Obadiah Stane, though suspicious of the mysterious child who just walked out, quickly dismissed the thought. His anger over Tony's announcement at the press conference consumed him.
With a thick Cuban cigar dangling from his lips, he strode into the reactor chamber.
"Look what you've done, Tony!" Obadiah's voice was guttural, full of barely contained fury, yet masked by a feigned, avuncular concern.
Tony turned, feeling a flicker of shame before his mentor. "Everyone is going to have a giant bullseye on their head now."
"Your head? Try mine!" Obadiah walked toward him, one hand jammed deep into his pocket.
"How much do you estimate the stock price will plummet tomorrow?"
"Being optimistic? Forty percent," Stark replied, the pragmatist in him still calculating.
"That's the bare minimum!" Obadiah nearly bit the end off his cigar in frustration.
He leaned in, clutching the handrail. "Tony, we manufacture weapons! That is our core identity!"
"Obie, I don't want to make money off dead people anymore," Tony said, looking at his trusted uncle with a rare vulnerability, hoping for a sign of agreement.
Obadiah's response was slow, each word cutting through the massive chamber. "But this is what we do! We are arms dealers. Everything we do is essential to maintaining global order!" He stared directly into Tony's eyes, his face inches from his nephew's.
"That's not what I saw out there," Tony insisted. "We haven't done enough. We can improve. We should be doing something else!"
Obadiah frowned, oblivious to Tony's deeper moral shift. "For example? Should we start making baby bottles, Tony?"
Realizing the futility of moral argument, Tony changed tack. "I think the Arc Reactor technology is worth serious consideration."
Obadiah barked a short laugh. "Ha! The Arc Reactor? That's just a showpiece!" He dismissively waved a hand toward the colossal device. "Tony, stop messing around. We built this thing to silence the environmental busybodies!"
"It has value," Stark insisted quietly.
"Yes, as a science project for the public! We both know we barely recoup the costs of running it!" Obadiah walked behind Tony, masking his excitement.
"Arc Reactor technology, it's a technological dead end, isn't it?"
"That's what you think," Tony countered.
"Am I wrong? How many years since a real breakthrough? Thirty years, Tony! Thirty years!" Obadiah said with dismissive finality.
"Is that what they told you?" Tony turned, noticing the ugly, calculating look on his uncle's face. "Couldn't your poker face be any uglier, Obie?"
"Never mind that. Show me this 'breakthrough' that warrants crashing the company!" Obadiah jabbed his cigar toward Tony's chest.
"Okay! Rhodes wasn't the only one who had to be in the dark," Tony said, a hint of genuine sadness in his eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt.
Obadiah quickly scanned the room, making sure they were alone. His eyes locked on the crude, small Arc Reactor humming faintly in Tony's chest.
Obadiah nervously fumbled the buttons on Tony's shirt, hastily covering the device. "Okay. Okay."
"Satisfied?" Tony asked, watching his uncle.
A wide, genuine smile broke out on Obadiah's face, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable avarice. He had discovered a treasure far beyond a few missile sales.
"Listen to me, Tony. We're a team, understand? As long as we work together, there's nothing we can't do! Just like your father and I did."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you beforehand, Obie," Tony said apologetically.
"Tony, Tony. You have to stop this 'act first, think later' approach. Do you understand? Your father always said—"
"That's my father's policy, Obie," Tony interrupted.
Obadiah, his emotions entirely shifted after seeing the miniature reactor, put his arm around Tony. "Let me handle this political fallout. We're going to completely rebrand. We are going to be the center of the universe."
He guided Tony out, pushing him into Happy's car, completely failing to notice the small figure already seated inside.
"Leo, what did you mean by that? I'll be seeing him soon? I blew up the leader of that organization!" Tony asked the boy, who was sitting calmly beside him.
"You didn't see his body, Mr. Stark. How can you be sure he's dead?" Leo smiled. "If I recall correctly, you only blew up the wall next to him." The memory of the brief golden light in the boy's eyes flashed through Tony's mind.
Tony rubbed his temples. The child knew every detail. "Oh, right. Right. Leo, you apologized to me in Vegas, didn't you? Why? I didn't even know you."
Leo looked at Tony, his expression turning serious. "Mr. Stark, my abilities allow me to perceive death. I cannot prevent it, and I am forbidden to directly warn you. So, I offered my apology."
"What?" Stark violently turned, his still-unbandaged left hand seizing Leo's neck. His eyes were wide with a terrible mix of anger, shock, and wrenching regret. "You knew Ethan was going to die! You knew! You made me lose one of my best partners, my savior!" Tony ground out the words.
Seeing the explosive rage, Happy immediately pulled the car to the side of the road, pulled out a telescopic baton, and fixed a wary stare on the child.
"But Tony, do you honestly believe you would have listened to me?" Leo looked up at Tony's furious grip, showing no fear or anger. He even maintained a small, sad smile. "Even if you did, could you truly have saved Ethan? And even if you dragged him out, would that truly have been the ending he wanted?"
Tony's mind raced: Ethan's voice saying, "This is my plan," and "I am going to see my family." Then the final, broken whisper: "This is the ending I wanted."
His hand went limp. Leo gently settled back into his seat.
Tony slumped back, devastated. The memory of Ethan—his companion, his savior—came flooding back.
Leo's eyes focused, his gaze piercing the fabric and skin to examine the device on Tony's chest. Despite its crude construction, it was protecting his life. However, he noted a small, crucial section of exposed copper wiring. It's fine for now, but any contact with a ferrous socket could easily cause a catastrophic short circuit.
Leo met Tony's red-rimmed eyes. "Mr. Stark, I live at 42 Forest Hill Road in Manhattan. If you encounter any problems, or if you need any assistance, you can always reach me. I want you to know, Mr. Stark, the future is bright. And I believe in you."
Leo, acting like a small, knowing adult, patted Tony lightly on the shoulder and opened the car door.
He paused to look at the wary Happy Hogan, smiled slightly, and the expensive baton in Happy's hand suddenly snapped cleanly in two, scattering fragments onto the floor mat.
With a light push of his toes, Leander silently propelled himself into the air, rising swiftly above the buildings like a powerful, silent jet, and disappeared from sight almost instantly.