riley doesn't like the senator

"turn around," i told my dad sternly.

"why?" he sighed.

"turn around," pepper motioned to him.

"mr. stark," the senator called. "can we pick up now from where we left off?"

my dad still kept looking at us and i glared at him. "turn. around," i said more forcibly.

"mr. stark, please?"

"yes, dear?"

a few people began laughing but the senator continued, "can i have your attention please?"

"absolutely," my dad smirked.

"he's impossible," i muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"i know," pepper responded. "i've been dealing with him and his crazy attitude for a very long time."

"you are one of the two most amazing women i know," i told her.

"oh really? who's the other?"

"sally jackson," i told her matter-of-factly. "you and her could form some superhero-mom squad, and be absolute badasses."

pepper blushed and shook her head, "oh, hush. you're just sucking up to me now."

"no, i swear," i told her. "i actually mean it."

"listen to the assembly," pepper said, pointing to the front.

"do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?" the monkey-faced senator asked.

"i do not," my dad responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"you do not?"

"i do not," my dad said. then he thought about it, "well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."

"the iron man weapon," the senator clarified.

"my device does not fit that description."

"how... how would you describe it?"

"i would describe it as defining it as what it is, senator."

"as?"

my dad shrugged, "it's a... it's a high-tech prosthesis."

the crowd burst out laughing. even i had to let a little smile out. pepper was the only one who seemed unaffected.

"that is... that is... that's actually the most apt description i can make of it," my dad continued.

"it's a weapon. it's a weapon, mr. stark," the senator insisted.

"please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the american citizen—"

"—my priority is to get the iron man weapon turned over to the people of the united states of america," the senator spoke over my dad.

"wow, he's an asshole," i muttered.

"language," pepper reminded, distracted by the hearing.

"well, you can forget it," my dad told him. "i am iron man. the suit and i are one. to turn over the iron man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending or what state you're in. you can't have it."

that brought out another round of laughter from the crowd.

"look, i'm no expert—" 

"—in prostitution. of course you're not. you're a senator. come on," this time my dad cut the senator off, and smacked his hand against the table.

he turned around as the laughter grew louder, and bit his lip at mine and pepper's unimpressed faces.

'no?' he mouthed.

pepper and i both shook our heads.

the senator continued as the laughter died down, "i'm no expert in weapons. we have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. i'd now like to call justin hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."

i turned around to see justin hammer. i knew he was the ceo of hammer industries, but i never actually payed any attention to him before. 

he wore a grey suit, and dark rectangle glasses. his light brown hair sat on his head in no particular style. 

i raised an eyebrow and mouthed to my dad who turned around, 'that's justin hammer?'

he nodded.

i scrunched my face up. he reminded me of someone who cut the crust off of their sandwiches. he didn't look like he owned a weapons company.

my dad turned to the mic, "let the record reflect that i observed mr. hammer entering the chamber, and i am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance."

a few people — myself included — laughed. but, justin seemed unaffected.

he laughed into his mic, though it sounded a little forced. "absolutely. i'm no expert. i defer to you, anthony. you're the wonder boy. senator, if i may."

justin stood up with his mic, and headed to the screens, "i may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? your dad. howard stark. really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. let's just be clear, he was no flower child. he was a lion. we all know why we're here. in the last six months, anthony stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. and yet, he insists it's a shield. he asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. i wish i were comforted, anthony, i really do. i'd love to leave my door unlocked when i leave the house, but this ain't canada. you know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that mr. stark will not always be able to foresee. thank you. god bless iron man. god bless america."

justin sat back down. nobody except a few of the senators clapped for him.

"that is well said mr. hammer. the committee would now like to invite lieutenant colonel james rhodes to the chamber."

"rhodey? what?" my dad turned around.

the press went crazy trying to snap pictures of uncle rhodey. i raised an eyebrow as he entered. my dad got up to greet him, and they had a hushed conversation between themselves.

"alright, okay," my dad muttered as he sat down.

senator stern spoke, "i have before me a complete report on the iron man weapon, complied by colonel rhodes. and, colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?"

uncle rhodey raised his brows, "you're requesting that i read specific selections from my report, senator?"

"yes, sir."

uncle rhodey sat forward, "it was my understanding that i was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner."

