"Pepper, if I don't get some answers right now from Tony's own mouth, there will be a fleet of Federal Agents here in about two hours to throw him in jail…" Rhodey screamed out in frustration.
"What?!" Pepper asked in confusion. What in hell could Tony have done that could lead to Federal agents coming to arrest him? "Tell me exactly what is going on…now." Pepper said as she started up the stairs with Rhodey fast on her heels.
"Last night in London, there was an armory explosion. It was a government armory that was known to be stocked with Stark weaponry. There were witnesses that claimed to see Iron Man at the scene just before the explosion. Now the FBI, Scotland Yard and Interpol want face time with Tony and they want him in jail for this if he did it. They are calling it an act of terrorism and a treaty violation and some are even going as far as treason." Rhodey explained frantically.
"That's impossible. He was with me last night and he would never go after an ally. Great Britain has been a loyal Stark Industries customer since Howard ran it." Pepper exclaimed as she opened Tony's bedroom door. "Aside from the fact that he's too sick to have done it. He can barely make it out of bed and it probably took 10,000 gallons of willpower and stubbornness to get him to the benefit last night. Jarvis, ease the lights up as Tony wakes up but not before. I don't want to shock him."
"Of course Ms. Potts."
Rhodey looked into Tony's bedroom as Pepper opened the door and was quite taken back by what he saw. Tony, still sound asleep, looked like he was dead. He looked worse than the time that Rhodey found him on the floor of his workshop after Obadiah had ripped the arc reactor out of his chest.
Something else stood out as well. Both sides of Tony's bed had been slept in. Now given the fact that he and Tony had been roommates in MIT, Rhodey knew certain facts. Number one, unless he had a nightmare, Tony didn't move much when he slept. A bomb could go off right next to his head and he wouldn't move, which probably came with the territory of being the son of a weapons designer. Number two, unless he had company, Tony only stayed on one side of the bed. So that only led to one conclusion.
"Pepper? How long have you and Tony been you and Tony?" Rhodey asked Pepper as she sat on the side of Tony's bed and tried to wake him as gently as possible.
Pepper winced a little bit when Rhodey asked that question as bluntly as he did. Apparently Tony had kept their secret even from his best friend. She looked over briefly at the Colonel before looking back at Tony. "Since we got stuck in Kansas back in June." She answered quietly.
"Four months? You two have been a couple for four months and no one knew about it? Why wasn't I told at least?" Rhodey shouted.
"Because you have a tendency to overreact, Platypus," came a tired and scratchy voice from under the mound of blankets. The windows brightened up slowly, filling the room with sunlight as Pepper helped Tony to sit up. "Then again you haven't been over too much lately." Tony added as he rubbed his eyes and saw the rather serious expression on Rhodey's face. "But I am guessing this isn't a visit to your sick best friend?"
"Sadly no. This is far more official than that." Rhodey stated as he took a deep breath. "Tony, I have to ask you some questions in a somewhat official capacity. Your answers will determine the next course of action. Do I have your permission to record this?"
Tony got a very bad feeling very quickly. "Yes, you do. Should I have my lawyers here?"
"You'll need them later." Rhodey confirmed.
No sooner the words came out of Rhodey's mouth, Pepper was on the phone with the best of Tony's legal team.
Rhodey sighed as he started the tape recorder. "Where were you last night?"
"I was at home most of the night except from about eight to eleven when I was at a benefit with Pepper." Tony answered, trying to fight back a coughing jag as he did it.
"Is there anyone who can confirm that you were at the benefit last night?" Rhodey asked.
Tony nodded. "Besides for Pepper, there were about three hundred people there who saw me bid on her during the auction. What is this about?"
"Was Pepper with you all night?"
"Except for about an hour when she went ahead to the benefit before me. Tell me what this is about." Tony demanded.
Rhodey grabbed the remote off of Tony's nightstand and turned on CNN. On the screen was the aftermath of the London explosion, alternating visions of live coverage interlaced with repeat footage of the armory explosion.
"When did this happen?" Tony asked, very confused about what was going on.
"At approximately four in the morning London time, eight in the evening local time, the Royal Armory exploded and witnesses claim that they saw Iron Man at the scene just before the explosion." Rhodey stated methodically.
"That's not possible." Tony stated as he watched the images on his TV. "I didn't go out in the suit last night. I can't. Jarvis and Pepper set it up so if I am not at full capacity, they have override power on the suit. Jarvis? When did I last go out in the suit?"
"Two weeks ago, sir. It was a very successful trip to Pakistan. The suit has not been used since then."
Tony then turned to Rhodey. "That was not me and I can provide the proof on that." He said with utmost seriousness before turning to Pepper. "Get my lawyers on the phone and set up an appointment for half an hour. Tell them it will have to be via video feed. Also, call my doctor and get him to sign an affidavit saying that he was here yesterday treating me for the flu and the respiratory infection. After that, with the lawyers' approval and presence, set up a press conference at Stark Industries…I have to address this quickly."
"Maybe you should do the press conference via video as well?" Pepper suggested as she quickly noted everything Tony was saying in her BlackBerry. "You really shouldn't be out of bed again." She added with concern.
