A long chapter! Well, at least the longest in this story. There will be longer ones, I promise! I hope you enjoy this, and once again the transcript goes to Airbrushed and Marvel!


A very pained looking Tony Stark was being held down. There's a brief view of cheap medical supplies; a hole carved in his chest and blood littering his torso. He's being held down as he lets out a chilling, anguished scream, the continuing despite his obvious pain.

Something is being lowered into the gap of Tony's chest by a pair of gloved hands as someone holds a ragged cloth over the genius's face, whatever chemical was in it made Tony fall unconscious.

The last thing he thought before blacking out was Primrose's face, calling for him.


March
Month Two

It was eerily quiet inside the Stark Mansion.

The usual tinkering Pepper would hear her boss create was unheard of, and whenever she went downstairs tears would come up to her blue eyes to the sight of the usual booming floor empty and dark, with no music blasting on the speakers and with no Tony Stark to playfully banter with.

Once filled with Primrose's jubilant laughter of being chased by her father to get tickled, the hallways now seemed hollow and filled with painful memories that could now belong to a dead man.

The text messages and late phone calls that Tony and Emma would have, where he basically tried to act like he wasn't getting a therapy session from her, where the two would just talk for hours until one of them fell asleep during the conversation, that one usually being Emma, were now part of her phone's history. Emma would scroll and re-read the messages to the point where she reached the first text message they ever exchanged between each other. She would smile, but then she would cry.

Then a daughter, without her daddy, was tragically by far the worst part of the situation.

Primrose was in a depressive state, and while the little girl was too young to realize it, Emma knew the symptoms – she studied them. Her daughter has lost interest in drawing, Emma once saw her daughter sitting down on her drawing table inside her room, but all she saw was Primrose holding a red crayon and staring blankly at the paper for ten minutes before throwing it away and start sobbing.

Then the concerning part was that Primrose could hardly sleep more than three hours a day, refused to eat or drink and just wanted to be inside Tony's bedroom, on his bed. Emma and Pepper took measures to assure Prim's health, they would feed her and make sure the little girl would drink at least five cups of water per day.

Those tasks would usually end up with Primrose feeling agitated, and with another crying fit.

During these days, Primrose could be found lying on her father's bed, motionless and staring at the ceiling. Even JARVIS tried to help by proposing a movie night with 'Treasure Planet'. But Primrose barely acknowledged it.

Before Rhodey left to join Tony's search team, he promised Primrose he'd find her father and bring him home. She made him pinky swear, and Rhodey was not resting until he finds him.

As Primrose starts to lose weight, the world starts believing that Tony Stark is really dead. And everyone begins talking about the next successor for Stark Industries. Of course, that Primrose's name is brought up but if she would step in for her father as CEO, the world would have to wait at least thirteen years for that to happen.

Meanwhile, Obadiah continued running Stark Industries as usual, and on the last week of the month, he sent Primrose a bouquet of orange mocks with a pink teddy bear and a note saying 'be strong little girl' attached.

Both Emma and Primrose appreciated that. Primrose started taking that pink teddy bear with her everywhere.

Men huddled around a fire for warmth before switching to the security surveillance, where Tony is shown laying on the cot with Yinsen standing over him. A moment or two passes before the genius stands, the new addition in his chest glowing with a bright, gentle, blue light, appearing larger than it actually is on the cheap cameras.

Tony takes a few steps forward and both share a handshake that could almost pass for a high-five.

A pair of dice is being rolled on a wooden board game, the two men gambling with silver bolts.

"Good roll, good roll." Yinsen praises the billionaire, reaching for the dice to shake them in his hand for his own turn.

"You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony mentions nonchalantly, lifting the lid off of a jar next to him.

"I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."

"Got a family?"

"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here." Yinsen says, looking up from the board to face the billionaire, "And you, Stark?"

The two make eye contact for a brief moment before the genius looks down, taking his turn in their game before looking back up. He shrugs and replies with a quirk of his lips, "I have a little girl, she's six."

"So you're a man who has everything, money, family, and intelligence."

Tony's expression sours and his eyes regain the water coat he'd been able to avoid when he first woke up, "I like to think of myself as a man who had everything, was starting to ruin it but will get it back and never let it go once I return alive." He told the man.

Because his daughter needed him, because he couldn't let something so traumatizing as loss of a parent happen to his little girl and because Tony Stark earned to be in Primrose's life – he was going to fight his way out of this hell and go back to his girl.


Date: May 1st
Month Three

Primrose has been in a depressing mood for three months. And hope was slowly starting to abandon Emma about Tony's life.

