Endeavour Nikolas Stark is perfectly fine as is.
As a child he had been extraordinary, finding a home among the friendliest of people at Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted, and finding himself Gifted in many ways just beyond the X-Gene in his DN...
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The wind changes.
"Well, let's get this started..." Obadiah trailed off, looking to both Stark men as they sat in front of the podium, Nikolas in his wheelchair and Tony leaning against the wooden podium.
Tony smiled, offering a piece of his cheeseburger bun to his son as he addressed the crowd without looking at them directly. "Hey would it be alright if everyone sat down? Little less formal for Nikolas. You can see me and I can see-" He cut himself off, frowning as Nikolas denied his offer.
Nikolas took his time settling as every movement jarred his leg-that-is-no-longer-there in a specific way that made him feel uncomfortable. He pulled his headphones from his head, letting the soft material settle on his collarbones as he tried to concentrate on the minds in the room.
Unlike Obadiah, these minds sit idly at the tip of his fingertips. If he so wanted, he could manipulate the simple grey matter found there and insist that they do what he like. Nikolas does not do this, but rather puts each behind a lock and key to hold them out of distraction.
"Good to see you Tony." Obadiah was next to speak as he made a point of settling between the father-son pair. Nikolas nearly reacted, but his dad's hand lifted and Nikolas found himself calming at the motion. "And you Einstein."
Nikolas did not form a reply, though he very specifically had to resist the urge to correct Obadiah.
The doctor took a deep breath.
"You know-" Everyone's attention turned back to Tony as he spoke softly to the crowd. His words commanding the presence of the room without any form of flare needed. "I never got to say goodbye to my father, and there is questions I would have asked him. I would have wanted him to see Nikolas. Ask if he was ever conflicted about what we do, or if he ever had any doubts."
If the doctor chose too, he could poke and prod at his dad's mind and figure out where he was going with his sentiments, but rather Nikolas opened his mouth and spoke unprepared words flowing from an unprepared mouth.
"I saw young Americans killed by the same weapons that I had created to defend them."
The reporters shuffled, turning their recorders and microphones to Nikolas' direction in near surprise.
This occurrence was a rarity, any form of speech from Nikolas without any form of further prompting from his dad meant that the doctor felt as if his words would have an affect on the room.
Oftentimes, Nikolas held back for the sole reason of Obadiah Stane.
The man had not verbally expressed any dislike about Nikolas' presence and had even insisted on multiple occasions that Nikolas attend press conferences and functions for the benefit of having his photo taken alongside both his dad and Obadiah.
Nikolas knew that he did not need to speak, that if necessary he could borrow his dad's voice and speak through him. But for the first time in a long time, Nikolas knew what he was meant to do in this moment.
"I saw that I had become a part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability." Nikolas had never considered the idea of his weapons killing the people he had meant to protect. But after everything that had happened in Afghanistan, after everything he had lost, there was only way way to direct the situation. "I-"
"Dr. Stark!" A voice called from the crowd of reporters, and Nikolas frowned at the interruption.
"Ben." It was his dad who whispered the name.
Nikolas smiled in a friendly way as he repeated it, though he did not follow the sentiments. "Ben."
It became apparent that the reporter had not seen the minor interaction between father and son as he lifted his microphone higher and readjusted his squatting. "What happened over there?"
Nikolas did not understand the question.
If anything, the answer was obvious, though Nikolas knew that he should not mention the armor and the miniature arc reactor humming in his dad's chest. There were events that should be discussed, and moments that should only be spoken about in the privacy of his dad and Nikolas' lab.
"Loss." Nikolas hummed after saying it, his left hand moving up and down at his side as he attempted to not loose his train of thought. "So much loss."
Ben nodded, his face contorted into a poor attempt at what Nikolas assumed was sympathy. Nicolas ignored the action in favor of continuing. "I-" He paused, "We have come to realize that we have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up."
It was impossible for Nikolas to speak a truer statement. Ben looked confused. "Doctor Stark, what do you mean?"
Obadiah shifted in between Nikolas and Tony, the doctor ignored the man.
"And for this reason, as the current co-CEO and future head of the company-" There was a pause as the crowd of reporters shuffled. It was the first time that Nikolas had admitted to his future position in the company and the knowledge that the press would have a field day with this information almost prompted him to fall silent. "I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division at Stark International-"
The entire room erupted into chaos before he even had the chance to finish his statement.
Nikolas felt his breath catch in his throat, the assault of all of the voices on him made him react immediately. The doctor lifted his hands, pressing his palms into his ears without a care for how hard he pressed or if the press found him odd.
He took a deep breath before continuing. "Until such time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."
Nikolas nodded in a sure way, pushing all feelings of overstimulation away from the forefront of his mind in favor of trying to stay calm. He glanced over his shoulder, ignoring the obvious anger from Obadiah as he waited for his dad to understand what was happening.
When Nikolas' eyes locked with his dad, the older Stark's reaction came immediately. He pushed himself to his feet, nudging passed Obadiah as the man attempted to calm the room. Tony grabbed at the handles of Nikolas' wheelchair and pushed in a sure and specific way through the front of the room.
Pepper Potts was waiting, a thin frown on her lips as she pushed open a door for both Nikolas and Tony to pass through before closing it shut behind them and letting the Starks be while she attempted to stop the press from following.
With the door shut and the voices muffled Nikolas felt the panic burst in his chest, fading into nothing as he took three deep breaths and dropped his hands. His dad was kneeling in front of him but Nikolas did not even remember the wheelchair stopping.
Nikolas began to rock back and forth, reaching for his dad's hand and squeezing it in his typical three beat pattern. He kept his main concentration on drawing in deep breaths that shuttered slightly on every exhale.
The emotion in his dad's face was a mystery to the doctor, despite his vague attempts at attempting to understand. He knew that it was not anger, and the addition of misty looking eyes made Nikolas consider the fact that his dad could be sad-upset at him, the word for it escaping him as he continued to rock.
"Einstein I am so proud of you."
It was not what Nikolas had expected, but at the words he smiled.
His dad repeated the three beat pattern back to him. "I couldn't be happier Nikolas." The switch to his name almost made Nikolas pause his rocking, he grinned instead, clicking his tongue and speaking with a cadence similar to his dad's.
"I am proud of you too." He put emphasis on the word by tapping his chest just above his heart, watching closely as his dad repeated the action.
