December 2008

Three months. Tony had been gone for three months without even a hint of finding him and it was beginning to wear on Ginnie. Outwardly, Ginnie kept up the facade that everything was business as usual but those who knew her knew damn well that it was anything but that. Many clients Ginnie could triage and deflect until Tony returned but not all of them. It revolted and disgusted her with how much she had to pass off to Obadiah in Tony's absence. It was made worse by how much she noticed how much he liked having the power.

But at the end of the day, the walls came down and everything crashed around her. There were many nights when Ginnie cried herself to sleep with her cell phone next to the pillow, just waiting for it to ring. When the loneliness got too overwhelming, Ginnie would head over to Tony's parents who were probably the one of the few people who understood.

Deep down there was one thing that kept her holding on to hope that Tony was still alive and that he would be found again. Something that only five people knew about. Ginnie could not give up on Tony because that would mean their child would grow up without a father. She would talk to the child growing inside of her just to have some connection to Tony at the moment.

Ginnie hadn't wanted to tell anyone at first about the baby but she couldn't go through all of this alone. Howard and Maria were a great source of comfort and they could find some peace in the thought of a grandchild. She had to tell Rhodey to give him a valid reason to keep looking as if Rhodey really needed a reason to find his best friend among the sands of Hell. Tony's secretary Mary figured it out on her own when Ginnie stopped drinking coffee. Ginnie had hoped to tell Tony first about the baby they had waited so long for but if he wasn't found soon, her belly which was beginning to show was going to do the telling for her.

Ginnie hit her lowest spot while decorating the house for Christmas and wrapping gifts. The silence in the house was just too much any more. "JARVIS, could you please put on some of Tony's music?" she asked aloud.

"What would you prefer, madam?" JARVIS replied without hesitation.

Ginnie shrugged. "I don't care. Put on the mix Tony uses when he works."

Hard rock and heavy metal started to play through the house's sound system at a low level.

A stray tear rolled down Ginnie's cheek. "Why am I doing this, JARVIS? Why am I even bothering? What's the point?"

"Mr. Stark would not want you to put your life on hold," the AI replied.

"But maybe people are right and I should accept the fact that I may already be a widow," Ginnie sighed. "I can't do it though. Deep down, I know he's still alive. What would Tony do?"

"Mr. Stark would probably dive head first into his work until he forgot about everything else that didn't matter," JARVIS stated. "But part of him is still alive and growing every day within you, madam."

Ginnie placed her hand over her belly and looked down. "This baby will need its father."

The phone rang. "Madam, Colonel Rhodes is calling."

"Put him through," Ginnie said as she wiped her eyes. "Jim, tell me, please, is there any news?"

A pause. "You don't know how much I have missed hearing your voice," a worn and scratchy voice came over the phone.

Ginnie swallowed hard, not believing her ears. "Tony? Is it really you?" she gasped as more of a sob.

"The one and only," Tony said with a hoarse laugh before he caught the crack in Ginnie's voice. "Ginnie, please don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry," Tony whispered as his own voice cracked with emotion. Just the sound of Ginnie crying was breaking him and what little resolve he had left.

"When are you coming home?" Ginnie choked out in between sniffs.

"Rhodey can answer that one,"

Another seemingly endless pause as the phone was passed.

"Where are you taking him, Jim?" Ginnie demanded as soon as she heard breath over the phone.

"Germany," Rhodey quickly responded. "They have the best and closest medical facilities so he can be checked out."

"When?"

"As soon as we hit the landing strip in Kabul, we're switching to a jet and we're in the air," Rhodey said trying to be reassuring.

"I'm meeting you there," Ginnie stated. It was not a request.

"Gin, I get how much you want to be with him but he'll be safe on the base," Rhodey interjected.

"Jim, let me make this extremely clear," Ginnie told him in a tone that was not to be messed with. "Either you are getting me clearance to be with him or I am calling Howard and he will call the White House personally but under no circumstance will I not be by his side."

Rhodey sighed. He wasn't winning this fight. "I'll make sure it's done."

"I will see you in eight and a half hours. Put Tony back on," Ginnie requested.

"I can't," Rhodey returned with a small laugh. "He fell asleep."