Emma had to start feeding her to make sure her daughter would eat and the depression was getting to her as well. She missed Tony, she would cry when she was alone and pray for his safety – even though she wasn't as religious as her mother, she was desperate.

Pepper and even Happy tried everything to cheer up the little one when Emma couldn't. All Prim would say is that her daddy was going to have to make up the months he missed when he returns, which made everyone smile when she was trying to remain optimistic. But at the same time, everyone feared that if Tony was really dead, what would happen to Primrose's mentality.


A faint circle of light can be seen emerging from the darkness of the cave before a full suit of armor is revealed, dangerous and unnerving. The Ten Rings men stagger backward a few steps but never back down. Instead, there's a shout of command, and every man begins firing at the metal suit at once. The armor becomes a bit unsteady with the force of the bullets, but Tony 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.

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. With the fire spreading rapidly, the men are only able to shoot once or twice before stepping back. They're screaming as the blaze engulfs them and their camp and Tony turns the flames towards their stockpile of his own weapons. He burns them all, setting fire to every crate stamped with his name, every gun, man, and missile.

A man on higher ground crouches in front of a stronger, more powerful gun, firing quick, consistent shots at the metallic armor. The flames abruptly stop shooting from Tony's arms as the bullets ricochet from the metal. OMore men join in, shooting at the suit in rapid succession and with determination to put it down. One lucky bullet lands in the join of one of Tony's knees, making the armor go down as bullets still flew and the flames still spread around him.

Tonys not done yet, even when he's down on his knees surrounded by flames he shoots another stream of fire, causing the crate near one shooter to explode, with bullets still bouncing off the metal of the suit. Some of the explosives start to go off because of the fire and the men just outside the blaze start retreating.

Inside the mess of explosions and flames, Tony finally gets up on his feet, flipping a red switch on the inside of his left arm, it sends another blast that starts a chain reaction of every explosive around the area.

The suit bursts through the rising smoke and flame, veering away from the camp. The boosters in the armor abruptly stop, making Tony shout as he falls out of the sky, bits of the suit plumbing everywhere.

He crashlands in the sand, the armor effectively falling apart and scattered. He lets out a pained grunt, just half armored. He shakes off the mess of wires and metal that remains on the arms, before flipping off the face mask and throwing it aside.

Tony Stark is bloody and dirty and no doubt in pain with fresh blood staining his lips, but that doesn't stop him from looking impressed, "Not bad."

Minutes later and he's walking through the desert, jacket draped over his head to block the unforgiving heat of the sun, his arms covered with blood and bruises 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, confusing him, before a helicopter rises over the horizon, followed by a second.

Tony looks up before he starts shouting and flaring his good arm, "HEY!"

He keeps urgently shouting until the helicopter lands, laughing like a maniac as he falls to his knees, he raises the fingers of his raised arm to form a peace sign before weakly letting it fall to his side again. A group of men rushes out of the chopper, a familiar face runs faster, ahead of the group.

Rhodey's face reveals ease mixed with concern for his long-lost friend, "How was the fun-vee?" he quips.

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?" Rhodey's 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.

"I want to see her, I want to see my baby," Tony whispers weakly in Rhodey's ear.

"I got you Tones, you'll see her soon."


May 3rd

Primrose is at the airport with Pepper and Emma when a US Air Force plane is landing. Pepper and Emma were waiting outside with Happy behind them, near the car. Pepper's makeup is running and her eyes were red and puffy and Emma couldn't stop smiling.

Yesterday Primrose came back to life when Rhodey called to inform them that Tony had been found alive. The little one regained her appetite almost immediately and went to sleep early because she wanted to wake up fast to go see her daddy.

The ramp in the back of the plane opens and Primrose doesn't waste any time because as soon as she sees him, she is running to her dad. Rhodey is standing next to Tony, who gets up from his wheelchair, allowing his friend to support him as they walk down the ramp. He lets go of Tony when they're on the tarmac.

He watched as Tony falls to his knees and catch his daughter's hug and both start crying immediately.

"D-Daddy!" Primrose sobbed as she buried her face into his neck, "Daddy! You're home!" her body was shaking earnestly from longing his presence again.

"Prim, I'm so sorry baby girl, I'm so, so sorry! I'm here, it's okay. It's over." he softly whispered as he kissed her forehead, her temple and tried pulling her as closely as he could. Tony grimaced when he noticed how much skinnier Primrose looked, he needed to fix that, "Baby we need to get up okay? I need you to hold my hand and stay near me. Don't leave me," finally smelling her shampoo again, it almost made him cry.

