S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Washington D.C.
Lucy, Coulson, and Fury were currently congregated in the Director's office. She was showing the two SHIELD agents footage of Tony's chase with the F-22 Raptors, how he risked his life to save a pilot, and his attack on the Ten Rings.
"See." She paused the video, "I told you he wasn't working for them."
"Alright, Alright." Fury rolled his eyes at her tone. "What do you want us to do now?"
Lucy smiled smugly, "I think you should pay a little visit to Obadiah Stane. I've been watching his accounts, there's something funny going on." She grimaced at the thought of the slippery man, "I never liked him. But he was always so good to Howard." She sighed.
Coulson nodded, "I'll go." He said standing up and buttoning his suit, "Are coming as well?"
"No." Lucy looked out the window at the capital city, "I'm sure you can handle it. There's someone here I've been meaning to visit."
-permafrost-
There was always something slightly disconcerting about the all-consuming sterilized smell that accompanied every single hospital and health center. Lucy signed in at the front desk; they knew her well there. Placing the sticky name badge on her coat she made her way down the familiar halls until she came to one with a familiar name on the door.
Knocking softly to alert the inhabitance of her arrival she called quietly, "Peg?"
The former head of SHIELD looked up from her book at the intrusion. A smile lit up her face and she closed her book, "Lucy! Darling, how are you? It's been so long. How's Eddie?"
"I'm good, and Eddie is fine, up to no good as usual." She removed her coat and sat down on the bed side chair. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm as spry as ever, look at me." Peggy gestured to her bed ridden state with a sarcastic smile.
"Well you look as beautiful as ever, doll." Lucy patted her friend's hand, channeling the spirit of Howard. "Have you been thinking of anything interesting lately?"
"As a matter of fact I have." Peggy stared hard at her lonely friend.
"And what's that?"
"I agree with that Natasha you told me about, I think you need to get back out there."
Lucy groaned. Why did it seem like everybody in her life wanted to set her up?
Flashback 1940s…
"Hey Lu?"
"Hmm?" Lucy acknowledged her brother's question over her cup of coffee and engrossing book. "Yeah?"
"You…you'd tell me if you like, liked, anyone. Right?" Bucky stammered. He wasn't about to have the talk, with his little sister; goodness knows she probably knows more about it than he does because of her various biology books. But that didn't mean he wasn't interested in knowing her preferences, even if it was only to intimidate anyone who would hurt her.
"What? Can you repeat that?" she finally tore her eyes away from the pages, not catching what he said.
"If you liked… I mean…" Bucky sighed and ruffled his hair, "What I'm trying to ask is, do you happen to like any guy I should know about?"
"No."
"Okay." He paused then continued, "Any girls?"
"No."
"Alright then. But you'd tell me?"
Lucy sighed in exasperation, "Sure James, if I like someone I'll tell you."
"Good." he nodded pleased with himself, "By the way, Steve and I are going to the movies later, his date bailed, you want to join?"
"Again?" Lucy asked in disbelief shaking her head sadly, "Poor guy. Sure I'll come." Inside Lucy couldn't suppress the little bubble of happiness that Steve wasn't dating anybody. He was too good for those selfish girls that only judged him on his looks.
Flashback 2000s…
"What about Michael? From accounting?" Natasha was saying as she and Lucy spared at the SHIELD base. The Black Widow was good, but she was no match for a super soldier. "Tall, dark, and handsome?"
"No." Lucy ducked as Nat kicked over her head. "He doesn't like Benny Goodman."
"What about the one with the tattoo sleeve and the nose piercing?" Clint chimed in from the sidelines where he was cleaning his arrows.
"Jennifer?" Lucy prompted.
Clint nodded, "Yeah what about her?"
"She's a vegan, I don't know if I'm ready for that." Lucy grunted grabbing Natasha and putting her in a chokehold.
"Oh come on." Nat cried and signaled her defeat, "One day." She huffed standing up, "One day I'll win."
Present day, Peggy's room…
"Lucy?"
"Right." She jerked coming back to the present. "Sorry, you were saying?"
Peggy smiled, concerned for her old friend, "It's just, it's been such a long time, dear. I thought, maybe you'd be over that tape by now…"
Not long after Lucy had woken up…
Gone.
He was gone.
Lucy stared blankly at her two friends. "Come again?"
Howard and Peggy shared identical sympathetic looks.
"Do you want to hear the last recording?" Howard asked. "We saved it for our records."
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Peggy jumped in.
Lucy blinked then nodded, unable to form words with her throat so tight.
Static. Then a voice floated from the speakers.
"Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"
A tear escaped the corner of Lucy's eye. Her lip trembled. He sounded so close, but she knew that wasn't true.
"Captain Rogers, what is you…"
"Steve is that you? Are you alright?"
