The Air Force jet taxied down the runway. An ambulance was waiting, as were Pepper and Happy. The back of the jet opened, revealing Tony sitting in a wheelchair, with Rhodey beside him. Tony began to rise, and Rhodey helped him up.
They began to walk down the ramp. "Watch it with that," Rhodey said, nodding to a change in the slope. Tony looked down to watch his step. When they reached the bottom of the ramp, paramedics came over with a gurney.
"Are you kidding me with that?" Tony asked. "Take it away," he said, waving it off. They didn't go until Rhodey waved it off. Tony went straight towards Pepper, who was biting her lower lip with tears forming in her eyes. She smiled as he came up to her.
"Hm," Tony said. "Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?" Pepper smiled. "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting." Tony looked down, remembering what he had to do. "Yeah, vacation's over."
Tony and Pepper loaded themselves into the back of the car. "Where to, sir?" Happy asked. "Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Pepper asked. "No," Tony said. "No?" Pepper asked. "Tony, you have to go to the hospital."
"No is my answer," Tony replied. "The doctor has to look at you," Pepper insisted. "I don't have to do anything," Tony said, looking at her. "I've been in captivity for three months and there are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other…" "That's enough with that," Pepper interrupted. "It's not what you think," Tony insisted. "I want you to call for a press conference now."
"Call for a press conference?" Pepper said in shock. "What on Earth?" "Yes," Tony said. "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."
People began applauding as the car pulled up. Obadiah Stane was at the forefront of the people. He held his arms wide as he went towards the car. "Hey, hey hey!" he yelled as he went to the car and opened Tony's door. "Hah!"
"Tony," he said, embracing the man as he came out of the car. "I thought we were going to meet at the hospital." "No, no," Tony said. "Look at you," Obie said. "Sir," Happy said, carrying a Burger King bag. "You had to have a burger," Obie said. "C'mon," Tony said. "You get me one of those?" Obie asked. "Uh, do you see a second burger?" Tony asked as they walked inside. "We'll talk about it later."
Inside, people snapped pictures of them as they walked down the hall. They entered the main conference room where they were greeted with claps and cheers. Tony did his charismatic, "Hey! Good to see you!" bit as he walked through to the stage.
Pepper stopped by the door as she watched her boss with a small smile. "Miss Potts," an unassuming man in a suit, "May I speak to you for a moment?" "I'm not part of the press conference but it's about to begin right now," she told him gesturing towards the stage.
"I'm not a reporter," the man said. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," he said, handing her his card. "That's quite a mouthful," Pepper replied, taking it. "I know," Coulson said. "We're working on it."
"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA…" "We're a separate division," Coulson replied. "We're the more…specific…focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark on the circumstances of his escape."
"I'll put something in the books, shall I?" Pepper asked. "Thank you," Coulson said with a smile.
"Well, let's get started," Obie said into the mike. "Ah," he said as he looked around for Tony, finally leaning down and looking at him sitting on the stage, leaning back on the podium.
"Hey would it be okay if everyone…sat down?" Tony said with a wave of his hand. "Can we just sit down? That we you can see me and we can be…a little less formal." As everyone sat down in bemusement, Tony pulled another cheeseburger out of his pocket and took a bite.
Tony looked over at Obie, who had sat down beside him. "Good to see you," he said. "Good to see you too," Obie replied. "I never got to say goodbye to Dad," Tony said to Obie.
Raising his voice, he addressed the press. "I never got to say goodbye to my father. There are questions I would've asked him, questions about 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 remember from the newsreels."
The lights of cameras flashing went through his vision every few seconds. He took a few deep breaths. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I, I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
A young reporter raised his hand as a chorus of, "Mr. Starks?" filled the room. "You," Tony said to him. He put his hand down and asked, "What happened over there?"
"I had my eyes opened," Tony said, standing up. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." He moved to stand behind the podium. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."
The people leapt to their feet and started asking questions as Obie came over and tried to get Tony off the stage. Tony continued his speech. "Until such a time as I can decide what the future of this company will be, what direction it should take, one that I am comfortable with and one that is consistent for the highest good of this country as well."
Obie began talking as Tony walked out. "What we should take away from this," he said over the shouts, "is that Tony's back, and he's healthier than ever, and we'll have a little internal discussion and get back to you with the following."
Tony stood inside the Stark Industries factory, looking at the giant arc reactor when Obie came in with a cigar in his mouth. "Well that, ah, that went well." "Uh, did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Tony asked. "Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is going to be?" Obie asked as he paced. "Ahh…optimistically, forty points?" Tony replied, taking of his tie. "At minimum," Obie said, stopping pacing and standing beside Tony.
"Yep," Tony said with a sigh. "Tony," Obie said. "We're a weapons manufacturer." "Obie," Tony said. "I don't want a body count to be our only legacy." "Well that's what we do," Obie argued. "We're iron mongers, we make weapons." "My name on the side of the building," Tony reminded. "And what we do," Obie continued, "keeps the world from falling into chaos."
"Not based on what I saw," Tony said. "We're not doing a good enough job, we can do better, we can do something else" he argued. "Like what?" Obie asked. "You want us to make baby bottles?" "I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology," Tony replied.
"Oh, c'mon," Obie said with a laugh, "the arc reactor? That's a publicity stunt! Tony, c'mon, we built that thing to shut the hippies up." "It works," Tony said. "Yeah, as a science project," Obie replied. "The arc was never cost effective, we knew that before we built it! Arc reactor technology…that's a dead end, right?" "Maybe," Tony responded cryptically.
"Huh, am I right?" Obie asked. "We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what, thirty years?" "That's what they say," Tony said. Obie exhaled. Tony studied him. "Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you? Who told you?" "Never mind who told me," Obie said, pointing his cigar at him, "show me." "Rhodey or Pepper, it's Rhodey or Pepper." "I want to see it," Obie insisted. "Okay, Rhodey," Tony said.
He looked around to make sure they were alone as he took the sling off. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the arc reactor. After staring a moment, Obie began buttoning his shirt up again with a smile and a chuckle. "It works," Tony insisted.
"Listen to me, Tony," Obie said, putting an arm over his shoulders, "we're a team, you understand, there's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I. Tony…" "I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads up, okay?" Tony said. "But if I had…" "Tony," Obie interrupted, "Tony, no more of this ready, fire, aim business. You understand? You gotta let me handle this, we're playing a whole different kind of ball now, we're gonna take a lot of heat, I want you to promise me you're gonna lay low."