Hello everyone!

Welcome to the final chapter of Part 1 of Understanding the Real Hero! Please read the notes at the bottom as I will be giving details on the sequel. :)

Understanding the Real Hero: Iron Man

Ten

Back at the airbase, both Suits had been picked up on Radar. They were about to scramble the jets when Rhodey stopped them, informing them it was just a training exercise.

"They believed you?" Clint asked him incredulously.

"I was senior to them," the Colonel pointed out.

"Didn't stop the Major from disobeying you earlier with intending on shooting Stark out the sky," reasoned Sam.

"It was a complicated situation as you saw," agreed Rhodey. "The Major wasn't disciplined for not obeying a direct order. Technically, rules state I should have done, but I understood the risks and why he did disobey me. Especially because at the time I didn't tell him it was my best friend inside the suit."

Tony moved higher into the sky. Stane increased his thrust, climbing faster in an effort to reach Tony.

JARVIS told him the power percentage was rapidly decreasing. The Arc Reactor was flickering as the power continued to drain.

"Tony…" Steve was worried.

"I knew what I was doing," Tony reassured him. "My life didn't matter when it came to stopping Stane. He was too much of a threat for me to worry about my own."

Steve lowered his head. I really underestimated Tony. He's proven me wrong before. Tony had nearly sacrificed his life in New York, he hadn't hesitated, but he still vilified him for all his other choices. I just refuse to believe it because he's not like me. I wouldn't do what he does… Seeing this, maybe I can understand now.

Tony yelled for his A.I to just leave it on his screen and to stop telling him.

Tony rubbed his forehead. "I don't think I could have coped much longer with JARVIS telling me how much power I had left."

The Iron Monger reached out and grabbed Tony's foot, yanking him down so that Tony's helmet was level with his. He clutched Tony by the throat.

"NO!" They yelled at the screen.

Wanda's face was as white as a sheet.

Bruce stopped Thor from leaping up again.

"You had a great idea, Tony, but my suit is more advanced in every way!" He brought Tony closer to him.

"Yeah?" Tony smirked. "How'd you solve the icing problem?"

"Knew it," smirked Sam. "He wouldn't have accounted for that specific problem. You take him up high enough…"

"He loses power," smiled Wanda. "Brilliant!"

"Still didn't stop him," shrugged Tony. "His suit was more durable than mine was. More likely to survive a fall of that magnitude than I was when I originally tested it."

"Icing problem?" Inside Stane's helmet, it started to flash red and then went dark as the suit lost power.

"Might want to look into it." Tony raised his right hand and hit Stane on the head, breaking a bit of the sheath of ice off as the Iron Monger began to fall. Stane tumbled through the air.

"Was breaking the ice a good idea?" Bruce wondered. "Wouldn't it have started the defrosting of the suit?"

"The reason I bought him up high enough to freeze his suit was to try to disrupt his systems as much as possible and damage it in the fall, even if it didn't stop him entirely. I had hoped it might stop him for good but I needed time to get out of my suit. It was far too damaged for me to continue using. I needed that distraction," explained Tony.

Rhodey scrutinised him. "Were you planning on calling in the Air Force?"

"I was, yeah. Since my suit was badly damaged, the Air Force was the next best thing. Or, blow up the Arc Reactor, which was the last resort," said Tony.

"But you didn't call us in," noted Rhodey, frowning slightly.

Tony shook his head. "No. Didn't get a chance to. As you'll see."

"Two percent," JARVIS informed Tony.

His own suit was starting to lose power and his thrusters were trying to stabilise.

"We are now running on emergency backup power."

"Wouldn't it affect the running of the Arc Reactor in your chest?" Natasha was concerned.

"The Arc Reactor's primary function was to keep me alive. It would be the last thing it would stop powering."

"Whoa." The power kept going off and on again as Tony fell through the air, stabilising himself for a few seconds before he lost it again. He landed on the top of the Arc Reactor building, falling onto his knees.

Tony climbed to his feet. "Potts."

"Tony! Oh, my God, are you okay?" Pepper was frantic with worry.

"Why hasn't she left yet? She should be as far away from there as possible!" Clint shook his head. "She's as stubborn as you, Stark."

