Rescue
Tony's face changes from that of devastated to murderous like the flip of a switch. The suit jerks violently as his glare leaves the body of his friend, and instead focuses on the outside of the cave.
“They are so gonna get it,” said Clint a slightly eager expression on his face.
The view changes, showing the entrance to the cave from the outside where men are standing ready with guns. Loud, resonating footsteps can be heard echoing off the cave walls. The men surrounding the entrance seem to grow increasingly nervous and rattled with each step.
Vision smiled slightly, glad that Tony had managed to get any form of revenge for his cruel conditions.
A faint circle of light can be seen emerging from the darkness of the cave before a full suit of armour is revealed, dangerous and unnerving. The men stagger backwards a few steps but don't back down. Instead, there's a shout of command, and every man begins firing at the metal suit at once. The armour is a bit unsteady with the force of the bullets, but the man inside refuses to break or fall over.
The men stop firing their weapons when they see how ineffective they actually are. The mechanic's eyes can be seen through the slits of the mask, showing nothing but determination and resentment.
“Holy shit,” said Quill in awe.
“That is terrifying,” agreed Peter.
A collective shiver ran through the room at the sight of the mask and the anger of the man behind it.
When the genius finally speaks up, his voice is low and threatening, "My turn."
Tony lifts his arms and flames begin to shoot out from his makeshift flame throwers. The fire spread rapidly, the men firing a shot or two before taking much-needed steps backwards. They're screaming as the blaze engulfs them and their camp, Stark turning the flames to their stockpile of his weapons. He burns them all, setting fire to every crate stamped with his name, every gun, man, and missile.
Rocket cheered and got a couple more nervous glances.
“That was badass,” commented Scott. Rhodey smiled slightly at the change in attitude going throughout the room. Even if it was slow. Steve glanced at Bucky who was looking down. The look on Tony’s face on-screen had reminded him eerily of the anger from the man in Siberia.
A man on higher ground crouches in front of a stronger, more powerful gun, firing quick, consistent shots at the suit of armour. The flames stop shooting from Tony's arms now as the bullets ricochet of the metal. Other men join in again, shooting at the suit in rapid succession. One lucky bullet lands in the join of one of the knees, and the armour goes down, bullets still flying and the flames still spreading around him.
“No!” squeaked Peter, Rhodey squeezed his shoulder in comfort but was pale at this turn in events.
Tony's not done yet, even when he's down on his knees surrounded by flame. He shoots another stream of fire, causing the crate near one shooter to explode, but bullets are still bouncing off the metal. The view widens and the explosives start to go off, the men just outside the blaze retreating. Inside the mess of explosions and fire, Tony finally gets to his feet, flipping a red switch on the inside of his left arm. There's another blast before the view widens, showing the chain reaction of every explosion.
A wide grin began to spread across Shuri’s face in realization at what the switch would be doing. Stark really was quite remarkable.
Something bursts through the rising smoke and flame, veering away from the camp. The boosters in the armour abruptly stop, the camera showing Tony shouting as he's falling out of the sky, bits of the suit falling off.
People had let out gasps, cheers, and cackles at the sight of the suit being able to fly. But collectively held their breath in fear as the suit began to fall.
He crash lands in the sand, the armour effectively falling apart and scattering. There's a pained grunt, the view panning forward towards a half armoured Tony Stark. He shakes off the mess of wires and metal that remains of the arms, before flipping off the face mask and throwing it aside. He's bloody and dirty and no doubt in pain, fresh blood staining his lips, "Not bad."
“Really? That was amazing!” said Bruce admiringly.
“That may just beat our prison break,” commented Drax, Rocket looked at him in indignation.
“Are you kidding? Did you see the guards faces as they started to float?” he began to cackle. “And Quill when he paid a shit ton of credits for the leg!” Rocket was full out laughing now and Quill had gone red and was glaring at him. Gamora had a smile on her lips.
The scene changes and he's walking through the desert, jacket draped over his head to block the unforgiving heat of the sun. His arms are bloody and his pants torn, though the arc reactor still glows through his dark green wife beater. As the billionaire is walking up a sand dune, the faint sound of an engine can be heard before a helicopter rises over the horizon, followed by a second. Tony looks up before he starts shouting and flaring his good arm, "HEY!"
“Finally!” cheered Peter. Rhodey smiled slightly remembering that meeting.
He keeps shouting until the helicopter lands, laughing like a maniac as he falls to his knees, the fingers of his raised arm forming a peace sign before letting it fall to his side. Men rush out of the chopper, a familiar face running in front of the group of men.
“I was out every day for all 3 months,” muttered Rhodey distractedly. He got a couple of sympathetic glances at the fact that he must have had a lot of fear for his friend.
Rhodey's face reveals his ease mixed with concern for his long-lost friend, "How was the fun-vee?"
“Really?” asked Natasha raising an eyebrow slightly but smiling all the same.