"But if I don't go there personally, they will think I am faking it for some reason. They will doubt that I am actually sick and rip me apart. They are going after my name here and I have to put myself out there to defend it." Tony stated as anger slipped into his voice only to be accompanied by another bout of coughing as well as the aches and chills. "Jarvis? I need you to compile a series of files for my attorneys and the feds. Without any editing of any sort, put together all the security tapes from every room in the mansion for the last seventy-two hours as well as the data from my last Iron Man mission."
"As you wish sir. Files will be ready in ten minutes."
Tony slumped back against his pillows in exhaustion as he tried to catch his breath. His head was throbbing. His whole body ached. His fever still hadn't broken and he was having trouble breathing. He generally felt like shit and now this happened.
"Tony, why don't you try to go back to sleep before you have to meet with the lawyers?" Pepper suggested gently, more in girlfriend mode rather than assistant mode.
"If I do, I'm not waking up again for a while." Tony sighed as he looked over to the medications on his nightstand. "And I can't take any of those until after either. Half of them make my head fuzzy and the other half knocks me out."
"You are putting yourself through needless suffering here," Pepper told him.
"I didn't stop Obie soon enough when he was trampling over my father's name and now someone is doing it to me directly. I'm innocent and I want everyone to know that. I didn't do this." Tony stated as firmly as he could. "Now, can you two help me out here? I want to go down stairs."
"Tony, I don't think your lawyers would object to you being in bed when you're obviously ill." Rhodey stated.
"They might not but I do," Tony growled out as coughs racked his battered body again. "If I had time, I would shower and get dressed first but given the state of affairs here, I am guessing it will take nearly half an hour for me to get downstairs. This flu is kicking my ass but I do still have my pride. And you know damn well that you would do the same damn thing."
Rhodey saw the conviction behind that statement in his best friend's eyes and he couldn't argue with it. All he could do was help Pepper get a very weak and somewhat unstable Tony down to the living room.
Twenty minutes later, Tony, in his flannel bathrobe, MIT sweatshirt and pajama pants, was seated as comfortably as possible in one of the chairs in his living room with a warm blanket draped over him and with a cup of herbal tea with lemon next to him while Pepper and Rhodey took their seats near him on the couch.
"Sir? I have a video feed coming in via the conference line." Jarvis interjected.
"Put it through," Tony ordered. Soon enough five of his thousand dollar an hour lawyers were in front of him, including his two sharks that had experience with defense in criminal cases. The first shark was a man in his fifties that had once worked for Howard. The other and stronger shark was a woman in her late thirties who had a definite reputation for ripping people apart during cross examinations and was meticulous with details.
"I have sent over all my security files from the mansion as well as the data from my suit. Those alone will prove that I was incapable of what happened. I also have an alibi as well." Tony stated.
"We will need sworn statements from your alibi of course. Just the information you have given us so far will at least stave off the FBI and Interpol for the moment."
"I will give you anything you need." Tony affirmed as he tried to force the urge to cough back again. "I did not do this and I have nothing to do with it."
"We will make sure they know that. That is what you pay us for, Mr. Stark." One of them stated. "By the way, feel better. I don't think there will be any doubts to how ill you are when they see you."
"Are there any restrictions to a press conference this afternoon?" Pepper asked before Tony could come in with a smart remark.
"None at the moment but we will be there to make sure of it. Three o'clock, correct?"
"Yes at Stark Industries." Pepper confirmed before the screen went dark.
By the time they had to start getting ready for the press conference, the only medication Tony had in him was the antibiotic for the respiratory infection since he had to take it at the same time every day so the rest of his symptoms were ravaging him. He shivered with the chills under the hot water in the shower. It hurt every time he moved because of the muscle aches. He still had a fever of over 101. His head hurt so badly that he was squinting in even the dimmest lights in the house and the coughing and itchy eyes were just plain pissing him off now.
Tony took a hold of Pepper's hand as he slowly walked to the limo. He had on his best black suit and his darkest sunglasses possible and the sun was still hurting his eyes as he slumped back against the seats of the car. He was exhausted by now since he never was able to go back to sleep and he was totally drained and running on his last reserves to get through this.
Pepper hated having her hands tied with this. She had to sit back and watch Tony suffer until this was done and she could do very little. That alone drove her nuts. Just in the car ride from the mansion to Stark Industries was maddening. Pepper could tell how exhausted Tony was and how much he was fighting just to stay upright as he watched silently out the window and there was nothing she could do to make him feel better. It hurts so much to see someone you love in pain.
The story had broken on the morning news so by the time three o'clock came around, the feeding frenzy had begun. The press and photographers had spilled out of Stark Industries out to the street waiting for Tony to arrive. The limo would have been mobbed if it wasn't for the force of Tony's security force. Happy held back the crowd as best as he could as Tony walked inside, holding Pepper's hand and keeping himself as straight as possible despite how badly this was affecting him.
The press secretary flanked by Tony's high powered attorneys took the podium and the crowd quieted. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stark has a statement he would like to present and please save all questions until the end. Ladies and gentlemen…Anthony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries International…"