Chapter 14: Revealed

"I got something to do today." I quietly told Pepper. She instantly knew what I was talking about. I had a concert today.

"I'll cover for you." She whispered.

"Thanks Pepper." I replied back in a whisper. I grabbed my guitar and Happy snuck me to the arena where our concert was at. Just like always, it was cloudy outside. "Thank you so much Happy. I never get the time to thank you and Pepper for helping me." I said as I got out of the car.

"It's no problem Riley." He assured with a wave of his hand. I "ran" inside where the rest of the band was waiting at. Quickly as I could, I put on my wig and grabbed out my guitar and tuned it.

"Are you ready for today?" Andy asked me anxiously.

"Yep." I grinned. We were all standing on the stage waiting for the curtains to rise. Once it did, many people screamed in delight. We played our songs for a while and we left the stage after we finished. Before I knew it, we were outside heading to the limo. My guitar was already in the car. Some fans got in the way separating me from the rest of the group. I was surrounded by many and I couldn't escape to the limo or back to the arena.

I couldn't find any security guards. I knew I was in trouble. I ran away from them. I wasn't really running from them, I was jogging. So I made it look like I was running from them. A car pulled up and the windows rolled down.

"Hurry and climb in!" A voice commanded me. I didn't hesitate to hurry. I heard millions of screams behind me as I jumped into the car. The door closed behind me just as they were pulling up and started to bang on the windows. I laid my head on the back of the seat and let out a sigh of relief. "And I thought I had it bad." I looked up to find Tony chuckling. I replied back with a shaky laugh. "I'm Tony."

"I'm Riley." I said pretending to be out of breath.

"I have a younger sister named Riley." He exclaimed.

"Really?" I acted surprised.

"Yeah. She's a great fan of you. I wonder why I don't see her among them." He gestured towards the increasing mass of fans as we drove past them on the street. "I'm going to call her and see where she's at." He pulled out his phone and dialed my number. Then my phone in my pocket began ringing the tune that plays whenever Tony calls me. I felt a dread of horror.

He stared at me and his face was straight. I pulled out my phone and answered it with a cracked voice.

"Hello?" I said grinning nervously. He took a deep breath and closed his phone. I closed my as he continued staring at me. I pulled off my wig revealing my long dark hair. "Tada." I said in a small voice.

"Holy. Crap." He stunned. "Riley you're the famous guitar player? My own little sister is a rock star? That's incredible! I can't believe it! That's amazing! How long have you been playing? How long have I've not known this?" He exploded in excitement. I stared at him with my mouth slightly open.

"You're not mad?" I asked in astonishment.

"How can I be mad if you're famous in your own way?" He smiled at me. "Does Pepper know about this?"

"Yes." I said quietly, "She knows about it. I told her on the day you left three months ago. She's been helping me get to the concerts without you knowing the truth to where I was going. So she came up with stories that I would be hanging out with Sam. Sam knows the truth too, but it's just her, Pepper, you, and the Cullens. They're fine to trust to keep my secret."

"You trust Edward a lot don't you?" He asked in the protective brother voice.

"Yeah," I said staring off into space, "I guess I do. Maybe it's because we're really good friends and we watch out for each other." I added looking directly at him.

"I guess I will have to learn to accept that over time." He said. We rode in silence on the way home. I noticed my guitar case sitting outside by the door. Once I reached the door, I opened the case to make sure that my guitar was in there. I snapped it shut once I saw it. I opened the door and walked in.

"The gig's up Pepper. He found out." I called out. She came bustling out of the kitchen and had a strange look on her face.

"Oh darn. It was pretty interesting sneaking you out of the house though. Well at least he knows now, but he has to hide what he knows from the world." She sighed defeated. "Riley, cover your eyes."

"Why?" I asked, but I covered them anyway with my hands. She shushed me up. She and Tony led me to the middle of the room by the couch. They gently pulled my hands away from my eyes. I gasped as I saw a brand new grand piano. It was much closer to the staircase than it was before and I noticed a huge hole in the wooden floor and the ceiling. Tony has some explaining to do later.

"By accident, Tony broke the other one. I don't know how he did though. He wanted to make it up to you by buying you a new one." Pepper explained to me as I walked towards it. I let my fingers glide over the black, smooth, reflective surface. I felt myself smiling at the piano. In the reflection, I could see Tony and Pepper both grinning. I uncovered the keys of piano and felt the ivory. I pressed a key releasing a grand note. I pulled the bench out and sat down.

At first, I didn't know what to play, but then I figured it out. I played Yiruma's 'River Flows in you' because it had that special feeling whenever I played it. Once I was playing it, Pepper and Tony sat down near the piano and were listening with great interest. I heard the soft beeping of Pepper dialing a number in her phone.

