"YOU'VE all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last night. There have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the arc reactor. Fortunately, a member of Tony Stark's personal security staff—" the television showed Rhodey speaking to the crowd of reporters.
Tony sat in a chair getting his bruises covered. He smirked as he read the paper. "Iron Man. That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it. I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."
Lyra smiled as Pepper rolled her eyes. She had taken a pretty bad hit, but she was all right besides a few scratches. It was pretty easy to hide.
Agent Coulson walked up to Tony, handing him cards to read. "Here's your alibi."
"Okay," Tony said quietly, reading them over.
Agent Coulson pointed to him. "You were on your yacht."
Tony was hardly listening. "Yeah."
"We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from 50 of your guests."
Tony put the cards down. "See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Lyra and me alone on the island."
Agent Coulson gave him a look. "That's what happened."
Tony rose his hands in mock surrender. "All right."
"Just read it, word for word."
Lyra walked over to him, leaning over his shoulder to read the card. "There's nothing about Stane here," Lyra said softly, feeling Tony's hand creep around her waist.
"That's being handled. He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record."
Tony grew frustrated. "But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard? He's my—I mean, is that—That's kind of flimsy, don't you think?"
"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you," Agent Coulson responded quickly. "You've got 90 seconds."
Pepper grabbed Coulson's arm before he could join the crowd. "Agent Coulson? I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help."
He nodded. "That's what we do. You'll be hearing from us."
"From the Strategic Homeland—"
"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D.," he said quickly.
Pepper nodded and began to follow him out. "Right. Let's get this show on the road."
Once they were alone, Tony moved Lyra to stand in front of him as she fixed his hair with her fingertips. "You know, it's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."
Lyra rolled her eyes. "You're not Iron Man."
"Am so."
"You're not."
Tony grinned. "All right, suit yourself. You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying that I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I'd become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me," he stood to lean closer to her ear. "Tell me you never think about that night."
Lyra leaned back, eyeing him warily. She knew exactly what night he was talking about. "What night?"
"You know."
"Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself? Is that the night you're talking about?" Lyra said, backing away with a smirk as his mirrored hers. "Thought so." She tapped his chest twice before backing out of his arms completely.
Lyra walked out to the crowd to stand near Pepper as she watched the man she was completely infatuated with reach the podium as Rhodey introduced him. "And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions."
Tony smiled at the crowd and Rhodey. His eyes met Lyra's and fought off the urge to wink. "Thank you. Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." The crowd laughed slightly. Lyra rolled her eyes. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop—"
Christine, the last woman Tony slept with, interrupted him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you—"
Tony rose a hand. "I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."
"I never said you were a superhero."
"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public," Tony listed awkwardly.
Rhodey tapped his shoulder. "Just stick to the cards, man."
Tony looked around the room at the woman he was utterly, hopelessly still in love with. He saw her eyes alight with pride and adoration. He wanted to protect her. He wanted a life with her... he wanted to fix what he screwed up. He looked at the crowd looking hopeful—he could not lie to them. He could not lie to himself.
"Yeah, okay. Yeah. The truth is... I am Iron Man."