Anyway the Wind Blows (Avengers Fanfiction)

அ Chapter Two அ

Not everybody gets to be a god.

"Mr. Stark- Mr. Stark? Could we please pick up where we left off?" The man's voice was pointed and if anything Tony did not want to listen.

Tony rolls his eyes as Pepper tells him to turn around, he leans towards the microphone. "Yes dear?" A faint chuckle passes through the stiff lawyers and excitable press in the room.

"Can I please have your attention?" Senator Stern frowns at him as he asks. "Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"

Tony paused, making it seem as though he were thinking about his answer before reply with a frown. "I do not." He pauses again, titling his head to the sound, "Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."

Stern groans, "The Iron Man weapon!" He shouts as he says it, unconsciously Tony looks for Nikolas.

"Our device does not fit that description." Tony winces at his choice of words, trying to distract the Senator before he can question it. "I would describe it as a- a high-tech prosthesis. That is the most apt description I can make."

The Senator shakes his head, his committee following suit. "It's a weapon, it is a weapon. Mr. Stark, I am no expert-"

Tony rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair as a figure approaches the end of the table.

"I defer to Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor as the expert in this current situation." Senator Stern nods to Hammer who waves to the group of unenthusiastic reporters.

Once again, Tony rolls his eyes. "God if your priority in this situation was actually the well being of the American people you would be-"

"My priority is to get the Iron man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." The statement from Stern was uninformed and useless though he acted as though he had rewritten the Declaration of Independence in as few words.

Tony paused, setting his hands on the edge of the table and pushing himself to his feet. It took everything in him to not loose his temper. "Well you can forget it, because I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to render it useless to the control and use of others and put public safety on the line-"

"Mr. Stark."

He raised his voice. "You have no right to ask a private citizen who has put his life at risk on so many occasions to turn over something-"

"Mr. Stark."

"That is created to be a prosthesis for the use of a disabled individual currently residing in said private citizen's household."

"Mr. Stark!"

Tony realized his mistake as soon as he had said it. He sat back down all anger falling from him as he frowned and leaned back in the chair. Senator Stern had turned red and looked as though he were trying to hold back all of his anger.

A hand landed on Tony's arm and he turned, all negative emotion leaving him the moment Rhodey smiled. "You good man?" His friends voice was soft, a faint upturn to the corner of his lips faded the moment he sat down in the chair beside him.

Tony waved off the question, turning back to the Senator and basking in the comfort found with his friends presence though he knew Rhodey was surely here to be used as evidence against him.

Senator Stern took a deep breath. "I have before me a completed report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel James Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?"

Rhodey sighed, glancing to his friend before speaking. "Very well." He opened the report in front of him.

"As neither Anthony Stark, Iron Man, or-" He paused, his voice catching in his throat as Tony looked at him.

"Problem Colonel?" Stern sounded smug as he said it.

Rhodey shook his head. "No." He took a deep breath, "or Doctor Endeavour Stark operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat the security of both the nation and her interests."

Tony felt a strange feeling in his chest. Unconsciously he rolled his wrist, looking at his watch and his heart rate found there. He did everything he could to avoid looking at either Rhodey or Senator Stern.

"I then go on to say that, since the benefits of having Iron Man protect the United States far outweighs the liability, I do believe it would be beneficial to fold both Starks into the current chain of command." Rhodey closes the book as he says it. "And since Doctor Endeavour Stark has in the past consulted on remodels to current machinery used in all branches, his addition would not be a difficult one-"

Tony interrupted, leaning up to the microphone and speaking clearly, "I am not a joiner but I'll consider Secretary of Defense if you ask nicely."

He didn't laugh, as the comment wasn't meant as a humorous one, but rather a moment that allowed the concentration to leave Nikolas and therefore give Tony the chance to breath without his son's name being thrown in his face.

"Mr. Stark if you would not interrupt." Senator Stern spoke forcefully, looking back to Rhodey as he did. "Colonel if you would narrate the imagery associated with your presentation?"

"Imagery?" Tony smiled as he said it, squinting at the screen as terrible and grainy images of poor attempts at his suit appears. "Well that won't do-"

He action is more of a reaction, he lifts his phone, using a program that Nikolas had designed he commandeers the screens and narrates his own form of imagery.

Tony breaks down each of the countries that could potential create the armor, giving an estimate time that it will take for them to create a functional suit and speaking louder at every attempt of the Senator to silence him.

In the end, he stands, smiling brightly and holding his arms out. "I am your acting nuclear deterrent. There is one element of the suit that cannot be replicated, that cannot be recreated because the blueprints belong to Ni-" He cut himself off. "We are safe. It is working. You want my property? You can't have it. But I did do you a big favor-"

He was showboating at this point. "I have successfully privatized world peace."

Senator Stern glares him down. "Fuck you Tony Stark. Fuck you."

Tony bows dramatically, leaving the room as if he had not put himself into an inescapable hole and as if he were not on the verge of a breakdown.

He left the room with a deeply fake smile and panicked breathing.