Everyone smiled at the exchange as the two rose to their feet and held hands as they made their way to Pepper and Emma. Rhodey started crying at finally bringing his best friend home, reuniting him with his daughter, where Tony belongs, but it's clear he's doing his best to hide it. Pepper smiles when she sees her boss approaching and Emma cringes worryingly at his appearance.

Tony's arm is in a sling and his face is cut up in a few places but has cleaned up and freshly shaven.

"Watch it, coming up here," Rhodes instructs the billionaire and his daughter, gesturing to the ramp.

Men stroll up with a gurney, but Tony dismisses them quickly, "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them." He keeps his hand firmly connected with Primrose's, who confusedly looks at the gurney being taken away, Rhodey still stays close by as Tony approaches Pepper and Emma.

"Your eyes are red," He notes, holding his chin high, "A few tears for your long-lost boss and baby-father?" he eyes both women.

"Tears of joy, I hate job hunting." Pepper retorted emotionally.

"And I don't know how I would survive without your child support." Emma jokes, catching a tear from the corner of her eye before it could fall.

"Yeah, vacations over and honey even if I was dead you'd have money to last you a lifetime."

They all enter the car and sit down, Happy in the driver seat, Tony and Pepper in back with Primrose sitting on Tony's lap as he continues to cling to her, and Emma sitting next to Happy, in the front.

"Where to, Sir?" Happy asks.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper answers, but Tony immediately refuses.

"No."

"No?!" Emma exclaims with Pepper.

"No is a complete answer."

"Tony you have to go to the hospital. The doctor has to look at you." Pepper states, giving him a worrying look.

"Pepper's right, you need to get checked. Not only physically but also emo–"

Tony cuts Emma quickly, "I don't have to do anything," He glances over at Pepper and she stops talking as well, albeit unimpressed.

"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, pointing at Primrose with her eyes as Emma glared at him.

"It's not what you think," He continues, "I want you to call for a press conference now."

"Call for a press conference?" Pepper asks, completely exasperated already.

"Yeah."

"What on earth for?"

"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." He instructs Happy, "I'm also getting my favorite girl a cheeseburger. Or anything she wants." Tony added as he kissed the top of Primrose's head, who was just snuggled closer to his chest, ignoring all the adult conversation and just happy that her daddy was back. She made a weird face though because she couldn't stop hearing a whirring sound coming from her dad.

They ended up going to Burger King, and then after watching Tony order six cheeseburgers, Happy pulls the car up outside where the press conference is being held. The journalists waiting outside clap and cheer when they recognize the car and Obadiah is revealed, running up to the car and opening the door for Tony.

"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 and then helps Primrose out of the car, once again grabbing her hand.

"Look at you," Obie continues, "You had to have a burger, yeah?" Obadiah then grinned at Primrose, "Did he gave you one?"

She nods, happy.

"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." Tony replied, winking at his daughter.

They're walking down a hall just as Tony finishes his burger, he pauses and turns back to Emma and Pepper.

"Stay with your mom now, I'll be right back." He tells the brunette, and Primrose nods as she grabs her mom's hand, staying behind with Pepper and her to watch her father explain why he summoned a press conference.

Cameras are flashing and people are shouting inquires while Tony makes his way to the podium. From the corner of her eyes, Primrose sees a man approaching Pepper.

"Miss Potts?"

"Yes?" Pepper says distractedly.

"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 its 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.

Emma, hearing this conversation alongside Primrose, raises her eyebrow in a skeptical manner at this man, while Primrose just awes at him.

"That's quite a mouthful," Pepper comments, reaching for the card.

"I know. We're working on it." Phil acknowledges, he briefly makes eye-contact with Primrose before looking back at Pepper.

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA" the P.A begins to inform.

"Were 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?" she ends up saying, wanting for him to just leave.

"Thank you." He nods, giving her a genuine tight-lipped smile before walking away. Both women turn their attention to the press conference while Primrose watches Phil until he leaves. She thought he looked scary at first but when she saw him smile Primrose decided that he couldn't be a bad person.

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" Tony pauses to take a bite of his cheeseburger.

"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," she replied.

"Maybe daddy's legs are tired?" Primrose suggested, finding her seat on the floor comfortable.

"Good to see you," Tony glances away from his food and at Obadiah, who is seated beside him with a neutral smile.

"Good to see you." The older says, putting his hand on the billionaire's shoulder.