By noon the next day, the car Ginnie had called for was bringing her to the gates of Ramstein Air Force base and as expected, she was stopped at the gates. She handed over her passport and STARK INDUSTRIES tag to identify herself.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Stark, but I can't let you pass without clearance," the airman at the gate gently explained.

"Then I suggest that you call Lt. Colonel James Rhodes down here because he is my clearance. If that is not sufficient, then I will be making one of three phone calls...the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense or the President himself," Ginnie stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

The young airman hesitated no further and called Rhodey down to the gate and show Ginnie to the reception center where she could wait for him.

A few moments later, a ragged and out of breath Rhodey, who hadn't even changed out of his fatigues yet, appeared to greet her. Ginnie took one look at her husband's best friend and realized he had been through as much of the ringer as she had.

"Sorry Gin," Rhodey said as he hugged her. "I wanted to stay with Tony as they check him in."

Ginnie returned the hug tightly, trying to give some comfort in exchange for what she was receiving. "How is he?"

Rhodey sighed as he motioned for her to follow him. "He could have been a lot worse," he started. "He's definitely lost weight from lack of eating regularly. From his escape, he has some bruises, scrapes and sunburn as well as dehydration and pulled or torn muscles..."

Ginnie could sense that Rhodey was trying to dodge something. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Damn, you have been around Tony for a while now," Rhodey replied before pausing to search for the right words. "When we were attacked, Tony and I were thrown from the Humvee. A missile went off next to him...his body armor protected him from most of the damage but not all. Some shrapnel from the device got past it..."

Ginnie gasped as she flashed back to a day to when Tony boasted about inventing a weapon that could get past even the best body armor.

"The prisoner that was held with Tony managed to remove a great deal of it but not all. To prevent it from going into Tony's major organs, he installed an electromagnet which Tony claims he upgraded so he wouldn't have to be tied to a car battery."

"What do you mean by upgraded?" Ginnie asked.

"I thought it was a bomb at first but Tony assured me that he built it and it's perfectly safe. He said he miniaturized the Arc Reactor and placed it in his chest," Rhodey explained as best as he could.

All of this was a lot to take in all at once. Ginnie processed it as best could and mentally ran through her mind how she may have to take care of Tony when they got home. Pushing that aside, she changed the topic. "Did you tell him?"

Rhodey shook his head. "That is all up to you but I know he'll be pissed at me that I found out before he did," he smiled as they stopped at a hospital room door. "He's in there."

Ginnie peeked in the window and saw Tony laying in a hospital bed, an IV with various fluids attached to his hand, oxygen in his nose and numerous wires and monitors attached to his chest. She could easily ignore the scruffy beard but the various injuries weren't as easy. "Do they have him sedated?" she asked in horror at seeing his eyes closed. Tony did not like hospitals and did not easily give into being in one.

"Oh God no," Rhodey quickly answered. "He's just exhausted. Trust me, he's just sleeping...and snoring. But I know as soon as you walk in, he won't object to being woken up. Go on, I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

Ginnie smiled at Rhodey before giving him a hug and then going into Tony's room. The room was fairly dark except for a small crack of fluorescent light coming in from the crack in the door and his arc reactor, which was a soft blue-white glow. There were other beds in the room but they were blessedly empty. As Ginnie crossed over to Tony's bedside, she could hear the beeping of the monitors and him snoring. Tears of joy stung at her eyes as she pulled a chair over to sit beside him. She turned on the soft bedside table light and kissed his lips to gently rouse him.

Tony's eyes slowly opened, blinking to focus them. When he saw Ginnie sitting next to him, he smiled first before his eyes filled with tears. "Hello Beautiful," he rasped out.

Ginnie leaned down and kissed him again before wiping away the tears with her thumb. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"I don't plan on it," Tony whispered as he pointed to the water next to him.

Ginnie filled a glass for him and helped to support it because he couldn't get a good grip on it due to the IV. "You better not because I'm going to need you around for a while," she said as she took his hand and purposely placed it over her belly.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of, remember?" Tony laughed and then winced with the pain. It was only then that he realized where his hand was. He looked up at Ginnie. "Really?"

Ginnie nodded with a huge smile. "I found out just after you left."

Tony sniffed as tears stung at his eyes again. They were expecting a baby. "How far along?" he asked cautiously.

