I am not a machine, So Shake it Out
The plane ride was boring, Peppers prep for the conference was boring, and Tony himself believed that the meeting was going to be, surprise surprise! Boring! But he put on his pretty little suit and walked in like a grown man.
"Ah Mr. Stark it's good to see you after all this time." One of the council men smiled and greeted him with a hand shake. ' Fake' Tony deemed the smile in his head and returned the gesture with a fake smile of his own.
"Good to be back." Tony lied and all the men took a seat.
The conference began with discussions of funds bond and stocks, as always Stark Industry was at the peak of perfection and it made Tony sick. It wasn't however until they started discussing the pricing of the alternative energy reactors that Tony truly god upset.
"Nobody is able to afford that" Tony stated, he'd been quiet for a while just listening to the board (aka the group of ugly bald men) talk about pricing the alternative energy was too high. The room fell silent then one of the board members laughed and began to address Tony.
"Since when are you worried about the price of something Stark, you're able to buy the world five times over." A smile lit up his face at his own joke and Tony stood from his seat.
"I didn't make the energy sources out of greed." He stated
"No of course not Anthony but we have the company to think about." A different man commented.
"No we really don't look at the company it's in pristine condition, and this energy is so- REVOLUTIONARY, that it could change the worlds view on power sources." Tony began to walk around the room. "I've studied it, and not only could the reactors have the ability to replace fossil fuels but also coal, we wouldn't need miners anymore and I know it would cut job at different oil plants and mining corporations but just think how man accidents happen at those places! How many Fathers, Husbands, Wives, Mothers, Brother, Sisters excreta we could save. How much money we could save not only the American but global population who could save money with cheap and CLEAN energy supplied to their homes from this, I didn't make the reactor to be another big wig power struggle I built it to help the god damn people, now I am the only one with the knowledge to build the reactors and currently there are only a select few, ALL OF WHICH, are in my possession, and I refuse to be a machine and let you all profit from something that should belong to everyone." Tony finally stopped circling the table as he ended up back at his spot.
The Board members were all stunned at this outburst from Mr. Stark, Pepper actually spilled some of her coffee onto her white blouse and quietly cursed under her breath.
After a moment one of the head bald men *ahem* board men turned to tony with a, surprisingly, genuine smile on his face. "What do you suggest we do then Mr. Stark?" and Tony's face lit up like the fourth of July.
After what seems like Tony's first successful meeting in… well ever! He headed back to his hotel for the night, he didn't want a drink, he didn't want a whore, he was just happy and wanted to stay the way.
"What the hell was that?" Pepper said from behind him. He turned and gestured around a bit.
"The truth Pepper, it was the truth..." He told her with a smile.
A smile graced her lips, "What brought on this change? Did you have another life altering event happen while I wasn't looking?" She asked earnestly, hey eyes were slightly shiny.
"Pepper Potts, now are you crying?" Tony said in a caring voice as a smile came to his own face.
"I might be, you know my boss used to be so unhappy but lately…" She began and trailed off.
"Lately what, what's that old son of a bitch been up to Pepper?" Tony said his smile cracking full force now.
"I have no idea but whatever it is it's been making him pretty happy." She said and her smile broke open full force as well and her eyes began to tear.
"C'mon now, it's been a long day" Tony said and walked Pepper to her hotel room then returned to his own.
He flopped down onto his bed and smiled at the ceiling, the energy dispute was over, well that's one less thing off his chest… more or less. Next there was the Steve dilemma. The Captain had been pretty upset with him when he left and it was strange the tightness in Tony's throat and chest that happened when he thought of the captain upset, nearly in tears because of him. Tony rubbed viciously at his eyes only to find they were wet, how were they wet? He was crying? Why? Then he thought about Steve crying and he felt himself crying more.
"Dammit stop it!" He yelled at himself and then laughed hysterically. "Look at all these good old feelings the Captain is bringing out in you and he's not even here Tony." He said and laughed again, sniffling; he actually enjoyed the cry he was having because for the first time it wasn't a sad one. He was happy he was feeling this way, especially feelings for Steve, Happy that he actually gave a damn about somebody and fucking terrified because of it. It was decided he'd have to talk with Steve when he got home tomorrow, even if it was a hello, he had to say something to him.
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