riley doesn't want pickles in her cheeseburger

malibu

day tony stark has been found

"miss stark."

...

"miss stark."

.....

"miss stark!"

"huh?" i sat up, and groaned. i fell asleep in the workshop again. rubbing the sleep out of my eyes i grumbled, "what is it J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"there is a voicemail for you from colonel rhodes. i believe you should listen to it," the a.i. told me.

cleaning up my work area, i responded, "play it."

"hey minnie."

i froze.

"i have no idea what time it is, but... i think you might be sleeping. that's probably why you didn't answer. yeah, um... i'm coming home. we're on the way. still about nine or so hours. and mhmm, i'll tell you more at home. love you."

beep.

the voicemail ended. 

with a shaky voice, i asked the a.i., "was that—"

"yes, miss stark. your father has been found. the plane is landing at the military base in six hours. happy will be here in about three hours to pick you up. miss potts will also accompany you." J.A.R.V.I.S. informed me.

i stood, unable to move. three months. three dam months! and now, they found him. i'm going to see him. i'm going to see my dad.

the ground seemed to disappear under me, and i collapsed to the floor. tears were streaming down my face, but for the first time in three months, they were tears of joy.

"where you going? where you going?" uccello, my bird asked me.

i pulled a grey leafs pullover over my tank top as i answered, "my dad's coming home."

"tony's back? tony's back!?"

"yes, 'chell. he's back," i muttered.

i pulled a pair of converse over my feet and left my hair out. i made sure to hide my grey streak form holding the sky up. i was still kind of in shock, but i was happy. it's been three months since i last saw my dad, and i really missed him. 

even with J.A.R.V.I.S. and uccello around, it was kind of lonely. pepper, and happy did visit from time to time, but i was still alone. they didn't get me like my dad did. 

happy was supposed to arrive any second now. he told me was coming a little earlier. i'd washed my hair and changed my clothes. 

i told dum-e to clean up the mess downstairs. he made a lot of noises and ran into the wall a few times, but he began cleaning the mess downstairs.  

honk!!

"happy's here! bye 'chello!" i called to my bird.

grabbing my phone on the way out, i told J.A.R.V.I.S. to lock up. 

i sat in the backseat of the car. smiling at happy and pepper, i noticed they were both slightly emotional.

"excited, ri ri?" happy asked.

"definitely," i agreed.

pepper gave a teary laugh.

we arrived at the californian military base about ninety minutes before the plane was scheduled to arrive. we had to go through some paperwork, and pepper had to sign a bunch of documents before we went in.

the plane landed, and happy drove us around to see it. pepper and i stood side by side, waiting for the bay doors to open. happy stood a little bit behind us, closer to the car.

after what seemed like forever, a grinding noise was heard before the bay doors opened. there were two figures, one sitting and one standing. the standing figure helped the sitting one get up. there was a hissing, and the doors hit the floor, creating a ramp.

i bit my bottom lip to keep it from quivering. tears began building up in my eyes, and were threatening to spill out.

my uncle rhodey was helping my dad down the ramp. the medical team arrived with a stretcher, and i snorted. there was no way my dad would use a stretcher.

my dad waved the stretcher off and the medical team looked at rhodes for confirmation. he gave them the signal and they took it away.

i made eye contact with my dad. he held out his good arm, and i rushed forward. he let his bad arm hang from it's cast, and he ran his other hand through my hair.

"hey minnie," he whispered.

i laughed lightly. i was so ecstatic i barely noticed the weird bump near his heart. (keyword: barely. i noticed it)

"what's that?" i asked my dad, quietly so only he could hear me.

"what?" he feigned innocence.

"the weird bump thing. it feels like metal," i clarified.

"oh, that! i'll tell you later," he whispered pulling away from me.

"you better."

tony walked closer to pepper, and examined narrowed his eyes at something. "your eyes are red. a few tears for your long lost boss?" he asked, jokingly.

"tears of joy," pepper retaliated, "i hate job hunting."

i internally groaned, when will they finally realize they like each other?

"yeah, vacation's over," my dad announced getting in the car. 

"shotgun!" i called, leaving pepper to sit in the back with my dad.

pepper gave me a look, but i pretended not to notice. 

"where to, sir?" happy asked, looking in the rearview.

"take us to the hospital please, happy?" pepper requested.

"no." my dad cut in.

i turned around and looked at him, "no? what do you mean no?"

"tony you have to go to the hospital," pepper said to him.

"no is a complete answer." my dad argued.

"the doctor has to look at you," pepper said.

my dad continued, "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..."

i turned back around before he could complete his sentence.

"that's enough of that." pepper told him.

"...is not what you think." he said to her. he turned away, "i want you to call for a press conference now."

i furrowed my brows at his request. before i could say anything pepper interjected.

"call for a press conference?" pepper asked confused.

"yeah."

i shook my head at my dad's abnormal behavior.

"what on earth for?" 

"hogan, drive. cheeseburger first." my dad ordered.

"i don't want pickles in mine!" i announced.

we pulled up outside 'stark hq' with our cheeseburgers.

there were a whole bunch of employees outside, cheering as my dad got out of the car. i got out from the passenger side as stood as obadiah was speaking to my dad.

i took a bite from my cheeseburger, as obi ushered us to where the press conference was being held.

"you get me one of those?" i heard obadiah ask my dad.

"there's only one left, and i need it," my dad told him.

obadiah turned to look at me, "you a part of this?" he asked, motioning to the press conference.

