Through Her Eyes

Chapter 5

As soon as we entered the room, applause could be heard. Everyone was on their feet and watching as the great Tony Stark was finally seen for the first time in three months. I made a small indication with my head that I was going to stay up the back with Pepper. Dad nodded to me and made his way up through the press, Obadiah quickly following.

Suddenly I was aware of a presence behind us. I quickly turned around to see a short, balding man in a suit. Pepper turned slightly as well to see what I was looking at.

"Excuse me, Miss Potts?" He asked politely. "Can I get a moment?"

"Oh I'm not actually part of the press conference, but it's about to start any second."

"That's okay, I'm not a reporter," He pulled out a small card and handed it to Pepper. She took it without looking at it. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division,"

I kept my eyes on Dad as he made his way up to the podium, getting pats of his back like a dog (I'm sure he was loving that, not), but I still listened in on what this man and Pepper were talking about.

"That's quiet a mouthful," She replied. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that even though she was having a conversation with someone, her eyes hardly left Tony. This made me smile slightly.

"I know. We're working on it," Obviously he'd heard that many times before.

"You know we've already been approached by the DOD, the FBI, and the CIA." I could tell by her tone she just wanted this guy to disappear so she could put all her focus on Tony.

"We're a separate division, with a more... specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

Crap. How was Dad supposed to explain that he made a suit that was extreme in strength and could throw flames?

Obviously Pepper was thinking the same because she simply replied, "I'll put something in the book shall I?"

That seemed to satisfy him enough because he said "Thank you." And stepped back to watch the conference.

Pepper kept her eyes on Dad as he finally approached the podium. I looked around the vast room, amazed at how many people had arrived on such short notice. As I looked back up to the podium, I realized Dad was no where in sight.

"Okay!" Stane said cheerily. "Let get...uh.." He, too, seemed to have realized Tony had disappeared. Suddenly I could hear my father's voice.

"How would it be, if everybody all sat down huh?" He said, finishing his last burger. "Y'know, then I could see you; make it a little less, formal,"

A little laugh escaped my lips as everyone in the room exchanged confused look but followed his advice and sat down on the floor. I sat down next to Pepper, making sure my dress didn't show anything.

I spotted Rhodey enter, a look of confusion upon his face as he took in the scene before him. He saw me and Pepper and began making his way towards us.

"What's with the love-in?" He asked, squatting down next to Pepper.

"Don't ask me, I have no idea what he's doing," Pepper shrugged her shoulders. Rhodey looked over to me but I did the same as Pepper and just shrugged.

Everyone watched as Stane sat down next to Tony, a few flash bulbs still going off. Tony looked up at his old family friend. "Stane?"

"Yeah, Tony?" He placed his hand upon Tony's shoulder.

"I never got to say good-bye to Dad," He spoke softly, as if forgetting he was in a room full of press. That one sentence made tears form in my eyes. Dad had rarely spoken about his parents to the press but now, there he was, sitting there, looking as if he was about to cry. This just made me want to cry even more.

"I never got to say good-bye to my father," He spoke firmly this time, his gaze going from Obadiah to everyone sitting on the floor. He briefly met my eyes but had to look away, knowing tears would form if he kept his gaze on me.

"There are questions I would have asked him. I would have asked how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts...Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels..."

You would be able to hear a pin drop in the room. It was so silent. Everyone was getting to see a side of Tony they didn't even know existed. They were in awe.

"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons that I had created to keep them safe. And I came to realize that I had become part of a system that had gotten comfortable with the idea of zero accountability."

Through the crowd I saw a news reporter out his hand up tentatively. "Mr. Stark...what happened to you out there?"

I had wondered through the last part of the car trip how Dad would respond to a question like that. Well, now I was getting my answer.

"I... I had my eyes opened. I came to see that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." Tony stood up from the ground and made his way to the usual spot behind the podium. I knew in that moment the soft side everyone thought they were seeing was gone and had been replaced with his business side.

"Which is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the Weapons Production Division of Stark International-" the rest of his sentence was lost in the suddenly uproar. The press were on their feet in a second and were shouting out questions. I could feel my jaw drop.

"Until such a time as I can decide what the focus of this company should be, what direction it should take, one that I am comfortable with, and that will reflect the highest-"

The room was in chaos now. Everyone was shouting out something to Tony but no one could make out any individual questions. There were just too many people shouting. Obadiah immediately pushed Tony slightly, just enough to take over the microphone. "Hey!" He said, still trying to be cheerful. "What we should take from this is that Tony's back, and he's healthier than ever, we're going to have some more discussion-"

But no one was paying attention to him. Tony was weaving his way back towards us. He grabbed my hand in an instant and quickly led me outside, Pepper and Rhodey following us. A security guard at the door stopped the Press getting outside so we could have a moment to ourselves.

"You head on home with Pepper," He began, looking me straight in the eye. He could tell I wanted to talk him about what just happened back there but I would have to wait. "I'm just going to do a few things here before I leave, okay?"

I nodded without saying a word and he walked me back to the car. As I hopped inside, Pepper following, he waved us a small good- bye and turned to talk with Rhodey.

The car pulled away from the curb.

What the hell was Dad doing? I'd never been happy with the weapons manufacturing but I knew that was the big department that made millions of dollars. I wondered if he thought this through but I already had my answer. I knew Dad would make snap decisions but he had never made a business decision without thinking it over first. He obviously knew what he was doing.

"The board of directors are not going to be happy with him," Pepper said after we drove for a few minutes in silence.

I nodded my head in agreement but I still couldn't say anything. I wondered if this was really going to happen. Time would tell.

After 10 minutes we pulled up at the gates to the mansion. They instantly began opening as the car came within range of the senor I'd built and stuck in the dash. We drove down into the huge garage. I muttered a good-bye to Happy and slid out of the car.

"Umm...I'm gunna work down here until Dad gets home," I said as Pepper began walking towards the door.

"Okay. I gather Obadiah will be having a word with him so it might be awhile." She pushed open the door and walked up the stairs, leaving me sitting in front of my work station. What I really wanted to do was work on my car but in a white dress, I don't think so. I didn't want to go upstairs to get changed but I suddenly remembered the jumpsuit Dad had given me for my 14th birthday. I pulled it out of my bottom draw. It had been purple (my favourite colour) but after two years of wearing it, it was covered in grease and the purple could barely be seen.

I quickly stripped out of my dress and chucked on the jumpsuit. I opened the bonnet of my Mustang and started working as I waited for Dad to come home.