"Be glad she didn't leave," hinted Tony. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Pepper had left the premises. His plan had only worked because Pepper had been able to overload the Reactor whilst he kept Stane busy. Stane could have easily stopped him if he'd attempted it himself.

"I'm almost out of power," admitted Tony. "I've got to get out of this thing. I'll be right there." He threw his left-hand suit piece away and opened up the helmet only for Stane to land behind him.

"Nice try!"

"Shit!" Sam cringed. "He recovered quickly!"

"Did he even hit the ground?" asked Wanda.

Tony shook his head. "Unfortunately, not. He recovered his systems as he fell and then waited until I showed myself."

Bruce turned to face Rhodey. "Did your radars pick anything up?"

"Yeah, we did. We had both Tony and Stane on our radar. Stane's sudden fall did stop amongst the cloud cover but quite far down," remembered Rhodey. "But because I'd told the station command it was a training exercise; I couldn't do anything." Rhodey wished he'd been able to do something for Tony. "All I could do was keep the skies clear as much as possible, including rerouting commercial flights in the area."

"You did your best," complimented Tony, smiling lightly at his friend.

Tony whirled.

Stane tried to punch Tony, but he missed as Tony ducked, his faceplate sliding back into place. He held up his left hand to blast Stane with a repulsor shot but he realised he had thrown that piece away. Stane dealt him a blow that sent him sprawling, but Tony managed to stop himself from going over the edge.

Landing on his feet and knees, he jumped up, and leaped for Obadiah, punching him with his Gauntleted right hand.

"Bet you wish you hadn't taken off the left Gauntlet," mused Sam.

"It would have come in useful if I hadn't been so hasty," admitted Tony. "I really should have checked the skies and my surroundings before removing anything. I may not have been caught off guard if I'd had." Still, he couldn't fault the fact Stane had been dealt with though he'd had to resort to other means.

But Stane caught him by the arm and then grabbed him around the middle of the Suit with both of his hands. Stane began to squeeze, crushing Tony.

Sam swallowed. "I know you survive this, Stark, but I can't help worry for you."

Tony recognised Sam wasn't the only one to re-evaluate how to he saw him as a person.

Tony asked JARVIS for the status of a weapon however everything was offline. Desperately he called for flares and they activated, bouncing off both suits and momentarily blinding Stane enough he had to release Tony from his crushing grip.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, if every weapon was offline, surely flares would count as a weapon?" queried Bucky. "Why were they not offline?"

"Technically they were not classed as a weapon so JARVIS could still activate them. If JARVIS had lost connection to the suit entirely, I could still activate them with voice or hand control," answered Tony. "It was a back-up I put in place in the event of losing power and needing a distraction. Thankfully, JARVIS was still able to activate them for me there, despite the lack of power to the suit."

Tony managed to hide from Stane and whispered to Pepper over the phone.

"Potts?"

"Tony!" She was pleased to hear his voice.

"This isn't working. We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof."

"It wasn't my first choice to blow the Reactor." Tony felt the need to point it out to the others. It had been risky taking that action but it remained the only option left when he was unable to fight back anymore against Stane.

"Well, how are you going to do that?"

"You're going to do it," he instructed her. "Go to the central console and open all the circuits. When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know. You're going to hit the Master Bypass button, and it's going to fry everything up here."

"The suit wouldn't protect him?" asked Wanda. "Isn't it durable enough to resist?"

Tony shook his head. "No. The electronic impulses would be attracted to the suit and effectively electrocute him."

"Frying him instantly," decreed Bruce. "He would be removed as a threat in an instant."

"Exactly." Tony was glad they understood what he was trying to do to stop Stane. "I would have preferred to take him alive if it was possible. He had a lot to answer for in a court of law. Circumstances meant it wasn't completely possible."

"It was either kill or be killed," observed Natasha. She had read the report Coulson had filed about the incident in preparation for her role at Stark Industries. They had intended to arrest Obadiah but events had spiralled out of control which necessitated taking him out permanently.

Stane was still searching for Tony as Pepper tentatively stepped over the shattered glass around the Arc Reactor. "Okay. I'm going now."

