-Infinity Heart

-Paring(s): Tony Stark/OC

-Rated: T for language and slight adult situations

-Movie-based

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man. The characters belong to Marvel studios and Stan Lee. I only own the OCs used


Chapter Six:

"Home, Sweet Home"

"..Now when I caught myself,

I had to stop myself,

From saying something that,

I should have never thought.."

~I Caught Myself, Paramore

Pepper and Happy stood waiting anxiously as the back of the Air Force plane slowly open. She tried again to get in touch with Tegan but every call was sent to voice mail. The assistant gave up, deciding the younger woman would call whenever. Tony stepped out then, clean and dressed, with his arm in a sling and Rhodes helping him walk.

"Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them." the genius said when seeing the paramedics coming towards him with a stretcher. His friend sent them away as he strolled over to where Potts and Hogan were.

"Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

She smirked, "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting."

"Yeah, vacation's over." Tony said, walking to the car. Once inside, Happy glanced at him from the rear view mirror.

"Where to, sir?"

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." the woman told softly.

"No." her boss denied.

"No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital."

"No is a complete answer."

"The doctor has to look at you." she argued, looking at him incredulous.

"I don't have to do anything." he stated firmly, meeting her gaze. "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 sighed, turning away to not hear the rest.

"Is not what you think." Stark finished, "I want you to call for a press conference now."

"Call for a press conference? What on earth for?"

"Yeah. Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."

The assistant huffed, pulling out her phone. "Very well, Mr. Stark." The driver drove off then and the ride was quiet expect for Pepper getting the conference in the works.

"The conference is underway. It should be ready by the time we do get there." Potts informed after awhile.

"Good." the genius said, glancing at her briefly before returning to stare out the window. "Who are you calling now?"

"Tegan." the strawberry-blonde answered, "I've been calling her all day and keep getting sent to voice mail. I thought she would be—"

"She's probably still asleep."

Pepper faced him, surprised. "Still?..How do you know?"

"Jarvis told me." Tony replied like it was obvious. It was why he hadn't been shocked at not seeing her there to greet him. After James had rescue him and he was checked on by some medics, he was told that they only found him because of a call from Jarvis telling his whereabouts. Given a phone after, the man called home and was sent to voice mail as well.

"Jarvis, pick up the phone now." was his simple command.

"Long time no talk, sir." came the AI's voice not too long after.

"Yeah, good to hear your voice too, buddy." he smirked, "Now, care to explain how you were able to find me?"

"Tegan connected me to the military's satellite to do surveillance. It was all her doing, sir. She has been very worried and wished for your return."

"..P-Put.." the man paused; his throat becoming tight that he had to clear it. "..Put her on."

"She's sleeping. She has not been doing so normally since your kidnapping." Jarvis stated softly, "I..do not wish to wake her just yet."

"Fine. Keep doing whatever she's probably ordered you until I'm back home."

"Very well, sir."

Pepper nodded sadly. "That's good. She..She hasn't been doing well since—."

Tony continued staring out the window. "I know.."


When the car pulled up in front of the main building of Stark Industries, Obadiah and large group of workers stood at the curb, applauding for his return. The older man opened Tony's door and hugged him right as he stepped out. He then led him inside to where the many reporters were waiting. Pepper stood in the back of the crowd, watching her boss head for the podium.

"Miss Potts?" She turned to find a man dressed in a navy blue suit with short brown hair standing there.

"Yes."

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" he asked politely.

"I'm not part of the press conference but it's about to begin right now." she told.

"I'm not a reporter. I'm agent Phil Coulson," the man stated, handing her his card. "With the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful." the assistant noted.

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

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA—"

"We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper smiled.

"Thank you." he returned the gesture before stepping away. At the front, Obadiah stood at the podium and was about to speak when he noticed Tony wasn't beside him. Looking around, he found the younger man sitting in front of the stand.

"Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?" Stark requested, pulling out a burger from his coat pocket. "Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me and I can.." He took a bite while everyone listen. "A little less formal.."

Rhodes sat down next to Pepper, whispering. "What's up with the love-in?"

"Don't look at me." she replied, "I don't know what he's up to."

"Good to see you." the billionaire said to Stane.

"Good to see you." the older man repeated the sentiment, smiling.

"I never got to say goodbye to Dad." Tony stated to him before addressing the crowd. "I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions that 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."

He paused for a moment. "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."

"Mr. Stark." said a young male reporter.

"Hey, Ben." he greeted, having read his name tag.

"What happened over there?"

"I had my eyes opened." The genius stood, stepping up to the podium. "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 until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be—" The crowd of reporters jumped up then, rambling questions all at once.

Stane tried to settle down him and them down but Tony continued speaking. "What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well." he finished before walking away.

"What we should take away from this is that Tony's back!" Obadiah stated, veering the reporters' attention from Tony. "And, uh, he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up." After dealing with the press, he went in search for the younger man, finding him inside the building where the large arc reactor was.

"Well, that..that went well." the co-founder said.

"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Stark queried, taking off his tie. His coat and sling were already removed.

The older man walked over to stand beside him. "Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?"

"Optimistically, forty points." the younger guessed.

"At minimum."

"Yep.."

"Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer." Stane begin.

"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy." Tony interjected firmly.

"That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons." he continued calmly.

The billionaire argued, "It's my name on the side of the building."

But his words seemed to fall on death's ears as Obadiah reasoned. "And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos."

