Endeavour Nikolas Stark is perfectly fine as is.
As a child he had been extraordinary, finding a home among the friendliest of people at Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted, and finding himself Gifted in many ways just beyond the X-Gene in his DN...
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Wherever he is wandering, alone upon the Earth. Let all our singing follow him.
Three days later.
"You have all recieved the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries three nights ago." Rhodey's voice was clear and precise, his head held high despite everything currently running through it. "There have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the arc reactor. Fortunately-"
"Mute." Tony's voice cut off his friends as he glanced to the TV. His hands focused entirely on tying the tire around his neck, Pepper pressed makeup into the cuts and scrapes on his forehead. "Iron Man. That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it. Not accurate though, the suit is a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of-"
The agent interrupted, "Here's your alibi."
Tony was not entirely sure of who the man was, though he had arrived at the house hours after the incident and insisted he knew the family well enough to have a say in the following events. Whatever agency he worked for pushed hard for a cover-up story, Tony could in all honesty care less about the coverup and more about the actual events.
He stood, resisting the urge to groan as his side stretched more than it should have.
"You were on your yacht. We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night," Coulson tapped the top of the index card, "and sworn statements from fifty of your guests. And-"
Tony interrupted, "See, I was thinking it could be just Pepper and me, alone on the island." He smiled at her, who rolled her eyes in response.
Coulson shakes his head in response. "This is your statement, not that." He taps the cards again and Tony looks down again.
He frowns, "There's nothing about Stane in here." Or Nikolas. He wants to say, his voice doesn't comply.
The Agent turned away, speaking over his shoulder as he peaked through the crack in the door. "That's being handled. He's on vacation, and as you know, small aircrafts have such a poor safety record."
Tony hums in reply, setting the cards in his mouth as Pepper helps him to pull on the coat. His next words are directed only to her, though he knows that the Agent is listening. "You know, it's not even that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."
She smiles, smoothing his suit jacket on his shoulders before speaking to Coulson. "I just wanted to say thank you very much for all your help." Pepper crosses the room towards the Agent and holds her hand out for him to shake.
"That's what we do." He smiles as he shakes her hand, glancing between both Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. "You'll be hearing from us."
Pepper nods, the action almost sarcastic as she speaks, "From the Strategic Homeland-"
"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D." He nods, glancing back at the door before nodding as his goodbye.
When he leaves, Pepper turns to Tony with a sad smile. She crosses the room, holding out her hands to him in a delicate way and attempting to not cry as the man lifted her hands to kiss the back. "Tony we need to talk about what happened. We need to talk about Ni-"
Tony frowns, dropping her hands and stepping back. "Not now. Not today." He is trying not to loose it, and just before turning away he takes a deep breath, forcing a smile onto his face as he turns. "I'm ready."
Pepper nods, "Will that be all Mr. Stark?"
"That'll be all Miss Potts." He crosses the room without her, stepping through the door and waving off the clamoring news reporters as they shout for any sort of answers.
All he can think about is how he would rather be anywhere than here.
"And now," Rhodey nodded to him as he approached the small stage. "Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions."
Rhodey stepped out from behind the microphone, smiling at Tony as if everything was alright. The Stark smiles back , holding his hand out to his oldest friend and smiling in a way of saying 'thank you.'
"Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." The crowd laughs and Tony smiles as he pulls said cards from his pocket. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..." He trailed off, images of everything that happened three nights ago flashed through his head.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark-" Christine Everhart spoke up from the crowd of reporters, despite the fact that she was not meant to be asking questions. "But do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you-"
"I know it's confusing. But it is one thing to question the official story-" Tony laughs a dry sort of laugh that his son would have pegged as fake the moment he heard it. "And another thing entirely to make wild accusations or insulate that I am a- a superhero."
She laughs in a mocking way, lifting her hand as if making sure that everyone was sure to see her as she spoke. "I never said you were a super hero."
Tony pauses.
Unconsciously, his eyes search the room for Nikolas. He shakes his head, pushing the smile back onto his face as he does. "Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and- and fantastic." He glances back down at the cards. "I'm not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made- largely public-"
Rhodey crosses the stage once again, smiling in a friendly way as he grips Tony's bicep and speaks in a low voice. "Just stick to the cards man."
"Right. Right." Tony nods, thinking of his son in this moment, rather than what could be the outcome of this moment. "The truth is-"
He pauses again.
His son would tell him about the different outcomes, or maybe about the specific thoughts of people in the room. For once Tony did not care about anyone's opinion beyond his sons, despite the fact that the young Doctor was not here.