Tony explained he would give her time but she had to wait until he had cleared the roof.

Stane looked where Tony had been hiding moments before.

Pepper reached the central console and started to pull down all the levers and press all the buttons.

"How did she know which buttons opened the circuits?" queried Bruce. The scientist in him wanted to know why the overload had worked that way.

Tony wisely answered. "Too much power at once would overload the Arc Reactor. To keep the Reactor stable we had to keep switches in particular places. Moving everything out in the opposite direction doesn't turn it off. It overloads everything."

"How do you switch the Arc Reactor off?" asked Steve.

Tony threw him a glare. "You seem to be quite good at shutting off Arc Reactors, Rogers, why don't you tell me?"

Steve flinched at the hostile tone in Tony's voice. He couldn't blame him. He had smashed the shield into Tony's chest. "You know why –"

"Do not tell me I should understand what you did to me!" yelled Tony, the resentment hanging in the air.

Everyone's heads turned towards Steve.

"Wait…" Sam swallowed. "You destroyed the Arc Reactor? You just told us you disabled the suit!"

Tony shook his head in dismay. "You didn't even have the decency to tell them the truth? Why am I not surprised?"

"But you attacked-" Steve started to protest.

Bucky held up his hand, silencing Steve. "Stark had a good reason to attack. You shouldn't have attacked him."

"He was going to kill you!" replied Steve, adamantly.

Tony folded his arms across his chest. "Oh please, if I had really wanted Barnes dead, I could have done it easily, especially after I saw that footage!"

"What is going on?" Bruce couldn't believe what he was seeing. The hostility between the two was clear. "What the hell happened while we were gone?"

Steve didn't answer, lowering his gaze, unable to meet Tony's anymore.

"You're better off waiting," grated Tony, his teeth clenching together. Resolutely, he faced the screen again.

Natasha leaned in close to Steve, keeping her voice low so that no one else could hear. "You never told him, did you?"

Steve's shoulders shook and he minutely moved his head confirming he'd kept the murders of Tony's parents in the dark.

"You promised me you'd tell him," she continued. "Otherwise I would have."

"I couldn't lose Bucky, Nat…"

Natasha couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I trusted you to tell him. I thought you had honour, Steve, and respect for your teammates."

"I do," protested Steve.

"Then why didn't you tell Tony his parents were murdered?" hissed Natasha angrily.

Steve couldn't answer as shame ran through him.

Tony jumped up at Stane's back and started to pull wires out in the armor. "This looks important!"

"Did you know what it was you were disconnecting?" asked Sam.

"I had a vague guess. He'd based his design on my original suit," shrugged Tony.

Stane lost his optical connection.

Below them, the Arc Reactor was beginning to overload.

Stane struggled to dislodge Tony as he tried to hold on. He succeeded in grabbing Tony and flung him off onto the glass above the Reactor. In the process he had lost his helmet.

Pepper continued to press every button and switch she could find.

Stane opened up his suit, holding Iron Man's helmet in his metal hand. "I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit!" He crushed Tony's helmet, throwing it back at the Inventor.

"How are you going to fight back?" whispered Wanda. "It's going to overload any minute!"

"I'm not going to fight back," replied Tony. "I couldn't. The suit was pretty much out of power."

Tony glanced up as Stane stalked forward.

"You finally outdid yourself, Tony! You'd have made your father proud!"

Rhodey glared at the screen. "I know you don't believe it, Tony, but everything you've accomplished in your life would have made your father proud. I know he wasn't a great father to you… but he believed in you."

Tony wasn't sure what to say.

Tony got to his knees as Pepper told him the Arc Reactor was ready and he needed to get off the roof. Her hand hovered over the red overload button. She looked up.

Stane pointed his machine gun at Tony. Tony deflected the bullets with a miniature shield in his wrist. The glass smashed beneath his feet and he fell through, managing to cling onto the roof.

"NO!" Sam yelled.

Wanda flinched, worry flittering across her face.

Clint swallowed, his face pale. "You're not going to get off the roof, are you?"

Pepper screamed below as shards of glass fell onto her. She saw Tony hanging above. "Tony!" she yelled.

"How ironic, Tony! Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it, its best one ever!"

