"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..." Rhodey said on the TV as Tony read from a new paper and Pepper fixed up his face to look less beat up. Vanessa who had received a cut on her forehead was wearing a grey fedora to hide it. The rest of her injuries were hidden under a long sleeved grey dress and black tights with black high heels on her feet,
""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." Tony said as Pepper painfully peeled off a band aid.
"As if your ego wasn't big enough." Vanessa said as she read over his shoulder twiddling with her necklace. "It doesn't even say anything about the awesome girl who saved your butt."
"Yeah, I'm the one with the ego." Tony said rolling his eyes as Coulson walked in.
"Here's your alibi." Coulson said handing him the note cards.
"Okay." Tony said.
"You were on your yacht." Coulson said.
"Yeah." Tony said, nodding along.
"We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from 50 of your guests." Coulson said.
"See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me alone on the island and you could come up with another one for Vanessa." Tony said then yelped when Vanessa thumped him on the back of his head and Pepper ripped off another band aid rather harshly.
"That's what happened." Coulson said sternly.
"All right." Tony said.
"Just read it, word for word." Coulson said.
"There's nothing about Stane here." Tony said.
"That's being handled. He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record." Coulson said with a smirk.
"But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard?" Tony said making a face. "He's my... I mean, is that... That's kind of flimsy, don't you think?"
"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark." Coulson said.
"It's called misdirection, they're just hoping no one looks to close." Vanessa said with a smirk.
"Right." Coulson said then turned back to Tony. "Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you. You've got 90 seconds."
"Agent Coulson?" Pepper called out stopping Coulson from walking away. "I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help."
"That's what we do." Phil said. "You'll be hearing from us."
"From the Strategic Homeland..." Pepper said.
"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D." Phil said with a smile.
"Nice." Vanessa said with a thumbs up.
"Right." Pepper said with a nod. "Let's get this show on the road."
"I'll see you guys out there." Vanessa said as she to left and caught up to Phil looping her arms with his as they walked. They came into the main room where all sort of reporters were gathered stood in the back waiting for Tony to come out.
"And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you." Rhodey said stepping aside for Tony.
"Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." Tony said gaining a small amount of laughter. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..."
"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..." Christine interrupted him.
"I know that it's confusing." Tony said cutting her off. "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." Christine said making Vanessa grumble under her breath.
"Sure you can't…" Vanessa said gesturing to Christine.
"No." Coulson said with a small smirk making Vanessa pout.
"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly." Tony said getting away from the cars. "With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public."
"Just stick to the cards, man." Rhodey whispered pulling him aside.
"Yeah, okay. Yeah." Tony said straightening back up. "The truth is…"
"Uh oh." Vanessa said, knowing what was about to happen.
"I am Iron Man." Tony said and like that the media went hay wire. Vanessa looked over at a tight jawed Phil.
"Scale from one to ten, how much trouble is he in?" Vanessa asked. Phil made eye contact briefly before walking away and making a call as Vanessa let out a low whistle.