Ch12. Home, sweet home

Tony Stark's car parked in front of his house in Malibu and the door slowly opened before Tony stepped out, stretching himself like a cat while yawning from tiredness.

He could have used the portal to get home but he was too paranoid, knowing that Shield at least somewhat observed him. Disappearing from their radar in New York was one thing but if he went to New York in a car and then suddenly appeared on the other side of the USA with no one the wiser as to how... now that would make them ask some uncomfortable questions.

Not that Tony would feel like answering them but it would have made his days bothersome.

He entered the house and the very first thing that greeted him...

Tony almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Pepper impatiently tapping her foot on the floor with her arms crossed on her chest and fiercely glaring at him with her lips set in a scowl.

'JARVIS... couldn't you make my arrival a surprise or something?' Tony mentally bemoaned the efficiency of his beloved A.I.

"Mr. Stark." Pepper started, pronouncing every word with the intensity of a pissed woman. "Could I ask you to stop disappearing on us and worrying us?" She sweetly but Tony could clearly see the only thing holding her from screaming herself hoarse at him was the fact she was in her role of his assistant right now.

'Gingers...' Tony mentally sighed, thanking heavens Pepper didn't greet him as a friend because that would probably end up with him deafened for the foreseeable future.

"Why, yes, Pepper. Since you ask so nicely, I will try to stay where you can reach me." He genially answered. Not that he needed to disappear again for months on end. Kamar Taj was just a portal away nowadays anyway.

That said, Tony instantly saw it was the correct thing to say when Pepper's stormy expression cleared and morphed into a pleasant one.

"In that case, welcome home Mr. Stark." She slightly bowed with a smile on her lips. "Anything I can do for you?"

'Ah, so we are not friends for the next few days until she thinks I got my just punishment. Duly noted.' Tony mentally nodded to himself, figuring out Pepper's play.

"Not in particular." Tony walked around Pepper into his living room and flopped onto the couch. Kamar Taj was an amazing place but it severely lacked luxurious couches. His delicate posterior was protesting for some time now. "But... do you have any news about the company?" He asked while putting his forearm over his eyes.

He was really tired from his journey across the States. Using the time to improve his mental protection might not have been the smartest thing to do.

"The company is crumbling." Pepper said with a frown. She didn't like it and found it utterly irresponsible of Tony to start the storm and then disappear. But she was his personal assistant and not an employee of the Stark Industries. It wasn't her place to comment on it.

"Good." Tony chuckled and Pepper looked at him in shock.

"Good?" She asked in surprise, "You are happy because of it?" She couldn't believe she heard those words leave his mouth.

"The worse the situation, the more is Obadiah occupied." Tony shrugged. This past month he didn't receive even one call from 'Uncle Obie'. A real testament to how busy the man was considering he loved to check on Tony almost daily. "But you are right. I should probably start doing something." Tony heaved a tired sigh. "JARVIS, how many stocks did you manage to buy?"

"I acquired 12% of the company stock altogether. I am sorry to inform you that you are a few billion poorer, Sir." A British voice said with a hint of snark in it. "Your place among the richest people in the world is severely threatened."

"Y-You are secretly buying out the SI stocks after causing their crash!?" Pepper exclaimed. "Tha-That's illegal!"

"Meh, semantics." Tony carelessly waved his free hand, "I am not buying out the SI stocks. Anthony JARVIS is."

Hearing that, Pepper groaned and finally couldn't stand it and was forced to sit down on the couch opposite Tony. "You seriously named that fake identity Anthony? Couldn't you at least put in enough effort to not make it obvious?" She asked while rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, JARVIS is practically my son! Of course, I would name his false identity after myself!" Tony said, sounding a bit offended which only made Pepper whimper at the stupidity she just heard.

"I feel honored, Sir." JARVIS interjected, unknowingly stopping Pepper from going on a tirade of how badly this could end for them.

"You are welcome, J." Tony remarked before looking at Pepper with a meaningfully lifted eyebrow. "See? At least one of you is aware of how much I appreciate you."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't cause me headaches." Pepper dryly deadpanned. "You know what? Do what you want. You will not listen to me anyway. It's not my problem." She said and stood up, walking away with a huff.

Tony watched her retreating back and chuckled.

"Details, J?"

"Yes, Sir. You currently own 41% of the stocks, Obadiah Stane managed to gather 25%, and after him, Anthony Jarvis owns 12%. 8% are still on sale where Tony Stark gives off a small effort to acquire them whereas Obadiah and Anthony are bidding high for them in frenzy. The value of these stocks almost reached its original before the crash due to the fierce bidding war between them. I am 90% sure I will be able to secure at least 6% of the stocks more in the following week."

"Good. I will wait a week more, then." Tony nodded. "Who knows, maybe some of the minor shareholders will start selling their stocks too. I don't care if you have to spend a few billion more. Just get them for Daddy."

"I am not calling you that, Sir." JARVIS politely said.

"Damn, the puberty. J is growing an attitude..." Tony grumbled. "Okay, FRIDAY, how was your month?"

"I was well, Boss." An Irish female voice resounded through the living room. "I have improved 12 of the designed projects, cutting down on the costs and production time for them while making them more efficient."

Tony blankly blinked at that, not expecting such a thing. "Twelve?" He had to ask for peace of his mind. He was unsure if he could improve twelve of them in a month.

"Yes, Boss."

"I... I see." Tony said with some difficulty, feeling inadequate. "They grow up so fast, huh?" He mumbled for himself.

"In addition-"

'Oh, there is an addition?' He mentally exclaimed in surprise, suddenly very glad he decided to create FRIDAY and let her and J grow. In his past, JARVIS was mostly his assistant and didn't have many opportunities for development outside the technical field. Now that both had free access to the internet and permission to learn and develop alongside some hard tasks to perform, they were apparently getting better and better.

"-I and JARVIS worked on the project Overwatch with some success, Boss."

"Aaand that's where I stop you, sweetie." Tony suddenly sprang up onto his feet, "That's not something to be discussed in the living room. Let's relocate to my workshop."