"You need to hear this." She said quietly in the receiver. The phone was close by, but I played a bit louder for those on the other end of the line to hear. My fingers flowed over the ivory keys and I got lost in the music. Apparently so did Tony, by telling the look on his face. As soon as I finished, they burst into applause.

"That was lovely." Tony sat next to me and put an arm around me.

"Thanks." I replied. I could smell a pleasant scent of Axe on him. That immediately caused my throat to scorch in flames. I ignored it by holding my breath.

"What's that song called and who wrote it?"

"It's called 'River Flows in You' by a Korean pianist who was trained in England. His name is Yiruma. His compositions are amazing. I could find more of his songs and figure out how to play them if you want me to." I explained.

"That would be interesting. His music is very fascinating. Only if you want to figure out how to play them, I'm fine with that." He commented.

"Thanks for the new piano." I grinned at him.

"It was no problem. I like hearing my little sis play the piano." He gave me a noogie. Pepper had walked away to check today's schedule.

"So, how did you break the other piano?" I asked

"While I was test running the suit, I was on top of the house and turned off the suit and ended up smashing through the ceiling, floor, piano, and my blue car with the white stripes. I love that car."

"Hmm I bet Dummy finally got a chance to dowse you, eh?" I smirked.

"Yeah he did." He rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. I can't believe a stupid robot dowsed me with CO2 for no reason. I laughed quietly at his thought. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing." I waved it away. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Sure Riley." He still narrowed his at me with suspicion. "I want you to come take a look at the newly painted suit, which I'm guessing that, the gloves to be adjusted." He stood up and headed downstairs to the shop.

"I'm up for it. I want to see it." I said in excitement. I jogged to follow him. As we were walking down the stairs, I came up with an idea. "Do you want me to make doors for you to use instead of the ceiling and floors?"

"That's a clever idea. Maybe we should have them be activated only by us. If they were motion censored by anyone on the upper floors, it could reveal the truth about us." He explained.

I thought about it. "You have a point there. I'll start on it as soon as I can."

"Good girl. Now let me show what the suit looks like now." He pulled me to where the new and painted suit hung. "What do you think?" I stared at it in amazement.

"It's amazing. What did you paint it with?" I kept examining it.

"It's painted with gold-titanium alloy. And I threw in a little bit of red in it because it matches well." He explained as I felt the smooth surface of the dark red and gold metal. "I should probably fix the gloves so they work properly." He pulled out a long screwdriver and the two gloves and slipped one on. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV while he fixed his gloves. The news covered the story about today's concert.

Tony was listening while he was tightening one of the gloves. It hummed as the repulsors brightened up unleashing a low energy and then it turned off. He put the fixed glove with the suit and worked on the other one. As he worked the other one, a new story headline appeared on the screen. Tony's attention dropped from the glove to the TV. The town Gulmira was the headline.

It was under attack by the Ten Rings; the same group that held Tony hostage. Tony still looked at the TV as he continued to fix his glove. His expression turned hard and he stiffened in his seat. The camera found the leader of the group from a distance. He had a nasty injury on his head. He looks a lot better with that injury on his head that I gave him in the caves. Then the footage turned into a huge group of people on a long trail walking away from the town.

The reporter described everything about the attack in Gulmira. The words were buzzing around in my head and they seemed to be doing the same thing in Tony's too. He fixed his glove and stood up. He looked at his reflection in the window for a few moments. I could hear the words of the reporter in his head; branding them into his memory. He raised his hand that had the repulsors and fired at the glass. I jumped in surprise and covered my ears over the noise.

He fired again at other panes of glass and stopped. He looked down at the floor. "I'm ashamed of myself." He quietly said. "I made these weapons that are ruining the lives of innocent people." I walked up slowly to him being cautious if he would fire again. I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He looked at me. "I know what I must do." He walked to the suit and placed the other fixed glove next to the suit. "Wait here." I heard him walk to the closet in the other room and pull out a polymer suit. I waited patiently for him to put it on as I sat in the opposite room.

He walked back into the main room wearing a black suit that would help resist strong g-forces in flight. We walked to a pad area where he stood on there. The floor opened beneath revealing his suit in parts. I watched as robots were putting the frame on him and added the rest of the armor by drilling it on him to attach it. The last piece to go on him was his helmet. Where the eyes were at, turned blue letting me know that Jarvis was up and working.

"We're very lucky that Pepper left earlier." I said. He turned his head and the blue rectangle eyes were staring at me.

"I need you to monitor things here in case something happens. You'll be hooked up to the suit wirelessly through the computer so you can monitor what is happening around me." He instructed. I nodded in understanding what I'm supposed to do. He walked to the entrance of the shop that led outside and got ready to take off.

"Good luck." I said.

"You too." He replied. Then his repulsors fired up and he shot fast to the outer world with a resounding boom.