Chapter 10: Welcome Home

"They…what?" I asked still shocked. Edward was standing right next to me and he couldn't even believe it.

"Rhodey and his search party found Tony. He's injured, but alive." Pepper explained. Tears of happiness were falling down her face. Too stunned to speak, I hugged her. "He's coming home in two days."

"Riley this is wonderful news." Edward twirl-hugged me.

"We need to tell the others." I grinned. He put me down and I called Sam.

"THEY WHAT!" She yelled in the receiver.

"They found him! He's coming home in two days! You and Jake can come visit him." I giddily replied.

"Oh we definitely will. I'm going to go call him." She squealed back. Then Edward called Alice and she had the same reaction too. This day is too great.

Two days passed by very quickly. I was very anxious to see my brother again. For three months he had been gone. I felt a bit nervous for some odd reason. I haven't felt nervous since before my transformation. Maybe it was the thought that he would notice that I'm completely different.

On the morning of his return, I wore a black shirt, baggy jeans, and my Chucks. I kept my hair down and straightened it. I examined myself in the mirror and saw me with liquid topaz eyes. Sometime this week I'll go hunting. The weather outside was gray and wonderful, so I got lucky today.

I headed downstairs to the living room and waited for Pepper. We would be picking him up at 11:00 and it was already 10:00. I heard her coming from her room across the house. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Did you grab something to eat?" She apologized.

"Yeah I had some yogurt this morning." I fibbed. I don't need to eat anymore. We can eat, but we really don't have to. Same goes with breathing only it occurs naturally.

"Well let's get going then." She said. We headed out to the car where Happy was waiting. He held open the door for us and we climbed in and set off to the air force base where Tony and Rhodey were at. The drive took 45 minutes to get there, so I kept myself occupied by viewing the scenery.

From up above high in the sky, I heard the plane's engines. It was still a few miles away, but Pepper couldn't hear it. Then increasingly it got louder and louder as it drew closer. An ambulance was waiting by in case if Tony passed out or he needed something like a wheelchair. I found the plane descending beneath the clouds and the wheels met the runway.

The craft doors opened with a loud hiss and my brother sat in a wheelchair with a sling around his arm. He was a bit banged up, but he looked very stylish in his suit. Rhodey stood next to him and helped him out of the chair. "Watch your step here." I heard him say.

"What are they doing here?" Tony noticed the ambulance and a gurney. "Get rid of them." Rhodey waved away the medics and they understood. He approached us and smiled. "Your eyes are red. Tears for your long lost boss?" He said to Pepper. Her eyes were indeed red.

"I hate job hunting." She smiled through her tears that she quickly wiped away. Then Tony turned to me.

He held out his good arm in a hug and I hugged him very gently back. "You and Pepper were the only thoughts keeping me alive." He kissed my head.

"I missed you so much. You wouldn't believe how hard it was." I replied back.

"You look very beautiful since the last time I saw you." He noted. I smiled at him. Then we headed to the car. "Long time no seen Happy."

"It's good to see you sir." Happy held the door open. We climbed in.

"Drive us to the hospital Happy." Pepper instructed.

"No wait. There's something I need to do. First I want a cheeseburger. I've been in captivity for three months and I want a cheeseburger." Tony changed. Pepper gave him a look.

"For the love of-"She began.

"Now wait, then I want you to call up a press. Cheeseburger first, then the press." Tony added. Pepper rolled her eyes, but did what she was told. We drove to a fast food restaurant that was close by and sold cheeseburgers. "So what did you do while I was gone?"

"Well, I went to school like always, and over Spring Break, you won't believe this though." I explained to him.

"Yeah I will believe this. Keep going I want to hear what happened." He begged me to go on.

"I got in a car accident. I was going to the movies with Sam and Jake and while we were at a stoplight, a semi truck crashed into us. The driver of the semi was killed in the crash, so we will never find out why he did it. I was sent to the hospital and I was losing a lot of blood. Sam and Jake made it out with a few cuts and bruises. Lucky them. I had to spend the entire break in the hospital and it sucked." I told my story. Tony gaped at me in shock.

"You were in a car crash? And the semi driver was killed? And you were in the hospital for Break?" He asked in shock. I nodded. "Who was the doctor that took care of you?"

"His name is Doctor Carlisle Cullen. He took care of me while I was in the hospital. He has two daughters and three sons. Edward, Jasper, and Alice are a year older than me. And Rosalie and Emmett are two years older than me. They're all foster children and when he and his wife Esme were taking care of them, they decided to adopt them. So none of them are really blood relatives." I explained Carlisle to him.

"Well I must meet this Dr. Cullen and thank him for taking care of you." Tony smiled. While we were talking, we didn't notice that we arrived to our destination where the press was at. The crowds of press agents were applauding for his return. Obadiah was waiting with them and he greeted us by opening the car door for us.

"Hello Tony. It's so good to see you alive. Hey is that a cheeseburger?" He greeted. Tony stepped out of the car and waved to the press with his good arm.

"This is my cheeseburger. I was held in captivity for three months and I haven't had American food in three months." Tony said quietly for him and Obie to hear, but I could hear them talking. I stepped out of the car with Pepper and we headed inside of the factory of Stark Industries. The press room was an open room with glass windows from the ceiling to the floor.

I heard the thoughts of everyone in the room and they were all thinking similar things. Tony Stark's back! What creative weapon will he come up with next? Pepper and I stood in a corner and a man walked up to us.

"Ms. Potts?" The man asked. She turned her attention to him.

"Yes?" She answered.

"May I speak to you for a moment?"

"I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to being right now."

"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Coulson explained and handed her a card.

