Press Conference

-Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan-

-February 18, 2009, 1000h local-

Tony, Yinsen, and Frank were put through the wringer after they were rescued. They had to endure a battery of tests and exams, especially Tony. The electromagnet in his chest made the doctors really nervous.

Good thing Rhodey helped out a lot by getting the interview pushed back. The military will 'interview' them when they get back stateside. The general was really accommodating. Too accommodating for him, at least.

They were now boarding Tony's private jet with Yinsen in tow. Tony had managed to convince Yinsen to work for him, even if only for a short time. The trio's time in the desert helped them learn a little more about each other, no matter how much they didn't want to talk about themselves. Even Frank revealed some details about himself that were not in his files.

Out of everything Tony learned, though, nothing was more eye-opening than Yinsen's story. He was from the small town of Gulmira, Afghanistan, where his family had been massacred during the ten rings attack that resulted in him getting captured. Yinsen had already made peace that he would die and join his family, but Naruto's unexpected 'abilities' made it possible for him to leave that cave relatively unscathed. Even after everything, Tony still had to convince Yinsen to get on the chopper and not wander in the desert alone for who knows how long.

When everything was loaded up and Tony, Yinsen, Frank, and Rhodey got in, the private jet slowly started to move towards the runway.

"So, now that we're finally in private. How did you guys really get out?" Rhodey asked. The story Tony kept on telling everyone is just too farfetched to have been real.

"Like I told you. I was wearing a suit of armor and fought our way out of there. I then used the armor as a flare when we got some distance away from the cave." Tony replied with a bored tone. It was such a badass story that he couldn't help but tell a shortened version of their 'harrowing ordeal.' However, he made sure to leave out Naruto's part on their escape.

Rhodey was left sitting dumbfounded. His blank stare lasted through the lift-off and until the plane reached a cruising altitude. Frank decided that he had enough making fun of the Air Force guy and gave him a hand. He unbuckled his seatbelt and walked towards Rhodey.

"You know..." Frank started, not exactly sure on how to start the conversation. "The story is a lot more... impossible... if you heard the whole thing. Trust me. It's better just to hear this version." He advised.

"You will have to ask whiskers if you want to know everything..." Tony interjected. He continued when he received a questioning look. "Naruto. Whiskers is Naruto. He's like the only person we know who has whiskers." He deadpanned.

"Naruto? What the hell does Naruto have to do with this?" Rhodey asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, Naruto warned us about the terrorists, for one. He also volunteered Frank here as extra protection..." Tony sarcastically replied. "As for the rest, you can ask Naruto yourself."

"Alright. Alright. I'll have to ask Naruto myself..." Rhodey said, giving up on getting any more information about what happened. What the hell does Naruto have to do with Tony's kidnapping? "Good thing you got out of the caves before it collapsed." He added as an afterthought.

"We didn't actually see anything after we got out. We just wanted to get as far away as possible." Tony commented.

"You should have seen what happened..." Rhodey giddily said while pulling out his phone. He scrolled through his phone until he found the photo that he was looking for. He called over Yinsen so he could show the picture to everyone at once. "The small hill and the cave system under it collapsed into a one-kilometer wide crater. The whole thing is filled with debris and boulders. The military had no choice but to send the engineering corps to sift through the mess." He explained.

The trio couldn't believe what they were seeing. They knew that Naruto collapsed the cave system when he got rid of the weapons cache, but this was the first time that they had seen the aftermath. Yinsen couldn't help but feel elated when he saw the decimation of the Ten Rings or at least a cell of it.

Frank's training let him recover from his shock quickly. Even though that amount of destruction has rarely been seen in modern warfare, which is more focused on precision strikes, he had already seen a lot more horrifying things that happen in real life.

"Can you tell me more about the guy you had on the retrieval team?" Frank suddenly asked, hoping to get rid of the itch that has been bugging him.

"Which one?" Rhodey replied, acting clueless.