"Sixteen weeks," Ginnie beamed. "And everything is perfect. We can find out what it is next month. I've wanted to tell you for so long."

"Does anyone already know?" Tony inquired.

Ginnie nodded. "Your parents, Rhodey and Mary, your secretary. I had to tell your parents and Rhodey and Mary just figured it out when I stopped drinking coffee. I won't be able to keep it a secret much longer though."

"We'll have a big party to announce it when I get out of here," Tony told her quickly. "Speaking of that...when am I leaving?"

Ginnie shook her head. "Rhodey didn't tell me yet."

Tony did not like that answer. "Rhodey, get in here. I know you're outside the door," he called out.

Rhodey came into the door frame and leaned against it. "You don't have to be so loud. I heard you."

"When am I getting out of here?" Tony demanded.

"I told you he would sit for staying here long," Ginnie added.

Rhodey sighed. "The docs want to check you out."

"Aside from being a little banged up, I'm fine," Tony insisted. "Get someone in here so I can go home."

"I think your patience has actually lessened," Rhodey groaned as he hit the page button for the doctor.

The doctor had barely taken two steps into the room when Tony spoke up. "When do I get to go home?"

"Mr. Stark, we would like to keep you here a few days for observations. You've had a very traumatic ordeal."

"Aside from being sore, I'm fine."

"We would like to run some tests..."

"No."

"Mr. Stark..."

"I said no," Tony ground out. "Answer me this, do I need surgery?"

"No," the doctor replied.

"The only thing you're really going to do for me is give me pain meds and make me sleep on this uncomfortable bed when I have a king sized bed at home and an AI that can monitor my vitals, and does it even when he's not instructed to, and my doctor in New York who is able to be called at any time. Why on Earth should I stay here when I have all of that at home?"

The doctor was stunned into silence for a moment as Tony dressed him down. "How would you get home?"

"My private jet," Tony responded. "My wife used it to get here and I am sure I can get temporary permission to land it on the air strip and then I'm out of your hair."

"Two days."

"One," Tony renegotiated. "I leave tomorrow."

Ginnie smiled. There was a reason why Tony was good at his job.

"I guess I have no choice," the doctor acquiesced and then muttered something under his breath as he left.

"Let me see about having your plane moved here from Frankfurt," Rhodey said as he made his rather quick exit to give Tony and Ginnie some alone time.

Once the door shut, Tony had a huge grin on his face. "You know what I want when we get home?"

Ginnie sat on the side of his bed and she felt so much better to see him smile. "What do you want?" she purred.

"I want an American cheeseburger – a big one with fries, you naked in bed with your legs wrapped around my waist...wait, are we okay there?"

Ginnie blushed and nodded. "Everything is perfect and that is not off limits."

Tony nodded. "Good." He then continued with his list. "I want you naked in bed with your legs wrapped around my waist a few times. I'd say here and now but I think all these damn wires would be in the way. And I want a press conference."

"Anything else?" Ginnie inquired.

"I'll probably think of something," Tony laughed.

As night fell, smiles and jokes were replaced with terror and screaming. Tony fell asleep just after dinner and Ginnie stretched out on one of the empty beds to relax after a very trying two days. Ginnie was by nature a lighter sleeper than Tony so trying to ignore the occasional beeps of the monitors was proving difficult. It didn't seem like she had been asleep very long when the monitors started beeping like crazy. The monitors for Tony's heart rate and respiration were spiking and one glance towards Tony let her know why. Still sound asleep, Tony started thrashing out absently and crying out in fear. He was in the deep throes of a nightmare that he had to wake up from.

The sounds of the alarms sent the nurses in to check on Tony but Ginnie waved them off at first. "Let me," she told them as she crossed over to Tony's bed. She gently stroked his hair and touched his cheek. "Tony, wake up. Listen to my voice. Wake up."

Somehow Ginnie's voice managed to reach inside Tony's head and he jolted awake, sweating and out of breath. Ginnie quickly embraced him and pulled him close to her to calm him down.

"It was just a nightmare. You're safe here," Ginnie whispered.

Tony didn't say anything as he buried his face in Ginnie's neck, holding on to her as tight as he could, trying to regain some sort of emotional control but failing miserably. "Don't let go," he whispered tearfully.

