"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."
A.A. Milne
I should have gone on that trip with Tony. I should have been there. Maybe then I could have saved him. Tony was taken hostage by the Ten Rings three months ago. For three months I didn't know if he was alive or dead. I spent the whole time beating myself up over it. If I had been there, I could have rescued us. He wouldn't have had to sit through whatever torture they put him through. I just... I should have done more.
Today is the day I finally get to see him again. I stand with Happy Hogan at the airport waiting for Tony's plane to land. I smile from ear to ear as he walks down the back of the plane hand and hand with Colonel James Rhodes. Tony's arm is in a sling, but he looks good for a man held hostage for three months.
"Watch it, coming up here," Rhodey warns.
A paramedic wheels a gurney over towards Tony. "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them," Tony instructs. He walks over to me and looks me in the eyes. "Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
I chuckle. "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting."
"Yeah, vacation's over," Tony states before getting into the back of the car.
I get in and sit right beside him.
"Where to, sir?" Happy asks.
I lean forward slightly. "Take us to the hospital, please, Happy."
"No," Tony states.
"No?" I ask. "Tony, I know you're stubborn, but you have to go to the hospital."
"No is a complete answer," Tony states.
"The doctor has to look at you," I argue.
"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..." Tony starts.
I cut him off, "Don't."
Tony continues, "...is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now."
I look at him confused. "You want me to call for a press conference?"
Tony nods his head. "Yeah."
"What on earth for?" I ask.
"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first," Tony instructs.
I give Tony a look. "I should have had Pepper pick you up."
Just as Tony instructed, we stop for burgers before heading to Stark Industries. The employees are standing outside clapping as we pull up.
Obadiah Stane greets Tony as he gets out of the car, "Look at this! We were going to meet at the hospital. Look at you!"
"No, I'm fine," Tony insists.
Happy hands him a cheeseburger.
"You had to have a burger, yeah?" Obadiah states.
"Well, come on," Tony remarks.
"You get me one of those?" Obadiah asks.
"There's only one left. I need it," Tony tells him.
We walk into the building, everyone happy to see Tony alive and well. Well, that or their just happy to see him alive because it means they still have jobs.
"Hey, look who's here! Yeah!" Obadiah shouts.
"Miss Panagos?" a man asks.
"Yes," I answer.
"Can I speak to you for a moment?" the man asks.
"I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now," I tell him.
"I'm not a reporter. I'm agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," the man tells me.
"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA..." I tell him.
"Well as you already know we're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape," Coulson tells me.
"I'll make sure Ms. Potts puts something in the book, alright?" I tell him.
"Thank you," Coulson says before walking off.
The press conference starts with Tony eating his cheeseburger. "Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down? Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... A little less formal and..."
Rhodey walks over and leans down to talk to me, "What's up with the love-in?"
I chuckle. "Don't look at me. I never know what Tony's doing."
Obadiah sits down next to Tony.
"Good to see you," Tony says.
"Good to see you," Obadiah agrees.
"I never got to say goodbye to Dad," Tony says quietly. He turns to face the crowd. "I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts." I look at Tony confused by the road he is headed down. "Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels." He pauses for a moment. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
"Mr. Stark!" the reporters yell.
"Hey, Ben," Tony greets.
"What happened over there?" Ben asks.
"I had my eyes opened." Tony stands up. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." Tony stands behind the podium. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International..." The reporters in the room stand up going crazy. I looked at Tony in shock. "...Until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."
Obadiah tries to talk over him. "I think we're gonna be selling a lot of newspapers."
Tony keeps going, "What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well." Tony walks off the stage.
"What we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up," Obadiah offers the reporters.
I find Pepper in her office knowing she is going to have a lot to handle with this.
I knock on the door and smile at her slightly. "I should have let you pick him up."
Pepper shakes her head. "And now I have to deal with him anyway."
"I would have told you if I had known," I assure her.
Pepper smiles. "Neither of us ever know what is going to come out of Tony's mouth at a press conference."
I chuckle as I sit in a chair across from her. "The last thing I ever expected was for Tony to decide that as a weapons manufacturer we're halting the production of our weapons."
"Well maybe it's a change for the better," Pepper offers.
"I'm out of a job," I state.
"I'm sure Tony will find something for you," Pepper assures.
I shrug my shoulders. "I deserve a vacation. I can start job hunting in a week or two."
I've never seen Tony do such a noble thing. Maybe this will be the dawning of a new era not just for Stark Industries but for me too. I mean do I really want to make weapons of mass destruction my whole life?
I sit in the living room of Tony's house. I've been keeping an eye on Tony so Pepper can focus on the company. She practically does Tony's job anyways and since I'm unemployed I have a lot of free time.
The TV is on some terrible news channel. "Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready? Sell, sell, sell! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells? Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan!" The man picks up a baseball bat and smashes a mug. "Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't make weapons!"
I hear Tony over my earpiece, "AP. How big are your hands?"