"You know the one—the guy who was really in charge." Frank reiterated with a glare. The 'grunt' sitting in the corner of the helicopter was definitely not a soldier. Throughout his career, he had developed a sixth sense for these kinds of things, and listening to it had never failed him before.

"Damn. You're too good..." Rhodey mused to himself. He took a deep breath while organizing his thoughts. "I don't know which agency he works for, but all I know is that he and his team came the day after your kidnapping. They had written authorization from the Joint Chiefs to conduct an investigation on Tony's disappearance. They didn't take over our side of the investigation, but they're the ones who found out about your rocket. They didn't want you guys to know who they are, obviously..." He explained before remembering a detail that stood out. "The weird thing was, the head honcho, Barton, carried a bow and arrow."

"Probably one of Naruto's weird friends..." Tony commented. "Don't give me that look, Frank. You're one of his weird friends." He defended after Frank gave him one of those stares.

"I'm not his friend. I just owed him a favor." Frank retorted.

"What makes you think Legolas is any different?" Tony replied with a smirk. "Anyway. I need to call Pepper to send two cars to pick us up. One for me and one to bring you two back to a safe house I have. We'll talk pay later after the press conference Pepper is undoubtedly organizing." He continued while picking up a phone mounted to the side of the plane.

"I don't need payment. This is a one-time thing, and it's all pro bono..." Frank responded. "Just tell Naruto that we're even." He added.

"You're choice..." Tony said with a shrug before retrieving a calling card with his personal number and handing it over to Frank. "If you have any problem, though, just call me anytime."

Frank reluctantly took it after a moment of debate with himself. He reasoned that having someone as powerful as Tony on his side if something went wrong was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"Thanks." Frank replied with gratitude before pocketing the calling card.

-Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles-

-February 18, 2009, 1000h local-

"About time you got back." Pepper greeted Tony as soon as he got out of the plane. Behind her is a black limousine and a black SUV.

"Aww. You have tears in your eyes. I didn't know you cared." Tony replied with a jesting tone. The couple couldn't even greet each other as they normally would since someone might be listening or taking pictures from a distance. The Paparazzi are one tenacious bunch.

"These tears?" Pepper said while wiping away the tears she didn't know was forming at the corner of her eye. "These are tears of joy. I'm just glad that I don't need to find a new job..." She retorted with a smile before turning towards Yinsen and Frank. "The SUV will take you in a fully stocked apartment in downtown LA. Help yourselves to anything in there."

Yinsen, Frank, and Rhodey took their bags from the porter, which didn't really have much in it, and walked towards the SUV. Tony and Pepper got in the car after the SUV left.

"How's Morgan?" Tony asked Pepper as soon as they got in.

"Morgan's fine. She's just missing you a lot. Good thing Naruto keeps on distracting her..." Pepper answered. "Did you know Naruto's girlfriend is from SHIELD?"

"What the hell is SHIELD?" Tony inquired expectedly.

"A secret US-based international spy agency..." Pepper replied. "One of their agents came to the mansion to ask if you would ever betray the country."

"What did you say?"

" That you're too much of an asshole to ever give in to any demands." Pepper answered seriously.

Tony had to laugh hard at Pepper's reply. The divider rolled down, revealing Happy as the driver.

"She told you about the 'interview'?" Happy asked when he saw Tony laughing.

"Yup..." Tony said after significantly calming down. "Oh. Let's buy some cheeseburgers before going to the press conference."

"Got it, boss." Happy replied with a salute before rolling up the divider.

Tony turned his head towards Pepper and gave her a questioning look.

"You're not going to tell me not to get any cheeseburgers?" Tony asked.

"Nope."

"Huh? That's new..." Tony mused. "Backtracking a little bit. An agent came to Afghanistan. Rhodey couldn't figure out which agency he came from, but it looks like he probably came from SHIELD."

"Exactly. Agent Coulson, the guy who came by the mansion, said that they were sending someone to work your case." Pepper explained.

