Chapter Text
With every rattle of the plane Tony felt himself getting closer to home. But, while he was eternally grateful to Rhodey for being able to get him a fast ride back to his family, he wished it were more comfortable. He wasn’t complaining or anything, but the long bumpy ride wasn’t doing his injuries any good. Especially his shoulder.
'Well, better than wandering the desert', he supposed.
The phone call he had with Pepper hours ago was what helped Tony feel like he wasn’t dreaming. While hearing his wife cry over the phone, miles away from him, was torture for the man, Tony needed her voice to reassure him that his family was alright. He couldn’t even imagine the pain they suffered thinking he wasn’t going to come back home.
It wasn’t just Pepper he wanted to hear, he would have liked to speak a little with his son too. And his parents. But time was limited and, in any case, they were about to be reunited in a few minutes now anyway. The plane touched down, signaling to Tony that he was finally home.
Rhodey helped him get to the ramp, Tony holding onto him as they waited to get off. Not that the man needed his friend’s help to walk, he had a sling, not a peg leg for crying out loud! But James was nothing if not persistent, so Tony let the colonel have his small victory.
As the two of them stepped down, a familiar car parked not to far away from them came into view. Stark ignored the ambulance that Rhodes was dragging him to, the man only having eyes for the people waiting by the car. The two most important people in his life: his wife and son. Pepper had tears in her eyes as she caught sight of her husband. She had her hands firmly clasped on Peter’s shoulders, keeping the child close to her, while at the same time preventing him from running off to his dad. But it was no use, as the second the boy saw his father he pulled away from her and hurried to meet the man halfway.
Tony, for his part, hurried his steps and, when he was close enough, crouched down to hug Peter. After months apart, hugging his little boy close to his heart was all that it took for the man to loose the mask and shed tears of relief at finally being reunited with his family. Pepper joined their hug a short moment later, the three of them huddled on the asphalt, not carrying who would see them. They were just grateful to be together again.
As they made eye contact for the first time in three months, Tony couldn’t help but revert back to his teasing ways. "Pep, your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost husband?"
Pepper, in any other normal circumstances, would have responded with a quip of her own. But this were not normal circumstances. So she just huffed a quick laugh and then urged them all to stand up. "I think it’s time to go home."
Before getting into the car, Tony made sure to hug Rhodey one more time and, because he couldn't excluded good ol' Happy from this reunion, he hugged the man too. Today was shaping up to be a day full of embraces.
Happy, though, was almost tempted to drive to the nearest hospital. An embrace from his emotionally constipated boss is an anomaly he's definitely not used to receiving.
Prying Maria Stark off her son proved to be useless, so Tony resigned to his fate and took a sit on the living room couch, flanked on his right by his mother, and on his left by his wife. Peter watched everything like a hawk, occasionally remembering to take a bite out of his burger that his dad insisted on getting, but otherwise the boy’s attention was solely on Tony. It was becoming a bit suffocating.
But, thankfully, that whole ordeal ended when Howard asked to speak privately with his son. Tony took that opportunity to escape the moment it was presented to him. So, the two men left the rest of the family alone in the living room and moved into the home office.
Howard closed the door behind them, before turning around to face Tony. "Are you alright?"
Tony was a little surprised by that question. Not because he couldn't believe his father would care to ask about his well-being, he's been presumed dead for the past three months after all. But that unassuming question felt like it was layered with a different undertone.
Biting the bullet, Tony answered with another question, the one that would determine if his presumptuous were correct. "Rhodey told you, didn't he?"
"Yes." Howard had no reason to hide anything, so he might as well be honest. After all, so far, few were aware of the invention his son had to build to keep him alive, the older man being one of them.
"The Arc Reactor doesn't seem like a useless science project now, does it?" Tony popped a few buttons open, so his father could get a good look at the reactor. It was pretty impressive that it lasted as long as it did, but it will have to be changed soon. Having another set of hands for the second iteration, and one that had a hand in inventing the original, would certainly be for the best.
Hearing from Colonel Rhodes about Anthony having a miniaturized Arc Reactor in his chest was hard to believe at first, but seeing it was different. This was proof that the technology necessary to change the world the way he once envisioned was possible. But it also made the fact that his only son almost died all the more real. For Howard, it was probably the hardest thing he wanted to admit: that his son might have died because of who he is. Because of who they are.
"What is your plan now, Anthony?" Whatever he decides, Howard knows that he will support. Whether he agrees to that decision or not.
Tony, though, didn't know that. So his answer came in a little more defensive. "The terrorist group, the Ten Rings, they had our weapons. I'll shut down the weapon manufacturing until I get to the the bottom of this."
Howard was shocked at hearing this. 'It's has to be someone from inside the company' his brain kept screaming at him. So, like any sensible man with a good head on his shoulders, he looked Tony in the eyes and said "I'll have the entire Board at your office tomorrow to get it done."
That's all Tony needed to hear. Whoever's responsible, will soon regret it.