Hi! I'm back! I have to say, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Just the language I get to use is so much fun! I can assure you, this is all me. I never used a dictionary, so expect some mistakes, ok? Overall, let me know what you think!
It was six days into his hospitalization that his family managed to see him. They walked into Franklin Hospital dressed in teenager clothes. Unlike the normal 'heathen' look of torn jeans and shirts, combat boots, dark makeup on Riley, and low cut tops, they went for a more… Schoolchildren type of look.
Riley wore a light purple sweater with blue skinny jeans. Small black flats adorned her feet, and she even wore gl
And wearing a harness with a small sign that said 'Therapy Dog at Work', was Jackson, Jace's huskey.
The once small pup had gotten rather large, but remained just as sweetasses with false lenses for the effect. Jace was wearing a red sweater but in a more maroon tone than his usual vibrant red. Evan went with a dark green sweater. Each wore decent blue jeans, and Riley carried a clipboard.
as the day that he had been found. They often did take him to hospitals around the country, so he technically was a therapy dog in France, just not in America.
Riley flounced up to the front desk with a cheerful smile on her face. The nurse couldn't help the large grin that appeared on her face at the sight of the three plus the huskey.
"Hello miss. My name is Rachel Forn, these are my friends, Jared Hame, and Edward Corsas. We're doing a research paper for the psychology class we are taking early before we attend University. We were wondering if we could visit some of the patients? Just to see how they react in the presence of an animal vs with a human." Riley smiled sweetly at the nurse, giving her eyes the innocent look she had perfected.
"Why of course! Aren't all of you so sweet to be doing this." The nurse gushed, writing them all temporary IDs.
"Thank you ma'am." Evan said, just as sweet, nodding his head to the woman politely. The nurse just about squealed at the manners.
"Have a nice day, miss." Jace gave a bright smile to woman who grinned even wider.
They walked quickly down the hall, entering the first room. They spent about five minutes in each room, until finally they reached Tony's. There was a big burly guard at the door, who stopped them.
"May I ask why you're stopping us?" Riley asked in a clipped tone. She was so close to seeing her brother, and if needed, she would kill this dude to get to him. Hell hath no fury like the Mischief Mongers when they were separated unwillingly.
"No one is allowed to enter for the protection of Mr. Stark's safety, and privacy." The man spoke in a monotone, proving many people had already attempted to see Tony.
Riley faked an offended face. "Excuse me sir, but we are just here collecting data for a research project of ours for possible extended study in the future. We'll only be a few minutes."
"Sorry, miss. You might take your data and exploit him with it for personal gain. You could also harm him physically in some way, so I'm afraid the rule applies to you and your friends as well." The guard gave a dead fake smile, and looked at Riley closely.
"I assure you that we wish no ill intent upon Mr. Stark, only to ask for his assistance on a study that may help many injured in the future. And you, sir, have the audacity to accuse me wanting to exploit him in some way? I don't give a rat's ass, please pardon my language, about who Mr. Stark is. He could be a world class terrorist for all I care, all I want to do is collect data, as you can clearly see we have been doing with every other patient in this ward, and you can even call other hospitals and medical treatment centers to find that we have been doing the same there. I have the list right here if you truly wish to contact them.
"Every patient we interview is classified, and they are recorded as numbers only, no names are ever taken, so I promise you nothing we have here can be used in some way against Mr. Stark. And physical harm? Seriously? Is there nothing but incompetence among a majority the population these days?
"Does it look like any of us could seriously cause Mr. Stark any harm? We barely passed the physicals to continue on in our studies, which I assure you are necessary in the event of one of our animals misbehaving (no matter how unlikely), a patient responds negatively, or some other attempt to cause us or the patients we are seeing harm. So, do you wish to continue this argument, sir? Because I can assure you, I will win in the battle of words you seemingly cannot contend with." Riley finished her rant with a curl of her lips at the gobsmacked expression of the guard in front of her.
Her brothers smirked at the sight of the burly man fumbling to open the door at the sight of Riley's impatient, apologising for his rudeness the entire time. If you looked at the overview of the entire ordeal, it would show that any other high school student confronted with the obstacle of the guard would simply shrug off the order and walk away, making her rant over the top a very unlikely scenario.
But the guard was so flustered at the girl's quick words that he didn't bother to look at that, simply complying with her wishes.
Riley flashed him a smirk as she stalked in, her brothers close behind her. Tony looked up when they entered and smiled broadly, until he noticed the guard following them all in.
Riley turned to him, eyes flashing. "What are you doing?" She asked in a cold tone, showing the man was pushing on her short temper. The guard gulped.
"Making sure nothing happens to Mr. Stark," He said, attempting to sound firm, but fighting the urge to cower at the girl's glare.
"I can assure you Mr. Stark will be fine. Your presence is unnecessary and distracting. Please dismiss yourself from the room." Riley sounded firm, and her tone had an edge of a bite to it.
The man winced. "I must insist that I sta-" Riley cut him off, squaring her shoulders.
"You being here interferes with the results of our research, so I must ask you to leave now, sir. Both Jackson and Mr. Stark are distracted in your wake, and it causes an contrast to previous results we have gathered. So, sir, do you still with to finish this battle of the tongue?" She bit out calmly, watching with satisfaction as the man scrambled out of her range, shutting the door loudly behind him.