"Would you look at that. I thought that Agent was just one of Naruto's 'friends.'" Tony said, genuinely surprised.

"He might still be one of Naruto's friends since Agent Coulson is undoubtedly one." Pepper retorted.

"What the hell!? Just how many people does Naruto know." Tony exclaimed.

Pepper just answered with a shrug. Seeing that the previous topic reached a natural conclusion, she decided to tackle an issue that was going to be a lot more stressful.

"I heard Naruto asked you about Morgan..." Pepper segued to the topic that had been eating her for quite some time. "What do you think of his offer?"

Tony turned more serious when he heard Pepper's statement. He had been mulling over Naruto's offer for quite some time, and he was reasonably sure that he would accept it. All he needed now was Pepper's approval.

"To be honest, I'm all for it..." Tony confessed. "No matter how impossible it is, Naruto might be a super soldier just like the Captain. He also has all those weird powers of his that I still can't figure out, and it's seriously making me lose sleep..." He commented before taking a deep breath. "The only drawback that needs serious consideration is that Naruto tends to go a little overboard, not to mention Naruto's mental state."

Pepper released a sigh since they basically arrived at the same conclusion, but she was still apprehensive about accepting Naruto's offer. There was only one thing that can make her change her mind.

"If he's going to work for us in any capacity, Naruto needs to tell us who or what he is and whatever the hell SHIELD is." Pepper said seriously.

Tony couldn't help but agree with Pepper's condition. There's just one thing he needs to point out.

"We should have probably asked all of that, or at least the first question, before we let him stay in the house, don't you think?" Tony stated with a teasing grin.

Pepper just gave him an unimpressed stare.

-Stark Industries, Los Angeles-

-February 18, 2009, 1100h local-

Tony was walking towards the main lobby of Stark Industries Los Angeles weapon division corporate office with a spring in his step. Some people might not understand it, but a good cheeseburger could make anyone a whole lot happier. He even had two more cheeseburgers in the paper bag that Happy is carrying.

As soon as he walked past the front door, he was immediately assaulted by a group of journalists and camera flashes. His security detail moved forward to control the crowd. Tony just shrugged off the attention and strode towards the podium on the stage after taking the bag of cheeseburgers from Happy.

Pepper and Happy stayed at the back of the room to watch over the conference. She made sure to place the more 'reliable' journalists at the front with the rowdier ones at the back. This setup would make sure that the noise level from the questioning could somewhat be controlled.

"Hello... Mic test... 1, 2, 3..." Tony said towards the microphone. "This just will not do..." He mused before taking the mounted mic and walking towards the front of the stage. He sat down with his legs hanging, cheeseburger in his right hand, and the mic in his left. "So, who wants to go first?"

His question caused a commotion with the audience. Almost everyone was raising their hands and shouting their questions, hoping to get an edge over the others. Tony pointed to a blonde journalist wearing a relatively skimpy outfit. It looked like Tony's playboy ways were not entirely gone, and Pepper certainly noticed it, evident by her raised eyebrow. The blonde reporter stood up, revealing her model-like body.

"Cristine Everhart, WHIH World News. There are some reports that the military didn't actually rescue you from your captors. Is there any truth to these rumors?" Cristine asked with an underlying sultry tone.

Cristine Everhart was a 5'9 blonde-haired caucasian who had one goal in this press conference, try to seduce the Stark billionaire. There were rumors that Tony Stark has not been biting any baits for at least three years. She was here to test that rumor. The easiest way to rise through the ranks was to get an exclusive in any way possible, even using her body to do it.

"No comment..." Tony answered quickly. The military had warned him not to release any details of his capture and rescue. He was more than ready to tell the whole story to the public, but he wouldn't be the only one that was going to be affected by the inquiry if he disobeyed that warning. "In a completely unrelated note, the guys in Bagram should increase their intelligence gathering net if it took them three days to find a kilometer wide crater." But of course, he would always find a way around any problem.

Pepper rubbed her forehead, already anticipating the shit storm that would come their way.