"i understand. a lot of things have changed today. so if you could just read—"

uncle rhodey cut him off, "you do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summery of my final—"

"—yes, thank you. i do," senator stern motioned for him to continue.

uncle rhodey sighed, "very well. as he does not operate within any definable branch of government, iron man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests. i did however, go on to summarize that the benefits of iron man far outweigh the liabilities and that it would be in our interest—"

"—that's enough colonel—"

"—to fold mr. stark—"

"—that's enough—"

"—into the existing chain of command."

i watched the two of them back and forth, like a tennis match. i suddenly remembered all those times percy and i would get into arguments and all they bystanders would whip their heads back and forth between us.

my dad sat forward, seeing an opportunity, "i'm not a joiner, but i'll consider secretary of defense, if you ask nice."

people began laughing and my dad continued, "we can amend the hours a little bit."

"i'd like to go on and show, if i may, the imagery that's connected to your report," the senator said to uncle rhodey.

"i believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time," uncle rhodey told him in a formal tone.

"with all due respect, colonel, i understand. and if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. let's have the images."

reluctantly, uncle rhodey made a hand motion, and images appeared on screen. "intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of mr. stark's suit. this has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground..."

the screen switched through a bunch of failed attempts at the iron man suit. in fact, it was so far off, i wondered if it was actually attempts at the suit. 

i turned my head to my dad, but he wasn't even looking at the screens. he was looking down, and i tried to catch a glimpse of what he was doing.

"...indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational."

"hold on a second, buddy," my dad sat forward and held a stark industries device in his hand. "let me see something here."

he pressed a few buttons and took over the screens. i groaned.

"he didn't," pepper muttered.

"he did," i groaned. "he hacked into the government. again."

pepper facepalmed.

"boy, i'm good," he muttered, connecting to the other screen as well. "i commandeered your screens. i need them. time for a little transparency."

a 'welcome mr. stark' message appeared on screen.

"now, let's see what's really going on."

"what is he doing?" the senator asked.

my dad began playing around with his remote screen, "if you will direct your attention to said screens, i believe that's north korea."

a few people towards the back stood up, trying to get a closer look. a large hunk of metal that vaguely looked like a suit appeared on screen. it took two steps before falling over. the weapons fired off, making a lot of noise, racket, and even killing people. all in all, it wasn't working.

"can you turn... turn that off?" the senator motioned to the screen. "take it off."

justin hammer stood up and went towards the screens.

but my dad kept going, "iran."

this time the suit flew. for less than three seconds. it crashed to the ground and thick cloud of smoke flew up. i was pretty sure i saw a few flames as more people in the crowd gasped.

"no grave threat here," my dad muttered. then he switched the screen, "is that justin hammer? how did hammer get in the game?"

i smirked as the t.v. hammer couldn't get his suit to work.

"justin, you're on t.v. focus up," my dad said.

the justin on t.v. began giving instructions to his models, "okay, give me a left twist. left's good. turn to the right."

the suit began malfunctioning and sending off a shower of sparks.

the t.v. justin began swearing, "oh, shit. oh, shit."

"language," my dad muttered, as justin found the plug and pulled it out.

whispers plagued the senate hall, and the senator rubbed his temples. he looked like he wanted to smack my dad (let's face it, we've all been there).

my dad shrugged, "wow. yeah, i'd say most countries, five, ten years away. hammer industries, twenty."

i laughed a little at that. in all fairness, justin hammer deserved that. i'm not sure why, but he just has the face of a person you're supposed to hate.

justin stumbled to the mic, "i'd like to point out that that test pilot survived."

"i think he's done is the point that he's making," the monkey-faced, senator stern cut in. "i don't think there's any reason—"

"the point is, uh," my dad shrugged. "you're welcome, i guess."

"excuse me? for what?"

"because i'm your nuclear deterrent. it's working. we're safe. america is secure," my dad sat forward, "you want my property? you can't have it. but i did you a big favor."

my dad got up and faced the crowd, "i have successfully privatized world peace!"

he held both hand up in peace signs. immediately, the crowd stood, clapping, asking questions, or just saying 'tony!' it seemed like most people agreed with him, which meant pepper and i could be a little more relieved.

 "what more do you want?!" my dad addressed the crowd. "for now! i tried to play ball with these ass-clowns!"

"fuck you, mr. stark," the senator said. "fuck you, buddy. we're adjourned. we're adjourned for the day."

my dad picked up his sunglasses off of the table. "okay," he muttered, putting them on.

he held a thumbs-up to the senator, and even blew him a kiss. i rolled my eyes as the crowd continued cheering for him.

"you've been a delight."

my dad walked through the crowds, and shook hands with people sitting in the crowd. he addressed the camera and spoke of how he is protected america, and everyone can count on him.

"he never takes anything seriously, does he?"

REY WRITES !

thanks for reading !!

what do you think steve's reaction
will be when he sees riley ?

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