"He did," agreed Bruce. "But you used it for the right reasons. And you always refused to sell your tech so others couldn't take advantage of it."

"Doesn't mean other people didn't try to attempt it," pointed out Tony.

Tony yelled down to Pepper.

"And now I'm going to kill you with it!" Stane fired a missile but missed. "You ripped out my targeting system!"

"Good!" jeered Thor. "The more times he misses you, the angrier he'll get! He'll make more mistakes!"

"And be easier to defeat," said Bucky.

"Time to press the button!" yelled Tony.

Wanda choked. "But you're not off the roof!"

"You told me not to!" she protested from below.

Stane was desperately trying to get an accurate lock on Tony. "Hold still, you little prick!" He fired another missile at Tony and missed.

"Just do it!" Tony ordered.

"You'll die!"

"You were willing to die if it meant stopping him," whispered Wanda.

"I couldn't let him escape," said Tony. "And there was no way I was going to be able to get off that roof."

"You couldn't have let yourself drop?" Bucky asked.

Tony shook his head. "No."

"Mr. Stark would have hit the Arc Reactor, thereby killing him instantly, resulting in a large explosion which not only would have killed Miss. Potts and Mr. Stane, but also destroyed more buildings on site. By not falling into the Arc Reactor at that moment, a better result was achieved, minimising damage to just the building which housed the Arc Reactor," reasoned Vision. "The casualty statistics were significantly less with the Arc Reactor being allowed to overload as planned."

Tony marvelled over how Vision was still able to process things from the part of him which had once been JARVIS.

Another blast from Stane had Tony falling further through the ceiling so he was hanging on with just one hand. "PUSH IT!" he roared.

Pepper pushed the red Emergency Bypass Button, covered her head with her hands, and fled as the Arc Reactor overloaded and sent a cascade of energy upwards.

Tony is thrown up and out to the side as the energy struck the smaller Reactor in the Iron Monger suit. Obadiah screamed as his whole body was electrocuted.

"Good!" roared Thor. "About time he got his comeuppance!"

"He deserved that," hissed Wanda.

"And not me?" Tony surprised her by asking.

Her hair fell past her face. "No. You didn't." She could understand why Tony was questioning her. Two hours ago, when they'd started watching this movie, she'd hated him. Now… I have found respect for him. Something I never thought I would ever have. It surprised her but it also meant she was capable of seeing past what she had once believed.

White light burst up into the sky, turning the clouds dark and taking out power in the surrounding area as a thundering boom echoed across the sky.

Stane, dead in his suit, falls through the Arc Reactor building and into the Reactor, bursting into flame.

"Why was it fine for Stane to fall onto the Reactor? It still exploded…" Clint frowned.

"The Reactor wasn't overloading anymore. Combining the two would have caused catastrophic consequences. When Stane fell, the overload had already happened. The explosion couldn't travel as far," explained Tony. "It did set the building on fire though."

Tony rolled to the left as the flames whooshed past him.

As the whole building goes up in flames, Tony laid on the top, unconscious, as the Arc Reactor light flickers before going dark.

Pepper's voice was faint in the distance as the screen faded black. "Tony!"

"It wasn't you who stopped Stane after all," quipped Sam. "It was Pepper."

Tony grinned. "She's good like that. All I did was provide a solution. Pepper did all the hard work."

"You did keep Stane distracted though," Bruce pointed out. "If you hadn't…"

"I know… Pepper would be dead." Tony shuddered.

Wanda frowned. "How did you survive there? The Arc Reactor in your chest stopped working."

"There was still minimal power to the Reactor," explained Tony. "Enough to stop the shards from sliding into my heart. It was a close call." He had been lucky. The Arc Reactor had lasted long enough for him to be able to get back home and swap it out. In between redesigning the suit, he'd already been working on an upgrade. "I was lucky. Lucky to survive."

On the television screen streamed a press conference, with Rhodey currently standing at the podium. He told the press they had all received the official statement of what had occurred at Stark Industries the previous night. He noted there had been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and had caused damage to the Arc Reactor.

"Which is what I was aware of," confirmed Sam. "I remember hearing about this on the news and reading it in the papers. It's nice to have some context to it now."

