Thank you all for the alerts, follows, and review. I tried to upload this last night, but there were some technical difficulties with the site. I might be already writing the first chapter for the sequel to this story. I hope to have the next chapter up in a day or two! Enjoy!
Pepper and Aria were anxiously waiting on the tarmac for the loading door of the plane in front of them to open. Aria was dressed professionally with a black pencil skirt, white blouse, and black boots; looking the part of Stark Industries CEO. Pepper was fighting back tears as the door lowered while her counterpart was fighting back the urge to run to her brother. Tony managed the short journey from the plane, shooing off the ready ambulance and approaching the only two women in his life that mattered.
"Tears for your long lost boss?" Tony quipped.
"Tears of joy, I hate job hunting," she replied.
"Vacation's over," he commented.
"Like you would lose your job because he left?" Aria snorted.
"And you. You look like an adult. What gives?" Tony smirked.
"Someone had to be CEO while you were gone, might as well be a Stark," Aria retorted.
The two stared at each other for only a split second before he pulled her into a hug with his good arm. She threw her arms around him and buried her face into his neck, letting a few tears fall.
"Never do that again. Do you hear?" Aria demanded, wiping away the tears.
"And tell my kidnappers that my sister said I'm not allowed to be kidnapped anymore?" He laughed.
The three of them trekked towards the car waiting for them, Happy standing by the driver' side door. Aria kept glancing toward her brother the whole time to make sure that he wouldn't disappear of she wasn't watching him. Tony and pepper took the back seat while the youngest Stark opted to sit in in the front with Happy.
"Where to sir?" Happy asked.
"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Pepper managed to say before Tony interrupted.
"No," he interjected.
"No? Tony you have to go to the Hospital," She remarked.
"No is a complete answered," he replied.
"The doctor has to look at you," Pepper tried to reason.
"I don't have anything to do. I've been in captivity for three months. There's two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger and the other," Tony started.
"That's enough of that," Pepper replied with disgust while Aria could only sigh in disproval.
"Is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now," he finished, glaring at his assistant and his sister.
"What on earth for?" Pepper asked.
"Hogan drive, cheeseburger first," Tony instructed.
Aria turned around to stare at her brother while Happy started to pull away from the Air Force base. Miss Potts started to call up the public relations department for Stark Industries while the siblings entered a staring contest. The two often completed in this way to see who would start their conversations first.
"You blinked. What have you been doing since I've been gone?" Tony asked.
"Working on a new phone, something that actually looks like the future. Something that doesn't look like you got is from a mall kiosk," she jabbed, causing Tony to feign hurt.
"My phone? Well, that's gone now. Can I see yours?" He asked with his hand stretching out.
"Yeah yeah, here. It mimics the technology already built into the house. This one is only the third model. I've added a camera into this top rim here and speaker into this bottom one. The opacity changes for different functions. I don't if I'm crazy about certain functions yet. I've drawing up plans for the next model. I'm planning on integrating JARVIS into the next one," Aria babbled.
"I want one," he announced with an impressed look painted into his face.
"I'll see what I can do," she confirmed, stretching her hand out to receive her phone.
A feeling of pride washed over her from her brother's admiration of her work. Before his kidnapping he would often dismiss what she did because it had nothing to do with building weapons. She was the main reason that Stark Industries did anything besides build weapons for the military. Aria could only smile, and stared out the window to hide the fact that her grin wouldn't leave her face.
Forty-five minutes later Happy pulled into the parking lot of Stark Industries. Happy drove the car towards the mass of employees waiting out front to witness the return of the CEO in public. A few of the press had joined them to snap pictures of his homecoming while the rest waited inside the massive building. Tony had already inhaled one burger and was ready for the second earning a disapproving sigh from the woman sitting next to him. Aria could see Obadiah eagerly waiting for Tony's arrival with everyone else.
"Tony! I thought we were going to meet at the hospital?" Obadiah greeted, pulling Tony in.
"No, I'm fine," Tony replied shortly.
"Look at you! You just had to have a burger, yeah?" Obadiah joked.
"Well, come on," Tony pointed out.
"You get me one of those?" He asked.
"There's only one left and I need it," Tony answered, reaching into the bag that Happy had offered him.
Obadiah led him inside the building with Pepper and Aria trailing behind. The pushed through reporters and photographers, documenting the scene. Tony was brought to the podium in the front while Aria and Pepper stayed in the back of the hall, letting Tony once again take the spotlight.
