3rd P.O.V
Happy was driving while Pepper sat next Caleb in the backseat, looking outside and thinking about where is dad could be and what happened to him.
Was he alive or dead?
Was he hurt?
Was he safe?
No one knew.
Everyone that sat in the car was sad about Tony's disapearance so, Pepper had the idea of going out shopping for Caleb to put their minds elsewhere. Right now, Pepper had just hanged up her phone. She had been talking to Rhodey since he too was worried of Tony's whereabouts. Unfortunetaly, the colonel couldn't make it on the shopping trip. So it was only Happy, Pepper and Caleb.
Caleb was still looking outside lost in his thoughts when suddenly he started feeling weird. He cleared his throat and loosened his tie. He felt like he was wet, problem is, he wasn't.
Pepper looked at him worriedly.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
The fifteen years old looked at her.
"Yeah," He cleared his throat again. "Fine." He tried to reassure.
But he wasn't fine. The feeling just kept getting worse. Then his throat constricted. Caleb started coughing as he felt as if he had his head put under water. His coughs got harder and harder and he could hear Pepper and Happy panicking in the background. Suddenly, Caleb felt something coming up his throat. Next thing you knew, he was throwing up. But he wasn't throwing up anything. He was coughing up water as if he had just breathed in while underwater.
Happy slammed down the brakes and the car stopped. Immediately, Caleb opened his door and fell out, still coughing water up. He tried to get in a few breaths, but he couldn't, because of the water that wouldn't stop coming out of his mouth. Pepper was crouching next to him and talking, but Caleb coldn't hear what she was saying.
It didn't take long for a crowd to form. Of course, seeing the son of Tony Stark, choking on water attracted a lot of journalists and people.
Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped. Caleb took in large breaths as the water stopped coming and he could now breath. He stayed on the floor while he tried to regain his breath. It took him a couple of minutes and then he finally started to nderstand what was happening around him. He shot a glance at the journalists and then looked at Pepper, who was still asking him if he was okay.
"Help me get up." He told her.
Pepper took him by the arm and helped him up. Caleb flashed a sheepish smile at everyone.
"That's what I get from not listening when Pepper tells me to drink properly." He said lightly, trying to not let his image slip. "Now, if you'll ecuse us, we have a important things to do."
He then hurried off inside the car and let Happy and Pepper deal with the journalists. He placed a hand against his chest and took in more large breaths. Only one thing was running trough his mind.
What the hell just happened?
After that, Caleb got a couple of other 'episodes' like this one, only, he wasn't coughing up water, he would just get random pains. Nothing too painful. They even went to see a doctor, but they found nothing, so Caleb dismissed it and told everone to stop worrying about him and start worrying about Tony who was still missing.
It wasn't until that one day. Caleb was in front of his mirror, brushing his hair. As he was doing his front, he noticed his wrists were starting develop thin red lines. He placed the brush on his bedside table and went to look at his wrists, but let out a small cry as they split open. As if Caleb had been chained to a wall and was struggling against the chains.
Caleb ran to his desk and took some towels and sat on his bed to wipe out the blood. As he pressed a towel to his wrist a sharp pain was felt on his ankles. He lifted his pants up to see that his ankles had split open the same way his wrists had.
Caleb decided that he had to get up. He stood up and painfully walked to his door. As he was about to open the door a powerful force knocked him out, the only thing he felt was a burning pain in his chest.
Pepper entered Caleb's room in a rush. She looked like she had something important to tell, but stopped herself with a gasp as she saw Caleb on the ground. She rushed over to him mumbling in panic over and over again.
Caleb groaned as he felt himself being lifted up.
"Are you okay?" Pepper asked him in a worry.
"Yep." Caleb groaned. "Yep. Fine. Just fainted."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Pepper nodded to herself, but checked him again for any wounds. Not finding any, she sighed in relief.
"Okay," She breathed. "Get ready. They found your dad." And she walked away.
Caleb stood up and quickly checked his wrists and ankles. Nothing.
"Impossible." He breathed out.
He looked down at his carpet where blood should be, but there was none. Then he remembered that he had used a towel. He looked o his bed, where he had placed it-
Nothing.
The towel wasn't there. (Building up to intense Iron Man theme starts.)
Caleb frowned in confusion. He clearly remembered the towel. It wasn't on the bed or on his desk. It was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he winced as he felt the small burning pain on his chest. He walked over to his mirror and ripped his shirt off. In the middle of his chest was a red circle. A plain red circle.
As he looked at it, Pepper's words came back to him. His eyes widened as his head snapped up. (Music stops.)
"Wait." He said. "Dad?
(Intense Iron Man theme restarts.)
Caleb was anxiously waiting in front of the car for his dad to come out of the plane. Pepper was not to far from him, her eyes rimmed red and Happy was behind them. They watched as Tony stood up from a wheelchair and walked with the help of Rhodey, denying the help of the paramedics.
When he saw his dad, Caleb immediately started walking towards him. About halfway, he broke into a run and jumped in his dad's arms. Tony hugged his son as tightly as he could, even with his wounds.
"I missed you, dad." Caleb muttered.
Tony kissed his son's head.
"I missed you too, Caleb." He whispered.
He let go of his son and walked a few steps towards Pepper. He hummed.
"Your eyes are red." Tony stated. "A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
"Tears of joy." Pepper said, teasingly. "I hate job hunting."
Caleb rolled his eyes from behind them.
"Just kiss already." He said to himself as his dad said something about vacation's being over.
They entered the car, Pepper sitting up front while the two Starks sat in the back.
"Where to, sir?" Happy asked.
"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper softly said.
"No." Was Tony's immediate answer.
Pepper looked at him confused.
"No?" She repeated.
Caleb looked at him.
"Dad, you have to go to the hospital." He said.
"No is a complete answer." Tony strictly said.
Pepper looked at him in disbelief.
"The doctor has to look at you." She said.
"I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other-"
"That's enough of that." Pepper cut him off.
"Is not what you think. I want you
to call for a press conference now." Tony continued as if nothing had happened.
"Call for a press conference?" Caleb asked his dad.
"Yeah." Tony nodded.
"What on earth for?" Pepper asked.
"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." Tony said, ignoring his son and Pepper.
"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down?" Tony loudly asked to every journalists and people that were at the conference. "Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me and I can.." He stopped to take a bite of his burger. "A little less formal and.." He didn't finish his sentence, he only took another bite and scooted over so his son could sit next to him.
Everyone sat and waited for Tony to start. Tony looked at Caleb.
"Good to see you." He said to his son.
Caleb narrowed his eyes. He never really liked Obidiah.
"I never got to say goodbye to dad." Tony continued. "I never got to say goodbye to my father." He finished his burger and placed the wrapping next to him. "There's questions I would of wanted to ask him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of the man we all remember from the newsreels."
There was a silence. Caleb was staring at his dad. They never talked about his grandfather. It was a taboo subject for Tony and now he was just openly talking about it.
"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend and protect them." Tony continued, shooting his son a look. "And I saw that I- that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
When the journalists saw that he was done, people began asking questions. Tony looked at one in front of him.
"Hey, Ben." He signaled to him.
"What happened over there?" Ben the journalist asked.
"Uh, I had my eyes opened." Tony loudly said, standing up, making Caleb do the same. "I came to realize that I have more to offer to this world than just making things blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International-" Everyone stood up in protest while Caleb's eyes opened wide. "Until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be." Obadiah took Tony by the shoulders and tried to talk over him. "What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."
Caleb hurried to follow his father, still stunned by the words he had just heard.