Tony then pointed to another journalist, a male one. This put off Everhart since she expected her subtle tactic to seduce Tony Stark to work better than just gaining his momentary attention.

"It was reported that you were rescued alongside two other individuals. Can you tell us more about these two individuals?" The reporter asked.

"Oh, come on!" Tony exclaimed. "Can't anyone ask a question that I can answer. It's like you guys don't want to write anything..." He said with a sigh. The reporters couldn't help but acknowledge Tony's comment. High profile scenarios involving the military usually have the information tightly controlled, but the challenge it presents just fires up the journalists even more. "Just bug the Pentagon if you want answers..." He suggested before standing back on top of the stage. "Let me give you guys something to write about." He stated, causing the reporters to go silent.

Pepper immediately got a bad premonition from Tony's statement, eerily similar to the one she got after the Vegas incident. It looks like Tony wanted everyone to remain in suspense since he took another cheeseburger and set it on the podium.

"Do you know what he's going to say?" Obadiah suddenly asked beside her, slightly surprising Pepper. She turned her head towards him and answered.

"I have no idea. He didn't tell me anything."

"Hmm. Let's just hope it's not too big of an announcement." Obadiah replied.

Obadiah is using every ounce of his composure not to show any negative expression. All of his plans are crumbling before his eyes. There's only one last hail Mary plan that might work, and he has no control over it. Tony needed to shake the trust of the board of directors for them to start a vote of nonconfidence.

Some distance away from them, however, is Phil, listening in on the press conference, as well as Potts and Stane's conversation.

"I might only have been gone for a week, but man did I miss cheeseburgers..." Tony said after finishing his second burger. His statement caused some of the journalists to laugh. "Anyway. As the CEO of Stark Industries, I'm suspending indefinitely the operation of the weapons manufacturing department as well as other military equipment and transport production companies under Stark Industries. This includes Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, and others. All existing contracts would all be put on hold as per Article 4, Paragraph 6..." Tony announced. Obadiah felt glee with how much uproar Tony's announcement would cause. Still, Article 4, Paragraph 6 of all standard Stark Industries contract involves deals that may constitute a breach of national security, and there's only one reason Tony would cite it now. "Stark Industries will do an audit on all transactions going back 15 years. I want to see every fuck up that happened..." He said entirely seriously. "Well, isn't that exciting." He finished with a laugh.

The reporters were left speechless, as well as Pepper, Happy, Phil, and especially Obadiah. Only Tony's laughter caused everyone to snap out of their stupor. The whole room was suddenly drowned, with the reporters firing their questions.

"I'll head back to the office. We need to get ahead of this before it blows out of proportion..." Obadiah told Pepper. He needed to have a team check and balance production and sales. He might not be able to hide it entirely, but he could buy himself enough time to take over the company. "You two make sure to change Tony's mind, or he might break the company." He said before walking away.

Pepper stared at the retreating form of Obadiah, an idea forming at the back of her mind. She had been monitoring the stock sales since Tony asked her to look over Naruto's stock investment in the company, and she had seen some disturbing moves. Everything might be normal to an amateur, but her experience tells her otherwise. It was all a setup for a takeover, and there's only one person who would be in a position for it.

Pepper's musing abruptly ended though when Tony spoke again. One statement that will definitely land him on the couch.

"That's all the time I have. I still need to get home to my family." Tony said while waving his hand dismissingly. Silence once again dominated the room, causing him to laugh internally. It was refreshing to be on the other side of the headache. Although, he could see Pepper at the back of the room, giving him the stink eye.

"Excuse me? Not to be crass..." Cristine raised her hand, pulling everyone's attention towards her. "But what family?"

Tony picked up the microphone and walked towards the Pepper and Happy at the back of the room. When he got to the back, he handed over the bag with the cheeseburger to Happy and reached for something inside it.

"My daughter and fiance..." Tony said before retrieving a ring box inside the bag and opening it towards Pepper. "Or my soon to be fiance if she says yes."