"nah," i shook my head. "i have no idea what he's going to do, and i want no part of it."

obadiah laughed as we made our way in front of the media.

"hey, look who's here? yeah!" i heard obadiah.

as obadiah and my father turned right to go to the podium, i kept walking straight towards the back of the room.

the press was clapping him on his back, and cheering as he made his way through. i walked towards pepper around the same time a shorter man walked away from her. 

"miss stark," the man greeted.

i smiled and nodded in response.

"what's that about?" i motioned to the guy who was leaving.

"he said he's agent phil coulson of strategic something, and he needs to talk to your father about the circumstances of his escape," she explained briefly.

"i thought we were already approached by the fbi, cia, and a whole bunch of other people," i looked towards her.

"he said they're a separate division." she shrugged.

"well, let's get this started." i looked towards the podium where obadiah was speaking through the microphone. "uhh..." he looked around, trying to find my dad.

i stood on my tippy-toes trying to see where he went.

"hey! would it be alright if everyone sat down?" i heard my dad speak. i finished my cheeseburger and threw the wrapper in the trash next to me.

"why don't you just sit down? that way you can see me, and i can... a little less formal." my dad's voice continued as a room full of people sat/squatted.

i sat down, cross-legged and saw where my dad was. he was sitting down, leaning against the podium, eating his cheeseburger. i raised an eyebrow at his bizarre behavior, but didn't question it. this wasn't the first time he's acted out like this. and he just got kidnapped. i decided to give him a break.

"what's with the love-in?" uncle rhodey asked squatting on the other side of pepper.

"don't look at me. i don't know what he's up to," pepper protested.

uncle rhodes gave me a look and i shrugged, "i had a feeling he was going to do something weird. that's why i'm here. otherwise obi would 'prolly make me stand... well sit, up there with them."

"good to see you," my dad said to obadiah.

obi smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, "good to see you."

"i never got to say goodbye to dad." my dad told him. 

he turned to the media, "i never got to say goodbye to my father. there's questions that i would have asked him. i know riley, my little girl, became more involved in the company while i was gone. and i know, that she probably had questions she wanted to ask me. she can ask me, now that i'm back." he looked towards me while he was speaking.

he turned back to the press, "but i can't ask my father. he's not coming back. 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 the man we all remember from the newsreels." 

he seemed to zone out, "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."

i looked over at pepper and rhodey. they both had concerned expressions on their face. ookayy, so i wasn't the only one picking up on his odd behavior.

"mr. stark!" the reporters were calling him out.

"hey ben," my dad looked to one of the reporters at the front.

"what happened over there?" he (ben) asked my dad.

my dad began to get up and move to the podium. "i had my eyes opened. i came to realize that i have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. and that is why, effective immediately, i am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of stark international—"

the entire crowd stood immediately, asking a whole bunch of questions. my jaw dropped. i mean, i was going to stop making weapons once i became ceo, i wasn't prepared for my dad to do this.

"until such a time as i can decide what the future of the company will be." my dad continued over the noise.

"i think we're gonna be selling a lot of newspapers," obadiah said, trying to move my dad way from the stage.

"what direction it should take, one that i'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well." my dad said before walking 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 tried to calm the audience down.

happy drove us home to malibu.

it was around ten at night, and i was starving. i wanted food, or ice cream. ice cream is good too.

"i got him, hap." i motioned for happy to go along.

my dad walked into the house, with me helping him every so often. 

"pizza, pasta o cibo cinese?" i asked my dad. (italian: or chinese food)

"hmm... pizza," he responded.

"kay, kay."

we walked into the main foyer.

"welcome home sir," the a.i. system said to my dad.

"thank you kindly J.A.R.V.I.S.," my dad responded walking towards the living room. 

i ordered some pizza. it should be delivered in half an hour or less.

"it's been a long time," the a.i. told him. "based on news reports i calculated your safe return at 0.25%."

"yeah, i missed you too," my dad said walking past the indoor waterfall. my dad continued walking past the fireplace, and near the full length window. 

"you have 1713 new voice messages." the a.i. said, opening a holographic screen up in front of my dad. "how shall i categorize for you?"

my dad considered this as he swiped through a bunch of the messages. i collapsed on the sofa in front of the fireplace. "delete all," he ordered.

i snorted at his command. 

my dad changed a few things up before shutting the screen down.

"i'm detecting the presence of electromagnetic energy in the house," J.A.R.V.I.S. informed my dad.

"mhmm," my dad hummed, briefly glancing at the glow of the mini arc reactor through his shirt. "boot up the scanner will you?" 

my dad turned and switched the t.v. on.

uccello flapped down the stairs and sat on my dad's shoulder. "hi tony. tony's home! tony's home!" he squawked.

"i missed you too, 'chell." my dad ran a hand over his feathers.

my dad turned to me, "how long till the pizza's here?" he asked.

"twenty-five minutes." i told him.

he sighed and flicked through the channels.

"oh! that one!" i pointed out.

my dad went back a few channels till he reached the one i was telling him about.

and so we sat there, watching drake and josh. as if my dad didn't have tiny shrapnel pieces lodged in his chest. as if my dad didn't go missing for three months. as if we were just a normal family. and for the first time in three months, i felt peace.

at least until my dad noticed my grey streak.

REY WRITES !

so, i'm gonna add random italian words every so often.
 i know in the mcu tony is american, but i imagine
his earlier nannies to be italian and spanish, so he learns those
 languages and passes them on to riley (mentioned before).
 and also he is italian or something in the comics, so yeah.

thanks for reading !!