Tony puts his head in his hands and sighs. "I know you don't have any reason to believe it, but I've been here with him for more than a year; I've seen him change. When he saw what happened with the Makluans, he... it made him realize how much he'd messed up. He doesn't want to make the same mistakes anymore. He's been though a lot, here, trying to do that. To be better."

Tony looks up at his dad. He hopes Howard will hear him out. He hopes he'll be willing to listen and give Gene a chance. He can't leave Gene, after everything they've been through, and he can't hide their relationship from Howard forever. If this all blows up and Howard refuses to even try to reconcile with Gene... Tony's not sure how he'll deal with that.