The camera panned back to see Tony sitting looking at 'The Chronicle' paper with the headline "WHO IS THE IRON MAN?"

Pepper dabbed his face.

"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 is kind of evocative, the imagery anyway."

Bruce cocked his head to the side. "Didn't realise the press had given you your hero name."

Tony shrugged. "It was the best way to describe the appearance of the suit. The name stuck. I decided to use it."

"And then you trademarked it," noted Rhodey, smiling slightly. "And then made money off of it."

Steve looked like he was about to say something but Tony's response stopped him.

"I'm a businessman, what do people expect?"

Pepper pulled the tape from the bandage at Tony's neck.

Coulson handed Tony a set of blue cards, telling him that they were his alibi, that Tony was on his yacht. Phil had arranged for port papers to state Tony had been in Avalon all night with 50 of his guests, all of whom had sworn a statement.

"SHIELD put in a lot of work overnight to sort everything out, to create your cover story for you," said Natasha.

Tony grinned sheepishly. "And then I ruined it for you."

"You did." Natasha didn't look upset. "I think you did the right thing in telling the world who you were. Should have seen Fury's reaction."

"I imagine his choice of words were very colourful?" Tony guessed.

"That, and more," confirmed Natasha.

Tony wasn't convinced. "See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me alone on the island." He smiled a bit and Pepper pulled the tape from his eyebrow. They traded a glance with Pepper telling Tony with her expression to not even try that alibi.

"Wouldn't have worked," said Bruce. "They needed enough witnesses to place you at the scene. The Reporters would have been looking for proof."

Phil refused to accept Tony's other preferred alibi.

Tony looked through the cards as Pepper continues to make Tony presentable for the press conference. "There's nothing about Stane here."

"That's being handled," confirmed Coulson. "He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record."

"You did stick to that part of the story, didn't you?" Sam wondered. Before now he had never known of Stane's involvement, only that he'd died around the time of the incident with the Arc Reactor.

"I did," said Tony, "with reservations. I didn't want him to be remembered for something he wasn't. Thankfully, SHIELD did allow me to publish the details of how he had betrayed the company and had been selling weapons to terrorist groups. SHIELD wouldn't have been able to stop me if they hadn't wanted it to leak."

Natasha shifted in her seat. "That's why you were not blocked when you decided to release the investigation results to the public. Fury knew you needed too. And, we didn't want to make an enemy of you."

"But what about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard? I mean that's… 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."

Tony chuckled. "No, it won't."

Rhodey elbowed him. "I think Pepper would prefer it if it was."

Tony knew his friend was referring to the reasons why he and Pepper had taken a break. But they had returned stronger. And she did understand why he needed to be Iron Man, even if she didn't completely approve of it. They had compromised and their relationship was stronger because of it.

Pepper brushed her hands and looked to Phil. She followed him as he turned to leave. She wanted to say thank you for all the help he had given them.

"That's what we do," he confirmed. "You'll be hearing from us."

"From the Strategic Homeland…" started Pepper.

"Just call us SHIELD."

"Right."

Clint pointed out: "That's when SHIELD started to become public. Too much suspicious activity was starting to pop up. We had to come out of the shadows."

Steve frowned. "But was it not what HYDRA wanted?"

Natasha leaned back on the sofa. "It was. They wanted SHIELD exposed. When HYDRA was using the Helicarriers to target their enemies, they were doing it under the flag of SHIELD. HYDRA could have risen from those ashes to take command and take over the world. Bring down one organisation for another to step into its place."

"HYDRA has a lot to answer for." Steve's face darkened.

Coulson walked off and Pepper moved back to Tony's jacket and helped him into it. "Let's get this show on the road."

"You know, it's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Of course, you do."

Tony couldn't deny it. He was Iron Man.

"You're not Iron Man."

"Am so."

"You're not," she protested.

With the cards in his mouth, Tony grinned. "All right, suit yourself. You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity."

Everyone groaned.

Sam chuckled. "You're being way too obvious there, Stark."

"Tony has never been discreet," observed Rhodey. "You should see their first kiss."

Pepper was busy doing his collar and brushing his shoulders clean.