"Peggy! Schmidt is dead."
"What about the plane."
"That's a little bit tougher to explain."
"Uh, give me your coordinates. I'll find a safe landing site."
"There's not gonna be a safe landing. But I can try and force it down."
A sound of protest escaped her throat. Her hands trembled so much Peggy caught them in both of hers to try and ground Lucy in reality.
"I…I'll get Howard on the line. He'll know what to do."
"There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York. I've got to put her in the water."
"Please, don't do this. We have time. We can work it out."
"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere if I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die."
"That's enough" Lucy stood and slammed the tape, trying and failing to control the steady stream of tears down her face. It wasn't a pretty cry. It was a gut wrenching, all consuming, hiccupping, sob of a cry.
"I think you'll want to hear this last part, doll." Howard said gently, then reached over and continued the tape.
"Peggy, this is my choice… Peggy?"
"I'm here."
"As my final order, I command you to find Lucy."
Peggy's hysterical laugh could be heard followed by, "You can't give me orders."
"The hell I can, I'm a captain. And Peggy?"
"Yes."
"When you find her, tell her… tell her I'm sorry. And tell her…tell her… that I lov…"
Then static once again filled the silence. Lucy stood up and exited the room with out another word. They found her hours later sitting under a tree.
"You know," she addressed her friends as they sat down beside her, "the first time I realized I liked him we were sitting under a tree."
Flashback 1940s…
It was a beautiful spring day in Brooklyn. Flowers were blooming and bees were buzzing. Children were playing in the park and mothers chatted sharing the latest recipes back and forth. Lucy was reading under the dappled shade of a tree, sprawled out on a picnic blanket. Her hair was fanned like a halo around her as she held a book up to her face, lying on her back. The playful breeze kept blowing her unpinned curls into her face, obstructing her eyes.
Bucky was on a date with some girl and it had gone longer than expected. But Steve and Lucy didn't mind. The park was cool and peaceful. They could wait.
Finishing her chapter, Lucy closed her book and placed it on her stomach, turning her head to watch her friend. Steve was currently scribbling in his notebook, drawing some doodle or another. His brows were adorably furrowed as he concentrated on his art. He was biting his lip and using his fourth finger to shade in some lines. Pausing to consider the changes he just made he looked up and met her curious eyes.
"What are you drawing?"
"Nothing." He replied shifting the note pad higher so she couldn't see.
"Well its obviously not, nothing." She sat up, pouting. "Can I see?"
Steve hesitated, "Alright, but its not finished, and it's not very good." He stood up on his knees and moved next to her.
As he sat down, Lucy was enveloped by his presence, a warm homey feeling bubbled up inside her and they shifted closer so she could see. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but it wasn't unwelcome, it was pleasant. He held the book out to her as she took it. A faint blush crept across her face, "It's me." she paused.
Steve shifted, "It's not that good. I know."
"No. No. Its not that." She lifted a hand to touch the almost life like image. Almost life like, because the girl in the picture looked too beautiful to be her. The girl in the image had graceful arms and fingers and she delicately turned the page in her book. Instead of the wild hair Lucy was sure she had, the girl had almost glowing glossy locks. The charcoal defined her features giving her lines and curves she was sure she didn't have. She looked over at him and noted sarcastically, "I think you made me too pretty."
"Really?" Steve looked down at the drawing, "I don't think I did you justice."
Present day, Peggy's room…
"I don't think I'll ever be over that tape." Lucy replied grimly. It still hurt to say his name, so she avoided it at all costs. Her heart felt like it had never been unfrozen. The rest of her body might have woken up, but it was still lost in the arctic with the man she had given it too.
Peggy reached over and patted her hand, "I'm sorry darling." She blinked then looked up again, "Oh Lucy, darling. When did you get here? How are you, it's been so long since your last visit!"
She steeled herself and smiled squeezing her fingers, "Come now, Peg. You know I can't go too long without a visit with my best friend. The world is so boring now that you've retired. Tell me, what have you been thinking about in that great mind of yours."
-permafrost-
"Hey, you busy?" Tony requested of Pepper. "You mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office. You're going to hack into the main frame and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests. This is a lock chip. It'll get you in."
"This is Arie's." Pepper studied the thumb drive like device.
"Yeah, I'm…borrowing it." Tony shrugged, "Anyway, it's probably under Executive Files. If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading."
"And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" Pepper questioned.
"Same drill." He replied, "They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."
"Tony," she sighed, "you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help if you're going to start all of this again."
"There is nothing except this." He stated every word growing more heated, "There's nothing to sign. There's the next mission and nothing else."
"Is that so?" Pepper threw down the plug in, "Well, then I quit."
Tony turned to face her, his expression becoming serious; "You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"
"You're going to kill yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it."