"I never will," Ginnie reassured him.

Ginnie spent the rest of the night right next to Tony.

The next morning, the private jet was heading back to New York with two fighter jets escorting them. Tony fidgeted in the seat as he gazed out the window, constantly pulling at the sling he was wearing.

"Why don't you try to sleep for a bit?" Ginnie suggested.

"I have only one interest for that bed and sleep is not it," Tony stated with a smirk that faded. "I can't get comfortable. This damn sling itches like hell and cuts into my neck. I'd rather take it off and deal with the occasional shoulder pain."

Ginnie could empathize with the itching. Having had many a sunburn due to her fair complexion, she knew all to well what healing skin felt like after a burn. "It's meant to keep your shoulder stable for a few days more so you don't re-injure it."

Tony groaned. "I'm going to do more damage if I keep trying to itch it. Take it off, please."

Ginnie knew damn well she wasn't winning this fight. She crossed over to him and started to loosen the sling from his neck and as she did so, Tony pulled her down into his lap.

"I'm not going to break, you know," Tony stated. "You should know that I'm a lot harder to take down than I look."

"I know that," Ginnie sighed as she rested her head against his uninjured shoulder. "It's just that for three months, every time the phone rang, I expected the worst. Now, I have you back and the baby doesn't have to be a secret any longer and it's a lot to take in at once." She started to fiddle with the buttons on Tony's shirt. "I want to see it."

"You're saying you already have a lot to take in and you want to add to it?" Tony inquired.

"I want to see it," Ginnie restated.

Tony unbuttoned his shirt down past the arc reactor imbedded into his chest. The skin surrounding it was red and angry but healing. The blue light emanating from it was hard to ignore.

Ginnie ran her fingers over it gently. It was genius but so foreign to see deep in his chest. "Does it hurt?"
Tony shook his head. "Not any more. It itches though sometimes."

"Rhodey said there's an electromagnet at the end of it."

Tony nodded. "A basic one at best but I can upgrade both of these when we get home when I have better materials at my disposal. There's only so much you can do in a cave."

Ginnie cringed slightly when he mentioned the cave. She wasn't so sure that she could stomach hearing about everything that had happened to him even though she knew one day she would need to hear it. Right now, she was content to listen to his heartbeat as she placed his hand over her small belly where their baby grew.

It was a cold and dreary morning when the press conference was called. The freezing drizzle did nothing to stop the flood of reporters who crowded into the main press room at Stark Industries. Many of them suspected that they were going to announce that the search had finally been stopped for Tony and a transition of power to Obadiah was to be discussed.

The crowd buzzed with anticipation and rumors circulating around the room and only grew silent as Obadiah stepped forward and came up to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for coming this morning at such short notice. Let's get this started without any run around. I give you Tony Stark."

Every reporter in the room stopped breathing for a moment as they saw Tony walk in from the back of the room.

He had ditched the sling so that he could put up the best front of having everything in order and it was business as usual. Outside, he put up the front of being as cold as ice but inside, Tony's stomach was doing flip flops at what he was preparing to say.

As Tony walked forward, Ginnie watched from the back of the room.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Stark, could I have a word?"

Ginnie turned and was taken a bit by surprise to see a government agent standing next to her. "I'm not part of the press conference but it's about to start."

"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouth full," Ginnie responded as she took his card.

"Yes, I know. We're working on it," Coulson responded.

"We've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI and the CIA..."

"We're a seperate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark on the manner of his escape," Coulson continued.

"I will put something in the books," Ginnie responded politely.

"Thank you."

"Good morning," Tony started as he cleared his throat. "I wasn't probably what you were expecting but you know I like to make an entrance. I have worked as part of Stark Industries for many years, since before I was old enough to vote and in those years I never asked my father how he felt about what we did."

"What happened over there?" one reporter interjected.

Tony sighed. "I had my eyes opened. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons that were designed to protect them. I saw the dark side of the world that most of us try to deny that it exists and I realized there was more I can do than just make things that blow up. It does no good to have the things that blow up when they are not secure to those who can do the most good with them. That is why, effective immediately, I am holding all shipments of all Stark Industries weaponry until I can make them impervious to the black market dealings. Nothing will leave here without my express knowledge and permission."

