Fury kept looking at the images sent by his agents. "That son of a gun did it," he smiled as he leaned back, remembering Howard Stark's worry for his son. "Now you won't be mad at your boy," he said softly to himself, recalling Howard's countless concerns.
"Send the coordinates to the Army. Let them extract him; give him time to fine-tune his armor, before we invite him" Fury instructed, signaling to his men to mobilize.
They scrambled to action, and soon the Army was alerted to Tony's location through an anonymous tip-off.
Rhodes, seeing the coordinates, couldn't help but go himself. He suited up, determined to get Tony extracted safely. "Hang tight, Tony, I am Coming" he muttered, revving up to head out for the rescue.
Soon, Rhodes arrived in his helicopter, landing in the desert as he spotted Tony moving, shielding his eyes from the sun. He hopped out and made his way over.
"Still want to travel without me?" he said sarcastically, pulling Tony into a tight hug.
"Of course! I'd still prefer beauties over you," Tony laughed, brushing off the dust.
"Welcome back, Tony," Rhodes smiled, clapping him on the back as he led him to the helicopter. "Let's get you out of here."
Tony climbed into the helicopter, unscrewing a water bottle to quench his thirst. As he drank, he couldn't shake off Yinsen's words. They echoed in his mind, a reminder of the sacrifices made and the resolve he needed to carry forward.
He paused, staring out at the horizon, the weight of his responsibility settling heavily on his shoulders. Yinsen had believed in him, had fought to give him a chance at life and freedom.
"I won't waste it," he murmured to himself, determination igniting within him. As the helicopter soared higher, Tony felt a renewed sense of purpose—he would honor Yinsen's legacy and ensure that his sacrifice meant something.
***
Dave woke up and made his way to the main hall, where he saw Diana watching TV.
"He was found?" Dave mumbled, noticing Tony Stark appearing on the screen as he sat comfortably on the couch.
Diana nodded, but when she glanced back at him, her eyes widened in surprise at his shirtless state, and she quickly turned her gaze back to the TV, her face flushing red with embarrassment.
Dave didn't mind; he grabbed a glass of water and took a sip while he watched Tony, who was now delivering the news of the year.
"Stark Industries will no longer be a weapon-manufacturing company," Tony announced, leaving the mic for others to respond.
"Tony, what are you doing?" Obadiah asked, anger etched on his face, but Tony just shrugged him off as he began to leave the press conference.
Pepper followed closely behind, glancing at Tony with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I've never been better," Tony replied confidently.
Dave smiled, impressed by Tony's bold move to drop the bombshell and then exit in style.
"Is he an idiot? His whole company was built on weapons. What will he do now?" Diana muttered, still watching Tony.
"Who knows? Anyway buy as much Stark stock as we can, I want to be the next major shareholder after Tony," Dave shrugged, instructing her.
"But isn't that a wasted investment?" Diana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Dave replied, and Diana nodded, standing up to leave.
Diana is just a secretary after all; she needs to follow her boss's commands.
As Diana left, Trish entered, wearing one of Dave's shirts. "Hmm, who was he?" she asked, sitting on Dave's lap and kissing him.
Dave grinned and replied, "Someone who will be admired by many in the future."
"Hmm, he doesn't look like one," Trish mused, glancing at Tony's image on the screen.
"He isn't there yet, but he will be," Dave added, pulling Trish closer. "Let's go see what SHIELD has to offer."
"Wait, You won't tell me to work with them right?" she asked, frowning.
"No, I don't, but Echo chose to join SHIELD. We'll just be there for some sightseeing," Dave said as he headed to the bathroom. Trish sighed in relief and followed suit, playfully draping herself over him and delaying his departure by an hour.
At the entrance of his building, Dave stepped out with Trish and Diana by his side. He looked at the black-haired beauty in front of him, who wore a sleek black suit with a trench coat draped over it.
"Are you ready?" Dave asked, glancing at Echo aka Maya Lopez.
She nodded and looked at them. "Thank you for giving me a purpose."
"After my father's death, all I wanted was Daredevil's demise, but it was Kingpin all along, my true enemy. The reason for my existence was tied to his death. I was thinking of ending my own life , and if it weren't for you, I would have done it. Thank you for giving me a new reason to live."
"I will now live to help others and atone for what I did under Kingpin," she clasped her hands together, looking earnestly at Dave.
Dave listened intently but shook his head as he replied, "It's was not me. No one can force anyone to do something; it always has to come from within, be proud and have confident in yourself, you chose to walk on this path on your own, I merely give you this option" He then settled into the car.
"Now let's hop in, lest our beautiful driver zap us," Dave said, glancing at Natasha.
She looked back at him, smirking. "I don't know about the others, but I'm definitely interested in zapping you."
Dave raised an eyebrow at her, sensing the danger in her tone. "You really think you can take me on?" he replied, pretending to be frightened, though he knew better.
Bang!
Trish quickly moved her hand, intercepting a bullet aimed at Dave. "Careful there," she said, glaring out the window at the shooter.
"Tsk," Natasha muttered, her demeanor shifting as she turned to drive out quickly seeing there is an killer targeting Dave.
Dave smiled, appreciating Trish's quick reflexes. "You're really serious about zapping me?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood, while tyres screeched as Black Widow went full throttle.
****
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