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In the eyes of the news media, the real heroes were the people who emerged from the rubble supporting rescued survivors.
Everyone working behind the scenes was overshadowed by those unforgettable photographs.
The X-Men, a name that had re-entered the public eye, seemed to have earned mutants a little more goodwill.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose approval ratings had been sinking near the end of his term, experienced a dramatic reversal in public opinion.
He frequently appeared at Ground Zero, surrounded by reporters, personally directing rescue efforts and coordinating operations between the city, the state government, and the federal government.
Whether or not the mayor's actual role at the collapse site had been as significant as the media portrayed was another matter.
But his organization of anti-terror operations across the city was very real.
He also appeared repeatedly on national television and radio, providing the American public with critical updates.
Those efforts genuinely mattered.
No American was indifferent to what had happened.
Everyone wondered whether the next attack might happen where they lived.
Giuliani's public appearances gave people somewhere to direct their anxiety instead of simply living in constant fear.
Even Oprah Winfrey, the famous talk-show host, publicly referred to Rudy Giuliani as "America's Mayor," reflecting both the overwhelming praise he was receiving and the public's support.
---
Compared with the X-Men and the mayor, Stark Industries and Hammer Industries—both of whose chairmen had personally gone to the disaster site while providing enormous amounts of aid—received considerably less media coverage.
That didn't mean their public-relations efforts had failed.
Quite the opposite.
Other defense contractors were green with envy.
Many regretted brushing off New York City's earlier requests for assistance.
Because no one had expected the United States to respond to the attacks...
...by going to war.
---
Before the end of the very same year as the September 11 attacks, the U.S. military, leading NATO forces, launched the War in Afghanistan.
The official justification was simple:
The Taliban had refused to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
So the United States would go and capture him itself.
This wasn't merely political condemnation or symbolic retaliation.
This was a full-scale military campaign.
Ground forces.
Air power.
The works.
---
War meant weapons.
Consumed munitions had to be replaced.
Old equipment had to be upgraded.
The U.S. military didn't simply want victory.
It wanted overwhelming victory.
Since the American Civil War, the continental United States had never experienced war on its own soil.
Then, without warning, terrorists struck.
The Twin Towers collapsed.
Even the Pentagon had been attacked.
How could Americans possibly swallow that humiliation?
They had to respond with overwhelming force.
The message needed to be unmistakable:
Attempt this again, and you will be destroyed.
To project that image...
Vietnam-era equipment simply wouldn't do.
The military needed new hardware.
---
And who was better positioned to receive those procurement contracts than the two patriotic companies that had stepped forward during the rescue effort?
Stark Industries.
Hammer Industries.
Tony Stark himself might not have thought that far ahead when he agreed to donate equipment and supplies.
Obadiah Stane, however...
Had made the right bet.
The returns from those relief efforts far exceeded even his expectations.
---
From bullets to missiles.
From camouflage uniforms to tanks.
The U.S. military bought everything.
They barely haggled over prices.
As long as manufacturers could deliver quickly...
The Pentagon was willing to pay.
They wanted to start hitting back immediately.
Waiting wasn't an option.
Justin Hammer had guessed correctly as well.
His gamble also paid off.
Unfortunately...
Hammer Industries simply wasn't large enough to capitalize on the opportunity.
Originally based in Europe, the company still hadn't fully established itself in North America.
That required time.
When the flood of military contracts arrived...
Hammer Industries could only absorb a fraction of them.
The military had no intention of waiting until next year—or the year after—to receive its equipment.
Nor would it accept Hammer simply rebranding weapons manufactured by other companies.
The Pentagon refused to open that door.
Justin Hammer refused as well.
The moment Hammer Industries became nothing more than a front for one of America's old-money defense giants...
The company would effectively cease to be his.
That had never been his goal.
As a result...
The overwhelming majority of contracts flowed straight to Stark Industries.
---
As a corporation that had worked with the U.S. military for decades...
Founded and expanded by Howard Stark since World War II...
Then transformed by Tony Stark into a modern military-industrial powerhouse...
Stark Industries possessed astonishing wartime production capacity.
As long as the conflict wasn't another global war on the scale of World War II...
Stark Industries alone could support the U.S. military through an extended regional conflict indefinitely.
The only reason Hammer Industries received any contracts at all was because the government intentionally left some scraps for another company that had also contributed to disaster relief.
Otherwise...
Stark Industries alone could have met not only America's needs...
But NATO's as well.
This marked the first truly decisive step toward what would one day become...
The world's richest man.
And the world's largest corporation.
---
Henry never returned to Ground Zero.
Just as George Stacy had promised, Henry's name never appeared before the public.
The rescue heroes celebrated on television and in newspapers naturally didn't include him.
Not even the people closest to him—Katharine Hepburn, Skye, those he considered family—knew what he had actually done at the disaster site.
He never mentioned it.
Whenever anyone asked, he simply said he'd helped move concrete.
Perhaps only certain intelligence agencies retained records of his involvement.
Henry himself couldn't have cared less about that sort of recognition.
He certainly wasn't about to advertise his own accomplishments.
As far as Katharine Hepburn was concerned...
Knowing he'd done what he could was enough.
This wasn't some grand cause requiring him to sacrifice everything.
You simply helped however much you were able.
---
After one of the Stark family's drivers took him back to the Hepburn estate in Fenwick, Connecticut...
Henry collapsed into bed.
He slept for more than an entire day.
A full twenty-four hours.
If not for the fact that he was still breathing...
Someone might have thought he'd died.
---
For nearly the next month, everyone remained in Connecticut instead of returning to New York.
Even Skye's schooling was temporarily interrupted.
Henry personally requested an extended leave of absence on her behalf.
Normally, keeping a child out of school for an entire month in the United States could attract the attention of child welfare authorities.
In minor cases, the guardian might be fined.
In more serious cases, custody could even be revoked for violating the child's right to an education.
But after what had happened in New York...
Even though the authorities never officially declared the city's air quality a public-health emergency...
Everyone knew the truth.
The school readily approved Skye's leave.
---
Gwen Stacy, who had driven Katharine Hepburn and Skye to Connecticut, also ended up staying at the family estate for quite some time.
Had her father not eventually called to tell her to come home...
She probably would have been just as reluctant as Skye to leave.
In many ways...
Gwen and Skye shared surprisingly similar childhoods.
Skye had been an orphan for as long as she could remember.
Gwen still remembered her mother.
But after her mother's death, George Stacy devoted nearly all his time to police work.
Growing up in a single-parent household, she hadn't received much parental attention either.
Experiencing the warmth of the Hepburn family for the first time...
Neither girl wanted to leave.
That was probably why Skye, who had once tried running away almost every day, eventually stopped.
These days, when she argued with Henry...
It was simply because she enjoyed arguing with him.
Not because she disliked her home.
---
Unfortunately for both girls...
Henry once again became the villain.
He made sure they kept up with their studies.
Gwen was fairly self-disciplined to begin with.
She was naturally proactive.
Skye, on the other hand, complained endlessly.
It accomplished absolutely nothing.
Henry suppressed every protest without mercy.
His response was simple:
"To hell with all this so-called happy education.
"If you haven't experienced the hell of endless practice problems...
"Can you really say you've had a proper childhood?"
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