"She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying that I was going to die." He turned to face her. "And be so proud of the man I've become. She'd be wildly conflicted which would only make her more…" He cleared his throat. "Crazy about me. Tell me you never think about that night."

Sam burst out laughing. "Can this get any better?"

Even Tony could see he was being way too forward. He internally groaned.

"Do you mean the night when you were on the balcony?" queried Wanda. "The one where you…?" she trailed off.

"What night?" she asked seriously.

"You know…"

Pepper stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. "Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and…"

Sam couldn't help laughing. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't but…"

Tony waved him away, a slight smile on his face. "It's fine. I had it coming."

Tony smiled slightly.

"…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?"

"Mmmm…hmmmm." Tony looked slightly embarrassed.

Tony held his head in his hands. "I really should have remembered."

"Did you believe you had a shot with Pepper there?" asked Bucky.

Tony decided to answer truthfully. "We always had a playful, flirty banter between us. I had hoped I might stand a chance since I had become a better person… Pepper was hard to get. But she was worth it."

"Thought so." She tucked handkerchiefs into his breast pocket. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Yes, that will be all, Miss Potts."

"I honestly do not know how you two managed to work together so long," observed Rhodey. "I watched this go on between you two for years. I knew one day something would crack."

"I had to mature…" revealed Tony. "For the better. Pepper wouldn't have gone for the old me."

"Even though she clearly fancied you?" Wanda pointed out. She'd seen it earlier on, the obvious attraction between them.

Tony nodded solemnly. "There were a lot of things I did which Pepper did not approve of but put up with. We were friends first and it built from there. Sometimes the best relationships come from those who were friends first. Without Afghanistan… I wouldn't have changed to become the person who would take a risk to date me. As much as I hated my captivity… in some ways, it was a good thing, because I learned who I was truly capable of being. It was the making of me."

Pepper was good for him.

Sometimes Tony felt he was too lucky, and Pepper would disappear from his life for good. He wasn't sure what he would do if that ever happened.

I hope it doesn't.

Rhodey stood at the podium. He announced Tony's arrival and that he had prepared a statement and he would not be taking questions. Rhodey stepped aside as Tony moved to stand in front of the podium.

"Err… Been a while since I was in front of you. I'll figure I'll stick to the cards this time." He held up the cards as evidence whilst the audience of reporters laughed.

"There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop."

Christine Everhart, in the front row, put up her hand, interrupting 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 cut her off. "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."

"She completely threw you," said Bruce. "She never even mentioned the word 'superhero' and you extrapolated what she said to mean that."

"I think a part of me wanted to be recognised it was me in the suit," admitted Tony. He had revealed it had been him after all. "Guess it was part of my ego speaking… of what I thought I could be if I was given the chance to prove it."

"And you have proved you are a hero," said Thor. "You went through the portal with the missile."

Tony's lips twitched. "Despite that, I don't feel like a hero." Because he didn't. Roger's words to him on the Helicarrier still stung. He felt he had something to prove. And he still felt he had something to prove.

"I never said you were a superhero."

"Didn't?" Tony had to backtrack. "Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic." Tony sighed.

Everyone chuckled at Tony's attempt to backtrack.

Christine gave him a look.

"I'm just not the hero type clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made…" He looked at Rhodey. "…largely public…"

"You should have just come out and said it instead of digging yourself into a bigger hole," advised Clint. "For someone who is so media-savvy, you didn't really do well at that press conference, did you?"

Tony had to agree. He'd messed it up from the start. It had turned out alright in the end though.

Rhodey leaned in close to his ear, advising him to stick to the cards.

Tony held up the cards. "The truth is…." Cameras flashed as Tony paused, battling with himself. He looked up at the reporters, swallows, and lowers the card and says: "I am Iron Man."

The Reporters clambered to their feet and Tony smiled.

"I honestly had a heart attack when you said it, Tony," Rhodey shook his head. "The number of phone calls I had after that… Man… you really shook the crowd and the news with that revelation."

"It was on the front page of the news for days," remembered Sam. "Weeks even."

"I know I shouldn't have said it," explained Tony, "but it felt like the right thing to do. It didn't feel wrong."

The screen went black.

