Battlefield ｡ Tony Stark

29 - OBADIAH RETURNS

"Samuel, come on! Stop fussing over your hair and hurry up. Tony is already waiting and I can't be late or Lucy will murder me." My voice sounded late one afternoon, the sunshine dying down behind the City of Angels. It was the day of Lucy's bridal shower and for a girls' weekend we where heading down to San Diego for a few days. Tony had kindly offered to look after Samuel for some weird father and son bonding weekend at his place in Malibu. 

My son lagged behind me, pushing open the front door as he heaved a bag over his shoulder. Despite the promise of spending a few nights with Tony, he didn't seem all that excited. His face was hidden under a hoodie and his chin was tilted downwards. With a heavy sigh, I hauled my overnight bag into the car and swung around to gaze upon him. Keeping his head lowered, he avoided me and moved around the car to pile his own baggage inside. "What's up, little man?" I called out to him, dropping my red handbag to our paved driveway and peering through the car window to snag his attention.

"Nothing." 

My son was smart, he was inventive and he shared too many qualities with his father but he was never rude and strangely, never lied to my face but today he was trying his hardest to keep something from me and I was not having it. "Really? Then why won't you look at me?"

I heard a groan slip from his lips and quickly, he was shoving back his hood and letting his head snatch up while he glared at me. A purple bruise dotted the soft skin around his left eye. His eyes were full of tears and I knew the pain must have been throbbing in his skull. I was already questioning how it had happened and why he hadn't said something earlier. He had caught the bus home from school and I hadn't even glimpsed upon his face since getting home from work. Now I knew why he had stayed in his room all afternoon. With a frown, I was already stalking around the car and placed my hand under his chin to get a better look at the black eye. "I thought we agreed no fighting, mister." 

Samuel hissed out a moan as my cool fingertips brushed the bruise lightly, making sure it wasn't too deep and that no internal bleeding was going on. "It wasn't my fault." I eyed him while giving him a knowing shake of my head. "Can I offer a witty remark and we can laugh this off like good friends?"

"Hmm, what witty remark did you have in mind?" I smiled lightly, stepping away and letting him tug his hood back over his head as he hung his shoulders. My son didn't need a lecture about fighting with kids at school. The black eye was most likely enough pain without my nagging voice telling him how fighting was not on. He knew all this already and with the shame in his eyes, he looked guilty enough and I suspected he knew he had been in the wrong.

Samuel tried to smile but winced from the pain. "You should see the other kid." He lamely offered out and I was shaking my head, trying to hide my own smile. 

"Nice try, buddy." I told him and started walking back to where my handbag had been set down. While he went back to piling his heavy bags into the car, I had another burning question. "So, what actually happened? Did someone try and steal your lunch money?"

I was doing my best to make the situation lighter, knowing he really did not need an over protective mother that cried and yelled with one bruise. Samuel paused, looking up as he zipped up a bag. "Um, some kid in my class was talking trash about dad. It was stupid of me to react but--"

"You were defending Tony." I noted quietly, a hint of something new sparking in my heart. Samuel may not have been a kid to use his fists on a normal basis but suddenly, I was feeling like a proud mother since he had stuck up for Tony like that, despite it still being wrong.  

My son gave a shrug of his shoulders in response but before I could say another word, a black expensive car was pulling up to the driveway. I was already frowning, staring at the tinted windows as the doors swung open. Men in black gear popped out of the car and stormed towards me. It happened in a matter of seconds, my front lawn flocked with strange men, all looking quite intimidating. One man was already gripping a hand around my bicep and I struggled to yank free from him. "What are you doing? Let me go!" I demanded quickly, my head whipping around to stare at Samuel who was standing beside another man. 

A new figure stepped from the black car, slowly and oozing of charm and calculation. "Afternoon, Tilda." 

I stared blankly at Obadiah Stane. There were a million questions running through my mind as to why he was standing outside my house and why he was allowing his own men to manhandle Samuel and myself. I didn't like the man standing before me, not one little bit and not after the way he had treated me weeks ago at the charity event. I knew he didn't think much of me and pinned it solely upon me that Tony was trying to break away from his control over the company. "What are you doing?" I hissed at him. 

He gave a smug smile, "Taking care of business." 

"What does that mean?" I tried quickly as the man holding me steady in his grip starting moving forward, practically dragging me along with him. "Don't you dare hurt my son! Why are you even doing this? Where's Tony, dammit?" I screeched as Samuel let out a struggled cry from behind me. 

I was being pushed into the car, trying my best to struggle but it was no use. Samuel was heaved into the backseat beside me, worry clouding his dark eyes. Obadiah loomed towards me, grinning like a total idiot. "Don't worry, Tilda. Tony will be taken care of too." 

Before I could snarl in his face again, the door was slamming shut and the car's engine was purring to life and within seconds, we were pulling away from my house and the last thing I saw was my shiny bright red handbag sitting on the pavement where I had left it.