"That's quite a mouthful." I replied.

"I know." Coulson said. "We're working on it."

"You know, we've already been approached by the DOD, the FBI, and the CIA-"Pepper began.

"We're a subdivision. We're the more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circum stances of his escape." He continued explaining.

"I'll put something in the book. Shall I?" She plied.

"Thank you." He said. Then we turned our attention to Stane.

"Uh," He began and looked down at Tony who was seated in front of the podium on the floor.

"Hey would it be alright if everyone sat down so that you can see me and I can see you and it would be a little less formal." Tony asked pulling out a cheeseburger.Everyone hesitated for a moment, but they sat down. Stane sat down next to him as he took a bite of his burger.

What's going on?

Why are we sitting down? Thoughts raced through the heads of the press agents.

"What's up with him?" Rhodey asked sitting down next to us.

"Don't ask me. I have no clue." Pepper replied.

"Good to see you." Tony said lowly to Stane. He patted him on the shoulder.

"Good to see you too." He replied.

"I never got to say good bye to Dad." Tony said to him. Then he turned to the press. "I never got to say good bye to my father." He sat his burner aside and took deep breath thinking about what to say. "If there were questions I could ask him, I would ask him about how he would feel about what this company did, if he was conflicted if he ever had doubts, or maybe he was the man everyone would remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the weapons I made to defend and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system with zero accountability." Reporters were raising their hands to ask questions.

"Mr. Stark?" One asked.

"Hey Ben."

"So what happened over there?"

"I had my eyes open. I came to realize that I had more to offer to this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why immediately I'm shutting down the weapons manufacture of Stark Industries." He explained standing up at the podium. In an instant, reporters stood up firing questions about his decision. "Until at such a time I can decide the future of this company."

"What we should take from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever!" Stane tried calming down the press. Tony left the podium. I looked at Pepper. Her mouth was slightly open in surprise about what she just witnessed. I walked through the crowd to help my brother get back here. Reports were flashing cameras at me and asking me questions, but I ignored them. I found his hand and led him back to Pepper.

"We should go." I quietly said to him. He nodded.

"There's something that I want to take a look at first, but you can head home if you want to. I'll meet you there." Tony looked down at me. We headed out to the car and climbed in. It was a quiet ride on the way home. Then I noticed something different. I heard a low humming, not coming from the car, but from somewhere. It was impossible for humans to hear it, but could. Then Tony shifted in his seat uncomfortably, I heard his heart race a little. I hope this mini-arc reactor keeps the shrapnel out of my heart. Vaguely, just barely, I saw a blue light coming from his chest. So that must be what he thinking about. The arc reactor powering the factory gives off a blue color.

We arrived home and Pepper and I climbed out. "I'll be back later." He called. "I promise." He added quietly to me. I gave a small smile and he smiled back. The door closed and I could hear him talk to Happy. "Back to the factory, please Happy."

"So what do you feel like doing while waiting for him?" I asked Pepper for a change. "And I can tell that you like the "new" him." Pepper blushed and opened her mouth to say something. "Oh come on. You know it's true."

"Well who doesn't?" She asked. "He's learned something from being over there missing for three months and he's decided to shut down the weapon manufacturing. Now tell me who wouldn't be happy about that?" She laughed. Then we headed inside. We waited for a couple of hours for him and he and Happy came home before Pepper knew it. I heard them coming from the bottom of the hill.

"Welcome home sir." Jarvis greeted as Tony walked in.

"Ah it's so good to hear your voice again Jarvis. I missed you guys a whole bunch." Tony wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "What have you been up to kiddo?"

"Nothing much. Painting things. Talking to friends every now and then." Performing at concerts. Oh I almost forgot. I'm inviting someone over that you haven't met yet. He's a friend of mine." I said. I heard the Volvo pull up and knew he was here.

"And who might this be?" Tony asked as I walked to the door after Jarvis announced Edward was here.

"His name is Edward. And no he's not my boyfriend." I explained looking back at him.

"Now why would I think that?" He asked.

"I just have one of those feelings." I replied as I opened the door. Edward stood there wearing a nice shirt and a small smile on his face. His eyes were a liquid topaz like mine. Later tonight, we're going hunting.

"Hello Riley." He greeted. I stood aside for him to come in.

"Hi Edward. There's someone that I want you to meet." I greeted back. I led him to the living room where Tony stood up and shook his hand.

"Mr. Stark," Edward began keeping good eye contact, "I wanted to formally introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen."

"Hi Edward." Tony said. "You can call me Tony instead of Mr. Stark. So you're a friend of Riley's."

"Yes. Since the middle of the school year. We bumped into each other one day and started talking to each other."

"And what grade will you be in?"

"I will be a senior in the fall along with my sister Alice and brother Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie graduated last month."

"Just a year older than Riley."

"Yep just a year older than me." I replied. When Tony turned, I gave Edward a quick wink at the joke.

"Hey Riley can I talk to you for a second in the kitchen?" Tony asked. I didn't hesitate on wondering why. I knew where this was going. When we got to the kitchen Tony closed the door, but that wouldn't be help at all. "This guy's a year older than you."

"Yeah. And?"

"I don't mind you having guy friends, but when you bring a guy who looks like Robert Pattinson that's when I get a bit worried about you. I'm nervous that you might make wrong choices when it comes to relationships."

"We're just friends. And it's going to stay like that. I pinkie-swear-cross-my-heart promise." I held my pinkie up. He locked it with his pinkie.

"Alright, but if you end up getting pregnant by him, I'll kick you in the stomach and it's lockdown on you. Ok?" He looked at me with protective older brother eyes. I gave him a 'I promise' look.