"I never got to say goodbye to dad," he quietly told him, "I never got to say goodbye to my father," Tony repeats, a bit louder this time as he addresses the reporters. "There are 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." 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."

A reporter hesitantly raises his hand, "Mr. Stark!"

"Hey, Ben." he greets him nonchalantly.

"What happened over there?" the young man asks, making the golden question every reporter wanted to know.

Tony stands now, walking 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,"

It was all chaotic from there, Emma immediately got up and brought Primrose with her as 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 from the microphone, but the billionaire continues stubbornly.

"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."

Obadiah steps in front of the microphone, having finally succeeded in shooing the genius away, "What we should take away from this, is that Tonys back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion, and well get back to you with a follow-up." he quickly addresses the journalists and reporters with a happy smile.

"What is he thinking?!" Emma exclaimed at Pepper, the two women had shocked expression on their faces.

"I don't know?" Pepper replied.

Primrose was mostly confused, all she wanted to do was run to her father and hug him tightly. She didn't care about what he said, she could barely understand it! Getting upset, Primrose let go of her mom's hand and ran back to her father, who saw her coming and placed a hand on her back when she hugged his legs.

"Ms. Evans-Stark! How do you feel about having your dad back?" a reporter asked as soon as she noticed the little girl. Almost every reporter seemed to have their attention of Primrose now, for Obadiah's relief.

She shyly looked at the reporter, who was smiling kindly at her and replied, "I love my daddy, I'm so happy he's home. I never wanna see him go away again."


May 4th

Emma returned to New York, leaving Primrose behind with Tony since it was technically the start of his week with her. Tony and Emma hugged each other for a long time when they were finally alone, he cried in her arms and she comforted him as best as she could. They decided to talk about how could Tony compensate the weeks he missed another day, what Tony needed was resting.

On the first night of Tony's return, Primrose slept on his bed. The two cuddled, snuggling to each other as best as they could and Tony almost felt like having his daughter close to him was therapeutical – it didn't stop him from having nightmares though.

He woke up early but stayed in bed for almost half an hour staring at his daughter, sleeping peacefully while nestling just under his good arm. He felt warm and didn't want to leave the bed, but his mind was set on starting his new project.

Hours later, when Primrose woke up she wasn't amused when her dad was gone. She practically ran out of the bedroom, screaming his name and scared that his return had been a hopeful dream. When JARVIS told her he was at his shop, she almost fell down the stairs as she scattered there and bumped into the glassed walls. Tony was concerned about her forehead after she hit the glass but mainly apologized for leaving her and promised that he was home and he was never going to leave her again.

Hours passed, Primrose and Pepper were both watching a show called Mad Money, along with Stark Industries (SIA). The man on the show was having a blast about making fun of what happened yesterday, Primrose frowned as she hugged her blue bunny close to her.

"Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready?" He reaches for a button beside him and the words "Sell, sell, sell!" appear over the speakers, "Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells?" the man continues.

Primrose looks at Pepper and sees her godmother with an annoyed and exasperated face.

"Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan!" The man grabs a bat, swinging it at a mug on the table in front of him. It cracks instantly, sending a loud crashing sound through the speakers.

Pepper and Primrose wince but keep watching with Pepper pursing her lips.

"Crazy," Prim mumbles.

"Look! That's a weapons company, that doesn't make weapons!"

"Pepper, how big are your hands?" Tony's voice is suddenly heard.

The strawberry blonde leans over the television's touchpad control on the table, muting the television.

"What?" Pepper says, not listening to what he said the first time.

"How big are your hands?" He repeats.

Pepper and Primrose exchange a confused look.

"I don't understand why" Her voice is edged with confusion, but Tony cuts her off.

"Get down here. I need you." There's a sense of urgency to his tone, so inevitably she concedes.

When Primrose is starting to stand up from the couch to follow Pepper when her dad speaks again.

"Oh, and if Prim is with you tell her to not come here. I only want you."

Primrose frowns, "But daddy–"

"No buts, please honey, stay there," Tony begs, using a gentle tone.

"Primrose if your father wants you to stay here then it must be something he doesn't want you to see. I'll be back in a minute okay? You can change the channel if you want to." Pepper tells her with a smile.

"Fine," Primrose conceded with a pout.

"Thank you," she cooed before leaving the room.

The six-year-old sighed when she was alone, "JARVIS?"

"Yes, miss?"

"Can you put Disney Channel on?" she requested while moving the limbs of her bunny.

"Of course," the A.I obeyed as the television went from the annoying man making fun of her dad to 'Phineas and Ferb'.