"Not based on what I saw." the genius noted with a shake of his head. "We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else."

"Like what?" Stane questioned blankly, "You want us to make baby bottles?"

"I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology." he informed, serious.

"Oh, come on. The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Tony, come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up!"

"It works."

"Yeah, as a science project." the co-founder doubted, "The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?"

Tony shrugged indifferently, "Maybe."

"Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years."

"That's what they say." The two stared at each other for a moment. "Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?"

"Never mind who told me. Show me."

"It's Rhodey or Pepper."

"I want to see it."

"Okay, Rhodey." Tony unbuttoned his shirt some, showing the reactor glowing in his chest. Stane stared quietly before reaching over and fixing the shirt to hide it. "It works."

"Listen to me, Tony." Stane said softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "We're a team. Do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."

"I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?" the billionaire told, "But if I had.."

"Tony. Tony, no more of this 'ready, fire, aim' business. You understand me?"

The younger man glanced at him. "That was Dad's line.."

"You gotta let me handle this." Obadiah suggested, "We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low." Stark nodded, gathering his things before walking out with Stane. He was gonna lay low all right..


It was long after sunset once Tony finally arrived home and he was glad to be. It was completely dark inside but he knew there was at least one person and an AI inside. Turning on the lights, Jarvis greeted him.

"Welcome home, sir."

"Thank you kindly, Jarvis." He strolled further inside, finding it still the same way he left it.

"It's been a long time." the machine noted, "Based on news reports, I had calculated your safe return at zero-point-two-five percent. But you have madam to thank for that."

"Yeah. I missed you, too." Stark said, removing his coat and tossing it on the couch. "Teg still asleep, huh?"

"Yes, safely below in the garage. She's stirred every now and then." He headed to window facing the pitch-black ocean.

"Also, you have one thousand, seven hundred and thirteen voice messages." Jarvis stated as the screen popped up with said invoices. "How shall I categorize for you?"

Tony flipped through some, finding none interesting and a waste of time to check. "Delete all."

"I'm also detecting the presence of electromagnetic energy in the house."

"Yep.." He turned and headed down to his garage. Just like upstairs, the place was the same and in excellent condition..expect for the food wrappers and soda cans on the coffee table. A large quilt-covered lump was curled on the leather couch. A smirk formed on his lips at the sight. The genius walked over and reached out, gently shaking the lump. Grumbling was heard muffled as a result.

"Come on, rise and shine." the man insisted.

"Don't wanna now. Leave me be.." she murmured sleepily.

"How can you sleep when I'm finally back home, Turtle?" Tony teased, "Don't you love me anymore?" The quilt was unraveled and tossed to the side, revealing the sleep-deprived and messy haired Tegan. She squinted up at him before blinking. When her vision cleared, grey eyes widen at the sight of her long-lost caregiver.

He smiled down at her. "Long time no see, kiddo."

"Oh my god.." The young woman scrambled up and stared at him. "Is it really you? I'm not still dreaming, am I?"

"I'm pretty much me with just a few added adjustment." Stark replied, putting his hands in his pockets with a shrug. She chuckled, placing a hand over her mouth and sat back down. Her chuckling changed to hiccups and tears suddenly. The billionaire sat in front of her on the table, patting her shoulder.

"How? Jarvis was suppose—"

"I did as you told me." the AI stated sincerely, "But you were sleeping peacefully. I do apologize."

"You arse.." she sobbed.

"Aw, don't be mean to Jarvis." Tony scolded lightly.

"No, you!" the heiress cried, smacking his arm hard. The man flinched from her assault. "Do you know what you put me through?! I was so worried.." She leaned forward and sobbed into his shoulder. Tony held her close, shushing her gently.

"Hey, it's okay..Oh, and you can have this back." he whispered, roaming in his pocket before pulling out her ring.

The female prodigy moved back a bit to see and gasped. "My mother's ring..I actually forgot you had it.." He placed the jewelry in the palm of one of her hands.

"It brought me some luck, just like you wanted." Stark smirked, gazing at the silver band. "The rest I took a chance with, heh."

"I told you." Hayes smiled just as yawn passed her lips.

"Alright, reunion time over. You go off to bed now." She nodded and stood, not arguing. He followed, stopping when she did at the door. The young woman faced him, giving a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're back."

"Me too, Teg." She let go with a warm smile. Tony stared after her as she climbed the steps. An urge to tell her what he wanted to in the cave filled him suddenly.

"Hey, wait!" The brunette turned back to him, staring with those curious grey eyes. His mouth opened but the words couldn't come out.

"I can't..tell her yet.." he thought sadly.

Tegan raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"The promise!" her caregiver mentioned instead, "I know I'm three months late on it, which is not my fault I must add, but I hope the offer still stands."

"Sure." she smirked teasingly, "Only because it would seem pointless to take away Jarvis after not having him for so long." That made Tony laugh.

"..You can trust me, you know."

He stared at her before asking, "With what?"

"Anything, really. To talk to or help. I'll be there, so just ask." the young woman smiled.

"Good to know..Night, kiddo." Stark smiled back.

She returned the sentiment. Tony silently watched her continue up the stairs for a bit before letting out a long, heavy sigh. At the top of the steps, Tegan glanced down and saw him walk away, disappearing inside the garage. He was different, that much she noticed. Something had definitely happen those three months captive..she just didn't know yet what and if it was a good thing.


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