"Mr. Stane?" said a woman who entered Obadiah's office with several police officers and men in navy blue jackets with a yellow 'FBI' emblazoned on them.

He stood up with a look that was a mix of anger, confusion, and worry as the large group entered the room. He then shouted, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Obadiah Stane, I am FBI Agent Scarlett Colburn, and I have a warrant for your arrest as well as one to search your office and home under suspicion of arms trafficking, conspiracy to commit arms trafficking, treason against the United States, money laundering, racketeering under the ‘RICO Act’, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, bribery, and corruption, along with the attempted murder of Mr. Tony Stark and his associates." Said the agent as two officers came forward to put handcuffs on him.

A look of shock covered his face as he reached into his pocket. Several people drew their weapons as he did so, but they all froze as a high-pitched sound echoed through the room. After a few seconds, all of them dropped to the ground. A wide smile crossed his face as he grabbed a suitcase and began to attempt to wipe the computer. As he lost focus, Agent Coulson stood up from where he was pretending to lie on the ground. With Obadiah's back to him, he just shot a taser into his back, and a slight smirk appeared on his face as Obadiah had a yellow-stained patch appear on his trousers. Once he had passed out, Coulson picked up the sonic taser, turned it off, and then handcuffed Obadiah.

As several of the officers were getting up, he just stealthily pocketed the taser along with the ear buds that cancelled out the sound. He was currently wearing ones that cancelled out all sound, but these ones seemed to allow one to only not hear the taser. Once the head FBI agent was awake, she asked, "What was that?"

Coulson just shrugged and said, "I shouldn't tell you this, but it was a weapon made by Stark Industries for the government. That's why I'm here, as well as making sure you don't get access to classified information."

Meanwhile, at this time, dozens of people were arrested and were all charged with similar crimes, and Stark Industries was temporarily nationalised by the government due to Tony currently being in surgery.

…

I woke up, god knows how much later, in a hospital. It gave me deja vu from a few really bad missions. After gaining my bearings, I immediately pressed the help button, and a few seconds later, a nurse appeared. She was incredibly well proportioned, but that was not what was on my mind in the slightest at the moment. “Mr. Stark. Your awake. I will fetch the doctor immediately.”

I weakly grabbed her arm and said in a hoarse voice that was strained due to the tubes going down my throat. “The others in the car, how are they?” 

I saw a look of hesitance appear on her face, but she looked at my desperate face and said, “Mr. Hogan is in the next room over, recovering fine, but Ms. Potts is in the ICU. Don’t tell anyone I told you that; it's against hospital policy. The one arm I could still move covered my mouth as the nurse walked out. 

The next few days were a blur as doctors kept looking in on me since I was basically bedridden, and they said they would strap me down if I tried to get up due to the fact I had surgery done on my spine to get the bullet out, and I should be lucky I can still feel my legs, though they still didn’t take anything out of my chest. 

Eventually, I was visited by Happy, who had an IV attached to him. He seemed to be the least injured of the three of us. As he sat down next to my bed, I said, “I’m sorry, happy. It’s my fault that we got hurt; if I had just been more careful,"

A split second later, he said, “You mean Obadiah? I wouldn’t worry about him anymore,” as a smirk appeared on his face.

I had a look of puzzlement on my face as he turned on the TV and scrolled through a few news channels until one came up. It had a picture of Obadiah being put into a police car while in handcuffs. The headline said, ‘Arms trafficking ring collapses.’

“Yesterday, the government announced that it was temporarily nationalising Stark Industries due to ‘threats to national security.’ This follows the events of a few days ago, when several dozen government employees, military personnel, and board members of Stark Industries were arrested, including the acting CEO of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, and U.S. Army Brigadier General Amos Hammond.

“Attorney General Jerry Brown has recently spoken out against the federal government for trying to cover up the situation and thanks whomever posted the anonymous leak containing thousands of documents that proved to be crucial in justifying raids on several locations, including Stark Industries's headquarters.

“We now turn to our Washington correspondent to cover the congressional inquiry into the incident.” As Happy turned off the TV, I leant my head back in relief, glad that Jarvis had leaked those documents like I had asked. I then turned to Happy and asked, “How’s Pepper?”

“She’s stable. She just hasn’t woken up yet. Her heart stopped several times, though, and they are unsure if she will wake up at all.” replied Happy, in a resigned tone. I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to focus on not beginning to hyperventilate. 