"Miss Potts? Miss Stark?" A voice to their left inquired.
"Yes?" Pepper answered in return, Aria merely turning her head towards the man.
"Can I speak to you both for a moment?" He asked.
"We're not part of the conference, but it's about to begin right now," Pepper informed the man.
"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," Agent Coulson explained, handing Pepper his card.
"That's quite a mouthful," Aria smirked.
"I know. We're working on it," he commented.
"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA," Miss Potts started.
"We're a separate division with a more specific focus," Coulson stated.
"I'll put something in the books, shall I?" Pepper replied in an attempt to finish the conversation.
"Thank you. Miss Stark, I'd like to meet with you separately for a different purpose," he informed the young woman.
"Can you do later today in a hour? My office?" She asked, looking the calendar in her tablet.
"Yes, thank you," he answered.
"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down? That way you can see me, and I can," Tony started from the front. "A little less formal."
"What's with the love in?" Rhodey asked Pepper, appearing suddenly.
"Don't look at me. I don't know what he's up too," she responded.
The three of them sat in the floor, nervous and unsure as to how Tony's press conference would go.
"I never got to say goodbye to dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions I would ask him. I would have asked him how felt about what this company did. If he was ever conflicted, if he had any doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had nape one a part of a system that had zero accountability," Tony stated in a somber tone.
"Mr Stark!" The reporters called out, vying for his attention.
"Hey Ben," Tony greeted the journalist in front of him.
"What happened over there?" The young journalist asked, causing Tony to rise and stand behind the podium.
"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize I had more to offer this world than make things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries," Tony informed the audience of journalists.
Everyone took to their feet trying to get another question to him before he was swept out of the room. Rhodey, Aria, and Pepper rushed out of the room and towards Tony. The trio had located Tony in a side conference room, waiting for them to join him.
"What was that? Your done with weapons?" Rhodey demanded.
"Tony, what happened over there? What really happened?" Pepper asked.
"Nothing from you?" Tony asked his sister. "Long story short, I was held hostage. These guys had almost every model of weapon I had made and wanted me to make the newest one. Oh and there's this," he explained, unbuttoning his shirt and showing off the arc reactor in his chest.
"Is that an arc reactor? Does it work? Why is it in you?" Aria questioned him tapping the device lodged into his chest.
"Yes, it works. I got hit by my own weapons, shrapnel got lodged into my chest and this is keeping me alive," he answered.
Rhodey could only stare at his best friend, trying to take in how casual the pair of siblings were about this serious issue. Pepper tried her hardest not to cry, fighting the tears from spilling. She hadn't realized how badly injured he actually was.
"I'm impressed," Aria commented while Tony buttoned his shirt up.
"You gonna be okay there?" Tony asked his assistant.
"Yes, it's just a bit much to take in at once," she confessed.
"Let's go home," Tony announced. "I think want to go home now. You coming Aria?"
"I've got a meeting. I'll see you guys later," she answered.
Aria took off through the still crowded foyer, dodging journalists who looked as if they were about to stop her and ask her a question. The crowd was thinned out toward the stairs, allowing her room to breathe. She slowly ascended the stairs to the second floor, the sound of her boots resonating from the floor. Sitting in a chair outside of her office was Agent Phil Coulson waiting for her.
"We can start this meeting now if you'd like," Aria offered the man.
"I'd appreciate," he smiled, following her into her office.
"Would you care for anything to drink? Water, coffee, tea?" Aria offered.
"No thank you," Agent Coulson declined, sitting in the chair opposite of her.
"So what can I help you with Agent Coulson?" Aria inquired.
"Myself and others are fans of your work. The Intellicrops, water purifying systems, and smart glass technology," he started. "The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division would like to bring you in as a contractor."
"And what would I be doing?" She asked curiously, her hands clasped in front of her.
"We're more interested in your skills of smart glass technology. We feel as if you are an expert in that are and would love to have you help us implement it," Coulson explained.
"When would you like me to start?" Aria grinned.
"Inside is the information outlying the details of how we would like your participation with our organization as well as your payment. We understand how important your time is," he informed her as he placed a large faded yellow envelope in front of her. "Your father would be proud of you."
"You knew my father?" She slowly asked him, her eyes studying his face for any information.
"He was one of the founders of my organization. I've had the privilege to meet him," Agent Coulson explained.
"Count me in," Aria confirmed, a sense of hope bubbling inside her chest.
"One more thing, please keep this as quite as possible. Even from Miss Potts and Mr. Stark if possible," he added.