The room erupted with questions as Obadiah stepped forward again to try to quell things. "The main thing we take away is that Tony's back and we will revisit this topic after a little internal discussion."

As the attention was focused on Obadiah, Tony slipped away to his office for some peace. The elevator doors opened on the top floor and Tony saw that his secretary, Mary, was not at her desk. Thinking nothing of it, he unlocked his office door, opened it and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hi Dad."

Howard spun the chair towards the door. "Tony, would you like to explain to me why I the first time I see you after your return is here?"

"Maybe it's because I wanted to spend some time alone with my wife after finding out I'm going to be a father," Tony explained. "Are you here to fire me?"

Howard shook his head. "I want an explanation as to what the hell just went on down there because that doesn't seem like it was off the cuff."

"It wasn't, Dad," Tony replied honestly. "I've had three months to think about it. We can't just be a one trick pony and that one trick can't just be weapons."

"Tony, we build weapons and that has been our stock and trade for a very long time," Howard said gently. "We have contracts to uphold."

"The contracts will be upheld because I have never welched on a deal. But I don't want this company's only legacy to be a body count written in blood," Tony countered.

"Tony, what happened over there?"

Tony crossed the room and sat down on his couch. "They had my weapons. They had hundreds of them...some of which go back decades. How did they get them, Dad? I was always told that we didn't deal under the table and from what I saw they had to have someone pretty high up to get what they had."

"We don't deal under the table," Howard stated firmly. "But if you are saying these go back decades, then not all of them are yours."

"Dad, you may have signed off on the order to have them created but I designed them, I built them, I tested them and I demonstrated every damn one of them. They are as much mine as they are yours and they wanted more. They wanted me so I could build them more directly and then they tortured me to try to get me to submit."

Howard watched how Tony's anger transformed into pain as he spoke. He sat down next to his son. "How did you get out of there?"

"I did exactly what you trained me to do my entire life!" Tony shouted as his voice cracked and his eyes went glassy. "I built the bigger stick and then I blasted the shit out of them. I took every one of those weapons, scavenged it out and made sure they couldn't do a damn thing about it." Tears streamed down his face. "I killed them all and couldn't save the man who saved my life when one of our missiles exploded right next to me and sent shrapnel into my chest."

Howard's heart broke as he listened to Tony explain what had happened. Without hesitation, he pulled Tony into a tight hug as he tried to regain control of his emotions. "What did they do to my boy?" he whispered.

Tony tensed up at first but it lasted only a moment before giving into the comfort he so needed at the moment. He looked up when his father spoke. "They pissed him off and made him want revenge."

"What do you plan on doing about it?"

Tony wiped his eyes. "First off, I need to make our current systems unusable to the black market...either through some sort of code or biometrics to limit access. Then, we need to boost up our other departments – arc reactor technology, medical enhancements. Last but certainly not least, we need to find the leak and plug it up by any means necessary."

Howard liked the plan. "This could work."

"I know it can," Tony said as he tried to get up from the couch but instantly regretted it.

"Tony, you know damn well that you shouldn't be here now. You should be home."

"I am aware of that, Dad, but if I leave now before setting a few last details in motion so I can work from home who knows what other shit is going to go on," Tony countered as he loosened his tie and bent his head down again. "I'm exhausted, my shoulder is throbbing, I have a splitting headache and it feels like I'm going to throw up."

Howard pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and soaked it in the bucket of ice on the bar and then placed it on the back of Tony's neck while he grabbed him a bottle of water. "Keep that there and just rest for a bit. I'll have Mary find Ginnie for you."

Just as Howard stood up to get Mary, she knocked on the door. "Mr. Stark?"

"Yes?" both father and son answered at the same time.

Mary smiled. "The Board is convening in an hour."

"Thank you, Mary," Tony responded from the couch as he pushed himself to sit up slowly. "Can you please have my wife come up?"

"She was just wrapping up downstairs. I called her a few moments ago."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Howard asked as he helped Tony up and straightened his tie.

Tony shook his head. "I can do this. You liked my ideas. I think after kicking the shit out of a bunch of heavily armed terrorists who wanted to kill me, talking to a ten stiff, out of shape old men who don't lift anything heavier than their wallet should be a piece of cake."