"What?" I ask.
"How big are your hands?" Tony asks.
"I don't understand why..." I start.
"Get down here. I need you," Tony tells me.
I head down to Tony's lab. I see him sitting shirtless reclined in a chair hooked up to all kinds of monitors.
"Hey." Tony greets. I look at him like he is crazy. "Let's see them. Show me your hands. Let's see them." I hold up my hands as I walk towards him. "Oh, wow. They are small. Very petite, indeed. I just need your help for a sec." Tony holds a mini arc reactor in his hand.
I look at the one on his chest. "Oh, my gods, is that the thing that's keeping you alive?"
"It was. It is now an antique." Tony holds up the glowing arc reactor in his hand. "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it up for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump."
"Speed bump? What does that mean?" I question.
"It's nothing. It's just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device. And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short," Tony explains while taking the arc reactor out of his chest. "It's fine."
He hands the old reactor to me. "What do you want me to do?"
"Put that on the table over there. That is irrelevant," Tony tells me.
I take it from him and place it on the table. "Oh, my gods Tony!"
"I want you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out," Tony instructs.
"Is it safe?" I question.
"Yeah, it should be fine. It's like Operation," Tony tells me.
"The children's game?" I ask in disbelief.
"You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes 'beep.' It's just... never mind. Just gently lift the wire. Okay? Great," Tony tells me.
"Okay." I go to put my hand in the hole in his chest but pull back. I am not gonna be responsible for the death of Tony Stark. "You know, I don't think that I'm qualified to do this."
"No, you're fine. You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great. Is it too much of a problem to ask? 'Cause I'm... I really need your help here." Tony says.
"Okay, okay," I agree.
"Okay," Tony says as he tries to lie still.
I take a deep breath as I reach my hand into this chest hole "Oh, there's pus!" I shout as the wound starts to make a squishing sound.
"It's not pus. It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not from my body," Tony explains.
"I don't care what it is, it smells!" I shout at him.
"Yeah, it does," Tony agrees.
I continue to fish around in his chest.
"The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?" Tony asks.
"Okay, I got it! I got it!" I say as I start to pull on it.
"Okay, you got it? Now, don't let it touch the sides when you're coming out!" Tony shouts.
I accidentally touch the wire to the metal in Tony's chest and one of the monitors starts to buzz. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"That's what I was trying to tell you before," Tony tells me. I continue to pull the long wire from his chest. "Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't..."
I continue to pull until a large magnet comes out.
"There's a magnet at the end of it! That was it. You just pulled it out," Tony states.
The monitors start to beat rapidly.
"Oh, gods!" I say as I hold the wire in my hand.
"Okay, I was not expecting..." Tony trails off. I move the magnet back over his chest hole. "Don't put it back in! Don't put it back in!"
"Okay, what do I do?" I ask. I put the magnet down on the table. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just going into cardiac arrest 'cause you yanked it out like a trout..." Tony tells me.
"What? You said it was safe!" I shout.
"We gotta hurry." Tony hands me the new arc reactor. "Take this. Take this."
"Okay! Okay!" I take it from him.
"You gotta switch it out really quick," Tony tells me.
"Tony," I say.
"What?" he asks.
"It's going to be okay," I assure him.
"Is it?" Tony asks.
"It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna make this okay," I state.
"Let's hope," Tony offers. "Okay, you're gonna attach that to the base plate. Make sure you..."
I start to place the new arc reactor in his chest. Tony screams as I place the arc reactor in and lock it into place.
"Was that so hard? That was fun, right? Here, I got it. I got it. Here," Tony says as he makes sure the reactor is locked. "Nice."
I look at him in shock. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I feel great," Tony states. I keep breathing heavily. "You okay?" Tony laughs.
"There is a reason I'm not a doctor, Tony. I put together machines, not people. Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again," I instruct. "I could have killed you."
Tony looks at me. "You weren't going to kill me. And I don't have anyone but you." Tony makes a face before sitting up. "Anyway..."
I wipe my hands off before holding up the old arc reactor. "What do you want me to do with this?"
"That?" Tony asks. "Destroy it. Incinerate it." Tony knocks on the new one in his chest.
"You don't want to keep it?" I ask.
"Addison, I've been called many things. 'Nostalgic' is not one of them," Tony tells me.
I look at the arc reactor in Tony's chest. I absentmindedly brush the skin around it. It's strange to see it in Tony's chest. I have seen him shirtless more times than I can count, but this is different. This Tony is broken. He has a piece of shrapnel trying to make its way to his heart and kill him. I used to think Tony Stark was invincible. I guess I was wrong.
"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" I ask.
"That will be all, Miss Panagos," Tony tells me. He turns to one of his machines. "Hey, Butterfingers, come here. What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad. Right there. In the garbage. All that stuff."
I walk away looking down at the arc reactor in my hands. I'm not going to throw it out. Even if Tony isn't sentimental I am.