
“We’d like to show Exhibit 147, Your Honor.”
“Go ahead.”
She picked up a piece of paper and brought it over to where Tony was and handed it to him. He looked down and saw a picture of a similar missile to the one he had been hit with.
“Dr. Stark, does that look similar to the missile you saw in Afghanistan?”
“Objection, leading the witness.”
“Actually,” Tony cut off both the Judge and the Prosecutor. “As both the CEO of Stark Industries and the head of the Research and Development Department, I’m more than qualified to answer that as a weapons expert.”
The Judge considered this for a moment. “I’ll allow you to answer that. Overruled.”
“Dr. Stark, does that look similar to the missile you saw in Afghanistan?” She once against prompted.
“It does. They are from the same line, made about three years ago.” Tony held up the photo. “You can tell by the ends of the missile. It was a form I tried for about six months three years ago and then adapted to something a little different when the military asked for something that was more aerodynamically sound to fire at longer range.”
“Thank you, Dr. Stark.”
And so they continued, walking through the last twenty years. Tony publically did something he’d been doing internally for over a decade now. He walked through it all trying to figure out how he missed the signs.
Lunch was brought in and they ate in a conference room and he found himself back on the stand in the afternoon. As the Prosecutor walked him through the arrest of Stane upon discovering the double-dealing, she ended her questioning.
And it was the Defense Attorney’s turn. Tony knew him in the vaguest terms. Lyle Buckley was definitely part of the old boys club that Stane like to hang out in. It wasn’t a huge surprise to see him take on a case like this, especially for an acquaintance.
Had Tony not been in the room, Lyle Buckley’s suit would have been the nicest in the room. As it was, he was the second-best dressed in the room and Tony could tell that it annoyed the man. He felt an odd sense of satisfaction from it.
“Dr. Stark. You worked with my client for most of your life.”
“Correct, Mr. Lyle.”
“And in all that time, did you see any signs that my client was participating in corrupt behavior?”
“No.”
“None at all, in over two decades?”
Tony took a deep breath, doing his best to keep his cool. The guy had no way of knowing that Tony asked himself this question at least once a day and had for over a decade.
“No. He told me he was handling the business stuff as he did with my father and I just created more and more weapons.”
“As you stated this morning, you know more about weapons than anyone on the planet.”
“Correct, it was my job to be at the top of my field.”
“Who’s to say it wasn’t you double-dealing this whole time?”
“Objection!” Theresa stood up, glaring at Lyle. “Heresy, badgering the witness, and leading.”
“Sustained.” The judge glared at the man. “Ask a different question.”
Mr. Lyle continued trying to poke holes in his story. But three decades of helping lead Stark Industries and over a decade as an Avenger had taught Tony a thing or two about dealing with slimy lawyers. Plus, it entertained him.
After Mr. Lyle sat down, Theresa came up for another round of questioning. He hoped this was over soon because he was already ready for dinner. “Dr. Stark, what led you to believe Mr. Stane was behind the back door sales?”
“My trial to Stane started and ended with a video I found on a ghost drive on the Stark Industry servers.”
“We’d like to submit Evidence 153 now and show the video in question.”
Tony hadn’t even thought of the fact that this video would probably be shown with him in the courtroom. “Your Honor?”
She turned to him. “Yes?”
“Would it be…” Tony paused, taking a sip of water. “Would it be possible for me to step into the hall while you all view the video?”
The Judge eyed him for a second before nodding. “That will be acceptable. One of the bailiffs will stand with you.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.” Tony made it to the hallway before he let his hands shake. Minus the one bit where his throat seemed to close in a panic, he thought he held it together pretty well. He turned to the man standing with him. “Sorry for making you miss what will no doubt be the headline of the day.”
“I served in the Marines. Was in a situation like yours once. If there was a video, I wouldn’t want to see it either. I lived it.”
Tony let out a shaky sigh. “Exactly. That cave haunts my nightmares.”
“Mine does too.”
While Tony wished he could tell the man that it went away or that it got better with time, it was like grief in a way. He carried it with him. That, and New York, Siberia, the whole Mandarin fiasco, what Wanda caused him to see…
It was no wonder he preferred not to sleep.
They passed the time quietly and someone came to let them know the video was over. Tony took the stand and had a sip of water before he faced the crowd in the courtroom. Most people looked shocked, others eyed him with pity. A few others looked like they were about to be sick.
“Dr. Stark, are you up for answering a few more questions.”
“Yes. I would like to thank the court again for allowing me to not view the video. Living through it was more than enough.”
The judge nodded. “Of course, Dr. Stark.”
“Dr. Stark. Why did you go looking for the video?”
Because he knew where it was because this was his second time living through this. But he couldn’t say that on the stand.
“One of the first days I was mobile, they took me outside briefly and showed me a large stockpile of my weapons that they had. It was one thing for it to be a single missile, but seeing that pile…”
Tony took a sip of water, remembering that day. “I knew something was wrong. Of course, it would be three months before I could act on it. But once I got home, I started looking into it. I found the ghost drive, it was the first thing I looked for.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew that the person in question wanted to hide their work. They’d hid it from me for long enough. I found the drive and after seeing the contents, I turned the information over to the FBI.”
“No further question.
A couple of weeks later, Tony was walking down the hall to the Parker’s apartment. It was Halloween and Harley, Ned, and Peter were all going to a festival together. Of course, that meant the grownups were all tagging along and Tony had missed enough milestones with these kids.
It was a nice thing that he was stuck in New York for the time being. There was a chance he’d be called back to the stand and had to be ready with short notice. Plus, he had learned how to work remotely effectively.
Tony made a note to see how they could implement it better. Telecommuting was one thing, but they had the technology to make it more seamless. And what this time was lacking, he could just invent.
Putting aside business, he knocked on the door and Ben let him in. “They’re almost ready.” The man’s face was full of mirth.
As he stepped into the apartment, he studied the room and heard the sounds of three boys all in there. “Boys! Let’s roll! There’s candy to be had!”
The door opened and Peter shot out of the room. “Dad!”
Tony kneeled down and got a hug. “Hello there, Roo.”
He held the boy at arm’s length and eyed his costume. The boy was wearing jeans, an AC/DC shirt, and a white thermal under it. On his face were a pair of sunglasses. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“You!” Peter grinned and Tony’s heart melted.
“Me too!” Harley came out in a smaller Iron Man armor.
“Please tell me that that has no weapons on it.”
“Doesn’t even fly. Though I might change that at some point.” Harley grinned as he raised the faceplate.
“Think again, Potato.”
Ned completed the trio coming out in a suit. “And I’m Happy.”
Tony didn’t even bother to hold in a laugh. “You three look great.”
“Tony! Let’s get a picture!” May held up her camera and the boys gathered around him and they snapped a photo.
Once the formalities were done, the group headed out. After all, there was candy to be had that evening.