“Hey,” said Rhodey in defence. “I was freaking out in relief and that’s exactly what Tony would’ve wanted to hear. He’s not one for sympathy.” Natasha smirked.
“I’ve noticed.”
Tony lets out a forced laugh, relief flooding his features as Rhodey kneels down in front of him and rests a hand on his shoulder.
"Next time you ride with me, okay?" His voice is shaky and almost cracks, but when he gathers Tony in a firm hug, Tony leans into him, allowing his friend to support him.
A US Air Force plane is landing before the shot changes to Pepper Potts waiting outside with Happy behind her. Her makeup is running and her eyes are red as the ramp in the back of the plane opens. Rhodey is standing next to Tony, who gets up from his wheelchair, allowing his friend to support him as they walk down the ramp.
Rhodey is crying at finally bringing his best friend home, where he belongs, but it's clear he's doing his best to hide it. Pepper smiles when she sees her boss. His arm is in a sling and his face is cut up in a few places, but he's cleaned up and freshly shaven.
"Watch it, coming up here," Rhodes instructs the billionaire, gesturing to the ramp.
Men stroll up with a gurney, but Tony dismissively wave his good arm, "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them." He lets go of Rhodey’s hand, but the man stays close by as he approaches Pepper.
“Is he incapable of accepting help?” asked Wanda, but there was a gentleness to her voice that made no one call her out for any rudeness.
“He’s not very fond of it, no,” answered Vision and Wanda’s eye’s sparked in joy at the simple words from the android directed at her.
"Your eyes are red," He notes, holding his chin high, "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
"Tears of joy; I hate job hunting."
"Yeah, vacation's over."
They're seated in the car now, Happy in the driver seat and Tony and Pepper in back.
"Where to, Sir?"
"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper answers, but Tony immediately refuses.
"No."
"No?"
"No is a complete answer."
"Tony you have to go to the hospital. The doctor has to look at you."
"I don't have to do anything," He glances over at her and she stops talking,
"I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger and the other…"
"That's enough of that," Pepper cuts him off.
Clint snickered in spite of himself and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"… Is not what you think," He continues, "I want you to call for a press conference now."
"Call for a press conference?" She asks, completely exasperated already.
"Yeah."
"What on earth for?"
"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." He instructs Happy
“Wouldn’t he be able to keep down that much food after being in captivity?” asked Strange in concern. Vision sighed slightly.
“From my records as JARVIS, no he wasn’t.” no one questioned the android further.
Happy pulls the car up outside where the press conference is being held. Everyone claps and Obadiah is revealed, running up to the car and opening the door.
"Look at this! Tony." He hugs the billionaire once he steps out of the car. When he pulls away he places both hands on Tony's shoulders, "We were going to meet at the hospital."
"No, I'm fine." He insists as Happy comes around the back of the vehicle, holding out a Burger King bag. Tony reaches inside and pulls out a burger.
"Look at you," Obie continues, "You had to have a burger, yeah?"
“That’s Tony, near death=food.” Bruce sighed.
“The Shawarma was interesting,” added Thor.
"Well, come on." They start walking towards the door together, Obadiah's hand on his shoulder.
"You get me one of those?" The older man asks, gesturing to the sandwich.
"Uh, there's only one left. I need it."
They're walking down a hall just as Tony finishes his burger. Cameras are flashing and people are shouting inquires. While Tony makes his way to the podium the view shows Pepper as a familiar man approaches her.
“And the start of SHIELD interacting with Tony.” sighed Natasha but she had smiled at the appearance of their old friend. Clint had twitched slightly at the appearance.
"Miss Potts?"
"Yes?"
"Can I speak to you for a moment?"
"I'm not part of the press conference," She explains, gesturing to the crowd of reporters, "but it's about to begin right now."
"I'm not a reporter. I'm agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Linguistics Division." He clarifies as he hands her a card.
"That's quite a mouthful," She says, reaching for the card.
"I know. We're working on it."
“I’m pretty sure they just wanted the SHIELD acronym.” sighed Clint.
"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA…"
"We're a separate division with a more specific focus," He cuts her off. "We need to debrief Mr Stark about the circumstances of his escape."
"I'll put something in the book, shall I?"
"Thank you." He nods, giving her a genuine tight-lipped smile before walking away. She turns her attention to the press conference.
Obadiah is standing at the podium trying to settle down the crowd. He glances down, the camera following his gaze to reveal Tony sitting on the ground, leaning against the stand and pulling a hidden burger out of his pocket.
"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down? Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can… a little less formal, and…" He pauses to take a bite of his cheeseburger.
“And so begins the second biggest press conference in SI history.” sighed Rhodey.
"What's with the love-in?" Rhodey asks as he sits beside Pepper.
"Don't look at me. I don't know what he's up to."
"Good to see you," Tony glances away from his food and at Obie, who is seated beside him.
"Good to see you." The older says, putting his hand on the billionaire's shoulder.
"I never got to say goodbye to dad."
