(2) Bring Me Home (T. Stark)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Pepper lets out a relieved breath as she sees Tony enter the back entrance to the office, the front was mobbed by reporters and Tony just wants a moment with his family before he dives into it all. He's had his cheeseburgers, now he wants the twins. He makes his way straight to the pram beside Pepper, basically ignoring the woman, but she doesn't mind, he should be excited to see his children, he should put them before her. Tony crouches in front of the pram and smiles seeing the twins there. He knows he missed a lot, given how big they both are. Four months. They've grown so much in four months. He cocks his head and reaches for Serenity, his eye on the little device tucked behind her ear.

"What is this?" Tony asks touching Serenity's hearing aid. Spencer nervously fumbles with her hands, Tony looks at her and raises an eyebrow.

"She's...urm...she's deaf" Spencer admits. Tony raises an eyebrow.

"Both ears?" He asks, she nods. "Oh, Spencer"

"It's been a rough few months" She whispers, she knows that what she went through is nothing compared to what Tony has been through, but they are still her struggles, and she did struggle. He stands and turns to her.

"I'm here now" he assures her, his hand on the side of her head. "She's okay though? Nothing else is wrong? It's not a health thing?" he whispers, she nods.

"No, she's fine....we figured it out" She answers. Tony nods and takes a deep breath before going back to the twins. Spencer lifts up Trinity onto her hip and watches Tony.

"The press isn't going to wait forever" Pepper offers, Tony nods and stands again. He takes a deep breath.

"We'll go out and drive back around" Happy offers, Tony nods and takes Spencer's hand.

"You, me, and our little trifecta of cuteness" He teases and touches Spencer's chin. "We do this together....as a family" she smiles at him, he leans closer and kisses her softly.

..................

Tony crouches as he adjusts Trinity's jacket, the two of them share a look, he smiles and nods before standing, her hand holding to his. Spencer touches the small of his back and he looks at her as she stands at his side, the pram in front of her.

"You ready?" she asks him, he pulls a face and then nods.

..............

Tony holds the door open so Spencer can manoeuvre the pram through it and into the entrance of the Stark building, before he closes it behind them. Obadiah is waiting there with a group of gathered employees. They all start applauding when Tony turns to face them. Obadiah with arms outstretched walks towards Tony.

"See this. Huh. Huh." He hugs Tony warmly, speaks close. "Tony, thought we were meeting at the hospital. You know there's a lot of reporters in there. What's going on?"

"You'll see. C'mon..." Tony answers and then walks away with Trinity. Obadiah looks at Spencer who shrugs. She has no idea either. She pushes the pram after Tony.

.............

The lobby is packed with reporters waiting for the hundred-carat headline. Pepper is approached by Agent Phil Coulson as she waits for Tony's speech.

"You'll have to take a seat, Sir." Pepper tells him before he can talk.

"Oh, I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division...." He tells her, Pepper raises an eyebrow.

"That's a mouthful." Pepper comments.

"I know. Here." He hands her a card. Pepper takes it, squints at the tiny font.

"Look, Mr Coulson, we've already spoken with the D.O.D., the FBI, the CIA..." Pepper tells him.

"We're a separate division with a more...specific focus." Coulson counters. "We need to debrief Tony about the circumstances of his escape. More importantly..."

"Well, great, I'll let him know..." Pepper interrupts him.

"....we're here to help. We're here to listen. I assure you, Mr Stark will want to talk to us."

"I'm sure he will. Now if you could just take your seat." Pepper pushes slightly, Coulson walks away from her. As Tony enters, struggling his way to the podium with Trinity at his side, followed by Obadiah. Spencer veers off and joins Pepper who raises an eyebrow at her, Spencer offers a shrug back at her. Tony gazes out over the reporters. Suddenly he seems vulnerable, scattered. The silence grows awkward. Obadiah is mercifully going to save him when Tony looks straight at Spencer, she nods encouragingly at him and touches her chest taking a deep breath, Tony nods to himself and takes a deep breath himself before talking.

"I...can't do this anymore." He admits. The room is silent as the reporters wait for the Stark punch-line, but it doesn't come.

"You mean you're retiring?" The reporter asks.

"No, I don't want to retire. I want to do something else." Tony answers. The room waits through more awkward silence, before one reporter speaks up.

"Something besides weapons?"

"Yes. That's right." Tony answers. The room is suddenly loud, filled with overlapping questions, bombarding Tony with them.

"The official report was sketchy. What happened to you over there, Mr Stark?" Tony is pensive, thoughtful, but then the floodgates open.

"What happened over there?" Tony repeats the question and takes another breath. "I had my eyes opened, that's what happened. I saw my weapons, with my name on them, in the hands of thugs. I thought we were doing good here...I can't say that anymore." Rhodey, just arriving in the rear, pulls up to Spencer.

"Uhh, weren't we taking him to the hospital?" He asks her but Spencer is transfixed. Nearby, Agent Coulson watches stoically.

"What do you intend to do about it, Mr Stark?" Another reporter asks. Tony looks down at Trinity clutching to his hand, she looks back up at him, all wide-eyed, young, precious. Tony looks back out at the reporters.

"The system is broken.....there's no accountability whatsoever. Right now, as of this second, we are freezing the sale of all Stark weaponry worldwide." The room erupts into chaos and Obadiah's ready to wrap this up, he moves towards Tony. "We've lost our way. I need to revaluate things. And my heart's telling me I have more to offer the planet than things that blow up."

"So you're saying...what are you saying?"

"In the coming months, Mr Stane here and I will set a new course for Stark Industries. 'Tomorrow Today' has always been our slogan. It's time we try to live up to it." He squeezes Trinity's hand softly and she smiles holding her wolf closer with her other hand. Reporters shoot questions at Tony, one after the other, over one another. Obadiah takes the podium.

"Okay, I think we're going to be selling a lot of newspapers here. What we should take away from this is that Tony's back, he's healthier than ever, and as soon as he heals up and takes some time off with his family, we're going to have a little internal discussion and get back to you. Thank you for coming by." Tony steps down, exhilarated. He works his way through the swarming reporters, approaching Spencer, Rhodey and Pepper, who all have stunned looks on their faces.

"You mean that? Or is this some clever stock-manoeuvre?" Pepper asks Tony, he shrugs.

"Wait and see." He answers and then turns to Spencer. "Now you can take me to the hospital," He tells her, she stares at him a moment before nodding. "And then we're going home" He adds, she smiles softly at him.