"Is this the end of the movie?" asked Bucky.

Before anyone else could answer another scene appeared.

Tony had walked into his darkened mansion. "JARVIS."

"Welcome home, sir…" His voice fades and Tony noticed a man looking out of his window.

"'I am Iron Man'. You think you are the only superhero in the world?" The man turned around. He was wearing an eyepatch. "Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."

"I do now," muttered Tony, glancing around at the others.

Tony walked forward. "Who the hell are you?"

The man walked into the light. "Nick Fury. Director of SHIELD."

"Ah." It made sense.

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."

The screen went black.

"Is that the end?" Rhodey queried, raising his chin towards the ceiling.

The voice spoke up. It is.

Wanda was the first to speak up. "Two hours ago, I hated you…" She glanced at the now blank screen. "I find myself now understanding you better. I didn't expect it."

Tony stiffened. "There are a lot of things about me you do not realise. A lot of people judge me for what they see, not for what I do." Sighing, he rubbed a hand down his weary face. "I know we can't leave this room but isn't there a bathroom or a kitchen? I need a bit of space after that." He directed his eyes to the pile of movies still waiting to be watched. "And we've still got quite a few more to go."

"The voice said we can't leave," pointed out Natasha.

"And we're supposed to starve in the meantime?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "The door is in this room. We just can't see it." He folded his arms across his chest. "Well?"

The wall to the right of them shimmered. A door appeared.

If you had known the door was there you would have left. I hid it. However, when you leave this facility you will find time has slowed down. Only those in this facility can move about unhindered.

"Time has slowed down?" Steve shook his head. "What do you mean?"

For every movie you watch, barely a second passes in the real world. By the time we finish, only ten seconds will have passed.

Tony swallowed. "How have you slowed time?"

It's a secret. No one will miss you. No one will notice you are gone in those ten seconds. I was careful to pick you all from a point in time where you will not be noticed to have gone in those precious seconds.

"But with only a small number of seconds passing in the real world… it gives us the chance to change things," nodded Bruce, understanding the logistics of it. "I do have a question: I'm human now but I was the Hulk before. Thor and I agreed not to mention anything until after this first viewing." He glanced at his hands. "How did you transform me back?"

I used a device you developed in the future.

Bruce frowned. "And how did you get your hands on that?"

You loaned it to me.

Bruce wasn't sure if he could take the Voice's answers but it was the only logical reason as to why he was human again. "Will I remain human when we return to the ship?"

No. You'll revert back to the Hulk but you will remember this time in this facility. I came back to ensure a better future. You will see.

Tony rose from the couch, stretching his arms and his legs. His head was slightly hurting after watching himself onscreen. "I need coffee." He paused at the door, his hand on the handle. "I'm not going to slow down, am I?"

No.

"Good." Tony opened the door and stepped into a kitchen. He didn't recognise the area. There wasn't a window either for him to see into the outside world. Where ever this facility was, he wouldn't be able to determine their location without being able to see outside. There was another door at the end of the room which led to the bathroom, however, there was no other door that led outside.

Probably hiding it from us, he mused. He doubted he would find it if he tried. Whoever this Voice was, they were clearly powerful. As much as Tony wanted to get away from this, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Tony?"

Wanda's voice broke through his thoughts. She stepped forward. She pointed towards the coffee maker. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, sure." He started towards it but Wanda got there first.

He leaned back on the counter, feeling a bit awkward, watching her as she worked. He knew why she was here. She wanted to talk.

There was an uncomfortable silence whilst she made the coffee but when she was done, she pushed a coffee towards him over the counter which he took. She sipped from her own cup, watching him.

"It's not poisoned," she pointed out.

Tony sighed. "This is… weird." There was no other way to describe the situation. "Things have happened to me I never wanted others to know about. That decision has been taken out of my hands. You all know what happened in Afghanistan, and how Iron Man was born. And Stane… what he did…" He curled his fingers into fists, shaking his head.