"I shouldn't be alive," he sat down heavily, "unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. I finally understand what Arie was trying to tell me all these years."
Pepper looked down at her phone as it vibrated, signaling a text message.
'Help him. Please. I'm in D.C. at the mo, be back soon. –Arie'
"Bringing out the big guns, huh?" Pepper raised her phone indicating the message from Lucy.
Tony smiled faintly, "I didn't actually, but you can't pull anything past her."
She took a deep breath picking up the lock chip, "You guys are all I have too, you know."
-permafrost-
"Marie?"
"Phil, get to Stark Industries as soon as you can. Ginger's there. I think she's going to need your help."
"What should I say?"
"Anything. It doesn't matter, she won't notice. Say you have an appointment. Sounds plausible enough."
"Alright. We're headed there now." Coulson hung up the phone as he pulled into the parking lot of Stark Industries. He saw Pepper walking down the stairs and sat down quickly as if he had been waiting. "Ms. Potts?" he called to her, "We had an appointment. Did you forget about our appointment?"
Pepper looked around frazzled, "Nope. Right now, come with me."
"Right now?"
"Yup. We're going to have it right now. Walk with me." Pepper turned her head slightly to see Obadiah watching from the floor above and she quickened her pace.
"Okay." Coulson agreed following her.
-permafrost-
Text Message:
To Marie: I'm with Pepper. We're going to arrest Obadiah. –C
To Phil: Good Luck. At least stall until Eddie gets there. –M
To Marie: You doubt us? –C
To Phil: No. I'm just looking through Project 16. Your little handguns won't stand a chance. –M
-permafrost-
Rhodey was reading from a teleprompter on the morning news, discussing the incident at Stark Industries. "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…" But no one was really listening.
"'Iron Man.'" Tony was reading the paper as Pepper touched up his makeup, "That's kind of catchy."
"It's got a nice ring to it." Lucy agreed fixing his hair.
"I mean," he continued, "its not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy, but its kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."
Coulson walked in the room, "Here's your alibi." He stated handing the billionaire a set of notecards.
"Okay…" he flicked through the cards.
"You were on your yacht." Coulson continued, "We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, and sworn statements from 50 of your guests."
Tony grimaced, "See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me, alone on the island."
"That's what happened," Phil pressed on, ignoring the comment, "Just read it, word for word."
"There's nothing about Stane in here." Tony added.
"That's being handled, he's on vacation." Coulson gave a slight smirk, "Small aircrafts have such poor safety records."
"What about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard?" Tony interrupted, "He's my… I mean, is that… that's kind of flimsy, don't you think?" he turned to his aunt for her opinion.
Lucy shook her head, "Just listen to the nice people, Eddie. I'm sure they know what they're talking about."
Coulson nodded, "This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark. Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you. You've got 90 seconds." And he turned to leave.
"Oh, Agent Coulson?" Pepper stopped him, "I just wanted to say think you very much for all of your help."
"That's what we do." He replied graciously, "You'll be hearing from us."
Pepper smiled, "Right. From the Strategic Homeland…"
He jumped in, "Just call us SHIELD."
"Right." Pepper shrugged as the Agent exited the room. "Let's get this show on the road."
"You know," Tony started as he put on his suit jacket, "It's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."
"You're not Iron Man." Pepper responded.
"Am so."
"You're not." She tried again.
"Alright, suit yourself."
"Don't try and convince him otherwise, Ginger. " Lucy called from her position still watching the TV. "It only makes him happier that you're playing his little game."
"You know." Tony said, turning back to Pepper, away from his know-it-all aunt, "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 cleared his throat, "Tell me you never think about that night."
"What night?" Pepper questioned innocently.
"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…" she trailed of becoming sarcastic, "left me there. By myself. Is that the night you were talking about?" Pepper finished dryly.
"Uh huh." Tony looked slightly ashamed.
"Thought so." Pepper straightened, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"
Tony stared at her, "Yes. That will be all, Miss Potts." And he rushed out of the room.
Lucy walked over to Pepper and linked their arms as they observed the television. "I'm sorry Ginger." She consoled the other woman, "Sometimes I wonder if a little too much of Howard rubbed off on him. But in the end, Howard always did make it right."
Pepper smiled at her friend as the two watched the press conference from the green room.
Tony was rambling on, "Its 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." A reporter countered.
"Didn't?" Tony clarified, "Well, good. Because that would be outlandish and fantastic..." he cleared his throat and carried on speaking at a louder volume, "I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public."
Rhodey leaned over to his friend, "Just stick to the cards, man." He whispered in Tony's ear.
"Yeah, okay. Yeah." Tony gathered himself looking at his cards. "The truth is…" he paused and set down his cards defiantly. "I am Iron Man."