She turned to her brothers, whose mouths were gaping with shock. Riley blinked.
"What?" She asked in her confusion.
"H-how… How did you… All those words… Scared off… The… Huh?" Evan stuttered out. Riley snorted.
"Have none of you ever picked up a book in your life? I read quite a bit you know. You pick up a few good many words here and there. And all without ever looking at a dictionary." Riley shrugged, plopping down on Tony's bed, smiling.
"Hi, brother! How's life?" They sighed in relief, this was the sister they knew.
"So boring without you guys. Seriously, did Howard or Stane hire anyone without a stick up their ass?" Tony chuckled amusedly as they crowded around him. After about ten minutes, they knew they were pressed for time. They looked downtrodden at the thought of not seeing each other again for another three days, but they knew they had to.
"So, plan set in place for us, Ton?" Jace asked when Tony pointed out sadly that they should go.
"Yep. See you in three days, guys." He waved sadly goodbye, and watched as they left, stalking out as confidently as they came. He chuckled slightly at the sight of the guard cringing away from the girl in the lead. The guard looked at Tony as if to make sure he was in one piece, before shutting the door with a click.
Tony sighed and turned back to the TV covered in news broadcasts about the press conference he was having the next day.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Tony tugged at the tie around his neck, pulling on the tight knot the stylist had pulled around his neck. Finally giving up on it, he pulled it off, throwing it on the chair opposite of him. Tony took a long drink of the coffee they had given him, and smiled into his cup over the memories related to coffee in the past.
Ever since they had first been to the helicarrier, Wolf, and even some of the agents, had been finding ways for them to come as often as they could. The mischief aboard the the flying operations center had both amused and angered many, but provided an interesting twist that many looked forward to. But, they were banned from having more than three cups of coffee after an accident dubbed as 'The Great Incident' occurred.
Many swore to never speak of it again. The most information you could get out of a majority of the agents was the fact that it involved a goat, four eggs, one pink sparkly Fury, electronics playing Madonna, and thirty-seven pounds of flour.
Even the Mongers gave sparse detail on the 'Great Incident'. Tony was pulled from a relaxing walk through memory lane by one of the SI representatives by the name of Mark Bishop. Who Tony often thought of as more of a pawn. He walked to the podium, ignoring the scowl from the stylist at the sight of his missing necktie, and stood as the sea of reporters applauded.
"I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone for coming out today, so we can clear some things up. I'd like you to know now I cannot tell anyone what happened while I was held captive, nor can I release anything on my health." Tony began, and hands shot up with cries of 'Mr. Stark! !'
He pointed to a man in a blue suit first. "Mr. Stark, what can we expect from you these next years?"
"Well, I plan on starting a new Stark Industries, one where the company is focused on defensive tech, rather than offensive. I don't want to see anything I've ever created, or helped create, hurt anyone. I also plan on accepting MIT's offer to further my education. I also plan on seeing every movie that came out in the last nine years, and stuffing my face with all the fast food I can." He ended with a large grin, causing chuckles and camera flashes.
"You there, in the green."
"Mr. Stark, are the reports true that your father abused you true?" The woman asked, and Tony grimaced.
"Yes, they are. My father was a very mentally unstable man. I was beaten starting when I was three years old, and they increased from there. When I gain control of SI when I turn eighteen I plan to begin a new line of research to mental health, along with donating funds to foundations that help stop domestic abuse." People burst into applause as Tony gave a grim smile.
"Mr. Stark, is it true that Obadiah Stane was behind your abduction nine years ago?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Mr. Stane was also mentally unstable, and wanted control of the company forever. To ensure that, I was captured. I cannot release any further details on my captivity."
They questions continued for a half an hour, before the Bishop stepped in.
"That's all we have for you today, please contact our representatives at SI if you wish for further information." He steered Tony off stage, ignoring the roar of the crowd behind them.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Two days after the press conference Tony lounged around in a fancy hotel room that SI had booked him until the beginning of the MIT term that fall. He heard the buzzer, and got up quickly to answer.
"Mr. Stark?" The Manager called through the intercom.
"Yes?"
"There are three people here to see you, two boys and a girl. They say to be your… Modern world guides? Should I send them up?" Tony noted the slight confusion in his voice and nearly laughed.
"Yes please, they're here to help me learn about the modern world. They're my freind from when I was younger." He gave the lie calmly, excited to see his family again.
"Very well, sir. They're on their way up now."
"Thank you." He called and quickly ordered a pizza just as Riley flew across the room and grabbed him in a hug.
The four spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and watching the James Bond movies before falling asleep in a pile, reassuring themselves that everyone was still there.
Well? I really am considering them all having day jobs, Evan Jace and Riley too. I was thinking maybe Riley could be a lawyer. She seems like the stubborn type that wont give up until she wins, right? Maybe Jace could be a doctor, seems calm enough.. Just minus the crazy shifts and stuff. I'm not sure about Evan. Let me know if you have any ideas! And PLEASE review! They make the author happy! (thanks to all who have been reviewing!)