"Tony?" Wanda started hesitantly. "I was wrong. Wrong to blame you for my parent's deaths. I was just ten years old, and I saw your name on the side and…"

He stopped her. "Don't. You don't need to apologise. I understand. Their blood is still on my hands, regardless. I never knew Obadiah was double-dealing. I never thought to check on him. I trusted Stane to do right by my father's legacy. If I'd been a better CEO, I would have picked up on those irregularities. Even if I had noticed, Stane would still have found a way to cover it up, blame someone else, and continue trading. He was only caught out because he grew careless."

"I don't blame you anymore," she tried again. "What I did to you in Sokovia… I'm sorry about that too."

Surprise flickered across his face. He hadn't expected that. "Ultron was an abandoned project. I'd given up on it. Then you used your powers on me…" He pointed towards the ceiling. "That up there is the endgame. That is what I am fighting for. To protect the Earth from whatever is coming." He sipped his coffee. "No one understands what Ultron could have been like if he hadn't gone wrong. Bruce and I were not even close to an interface. Then he suddenly starts working! Maybe I did something right and I never noticed?" Tony shook his head. "I rarely make mistakes when it comes to my work. When it comes to life decisions, I have a poor record. After all this time it amazes me Pepper keeps on coming back. She's better off away from me."

"She's good for you," observed Wanda.

"Everyone keeps on saying it. I know she's good for me… but I don't deserve her."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them.

Finally, Tony broke it. "So… I guess you like me now?"

A smile reached Wanda's lips. "You're not as bad as I thought you were."

He supposed it was something.

"I know Vision visits you," Tony revealed quietly. "And, you know I've always known where you've been or are? I've been keeping Ross's people off your backs for months."

"I didn't…" Wanda bit her lower lip. "Steve believes the lack of confrontations with government officials means the public is on our side and are not reporting our locations."

Tony snorted. "No. It's all me. FRIDAY monitors the phone line, intercepts them, alerts me, and then I pass the information on a few days later. You're always on the move so I know I can feed them out-of-date information."

Wanda was stunned. "Why are you protecting us? Why not let them catch up?"

Tony sighed. "Because the world will need you when the time comes. Being in a prison cell isn't going to help us save it. They will not let any of you out. I let Steve free you from the raft for that very reason. I recognise the bigger picture. More is at stake here then we realise." He sighed. "We must lose if we're here now, watching my past and what is presumably our future."

"You could be wrong," she pointed out.

Tony chuckled. "If we do not lose, I'll be surprised. Whatever our future holds, it isn't good."

Moving away from the counter, he headed back to the viewing room. "Come on, we've got another movie to watch."

To be continued in…

Understanding the Real Hero: Iron Man 2

Please let me know what you think!

Just a few points: Steve didn't tell everyone what really happened in Siberia. Team Cap just assumed Tony came and betrayed them. They don't know the exact reason why. Steve still doesn't really want to say but everyone in the room will find out the truth when we get to Civil War.

Who is the voice? No one has guessed correctly so far. And, the fact time has been slowed, does not mean the identity of the Voice is obvious. We won't find out who the voice is until the end of Endgame. :)

Wanda has found a new respect for Tony. Originally, I didn't intend for her to make the change this quick but she did. But I think it works.

So, I promised sequel news! All of the movies will be in their own stories as this is part of a series. I debated whether to just continue in one long story, however, for me, I feel it is important to split each movie into a separate story. This was designed as a series. Up next is Iron Man 2.

When will I start posting? Sometime in mid-September, I hope. I'm currently writing out the transcript (already got dialogue from elsewhere) but I need to convert that into descriptive text and watch the movie so I am able to describe reactions, facial expressions, scenery etc... So far, I've only managed to get into 10 minutes of Iron Man 2 (I only started yesterday). This is why I cannot promise an update next week. I'd like to get ahead of myself, and I intend to try to write out the movie text descriptions for Avengers, Iron Man 3, Age of Ultron, and Civil War, hopefully quite quickly. I also want to try to write at least half of Iron Man 2 before I start posting. This means that when I do start posting the sequel I should be able to keep up with weekly updates.

When I do post the sequel, I will respond to comments for this chapter to let you know when Understanding the Hero: Iron Man 2 has been posted.

Finally, thank you to everyone for all your comments so far. I hope you've all enjoyed this story and will continue with the series!

Until next time (I'm hoping for Sunday 20th September!)...

the-writer1988