While I imagined what she looked like at the moment, a subtle rage built up inside of me. If I could, I would get up right now and dive down whatever hole they were keeping old Obi in and tear him apart piece by piece. Instead, I closed my eyes and said to him, "Thanks, Happy. For always being there, you're one of the only people I can call a true friend.” He had proven time and time again that he was a truly good person on the inside. 

I then pressed the button and asked a nurse to bring me a doctor. I then proceeded to have a twenty-minute argument with him about me leaving, and I said I could either sit here for the next few months or I can make a nice donation to the hospital and you can get me in a wheelchair. 

Eventually they agreed, though a nurse had to accompany me the whole time. I looked at Pepper lying in her hospital bed with a neck brace, a bandaged head, and several cuts and bruises in various states of healing. 

I gripped her hand and gently said, “I’m sorry,” under my breath. I looked at her, and I knew that I truly cared about her. It wasn’t quite love yet, but the thought of losing her made my heart physically try to jump out of my chest. I knew what I needed to do next.

…

"Hello, Obi." I said as I was wheelchaired towards the table.

"What are you doing here?" He said it in a growly voice.

I just smiled lightly before saying, "I'm here to have a chat." He just stared at me as the nurse decided to walk out of the room. I then said, "I think you know why; I didn't want to speak to you since I got back. For the past week or so, I've been stewing in the hospital over the fact that the person who my father trusted the most was the one who tried to kill me."

"How'd you figure that one out?" he said sarcastically. I just said with a plain face, "I speak Arabic, Obadiah. A fact you forgot to remember when they recorded a video naming you as the one who tried to kill me, and they asked for money."

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of annoyance. Before he could say anything else, I just continued, "Then, when I realised they were using stark weapons, I connected the dots.”

"Tony. You know," he began to say in that lecturing tone he always used, "YOU DON'T GET TO SPEAK LIKE THAT!!!" I shouted as my face became flushed. "Obi, you were like a dad to me. When my father was busy in the lab or with his latest affair, it was you who would actually help me. You watched me grow up. I loved you, do you know how much it hurts?"

He tried to start spouting excuses, but I just talked over him. "I-I…" "Shut the Fuck Up! That was rhetorical. As far as I'm concerned, you're dead. You can be glad they won't condemn you to death row in this state.

“Then again, you are now in the same group of traitors as Arnold and Cole. They might just make an exception.” I paused for a moment as he just stared at his hands cuffed to the table with what now looked like shame and regret on his face. 

I decided to continue, “You are just a greedy, spineless coward who was so interested in money that you killed someone who loved you. Do you know how they tortured me in that cave? You are going to live the rest of your life knowing that you killed me. I am not Tony Stark. I am a withered husk of who he was. The remains left over when he died in that cave, deep within the deserts of Afghanistan,

With a strain, I stood up and leaned in close to him and said, "I am actually kind of thankful really. You see. I am now painfully aware of what this world truly is like. Before, I was simply a kid trying to impress his father, who had been dead for a decade. And guess what? I fucking hate this world. How it can just sit back and allow people like you to cause the suffering of millions. So, I’ve made up my mind. I am going to tear it down. And build a world where people like you...don’t exist.”

As I sat back down, I pressed a button on the wheelchair, and the nurse came back in and wheeled me away, with me keeping direct eye contact with him for as long as possible. As I exited, I said, with my head half turned, “Goodbye, Obi.” He was silent, his head still hanging low. 

Until now, I only had a vague idea of where to go from here, but this had painfully reminded me of a lesson that Andy had learned years ago. ‘The world doesn’t care.’

I was not going to lose anyone I cared about, no matter what, even if I had to fight the whole frickin universe. Right now, I have Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey. Even if I never get together with Pepper after I tell her about Andy, I will still care about her. I also have dozens of people who I am going to meet in the future, who I will care about. 

The Tony that Andy had watched on the big screen could have helped people. While he did try, he and none of the Avengers ever truly allowed the world to change into something better, and as soon as they tried and faced resistance, Tony faltered. Ultron was nuts, but he was onto something. But I will use nukes if I have to; he is never being created in this reality. 

I guess Thanos was as well, correct in that weird, sick kind of way. As long as there are those that remember what was, they can never accept what could be. Then again, no one ever does something they think is wrong without a justification. That’s where the delusions come in.

Was I slightly delusional and narcissistic to think I could stand up to fake and true gods? Yes. But if anyone on this planet was qualified, it was me. I was Tony Stark, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and Andrew Gerdener, her majesty's most loyal servant, unspoken hero, and recipient of both the George and Victoria Cross. But now I am neither; in this moment, I truly decided who I am; it didn’t matter if the world knew or not. 

I am Ironman.