Bucky visibly flinched at that and Steve stared at the floor trying to avoid Natasha’s eyes.
"I never got to say goodbye to my father," He repeats, a bit louder this time as he addresses the reporters. "There's questions I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."
“Did Tony not have a close relationship with Howard?” asked Steve confused. Rhodey let out a bark of laughter that was a mix of bitterness and anger.
“You could say that.”
His face is suddenly very serious, and he appears as if he staring off into nothing, lost in his own memories, "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
Wanda bit her lip at the reminder that what she had thought was completely and utterly wrong.
A reporter hesitantly raises his hand, " Mr Stark!"
"Hey, Ben."
"What happened over there?"
Tony stands now, going to walk around the podium, "I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world, than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International,"
There were a couple of smiles around the room at the announcement.
All of the reporters stand up at once, each one shouting questions and demanding answers. Obadiah stands with them, approaching Tony on the podium and laying a hand on his shoulder, trying to move him away but the billionaire continues, "until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."
Obie steps in front of the microphone, having finally succeeded in shooing the genius away, "What we should take away from this, is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion, and we'll get back to you with a follow-up."
“Yeah, he’s definitely ‘healthier than ever.’” snarled Rhodey and several people gave him alarmed glances at the ferocity. He then sighed. “Before we continue I’ll just check on Tony and see if he’s ready to come back.” Rhodey stood up and headed to the room Tony had been in. Entering he saw that Tony had fallen asleep in the chair. Rhodey smiled at his friend's oddly peaceful sleep and quietly exited the room. As he returned he got several questioning looks.
“Tony’s fallen asleep, I think I’ll just leave him there. Lord knows he needs it.” Rhodey’s eyes flicked towards Natasha and her knowing look. Then he returned to his seat.
The scene changes and Obadiah is approaching on a Segway, cigar in his mouth when he approaches Happy, "Where is he?"
"He's inside." He replies, taking the abandoned segway.
When Obie enters the building, Tony is standing behind a railing, gazing up a giant machine flashing blue; it's humming filling the otherwise silent room.
“That’s the Arc Reactor?” asked Wong in shock. Rhodey nodded.
“Reducing the size of something that large is quite impressive. Let alone it be in a cave,” commented T’challa.
"Well, that… that went well," Obadiah says, the cigar between his teeth and hands on his hips.
"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Tony asks, adjusting his shirt collar as the older man approaches.
“That’s the definition of your entire life Tones.” sighed Rhodey.
"Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?"
"Optimistically, 40 points."
"At minimum."
"Yep."
"Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer."
"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy."
"That's what we do. We're IronMongers. We make weapons." The older man explains, but Tony isn't buying into it.
"It's my name on the side of the building."
"And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos," Obadiah says, ignoring Tony's reasoning.
"Not based on what I saw. We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better; we're going to do something else."
"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?"
There's a pause before Tony speaks up again, "I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology."
"Come on. The arc reactor?" Obie says, fed up as he gestures towards the giant machine, "That's a publicity stunt! Tony, come on, we built that thing to shut the hippies up!"
"It works."
"Yeah, as a science project," Obadiah walks to the other side of Tony now, "The arc reactor was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?"
“Nope!” said Peter cheerfully.
"Maybe," Tony replies, his back to his business partner.
"Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in, what? Thirty years?"
Tony turns to face him now, his features giving nothing away, unlike the older man,
"That's what they say." He eyes him, squinting as if it would help him get a better read on what Obadiah is thinking, "Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?"
“It is very obvious,” commented Sam.
"Never mind who told me," He says, pointing his cigar at the billionaire's chest, "Show me."
"It's Rhodey or Pepper."
"I want to see it."
"Okay, Rhodey," Tony says, removing his sling and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing the gentle blue glow of the arc reactor.
“Why would it be me or Pepper,” asked Rhodey aghast.
“You didn’t?” asked Scott surprised. Rhodey shook his head.
“And Ms Potts didn’t.” continued Loki obviously connecting dots in his head. Loki’s eyes widened in surprise and Thor looked at him questioningly along with Valkyrie but he didn’t say anything.
Obadiah takes a quick look and grins, before reaching forward and fastening the buttons of Tony's shirt again, "Okay."
"Okay? It works."
The older man loops his arm around Tony's shoulder, leaning in to speak to him,
"Listen to me, Tony. We're a team, do you understand?"
"There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."
Tony looks away from him at the mention of his father, "I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay? But if I had…"
"Tony." He interrupts, effectively shutting up the billionaire, "Tony, no more of this 'Ready, fire, aim' business. You understand me?"
"That was Dad's line."
Obie gives him a look before taking his hand off of the brunette's shoulder, "You gotta let me handle this. We're going to have to play a whole different kind of ball now." He explains as Tony gathers his abandoned sling and jacket and starts walking for the door, Obadiah following, "We're going to have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low."
“Lay low?” asked Bruce amused. “That’s never going to work.”